bbbiz
Why NYC’s Entertainment Commissioner Sees Reopening Music Venues as a Chance to Rethink a ‘Flawed’ System
“It strengthens the argument that we really need to support our local venues, and for us to represent their needs at the table,” says Anne del Castillo. This week, New York City enters phase three of reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic, meaning the return of hair and nail salons, basketball courts and more spaces in addition to outdoor dining. But for local music venues from (Le) Poisson Rouge to Brooklyn’s Elsewhere — many of which faced rising rents, gentrification and other challenges even before the pandemic began — the road to reopening remains ongoing and uncertain. Anne del Castillo knows this struggle well. The New York City native took over as commissioner of Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) in April 2019, with a foc...
Ed Sheeran, Rolling Stones and More U.K. Music Stars Plead With Government for Live Sector Aid
Some 1,500 artists backing #LetTheMusicPlay warn of ‘mass insolvencies’ from ongoing concert lockdowns due to COVID-19. Some of the U.K.’s biggest music stars are pleading with their government to come to the aid of the £4.5 billion ($5.6 billion) live music sector during the coronavirus lockdown, warning that government support is vital to prevent “mass insolvencies.” A group of 1,500 artists — including Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, The Rolling Stones, Rita Ora and many others — signed a letter to Oliver Dowden, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, urging the government to create a funding package for the live sector similar to what Germany’s government did last month. “With no end to social distancing in sight or financial support from government yet agreed,...
Spotify Launches New Subscription Plan For Couples in U.S., 54 More Markets
Spotify has unveiled a new, cheaper premium subscription option for couples, called Premium Duo, that will be rolled out in the United States and 54 other markets today (July 1). The single plan will allow two people living at the same address to have individual premium accounts, which are also entwined through playlists like its Duo Mix of favorites from each party, for just $12.99 a month. Spotify began testing the new tier last March, piloting Premium Duo in Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Ireland and Poland. Now with its wider rollout, Duo joins Spotify’s individual plan ($9.99/month), family plan ($14.99/month for up to six accounts under one roof) and student plan ($4.99/month). [embedded content] In a blog post announcing the new tier, the company noted that a user study found that of cou...
Marjorie Garcia Promoted to Partner at King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano
Los Angeles-based attorney Marjorie García has been promoted to partner at King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano. The promotion makes García one of the few female Latinas to make partner in a major law firm. García, who previously worked as an attorney at Universal Music Latino, has spearheaded the expansion of the Latin music department at KHPS, a broad practice with particular emphasis on entertainment law, complex business litigation, real estate, banking and corporate finance. Her roster of clients includes Juanes, J Balvin, Los Tigres del Norte, Gloria Trevi, Carla Morrison and the production team of Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo, among others. “When I started out, there weren’t a lot of faces or voices like mine that I could look up to within my field, so I had to forge my own pat...
MPM Productions Inks Multi-Year Partnership With Universal Music Latin
JD Pantoja is the first artist under the deal. Universal Music Latin has inked a multi-year partnership with Los Angeles-based music and media company MPM Productions. The first artist signed under the deal is Mexican urban act Juan De Dios Pantoja, better known as JD Pantoja, a YouTuber-turned-recording artist. Pantoja’s single “El Error,” has garnered over 50 million views since its release in May. MPM, co-founded in 2016 by Arizona State University alums Eric O’Connor, Dimitri Hurt and Luis Arellano, started out as a company that represented YouTubers. Eventually, says Arellano, president of MPM Latin, “we shifted our business strategy to focus on creating our own intellectual property. That’s why we proposed making music to our talent.” Their first artist to s...
The Deals: Little Simz Renews AWAL Recordings Contract, Licensing Service Lickd Strikes UMG Partnership
Mercury Prize-nominated rapper and songwriter Little Simz (a.k.a. Simbi Ajikawo) has renewed her partnership with AWAL Recordings, which provides a full range of services including global marketing and promotion, digital and physical distribution, campaign coordination, A&R support, synch licensing and brand partnerships. Little Simz garnered acclaim with her most recent album, GREY Area, which was released on her own label, Age 101, via AWAL. In addition to the Mercury Prize, she has been nominated for AIM and BET Awards; additionally, she won the Q Award for best vocal performance and the NME Award for best British album. She has toured with Gorillaz, Lauryn Hill and Anderson .Paak and also starred in the Channel 4 crime drama Top Boy, which currently airs on Netflix. Little Sim...
How We Work Now: Academy of Country Music CEO Damon Whiteside
In a series amid the coronavirus pandemic, Billboard is asking individuals from all sectors of the music business to share stories of how they work now, with much of the world quarantined at home and unable to take in-person meetings, attend conferences or even go into the office. Read the full series here. This installment is with Damon Whiteside, the new CEO of the Academy of Country Music. Damon Whiteside: I started the job Jan. 6 and I was still getting to know everybody. I’m based in Nashville and was at [the ACM’s Los Angeles] office two weeks a month for those first couple of months. And then, suddenly, we’re isolated and quarantined after we decide to close the office in L.A. the week of March 16. That was literally the week that I was planning to go back to L.A., so that’s b...
NPR Variety Show ‘Live From Here’ Canceled by American Public Media
The Chris Thile-hosted variety series was a retooled version of Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion.” Live From Here, the Chris Thile-hosted radio show that served as a successor to A Prairie Home Companion when the latter series was retooled in 2017, has been canceled by American Public Media. CEO Jon McTaggart revealed the news in a post on APM’s website announcing drastic cuts at the broadcaster. Thile and Live From Here’s official social accounts also broke the news on Tuesday (June 16). “Not one live broadcast has gone by where I didn’t thank my absurdly lucky stars for your wide open ears and hearts,” Thile wrote on Twitter. “Over the weekend, I was informed that American Public Media will no longer be producing the show. “While this news fills me with sadn...
Warner Music Group Moves to Replace Old Debt With New, Better Debt
The music company is conducting a private offering to purchase senior notes due in 2023 with funds from sales of senior notes at a better interest rate due seven years later. Warner Music Group is trading old debt for new debt with a better interest rate and later due date. The music company is conducting a private offering for $535 million of senior secured notes due in 2030 that it expects to close June 29, it was announced Tuesday (June 16). At the same time, Warner wants to use the proceeds to purchase $300 million of new senior secured notes due in 2023. If Warner sells $535 million notes due in 2030 to redeem $300 million of notes due in 2023, it would replace a 5% interest rate with 3.875%. On $300 million of principal, the difference in rates of 1.125% equals $3.375 million of inte...
Universal Music UK Reboots EMI Records With Rebecca Allen at the Helm
Universal Music Group is relaunching EMI Records, the iconic British record label which UMG acquired for $1.9 billion in 2012. As part of the relaunch, UMG’s Virgin EMI is renamed EMI Records, effective immediately. The Virgin Records imprint will continue under the new EMI Records banner. At the helm is newly-appointed EMI president Rebecca Allen, a 20-year UMG veteran and former Billboard Women In Music honoree. Closely associated with the British pop movement of the 1960s, EMI’s star-studded roster in the UK in the ’60s and ’70s included The Beatles, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Jackson Five, The Temptations and Smokey Robinson. EMI continued to be home to the UK’s top music stars in the 1990s, when it signed acts l...
BMI Announces Winners of 2020 Film, TV & Visual Media Awards
The winners of BMI’s 36th annual Film, TV & Visual Media Awards were announced Monday (June 15) across the organization’s social and digital platforms. Honorees — who were awarded for their work on the top-performing films, TV shows and other visual media from the previous year — include composers Tyler Bates, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Atli Örvarsson, Mike Post, Mac Quayle and Brian Tyler. Örvarsson was the top winner this year, with a total of five awards (known as “crystals”) for his work on TV series including Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, FBI and FBI Most Wanted. Elsewhere, Tyler, Quayle and Bates received three apiece. Tyler won for his work on Hawaii Five-0, Magnum P.I. and Yellowstone; Quayle won for 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Lone Star and American Horror Story;...
Twitch Users Are Getting Takedown Notices En Masse for the First Time: Here’s Why
A flurry of copyright takedown notices hit Twitch users last week, causing a storm on social media. Here’s what’s really going on and what to watch for next. Over the last week, users on gaming-focused livestream platform Twitch received a sudden flurry of takedown notices for clips of old videos using unlicensed background music. The more than 2,500 notices — which the RIAA filed on behalf of rights holders for recordings including Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings” and DNCE’s “Cake By The Ocean” — caused a storm on social media, with users complaining on Twitter they felt blindsided by the requests, some for clips dating as far back as 2017. Contrary to some users’ claims, Twitch’s Music Guidelines — which explicitly prohibit users from incorporating music into their streams wit...
