bbbiz
Neumos in Seattle, in a Pandemic: It Can Cost a Venue $60,000 a Month to Be Closed
As co-owner of Seattle’s popular independent venue Neumos in Capitol Hill, Steven Severin has been a staple in the Seattle music industry for more than 20 years. Roughly 10 years ago, he helped create the Seattle Nightlife and Music Association to bring together the area’s live event insiders, and for the past 16 years has helped run Neumos with its sister club Barboza and the accompanying Runaway bar. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, we will be speaking with Severin every two weeks to chronicle his experience throughout the crisis. (Read the last installment here and see the full series here.) {“nid”:”9430226″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Indie Venues and...
Makin’ Tracks: Danielle Bradbery Displays New Artistic Maturity In ‘Never Have I Ever’
When LeAnn Rimes came to national attention at age 13, she embarked on a wildly successful streak, selling millions of albums loaded with songs featuring adult viewpoints, even though she was too young to vote. Rimes arguably found her adult voice at age 22 with This Woman, an album produced by Dann Huff (Keith Urban, Brantley Gilbert) that lobbed three singles into country radio’s top five, a level she has not attained since. With “Never Have I Ever,” Danielle Bradbery looks to flip the script on that precedent. She similarly entered the national spotlight as a teen, winning NBC’s The Voice at age 16 in 2013. Her run over the next few years was nothing like Rimes’ — Bradbery’s debut single, “The Heart of Dixie” (No. 12, Country Airplay), is ...
Pandemic Exacts Toll on Sony’s Music Operations With Double-Digit Revenue Drop
In the company’s fiscal first quarter ended June 30, Sony’s music operations showed the wear and tear of the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with revenue declining 13.1% to ¥173.735 billion yen ($1.646 billion) from 2019’s first quarter revenue of ¥200.04 billion ($1.84 billion). While operating profit was also down to ¥34.89 billion ($325.3 million), the decline on a percentage basis wasn’t as much, coming in 8.8% down from the ¥38.3 billion ($348 million) tallied in the year earlier first quarter period. Consequently, the company’s already healthy operating margin showed a slight improvement, consisting of 19.7% of revenue this year, versus 18.9% in 2019’s first quarter, which shows the company kept a tight rein on expenses. During t...
For International Artists, US Entry in the Pandemic Comes With New Hurdles
In March, Colombian superstar Carlos Vives was in the midst of filming season 2 of Telemundo’s singing competition series La Voz in Miami when COVID-19 sent most of the U.S. into lockdown. With production on hold, Vives returned to his home country to wait things out. Now, a full four months later, he is back on set. But returning to the U.S. was no easy task. “Colombia’s international borders were shut down,” says Vives’ business manager, Claudia Arcay, who notes that all commercial flights to and from Colombia were suspended, except for humanitarian and repatriation flights. “However, we had a work contract with Telemundo that we had to fulfill.” {“nid”:”9425791″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”What Do Virtual Festivals Pay A...
Warner Music Group Names Head of Global Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Dr. Maurice Stinnett has joined Warner Music Group as the label’s head of global equity, diversity and inclusion. In his new role, Stinnett will lead the charge on WMG’s equity initiatives and work towards implementing programs to help the company become a more inclusive workplace. He’ll also have a hand in talent recruitment and development, and will assist the company’s Executive Diversity & Inclusion Council. Until recently, Stinnett was vp of diversity, inclusion and culture at BSE Global, operators of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and two of the arena’s prominent tenants — the Nets (NBA) and the Liberty (WNBA). Prior to BSE, he held senior roles at Cleveland State University and Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. He will report to WMG CEO Steve Cooper and be based at the ...
Oh, Snap: Snapchat Owner Lands Music Licensing Deals to Bring Songs to Posts
Snap, Inc. has secured licensing deals with several major music companies to incorporate music into posts on its photo- and video-sharing app Snapchat, the company confirmed today (Aug. 3). Snapchat users will soon be able to add music to their posts both pre- and post-capture, from a catalogue including music licensed from Warner Music Group and its publishing arm, Warner Chappell; Universal Music Publishing Group, members of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and indie digital rights agency Merlin. The new feature is now testing in New Zealand and Australia, as Bloomberg first reported, and will reach global users this fall. “We’re constantly building on our relationships within the music industry, and making sure the entire music ecosystem (artists, labels, songwrite...
AI-Driven Rights Management Agency Muserk Forms Joint Venture to Reduce Piracy of Japanese Content
Muserk, the AI tech-driven global rights management agency for music and video, has partnered with leading Japanese marketing and media research company Video Research on a new joint venture designed to cut down on piracy of Japanese content worldwide. Dubbed Muserk V.I.D., the venture “will service, manage and protect the online rights of the major broadcasters, networks, and production companies of Japan, around the world,” according to a release announcing the deal. Through the partnership with Muserk, Video Research – which provides marketing, media and TV audience research for leading media firms and advertisers in Japan – will utilize Muserk’s AI technologies, M-Match and M-PAC, to manage and protect its clients’ online video rights. Founded by CEO Paul Goldman – who will serve as CE...
Amazon Prospers During Pandemic With Expectation-Beating Results
Amazon dodged a coronavirus bullet in its second quarter, posting big gains in sales and operating income as shoppers around the world stayed home and did the bulk of their shopping online. The online retail giant, which operates the Amazon Music streaming platform and is one of a small handful of tech companies in the “trillion-dollar club”, reported net sales of $88.9 billion in the quarter ending June 30, 2020, beating analysts’ expectations with a whopping 40 per cent improvement on the same period last year. Also during the period, operating income almost doubled to $5.8 billion, up from $3.1 billion in second quarter of the previous year. Revenue from subscription services ballooned to $6 billion, well advanced from the $4.6 billion reported in the corresponding per...
Publishing Briefs: Rodney Jerkins Puts Hipgnosis Under His Spell, Primary Wave Acquires Stake in Devo
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited has acquired the 982-song music catalog of four-time Grammy winner Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, who under the terms of the deal will also join Hipgnosis’ Investment Adviser’s Advisory Board. The agreement includes 100% of Jerkins’ writer’s share of income for his early works and 100% of his publishing interest and writer’s share of income for his later works. Jerkins’ long list of hits includes tracks for Mary J. Blige (“I Can’t Love You”), Brandy (“The Boy Is Mine”), Whiney Houston (“It’s Not Right But It’s Okay”), Destiny’s Child (“Say My Name”), Beyoncé (“Déjà Vu”), Spice Girls (“Holler”/”Let Love Lead the Way”), Michael Jackson (“You Rock My World”), Sam Smith (“Stay With Me”), Lady Gaga (“Telephone” feat. Beyoncé), Jennifer Lopez (“If You Had My Love”), Jus...
SiriusXM, Pandora Add Self-Pay Subscribers, Advertising Falls Amid Pandemic
Audio entertainment giant SiriusXM, the home of Howard Stern, on Thursday said it added self-pay subscribers in its satellite radio and Pandora businesses for the second quarter, the first one that was fully affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The company, controlled by John Malone‘s Liberty Media, said its satellite radio subscribers fell when including promotional subs, just like had been the case in the first quarter. In the year-ago period, it had added a total of 174,000 net users. In the latest period, SiriusXM added 264,000 self-pay customers, but lost 768,000 promotional subs to end June with 30.3 million self-pay and 34.3 million total users, down 516,000. “Paid promotional subscribers decreased due to declines in shipments from automakers offering paid trial su...
DOJ Workshop on ASCAP & BMI Consent Decrees Lays Out Key Issues With Heavy-Hitter Speakers
Pharrell Williams, LeAnn Rimes, top executives from the performing rights organizations and other leading trade groups all spoke at Tuesday’s session. At the top of Tuesday’s (July 28) Department of Justice public workshop regarding the federal consent decrees that govern ASCAP and BMI, assistant attorney general for the antitrust division Makan Delrahim laid out the main focus for the two-day hearings and panel discussions: competition. Or more specifically, as he put it, “Competition for the benefit of the American consumer, competition for the benefit of innovation and competition for the benefit of songwriters, composers and artists.” That set the tone for four hours’ worth of discussion on the potential review, which was undertaken by the DOJ as part of i...
Nashville Restrictions on Home Recording Studio Overturned
The controversial ordinance was first enacted in 1998. Home recording studios in Nashville can open for business once again. A longstanding law restricting client visits to home-based businesses in Nashville has been eliminated by the city’s Metro Council in a new bill, allowing home recording studios to legally operate in the city for the first time since 1998. Enacted on July 8, the amended ordinance now permits up to six customer visits per day between the hours of 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. To qualify under the new regulations, recording studios and other businesses that host customers on site and/or employ those who live outside the dwelling must first apply for a “home occupation” permit that requires proof of written notifications to owners of adjacent properties, as...
