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Shuttered Indie Venues Grant Deadline Approaches
Pollack and his partner Schuyler Hoversten charge a “small success fee” for their services that’s “variable based upon how much work is involved and how organized or not they are,” says Hoversten. It’s similar to how other consultants have helped small businesses apply for other government-sponsored COVID-19 aid programs like the Payroll Protection Program and the SBA’s restaurant grant program during the pandemic. And with the SVOG deadline approaching, they want to encourage businesses not to give up, even if the process seems complicated. “It’s so complex. It’s so convoluted,” Hoversten says. “They’re asking for a lot of information and I think if you’re not completely telling the sto...
Tencent Music Value Plummeting Amid Regulatory Uncertainty in China
The Chinese government has unleashed 50 regulatory actions — mostly affecting tech companies in recent months, by The Economist’s count, that has created what Richard Kramer, managing partner of Arete Research, called “a tsunami of uncertainties.” Investors have reacted by pricing their uncertainty into Tencent Music’s stock price. Its shares currently trade at 27.1 times forward price-to-earnings compared to 44.2 on March 31, according to Refinitiv. At its all-time high price, Tencent’s market capitalization almost equal with that of Spotify. Now, at roughly $17 billion, Tencent Music is worth 41% of Spotify’s roughly $41 billion market capitalization. The problems began in July when China’s State Administration for Market Regulation aimed to reduce Tencent Music’s market dominance ...
Executive Turntable: Dick Clark Productions Taps New VP; PULSE Promotes Creative Director
Annie Aberle has been elevated to the role of senior creative director at PULSE Music Group, where she previously served as director of A&R. She’ll work with the publishing company’s A&R team and its roster of songwriters and producers. Aberle brings a packed resume to her new role, having worked with clients like Tyler Johnson, who most recently co-wrote & produced Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar” and co-wrote “Adore You,” ALDAE, who co-wrote five songs on Justin Bieber’s album Justice and SG Lewis, who has collaborated with artists like Dua Lipa, Nile Rodgers, Khalid, Robyn, Clairo and Lucky Daye. “I’m eternally thankful to Ashley, Scott and Josh for the opportunity they have given me, and for everything they’ve done to help me grow and be successful since I joined PULS...
Publishing Briefs: Marty Stuart Signs to Sheltered Music; Round Hill an Owner of a ‘Lonely Heart’ Stake
Round Hill Music has acquired an interest in Trevor Rabin‘s publishing catalog, according to a statement from the Board of Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited. The former guitarist turned film composer’s lengthy catalog contains over 3,500 film cues and songs as well as cuts from his tenure as a member of prog rockers Yes, most notably “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” the band’s lone Hot 100 No. 1. Over the course of his storied career Rabin has earned an induction into Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and 11 BMI awards for his work, which includes the scores of National Treasure, Remember The Titans, Armageddon, Enemy of the State, Bad Boys II, Glory Road, and more. Rabin notes his decision to partner with Round Hill Music stemmed from the company’s history of...
Univision Ad Revenue Jumps 72 Percent
Quarterly ad revenue jumped 72 percent from the coronavirus pandemic-hit year-ago period to $407.2 million and “surpassed the second quarter of 2019,” when it had recorded $405.1 million, the company said. Core ad revenue, which is adjusted for political and advocacy ads, rose 70 percent. Media networks unit ad revenue increased 66 percent, or 63 percent when looking at core results. “The increase in media networks core advertising revenue was due to higher ad revenue driven by new brand activations, strong scatter volume and pricing, growth in previously low volume accounts, two major soccer tournaments, and improvements in the auto, retail, and beverage sectors, which are recovering from the negative impacts of COVID-19,” the company said. Said Davis: “This quarter marks another period o...
Kanye West’s Latest ‘Donda’ Event Is Most-Watched Apple Music Livestream Ever
West held a first Donda listening event on July 23 and since then has been living at Mercedes-Benz Stadium while putting the finishing touches on Donda, his 10th studio album. Between the two listening parties, West made considerable tweaks to the album, adding and removing features and entire songs, so it remains to be seen what the definitive version of Donda will sound like once the album is released. After numerous delays, Donda is expected to be released in the coming weeks. The second event on Aug. 5 also pulled in $7 million in revenue from in-person merchandise sales, sources say. That number matches the revenue for the first drop from Yeezy x Gap, West’s new collaboration with the Gap, which former Gap CEO Mickey Drexler told Yahoo Finance generated $7 million overnight when ...
Pershing Square Acquires 7.1% of Universal Music Group at Bargain Valuation
Pershing Square Holdings fulfilled its plans on Tuesday (Aug. 10) to acquire a stake in Universal Music Group ahead of Vivendi’s spin off on Sept. 21. The high-profile hedge fund led by Bill Ackman paid about $21.78 per share and $2.8 billion in total for 7.1% of UMG’s equity. The deal values UMG at 33 billion euros ($38.7 billion). PSH and its affiliates have the right to acquire another 2.9% of UMG’s ordinary shares by Sept. 9. Tuesday’s announcement came three weeks after Pershing Square’s special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, dropped its plans to buy a 10% stake in UMG in a complicated deal at a 35 billion euros ($41 billion) valuation. After PSTH investors lost interest, driving down the share price, and the Securities and Exchange Commission ob...
iHeartMedia Stock Drops 21%, Even as Radio Recovers
But iHeartMedia’s net loss per share was $0.22 compared to the $0.14 loss per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet, according to DowJones Newswire, and investors were clearly hesitant about the company’s future. iHeartMedia shares began Friday at $26.49 — 415% above its pandemic-era low of $4.31 — but fell by 17% on the day and another 4.9% on Monday (Aug. 9), bringing the two-day drop to 21.1%. Investors have also continued to hammer Audacy, the country’s third-largest radio company, after its $0.01 earnings per share on Friday fell well below the $0.09 consensus estimate. Audacy’s forecasted 10% revenue growth from the second to the third quarter was lackluster compared to iHeart (20%), and investors reacted accordingly. Audacy shares dropped 10....
Hollywood Park Opens New 6,000-Capacity YouTube Theater
Hollywood Park and So-Fi Stadium managing director Jason Gannon says YouTube Theater is complimentary to the stadium, which can hold 45,000 to 100,000 guests. “From a flexibility standpoint, it was really important for us to do something like this in a conditioned space,” he says. “We’re very excited to open it up in a couple of weeks from a technology standpoint,” Gannon continues. “There’s a lot of screens and a lot of interactive things around here. That was important in putting this together and also in the partnership with YouTube.” YouTube Theater features a 13 feet by 10 feet digital signage display of the YouTube icon, which can be transformed into an immersive video screen for guests to interact with. The th...
San Diego Symphony’s Year-Round Venue, The Rady Shell, Hosts Gladys Knight on Opening Weekend
The symphony will work with the Port of San Diego to program 110 days throughout the year. The remainder of the time, the space will continue to function as a public park with revamped basketball courts and exercise areas. “This is a very unique partnership with the Port. Eighty-five percent of the time this is a public park. People can come and walk around. They can sit and listen to rehearsals. They can watch art being made,” says Gilmer. “Then 15% of the time, we occupy it. Keeping that balance was critical. I think the Port saw this as a real opportunity for activating our coastline and bringing people to the bay that haven’t been down here before.” For Knight’s performance, the venue was outfitted to welcome 3,500 guests – both seated and spread out on...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: Delta ‘Just the Beginning’ If Vaccinations Don’t Improve
How was Record Store Day? Much, much better than June. That wouldn’t take a whole lot, but it went smoothly. There were very few hiccups. There were a couple of titles from June that were bumped to July that the distributor missed, but I caught that early enough thanks to some of my coalition friends who I quickly asked, “Do have these titles?” And they all resoundingly answered yes, and so I realized I had a problem and they were able to fix it. So that was good. And compared to June, it was a minor blip. It sounds like everything went really well. Were you able to do sort of the full enchilada, in the sense of offering all the fun stuff for people waiting in line? For both the June and July date we poured beer and we had either doughnuts or bacon outside, so that was de...
Liberty Media Revenue Gains on SiriusXM Strength
In terms of operating income, SiriusXM posted a 66 percent gain to $634 million and the Braves swung from a $33 million loss to a $31 million profit. Formula One’s operating loss narrowed from $136 million to $43 million. Liberty Media, led by CEO Greg Maffei, saw its total operating income hit $622 million for the three months ending June 30, compared with $214 million in the year-ago period. Revenue rose from $1.91 billion to $2.88 billion. Said Maffei: “SiriusXM executed well, produced outstanding results and recently increased their 2021 guidance. They continue to repurchase stock, and Liberty’s ownership is now over 78 percent. He added: “Formula 1 is delivering across the board — on the track, for our fans, teams, partners and investors — and has done an impressive job steering throu...
