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Thinking of Selling Your Catalog? How to Plan the Smart Way: Video
Watch a panel modered by Billboard editorial director Hannah Karp and hosted by A/B Bernstein offering guidance to creatives considering the move. Combine a surge in music streaming, a pause in live revenue and a slew of potential buyers seeking steady returns — it’s no wonder many songwriters are currently asking themselves, “Should I sell my catalog?” To help answer that question and many others, investment management and research firm A/B Bernstein hosted a live-streamed panel discussion this month to provide advice for songwriter catalog sellers about what to expect in the sale process, including anticipated legal issues. Also addressed? Important estate planning steps that may be relevant for long-term financial and tax planning. Hosted by A...
Triller Aims to Drastically Boost Indian Audience With New JioSaavn Deal
Triller and leading Indian music streaming service JioSaavn have struck a new partnership designed to expand the video-sharing app’s reach in the country. Under the agreement, which was announced Monday, all music videos offered inside JioSaavn will be Triller music videos, further expanding the app’s visibility in the country. Additionally, JioSaavn’s main screen will prominently display a button inviting users to make their own Triller videos. The new partnership comes on the heels of India’s ban of Triller competitor TikTok in late June over national security concerns. Following the ban, Triller surged to No. 1 on Apple’s App Store in the country. “We couldn’t be more pleased to have partnered with not only the biggest company in India but one of the biggest and ...
Four Takeaways From MSG Entertainment’s Near-Zero Revenue Debut Quarter as a Standalone Company
Crippled by venue closures, concert promoter MSG Entertainment’s fiscal fourth quarter revenue fell 96% to $9 million from $215.2 million for the same period a year earlier, according to financial results released Friday (Aug. 14). These aren’t the sort of numbers investors might have hoped for in the first full earnings report since MSGE spun off from the Madison Square Garden Company on April 20, but amid a pandemic that has shut down concerts since March perhaps there is some solace that this decline in revenue was still slightly better than the 98% drop Live Nation announced Aug. 5. Shares of MSGE dipped 4.7% to $67.99 at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. In all, MSGE’s revenue for the full fiscal year, from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020, fell 27% to $762.9 million from $1 billio...
The Players Behind Harry Styles’ ‘Watermelon Sugar’: See the Full Credits
Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar” took the top seed on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart this week to become his first No. 1 on the ranking, blasting from No. 7 the week prior. The track also charged up the Digital Song Sales chart 9-1, increasing 614% to 63,000 downloads sold in the week ending Aug. 6, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. And it rose 3-2 on Radio Songs, up 8% to 71.7 million audience impressions in the week ending Aug. 9. Explore the team of musicians, producers, engineers and more behind the track with recording credits provided by Jaxsta below. {“nid”:”9432725″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”How Harry Styles' \u2018Watermelon Sugar\u2019 Became His First No. 1 Single on the Hot 100″,&#...
Yucaipa Companies Forms Joint Venture With London-Based K2 Agency
Private equity firm the Yucaipa Companies have entered into a joint venture with K2 Agency, bringing renowned music agent John Jackson’s London-based booking outfit into the same company as the Yucaipa-owned Artist Group International. The partnership follows a recent announcement Yuciapa — the American firm founded in 1986 by Ronald Burkle — was partnering with Danny Wimmer Presents, North America’s largest independent festival producer. That deal came with the exchange for a minority stake in the concert promotion company. Yuicapa also operates booking agency X-Ray Touring as a joint venture with Paradigm Talent Agency and holds a minority stake in Primavera Sound and Primavera Pro. {“nid”:”8551642″,”type”:”post”,...
Spotify Allies With ‘Fortnite’ in Apple App Store Battle
Spotify is backing Fortnite developer Epic Games in its new clash with Apple and the tech giant’s App Store, highlighting its own lawsuit over similar issues. After Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store on Wednesday because Epic Games had introduced a way for players to purchase its virtual “V-bucks” currency outside the payment marketplace, Epic Games filed a lawsuit that could have legal ramifications in the music industry. {“nid”:”9416468″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Sony Takes Minority Stake in Fortnite Maker With $250 Million Investment”,”relative_path”:”\/articles\/business\/9416468\/sony-minority-stake-fortnite-maker-epic-250-million-investment\/”,”media”:{“width”:&...
Publisher & Songwriter Streaming Royalty Rates Headed Back to CRB for Review: What’s in the Ruling
The Copyright Royalty Board went too far when it eliminated a rate ceiling from digital streaming services’ calculation determining music songwriter and publishing royalties. That’s part of the verdict from a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion that was made public Tuesday (Aug. 11), sending the CRB ruling back to the three-judge panel that made the verdict in a 2 to 1 split decision in 2018. The overall all-in music publishing royalty rate ceiling had previously been a part of the rate formula from 2008 to 2018. But will the 44% increase in royalties stand? {“nid”:”9431493″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Appeal Ruling on Publisher Royalty Rate Hike Looks to Favor Digital Services: Sources”,”relative_path&#...
Appeal Ruling on Publisher Royalty Rate Hike Looks Like it Favors Digital Services Contentions: Sources
Spotify, Amazon, Pandora and YouTube have been handed a procedural victory on their appeal to a 44% royalty rate increase for songwriters and publishers, sources tell Billboard. The U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. that reviewed the digital services’ appeal on the Copyright Royalty Board’s (CRB) mechanical rate determination has thrown out the rate structure cobbled together by a majority of the board’s three judges, Billboard has learned. The ruling, which is under seal, could wash away the rate increase that the CRB judges — in a split 2–1 decision — had awarded songwriters and music publishers in January 2018. The CRB ruling was finalized in February 2019 and appealed by digital services a month later on grounds of procedural issues with how the CRB determined...
How Struggling Indie Venues Are Lobbying Local Governments for Support — And Getting Some
As Congress debated the next federal coronavirus aid package this week in Washington, independent music venues across the country have been waiting in anticipation for what will either be a saving grace or a devastating blow to their businesses. Now, as Capitol Hill heads into the weekend with a planned recess days away, there’s still no clarity whether proposed legislation supporting these businesses that have been shuttered since mid-March will make their way into a final package and save an estimated 90% of them from closure by the end of the year. The Save Our Stages Act, introduced by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on July 22, would establish a $10 billion grant program exclusively for live venue operators, promoters, producers and talent representatives. The Restar...
Digital Services’ Appeal of Publisher Rate Hike Headed Back to Copyright Royalty Board: Sources
The U.S. Court of Appeals reviewing an appeal from Spotify, Amazon, Pandora and YouTube over the Copyright Royalty Board’s mechanical rate determination has remanded the case back to the CRB, sources tell Billboard. At press time the decision was sealed, so industry sources weren’t clear on what issues the Washington, D.C. Circuit Appeals Court had with the CRB rate ruling, other than it apparently was due to procedural issues. But procedural issues were at the heart of the digital services’ appeal and, at its most extreme, this could mean the ruling vacated the process that yielded a 44% rate increase for publisher royalties. {“nid”:”8502707″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Why Spotify's Appeal of The CRB Rate Decision Is A Hug...
Digital Media Company LiveXLive Had an OK Quarter, But It’s Got a Long Way to Go
What three letters best explain the modest gains LiveXLive unveiled during its quarterly earnings call Thursday? The would be P-P-P as in the Paycheck Protection Program. Nearly all of the company’s $3.5 million reduction in spending for the quarter appeared to have come from the almost $2 million federal loan it received in March, coupled with $1.4 million in reductions of employee salaries and other expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. That helped LiveXLive achieve its “best quarter in the history of the company,” according to CEO and chairman Rob Ellin, who reported a 11% increase in revenue and a quarterly loss of $7.5 million, or $0.13 per share. That missed the consensus estimate of a loss of $0.12, but marked a significant improvement from a loss of $0.21 per share a year ago (tot...
Inside Pollen, the Mysterious Hit Spotify Playlist Where No Rules Apply
In mid-2018, a team of Spotify employees were preparing a new, genre-less playlist — one of the first of its kind for the streaming service, which was shaking up the industry with its hit-making hip-hop playlist RapCaviar. But they couldn’t decide on a title and cover design that would encompass the playlist’s eclectic sound without putting a box around it. “It was an eight-month saga,” Spotify North America team lead of music culture & editorial John Stein now remembers with a chuckle — until Spotify then-creative director Cecilia Azcarate began playing around with intricate, anatomical drawings of the insides of flowers. “The word ‘pollen’ was thrown around, and we all liked how symmetrical it felt,” Stein says. “There’s a c...
