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Inside Track: Where Does Music’s Love Affair With Gaming Go?
Yes, you read that correctly. It’s not news that the music business wants in on that money. For years there have been collaborations across industries, including soundtracks for games like Grand Theft Auto IV way back in 2008 and ongoing partnerships spanning well over a decade to provide music for sports franchises like Madden and NBA 2K. But over the past two years, that relationship has rapidly expanded, reaching a fever pitch during the pandemic when gaming, in general, exploded around the world as people were confined to their homes and artists looked for new revenue streams (think Travis Scott partnering with Fortnite and Lil Nas X working with Roblox). Now many are wondering where this leads next. For rights holders, lawsuits are shifting to cooperation, most recently with the NMPA ...
Mike Sherwood Joins Capitol Music Group as EVP Global Marketing & Strategy
Sherwood comes to CMG from a more than 15-year stint at Warner Records, where he started as a regional marketing manager before working his way up to senior vp streaming & revenue. According to a press release, he “played a key role in the record-breaking global streaming stories” of Warner Records artists including Dua Lipa, Mac Miller, Bebe Rexha, Saweetie, Bella Poarch and NLE Choppa. He has personally overseen more than 20 singles that have garnered north of 1 billion streams worldwide, including tracks from M.I.A., Gucci Gang, Look Alive and 7 Years. He has also played a key role in the success of projects from The Black Keys, Linkin Park, Red Hot Chili Peppers, David Guetta, Tom Petty, Green Day and Drake’s OVO Sound label, among others. Before joining the Universal M...
Pandora Is Shutting Down Next Big Sound
The post characterizes the platform’s closure as “the final step of a multi-year transition,” adding that the Next Big Sound team “is excited to focus on improving and expanding” Pandora’s Artist Marketing Platform (AMP), which provides artists with streaming data around their music on the service. The AMP tools have been a focus for Next Big Sound since shortly after Pandora’s acquisition of the company in 2015. Moving forward, AMP will continue sharing Pandora streaming data with Next Big Sound partners including Billboard, MRC Data and Chartmetric. Next Big Sound adds it is working to ensure that the integration process “is as seamless as possible for all of our users and partners,” noting that full track-level reporting is already available in Pandora’s AMP dashboard. That said, ...
Electronic Livestream Mainstay Boiler Room Acquired by Ticketing Platform Dice
The company plans to work with Boiler Room on enhancing its programming and creating additional revenue for artists, rights holders, collectives, festivals and clubs. U.K.-based ticketing platform Dice has acquired the long-running electronic livestream series Boiler Room. According to a statement from Dice, the company plans to work with Boiler Room on enhancing its programming and creating additional revenue for artists, rights holders, collectives, festivals and clubs. The news comes just a week after Dice announced that it would use its newly-acquired $122 million in Series C funding to grow its team, reach new artists and venues and expand its livestream offerings. Founded in 2014, Dice is a discovery and events app that works with over 3,600 venues, festivals and promoters ...
Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel Says ‘No’ to Buying UTA
He also said that the deal “validated” Endeavor’s strategy when it merged with WMA. “They are just coming to it 13 years later … Mazel tov,” he added. He also defended Endeavor’s representation business, pushing back against the notion that the company is ignoring it in favor of UFC or its other ventures. “I would say to you, we are the largest agency,” Emanuel said. “Our representation business, for the last 10 or 11 years, has grown double digits every year for 10 years. It is a very significant part of our business, and it is the core feeder for how our business grows.” He also argued that Endeavor continues to be important to its clients, particularly as the number of streaming services continue to grow, and as the power of ce...
Round Hill Acquires The O’Jays’ Recorded Catalog
Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Ltd. has acquired the recorded catalog of classic R&B group The O’Jays, it was announced today. The purchase encompasses 100% of the master royalty income from 532 total recordings, including such hits as “Love Train,” “Forever Mine” and “For the Love of Money.” Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. According to catalog royalty statements from calendar years 2018-2020, 64% of the revenue generated by the group’s catalog is derived from streaming, followed by 17% sync, 10% downloads, 6% other and 3% physical. Eighty-eight percent of that revenue is generated in the U.S. The top songs ranked by revenue are “Love Train,” “Forever Mine,” “For The Love of Money,” “Back Stabbers,” “Use Ta Be My Girl,” “Cry Together,” “Stairway To Heaven”...
The Kid LAROI Leaves Scooter Braun, Moves to Adam Leber for Management
LAROI’s track “Stay” with Justin Bieber — another Braun client — is currently the No. 1 song in the country, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for the six weeks since it’s July 9 date release on Columbia Records. Leber launched Rebel in April in conjunction with Live Nation. He had previously been a partner at management conglomerate Maverick, which he co-founded in 2014 alongside other music management heavyweights Clarence Spalding, Larry Rudolph, Guy Oseary, Gee Roberson, Scott Rodger, Cortez Bryant, Ron Laffitte and Caron Veazey. Braun and Leber did not respond to request for comment at time of publishing. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. ...
Warner Music Becomes Twitch’s First Major-Label Partner
Warner Music Group (WMG) is the first major recording company to partner with Twitch in a deal that will bring WMG artist channels, original music programming and more to the livestreaming platform. To start, WMG is launching artist channels for Warner Records stars Bella Poarch and Saweetie, plus Atlantic Records singer and producer Sueco, where they’ll share exclusive and behind-the-scenes content. Additionally, social media-focused digital media company IMGN — which WMG acquired last year — will produce a slate of original shows like “The Drop,” to discuss music news; “Freestyle Throwdown,” where rappers freestyle based on topics chosen by the audience; and “The One,” where guest artists perform the songs that influenced them. “...
Bill Making Recording Costs Tax-Deductible Added to Congress Budget Package
The HITS Act, which would allow musicians, technicians and producers to deduct 100% of recording expenses up to $150,000 on their taxes in the year they’re incurred, remains unchanged from its previous versions. It was first introduced in the House on July 31, 2020 (followed by a companion bill in the Senate on Dec. 3, 2020), though it failed to pass as part of the last two pandemic relief packages despite intense lobbying from independent music advocates to have it included. It was reintroduced by its original House and Senate sponsors back in March. Under the current tax code, music creators are required to amortize production expenses for tax purposes over the economic life of a sound recording, a period that usually ranges between three and four years. If passed, the HITS Act wou...
Neumos in Seattle, in a Pandemic: Shows Are Still Canceling
How are things going for you since we last talked? We had our third break in at (my restaurant) Life on Mars. I now have an alarm. The funny thing about me not having an alarm, is that when I moved to Washington in 1991, I sold burglar alarms for three years. I know how shitty they can be with false alarms and everything, so I was like ‘I don’t want an alarm.’ But this time we had a pro job. They came in through the back door, got into the office, took our portable P.O.S. devices and multiple laptops. The other times people broke in, they didn’t get much. This time they got us bad. We’ve got insurance and all that but there is still a deductible. It’s not cheap. It is a pain the ass and I am still dealing w...
Jenifer Smith Now Heads Urban Tour Marketing at Live Nation Concerts
Jenifer Smith has been named head of urban tour marketing & strategy at Live Nation Concerts. Smith, who oversaw the global marketing efforts for the recently announced Fugees reunion tour, will supervise the team supporting the concerts division’s roster of R&B/hip-hop tours. Among the established and rising artists that Smith will be supporting across tours and key festivals are Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Drake, The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, H.E.R., Young Thug and Jack Harlow. She will also be developing and building out Live Nation’s urban tour marketing team. In a statement announcing Smith’s new executive post, Omar Al-joulani, head of talent & touring for Live Nation Concerts, said, “Whether it’s artists or our own internal team, Live Nation is always inve...
Sony US Latin President Alex Gallardo Is Leaning Into Data and Diversifying Deals
Gallardo has been doing that by trying new things, both musically and commercially. Encouraging artists like Rauw Alejandro (“Todo de Ti”), Farruko (“Pepas”) and Camilo (“Kesi”) to venture outside of reggaetón has paid off with the biggest hits of their respective careers. And building out Sony Latin’s business intelligence department — which parses data to help inform A&R, marketing and sales strategies — helped identify Rochy RD’s “Ella No Es Tuya” as it was gaining momentum on Dominican independent label Vulcano Music. The Sony Latin remix hit No. 30 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, and was an even bigger sensation in Spain and South America. With each step, Gallardo is keeping an eye on the future. “As a label, we need to reinvent,” he says. “Nowadays, artists can ...
