business
TikTok Hires Shavone Charles as Head of Diversity & Inclusion Communications
TikTok has tapped Shavone Charles to lead communications around the social platform’s diversity and inclusion initiatives. Charles joins TikTok next week in the newly formed role after serving as the director of communications and creative partnerships at VSCO, where she launched the #BlackJoyMatters campaign. Prior to joining VSCO, she oversaw global music and youth culture communications at Instagram and music and culture communications at Twitter, two positions that she created at both companies. Outside of her work with major tech companies, Charles is also the founder of two creative collectives, Future of Creatives and Magic In Her Melanin, focused on amplifying women of color and other underrepresented creators. “As a Black creator and advocate, I am thrilled to join the TikTok team...
TikTok, APRA AMCOS Sign Multi-Year ‘Landmark Deal’
TikTok has struck a new, multi-year licensing arrangement with APRA AMCOS, the Australasian PRO that represents more than 111,000 songwriters, composers and music publisher members. This new pact is the first between both parties, and is a retroactive one that’ll deliver a new revenue stream for music creators in Australia and New Zealand, reads a statement from APRA AMCOS. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though the society confirms that the partnership accounts for TikTok’s past use of musical works, including the service Musical.ly. APRA AMCOS’ agreement with TikTok “legitimizes the use of music on the platform in Australia and New Zealand, and recognizes the important contribution that the songwriters, composers and publishers of that music make to TikTok’s success,” comments APRA...
How One of Live Nation’s Core Business Strategies Backfired at Astroworld
Travis Scott encourages his concert audiences to “rage,” so his Astroworld festival, which this year drew 50,000 fans on Nov. 5 to NRG Park in Houston, needs to be organized in a way that keeps attendees safe. But ScoreMore Shows, which produces and promotes the event, set it up in a way that several concert business sources say may have inadvertently contributed to the crowd surge that resulted in 10 deaths and hundreds of injuries, and that parent company Live Nation rarely exercises the kind of oversight over events organized by its subsidiaries that might have flagged these problems before it was too late. Explore See latest videos, charts and news The hands-off approach is by design. Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino runs the company with a decentralized management strategy that encourag...
Publishing Briefs: Primary Wave Acquires Mike Scott Catalog; DJ Alok Signs With UMPG
Primary Wave Music has bought a stake in the music publishing catalog of singer-songwriter Mike Scott of the Waterboys. Terms of the deal include a share in all publishing rights and income streams, as well as master rights and income streams owned by Scott. Included in the deal are a number of Scott’s biggest hits for the band including “Fisherman’s Blues” and “This Is the Sea,” as well as “Whole of the Moon.” Primary Wave Music will also maintain an ongoing partnership with Scott to manage all assets owned by the musician. In addition, Primary Wave will work with Scott to secure marketing opportunities regarding his name and likeness. Furthermore, Scott will now have access to Primary Wave’s entire marketing team and publishing infrastructure which includes branding, digital,...
Warner Music Sells $540M of Notes to Help Fund Three Acquisitions Worth $710M
Warner Music Group raised $540 million through a sale of 3.75% senior secured notes offering to help fund three acquisitions worth $710 million, the company announced Wednesday (Nov. 17). WMG will use the net proceeds and cash on hand for these acquisitions of “certain music and music-related assets,” or for “general corporate purposes” if it does not close on any of the deals, according to one of its SEC filings. The company has signed non-binding letters of intent for the three deals. WMG has signed non-binding letters of intent for the three acquisitions, which would have added additional revenue and adjusted EBITDA of $42.8 million and $34.4 million, respectively, to the company’s fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2021. Those gains would represent a 0.8% increase to WMG’s $5.3 billion of re...
Tidal Launches Free Tier, Steps Into User-Centric Payments
Tidal is launching a free tier in the U.S. and is introducing a user-centric payment model for its premium subscription offerings, the company announced Wednesday (Nov. 16). The moves mark the first major shifts under its new parent company Square, which acquired Tidal earlier this year for $302 million. The streaming service now has three tiers for listeners to choose from: Tidal Free, which gives U.S.-based listeners free access to Tidal’s 80 million song catalog; Tidal HiFi, which offers high-fidelity audio and offline listening with a new feature called My Activity that will provide daily listening insights for listeners for $9.99 a month; and Tidal HiFi Plus, a $19.99 a month subscription that includes immersive sound options like Dolby Atmos Music and Sony 360 Audio and Master Qualit...
Taylor Swift Leads Race to U.K. Albums Chart Crown
If Swift snags the glory, Red (Taylor’s Version) would be her second U.K. leader of 2021 and her fourth in less than two years. The U.S. pop superstar would also equal Kylie Minogue as the female solo artist with the second-most U.K. No. 1 albums in U.K. chart history, and behind just Madonna, with 12, according to the OCC. Based on midweek data, the new, 10-minute cut of Swift’s fan-favorite “All Too Well” is set to be the week’s highest-charting debut single, currently at No. 7. Meanwhile, last week’s albums chart champion, ABBA’s Voyage (Polar), which shifted more than 200,000 in its first seven-days, dips 1-3 on the Official Chart update, while Rod Stewart is on track for his 37th U.K. Top 10 album with The Tears of Hercules (EastWest/Rhino). It bows at No. 5 on...
Scott Clayton Joins UTA as Co-Head of Global Music Division
Throughout his career, Clayton has worked with John Mayer, Zac Brown Band, Kings of Leon, Dead & Company, Train, My Morning Jacket, Michael Franti, Rodrigo y Gabriela and many others. He worked at CAA for 17 years as a co-head of their Nashville office, served as the co-chair with the Mayor of Nashville of the city’s Music City Music Council, and is a member of the Nashville Public Radio Board of Directors. “Scott is the epitome of what we look for in a leader at UTA: he is a strong advocate for artists and has a long history of supporting and mentoring colleagues,” said UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer in a release. “Sam and David have done a great job building a world-class team and we are very excited for Scott to join us as we continu...
LeBron James, Drake and Naomi Osaka Team Up To Invest in Sports Technology Company, Potentially Worth Billions
LeBron James, Drake and Naomi Osaka have linked up to invest in a sports technology company called StatusPro. Started by two former football players, Andrew Hawkins and Troy Jones, the firm describes themselves as a sports tech and gaming company that incorporates player’s data and augmented and virtual reality to create a bevvy of training and fan engagement products. According to the press release, the sports tech firm is part of a growing industry that is projected to be worth $57 billion USD by 2027. StatusPro currently has partnerships with a number of NFL teams including the Baltimore Ravens, the NFL Players Association and NCAA collegiate teams. Additional investors for the company include Verizon, KB Partners, Greycroft and Leeds United stakeholders. Hawkins and Jones are amongst t...
Taylor Swift Breaks Spotify Single-Day Streaming Records With ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’
Taylor Swift‘s re-recorded Red album has made Spotify history in its first day of release. Red (Taylor’s Version), Swift’s 30-track album that arrived on Nov. 12, is already breaking records on the streaming service: On its opening day it became the most-streamed album in a day by a female, with more than 90.8 million global streams, Spotify confirmed with Billboard. With this feat, Swift tops her previously held record with 2020’s Folklore, which in its first day saw 80.6 million streams. 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. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and ...
It’s Time for the Country Music Association to Show Not Tell (Guest Column)
Like most things in American culture, country music actually has strong Black American influences. Instruments such as fiddles and harmonicas can be traced back to Black communities in the antebellum South. Additionally, the banjo, a staple in country music, originated in West Africa. The history of the Black cowboy has effectively served as a staple symbol of the country music industry and culture. However, the genre has been whitewashed and appropriated thanks to gatekeepers like the Country Music Association. Black people have been systematically excluded from country music to the point where they are often berated and persecuted for even participating in the industry. From experiences with fans to the music labels, Black country artists recount being called rac...
ABBA’s ‘Voyage’ Sails to No. 1 In Australia
Prior to the launch of the ARIA Charts in 1983, ABBA had leaders here with ABBA (11 weeks, December 1975 to February 1976), The Best of ABBA (16 weeks, March 1976 to July 1976) and Arrival (8 weeks, November 1976 to January 1977), the charts compiler reports. Also, in 2018, the Mamma Mia! soundtrack, a collection of ABBA covers, hit No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Australia has a deep connection with ABBA which dates back to the ‘70s, when Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid toured these parts at the height of their popularity. The Melbourne-originated tribute brand Bjorn Again has been giving ABBA fans their fix since the late ‘80s and, in the ‘90s, the Aussie indie film Muriel’s Wedding introduced a new generation to the supergroup’s catalog. Voyage is also expected to bla...
