business
Lagos assembly warns local councils against extorting courier, logistics operators
Pool Photo The Lagos House of Assembly on Monday ordered local government councils and local council development areas (LCDAs) in the state to desist from extorting and harrassing operators of courier and logistics services in the state. Mudashiru Obasa, the House speaker, said the local councils do not have the power to tax logistics and courier services. He said the power of the councils was limited to the registration of bicycles as dictated by the Constitution. Mr Obasa said it was important to act against the action of the councils because it affects the ease of doing business in the state. “We have to make them understand that going out to disturb well-planned and organised businesses that stand to create employment for our youth especially with the rate at which students graduate wi...
Roblox and Twitch Are Gaming the System Against Songwriters (Guest Op-Ed)
The company has made hundreds of millions of dollars on the backs of creators, including by requiring users to pay every time they upload music — taking advantage of largely young people’s lack of understanding about copyright — and then they take virtually no action to prevent repeat infringement or alert users to the risks they are taking. The fact that mostly children, who would have no idea whether Roblox has covered its legal bases, are the ones who are being taken advantage of is particularly egregious When confronted with the need to license in order to protect itself and its users, Roblox thus far has been defiant. Not only have they refused to pay for the songs they know are on the platform, they are trying to hide behind a misinterpretation of the DMCA to avoid liabil...
Spotify’s ‘Discovery Mode’ Is Payola, Just Not the Bad Kind (Guest Op-Ed)
Anyone with an internet connection can post their music to YouTube or Spotify. The challenge now is getting people to listen to it. To reach audiences, aspiring musicians can hook up with TikTok influencers who will dance to their songs for money. Or they can pay the thousands of independent playlisters on Spotify to add their tunes to popular playlists. An entire subindustry of social media music promotion has sprung up specifically to assist musicians with these endeavors. Historically, the justifications for regulating payola were (i) that it harmed consumers, and (ii) that it harmed competition. But as we describe in a forthcoming law review article exploring the history of payola, in the 1950s and 1960s, these “harms” were often used as a cover for run-of-the-mil...
Senator backs Nigerian government on grazing routes
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, has asked the Federal Government to go ahead with its plan to recover the old cattle grazing routes because herdsmen activities affect every part of the country. Adamu, who also served as a two-time governor of Nasarawa State, disagreed with those who argued that the Federal Government should not dabble into grazing issues because it had no constitutional powers to do so. The Senator, who spoke with newsmen in Abuja, said herdsmen needed the cattle routes because of the challenges they usually faced when they wanted to adopt other forms of transportation. He said the Federal Government should attend to the welfare of herdsmen just as it was providing basic amenities for others involved in private businesses across the ...
Justin Cosby, Co-Founder of Australia’s Inertia Music, Dies at 50
There are no further details available as to the cause of his death. As the sad news spread, Australia’s music community turned to social media to remember a top-notch music man with a gentle nature. “I’m just shocked to hear of the passing of beautiful Justin Cosby,” wrote indie-pop singer and songwriter Holiday Sidewinder. “He signed me when I was 16 and was truly a pleasure to work, a special soul and emotionally intuitive. I’ll never forget him crying at one of my shows because he was so moved…” She continued, “He often popped into my parents house to have a cup of tea and give me new records to listen to. He was one of the good guys in a very lecherous industry, and made me feel safe and respected as a musician. RIP beautiful man.” Justin was “highly regarded by the Austra...
Kelly Clarkson Wins Twice at 2021 Daytime Emmy Awards
Sheryl Underwood, co-host of CBS’ The Talk, hosted the Daytime Emmys for the fifth time. Red Table Talk won outstanding informative talk show, beating, among others, Red Table Talk: The Estefans. Jada Pinkett Smith co-hosts Red Table Talk with her daughter, “Whip My Hair” hitmaker Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Norris. Gloria Estefan co-hosts Red Table Talk: The Estefans with her daughters Emily and Lili Estefan. Both shows air on Facebook Watch. CBS Sunday Morning, which frequently runs profiles of top music artists, won outstanding morning show. The show’s host, Jane Pauley, formerly co-hosted NBC’s The Today Show, one of the other nominees in this category. The show included tributes to three TV legends who died in the past year — Regis Philbin, Alex Treb...
Ekiti APC chieftain: 2022, 2023 elections‘ll be based on personality, not party affiliation
An All Progressives Congress (APC) Chieftain in Ekiti, Mr Demola Popoola, says that the 2022 and 2023 elections will be about personality rather political party affiliation. Popoola stated this in Oye-Ekiti while declaring his intention to contest the governorship primaries of the party in the state. “The next general elections will be based on who the candidate is and not his political party. “Contributions and capacity of aspirants will play a critical role in the polls, but I am determined to bring my wealth of experience to bear in governance of the state, if given the opportunity in 2022. “I will work through my plans to banish poverty from Ekiti through my deliberate and concerted efforts in creating jobs through industrialisation of the state,’’ he said. Popoola, who hails from Oye-...
Olivia Rodrigo Continues to Dominate Australia’s Singles and Albums Charts
Rodrigo’s hit holds off Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ fast-moving Carnage (AWAL/Inertia), which returns to the chart at No. 2 following its release on physical formats. On its first chart appearance, following a digital-only release in February, the collaborative album peaked at No. 40. It’s the first full-length studio LP as a duo by the long-time friends and Bad Seeds bandmates, aside from several soundtracks, including The Proposition, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and The Road. Carnage is the week’s best-selling vinyl album in Australia. Also new to the latest ARIA Albums Chart is Fear Factory’s 10th studio release, Aggression Continuum (Nuclear Blast/Universal). It arrives at No. 15, equaling the peak of its predecessor, 2015’s Genexus. Further dow...
New Tech Brings Blackbird Studios’ Vintage Sound to Creators’ Homes
The BB N105 plug-in, which mimics the characteristics of Blackbird’s custom Neve 8078 board, was released a day early on June 21 after a high-tech review appeared on a YouTube channel on June 17 and spurred demand. The product is an early installment in a long-term program, which may eventually offer plug-ins that mirror 100 different pieces of Blackbird equipment. It’s an unprecedented step in branding the studio, making the quality of its machines widely available while maintaining the exclusive nature of its rooms. “Where I think having the plug-in is really cool is you can record in a studio, and then you can go home and go, ‘You know, I really wish we did a little more with that vocal on the console,'” says KIT Plugins CEO/founder Matt...
Event Designer Bobby Garza In Austin, In a Pandemic: Cash-Poor Venues Have Decisions to Make
When the concert business shut down in March 2020, Bobby Garza abruptly shifted from putting on live events to tearing them down — his company, Austin-based Forefront Networks, had to cancel the California food-and-music festival Yountville Live later that month. In early April, his life changed even more dramatically: Forefront furloughed 30 percent of its staff, including him. As part of Billboard‘s efforts to best cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, we will be speaking with Garza, a 44-year-old former Forefront creative team leader who used to be general manager of festival producer Transmission Events, every other week to chronicle his experience throughout the crisis. As of early January, he is now vice president of programs and community ...
Senate vows to expose MDAs refusing to account for public funds
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said that the upper chamber will publish the names of government agencies that have refused to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to defend the interrogations of the Auditor-General for the Federation in the 2015 report. Lawan made this known in his remarks after the Senate considered the report of the Committee on Public Accounts on the annual report of the Auditor-General for the Federation on the accounts of the Federation for the year ended 31st December, 2015. According to the Senate President, any public official that refuses to account for public funds at their disposal must be shown the way out of office. He said, “This is one of our major responsibilities as a parliament, to hold the executive to account. “[And] whoever is given t...
After Long Delay, India Launches International Singles Chart
Global pop hits dominated the inaugural chart, with BTS’s “Butter” topping the list, followed by Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” (No. 2), Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” (No. 3), Justin Bieber, Daniel Caesar and Giveon’s “Peaches” (No. 4) and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” (No. 5). BTS and Rodrigo tie for the most entries with three songs each in the top 20. The K-Pop group’s enduring hits “Dynamite” and “Life Goes On” sit at No. 8 and No. 20, respectively, while the fast-rising Disney star’s “Deja Vu” and “Drivers License” occupy the No. 18 and No. 19 positions. Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group jointly lead all labels with seven hits on the chart. Warner Music Group has five. The only independent label on the list is Canada’s Namah Music Group whose “Jalebi Baby” by Ca...
