business
Taylor Swift Racing to U.K. Chart Title With ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) has banked the most sales and album streams so far, to lead the Official Chart Update. Should it hold its ground when the weekly chart is published this Friday (April 16), Swift will have a seventh U.K. No. 1, slotting her into third place among female artists with the most U.K. chart-topping titles behind only Madonna (with 12) and Kylie Minogue (8). It’s highly unlikely that Taylor will be denied. The original version of Fearless was Swift’s breakthrough in the U.K., peaking at No. 5 on the national chart in 2008. Her 2012 album Red was her first leader, and every subsequent album release hit No. 1, including last year’s lockdown LPs Folklore and Evermore. In a distant second place on the chart blast is Ariana Grande’s former leader Positions (Repub...
Harvey Weinstein Moves Closer to Extradition to Los Angeles
Judge Case set an April 30 court hearing ahead of likely setting a date for Weinstein to be extradited to California. During Monday’s hearing, the court heard from Norman Effman, an attorney for Weinstein, who asked for a delay on a likely extradition to allow his client to undergo key medical procedures now scheduled by the New York prisons system. He also requested that Weinstein be virtually arraigned on the California indictment from New York to give more time for his medical treatments. “It seems disruptive to undo what New York State has done to care for a person in their custody, and to ensure that he is receiving appropriate medical care,” Effman told Judge Case. At the same time, Weinstein’s legal team — which included Mark Werksman, a California atto...
DMX’s Family Denies Rumor That Jay-Z & Beyoncé Bought His Master Recordings
The family of DMX (real name Earl Simmons) set the record straight about the alleged sale of the late rapper’s master recordings and his upcoming funeral in a new statement. “There have been a few rumors following our loved one, Earl Simmons’, passing that we’d like to clear up,” his family said in a statement provided to Billboard. “No one has bought Earl’s masters. Additionally, we are not selling any merch or raising money for Earl’s funeral. If anyone is requesting for money for his funeral please be aware the person is a scammer. We will keep the public posted on funeral/memorial service arrangements.” The most popular rumor around DMX’s catalog alleged that Beyoncé and Jay-Z had purchased X’s master recordings fo...
Ogun governor: Our council chairmen will be elected, not selected
Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has assured the people of the state that the forthcoming local government election will be free and fair. He added that the next council chairmen would not be appointed, but elected by the people. Prince Abiodun who made this known in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital while welcoming new members into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), urged the new members to continue to work hard towards the continued development of the party and the state. “Very soon, the time table for the election will be released, we will not appoint chairmen for you at all, the Chairmanship will not be by appointment, it will be by election, everyone should continue to work hard,” he said. Abiodun while noting that his administration would continue to adopt the bottom...
Senate summons insurance firms over failure to remit N17.4 billion pension fund
The Senate Public Accounts Committee, on Monday, summoned NICON Insurance Plc, AIICO Insurance and other insurance companies over alleged failure to remit N17.4 billion fund to Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD). The Executive Secretary of PTAD, Dr Chioma Ejikeme, had told the panel that PTAD took over the assets and liabilities of defunct pension offices without a formal handing over. She said, “On taking over, the Directorate wrote all underwriters to make returns and remit whatever amount is in their custody into a CBN dedicated account. Some of the underwriters responded to the request while some did not. “The bank certificate of balances, accounting statements, 3 years financial statements and policy files requested by the Federal Auditor were not handed over to PTAD ...
Lil Nas X Keeps U.K. Chart Crown With ‘Montero’
Lil Nas X enters a second week at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” (Lil Nas X) while Demi Lovato misses out on the albums crown in an agonizingly close race. “Montero” collects another 62,000 chart sales in the past cycle, including 8.6 million streams, the OCC reports. The U.S. rapper’s controversial song finishes comfortably ahead of the second-placed single, Justin Bieber’s “Peaches” (Def Jam) featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon, up 3-2 to a new peak. Also hitting new highs this week is Russ Millions & Tion Wayne’s “Body” (Atlantic), up 21-12; Australian rapper Masked Wolf’s “Astronaut In The Ocean” (Elektra) up 20-18; Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s Silk Sonic’s “Leave The Door Open” (Atlantic), up 23-20; and D-Block Europe & Raye’s “Ferrar...
2021 Guild Of Music Supervisors Awards: Full List of Winners
Celeste also performed “If I Ever Lose This Heaven,” a song that first gained notice on Quincy Jones‘ 1974 album Body Heat. Andra Day, an Oscar nominee for her performance in The United States vs. Billie Holiday, performed a song to open the show. The show also included performances by Darius de Haas (the zesty “One Less Angel” from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and Angelica Garcia. Soul won the award for best music supervision for film budgeted over $25 million. The award went to Tom MacDougall, the film’s music supervisor. Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste are Oscar-nominated for composing the film’s score. Reznor and Ross won here for best song written and/or recorded for television for “The Way It Used to Be,” which they wrote and recorded for an epi...
Polo G’s ‘Rapstar’ Takes on Lil Nas X’s ‘Montero’ For U.K. Chart Crown
Produced by Synco and featuring social media star Einer Bankz on ukulele, “Rapstar” is on pace to be the Chicago rap artist’s highest charting headline single. His best is a No. 3 peak for KSI’s “Patience,” on which he guests with Yungblood, and his other appearance in the Top 40 was thanks to an assist on Lil Tjay’s “Headshot,” with a peak of No. 40. Elsewhere, Rag’n’Bone Man’s collaboration with Pink, “Anywhere Away From Here,” is on track for a Top 10 bow. It’s at No. 10 on the chart blast and could give the British singer and songwriter his third Top 10 and Pink her 21st. Sydney newcomer Masked Wolf continues to climb the chart with his viral track “Astronaut In The Ocean,” up 18-13 for a new high, while Ava Max’s “My Head & My Heart” lifts 19-14, also a new peak. Doja Cat could ba...
What Spotify Ratifying Ringer & Gimlet Unions Means for Music’s Labor Movement
“This is not just a significant victory, it’s also an innovative victory,” Bronfenbrenner says. “There’s language that prioritizes those that needed it the most. They’re fighting for the lowest-paid workers, workers of color and LGBTQ workers.” In recent years, unions have struggled to gain traction at Big Tech companies: Amazon warehouse workers lost an election Friday (April 9) to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union; Google workers formed the Alphabet Union in January, but it has only 700 members in a company of 130,000 employees. And although music workers aren’t specifically impacted by the Spotify ratifications, the streaming service’s action is the latest in recent small but positive signs for labor movements after indie rec...
NACC seeks quick visa facilitation for members
The Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC) has urged the American Embassy in Nigeria to do everything possible to facilitate the Visa processing for members of the bilateral Chamber especially when it involves business trips for national growth and development. The National President of the Chamber, Otunba Toyin Akomolafe, who spoke at the NACC’s 60th Anniversary Public virtual Lecture in Lagos, said this is imperative given the enormous benefits inherent in the natural resources of both countries to be harnessed by mutual benefit. “Given the wobbling economy all over the world occasioned by the global pandemic, it’s expedient for embassies especially the American Embassy in Nigeria to fastrack VISAs and other protocol involved for trade experts going to America for the sole purpose ...
Executive Turntable: Kardinal Offishall to Helm A&R at Universal Music Canada
In his new role, Kardinal will continue to discover, sign and develop artists, forge new creative partnerships and provide strategic direction to drive the international success and cultural prominence of UMC’s artist roster. He will work closely with UMC’s urban marketing team while continuing his roles as chair of UMC’s B.L.A.C.K. Coalition (BLC) and Canada’s representative on UMG’s Task Force for Meaningful Change. Republic Records promoted Xiarra-Diamond Nimrod to vp of marketing strategy. In her new role, she will continue to oversee marketing, rollout and release strategy for multiplatinum chart-topping rap artists such as Pop Smoke, Metro Boomin and Jacquees. “We’ve been lucky to have a front row seat to Xiarra’s evolution into a world-class marketing executive,” said Republic’...
Ozuna Joins Gaming Company XSET in ‘Match Made in Heaven’
“This is something that we’ve been looking to do for a while,” says Edgar Andino, Ozuna’s manager. “We’ve been looking at what gaming has been doing for artists, the masses and the unique engagement within the gaming community. We understand that this is the future. We realized this could be an interesting opportunity for not only gaming but also fashion and music.” In the upcoming months, Ozuna’s now-iconic teddy bear logo will be incorporated on the professional jerseys worn during XSET’s competitive games. “That’ll be a first for a team to have a musical logo presence,” says Selkoe. Future initiatives include an NFT dropping mid-May, and gaming will play a major role at Ozuna’s Cancun Fest scheduled for Nov. 4-8. &#...
