business
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...
Australian Music Industry Launches Anti-Harassment Initiative ‘Don’t Be That Guy’
BRISBANE, Australia — Enough is enough. A nucleus of Australian music industry professionals has banded together for a campaign with a message to all the misogynists out there, “don’t be that guy.” This week saw the launch of the Music Industry Collaborative Commitment, a shareable tool and resource for artists to use as they enter into one-to-one situations with collaborators or potential business partners. The Commitment is a set of common-sense commandments, intended to create a platform for safety and confidence for music-makers as they pursue opportunities where, sadly, barriers still firmly exist. {“nid”:”9429485″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Wayne Connolly, Celebrated Australian Producer and Engineer, Laun...
Neumos in Seattle, in a Pandemic: It Can Cost a Venue $60,000 a Month to Be Closed
As co-owner of Seattle’s popular independent venue Neumos in Capitol Hill, Steven Severin has been a staple in the Seattle music industry for more than 20 years. Roughly 10 years ago, he helped create the Seattle Nightlife and Music Association to bring together the area’s live event insiders, and for the past 16 years has helped run Neumos with its sister club Barboza and the accompanying Runaway bar. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, we will be speaking with Severin every two weeks to chronicle his experience throughout the crisis. (Read the last installment here and see the full series here.) {“nid”:”9430226″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Indie Venues and...
Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ CD Gets Early Release In U.K.
Game on. Taylor Swift has pulled out the big guns in her battle with Fontaines D.C. for the U.K. chart title. Swift’s latest album Folklore blasted to No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart last week, based on streams and downloads alone (37,000 combined chart sales in total). Though at the midway stage in the chart cycle, Folklore had slipped behind Irish rockers Fontaines D.C.’s sophomore album A Hero’s Death (Partisan) and Creeper’s Sex Death & The Infinite Void (Roadrunner). {“nid”:”9428399″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Fontaines D.C. Push Taylor Swift From Midweek U.K. Albums Chart Summit”,”relative_path”:”\/articles\/news\/9428399\/fontaines-dc-taylor-swift-midweek-uk-albums-chart\/”,”...
Detail, Producer Who Won Grammy For Beyonce’s ‘Drunk In Love,’ Arrested on Sexual Assault Charges
Detail, the Grammy-winning music producer who worked on records for Beyonce, Drake, Lil Wayne and many more, was arrested Wednesday (Aug. 5) in Los Angeles on multiple sexual assault charges. The producer (real name Noel Fisher) is facing 15 sexual assault charges and five additional felony assault-related charges, relating to incidents dating from 2010 to 2018, reads a statement issued by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The L.A. Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed the charges July 31, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Bail was set at $6.29 million, LASD officials said. {“nid”:”8500693″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”When Music Producers Are Accused of Being Predators”,”relative_path”...
Heirs Holdings names new group executive director
Pan-African investment company, Heirs Holdings, has announced the appointment of Dan Okeke as Group Executive Director. The post Heirs Holdings names new group executive director appeared first on TODAY. 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 help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Former Machine Head/Crowbar Drummer Tony Costanza Dies at 52
Former Machine Head/Crowbar drummer Tony Costanza has died at age 52. The news was confirmed by former Crisis bandmate guitarist Afzaal Deen, who paid tribute on Tuesday (Aug. 4) writing, “It is with a very heavy heart that I have to accept and inform everyone concerned that I lost my brother, band mate, home boy and family today. Tony Costanza was one of a kind. A man with a huge heart, love and loyalty for the ones close to him. I cannot relate to this reality of loss yet. I know he had a lot of admirers, and I was one of his biggest. He would have literally taken a bullet for me. Thats the kind of gangster brother he was. Tony died in his sleep this morning so I am sure he was at peace and in no pain.” At press time, no cause of death was available. Deen also posted a GoFund...
Bristow Helicopters fires 100 pilots, engineers over coronavirus effect on operations
Bristow Helicopters has announced the sack of about 100 pilots and engineers following the devastating effect of the coronavirus pandemic on its operations and finances. The announcement comes barely 24 hours after Air Peace announced the sack of about 70 pilots citing the pandemic’s effect on its finances. The post Bristow Helicopters fires 100 pilots, engineers over coronavirus effect on operations appeared first on TODAY. 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 help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Call Me: Hipgnosis Songs Buys Blondie Catalog
Merck Mercuriadis’ Hipgnosis Songs continues its spending spree with the acquisition of Blondie’s catalog. In a statement issued Wednesday morning (Aug. 5) to the London Stock Exchange, Hipgnosis and its investment adviser The Family announced a deal to buy 100% of Debbie Harry and Chris Stein’s writer’s share and neighboring rights (Sound Exchange) royalties in their Blondie catalogs, tallying 197 songs. Financial terms were not disclosed. “We are so happy to be working with a progressive company,” say Harry and Stein in a joint statement. “We are looking forward to the future with Hipgnosis’ forward thinking team.” {“nid”:”9344244″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Debbie Harry on Spending Six Weeks at No. 1 With Blondie's '...
