business
Kaskade Loses Bid to Thwart Financial Subpoena in KAOS Nightclub Lawsuit
A U.S. magistrate judge has rebuked an effort by Kaskade to withhold information on concerts the DJ played in the wake of the closure of the KAOS nightclub is Las Vegas and ordered the performer to pay the hotel’s attorneys’ fees for the cost of enforcing a subpoena. Ryan Raddon, who performs as Kaskade, is suing F.P. Holdings, a limited partnership connected to the Palms Casino Resort, for breach of contract over his residency deal at the KAOS nightclub, which closed in November after six months of operation. KAOS was supposed to anchor a $690 million renovation of the Palms and host a residency by global superstar Marshmello, but the club lost nearly $50 million, according to a Nov. 6, 2019, quarterly earnings call, and shut down permanently. Raddon was ma...
YouTube Launches TikTok Competitor in India
YouTube Shorts allows users to record and upload 15-second videos straight from their mobile phones. YouTube is entering the race to usurp TikTok’s dominance in the short-form video space with YouTube Shorts, a new tool that will allow users to record and upload 15-second videos straight from their mobile phones. This week, YouTube will launch an early beta of Shorts in India, which in late June banned TikTok and dozens of other Chinese-owned apps, citing security concerns. Since the ban, the popularity of TikTok competitor Triller exploded in India, surging to No. 1 on Apple’s App Store in the country. In its early beta launch in India, Shorts will boast a number of creation tools similar to those on TikTok and its competitors, including a multi-segment camera allowing users t...
‘The Apollo’ (About the Legendary Theater) and ‘Apollo 11’ Win Big on Night 1 of Primetime Emmy Awards
This year’s creative arts and other pre-telecast awards are being split into five (count ‘em) nightly shows. The Apollo, an HBO film about the legendary Harlem theater, won the Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding documentary or nonfiction special on Monday (Sept. 14). This year’s creative arts and other pre-telecast awards are being split into five (count ‘em) nightly shows, leading up to the televised Primetime Emmy Awards next Sunday (Sept. 20). This first night was devoted to reality and non-fiction programming. Apollo beat formidable competition– Beastie Boys Story (Apple TV+), (Michelle Obama’s) Becoming (Netflix), The Great Hack (Netflix) and Laurel Canyon: A Place in Time (Epix). Apollo 11, about the 1969 space launch which put man on the moon, won t...
Doves Are Flying Towards U.K. No. 1 With ‘The Universal Want’
Doves are soaring atop the midweek U.K. chart with The Universal Want (Virgin), their first album in more than a decade. The Manchester alternative rock outfit should nab a third No. 1 with The Universal Want, which is outselling the rest of the Top 5 combined, according to the Official Charts Company. The band already has five Top 20 albums, including chart leaders The Last Broadcast (2002) and Some Cities (2005). The trio’s most recent studio album Kingdom of Rust debuted at No. 2 back in 2009. Another Manc band is flying high on the Official Chart Update as Everything Everything’s Re-Animator (Infinity Industries) starts at No. 2. The indie rock outfit is well on pace to best their No. 5 chart peak, which they’ve managed on two occasions. Veteran goth-metal artist Mari...
ViacomCBS to Sell CNET for $500 Million to Red Ventures
ViacomCBS has struck a deal to sell its CNET unit to Red Ventures for $500 million. The transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020, is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. CBS acquired CNET, which offers consumer electronics product reviews and news, in 2008 for $1.8 billion. Since the recombination of Viacom and CBS, the new ViacomCBS has been selling off non-core assets to reduce debt and free up financial fire power for expansions in the streaming space and other core businesses. The company, led by CEO Bob Bakish, also has put on the auction block CBS’ longtime Manhattan headquarters Black Rock and book publisher Simon & Schuster. “Red Ventures believes in the power of premium content from trusted brands that help ...
Rolling Stones Crush U.K. Chart Record With ‘Goats Head Soup’
After a tight race, The Rolling Stones finished with another chart crown and a place in the history books. The legendary British rock band bagged the title in the final hour with their reissue of Goats Head Soup (Polydor), the second time the album has ruled the Official U.K. Albums Chart. On this occasion, Goats Head Soup finished with an advantage of just 800 combined sales over the midweek leader, Declan McKenna’s Zeros. With their latest chart feat, The Stones become the first band in history to land a No. 1 album across six different decades. The Rolling Stones now have 13 No. 1 albums, including the 1973 original edition of Goats Head Soup, placing them level with Elvis Presley and Robbie Williams. Only The Beatles have more career No. 1 albums in the U.K., at 16. Mick Jag...
TikTok Sale: ByteDance Partners With Oracle
ByteDance has selected Oracle as its partner for a deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S., a source familiar with the talks confirms to The Hollywood Reporter. The decision comes as ByteDance has rejected a bid by Microsoft that earlier this summer was seen as the likely option for the company as it looked to avoid a shutdown of the popular social media app amid increased tensions between the U.S. and China. Microsoft confirmed that its bid had been rejected in a statement on its corporate blog on Sunday night. “We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests,” the company wrote. “To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, priv...
All-Star ‘Music From The Home Front’ Charity Fundraiser Returns to No. 1 In Australia
There’s a familiar feel to the top end of Australia’s albums chart this week as Music From The Home Front (Bloodlines/Universal) returns to No. 1 and Powderfinger’s classic Odyssey Number 5 (Universal) reenters at No. 2, while Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” (Atlantic/Warner) makes it a full month atop the national singles survey. The all-star Home Front album bagged two consecutive weeks at No. 1 in June and July, and returns for a third week off the back of its release on triple vinyl. The companion album to Michael Gudinski’s virtual concert on ANZAC Day, April 25, Home Front features performances from Jimmy Barnes, Crowded House, Dean Lewis, Tones And I and many others, with all profits going to Support Act, the charity that delivers crisis relief services to artists, crew and ...
Executive of the Week: RECORDS CEO Barry Weiss
This week, 24kGoldn and iann dior’s record “Mood” climbed into the top 10 of the Hot 100 in its fourth week on the chart, reaching No. 8 with the distinction of top airplay and streaming gainer honors. The track, released by RECORDS/Columbia, has been boosted by an unusual multi-genre appeal, which sees it spending its second straight week at No. 1 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts, while maintaining a slot at No. 5 on the Hot Rap Songs chart. And that’s helped RECORDS CEO Barry Weiss earn the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week, for helping shepherd the song to huge gains across the board. And while this is the first top 10 for 24kGoldn, Weiss isn’t expecting it to be his last. “He’s been building through old-fashioned artist...
Executive Turntable: WMG Names Head of Investor Relations, FUGA Makes Key Leadership Hires
Warner Music Group has hired Kareem Chin as senior vp head of investor relations effective immediately. Chin arrives at WMG from iHeartMedia, where he served in the same role. Chin, whose appointment follows WMG’s recent IPO, will lead the company’s investor relations efforts and work closely with the company’s finance and corporate communications teams. He will also oversee key events, including quarterly earnings calls and attendance at investor conferences. At iHeartMedia, which he joined as it was emerging from bankruptcy, Chin developed and built out the company’s investor relations function as it explored listing options and later made its debut on the Nasdaq exchange. Prior to that, he was vp investor relations at Viacom, a role that followed over a decade in investment banking. Mus...
Department of Justice Argues TikTok Employee Can’t Stop Trump’s ByteDance Ban
The Department of Justice argues a TikTok employee’s fear that the executive order banning transactions with Beijing-based parent ByteDance will keep him from getting paid isn’t enough to warrant a temporary restraining order that would keep the Department of Commerce from enforcing it. President Donald Trump on Aug. 6 issued an order that would bar “any transaction by any person” with ByteDance or any of its subsidiaries. TikTok on Aug. 24 sued, arguing its due process and first amendment rights were being violated. The same day, a technical program manager named Patrick Ryan sued Trump and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross Jr. arguing that the vaguely worded ban on transactions between U.S. persons and ByteDance could mean that he can’t get paid. Earlie...
U.S. Recorded Music Business Still Growing (A Bit) Amid Pandemic: RIAA 2020 Mid-Year Report
The good news: The U.S. recorded-music business was still in an upswing in the first half of 2020, growing 5.6% at retail to $5.7 billion, up from $5.4 billion, continuing a trend of growth that extends back to the industry’s nadir in 2015. The less-good news: That growth, like most everything else in the music business and beyond so far this year, took a pandemic-related hit, ending a short streak of double-digit gains after a 17% boost at mid-year 2017, 10% at mid-year 2018 and 18% at mid-year 2019. Of course, percentage-based growth, by its nature, is always increasingly-difficult to improve upon, and once-in-a-generation pandemics were never going to help keep that streak alive. And within that context there’s still plenty of good news for the industry in its continued recovery amid th...
