business
Napster Sold to Virtual Reality Concert App MelodyVR for $70 Million
Napster is on the move, again. London-based virtual reality concerts company MelodyVR announced on Tuesday that it is acquiring Rhapsody International, which operates as Napster, from its majority owner RealNetworks for the price tag of $70 million. MelodyVR, which operates an app specializing in live virtual reality music experiences, plans on combining with Napster to create the “first ever music entertainment platform which combines immersive visual content and music streaming,” said Anthony Matchett, MelodyVR’s CEO. The $70 million transaction is expected to close by year’s end and breaks down as $15 million in cash, $11 million in MelodyVR stock and the assumption of roughly $44 million in payments owed by Napster to various music industry entities. “For music&...
iHeartRadio Music Awards Cancelled For 2020 — But Winners Will Still Be Announced
Eight months will have elapsed between the announcement of the nominees and the revelation of the winners. The 2020 iHeartRadio Music Awards, originally scheduled to take place March 29 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, with Usher hosting, were officially cancelled on Monday (Aug. 24). But fear not, awards fans: The winners will still be announced over the Labor Day weekend (Sept. 4-7) on 840 iHeartRadio stations nationwide and via iHeart’s social platforms. The chain will even include acceptance speeches from the winners. This year’s nominations were announced on Jan. 8, which means eight months will have elapsed between the announcement of the nominees and the revelation of the winners. Billie Eilish and Shawn Mendes were this year’s top nominees, with seven nods each. Taylo...
Biffy Clyro Oust Taylor Swift From U.K. Albums Chart Summit
Move over Taylor Swift, Biffy Clyro is the new boss of the U.K. albums chart. The Scottish rockers open at No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart with A Celebration Of Endings (Warner Records), for their third leader. The new LP blasts away with 26,000 chart sales, including 8,000 vinyl units, according to the OCC. A Celebration Of Endings is the trio’s ninth album, and their seventh Top 10. With its fast start, Celebration ends the three-week streak at No. 1 by Taylor Swift’s Folklore (EMI), which dips to No. 2. English indie-rock outfit Sea Girls enjoy a No. 3 start with their debut album Open Up Your Head (Polydor). Also new to the top tier of the chart this week is Manic Street Preacher James Dean Bradfield, whose Even In Exile (Montyray) bows at No. 6. It’...
‘Masked Singer Australia’ Production Halted Following COVID Outbreak
The Masked Singer Australia has entered into lockdown mode after several crew members were diagnosed with COVID-19. The production team, which numbers 180 and includes the masked celebrities, host Osher Gunsberg and its judging panel, are now in self-isolation. With just one episode to go in the current season, production is now immediately suspended, as “the health and safety of the community, and our staff and production partners is our number one priority,” explains a statement issued Sunday. The series is filmed in Melbourne, which currently holds the unwanted status as Australia’s coronavirus hotspot, and airs on the commercial Network 10. The show will go on. All episodes are in the can, with the exception of the grand final, which means fans can tune in on Monday an...
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘WAP’ Hits No. 1 In Australia
Cardi B has her first No. 1 in the land Down Under as “WAP” (Atlantic/Warner), featuring Megan Thee Stallion, rises 2-1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, while Taylor Swift’s Folklore (Republic/Universal) enters a fourth consecutive week atop the national albums survey. “WAP” is just the third female-led hip-hop song to rule Australia’s singles chart, and the first in almost three decades, ARIA reports. The only others are Dimples D’s “Sucker DJ” (March 1991) and Salt-N-Pepa’s “Let’s Talk About Sex” (January 1992). With Cardi B’s Billboard Hot 100 leader now on top in Australia, Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo’s “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” (Columbia/Sony) slips to No. 2, while Drake has the week’s highest debut, as “Laugh Now Cry Later” (Republic/Universal) featuring Lil Durk starts at No...
LA Judge Extends Britney Spears Conservatorship Until 2021
POP 8/21/2020 by Claudia Rosenbaum Los Angeles Judge Brenda Penny ruled after a sealed hearing on Thursday (Aug. 19) to extend Britney Spears conservatorship till Feb. 1, 2021. The virtual hearing was attended by Spears’ court appointed attorney, Samuel Ingham, her father James Spears, Lynn Spears, and their respective attorneys. In addition, Spears current temporary conservator Jodi Montgomery. Penny also made some findings and orders under seal. In the interim she set a time table for Britney’s attorney to file a petition by Sept. 18 and to have it set for a hearing in her court on Oct. 14th. Any objections in the case are to be filed by Oct. 2, according to Penny. The hearing came two days after Ingham filed a court paper on the singer’s behalf declaring that she does not want her fathe...
Nashville Venues Encourage Fans to #MaskNowPartyLater to Speed Concerts’ Return
Promoters in the city have launched a new social media awareness campaign, asking the touring industry to step up and spread the word. Venues and event creators in Nashville have banded together to encourage Americans to wear a mask and take safety precautions to help slow the spread of COVID-19 through a new campaign. The #MaskNowPartyLater campaign officially launched Wednesday (Aug. 19) with the incentive of bringing awareness to the live music sector and how slowing the spread of the virus now will bring live music back sooner. The collective of event creators, vendors, sports teams, venues, athletes and artists in Nashville began educating the public on what it’s going to take to get live events back sooner with the hashtag and are now calling upon the entire sector to step up and sha...
Police nab rape suspect in Sapele after CCTV evidence
The Police in Delta have confirmed the arrest of a 30-year-old man identified as Jomaph who allegedly raped an 11-year-old girl in Sapele town, Sapele LGA of Delta. Spokesperson of the Delta Police Command, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, told newsmen on Wednesday in Asaba that the suspect was arrested after he was captured on a CCTV camera sneaking into the toilet to meet the victim. “The young man was arrest after he was captured on a nearby CCTV sneaking into the toilet with the little girl. “The suspect has been arrested and the case is currently under investigation. “After preliminary investigation, the case will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Asaba,” Onovwakpoyeya said. Newsmen, however, gathered that the incident occurred at about 7am on Wednesday, Au...
Universal Music Publishing China Hosted a ‘League of Legends’ Songwriting Camp With Riot Games
As the music industry continues to invest deeper into the lucrative esports space, Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) China and Riot Games China have concluded a songwriting camp focused on promotional songs for the game publisher’s upcoming 10th League of Legends World Championship. The camp took place at the end of July and brought together 14 UMPG China songwriters — both virtually and in the GUM Studio Shanghai recording facility — to create six songs for the widely-viewed championship, which takes place this year in Shanghai from Sept. 25 to Oct. 31. “Music and gaming are activities of no boundary. When matching them well, possibilities are endless,” said UMPG China managing director Joe Fang. “I am honored to be partnering with Riot Games on t...
NME Launches In Asia
NME, the venerated British music title, has launched in Asia. Based in Singapore and operated by BandLab Technologies, the NME.com/Asia site will hope to feed the growing appetite in southeast Asia for music news, features and pop-culture insights. Currently, the platform has a split of 60-70% international content from the flagship U.K. title, and 30-40% local content. A core team of four writers handle copy from across the region, led by Iliyas Ong, former editor of Time Out Singapore; and Karen Gwee, former editor of Bandwagon and writer at NPR. The initial push-out focuses on Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, Meng Ru Kuok, CEO of BandLab Technologies tells Billboard. “Singapore is unique, it imports music very well and it tends to the indie music scene, in which NME is strong.” ...
Ozuna, J Balvin and Anuel AA Sell Out Baja Beach Fest 2021 in Rosarito, Mexico
The three-day event is the first Latin festival to sell out during the pandemic. A Latin and Reggaeton festival in South Baja is giving hope to festival promoters following a strong sell out. Earlier today, organizers of the Baja Beach Fest announced that they had sold all available tickets for the festival — slated to run Aug. 13-15, 2021 — in its first year as an expanded three-day event. In total, 35,000 three-day passes starting at $329 were sold in about four weeks thanks to a strong lineup headlined by Ozuna, Anuel AA and J Balvin. That makes it one of the first sellouts of a 2021 festival during the pandemic. Launched in 2018 by Aaron Ampudia and Chris Den Uijl and held at Papas and Beer in Rosarito, Mexico — a small beach to...
Soundtrack Your Brand Signs Global Licensing Deal With Universal Music
The Swedish company, which operates in 73 markets, is pushing to disrupt the background music segment of the market. The growing segment of music streaming for businesses has taken another step forward. Soundtrack Your Brand, a cloud-based music service that is trying to become the Spotify of the business streaming world, signed a global licensing deal with Universal Music Group to use its catalog of music on the platform. The Stockholm-based company, which says it is the world’s fastest growing B2B music platform, delivers the flexibility of music-streaming technology to brands and businesses. Founded in 2013 with Spotify as a co-founder, Soundtrack Your Brand operates in 73 countries and competes in the background music segment with startups like Rockbot as well as with entrenched player...
