business
Yucaipa Companies Forms Joint Venture With London-Based K2 Agency
Private equity firm the Yucaipa Companies have entered into a joint venture with K2 Agency, bringing renowned music agent John Jackson’s London-based booking outfit into the same company as the Yucaipa-owned Artist Group International. The partnership follows a recent announcement Yuciapa — the American firm founded in 1986 by Ronald Burkle — was partnering with Danny Wimmer Presents, North America’s largest independent festival producer. That deal came with the exchange for a minority stake in the concert promotion company. Yuicapa also operates booking agency X-Ray Touring as a joint venture with Paradigm Talent Agency and holds a minority stake in Primavera Sound and Primavera Pro. {“nid”:”8551642″,”type”:”post”,...
Spotify Allies With ‘Fortnite’ in Apple App Store Battle
Spotify is backing Fortnite developer Epic Games in its new clash with Apple and the tech giant’s App Store, highlighting its own lawsuit over similar issues. After Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store on Wednesday because Epic Games had introduced a way for players to purchase its virtual “V-bucks” currency outside the payment marketplace, Epic Games filed a lawsuit that could have legal ramifications in the music industry. {“nid”:”9416468″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Sony Takes Minority Stake in Fortnite Maker With $250 Million Investment”,”relative_path”:”\/articles\/business\/9416468\/sony-minority-stake-fortnite-maker-epic-250-million-investment\/”,”media”:{“width”:&...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘We’re Only About 10% Down for the Year’
In October 1988, Angie Roloff and her husband Ron opened Strictly Discs in Madison, Wisconsin, after Ron left a career in the biomedical research field to pursue his love of music full time. Nearly 31 years later, the couple made the difficult decision to shutter in-store operations due to COVID-19, roughly a week before Governor Tony Evers forced a mandatory shutdown of all non-essential businesses. Now that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has overturned Evers’ stay-at-home order — ruling it “unlawful” and “unenforceable” — the Roloffs and their employees have reopened Strictly Discs in a limited capacity. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, we will be speaking with Roloff regula...
Reelz v. Reels: Network Sues Instagram, Facebook for Trademark Infringement
Instagram last week launched a new short-video feature called Reels — capitalizing on demand in the market amid privacy concerns surrounding TikTok and a looming ban of the ByteDance-owned app — and it’s already facing troubles of its own. ReelzChannel says the feature’s name infringes on its longstanding trademark. The network, which launched in 2006, says it reaches more than 50 million homes in the U.S. The suit, which was filed Tuesday in Minnesota federal court, where the network’s parent company Hubbard Broadcasting is based, claims Reels usurps Reelz’ goodwill and is likely to confuse consumers. {“nid”:”9429589″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Instagram Launches TikTok Competitor Reels”...
Sumner Redstone, Tenacious Entertainment Media Mogul, Dies at 97
Sumner Redstone, the hard-charging mogul who parlayed his father’s New England drive-in theater business into a media empire that now flows into virtually every avenue of entertainment, has died. He was 97. Redstone was the controlling shareholder of the recently merged ViacomCBS, and previously CBS Corp. and Viacom, who made famous the mantra “content is king.” His daughter and ViacomCBS chair Shari Redstone said: “My father led an extraordinary life that not only shaped entertainment as we know it today, but created an incredible family legacy. Through it all, we shared a great love for one another and he was a wonderful father, grandfather and great-grandfather. I am so proud to be his daughter and I will miss him always.” “It is with great sadness that we announce th...
Publisher & Songwriter Streaming Royalty Rates Headed Back to CRB for Review: What’s in the Ruling
The Copyright Royalty Board went too far when it eliminated a rate ceiling from digital streaming services’ calculation determining music songwriter and publishing royalties. That’s part of the verdict from a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion that was made public Tuesday (Aug. 11), sending the CRB ruling back to the three-judge panel that made the verdict in a 2 to 1 split decision in 2018. The overall all-in music publishing royalty rate ceiling had previously been a part of the rate formula from 2008 to 2018. But will the 44% increase in royalties stand? {“nid”:”9431493″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Appeal Ruling on Publisher Royalty Rate Hike Looks to Favor Digital Services: Sources”,”relative_path&#...
Danny Wimmer Presents Names Joe Litvag President Of Live Events
Leading independent live entertainment producer and promoter Danny Wimmer Presents has announced the addition of executive Joe Litvag as its president of live events. Litvag, an industry veteran, brings over 25 years of knowledge and experience in all aspects of the live events industry. In this newly created position, Litvag will oversee the operation of DWP festivals and concerts and will lead DWP’s growth into venue management, booking, national touring, event services and more. “Getting Joe on our team is a move we have wanted to make for a long, long time. Joe’s experience and leadership will be essential to our success as DWPcontinues to invest in new opportunities,” commented Danny Hayes, DWP’s chief executive officer. {“nid”:”9400321″,”type”...
Universal Music Group & Tencent Music Launch New Label in China
Universal Music Group and Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) are strengthening their ties with a new joint venture music label that will develop, produce and showcase Chinese artists, the companies announced Monday (Aug. 10). The news came with announcements UMG had reached a multi-year licensing extension with Tencent, as well as a new multi-year licensing deal with Chinese streaming platform NetEase Cloud Music. Under the renewed agreement between Tencent and UMG — first signed in May 2017 — Tencent will continue to distribute UMG content on its associated streaming platforms QQ Music, Kogou Music and Kuwo Music, as well as the karaoke platform WeSing. {“nid”:”9399541″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Universal Musi...
Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ Tops Midweek Chart In U.K.
Taylor Swift’s Folklore is in pole position for a third consecutive week at No. 1 in the U.K., though her challengers aren’t far behind. Folklore is the most streamed album week in the first half of the chart cycle to lead the Official Chart Update. Glass Animals’ Dreamland (Polydor) is just 600 chart sales behind in second place, and is the week’s best seller on physical formats, the OCC reports. Dreamland should give the English psychedelic pop outfit their first Top 10, besting the No. 23 peak of their sophomore 2016 album How To Be A Human Being. {“nid”:”9431667″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Taylor Swift's 'Folklore' Outraces Fontaines D.C.'s 'A Hero\u2019s Death' For U.K. Chart Title”...
Musicians Criticize Jeff Bezos’ ‘Willful Blindness’ to Twitch Music Royalties
While testifying at a congressional hearing late last month, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos admitted that he wasn’t sure whether or not the company pays royalties for the music users stream on Amazon-owned livestreaming platform Twitch (it doesn’t). His response angered artist-run non-profit Artist Rights Alliance, which has sent a letter to Bezos challenging him to pay artists their fair share, as music streaming on Twitch continues to surge. “We were appalled […] by your inability or unwillingness to answer even the most basic question about Twitch’s practices in this regard,” the letter reads. “As Twitch uses music to grow its audience and shape its brand, the company owes creators more than the willful blindness and vague platitudes you offered du...
Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ Enters Second Week at No. 1 In Australia
Taylor Swift’s Folklore (Republic/Universal) rules Australia’s albums chart for a second successive week in Australia as Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo’s “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” (Columbia/Sony) bounces back to the summit in its eighth week on the singles survey. Folklore is one of six Swift albums to hit No. 1 in Australia with her 2014 set 1989 logging the most time at the top, at nine weeks. Wollongong surf rock duo Hockey Dad land a career best with their third album Brain Candy (BMG/Warner), new at No. 2. It’s the followup from 2018’s Blend Inn, which peaked at No. 6 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Brain Candy is this week’s best-seller on vinyl. Dropping in at No. 3 is the new album from veteran singer-songwriter Paul Kelly and pianist/composer Paul Grabowsky, Please Leav...
Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ Outraces Fontaines D.C.’s ‘A Hero’s Death’ For U.K. Chart Title
The U.K. chart week was a game of two halves as Taylor Swift’s Folklore started slow but pulled away to snag a second successive week at No. 1. Folklore fell to No. 3 in the first half of the week, with Irish rockers Fontaines D.C. looking well set for their first No. 1 with A Hero’s Death (Partisan). However, Swift and her U.K. record company EMI changed the course of the race by bringing forward the release of Folklore on CD, and the LP dashed to the finish line in first position. When all streams and sales were tallied up, Folklore finished 3,500 chart sales ahead of Fontaines D.C.’s second set, which starts at No. 2 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart and is the market-leader in vinyl sales. {“nid”:”9431617″,”type”:”post”,”title”...
