INDUSTRY
deadmau5 and Extreme Music Partner to Form Electronic Licensing Label, beathau5
A new label for electronic music licensing is set to be launched by deadmau5 in partnership with Extreme Music and UTA. Created specifically for professional music users, beathau5 is a new project that will launch this Spring along with five album releases from deadmau5 himself, and fellow mau5trap artists like Jay Robinson and Maison Ware. Each album release will also be followed by NFT drops, created in collaboration with a yet-unnanounced world-renowned visual artist. beathau5 music libraries will be curated by deadmau5 himself to help artists secure placements for their music within film and television productions and more. Recently, deadmau5 scored the 2019 film Polar, and Ware was behind the score for the 2020 Sundance film, Spree. “Extreme is an excellent partner to...
President Buhari presides over FEC meeting — in pictures
President Muhammadu Buhari is presiding over the 44th virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC). The weekly meeting holding at the First Lady’s Conference Hall at the State House, Abuja, is being attended by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari. The ministers who are also physically attending the meeting include those of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; Justice, Abubakar Malami; Industry, Trade and Investment; Adeniyi Adebayo; and Power, Mamman Saleh. Other ministers, as well as the Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, are participating in the weekly cabinet meeting from their various of...
Lagos governor celebrates Ikorodu Bois
Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday hosted popular Nigerian comedy group, Ikorodu Bois. The Governor took to his Twitter account to share photos of him and the talented kids at the state government house, Alausa in Ikeja. In a post accompanying the pictures, the Governor commended the group, which he described as “generational filmmaking talent,” for their exploits that had brought them global recognition. Sanwo-Olu cited the group’s current appearance on an advert displayed on Broadway Times Square in New York City by Netflix, the US movie streaming platform. He also commended their nomination for the 2021 edition of the 2021 Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards. He stated that the state was proud of the group and he assured of his administration’s commitment to promoting ...
The Grammy Award Nomination Process is Changing
Harsh criticism toward the Grammy Awards ceremony from pop superstar The Weeknd has led the Recording Academy to reconsider its nomination process. After The Weeknd—the world’s second most-streamed artist on Spotify—was snubbed at last year’s ceremony, the artist called for increased transparency around the organization’s nomination process. The Recording Academy has taken that criticism into consideration and will now forgo using anonymous review committees to determine its nominees. The Academy has also changed the number of categories in which Academy members can vote, and added two additional award categories. With the changes, the Academy seeks to “reflect its ongoing commitment to evolve with the musical landscape and to ensure that the GRAMMY Awards...
May Day: President Buhari promises workers better packages
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured workers of better packages to cushion economic effects of COVID-19 on their resources. The President said his administration has put in place some socio-economic policies to alleviate poverty. Buhari said the Federal Government has expanded the Conditional Cash Transfer for the vulnerable poor from 2.6 million households to 7.6 million. He also noted COVID-19 Rapid Response Register has been expanded for urban poor to 4.8 million households, which included urban poor and working class. The President spoke during this year’s May Day celebration at the Eagle Square on Saturday in Abuja. This year’s celebration had as its theme: “COVID-19 pandemic, social and economic crisis: challenges for decent jobs, social protection and people’s welfare”. Buhari, wh...
Alesso, Tove Lo, More Donate Spotify Covers to Avicii’s Tim Bergling Foundation for Mental Health Awareness
Swedish Save The Children and the Tim Bergling Foundation want to help destigmatize discussions around mental health. Their joint campaign has partnered with a handful of Swedish artists, who will be replacing their album covers on Spotify with animated shorts that visualize children’s emotions and anxiety. Alesso, Tove Lo, Elliphant, and many more Swedish musicians will be participating over the next four weeks. The animated shorts—or Canvases—were created by Allen Laseter, Alva Skog, Parallel Teeth, Laura Hodkin and Dan Stankler and are based on stories children have shared about their mental health. Custom Spotify covers developed by Swedish Save The Children and the Tim Bergling Foundation to raise awareness about mental health. Swedish Save The Children “Mental illness amon...
New Study Reveals Avicii’s “Wake Me Up” As the Most Valuable Song From Sweden
A new study by Australian finance blog S-Money has revealed the most valuable songs on Spotify by country. Some of the usual suspects like Ed Sheeran and Drake are featured of course, taking the cake in the United Kingdom and Canada, respectively. The United States’ most valuable song comes courtesy of Post Malone, whose influential “Rockstar” is the clear-cut winner. Late EDM legend Avicii‘s “Wake Me Up” is Sweden’s most-streamed song worldwide, worth well over $6 million from its staggering 1.25 billion streams to date. Alan Walker‘s “Faded” has become Norway’s most popular export, earning the DJ over $6.5 million off of nearly 1.4 billion streams. According to S-Money, who shared additional data with EDM.com, The Cha...
NCDMB sets up $20 million loan support for women in business
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has announced the setting up of a $20million loan scheme to support women in business especially in the oil and gas sector. Executive Secretary of the Board, Engr. Simbi Wabote, stated this at a virtual roundtable by the Diversity Sectoral Working Group (SWG) of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF). In his remarks, Wabote stated that the mandate of the Board has always been the need to promote local content in every sphere of the oil and gas sector. Quoting Section 57 of the NCDMB Act, he said the role of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum is to provide a platform for information sharing and support in order to chart way for local content development in Nigeria. According to Wabote, “The basic aim of the NCCF is t...
4 Takeaways From Pasquale Rotella’s Heated EDC Las Vegas Reddit AMA
In the wake of the contentious postponement of EDC Las Vegas, the festival’s proprietor, Pasquale Rotella, walked the plank in a heated Reddit AMA today. Despite confirmation from Rotella that the initial May 2021 dates of EDC Las Vegas were firm, he eventually went on to announce that the festival would move to October. The tough decision was made after Rotella said the event wasn’t viable for May due to its inability to align with Nevada state officials’ reopening plan and vaccination pipeline. Here are four takeaways from Rotella’s revealing AMA. EDC Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Insomniac Events He addressed a controversial statement When Rotella first announced that EDC Las Vegas would move forward with its planned May dates, he told...
Spotify Launched a Vaccination Playlist—Here’s Why That’s a Little Weird
Thanks to Spotify, there’s a playlist for everything—even your COVID-19 vaccination. According to a recent blog post published by the streaming giant, Spotify listeners have created more than 7,700 vaccine-related playlists globally in 2021. In the 90 days leading up to the post they noted a 350% increase in fan-generated Spotify playlists specific to COVID-19 inoculation, with many even naming their selections after the manufacturers responsible for the vaccine flowing through their veins. So Spotify launched “Vaccine Songs,” a whimsical playlist “to help soundtrack your own vaccine journey.” With tracks ranging from clever puns (“Hit Me With Your Best Shot” by Pat Benatar) to low-hanging fruit (“The Cure” by Lady...
The Funk Hunters’ Nick Middleton Partners With Grant Paley to Launch Midnight Agency
Grant Paley—an award-winning artist and longtime agent—has partnered with Nick Middleton of the The Funk Hunters to launch their very own artist agency. The two industry giants announced their Canadian boutique agency earlier this month, having established a diverse roster of 30 artists including Chali 2na, Gone Gone Beyond, The Librarian, and Stickybuds, among others. “Our roster at Midnight Agency represents some of the most forward thinking, diverse and technologically savvy individuals I’ve ever met,” Paley said in a statement. The full roster from the launch of Midnight Agency on April 6th, 2021. Midnight Agency (via Instagram) What makes this new boutique agency so appealing is that it has been created by artists, for artists. Paley, the agency’s president...
Study: One in Four People Discover EDM Through TikTok
In a new study conducted by OnlineRoulette.org, social media’s newest goliath has been shown to be an undeniably influential method of music discovery. TikTok‘s popularity has surged since the social media platform launched in 2016 and filled the void left by the dismantled short video service Vine (R.I.P.). While TikTok employs a slew of features to make users’ videos pop, it seems that now more than ever, the songs used to soundtrack those clips are among the most appealing aspects of the platform. The study surveyed nearly 1,000 TikTok users to gather data about the platform’s influence on music, and the results were unsurprisingly staggering. For instance, 55% of respondents said that TikTok has influenced their music taste and 47% believe that it’s ...
