International
Pandemic Exacts Toll on Sony’s Music Operations With Double-Digit Revenue Drop
In the company’s fiscal first quarter ended June 30, Sony’s music operations showed the wear and tear of the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with revenue declining 13.1% to ¥173.735 billion yen ($1.646 billion) from 2019’s first quarter revenue of ¥200.04 billion ($1.84 billion). While operating profit was also down to ¥34.89 billion ($325.3 million), the decline on a percentage basis wasn’t as much, coming in 8.8% down from the ¥38.3 billion ($348 million) tallied in the year earlier first quarter period. Consequently, the company’s already healthy operating margin showed a slight improvement, consisting of 19.7% of revenue this year, versus 18.9% in 2019’s first quarter, which shows the company kept a tight rein on expenses. During t...
Brett Kissel Hosts Pop-Up ‘Boat-In Concert’ In Canada
Country singer Brett Kissel performed Canada’s first “boat-in” concert Sunday (Aug. 2) on Lake Windermere in British Columbia, attracting 3,000 fans for the pop-up performance. Fans watched from canoes, kayaks, motor boats an inner tubes as the Canadian country singer from Flat Lake, Alberta open his dock side set with his 2017 hit single “We Were That Song.” Kissel continues to raise money for charities and rally Canadian communities through his special concerts during the COVID-19 pandemic, performing for 10,000 fans at a series of drive-in concerts in Edmonton and more than 6,000 fans in Saskatchewan. Kissel performed a 90-minute set from a private dock, running through his catalog of songs including debut American single and No. 1 Canadian country hit R...
Fontaines D.C. Push Taylor Swift From Midweek U.K. Albums Chart Summit
Move over Taylor Swift, Fontaines D.C. is ready for the chart crown. The Irish pop-punk outfit leads the midweek U.K. sales chart with A Hero’s Death (Partisan), their sophomore album. A Hero’s Death is at No. 1 on the Official Chart Update, racking up more than half its sales in vinyl, according to the Official Charts Company. Almost certainly, A Hero’s Death will eclipse the rockers’ personal best, a No. 9 peak for their 2019 debut LP Dogrel. {“nid”:”9427594″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Taylor Swift\u2019s \u2018Folklore\u2019 Reigns In U.K.”,”relative_path”:”\/articles\/news\/9427594\/taylor-swift-folklore-reigns-uk\/”,”media”:{“width”:1280,”height”:720,&#...
For International Artists, US Entry in the Pandemic Comes With New Hurdles
In March, Colombian superstar Carlos Vives was in the midst of filming season 2 of Telemundo’s singing competition series La Voz in Miami when COVID-19 sent most of the U.S. into lockdown. With production on hold, Vives returned to his home country to wait things out. Now, a full four months later, he is back on set. But returning to the U.S. was no easy task. “Colombia’s international borders were shut down,” says Vives’ business manager, Claudia Arcay, who notes that all commercial flights to and from Colombia were suspended, except for humanitarian and repatriation flights. “However, we had a work contract with Telemundo that we had to fulfill.” {“nid”:”9425791″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”What Do Virtual Festivals Pay A...
Japan’s DISH// Drops ‘Neko’ Video Series Inspired by TikTok Fans: Watch ‘Paper Dish’ Version
J-pop boy band DISH// shared the new animated music video for their hit song “Neko – THE FIRST TAKE ver. -” made in collaboration with fans on TikTok. The new video that dropped Thursday (July 30) is the second in a trilogy inspired by the top three ideas selected from submissions to the DISH// challenge on the short-video platform. The band decided to create three versions based on each creator’s idea so that viewers can enjoy the tune from different angles without being limited to a single point of view. The new animated video follows the first one, “Line Art,” released Tuesday (July 28). Subtitled “Paper Dish,” video No. 2 creatively animates the images laid out in the song using simple illustrations drawn on and cut-outs crafted from pape...
Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ Reigns In U.K.
Taylor Swift has a fifth consecutive U.K. chart-leader as Folklore (EMI) blasts to No. 1. Swift’s eighth album leads the Official U.K. Albums Chart on debut, notching up 37,000 chart sales, with two-thirds of those from streams and the remainder from downloads, the OCC reports. With that fast start, Folklore is 2020’s most-downloaded album in its first week, eclipsing the opening tally of Eminem’s Music to be Murdered By. The full rollout of Folklore on CD and vinyl is yet to come. {“nid”:”9428290″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Taylor Swift Achieves Seventh No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart & Biggest Week of 2020 With 'Folklore'”,”relative_path”:”\/articles\/business\/chart-beat\/9428290\/tayl...
Taylor Swift Sets Records, Completes Chart Double In Australia
Taylor Swift is the absolute champion of Australia’s charts this week as Folklore (Republic/Universal) bows at No. 1 on the national albums survey and its lead track “Cardigan” rules the singles tally. “Cardigan” opens at the summit of the ARIA Singles Chart, giving Swift her sixth leader and her first since “Look What You Made Me Do” hit the top in September 2017. Swift trails only Rihanna (7), Delta Goodrem (9), P!nk (9), Kylie Minogue (10) and Madonna (10) in the list of female solo artists with the most chart toppers, according to ARIA, and she’s the only artist among them to land five No. 1s the last decade. {“nid”:”9427594″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Taylor Swift\u2019s \u2018Folklore\u2019 Reigns In U.K.”,”rel...
Are You Ready for the Djooky Music Awards? The Global Online Song Contest Is Accepting Applications
The judging panel includes Grammy nominees Patrice Rushen and Sacha Starbek. Music platform Djooky has launched a global online competition. The Djooky Music Awards (DMA), billed as the first global online song contest, is now accepting applications. Both amateur and professional songwriters and musicians are invited to participate. Brian Malouf, a co-founder of DMA, said: ‘The Djooky Music Awards is…an attempt to democratize and decentralize the music industry globally. We want to create fairer opportunities for musicians who are struggling to break through the power structures which currently exist. In DMA, the power is with the people who decide which song wins over their hearts.” Andrew Dakhovskyy, CEO at DMA, added: “We understand that the artists everywhere are going through un...
COVID-19: Nigerian government receives second Batch medical supplies of UN basket fund
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has joined other stakeholders to receive 2nd Batch Medical Supplies purchased with UN Basket Fund for COVID-19 Response on behalf of the Federal Government. Mr Olujimi Oyetomi, Director, Information, Media and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health, said this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja. Oyetomi said Ehanire joined the National Coordinator, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Dr. Sani Aliyu at the Cargo Section of Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja to receive medical supplies from EU contributions worth N26 Billion. Ehanire said this 2nd Batch of medical supplies would allay the fears of the health workers, especially the frontline health workers, who thought that Nigeria might be running short of supplies and were thre...
Alice Ivy Signs Global Publishing Deal With Concord, Native Tongue
Alice Ivy has struck a new worldwide publishing deal through a joint venture with Concord Music Publishing and Australian independent publisher Native Tongue. “Publishing is something I’ve taken my time with,” said Ivy of the new arrangement, which is effective immediately. “I wanted to hold off until I’d matured as a songwriter and a producer and wait for the right partners to come along. Between the team at Native Tongue, who’ve always looked out for me, and my new family at Concord, it feels like the best possible set-up for me at this exciting stage in my career. When it came down to it, they asked what I was looking for and I said, ‘I want to be jumping on planes and writing music every day’ and they said, ‘we can do that.'” The Melbourn...
Johnny Depp’s Reps Says Amber Heard Lied as Libel Case Concludes
Johnny Depp’s high-stakes libel case against a British tabloid that accused him of assaulting ex-wife Amber Heard wrapped up Tuesday (July 28) in a London court, with the star’s lawyer calling Heard “a compulsive liar” and claiming that Depp was the real victim of abuse in the relationship. The Pirates of the Caribbean star is suing News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, and the newspaper’s executive editor, Dan Wootton, at the High Court in London over an April 2018 article that called him a “wife-beater.” In closing arguments at the three-week trial, Depp’s lawyer, David Sherborne, said the actor strongly denied “this reputation-destroying, career-ending allegation.” “He has never hit a woman in his entire life — period, full stop, nada,” Sherborne said. What Is The Judge Deci...
Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ Set For Big Opening Sales Week In U.K.
TayTay is blowing away her rivals in the U.K. chart race. Taylor Swift’s surprise album release Folklore (EMI) has raced to the lead of the midweek chart, and is outperforming the rest of the Top 5 combined, the Official Charts Company reports. Swift’s eighth and latest album was the most downloaded and streamed LP over the weekend, according to the OCC, and is on track to become the pop star’s fifth U.K. No. 1 following Red (2012), 1989 (2014), Reputation (2017) and Lover (2019). As previously reported, three songs from the new set are tracking for Top 10 debuts on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, led by “Cardigan” at No. 4 (“Exile” with Bon Iver is at No. 7 on the Official Chart Update and “The 1” starts at No. 9). Folklore should enjoy another chart punch in months to come when it’...
