Record Labels
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...
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...
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...
Madonna Out of Interscope Deal After Nearly a Decade
Sources close to Madonna confirm to Billboard that the Queen of Pop is out of her deal with Interscope after nearly a decade. The iconic singer first inked a three-album deal with Interscope in 2011 at a base of $1 million per LP; with the release of Madame X in 2019, that three-album deal is up, and Madge is eying a new label to call home. While The Sun reports that Madonna is considering a return to Warner Music (which was known as Warner Bros. when she called it home for her series of albums released from 1983-2008), sources tell Billboard that she has not inked a new deal anywhere as of Saturday (Aug. 8) and any talks are in early stages. Warner Music declined to comment for this story. Madonna’s three albums for Interscope include the Billboard 200 toppers MDNA (2012) and Madame...
Wayne Connolly, Celebrated Australian Producer and Engineer, Launches Scenic Drive: Exclusive
Wayne Connolly, the celebrated Australian producer, engineer and artist who has collected eight ARIA Awards — and counting — for his work, has launched his first label, Scenic Drive. Based in Sydney, Connolly’s latest venture begins life with its debut signing The Nagging Doubts, whose breezy first single “Shot In The Dark” is due out Aug. 20, supported by a gig that night at The Vanguard in Newtown. They’re an “impressively self-sufficient band who are really good at home recording and they have stockpiled dozens of ideas and demos that need finishing,” Connolly tells Billboard. Scenic Drive should be a breath of fresh air, hitting fifth gear at a time when creatives are feeling stifled by the health crisis and the troubling second wave currently pummeling the state of Victori...
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...
Warner Music Group Names Head of Global Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Dr. Maurice Stinnett has joined Warner Music Group as the label’s head of global equity, diversity and inclusion. In his new role, Stinnett will lead the charge on WMG’s equity initiatives and work towards implementing programs to help the company become a more inclusive workplace. He’ll also have a hand in talent recruitment and development, and will assist the company’s Executive Diversity & Inclusion Council. Until recently, Stinnett was vp of diversity, inclusion and culture at BSE Global, operators of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and two of the arena’s prominent tenants — the Nets (NBA) and the Liberty (WNBA). Prior to BSE, he held senior roles at Cleveland State University and Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. He will report to WMG CEO Steve Cooper and be based at the ...
Oh, Snap: Snapchat Owner Lands Music Licensing Deals to Bring Songs to Posts
Snap, Inc. has secured licensing deals with several major music companies to incorporate music into posts on its photo- and video-sharing app Snapchat, the company confirmed today (Aug. 3). Snapchat users will soon be able to add music to their posts both pre- and post-capture, from a catalogue including music licensed from Warner Music Group and its publishing arm, Warner Chappell; Universal Music Publishing Group, members of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and indie digital rights agency Merlin. The new feature is now testing in New Zealand and Australia, as Bloomberg first reported, and will reach global users this fall. “We’re constantly building on our relationships within the music industry, and making sure the entire music ecosystem (artists, labels, songwrite...
Executive Turntable: TalentX Founder Named Triller Chief Strategy Officer, Radio Promo Vets Launch New Company
Social media star, entrepreneur and TalentX Entertainment co-founder Josh Richards has been named chief strategy officer at AI-driven music video and entertainment platform Triller, which he also invested in. In his new role, Richards will lead strategy at Triller while also overseeing the company’s implementation of live streaming and monetization tools. Triller, a rival to the wildly popular video-sharing platform TikTok, last year raised $28 million in a funding round led by Proxima Media last year, also drawing investors including Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne. In June, the platform — which currently has music licensing partnerships with Warner, Sony Music and UMG — hit 50 million monthly active users. “After seeing the US and other countries’ governments’ concerns over Tik...
Brazilian Funk Powerhouse KondZilla Launches Twitch Channel With Exclusive Deal
The arrangement — which involves exclusive music, video and gaming content — follows the Twitch deal with rapper Logic earlier this week. Brazilian funk music company KondZilla, which operates one of the biggest YouTube channels in the world, has signed a partnership with Twitch to operate a channel on the streaming platform, in one of the first major deals Twitch has done with an international artist or label. Under terms of its deal, KondZilla is providing exclusive music, gaming, video and podcast content, including live remixing of video game tracks produced by DJs on Kondzilla Records, Andre Izidro, head of marketing and intelligence at KondZilla, tells Billboard. The Twitch channel will promote games, chats and feature funk music and stars from KondZilla, such as Mc Jotta...
Bloodshot Records Staffers Claim Co-Owner Botched Royalty Payments, Warn of Potential Sale
“Nothing is more important to me than making sure all accounting is entirely accurate,” co-founder Nan Warshaw responded in a statement to Billboard. In March 2019, Bloodshot Records co-founder Nan Warshaw announced her resignation from the Chicago-based independent country label after Bloodshot artist Lydia Loveless accused Warshaw’s partner of sexual misconduct. The plan was for co-founder Rob Miller to buy Warshaw’s 50% share in the company. But more than a year later, artists and staff members at Bloodshot, home to acts like Jason Hawk Harris and ROOKIE, say the label’s issues are far from resolved. On Monday, the entire non-ownership Bloodshot staff sent a letter to every artist on the roster, warning them that because Miller could not pay fair ...
Spotify and Universal Music Group Ink Licensing Deal, Expanding Label’s Role as ‘Early Adopter’ of Tools
Spotify and Universal Music Group have finalized a new and expanded multi-year global licensing agreement. As part of the arrangement, announced Wednesday (July 22), the label group deepens its role as an early adopter of Spotify’s marketing tools and other tech features that both parties hope will foster more impactful connections between fans and artists in innovative ways. “With this agreement, UMG and Spotify are more aligned than ever in our commitment to ensuring the entire music ecosystem thrives and reaches new audiences around the globe,” said Sir Lucian Grainge, UMG chairman and CEO, in a statement. “Given our commitment to innovation and early adoption of music technologies, and Spotify’s leadership in the development of forward-thinking tools, our ...
