Streaming
Streamers Still Upset With Twitch After Landmark NMPA Deal
A new deal has been struck in the ongoing battle between Twitch and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA)—but streamers still aren’t happy. Over a year after the initial debate began, Twitch finally came to an agreement with the NMPA. But even after the deal, streamers will not be allowed to play licensed music while streaming. Thousands of DMCA copyright strikes have been issued to streamers in the last year, resulting in the removal of any videos containing copyrighted songs. Despite a long-awaited agreement between Twitch and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA), streamers are still vexed. Caspar Camille Rubin “As part of this agreement, we want to let you know about a new process that we are creating that participating music rights holders can op...
Netflix Buys Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and the Rest of Roald Dahl’s Catalog
Netflix has got itself a golden ticket — in fact, it’s bought the whole entire chocolate factory outright. Today, the streaming giant shared the news that it’s purchased The Roald Dahl Story Company. The acquisition gives Netflix the rights to the entirety of the late children’s book author’s catalog of work, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, The BFG, The Witches, and more. In a statement, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Roald Dahl Story Company managing Luke Kelly hinted at plans to create a “unique universe across animated and live-action films and TV, publishing, games, immersive experiences, live theater, consumer products and more.” Quoting Dahl’s beloved 1961 classic, they continued, “There is a moment in James and the Giant Peach when t...
In India’s Price-Sensitive Market, Will Customers Finally Pay For Streaming?
Only two countries — China (45% ad-supported), the seventh-biggest market, and Venezuela (58%), IFPI’s lowest-ranked sector — rely more on ad-supported audio streams than India (38%). And China, for the first time, generated more revenue last year from subscription-supported streams than ad-supported streams, IFPI figures show. Lodha, who previously was an executive at hospitality chain OYO Rooms, says it’s time to change India’s revenue paradigm. To help Gaana regain its edge in India’s crowded streaming market against its well-financed competitors, he’s focusing on boosting subscription income, which he says is more important than hitting Gaana’s target of 500 million MAUs — a figure at which he says the streaming platform would finally turn profitable. Subscription income fell from 33% ...
CHVRCHES Cover Gerard McMahon’s “Cry Little Sister” for Netflix’s Nightbooks: Stream
CHVRCHES have shared their cover of Gerard McMahon’s “Cry Little Sister” for the soundtrack to the Netflix movie Nightbooks. Stream it below. “Cry, little sister/ Thou shalt not fall/ Come, come to your brother/ Thou shalt not die/ Unchain me, sister/ Thou shalt not fear/ Love is with your brother/ Thou shalt not kill,” Lauren Mayberry intones in a call-and-answer with herself on the track’s foreboding, atmospheric chorus. The band opened up about their love of the 1987 gothic rock classic originally featured in Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys, saying in a statement, “We were so excited to work on this project as we are big fans of everyone involved. Cinema — horror in particular — has always been a big part of CHVRCHES behind the scenes. We have talked about covering “Cry Little Sister” f...
YouTube Is ‘Now the Largest Content Licensor in the World,’ Says Exec
Second-quarter advertising revenue at YouTube was reported at $7 billion, up 83 percent from the year-ago period, after $6 billion in the first quarter, up 49 percent. That don’t include subscription revenue generated by YouTube Music and YouTube Premium. Netflix recorded $7.3 billion in the latest quarter, up 19 percent, after $7.2 billion in the first quarter, up 24 percent. The executive also discussed content spending. “When you think about our payouts, we are now the largest content licensor in the world,” Kyncl said. He mentioned that YouTube’s partner program covers about 2 million creators, with the company paying out $30 billion to them over the past three years. Kyncl said to ensure diversity, companies must focus on it, including in hiring and c...
Tommy Lee Is Actually “Cool” with Hulu’s Pam & Tommy Sex Tape Miniseries
Hulu is creating a series titled Pam & Tommy, focusing on the tumultuous relationship between Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee — specifically the events surrounding their infamous sex tape. While it can be assumed that the story is one that the couple wouldn’t necessarily want to be told, Lee is “cool” with the upcoming miniseries. The film stars Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Universe films) as Lee and Lily James (Downton Abbey, Cinderella) as Anderson. Images shared on social media earlier this year show the two actors looking very much like the real-life former couple they’re portraying. As the story went, Tommy and Pamela got married in Mexico in 1995 after knowing each other for just a few days. A sex tape of their honeymoon was appare...
J.J. Cheng Named President of Latin-Focused Digital Service TuStreams
J.J. Cheng has been named the new president of all-Latin digital distribution company TuStreams, Billboard can exclusively announce. Cheng’s appointment to the Los Angeles-based position, which oversees global business strategies, was announced by TuStreams founder and CEO Tony Larios and is effective immediately. Calling her a passionate and “impactful global Latin music leader,” Larios said in his announcement that Cheng’s “cool demeanor and mastery of digital monetization, new strategic technology models to increase royalty profits, and data analytics in publishing and sound recordings are unmatched as a top authority in the space of public performance.” In her new role, Cheng, an award-winning music executive with a more than 20-year trajectory, and who wa...
Aaliyah’s Chart-Topping Final Album Arrives on Streaming Platforms: Listen
Since then, most of her consequential works have been kept off digital service providers and out of print. Last month, Aaliyah’s sophomore album One in a Million finally dropped on all streaming services. The long-overdue streaming release follows a deal struck between EMPIRE and Blackground Records, founded by her uncle Barry Hankerson, which makes available the late singer’s biggest albums for the first time in over a decade. That deal unlocks all Aaliyah catalog for streaming, and other releases on Blackground, including albums by Timbaland & Magoo, Tank, Toni Braxton and JoJo. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful p...
Drake Breaks Apple Music’s One-Day Song Streaming Record Three Times
“Girls Want Girls (feat. Lil Baby),” “Champagne Poetry,” and “Fair Trade (feat. Travis Scott)” Drake’s sixth album, Certified Lover Boy continues to break records on Apple Music, with three songs from the project beating the record for most-streamed songs in 24 hours, Apple Music tells Billboard. “Girls Want Girls (feat. Lil Baby),” “Champagne Poetry,” and “Fair Trade (feat. Travis Scott)” are the three biggest song debuts ever on the platform, surpassing Drake’s “Nonstop” from his 2018 album Scorpion. Released just after midnight eastern on Friday (Sep 3), the project has also landed at the top spot on Apple Music’s Top Albums chart in 145 countries in its first day of release, and songs from Certified Lover Boy earned the number one spot on 51 of Apple Music’s Daily Top 100 charts, and s...
It’s Drake’s Day, So What’s With All the Phony ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Albums on Spotify?
Notably, the problem extends to text searches on the Spotify app itself. A text search for “Certified Lover Boy Drake” on Spotify turns up an album entitled Drake by the artist Certified Lover Boy as the top result. When searching only for “Certified Lover Boy,” a Spotify-curated playlist of the entire album – but not the album itself – appears. Spotify did not immediately respond to Billboard’s request for comment. A source says Spotify is working with the music industry to address the issue, which is common among albums from major artists. Each DSP separately routes which albums, songs and playlists are surfaced when voice requests are made through Amazon’s Alexa. When reached for comment, Apple denied the problem was an issue with their hardware. Google did not respond to Billboard’s re...
Drake Beats Drake for Spotify Single Day Streaming Record
The rapper’s 2018 album ‘Scorpion’ previously held the record. Drake just topped his own all-time record for single-day streams on Spotify with his new album, Certified Lover Boy, Spotify has confirmed with Billboard. His previous album, Scorpion, was the previous record-holder with 132 million single-day streams. Earlier this week, Kanye West’s Donda earned nearly 100 million global streams in its first 24 hours on Spotify, giving the rapper the second-highest single-day streaming total in Spotify’s history and the highest of 2021. Leave it to the Toronto superstar to snag away the latter record in a matter of days. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Ge...
Drake’s ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Breaks Apple Music’s One-Day Streaming Record
Certified Lover Boy is Drake’s sixth studio album, and includes a lengthy list of features from superstar rappers including Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Future, Rick Ross and Lil Baby. Drake’s 2018 album Scorpion held the record previously on Apple Music, with 170 million streams in its first 24 hours. The 21-song project has also broken records on Spotify, becoming the most-streamed album in a day on the platform as well, the company confirmed to Billboard earlier Friday. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
