universal music group
All Music Industry Initiatives to Help Get Out the Vote This Election Season (Updating)
On Nov. 3, U.S. voters will decide if President Donald Trump gets four more years in office or send Democratic ticket Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House. Ahead of what has been said to be the most important election in at least a generation, non-partisan voter registration organizations including HeadCount and Voto Latino, in partnership with labels and artists, have launched music-driven initiatives that incentivize eligible voters – especially young ones – to get registered and vote. Even labels and digital streaming platforms have rolled out campaigns to encourage both employees and artists to vote this election. And venues across the country will serve as polling sites for early voting and on Election Day. From Spotify’s “Play Your Part” to HeadCount’...
Universal Music Group Launches Youth Task Force in Honor of Civil Rights Pioneer John Lewis
Universal Music Group (UMG) has established the Youth Task Force for Meaningful Change (YTFMC), paying homage to recently deceased civil rights pioneer and U.S. Rep. John Lewis. The new initiative is an offshoot of the music company’s social justice and equality-focused Task Force for Meaningful Change (TFMC) that launched globally June 4 and is co-chaired by UMG executive vp, general counsel and Def Jam interim chairman and CEO Jeff Harleston and Motown Records president and Capitol Music Group executive vp Ethiopia Habtemariam. As outlined in a staff memo obtained by Billboard, the 24-member YTFMC is comprised of “dedicated, entry-level employees” ranging from UMG’s °1824 — a division of student employees from various college campuses, working in creative and marketing roles —...
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...
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 ...
Universal Music Group Makes Election Day 2020 a Company Holiday
The measure sprang from a recommendation by the company’s recently-announced social justice task force. Universal Music Group is making voting easier for its U.S. employees by making Election Day 2020, Nov. 3, a paid company holiday. The company announced the news to staffers in an internal memo Friday (July 17) and obtained by Billboard. “After all, the right to vote is the very foundation of democracy — perhaps of freedom itself,” reads the memo, which notes that only 56% of eligible U.S. voters cast a ballot in the 2016 presidential election. “As Americans, we have fought long and hard to win the right to vote. It took 91 years after the Constitution was enacted until people of color won the right, and even then, it was only males. It took 143 years after the...
The Deals: Little Simz Renews AWAL Recordings Contract, Licensing Service Lickd Strikes UMG Partnership
Mercury Prize-nominated rapper and songwriter Little Simz (a.k.a. Simbi Ajikawo) has renewed her partnership with AWAL Recordings, which provides a full range of services including global marketing and promotion, digital and physical distribution, campaign coordination, A&R support, synch licensing and brand partnerships. Little Simz garnered acclaim with her most recent album, GREY Area, which was released on her own label, Age 101, via AWAL. In addition to the Mercury Prize, she has been nominated for AIM and BET Awards; additionally, she won the Q Award for best vocal performance and the NME Award for best British album. She has toured with Gorillaz, Lauryn Hill and Anderson .Paak and also starred in the Channel 4 crime drama Top Boy, which currently airs on Netflix. Little Sim...
Universal Music UK Reboots EMI Records With Rebecca Allen at the Helm
Universal Music Group is relaunching EMI Records, the iconic British record label which UMG acquired for $1.9 billion in 2012. As part of the relaunch, UMG’s Virgin EMI is renamed EMI Records, effective immediately. The Virgin Records imprint will continue under the new EMI Records banner. At the helm is newly-appointed EMI president Rebecca Allen, a 20-year UMG veteran and former Billboard Women In Music honoree. Closely associated with the British pop movement of the 1960s, EMI’s star-studded roster in the UK in the ’60s and ’70s included The Beatles, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Jackson Five, The Temptations and Smokey Robinson. EMI continued to be home to the UK’s top music stars in the 1990s, when it signed acts l...
The Weeknd Donated $500K to Racial Justice Initiatives: ‘Please Give What You Can Even If It’s a Small Amount’
The R&B star also challenged major labels and streaming services to “go big and public” with their donations. The Weeknd is urging his nearly 23 million followers to follow his lead in donating to nonprofit organizations committed to racial equality. On Monday (June 1), the star detailed receipts of $500,000 in donations he split between Black Lives Matter Global Network, Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp and National Bail Out. “Keep supporting our brothers and sisters out there risking everything to push for actual change for our black lives,” he captioned the Instagram slideshow. “Urging everyone with big pockets to give and give big and if you have less please give what you can even if it’s a small amount.” In a follow-up post t...
