YouTube
YouTube Reports Revenue Up 32%, Paid Music & Premium Subscribers Top 30M
CFO Ruth Porat acknowledged the increase in advertiser spend for Alphabet’s Search and YouTube groups in a statement. Alphabet does not break out YouTube’s non-advertising revenue, which comes from subscriptions and other entertainment transactions, like movie rentals. Those revenues are reported as part of the “Google other revenues” line item, which contributed $5.5 billion during the period. Alphabet began disclosing YouTube revenue in February of this year when it announced that the world’s largest ad-supported video platform had brought in $15 billion in advertising in 2019. The company also shared updated subscriber figures for its music and premium services, now topping 30 million paying customers and 35 including those on free trials. A version of this...
Father of the Bride Cast to Reunite for Netflix “Sequel”
Get ready to spend the weekend with the Banks. On Friday, Netflix, Facebook, and YouTube will host a reunion with the cast of Father of the Bride for a special charity event to benefit World Central Kitchen. In anticipation, they’ve dropped two teaser trailers that suggest we’re in for a very fun and very crowded video call. How crowded? Well, according to the credits in the second trailer, we’ll be seeing Steve Martin, aka George Banks; Diane Keaton, aka Nina Banks; Kimberly Williams-Paisley, aka Annie Banks-MacKenzie; Kieran Culkin, aka Matty Banks; George Newbern, aka Bryan MacKenzie; and, yes, Martin Short, aka Franck Eggelhoffer. As for the occasion, it’s possible we’ll be seeing Father of the Groom. In the first teaser, we see George (Martin) sorting through his e-mail — gotta love t...
Marty Friedman and Members of Mastodon, Baroness, Lucifer Deliver Metal Cover of Fleetwood Mac Classic: Watch
The Two Minutes to Late Night YouTube channel continues to churn out impressive all-star quarantine covers each week as part of its “Bedroom Covers” series. The latest is a metal rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s “You Make Loving Fun” featuring former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman and members of Mastodon, Baroness, Lucifer, and more. Friedman is one of metal’s premier guitarists, having appeared on Megadeth’s classic Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction albums, among others. For the Fleetwood Mac cover, he is joined by Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher on guitar; Baroness’ Nick Jost on bass; Lucifer’s Johanna Sadonis on lead vocals; Lucifer’s Nicke Anderson on drums; and Two Minutes to Late Night host Gwarsenio Hall (aka Jordan Olds) on guitar. Emily Panic and Mutoid Man’s Stephen Brodsky provi...
YouTube Launches TikTok Competitor in India
YouTube Shorts allows users to record and upload 15-second videos straight from their mobile phones. YouTube is entering the race to usurp TikTok’s dominance in the short-form video space with YouTube Shorts, a new tool that will allow users to record and upload 15-second videos straight from their mobile phones. This week, YouTube will launch an early beta of Shorts in India, which in late June banned TikTok and dozens of other Chinese-owned apps, citing security concerns. Since the ban, the popularity of TikTok competitor Triller exploded in India, surging to No. 1 on Apple’s App Store in the country. In its early beta launch in India, Shorts will boast a number of creation tools similar to those on TikTok and its competitors, including a multi-segment camera allowing users t...
10-Year-Old Nandi Bushell Continues Drum-Off with Dave Grohl by Rocking Them Crooked Vultures Song: Watch
In an otherwise tough year for the entertainment industry (and the world), this could very well be the feel-good music story of 2020. After Dave Grohl accepted 10-year-old Nandi Bushell’s challenge for a drum-off, the young YouTube sensation has continued the battle by matching the rock star’s performance of Them Crooked Vultures’ “Dead End Friends”. To quickly recap, it all started when Nandi rocked Foo Fighters’ “Everlong” a couple weeks ago, and issued a challenge to Grohl for a drum battle. This past weekend, Grohl responded by using his daughter Harper’s drum kit to rock a bit of “Everlong” and a full performance of “Dead End Friends” by Them Crooked Vultures, his supergroup featuring Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. In his video, Grohl told Nan...
10-Year-Old Drum Prodigy Honors Neil Peart with Her Impressive Cover of Rush’s “YYZ”: Watch
It’s a daunting task for any drummer to take on the iconic Rush song “YYZ”, but 10-year-old prodigy Yoyoka does the late Neil Peart proud with a new cover of the instrumental track. The Japanese drumming sensation has been making waves for a few years now. Her cover of Rage Against the Machine’s “Bulls on Parade” has 2.6 million YouTube views, and she’s earned praise from such luminaries as Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, KISS’ Gene Simmons, and RATM’s Brad Wilk, among others. Yoyoka has twice appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show, and during her second visit received a surprise video message from Dave Grohl, who told her she was an “amazing” drummer. In her latest video, Yoyoka’s skills are on full display, as she plays her way through the Rush classic “YYZ”...
#MetallicaMondays: Watch Metallica Rock Yankee Stadium at Historic “Big 4” Concert
Metallica have been streaming full concerts from their archives every Monday since the pandemic began, and the latest one is a “big” treat. The metal giants are sharing the set from their historic “Big 4” show at Yankee Stadium in 2011. In 2010 and 2011, Metallica played a series of “Big 4” concerts with fellow members of the big four of thrash: Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. The Yankee Stadium gig on September 14th, 2011, marked the last of those shows, and was attended by roughly 42,000 fans. The 18-song setlist featured classics from throughout the band’s career, including “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, “Master of Puppets”, and “Enter Sandman”. Among the highlights was a cover of Motörhead’s “Overkill”, during which Metallica were joined onstage by members of the other Big 4 bands. As with ...
Publisher & Songwriter Streaming Royalty Rates Headed Back to CRB for Review: What’s in the Ruling
The Copyright Royalty Board went too far when it eliminated a rate ceiling from digital streaming services’ calculation determining music songwriter and publishing royalties. That’s part of the verdict from a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion that was made public Tuesday (Aug. 11), sending the CRB ruling back to the three-judge panel that made the verdict in a 2 to 1 split decision in 2018. The overall all-in music publishing royalty rate ceiling had previously been a part of the rate formula from 2008 to 2018. But will the 44% increase in royalties stand? {“nid”:”9431493″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Appeal Ruling on Publisher Royalty Rate Hike Looks to Favor Digital Services: Sources”,”relative_path&#...
Appeal Ruling on Publisher Royalty Rate Hike Looks Like it Favors Digital Services Contentions: Sources
Spotify, Amazon, Pandora and YouTube have been handed a procedural victory on their appeal to a 44% royalty rate increase for songwriters and publishers, sources tell Billboard. The U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. that reviewed the digital services’ appeal on the Copyright Royalty Board’s (CRB) mechanical rate determination has thrown out the rate structure cobbled together by a majority of the board’s three judges, Billboard has learned. The ruling, which is under seal, could wash away the rate increase that the CRB judges — in a split 2–1 decision — had awarded songwriters and music publishers in January 2018. The CRB ruling was finalized in February 2019 and appealed by digital services a month later on grounds of procedural issues with how the CRB determined...
Digital Services’ Appeal of Publisher Rate Hike Headed Back to Copyright Royalty Board: Sources
The U.S. Court of Appeals reviewing an appeal from Spotify, Amazon, Pandora and YouTube over the Copyright Royalty Board’s mechanical rate determination has remanded the case back to the CRB, sources tell Billboard. At press time the decision was sealed, so industry sources weren’t clear on what issues the Washington, D.C. Circuit Appeals Court had with the CRB rate ruling, other than it apparently was due to procedural issues. But procedural issues were at the heart of the digital services’ appeal and, at its most extreme, this could mean the ruling vacated the process that yielded a 44% rate increase for publisher royalties. {“nid”:”8502707″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Why Spotify's Appeal of The CRB Rate Decision Is A Hug...
Watch Black Veil Brides’ Exclusive Twitch Q&A
If you missed Black Veil Brides’ exclusive Q&A on SPIN’s Untitled Twitch Stream a couple of weeks ago, there’s some good news for you. The 98-minute fan session saw several hundred BVB diehards ask the band about everything from their new music to their favorite foods when it was live, and has garnered thousands of views on Twitch in the 10 days since. Seeing as it’ll soon be wiped from Twitch history due to the platform’s time limits on keeping streams, it’s now officially the very first video from SPIN’s Untitled Twitch Stream to be uploaded to SPIN’s official YouTube channel. Check out the video above (or on YouTube), and don’t forget to subscribe, like, and/or follow SPIN on both Twitch and YouTube for all future live and recorded video performances, Q&As, and more. Watch it be...
Sonic Youth’s and PJ Harvey’s From the Basement Sets Uploaded to YouTube: Watch
The deeper we get into the From the Basement archive, the better and better it gets. The latest uploads include full performances from Sonic Youth and PJ Harvey. Ever since it was announced that Nigel Godrich’s independent music performance program was uploading its entire archive to YouTube, music fans have been blessed with high-quality footage of iconic bands every week, including legendary Radiohead clips and previously hard-to-view performances. These new videos continue that trend. Sonic Youth’s 2007 performance on From the Basement feels like an actual concert. Although the setlist only consists of five songs, the runtime lasts well over half an hour and the band is totally in the zone. After they open with an impassioned version of “The Sprawl”, Sonic Youth then bust out a par...
