Tencent Music Entertainment (TME), the largest music company in China, will launch a new joint-venture record label with Warner Music Group (WME) the two labels announced Monday afternoon. Along with the formation of the new label, TME and WMG said they have secured a new licensing deal to keep WMG’s …
Read More »What YouTube's TikTok-Style 'Shorts' Mean for the Music Business
Six months after first launching in India, YouTube is bringing the beta for Shorts — its TikTok-style verticalvideo format — to the U.S., the company announced on Thursday. This drops yet another competitor into the Western music market’sincreasingly crowded short-form video space — albeit one whose relevance to the music …
Read More »More People in the U.S. Bought Music Subscriptions Than Ever In 2020
Even as live music massively struggled, the recorded music industry saw another booming year out of 2020, according to a year-end report from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) released on Friday. In line with video-streaming services’ boom during the year of quarantine, the RIAA found that paid music-streaming …
Read More »Universal Music Group Is Investing in Thai Pop
You may not have heard of Lyra yet, but the music video for their eponymous debut single, which dropped two days ago, already has more than two million views on YouTube. Early Friday morning, Universal Music Thailand announced that the major label entity has partnered with leading Thai music company …
Read More »At Work With Tony Bracy, SB Projects' Radio Promotion Guru
In Rolling Stone‘s series At Work, we go behind the curtain with decision-makers across the fast-changing music business — exploring a range of responsibilities, burgeoning ideas, advice for industry newcomers, and more. Read earlier interviews here. Tony Bracy started his music industry career at an amusement park. He helped out …
Read More »Two Months After Blackout Tuesday, the Music Industry Has Yet to See Lasting Change
In the months since George Floyd was killed at the hands of police in Minneapolis, protests over systemic racism and police brutality have continued unabated in cities around America. Initially, a protest movement unfolded in parallel in the music industry, starting on June 2nd, when the major labels decided to …
Read More »Major Companies Are Boycotting Facebook Ads, But Major Music Companies Keep Spending
On June 30th, Couch Guitar Straps received a warning from a potential customer. The man wanted to buy a new guitar strap, but he was upset that Couch was running Facebook ads at a time when a growing number of companies — including Eddie Bauer, Magnolia Pictures, Patagonia, and Ben …
Read More »Music's Biggest Companies Are Asking Legislators to Save Indie Venues
In the latest push of the National Independent Venue Association’s request for government assistance for shuttered concert venues, several of the music industry’s most powerful companies and organizations have signed a letter to federal legislators imploring the government to take action. The world’s three biggest music companies — Universal Music …
Read More »Songwriters Are Already Fighting For Better Pay. But in 2021, They Face an Even Bigger Battle
Professional songwriters are currently locked in a legal battle with the likes of Spotify and Amazon over how much they get paid in the United States. By next year, it could become an all-out war. The current battle is taking place because streaming services have appealed against a rise in …
Read More »Warner Music's Newest Artists Are… Hot Wheels and Barbie
Warner Music Group and major toy maker Mattel have entered a multi-year exclusive distribution deal, the two companies announced on Friday, giving Warner access to Mattel’s catalog of over 1,000 children and family friendly songs from iconic toy brands including Hot Wheels, Barbie, American Girl, Fisher-Price and Thomas and Friends. …
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