Heirs of Pablo Picasso, the famed 20th-century Spanish artist, are vaulting into 21st-century commerce by selling 1,010 digital art pieces of one of his ceramic works that has never before been seen publicly—riding a fad for “crypto” assets that have taken the art and financial worlds by storm. “We’re trying to build a bridge between the NFT world and the fine art world,” said Florian Picasso, the artist’s great-grandson.
Source: Picasso heirs launch digital art piece to ride ‘crypto’ wave
San Francisco-based technology firm Feed Media Group (FMG), a B2B music licensing subscription service, has signed a music licensing deal with Beggars Group for its Adaptr product. Adaptr is a subscription-based platform that allows startups to integrate music into their apps.
Source: Beggars Group inks licensing deal with music licensing platform Adaptr
Disney+ will launch in 42 countries and 11 territories this summer, the streamer announced Wednesday. Among the major new markets, the service will launch in South Africa, Turkey, Poland and the United Arab Emirates. No country-by-country launch dates, prices or subscription plans were revealed.
Mark Zuckerberg’s controversial cryptocurrency initiative is dead in the water amid resistance from the Federal Reserve — and Meta is looking to sell off its crypto assets altogether, according to a report. The Diem Association — a crypto project formerly known as Libra that has been backed by the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — planned to issue a so-called stablecoin that would have been pegged to the US dollar.
Source: Meta to scrap cryptocurrency initiative amid clash with Fed: report
AT&T topped Wall Street estimates for the fourth quarter of 2021, with WarnerMedia revenue gains driving top-line results — helped by strong growth of HBO Max — although the division’s operating income dropped 38% on higher costs. The company also announced that it expects the WarnerMedia spinoff and merger with Discovery to close in the second quarter (previously, it pegged the close for mid-2022).
Neil Young has shared a message demanding his music be removed from Spotify, citing the streaming service’s distribution partnership with Joe Rogan and accusing Rogan’s podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” of spreading false information regarding COVID-19 and vaccines.
The Spanish Competition Authority (CNMC) plans to initiate antitrust proceedings against Spanish Authors society SGAE, for alleged “abuse of dominant position.” The investigation is being launched at the request of Unison, a Barcelona-based Independent Management Entity (IME) organization.
Source: Spanish competition authority to open antitrust case against authors society SGAE
New York-headquartered digital collectibles platform Blockparty has struck its first major label partnership with Warner Music Group (WMG). The news follows WMG’s NFT-related global partnership in April last year with Genies, which dubs itself “the world’s largest avatar technology company.” Blockparty claims to have created “a new class of digital collectibles across art, music, and sports” which it says will “enable users to share and earn value together”.
Source: NFT Platform Blockparty strikes first major label partnership with Warner Music Group
Digital rights startup SuperBam announced it has paid out more than $10 million in reclaimed ad revenue to content creators who make their livings on YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, and Facebook. SuperBam, works with creators and companies to help them track down those mashups, compilations, reuploads, and reposts on YouTube and claim the revenue those videos generate.
New York-based Reservoir Media has acquired the publishing and recorded music catalogs of two-time Grammy award-winning Country singer-songwriter Travis Tritt. According to a media release announcing the news, the deal with Travis Tritt includes shares of Tritt’s entire body of work, up to his most recent album, Set In Stone.
Source: Reservoir acquires publishing and recorded music catalogs of country star Travis Tritt