On Tuesday, as the legal battle between Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald and Kesha Rose Sebert continues to progress after seven years in court, New York Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter rejected Sony Music’s concerns and ordered that various contracts, business plans and other financial records be unsealed within days.
Source: Sony Music Loses Bid for Secrecy in Dr. Luke-Kesha Fight
The slowdown in Disney Plus subscriber growth has helped push the stock down by more than 7% over the past month, and two influential analysts said the entertainment giant will likely have to dig deep and spend more on content to get itself back on track.
Source: Analysts Say Increased Content Spend Is Needed to Halt Disney Plus Subscriber Slowdown
Concord is exploring a sale, according to a source familiar with the situation – a deal that would likely top $4 billion, based on Billboard’s estimates. If the record label and music publisher does hit the auction block, it would be an attractive target for one of the three major record companies, some industry sources say, and an acquisition by one of the smaller majors could potentially change the power dynamics between them.
Source: Indie Music Giant Concord, Worth Over $4 Billion, Eyes Potential Sale
The genius of Bowie bonds is making a comeback, 14 years after they went away. MBW’s sources tell us that at least one major music rights portfolio owner is currently seeking a handsome rating (perhaps a platinum-plated, bet-the-house-on-it, super-solid-stuff rating) for bonds securitized against music assets.
Source: The name’s bonds. Music bonds.
As part of its third-quarter earnings release on Tuesday, the streaming giant disclosed it will soon begin reporting viewership stats measured as the total number of hours viewed of a program during its first 28 days on the platform. For years, Netflix has only reported the number of households who watched at least a small portion of a program.
Source: Netflix to Reveal More Viewership Data as Streamer Changes its Internal Metrics
Source: Netflix Reports Jump in Users, Calls ‘Squid Game’ Its Most Popular Show Ever
Spotify on Wednesday announced a new partnership with ecommerce provider Shopify to let artists list merchandise directly on their profiles on the audio-streaming giant’s platform. Any artist globally can already link to their Shopify store if they have one from their Spotify profile. But now Spotify users will see featured product listings from Shopify on the service.
Source: Spotify Adds Virtual Merch Tables for Music Artists in Pact With Shopify
Streaming services may pay up to 30 percent more to production workers as part of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees’ (IATSE) deal with major Hollywood studios to avert a strike. The union tweeted a document that specifically outlined the new streaming terms of the tentative Basic Agreement.
Source: The IATSE’s strike-averting deal means better pay on streaming
In the past, box office film revenues provided a clear picture of what a star, the agents, studios and theaters should earn after a project made its debut. Now, in the age of streaming, data is more scarce and streaming services are less inclined to offer up information and data.
Source: Creative Artists Agency Co-Chairman Richard Lovett Says Company Mines Streaming Data for Movie Deals
Roar players will be able to play music as avatars in virtual studios with other players. They’ll also be able to create, collaborate, and share their music and performances live with the rest of the Roar community. There are solo artist and band modes, as well as game-based events and campaigns.
Roar Studios’ first $7 million funding round included Galaxy Interactive, Todd Wagner, Scott Barger, and other notable investors.
Source: Roar Studios Raises $7MM to Build ‘Music Metaverse’ for Online Collab