The Digital Music Association (DiMA) — a trade body whose membership comprises Amazon, Apple, Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube — released a highly optimistic annual report on Thursday that forecasts strong continued growth in the U.S. music market, despite COVID-19’s derailment of most entertainment sectors in 2020.
Source: U.S. Music Revenue Reached $11 Billion in 2019, But It’s Still Not at Its Peak
Music Reports, a California-based rival to mechanical rights clearing house Harry Fox Agency (HFA), has been fully acquired by private equity company MidOcean Partners. New York-based MidOcean has acquired the firm for an undisclosed fee from its previous owners, ABRY Partners plus Music Reports’ co-founders, Ronald Gertz and Douglas Brainin.
Source: Harry Fox rival Music Reports acquired by private equity firm MidOcean Partners
Needless to say, this isn’t how Kevin Mayer expected his bold career move to go. Mayer, after just three months on the job as TikTok’s CEO and chief operating officer of Chinese parent company ByteDance, said Wednesday that he is resigning amid the tumultuous geopolitical climate battering TikTok — led by Donald Trump’s anti-China agenda — which ultimately will force ByteDance to sell the TikTok app business in the U.S.
Source: Why Kevin Mayer’s Exit Means TikTok Sale Is Now Inevitable
Walmart said it’s teaming up with Microsoft in a bid for TikTok. The retail giant confirmed to CNBC that it’s interested in buying the tech company. Walmart is pursuing the acquisition at a time when it’s trying to better compete with Amazon. It’s planning to launch a membership program, called Walmart+, soon. The subscription-based service is the retailer’s answer to Amazon Prime, which includes original TV shows and movies.
The music industry should be ready for its own revenue declines, as radio’s woes will flow downstream to songwriters and publishers. Because stations pay performance royalties based on revenues, not fixed amounts, they have paid PROs royalties commensurate with first-quarter declines. And if PROs collect less money, they will pay fewer royalties.
Source: Radio’s Crushing Quarter Is About to Trickle Down to Publishers and Songwriters
The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on the music industry, as artists who relied on live performances and concerts suddenly had the rug pulled out beneath them, impacting their ability to generate income. An upcoming feature in development at Spotify could help turn things around, by again connecting artists with their fans through ticketed live music events.
Artist services platform Stem has secured $10 million in fresh funding, at a time when the company’s mission of accelerating musicians’ access to capital matters more than ever. The announcement comes as Stem reaches a new milestone: As of this month, it has paid out $100 million in royalties to artists since its founding in 2015.
Source: Artist Services Startup Stem Raises $10M From Coach K, Baron Davis & More to Help Artists Get Paid
Senior and well-connected industry sources are telling MBW that New York-based Round Hill Music is in the early stages of exploring a public flotation. The acquisitive publishing and recorded music company, we hear, is primarily looking at the London Stock Exchange to pull off the feat, although other global exchanges – including the NASDAQ – are also believed to be under consideration.
Source: Will Round Hill be the next music company to IPO on the stock exchange?
Disney is charging subscribers an additional $30 to watch a single movie. This is a bold experiment well out of the norm of pay-per-view moves — but Disney has shown commanding confidence in the commercial power of its product, putting into question why the neighboring music industry is so resistant to similar pricing experiments that could net rights-holders much more revenue.
Source: Disney’s $30 ‘Mulan’ Experiment Shames Music’s Timid Pricing Models
An interesting development in the convergence of concerts-at-home technology and recorded music streaming: UK-based virtual reality music company MelodyVR has acquired US-based Spotify rival Napster in a deal worth $70m.
Source: Napster sold to MelodyVR in $70m deal, including $44m owed to record labels and other partners