As the creator economy grows and matures, platforms which enable users to create and creators to be remunerated properly are going to become increasingly more important – but the relationship between the creators, who are originating on these platforms, and the platforms themselves is not guaranteed to be a sustainable one.
Source: Creator tools are changing the power dynamic of audiences and platforms
Last month’s most exciting development for the digital space has undoubtedly been the much-coveted EIP-2981 standard. To be specific, EIP-2981’s offering focuses on NFT creators and brings a much-needed solution. It offers to attach royalty information directly to the token itself, and with this makes use of a common data store and computation for all participants to access: the Ethereum blockchain.
Source: The NFT Royalty Standard EIP-2981 Released to Support Artists
What does Ackman think about UMG and WMG? In short, he thinks they’re both under-valued – but that, out of the two, UMG’s the better bet. And he believes that his investors’ chances of making a long-term loss on their near-$4 billion combined investment into Universal is “minimal”.
Source: Bill Ackman: Universal and Warner are both under-valued… but UMG’s the right bet for us
Thanks to historically low interest rates and the fervor of investors seeking a new steady stream of income, artists across the spectrum are doing what was once unthinkable — selling their music catalogs. But the window may be closing soon for musicians hoping to maximize their returns on what’s likely their most precious asset.
Source: Why This Is the Right Time to Sell Your Catalog (Guest Column)
CryptoPunks is one of the biggest things in NFT crypto collectibles, with the Ethereum-based pixel avatars—released in 2017, well before this year’s NFT market boom—recently surpassing the $1 billion mark in total transaction volume to date. What’s the next potential stop for the CryptoPunks, then? Hollywood.
Source: CryptoPunks Go Hollywood as Larva Labs Signs With Major Talent Agency – Decrypt
Fiction has been adapted into popular films and TV for years – but now there is growing interest in bespoke scores for novels. The Scottish micro label Bibliotapes has made literature-inspired music into an entire business. The label’s objective – asking musicians to compose new scores to classic novels – is an idea so simple it could almost be a happy accident. Stuart McLean, who runs it, suggests that’s the case.
Source: Writers’ notes: the record labels remixing novels into music
Total movie consumer 2021 spending will rise to $60.4 billion — up from $46 billion in 2020 — with streaming subscription video rising and theatrical business recovering, according to Omdia, the global marketing research company. This year’s totals will still be down 8% ($5 billion) from 2019’s $65.4 billion level.
Source: Television News Daily: Global Movie Consumer Spend Rises, Streaming Grows
BMG saw its half-year revenues grow 9% YoY at constant currency to €296 million ($357m) in the six months to end of June. That represented the music rights company’s best-ever midyear performance since it was formed in 2008. 62.9% of BMG’s revenues in the first half of 2021 were from publishing, with 37.1% from recordings.
Source: BMG revenues up 9% in first half of 2021… and it has over $1bn of acquisition deals in play with KKR
Current Primephonic subscribers are set to receive a free six-month Apple Music subscription, as Apple higher-ups don’t intend to roll out an updated version of the classical music service until 2022. “Apple Music plans to launch a dedicated classical music app next year combining Primephonic’s classical user interface that fans have grown to love with more added features,” the release indicates.
Source: Apple Officially Acquires Classical Music Giant Primephonic
These days, what happens in China echoes from Stockholm to Los Angeles. Tencent Music’s share price, which hit an all-time high on March 23, fell a whopping 74.6% as of Aug. 23, wiping out $40.1 billion of market capitalization. Among its major shareholders is Spotify, which in December 2017 acquired an 8.4% stake in the company that has dropped in value by $3.6 billion in roughly five months.
Source: How Tencent Music’s Problems Ripple Through the Business Worldwide