The artists represented in the deal include Estelle (American Boy), Caesars (Jerk It Out), Serj Tankian of System of A Down, Jamelia, Coal Chamber, Sick of it All, Ziggy Marley And The Melody Makers, Soul Coughing, Throwing Muses, The Ark, Stina Nordenstam, The Sounds, Surfer Blood and more.
Source: Round Hill Music acquires master recordings from Swedish label Telegram Studios
Amazon is weeks into negotiations on a deal to acquire MGM for about $9 billion, industry sources tell Variety. Chatter that Amazon (and other tech and media giants) have been sniffing around MGM has circulated for some time. But sources indicated that Amazon’s interest in acquiring the studio has taken on a new tenor beyond the usual rumor mill.
Time Warner now has been involved in two huge deals that show the pitfalls of trying to fuse media and new distribution businesses. Its $106 billion merger in 2001 with AOL Inc. was one of the biggest flops in business history. Time Warner eventually spun off AOL. AT&T’s pursuit of Hollywood business set it apart from rival Verizon Communications, which focused mostly on its core wireless business. Still, Verizon spent nearly $10 billion exploring digital media, acquiring AOL in 2015 and Yahoo in 2017. It later wrote down about half of those properties’ values after they failed to deliver the growth the company promised.
Under the terms of the deal, AT&T will spin off entertainment arm WarnerMedia and combine it with Discovery, creating a TV, film and streaming powerhouse. AT&T’s WarnerMedia owns the likes of the Warner Bros. studio, HBO and streaming service HBO Max, as well as the Turner cable networks. Discovery’s reality TV-heavy properties include Discovery Channel, HGTV, TLC, Food Network, OWN and Animal Planet.
For most songs, even substantial repeat business doesn’t result in a direct financial increase in revenue because the platform pays out in micropennies. But streaming performance has a heavy influence on which songs get worked to AM/FM stations as singles, and a hit in that platform can potentially lead to six-figure payouts.
Source: Play It Again, Fan: Songwriters Seek ‘Repeat’ Customers In Streaming Age
During the company’s quarterly earnings call last week, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino spent much of the time allocated to questions discussing his outlook on blockchain tech and the promise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). “We’ve all learned from Top Shots at the NBA,” said Rapino. “We envision Live Nation…looking at some of its concert moments as magic moments that we could mint and attach to our ongoing ticket festivals and special moments.”
Source: Live Nation Wants To Turn Concert ‘Magic Moments’ Into NFTs – Decrypt
Artists who were once paid 25 cents per song on vinyl or CD are now paid less than 10 cents per thousand plays on such streaming sites as YouTube Music and Spotify — sites many consumers currently enjoy. As a result, many artists are struggling to rise above the poverty line, much less sustain a career or a family.
As part of the contemplated IPO, Believe – a label and artist services company and the owner of TuneCore – intends to raise approximately €500 million ($608 million) to finance its growth strategy. In a media release issued today, Believe confirmed it is a “fast-growing and profitable company” that generated €728 million in digital revenues in 2020, and €441 million of consolidated revenues in the same year.
Source: TuneCore owner Believe aims to raise €500m as it begins IPO process in France
Launched in 2018, Bitski lets brands, game developers, and consumers create, sell, and purchase NFTs on its platform. The company says that this phase of investment will support its ambitions to “make the NFT economy more accessible for creators, brands and enterprises”.
Source: Jay-Z, Troy Carter and Andreessen Horowitz join $19m funding round for NFT marketplace Bitski
Amongst DREAMSTAGE’s founders are CEO Thomas Hesse, a former President of Global Digital Business and US Sales/ Distribution at Sony Music. The startup has delivered over 50 live shows since its launch in August 2020 and handles ticket sales and the delivery of the live audio/video signal to screens and devices.
Source: Deezer makes strategic investment in livestreaming company DREAMSTAGE