The results surpassed both the company’s and Wall Street’s expectations, underlining how Microsoft and other big tech firms have been winners in the coronavirus pandemic. “Digital adoption curves aren’t slowing down,” Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, said in a statement. “They’re accelerating.”
Source: Microsoft reports strongest quarterly growth in years, as profit also rises.
Tunefind, described as “the world’s most comprehensive database and online source of information for music in television, film and video games”, partners with over 250 music supervisors worldwide to source song data directly from the executives responsible for selecting music featured in TV shows, movies, and video games.
Source: Songtradr acquires film, TV and gaming music data platform Tunefind
Hasbro announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Entertainment One Music (eOne Music) for $385 million. eOne Music will be acquired by entities controlled by Blackstone, which also owns the performing rights organization SESAC, and “will focus on building a creator-first music brand with global scale and expertise,” according to the announcement.
When the audio streaming company updates investors on Wednesday, it is not expected to maintain the blistering rate of new subscriber growth experienced last year. Spotify, which reported 6 million new subscribers in the first three months last year and 11 million in its most recent quarter to the end of December, has told investors not to expect the boom to continue at such a pace.
An affiliate of Concord has acquired 145,000 copyrights from New York-headquartered Downtown. This portfolio constitutes Downtown’s entire owned and/or co-published music catalog, and takes Concord’s owned and controlled music assets to over 600,000 works. As part of the transaction, Downtown will continue to manage global royalty collection for the affected copyrights through the end of 2021.
Source: Concord buys Downtown’s owned music copyright catalog for around $400m
Banking giant JPMorgan made a rare public apology on Friday, admitting that it regrets backing Europe’s doomed Super League of top-tier soccer teams, which has sparked a violent backlash from fans. “We clearly misjudged how this deal would be viewed by the wider football community and how it might impact them in the future,” a representative for the bank said.
Source: Super League backer JPMorgan admits it ‘misjudged’ reaction from fans
HBO Max gained about 3 million total subscribers sequentially, AT&T said — a number the company should be pleased with, after concerns HBO Max might have trouble retaining subs after a big lift from “Wonder Woman 1984” in December.
Source: HBO Max Gains 3 Million Subscribers in Q1, AT&T Beats Wall Street Forecasts
Netflix revealed that it will spend over $17 billion on content this year, according to its first-quarter earnings report. “As we’ve noted previously, the production delays from Covid-19 in 2020 will lead to a 2021 slate that is more heavily second half weighted with a large number of returning franchises,” said the company in its letter to shareholders.
Source: Netflix Reveals $17 Billion in Content Spending in Fiscal 2021
Songtradr has confirmed the acquisition of Pretzel (aka Pretzel Rocks), a platform that supplies “stream safe” music to livestreamers on platforms such as Twitch and YouTube. Said livestreamers have to be very careful of playing licensed music via services such as Spotify when recording their videos. Doing so will likely result in a DCMA takedown of their content, or see it stung by YouTube’s Content ID.
Source: Songtradr acquires Pretzel, which provides DCMA-proof music for Twitch and YouTube livestreamers
Included in what Primary Wave describes as a “multi-million-dollar deal”, are Leonard’s share of a number of hits from Leonard Cohen such as You Want It Darker, It Seemed the Better Way, and If I Didn’t Have Your Love. The deal also encompasses his share of songwriter royalties from his work with Madonna. Songs include a number of her No.1 hits such as La Isla Bonita, Frozen, and the classic Like A Prayer.
Source: Primary Wave buys catalog of Madonna collaborator Patrick Leonard in ‘multi-million-dollar deal’