Business News
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Elon Musk says his potential in-person fight with Mark Zuckerberg would be streamed on his social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.
The two tech billionaires seemingly agreed to a “cage match” face-off in late June. Zuckerberg is actually trained in mixed martial arts, and the CEO of Facebook’s parent company Meta posted about completing his first jiu jitsu tournament earlier this year.
“Zuck v Musk fight will be live-streamed on X,” Musk wrote in a post Sunday (Aug. 5) on the platform. “All proceeds will go to charity for veterans.”
Musk said earlier Sunday he was training for the fight by lifting weights.
“Don’t have time to work out, so I just bring them to work,” Musk wrote.
Whether or not Musk and Zuckerberg actually make it to the ring in Las Vegas has yet to be seen — especially as Musk often tweets about action prematurely or without following through. But even if their cage match agreement is all a joke, the banter has gained attention.
It all started when Musk, who owns X, responded to a tweet about Meta preparing to release a new Twitter rival called Threads. He took a dig about the world becoming “exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options” — but then one Twitter user jokingly warned Musk of Zuckerberg’s jiu jitsu training.
“I’m up for a cage match if he is lol,” Musk wrote.
Representatives of X, Meta and Ultimate Fighting Championship, which owns the venue where the fight might take place, didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Musk’s push to stream the video live on X comes as he aims to turn the platform into a “digital town square.” However, his much-publicized Twitter Spaces kickoff event in May with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announcing his run for president struggled with technical glitches and a near half-hour delay.
Musk had said the problems were due to “straining” servers because so many people were trying to listen to the audio-only event. But even at their highest, the number of listeners listed topped out at around 420,000, far from the millions of viewers that televised presidential announcements attract.
SM Entertainment’s second quarter earnings, which were announced Wednesday (Aug. 2), helped shares of the K-pop music company, home to such acts as NCT Dream and Red Velvet, gain 7.6% to 137,700 won ($105.59) this week. That made it the top performer of the 21 stocks in the Billboard Global Music Index this week. The […]
Apple says it now has more than 1 billion paid subscribers to its various services, as that line of its business has hit an all-time high.
The company revealed the number in its quarterly earnings report, disclosing total revenue of 81.8 billion, a decline of 1 percent from a year ago. This is the third consecutive quarter to see a decline in revenue from Apple, thanks to slower sales of its hardware devices, like the iPhone and Mac lines. Net income was $19.9 billion.
However, its services business continues to grow at a rapid pace, hitting $21.2 billion in the quarter, up from 19.6 billion last year. Apple services include Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple News, and iCloud+. It also includes subscriptions through apps on the app store. The company did not break out how many subscribers used which service, beyond the topline 1 billion figure.
On the company’s earnings call, however, CEO Tim Cook said that Apple TV+ had hit a revenue record and touted the addition of soccer superstar Lionel Messi to Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami. Apple has the global exclusive rights to MLS.
“We are focused on original content and so we are all about giving great storytellers the venue to tell great stories and hopefully get us all to think a little deeper,” Cook added. “And sport is a part of that because sport is the ultimate original story.”
One thing that did not come on the call was the ongoing WGA and SAG strikes. of course, for Apple, its content business is a tiny piece of the overall pie. Apple’s total profits last quarter were nearly double Warner Bros. Discovery’s total revenue in the quarter, with WBD noting that it is firmly in the content business.
“We are happy to report that we had an all-time revenue record in Services during the June quarter, driven by over 1 billion paid subscriptions, and we saw continued strength in emerging markets thanks to robust sales of iPhone,” said Cook in a statement. “From education to the environment, we are continuing to advance our values, while championing innovation that enriches the lives of our customers and leaves the world better than we found it.”
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
Adidas brought in 400 million euros ($437 million) from the first release of Yeezy sneakers left over after breaking ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, as the German sportswear maker tries to offload the unsold shoes and donate part of the proceeds to groups fighting antisemitism and other forms of hate.
The first batch of shoes released in June, which sold out, helped the company reach an operating profit of 176 million euros in the second quarter, better than it originally planned, Adidas said Thursday. A second sale started Wednesday.
After Ye’s antisemitic and other offensive comments led the company to end its partnership with the rapper in October, Adidas said it had sought a way to dispose of 1.2 billion euros worth of the high-end shoes in a responsible way.
“We will continue to carefully sell off more of the existing Yeezy inventory,” said CEO Bjørn Gulden, who took over in January.
“This is much better than destroying and writing off the inventory and allows us to make substantial donations to organizations like the Anti-Defamation League, the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change and Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism,” Gulden said.
Adidas has already handed over 10 million euros to the groups and expected to give an additional 100 million euros, with further donations possible depending on how future sales go, Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer said.
Several Jewish civic leaders contacted by The Associated Press said they weren’t planning to buy a pair of Yeezys themselves but generally welcomed the plan to support anti-hate organizations, saying the company is trying to make the best of a bad situation.
The Adidas CEO said the Yeezy sales are “of course also helping both our cash flow and general financial strength.”
The first sale unloaded roughly 20% to 25% of the Yeezy sneakers that were left stacked up in warehouses, contributing 150 million euros of Adidas’ 176 million euros in operating earnings in the April-to-June quarter.
Ohlmeyer, however, cautioned that the Yeezy contribution was smaller than the number made it seem because it did not include many of the company’s costs.
Adidas also warned that the first sale included the highest-priced shoes and sold out completely but that it wasn’t clear whether the remaining releases would see similar price levels and demand.
The blow-up of the Ye partnership put Adidas in a precarious position because of the popularity of the Yeezy line, and it faced growing pressure to end ties last year as other companies cut off the rapper.
The torn-up contract was now in arbitration, “a process that is being taken care of by legal people” for both sides and was surrounded “by a lot of uncertainty,” said Gulden, the Adidas CEO.
Asked whether it must pay Ye royalties on the shoes, the company has said only that it will observe all its contractual obligations.
Yeezy revenue from June was “largely in line” with sales seen in the second quarter of last year, Adidas said. The boost has allowed the company to cut its expectations for this year’s operating loss to 450 million euros from 700 million euros predicted previously.
On the amount of money given to anti-hate groups, Adidas said the donations were not a fixed percentage of sales but that it had discussed with the recipients what an appropriate amount would be.
BRISBANE, Australia — Mike Shinoda, co-founder of Linkin Park, the nu metal favorites fresh from reigning over several Billboard charts, is now part of the lineup for Bigsound 2023.
In March of this year, Linkin Park’s “Lost” saw the band return to No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart for the first time in almost nine years, and hit the summit of the Alternative Airplay chart for the first time in nearly a decade.
“Lost” features vocals from Chester Bennington, who died in 2017, and was featured on the 20th anniversary release of Meteora, which led the Billboard 200 for two weeks following its original release, and is one of the group’s six leaders on the all-genres albums chart.
Away from the studio and stage, Shinoda, a music industry innovator in the NFT space, was tapped last year by Warner Recorded Music (WRM) to help shape the major’s “artist-centric approach” to Web3.
Also part of the third-wave of announcements is Christine Anu, who appears in the capacity as an official Bigsound headline speaker. One of the country’s most recognizable voices, Anu’s performance of Neil Murray’s “My Island Home” is a solid-gold classic, earning entry in APRA’s list of Top 30 Australian songs, published 2001, just one year after she performed it during the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games.
Organized by trade body QMusic, Bigsound will boast more than 100 speakers, from international and national buyers, agents, music supervisors, bookers and “industry decision makers.”
Speakers at this year’s summit include Simon Napier-Bell, the celebrated author, filmmaker and artist manager, who guided the careers of Rock Hall inductee George Michael and Wham, English composer Simon Franglen, Cockenflap Festival promoter Cora Chan, artists Ziggy Ramo, Kate Miller-Heidke, Georgia Maq, and more.
Also, upwards of 140 emerging acts from around the globe will play the showcase program, which adds Zheani, Full Flower Moon Band, Dean Brady, FELIVAND, Loren Ryan and others.
This year’s edition will be held Sept. 5 – 8 in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.
Earlier in the year, the Palaszczuk state government announced funding for Bigsound to the tune of nearly A$4 million over four years, a boost that comes as the Queensland capital gears-up for the 2032 Olympic Games.
Bigsound 2023 is presented by Brick Lane Brewing and independent ticketer Oztix, and supported by national youth broadcaster triple j.
Visit bigsound.org.au for more.
Continued growth in music subscriptions and new Copyright Royalty Board mechanical royalty rates helped Reservoir Media improve revenue 31% to $31.8 million in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30, the company announced Wednesday. About two-thirds of the improvement came from organic revenue growth while the remainder stemmed from the acquisitions of music catalogs of The Spinners and Greg Kihn, among others.
Digital revenue improved 34% to $17.5 million due to “increasing demand trends for streaming music globally, something we saw evidence of in Spotify’s higher-than-expected subscriber numbers reported last week,” said CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi during the earnings call. Spotify’s premium subscribers rose 17% to 220 million in the second quarter, beating company expectations of 217 million subscribers. Monthly active users, which includes subscribers and listeners to the ad-supported service, climbed 27% to 551 million, easily topping the company’s 530-million target.
Those gains helped Reservoir’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to climb 36% to $10.1 million and outpaced the 20% increase in administration costs in the quarter. CFO Jim Heindlmeyer expects operating leverage — the ability to increase earnings by increasing revenue — to improve in the coming quarters. “Looking ahead, we expect revenue to outpace operating costs as this has generally been the case during our time as a public traded company,” he said.
Reservoir sounded upbeat about Spotify’s decision last week to raise the monthly price of its individual plan in the U.S. and other markets. Spotify’s increase, like the similar increases by Apple Music in 2022 and Amazon Music earlier this year, “will impact our revenues on a pretty linear basis,” said Heindlmeyer. “In other words, a 10% price increase at a streaming service will flow through to us at around a 10% increase to our pool of money.”
Last quarter’s music publishing revenue of $20.8 million was up 26% from the prior-year period and accounted for 65% of total revenue, down from 67% in the prior-year period. New mechanical royalty rates from streaming services established by the CRB for 2023 to 2027 represented “a meaningful increase” and allowed Reservoir “to recognize higher revenue associated with mechanical royalties from digital sources,” said Khosrowshahi. Publishing’s digital revenue grew 41% to $11.9 million and performance revenue improved 28% to $4.5 million. Synch revenue declined 8%, from $3.3 million to $3 million.
Recorded music revenue grew 37% to $10.4 million and accounted for 33% of total revenue, up from 31% in the prior-year period. The segment’s physical revenue grew 176% to $3.6 million. Digital and neighboring rights revenues, which combined to account for about 12% of recorded music revenues, improved 23% and 25%, respectively.
The decline in synchronization revenues — down 8% in publishing and down 68% in recorded music from the prior-year period — were the results of a timing issue, not the strike by actor’s and writer’s unions that has stopped productions of many television shows and motion pictures. Khosrowshahi said the advertising placement and movie trailer businesses are both “strong” but could have varied impacts based on when the strike ends.
Reservoir maintained its earlier fiscal 2024 guidance for both revenue ($127 million to $132 million) and adjusted EBITDA ($49 million to $52 million). “We remain confident about the growth trajectory of the global music industry and how Reservoir is positioned to capitalize on it,” said Khosrowshahi.
Earnings highlights:
Total revenue increased 31% to $31.8 million. Adjusted EBITDA rose 36% to $10.1 million.
Publishing revenue increased 26% to $20.8 million. Publishing’s digital revenue rose 41% to $11.9 million. Performance revenue jumped 28% to $4.5 million.
Recorded music revenue grew 23% to $5.6 million. Physical revenue jumped 176% to $3.6 million. Digital revenue improved 23% to $5.6 million.
Guidance for fiscal 2024 (the year ending March 31, 2024) remained at $127 million to $132 million, representing 6% growth at the midpoint. Adjusted EBITDA guidance remained at $49 million to $52 million, representing 9% growth at the midpoint.
She’s already one of the most famous mononymous celebrities in the world, and now Academy Award, Emmy and Grammy winner Cher has partnered with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group to expose new generations to her prolific, six-decade-long music career.
IAG has acquired Cher’s full interest in her past sound recordings and compositions for a sum that the company declined to reveal.
The 77-year-old singer-actress, who is now recording her first holiday album, has landed a No. 1 single on one of Billboard’s charts in each decade from the 1960s through the 2010s, beginning with her work as half of the duo Sonny & Cher, whose pop hits led to the hit CBS prime-time variety show, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, which ran from 1971 to 1974. But she got her start when she was 17, singing background vocals for late producer Phil Spector, whom she refers to as “Phillip.”
Like many acts on IAG’s growing roster, Cher has a relationship with Azoff that goes back to the ’70s, when they were introduced by Cher’s sister, Georganne LaPiere, who was a close friend of Azoff’s. “I’ve never worked with her professionally,” he says, “but obviously have been a fan.”
Cher says her decision to make a deal with IAG came down to the respect Azoff shows artists. “I trust Irving,” she says in an exclusive interview with Billboard. “If he has a great idea, I respect him. And if I have a great idea, I know he will listen attentively. My voice will be heard.”
IAG’s first project with Cher will celebrate the 25th anniversary of “Believe,” her electro-pop hit that arrived in October 1998 and was Billboard’s No. 1 song of 1999.
Although she has yet to talk strategy with IAG, Cher says she and Mark Taylor, who co-produced the song, discussed building a box set around “Believe” and her album of the same name — a conversation in which Taylor proposed an ambitious agenda for her. “I said I’d like to do a concert with my favorite songs, and he said, ‘Why don’t you do an album?’ I said, ‘OK.’ And he said, ‘Why don’t you do a concert for the Christmas album?’ And I went, ‘Wait, dude. C’mon,’ ” she recalls with a laugh.
Cher, who is managed by Roger Davies and Lindsey Scott, concluded her last major tour in 2005 and a Las Vegas residency in 2011. Asked if she plans to tour again, she replies: “I don’t know,” although she says there will not be live performances tied to the anniversary of “Believe”: “I’m not going to be ready that soon.”
She would also like to explore releasing a box set of her lesser-known songs, including some of her more recent recordings. “Some of my favorite, favorite songs weren’t hits,” she says. “I wasn’t a very good singer until, oh, my God, I was 40. I met my teacher [Adrienne Angel]. She made me a real singer.”
Her wish list for such a compilation would include tracks that fared well on the dance charts but weren’t necessarily mainstream pop hits, including 2001’s “Song for the Lonely”; 2010’s “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me,” which won composer Diane Warren a Golden Globe; and 1991’s “Save Up All Your Tears.”
There are also plans to license her vast catalog of hits for film/TV synchs. “I think that’s great because they’re good songs,” Cher says. “Not all of them, but a lot of them are really good. I’m surprised sometimes that people know me or know my songs.”
IAG’s acquisition includes the international share in her late ex-husband Sonny Bono’s publishing catalog, which she received in their 1975 divorce — a collection that Azoff says is “vastly underappreciated” and includes such Sonny & Cher hits as “The Beat Goes On” and “I Got You Babe.” Cher says she would love for those songs to find new ears, but adds, “It never actually occurred to me that kids would want to hear those old songs.” (IAG does not have a stake in her Los Angeles-based CHERlato pop-up gelato truck, which serves flavors like Snap Out of It! and kefir and cardamom.)
IAG president Jimmy Edwards says the company plans to mine all decades of Cher’s career. “She’s the symbol of empowerment,” he says. “She’s successful in everything she does — music, film, TV, fashion, you name it. There’s so much story to tell. That’s our goal, always: to make sure we’re working with our partners to help curate that story.”
That Chick Angel, the performance alias of Angel Laketa Moore, signed to the Azoff Company label Giant Music, which just released the music video for her TikTok-driven single, “One Margarita (Margarita Song).” Moore is also an actress, host, influencer and comedian who is currently on tour with her husband, TankDontTok, for their podcast, Is This Going to Cause an Argument. She’s represented by Realm Talent and Framework Entertainment.
Las Vegas singer/songwriter/producer/rapper Ez Mil signed to Shady Records/Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records. On August 11, he’s set to drop DU4LI7Y: REDUX, a deluxe edition of his 2022 album DU4LI7Y which will mark his final release on Virgin Music. The new edition will include “Realest,” a new single featuring Eminem. “I heard Ez’s music and was like, ‘this is really special” so I took it to Dre,” said Eminem in a statement. “We both agreed it would be a great fit and we wanted to work with him right on the spot.” Dr. Dre added, “I’m really only interested in working on s— that sounds different from anything else going on out there, and only then if I feel I can really bring something to it. Em played me Ez and I had that feeling…that thing that happens when we both know we’ve found something special.”
Chicago rapper/singer/songwriter Calvin “Calboy” Woods is set to release Unchained, his first album project under his own newly-established label, Loyalty N Company, with distribution through Create Music. The label is described in a press release as “representing his independence and emancipation from the shackles of RCA Records,” Calboy’s former label. The first single off the new set, “On My Own,” was released Friday (July 28).
Independent digital distributor IDOL signed global artist services deals with Nigerian afropop artist Yemi Alade via her own record company, Effyzzie Music, as well as London-based afrowave artist and Capital Xtra DJ Afro B. Alade will work with IDOL on the release of her forthcoming seventh studio album later this year, while Afro B will release several singles leading up to the release of his fourth album set to drop in 2024. Under the agreements, IDOL will handle worldwide digital distribution for all upcoming releases for both artists while also working with the artist teams on strategy, global marketing, international coordination, audience development and channel management.
Dance music agency The Gongaware Group signed DJ/producer and BBC Radio 1 Dance Party host Danny Howard. Gongaware will focus on expanding Howard’s DJ career in North and South America; he currently has residencies at Amnesia Ibiza and BCM in Mallorca, Spain. Howard serves as label head at record company Nothing Else Matters in the United Kingdom.
Old Man Canyon, a psych-pop project from Vancouver singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jeff Pace, signed to Nettwerk, which released his latest single, “Never Apart,” on July 21. The track will be included on Old Man Canyon’s forthcoming EP, So Long Babylon, which is set for release on September 29.
Canadian pop singer/songwriter Alex Sampson (“Play Pretend”) signed to Warner Records, which released his latest single, “Want You!”, on Friday (July 28). Sampson is managed by Jesse Beer at The MGMT Company.
San Francisco Bay Area alt-pop group Finish Ticket signed with Better Noise Music, which released their latest single, “Changing,” on July 21. The group is represented by Tony Couch at C3 Management and Andrew Buck at Wasserman. Their previous label was Atlantic Records.
Singer/songwriter Jordana Bryant signed with CAA for booking representation. Bryant is signed to Riser House and is aligned with Jonas Group Entertainment for management. Bryant’s upcoming single, “Best Friend,” releases August 11, and she will be touring the United States opening shows for the music trio Girl Named Tom. – Jessica Nicholson
Los Angeles coldwave/post-punk trio Sextile signed to Sacred Bones, which will release the group’s forthcoming album, Push, on September 15. Sextile dropped their latest single, “New York,” on July 25. The band is represented by booking agent Natasha Parish at Grand Control Touring in the United States; they were previously signed to record label Felte.
Queer dance-pop artist Lynks signed to Heavenly Recordings, which released his latest single, “Use It Or Lose It,” on Wednesday (July 26). He is represented by manager Chris Bellam at underplay and booking agent Adele Slater at Wasserman outside the United States. His publisher is Domino Publishing.
Global entertainment brand Superplastic expanded into music with the announcement of its new label, Superplastic Records (distributed by Virgin Music), as well as the signing of Ghost Kidz, a “3D animated hip-hop duo” (comprised of Lil’ ILL and Filth-E) that is “voiced by two prominent hip-hop artists” who have chosen to remain anonymous, according to a press release. The music video for the duo’s single, “Goin’ Off” featuring Vince Staples, was played at Rolling Loud Miami last month. Prior to the label’s announcement, Superplastic’s previous artist collaborations included Staples, J. Balvin and Gorillaz.
Country singer/songwriter Tyler Chambers signed with Play It Again Entertainment for exclusive label representation. Play It Again released Chambers’ latest single, “Loves Me Like a Small Town,” on July 21. Play It Again’s Alyssa Ramsey is currently acting as Chambers’ management; he is signed to Warner Chappell Music for publishing.
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Jesse Ahern singed to Dummy Luck Music/[PIAS], which will release his forthcoming album, Roots Rock Rebel, on September 15. Dummy Luck is the Dropkick Murphys‘ record label. Ahern is represented by Jeff Castelaz and Benton Oliver at Cast Management, booking agent Larry Webman at Wasserman for the United States and booking agent Ed Sellers at Primary Talent Agency for the United Kingdom and Europe.
The American Association of Independent Music, or A2IM, announced on Tuesday that artists who pay a $99 yearly fee will have access to healthcare benefits, including high-and-low-deductible plans, vision and dental, life insurance, renters’ insurance and even pet insurance. The program will expand from indie labels and other member companies to sole proprietors — “specifically designed for individual artists,” said Lisa Hresko, A2IM’s general manager.
“It’s a lot harder for artists to find available programs. What’s available to you is just more limiting in the U.S. if you do not have an employee-sponsored healthcare program,” Hresko added. “To have that option, whether you’re an artist or 1099 worker, should give you peace of mind.”
The healthcare plans, through the new A2IM Artist Pro program, are similar to Affordable Care Act options, but with “slightly more favorable pricing,” according to Hresko. Low-cost plans are available for $160 per month, or $260 for families, but they vary widely according to age, location and medical history. An average plan for a 40-year-old, relatively healthy individual ranges from $330 to $450 per month on the A2IM benefits website, depending on the deductible, a bit less expensive than a 2023 ACA plan.
In September, when the organization offered plans to its more than 600 indie-label member companies, about 30 signed up. The new program “definitely casts a wider net,” focusing on not just company employees but touring artists and others who have more complicated schedules than 9-to-5 employees.
“It’s exhausting on your physical and mental health to be on the road or keeping off-hours,” Hresko said. “Hopefully something like this gives people confidence and safety.”
After the Obama Administration’s signature healthcare plan became law in 2010, musicians were among the gig workers who suddenly no longer had to worry about insurance companies raising healthcare rates due to preexisting conditions. For most artists, the new A2IM plan will supplement the ACA as an option to achieve prescription drugs and emergency care, among other things. But Republicans have sharply attacked the ACA over the years, and programs like A2IM Artist Pro could be crucially important should the political winds change.
A2IM does not take a cut of the health-insurance payments, according to Hresko: “It’s a service for our members.”
She declined to name the organization’s health-insurance partner, to discourage members and potential members from “working their way around us.” Hresko adds: “We spent years searching for a correct partner. It was not a matter of a lack of trying, but what was available and who was willing to work with us. It took a while.”
South Korean companies SM Entertainment and Kakao Entertainment have launched what they are calling a “local integrated corporation” in North American as part of previously hinted-at efforts to accelerate their joint stateside operations and build upon the successes of their K-pop artists in the world’s largest music market. The companies said on Tuesday (Aug. 1) […]