Warner Music Group Launches a New Kids Sub-Label With Build-a-Bear

Warner Music Group’s Arts division and Warner Chappell Music are partnering with Build-a-Bear Workshop for a new kids-focused label. The global music partnership will produce a label called — appropriately — Build-a-Bear Records. If all goes according …

Disney Taps Beyonce to Curate ‘The Lion King: The Gift’ Album

Disney has announced a new Beyonce album to accompany the remake of The Lion King. The album is entitled The Lion King: The Gift and features multiple artists from around the world. The new album will be released on July 19th, but fans are being given …

The Beatles’ First Management Contract Sells for $344,000

The very first management contract signed by The Beatles on January 24th, 1962 recently sold at auction. The document signed by all four original members went for an eye-watering £275,000 ($344,000 at current exchange rates). The document was signed by…

The Latest Industry Gigs: Sony/ATV, Spotify, Insanity Records, CMW, More

Here’s a wrap on the latest music industry hirings, firings, retirings, and promotions. If you have a job listing to share, we’re all ears. Send us a note to news@digitalmusicnews.com. If you’d like to post a job on our Job Board, just send us a reques…

Fat Joe Sues His Insurance Company for Refusing to Cover a Copyright Infringement Defense

Fat Joe has sued Homeland Insurance Company of New York in federal court. The rapper says the insurer wrongfully denied him coverage in a copyright infringement lawsuit.  The stand-off is undoubtedly drawing industry attention given the recent rise in …

A Third-Party Apple Music Web Player Has More Than 200,000 Users

  Students at the University of Kent have created a web-based Apple Music player, filling a need Apple has so far ignored. Musish launched five months ago, and since then, the web-based player has attracted over 200,000 users. Musish is careful to note…

Sirius Owner Liberty Media Corporation Announces a Mini Shake-Up of Its Board

Liberty Media Corporation has announced several new management changes effective July 1st. Most notably, Mark D. Carleton has retired as Chief Financial Officer. Carleton has held that position since 2016.  While stepping down as CFO, Carleton will ass…

Looks Like Spotify Is Launching In Russia at Just $2.36 a Month

Spotify appears to be poking into the Russian market this summer with a price that beats Apple Music. The music streaming service was supposed to launch in Russia in 2015, before abruptly canceling those plans. Now Spotify will likely launch later this…

AfroFuture FEST Faces Major Backlash After Charging Double for White People

After facing a massive online backlash over its unequal ticket pricing scheme, a Detroit festival has changed its structure. AfroFuture FEST offered fans different prices for tickets depending on skin color. Early bird tickets for People of Color (POC)…

TikTok Outranks Instagram In Global App Downloads This Year — But Where’s the Revenue?

TikTok is taking the world by storm and leaving Instagram in the dust. A report looking at Q2 2019 shows TikTok still sits heartily above Instagram — at least when it comes to installs. TikTok ranked number 4 ahead of Instagram in downloads for Q2 2019…