Author archives: Bruce Houghton

Facebook Explains $1B Libra Cryptocurrency Initiative

Facebook has unveiled the details for Libra, its new global cryptocurrency. The social network is launching the currency, similar to Bitcoin, with partners like Spotify, Paypal, Uber, Visa and Mastercard, among others. However, since Facebook is currently under federal scrutiny for its privacy practices and the subject of a new…

THU. BRIEF: UMG Slow Tracks Sale • A2IM Indie Week • Grammys ♥ Streams • Spotify’s Ek Talks Libra • Voisey • More

THURSDAY 6.20.19
Music Business News From Around The Web
Updated continuously under the More News tab

Google To Add Attribution In Wake Of Lyrics Controversy

Google announced that it is adding attribution to the song lyrics it publishes in search results. The move came after Genius.com accused the tech giant and third party provider LyricFind of scraping lyrics off its site. "Here’s something you might not know: music publishers often don’t have digital copies of…

Taylor Swift’s ‘Lover’ Sets Apple Music Pre-Add Record

Taylor Swift’s 7th studio album Lover isn’t out for 2 months, but it’s already broken the record for most the Apple Music pre-add (aka pre-save) album in a single day by a female artist. Clocking a whopping 178,600 pre-adds worldwide in its first day of availability (June 13) – that…

Merlin Paid Indie Labels $1 Billion In Last 18 Months

Global independent digital rights agency Merlin announced the findings of its 2019 Membership Report & Survey at A2IM Indie Week on Tuesday, The report revealed 63% year-on-year increase in member payments to $845 million. The total includes over $130 million in revenues generated from one time settlements and other non-royalty…

Merlin CEO Charles Caldas To Step Down

One of independent music’s most vocal advocates, Charles Caldas will step down as CEO of Merlin at the end of 2019 after more than 12 years leading the global digital rights agency. Continuing his current duties until then, Charles will work with the Merlin board to ensure a smooth transition…

NPR Launches Curated Music Playlists

National Public Radio’s NPR Music has launch a new series of curated playlists featuring music from the broadcaster’s radio programs such as Morning Edition or All Things Considered. The playlists, which will also feature ‘curated’ selections from NPR personalities, will include music from across a variety of genres, such as…

UMG’s Lucian Grainge Addresses Universal Fire In Internal Memo

In a company wide memo, Universal Music Group Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge responded to reports that a significant trove of the company’s master recordings were destroyed in a fire. Last week, the New York Times broke the story when they reported that hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable master…

UMG’s Lucian Grainge Addresses Universal Fire

In a company wide memo, Universal Music Group Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge responded to reports that a significant trove of the company’s master recordings were destroyed in a massive warehouse fire. Last week, the New York Times broke the story when they reported that hundreds of thousands of…