Epidemic Sound has announced a fundraising milestone. The Swedish production music startup has raised $20 million. Investors include DS Asset Management, a Korean firm, and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB), a Swedish financial group. Other inve…
Author archives: Daniel Sanchez
Justin Bieber Lambasts Taylor Swift’s ‘Bullying’ of Scooter Braun — ‘That’s Crossing a Line’
Influential music industry manager Scooter Braun made a surprise announcement this past weekend. He purchased Taylor Swift’s former label, Big Machine Label Group (BMLG), in a deal valued at more than $300 million (full details on the acquisition here)…
Surprise! Spotify Hands Over Your Personal Information to Major Labels When Using ‘Pre-Save’
Spotify currently doesn’t have the best reputation right now. This year alone, the company has gone to war with songwriters over much-needed royalty payments, lost multiple high-profile executives, destroyed its relationship with Warner/Chappell and Wa…
Spotify Settles Two Copyright Infringement Lawsuits With Initial Damages Exceeding $365 Million
In July 2017, prior to the enactment of the Music Modernization Act (MMA), Bluewater Services and songwriter Bob Gaudio filed massive copyright lawsuits against Spotify. Both cases dealt with a tricky part in music copyright – the mechanical license. I…
BMG Files Lawsuit Against Hilton Hotels After Hotel Chain Refuses to Take Down Infringing Works
BMG has filed a lawsuit against Hilton Hotels in the United States. Filed at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the company’s Production Music division accused Hilton Worldwide Holdings of direct, contributory, and …
Eric Holder Allegedly Killed Nipsey Hussle After the Rapper Cautioned Him to “Take Care of” Snitching Rumors
Outside of the Nipsey Hussle’s clothing store on March 31st, 29-year-old gang member Eric Holder shot the legendary rapper to death. Hussle – real name Ermias Joseph Asghedom – had spent the afternoon signing autographs, taking photos alongside his fan…
Nielsen: Streaming Reaches Over Half a Trillion Streams & Box Office Success Drives Music Sales
Nielsen has unveiled its 2019 Music Mid-Year report for the United States. Breaking down the study, music streaming services reached over 507 billion on-demand streams. This comes following singles and albums from Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Halsey,…
Apple Music Lists Five Leaked Songs on Playboi Carti’s Channel
Last month, an uploader managed to leak an unreleased Playboi Carti song. Titled ‘Kid Cudi,’ the song quickly reached No. 1 on Spotify’s Viral Top 50 with over 2.3 million streams. That was all thanks to a high school sophomore. Speaking about the inci…
After 14 Years, Drexel University Restores Thousands of Long-Lost Philly Sound Songs
A college department in Philadelphia has discovered thousands of master recordings, and will now bring most back to life. Fourteen years ago, Drexel Music’s Music Industry program received a phone call. The person on the other line – an owner of an aba…
Still Lacking Key Features, YouTube Music Unveils ‘Smart Downloads’
YouTube has finally caught up to its music streaming competitors – at least somewhat. Google’s third attempt to break into the music streaming market – YouTube Music – has expanded Offline Mixtape. The feature will now include an option dubbed ‘Smart …