Kanye West is a lot of things – he will even tell you that he contains multitudes – but one surprising thing that he is certainly is a successful financial prognosticator. OK, maybe that’s for just the past year. West, aka Mr. Kim Kardashian, gave his wife some stocks for…
Category archives: Major Labels
Pitchfork Launches Dedicated Hip Hop Vertical
Pitchfork today debuted a new section dedicated to of hip-hop. “Levels," the first new section to launch on Pitchfork since “The Pitch” debuted in 2013, hopes to be "the essential destination for hip-hop obsessives." Levels is led by senior editor Timothy "Timmhotep" Cornwall. Previously, he led NPR Music’s hip-hop and…
Sony Music Sells $768M Spotify Stock, Reports Solid Q2
Sony collected a $768 million windfall from the sale of less than half of its 5.7% stake in Spotify (SPOT), according to Q2 results published Tuesday. The sale helped boost what was already a solid quarter for the company. Sony still owen about $862 million in Spotify shares. The company…
Troy Carter To Exit Spotify In September [OFFICIAL]
The long rumored departure of Spotify’s Global Head of Creator Services Troy Carter has been confirmed by the music streamer. He will exit in early September, but will continue to advise Spotify, according to multiple sources. At least one source claims that Spotify will now merge its Creator Services division…
Vivendi To Sell Up To 50% Of Universal Music Group
Vivendi has confirmed that it is looking to sell up to half of the shares of its Universal Music Group, while at the same ruling out a spin-off and IPO of the world’s largest music group. On Monday, the media conglomerate said it would sell to "one or more strategic…
Pop Music Eats Itself: A&R Is Facing A Data Driven Crisis
It is no secret that data now drives who gets signed, with record labels chasing stats in search of the next streaming friendly hit. But analyst Mark Mulligan and some label execs are wondering how music can evolve when A&R is a reflection of current trends rather than as a…
Drake Has Earned $100 Million From Streaming (So Far)
Canadian musical sensation Drake has been smashing a number of streaming records lately, and a recent look at some of the financial numbers have revealed the artist has thus far pulled down over $100 million from streaming services alone. __________________ Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0 Who says…
Weekend Box Office: Mission Impossible Crushes Mama Mia
The Mission Impossible franchise proved that it still has lots of life left as “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” debuted with $153.5M in worldwide box office revenue, according to estimates compiled by comScore. The cast was lead by Tom Cruise, who reprised his role from previous entries in the Franchise, as…
Variety, Rolling Stone Owner Penske Invest In BuzzAngle To Challenge Billboard Chart Dominance
Penske Media has invested in music charts and data company BuzzAngle Music. Penske owns Rolling Stone, Variety, Deadline and IndieWire, and plans to leverage BuzzAngle charts across their properties. The investment and partnership offer the first major threat to Billboard Magazine and its ubiquitous Nielsen generated music charts. Launched in…
7 Easy Steps For Landing A Job At A Record Label
A record label is a business, and like any business it needs quality employees. For those interested in working in the music industry from behind the scene, we look at seven easy steps for securing yourself a position at a record label. ________________________ In this recent post from MusicThinkTank, Daniel…