Irving Azoff Calls Out ‘Liar’ Cohen, YouTube Over Payments

YouTube Global Head Of Music Lyor Cohen is making the media rounds touting the launch of YouTube Music as the dawning of new day for music discovery and promising bigger payments to artists and labels. But Irving Azoff, super-manager and founder of the Global Rights, is not buying the hype….

Irving Azoff Calls Out ‘Liar’ Cohen, YouTube Over Payments

YouTube Global Head Of Music Lyor Cohen is making the media rounds touting the launch of YouTube Music as the dawning of new day for music discovery and promising bigger payments to artists and labels. But Irving Azoff, super-manager and founder of the Global Rights, is not buying the hype….

R. Kelly Streams Increase After Spotify Ban

A week after Spotify made R. Kelly the poster boy for its "Hate Content and Hurtful Conduct" policy, total streams of his music actually went up slightly. Last week, Spotify removed the R&B singer’s music from its official playlists, citing its new policy. Before Spotify’s May 10th announcement, R. Kelly…

Amuse Raises $15.5M For Next Gen. Record Label, Free Music Distribution

[UPDATED] Next-generation record label and music distributor Amuse has raised a $15.5 million Series A round co-led by Lakestar and Raine.The company was founded in Stockholm by execs from Spotify, Universal Music and Warner Music. Using Amuse, artists can distribute their music for free to major services including Apple Music,…

TuneGo Raises $7.7M For Music Industry Data Platform

TuneGO, a data driven music A&R startup has completed a Series B financing totaling more than $7.7 million. Private equity firm Falcon Capital led the round. TuneGO will use the funds to enhance its technology platform and global infrastructure, which is already being used by many leading music and entertainment…

Sony Takes $2.3B Controlling Stake In EMI

With a check for $2.3 billion, Sony has become the world’s largest music publisher. The deal adds a catalog of more than two million songs from EMI Music Publishing, including hits ranging from Queen to Pharrell Williams to Sony’s already massive 2.3 million track repertoire. The EMI investment is the…

TIDAL Denies Streaming Fraud, But Not Late Payments

Just days after it was reported that Beyoncé and Kanye West’s TIDAL streaming stats had been manipulated with hundreds of millions of false plays, the music streamer denied the claim and launched an investigation into the data breach. TIDAL did not, however, address multiple reports that it was months behind…

Billboard Music Awards 2018 – Full Winners List

Kelly Clarkson began the 2018 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night with a tribute to the victims of Friday’s mass shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas. "I’m a Texas girl and my home state has had so much heartbreak over this past year. And once again, y’all, we’re…

Smokey Robinson Gives Moving Defense Of Artists Rights At Hearing Over Music Modernization Act

Singer songwriter Smokey Robinson too the stage in a somewhat different capacity recently to act as a moving and powerful advocate for artists’ rights, delivering a passionate defense to the Senate Judiciary Committee as they deliberate on the Music Modernization Act. _____________________________ Guest post Chris Castle of Music Technology Policy…

Rap vs Pap: Dr Dre Loses Trademark Battle With Gynecologist Dr Drai

In a surprising clash of music and medicine, Dr. Dre faced defeat at the conclusion of a trademark battle he waged against Pennsylvania OB/GYN Dr. Drai, with the former rapper concerned that some kind of confusion would result would occur between the two professionals _______________________ Guest post by Timothy Geigner…