News Web3 and ‘superfan’ platform Tune.FM raises $20m from LDA Capital Tune.fm promises artists larger streaming income through blockchain micropayments and an NFT marketplace
Analysis News From 45m unplayed tracks on streaming services to SoundCloud’s potential sale… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up The five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days...
Interviews Meet Sung Soo Han, the music executive behind K-Pop stars SEVENTEEN, and founder of HYBE-owned PLEDIS Entertainment Sung Soo Han founded SEVENTEEN’s label, developed the group, and oversees all creative processes for the HYBE-owned label’s roster.
News Universal Music to cut ‘hundreds’ of jobs in Q1, with majority of layoffs in recorded music division (report) Bloomberg reports that UMG’s recorded music division ‘will be hit the hardest’
News Mahogany signs partnership with Believe as it prepares to launch distro service for DIY artists Mahogany says it plans to launch distro service Mahogany Songs within the next few months
News Phil Bauer named President of DistroKid – company founder Philip Kaplan transitions from CEO to Chairman DistroKid claims to be the world’s largest distributor of independent music, and estimates that it distributes 30-40% of all new music in the world
News Sylvia Coleman steps down as Non-Exec Director of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Coleman was appointed as a non-executive director in November 2019
News Akhila Shankar appointed Head of TuneCore, South Asia Shankar will be responsible for growing and managing the company's artist roster in the South Asian region
News TikTok parent to shut down music streaming service Resso in India "Unfortunately, owing to local market conditions, we can no longer continue to serve users of Resso in India."
News Matt Gralen promoted to President at Beatport; Helen Sartory upped to Chief Revenue Officer The Beatport Group is seeing soaring revenue, having launched or acquired eleven new products since 2019
News Arista appoints Sharon Timure as Head of Marketing and Kelsey Hession as Publicity Lead Timure and Hession will both be based in New York, reporting directly to President and CEO David Massey
News Darius Van Arman reappointed Merlin Chairperson as indie label agency elects new Board Merlin’s newly elected Board hails from 12 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania
Analysis News 158 million tracks had 1,000 plays or fewer on music streaming services last year. 45 million had no plays at all. The number of tracks with no plays on audio streaming platforms jumped by 7.7 million over the past year, according to a new Luminate report
News Music industry applauds introduction of ‘No AI FRAUD Act’ in US Congress The proposed law would establish 'an intellectual property right that every individual holds over their own likeness and voice'
News Reservoir and PopArabia strike catalog deal with ‘Queen of Arab Pop’ Nancy Ajram Ajram was the biggest-selling female singer in the Middle East in the 2000s, and released the first Arabic-language song to hit Billboard's Dance/Electronic Songs chart
Analysis News Global on-demand audio streams reached the 4 trillion mark for the first time ever in a single year in 2023 Market monitor Luminate has published its Year-End report for 2023
News Apple Music Classical expands to China, Japan, South Korea and more This expansion marks a key step for Apple Music Classical, reaching regions where classical music holds a deep cultural significance
News Sony Music unveils ‘next generation immersive music experiences’ for Fortnite and Roblox Projects are being led by the Sony Immersive Music Studios team