Analysis ‘The death of the artist’? Why Big Hit and BTS just raised the alarm on the record industry’s future. Why Big Hit's recent investment is symptomatic of a wider, potentially worrying, trend for major record companies
News Bhaskar Menon, founding Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of EMI Music Worldwide, dies aged 86 He is survived by Sumitra, his wife of 49 years, sons Siddhartha and Vishnu, and sister Vasantha Menon
Analysis Why Spotify’s ex-Global Head of Music Publishing thinks streaming services should be paying songwriters more money Adam Parness explains why he believes his ex-employer should fork out more cash to songwriters and indie publishers
News Grammy-winning producer and songwriter J. White Did It inks global deal with Sony Music Publishing He recently produced the single Savage by Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé
News MBW’s Weekly Roundup: Michael Gudinski, SoundCloud, Universal, TIDAL, Anghami The biggest music industry stories of the week, all in one place
News Electronic music veteran Nick Halkes strikes JV with Sentric Music Group and takes on A&R consultancy role Halkes co-founded XL Recordings and launched the Positiva label in the past
Analysis News CD Baby paid out $125m from digital platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music in 2020 CD Baby's digital payouts rose 14% in the year, as YouTube Music's contribution doubled
News Lindsay Nahmiache appointed Chief Marketing Officer at Songtradr Nahmiache will oversee global marketing expansion for all Songtradr companies
News Elsa Vivero promoted to General Manager / EVP, Global Commercial Services at Warner Music Group’s WEA Vivero was previously EVP, Global Digital Account Management
News Partisan Records launches new joint venture label section1 Los Angeles-based label launched by Brontë Jane (VP of A&R at Third Side Music) alongside Chris Robbins and Tom Wironen of Friendly Announcer management
News Warner Chappell France teams with songwriter Benjamin Biolay’s publishing company Bambi Rose Warner Chappell will represent Biolay’s catalog and future works as part of the deal
News Alison Lamb and Liz Northeast join FUGA as company bolsters London office FUGA also announces partnership with Peter Doherty's new label, Strap Originals
Analysis News Universal Music Group generated $8.4bn in 2020… and spent over $1.7bn on catalog acquisitions and artist advances Advances and catalog expenditure figure was more than triple the equivalent number from 2019
Interviews Is Timbaland about to transform the music production business (again)? Gary Marella on the launch of Beatclub, and how it plans to rival the likes of Splice
News Virtual events platform Looped raises $7.7m from investors including Shawn Gee and Gee Roberson amongst others Company has also named former Def Jam exec Faisel Durrani as Co-CEO
News Vydia to pay advances to independent labels and artists using Royalty Exchange’s online marketplace Labels and artists can request an advance on their future royalties
News Warner Chappell Music signs publishing deal with Bad Bunny collaborator MAG He executive produced Bad Bunny’s No.1 album, El Último Tour del Mundo