News Tencent to buy Warner Music Group stake for $200m? Wall Street Journal suggests Chinese company is a potential institutional investor in WMG
News Sony/ATV South Africa Partners with Content Connect Africa to Provide Publishing Services to Songwriters Partnership will launch joint digital education workshops across the continent
News TikTok makes a statement in New York, as Bytedance inks 10-year deal for 232k square foot office in Times Square One Five One is already home to the global HQ of Nasdaq Inc
News The Hottest Independent Artists In The World: Blu DeTiger, Calynn Green, Dirty Blond, Olive Amun & Sara Kays Five prospects from around the globe from Instrumental’s A&R platform
News ‘SoundCloud Radio’ station launches on Dash for artists that distribute through Repost services platform Both Repost & Repost Select artists that have distributed content are eligible for placement on SoundCloud Radio
News Amazon is investing in podcasts to challenge Spotify (report) Company is reportedly ramping up its investment in original podcast content
News ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus named President of CISAC, taking over from Jean-Michel Jarre Ulvaeus was elected President by CISAC’s General Assembly
News Apple Music is dominating streams for US hip-hop releases (even more than you might think) Ebro Darden says "we've tried our best to align with the artist's creative agenda"
News Guy Oseary steps down from role at Live Nation’s Maverick Michael Rapino: "Guy built an incredible team at Maverick and his work with U2 and Madonna is unmatched."
News Spotify is hiring for a Head of Spotify For Artists – to develop paid-only (and free) features Company is recruiting for a Head of Spotify for Artists to "develop a suite of free and paid offerings"
News JioSaavn’s paying subscriber base has quadrupled since early 2019 Company launches Pro Rewards 'designed to further augment significant JioSaavn subscriber growth'
News BTS label Big Hit Entertainment files for IPO in South Korea Big Hit is estimated to raise more than 1 trillion won ($810m) through the IPO
News How TikTok turned Don’t Rush by UK hip-hop artists Young T & Bugsey into a global hit Track was released by Sony Music UK-affiliated label Black Butter
News Streaming fallout in India: Tencent-backed Gaana refuses to pay record label Tips ‘high royalties’ – so Tips pulls its catalog "Somehow we couldn't reach a common ground."
News Apple Music launches new ‘Africa Now Radio’ show Show is based on the recently launched Africa Now playlist
News Reach Music Publishing inks worldwide deal with Nashville singer/songwriter Sierra Hull Agreement covers Hull’s full catalog
News Instagram to pay IGTV ad money to creators, via 55% revenue share 'We want to support creators’ investment in IGTV by sharing advertising revenue with them.'
Analysis TikTok owner Bytedance generated over $17bn in 2019 – more than YouTube made from ads Bytedance generated around $47m every day last year. Should Alphabet be worried?