News IFPI launches ‘transformative’ shared system for performance rights revenue distribution in Asia IFPI and licensing companies in India, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand launch shared rights distribution system
Analysis Blog It’s all about the data, stupid… Mark Davyd of the Music Venue Trust urges his sector to put its faith in the numbers
News Chance The Rapper legal fallout gets nastier: Artist sues ex-manager for more than $1m alleging ‘shocking violations of trust’ Chancelor Bennett fires back at Pat Corcoran in scathing new lawsuit
News What the major record companies really think about the economics of music streaming Universal, Sony and Warner have each filed written responses to a UK Parliamentary investigation into streaming
Analysis ‘I love streaming, I just hate the remuneration system sitting inside it.’ Tom Gray, musician and founder of #BrokenRecord, explains the objectives of the campaign
Analysis News BTS helped Big Hit’s annual revenues jump 36% to $676m in 2020… despite the pandemic Filing in Korea reveals details of K-pop company's stellar 2020 – despite the collapse of live concerts
News Spotify to expand into over 80 new markets across Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and Latin America New markets include Ghana, Nigeria, Jamaica, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Pakistan
News Sony Music UK children’s label Magic Star inks global music partnership with toy company MGA Entertainment Magic Star will create and produce music to support LOL Surprise product lines
News Warner names six initial recipients of grants from its $100m Social Justice Fund Recipients include the Black Cultural Archives, Black Futures Lab, Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), Howard University, REFORM Alliance and Rhythm & Blues Foundation
News EMPIRE opens West Asia and North Africa division, hires Suhel Nafar as VP, Strategy and Market Development Most recently, Nafar worked at Spotify as the Global Lead of Arab Music & Culture
News Big Hit and Universal ‘rewrite global music history’ with joint K-pop label, expanded partnership Global search for K-pop boy band set to begin in 2022 as Bang Si-Hyuk and Sir Lucian Grainge announce new pact
News Grammy-winning artist and songwriter Jacob Collier renews publishing deal with Concord Deal includes Collier’s full catalog and future works
News Spotify, Apple and others pay $424.38m in historical Unmatched Royalties to Mechanical Licensing Collective 'This is a massive win for music creators and the streaming services themselves,' says NMPA President & CEO David Israelite
Interviews Merck Mercuriadis faces the future… and stares down his critics MBW asked the Hipgnosis CEO and founder to respond to criticisms from his harshest detractors. He said yes.
Artist: AdeleSongwriter, Performer Adele is one of the biggest and best-selling artists of the modern era