News Another $1bn washes into the music business, as CTM partners with US fund to buy publishing and master rights Partnership has already acquired over 1,000 songs from TEN Music Group, including hits by Rihanna and Shakira
News Tencent-owned music streaming service JOOX inks licensing deal with Merlin Agreement licenses Merlin content via JOOX’s ad-supported and premium tiers, as well as its karaoke feature
News Universal and Republic team with Wassim ‘SAL’ Slaiby to launch Universal Arabic Music New label 'will create new opportunities to advance Arabic music and culture with global partners, platforms and brands,' says UMG
Interviews News Having sold music rights to 125 people via NFTs, this blockchain platform is evolving again Lee Parsons talks MBW through last month's NFT sales – and why decentralized finance is the next step for his company
News Edgar Bronfman Jr. launches SPAC with $300m to spend. Could he return to the music business? New company Waverley aims to raise $300m by selling 30m shares priced at $10 each
News Reservoir could be going public via SPAC with $700m+ valuation Bloomberg reports that a public merger could be on the cards for acquisitive music rights company
News MBW’s Weekly Roundup: IFPI, BMG x KKR, Warner x Tencent, TuneIn, IMPALA The biggest music industry stories of the week, all in one place
News US music industry leaders hammer Twitter for ‘rampant theft’ in joint letter on day of social media hearing Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is giving testimony to Congress today in a hearing about the promotion of misinformation and extremist content on social media platforms
Interviews Meet the Romanian record label with 2bn annual streams – and major global ambitions Global Records is looking to add further international expansion, via serious investment, in 2021
Analysis Why we believe streaming subscription ARPU fell by around 8% globally for the record industry last year MBW runs the numbers from the IFPI's must-read new Global Music Report covering 2020
News Indie labels call for end to streaming ‘payola’ – as IMPALA unveils 10-point plan to reform sector In new report, trade body makes a number of key suggestions for change
News Concord Music Publishing signs Julian Casablancas of The Strokes Deal will cover Casablancas’ past and future solo works and various projects including The Voidz
News Alice Young joins Future Classic as Managing Director Exec joins from Spotify in New York, where she was a Product Marketer for Spotify for Artists
News Azi Eftekhari elected new Chair of UK’s Entertainment Retailers Association Eftekhari takes over from James Morton of Sky
News Sony Music Entertainment launches new Southeast Asian label, OFFMUTE New signings include Clara Benin, Mezzaluna and liesl-mae