News BMG revenues increased 25% to €371m in first half of 2022 BMG reports that 60% of its revenues in the first half of 2022 were from publishing, with 40% from recordings.
Analysis News From Kobalt’s sale talks to SM Entertainment’s expansion in Saudi Arabia… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up Our biggest stories of the week, brought to you in association with Centtrip
News Capitol drops ‘robot rapper’ FN Meka, as project is accused of being an ‘insult to the Black community’ Capitol has 'severed ties' with the virtual artist and offered 'our deepest apologies to the Black community'
News Defected Records acquired by former MD Wez Saunders, as founder Simon Dunmore moves to A&R Consultant role Saunders appointed CEO of the company
News Kobalt to launch NFT collection, becoming ‘first global music publisher to release a set of fully licensed direct-to-fan NFTs’ Music lyric NFT collection is called An Electro Revival, in collaboration with Ghanaian visual artist, Afroscope
News Americans spend 60% of entertainment time on ad-filled platforms, new study finds New study was released by US market monitor Luminate (formerly MRC Data / Nielsen Music) Tuesday (August 16)
News Investor appetite for Roblox wanes as bookings drop 4% in Q2, missing forecasts Firm posted a net loss of $176.4 million in Q2
News Spotify’s online studio Soundtrap launches live collaboration, auto-save tools Soundtrap will showcase the new tools in a Spotify for Artists Masterclass video to be released Wednesday
News Major record labels reach last-minute settlement with US ISP Bright House in copyright lawsuit Settlement marks end of three-year litigation between Bright House and record companies
Analysis News Is old music really exploding on TikTok, or has our definition of ‘catalog’ become outdated? New Chartmetric report shines a light on relevant data within much-discussed industry issue
Analysis Blog What’s music’s next new format? This op/ed comes from Inder Phull, CEO and co-founder of gaming and music metaverse company PIXELYNX
News Metaverse experiences startup MELON raises $5m from backers including Crush Music’s investment arm “MELON is on the cutting edge of bringing experiences directly to where Gen Z lives – their phones...”
News Metaverse company XONE joins Abbey Road Red tech incubator, whose startups have raised over $70m so far XONE is a tech startup operating within the music and Web3 space
News BMG acquires Jean-Michel Jarre’s entire music publishing catalog Acquisition is the biggest single deal ever struck by BMG in France
News YouTube strikes partnership with Shopify, as platform expands e-commerce tools for creators All eligible creators can now access live shopping features