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| KOBALT TO INVEST $100 MILLION IN ADVANCES, COPYRIGHTS: The Kobalt Music Group, via funds raised by Kobalt Capital Ltd, plans to invest $100 million over the next 12 months in paying advances and buying copyrights. Until recently, Kobalt had positioned itself as the administrator of publishing rights owned by its artists and songwriters. Billboard.biz . |
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| SPOTIFY UK SHOWS FREEMIUM MODEL IS NOT ‘UNSUSTAINABLE’ In the wake of Spotify financial statements posted at PrivCo last week, Business Matters comes to the conclusion that although Spotify is indeed losing money, its business model is not “unsustainable,” as the report maintained. Here’s why … Billboard.biz |
PANDORA PAYS DRAKE NEARLY $3 MILLION A YEAR: Pandora CEO Tim Westergren claimed in a blog post that artists are generating millions from his radio streaming service: Coldplay, Adele and Wiz Khalifa, each generate more than $1 million a year and hip-hop artists Drake and Lil Wayne each generated a whopping $3 million. The company will pay out more than $10,000 for the music of over two thousand artists each within the next year, and about $50,000 for over 800 artists. Big claims to be be sure — but it’s not that simple, as Glenn Peoples will explain on Billboard.biz later today. Of course, Westegren used the stats to once again call for royalty rate reform for Inernet radio — an issue he is outspoken on.
Business Insider
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PAUL EPWORTH LAUNCHES WOLFTONE LABEL: Producer and songwriter, Paul Epworth, who has worked with Adele and Florence & the Machine, announced the launch of his new label, Wolftone as well as his first three signings: Toronto-based hip-hop producer and songwriter Jeremy Rose, aka Zodiac, famed for his production work with The Weeknd; songwriter Dominic Betmead of production and DJ duo The Nextmen; and Mattie Safer, ex-bassist and songwriter of indie-dance band The Rapture.
Music Week
ROLLING STONES ADD MORE LIVE DATES, SAYS TOURING MEMBER: It’s looking increasingly likely that Rolling Stones will add a few more 50th anniversary shows before the year’s out. In the new Q magazine, guitarist Keith Richards confirmed several trans-Atlantic shows and now Bobby Keys, the Stones’ regular saxophonist, confirmed to Billboard that the group is “gonna do some more concerts, starting in November with two in England and then a couple here in the States, then there’s a few added concerts after that.
Billboard.biz
DEEZER LAUNCHING IN 76 MORE COUNTRIES, ADDS FREE VERSION, RAMPED UP SOCIAL FEATURES: Armed with a fresh $130 million in funding from Warner Music owner Access Industries and Idinvest, French music streaming company Deezer revealed more details on what it plans to do with that cash: Push on with Rest Of The World (ROW) domination – launching in 76 additional countries throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia – as the company continues scaling up it strategy of everywhere but the U.S., along with adding a marketing-driven free version of the service and ramping up its social features significantly.
TechCrunch
SPREECAST SIGNS VIDEO DEAL WITH VIACOM’S VH1, LOGO: Spreecast, a social video platform founded by former StubHub chief executive Jeff Fluhr, today announced a deal with Viacom to produce online video chats that let viewers interact with on-air hosts from Viacom’s VH1 and Logo channels.
Billboard.biz
BEST BUY CFO TO STEP DOWN: Best Buy Co. said Chief Financial Officer Jim Muehlbauer is leaving the company in the latest executive change at the consumer-electronics chain. Mr. Muehlbauer, who joined the company in 2002, will stay with Best Buy through the end of the 2013 fiscal year. The company said it has launched a search for a successor. This comes as Best Buy founder Richard Schulze is considering a multi-billion dollar buyout of the ailing retailer.
All Things D
STAGECOACH 2013: JERRY LEE LEWIS, ROGER McGUINN, TOBY KEITH, LADY ANTEBELLUM, CHARLEY PRIDE, ZAC BROWN TOP BILL: Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum and the Zac Brown Band will anchor the 2013 edition of the country-focused Stagecoach festival, which once again will be held over three late April days at the Empire Polo Grounds in the desert city of Indio. Now in its seventh year, the Goldenvoice-produced festival takes place weekend directly following next year’s Coachella with genre legends Charley Pride, Jerry Lee Lewis and Byrds principle Roger McGuinn on the bill.
L.A. Times
