#TheWeeklyRoundUp – 17.11.23

Hipgnosis Songs Fund Is Melting Down — What Comes Next for the Formerly High-Flying IP Investor? (digital music news) Late last month, following several far-from-ideal developments for Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF), investors voted overwhelmingly against the Merck Mercuriadis-founded operation’s continuation. In this in-depth report, we look at what led to the fund’s current predicament andContinue

#TheWeeklyRoundUp – 04.11.23

Email Marketing Dead? What Musicians Think… (digital music news) I’m sure you’ve heard music marketers talk about email marketing. “You have to ‘own’ your fans,” they say. “Social media algorithms come and go!” And I’ll be honest, the idea of bypassing the whim of algorithms sounds appealing. But is email marketing still worth it? Let’sContinue

#TheWeeklyRoundUp – 28.10.23

Hipgnosis vote shock: 83.2% of shareholders vote against continuation (Complete Music Update) The result of today’s Hipgnosis Songs Fund continuation vote has been announced – with a significant majority of shareholders voting against continuation and also voting to eject the company’s chair Andrew Sutch. The publicly listed Songs Fund has been under increased investor scrutinyContinue

#TheWeeklyRoundUp – 20.10.23

AI Will Deliver “Higher Quality Music from More People — Not Just Artists,” Predicts Immensity’s Nick Minicucci (digital music news) Digital Music News is exploring the myriad of ways in which artificial intelligence is impacting the music industry. Their upcoming ‘Rules for AI’ conference features panelists from across the industry sharing their opinions on whatContinue

#TheWeeklyRoundUp – 13.10.23

Warner makes strategic investment in HuManagement, described as a ‘trailblazer’ in the MENA region (Music Business Worldwide) Just over a month ago, MBW noted how the sound of opportunity for the record business across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is getting louder. We also suggested that the race is on for the majorsContinue

#TheWeeklyRoundUp – 07.10.23

Vivendi Reportedly Preparing To Sell See Tickets and Festivals Including Love Supreme (Digital Music News) About two years after cashing in on Universal Music Group (UMG) with an IPO, French conglomerate Vivendi is reportedly pondering the sale of its See Tickets subsidiary. The latest divestment plans of the Paris-headquartered business, which over the summer inkedContinue

#TheWeeklyRoundUp – 30.09.23

Songtradr acquires Bandcamp (Complete Music Update) US-based music licensing marketplace Songtradr yesterday announced that it is acquiring direct-to-fan platform Bandcamp from Fortnite maker Epic Games. The news comes as Epic – still engaged in its legal battle with Apple over the so-called “Apple tax” – also announced that it is laying off 16% of itsContinue

#TheWeeklyRoundUp – 15.09.23

DistroKid buys Bandzoogle (Complete Music Update)DIY distributor DistroKid has bought direct-to-fan platform Bandzoogle, meaning that artists will be able to “power digital, physical and on-demand merch and music sales seamlessly within the DistroKid ecosystem”.Bandzoogle was first launched 20 years ago and says it now powers more than 60,000 websites and online stores. As well asContinue

#TheWeeklyRoundUp – 08.09.23

Spotify to offer premium subscribers free access to audiobooks (Complete Music Update)Spotify is planning to offer its premium subscribers free access to some audiobooks as it seeks to establish itself as a provider of book content alongside music and podcasts.According to the Wall Street Journal, the streaming service has been developing a pilot programme inContinue

#TheWeeklyRoundUp – 02.09.23

CAA Reportedly Nears $7 Billion Sale Agreement With French Billionaire François-Henri Pinault (Digital Music News)A little over six weeks ago, Bloomberg reported that French billionaire François-Henri Pinault was in “advanced” talks to buy Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Now, the same outlet has provided additional details about the possible CAA sale, which is reportedly “close” toContinue