European Union demands streaming services increase royalty payments to artists

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief A feature-length fully-animated version of smash hit Korean series “Yumi’s Cells” will launch next month at the European Film Market in Berlin. International rights to the property were picked up by Barunson E&A, part of the Korean Barunson conglomerate that also produced Oscar-winning live-action film “Parasite.” “Yumi’s Cells: The Movie” is a 3D feature animation based on the popular Naver webtoon series of the same title that debuted in 2015. Production of the film is by Locus Animation (formerly Sidus Animation), which was previously responsible for “Red Shoes and Seven Dwarfs” and Studio N, a subsidiary of Naver Webtoon.

Lady Gaga songs have surfaced on streaming services, listed under her real name, Stefani Germanotta, with no mention of her stage name. The three songs under that heading are purported different mixes or versions of two previously released songs, “Perfect Illusion” and “Fashion,” as well as an unreleased 2007 song called “Retro Physical” that Gagapedia states is a collaboration with producer Noize Trip that has been making the rounds online for many years; that song is very much in the vein of her 2008 debut album, “The Fame.” The other two sound like early versions of the officially released songs.

The Armed have announced a 2024 UK and European tour which is set to begin this summer.The band will kick off their tour with a performance at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival on May 30. From there, Tony Wolski and co.

AIR have announced new UK and European tour dates for their ‘Moon Safari’ anniversary tour, and a new deluxe reissue of the album.The classic album celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, and recently announced ‘One Night Only’ tour dates where they will play the album in its entirety for the first time.Now, they have confirmed that a deluxe reissue of the album will arrive on March 8 and feature a Spatial Dolby Atmos audio version of the original album and a series of rare and unreleased tracks.Also included in the reissue will be the 1998 tour documentary Eating, Sleeping, Waiting & Playing by Mike Mill.New dates have also been added to the ‘Moon Safari’ tour, including a second London date, which will take place at the Royal Albert Hall, and gigs in Barcelona, Paris, Berlin and Vienna.See the full updated list of tour dates below. Tickets for the Royal Albert Hall are on sale on Friday, February 2 at 10am GMT, while Barcelona, Germany and Austria tickets are on sale now.

The movie Queenpins is currently becoming a hit for Netflix, but no, it was not made for the streaming service.

Anne Hathaway is standing in solidarity with Condé Nast union members!

Wednesday 13 has announced a UK and European tour celebrating 20 years of Murderdolls – find all the details below.The horror punk musician – real name Joseph Poole – will be marking 20 years of his former band with the late Joey Jordison of Slipknot.The tour will see Wednesday 13 and his current band – featuring former Murderdolls members Roman Surman and Jack Tankersley – perform full sets of tracks from their 2002 debut album, ‘Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls’ along with 2010 comeback album ‘Women And Children Last’.The stint will kick off on October 24 at Riverside in Newcastle, followed by stops in Glasglow, Manchester, Southampton, Nottingham, London and more, before they close out with a show at Roadmender in Northampton.The European leg will then pick up at De Casino in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium on November 12, with shows planned for Milan, Rome, Cologne and more, rounding up at Melkweg Oz in Amsterdam on November 24.Hardcore Superstar will perform at support across select dates. Tickets go on sale this Friday (January 26) at 10am GMT, and UK dates can be purchased from here.

UPDATE: The layoffs of more than 20% of the Los Angeles Times newsroom elicited sharp criticism from the guild, saying that it was handled in a “brutal and inhumane way.”

Depeche Mode kicked off the 2024 leg of their ‘Memento Mori’ tour at The O2 in London last night (Monday January 22). Check out photos, footage and the setlist below.Last night marked the first gig of the band’s lengthy run of arena shows in the UK, Ireland and Europe, touring in support of their 15th and most recent album ‘Memento Mori’ and marking their first date in the capital since their acclaimed show at London’s Twickenham Stadium last summer.Following a support slot from Nadine Shah, the band took to the stage to ‘Memento Mori’s atmospheric opener ‘My Cosmos Is Mine’ with an ambitious stage production repeating the light show and Anton Corbijn visuals from the stadium run.Frontman Dave Gahan, while animated in his dancing and showing off his white leather footwear during ‘Walking In My Shoes’, was sparing in his on-stage banter – aside from thanking London for their reception and paying tribute to the “angelic” vocals of bandmate Martin Gore who took the lead for a short acoustic segment.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Charter Communications, the second-biggest cable operator in the U.S., has reached a second deal to bring a premium streaming service to Spectrum TV customers. TelevisaUnivision and Charter announced a multiyear carriage-renewal agreement, under which the cable operator will bundle TelevisaUnivision’s new ad-supported premium subscription version of ViX — set to launch later this year — for no additional cost to Spectrum customers who receive TelevisaUnivision channels as part of their Spectrum TV Select or Mi Plan Latino packages.

Alkaline Trio have announced a UK and European summer tour for 2024 – find details below and purchase tickets here.The US rock band are set to perform throughout July and August, kicking off their UK stint at Newcastle’s Boiler Shop on July 22. From there, they’ll continue on to Nottingham, London, Manchester and more, before concluding at Glasgow’s O2 Academy on July 30.The European run will start on August 4 at Love Music Hall in Cologne, followed by shows in Berlin, Wels in Austria and Munich.Tickets go on sale Friday (January 26) at 10am GMT, and you can purchase yours here.

A raw examination of labor organization at its most powerful, pure, and fragile, “Union” is a look at union drama uncut and without any guardrails. Verité to a fault, directors Stephen Maing and Brett Story present the documentary with a detached remove that isn’t matched by the framing of the central conflict, and yet morsels of true inspiration still manage to tumble forth.

Addie Morfoot Contributor In “Union,” documentary filmmakers Brett Story and Stephen Maing follow the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), a group of current and former Amazon workers as they attempt to unionize Amazon employees working at a facility in Staten Island, N.Y. The directing duo chronicles just how excruciatingly hard it is to form a workers’ union in America — especially at Amazon.

November 2023, there are over one million tracks that have been sped-up, slowed-down or otherwise “modified” in places like Spotify, Apple Music and TIDAL. Examples include a sped-up version of Lady Gaga‘s ‘Bloody Mary‘ (25 million streams) and Childish Gambino’s ‘Heartbeat‘ (19 million streams).These “manipulated” tracks usually do not have legal licensing to be used, meaning they are infringing on copyright.

SHERELLE has announced her “cheap and cheerful” ‘SHERELLELAND’ 2024 UK and European tour.The tour sees SHERELLE team up with independent venues and promoters to bring the sounds of jungle, drum & bass and footwork to stages across the UK and Europe. The tour will kick off on February 9 at The Carpet Shop in London. From there, she will make stops in Amsterdam, Leeds, Manchester and Edinburgh.

K.J. Yossman Amazon Prime Video is restructuring its international business to focus on European originals. The re-org includes cutting content and staff in Africa and the Middle East.

EXCLUSIVE: Prime Video‘s teams in Africa and the Middle East & North Africa region are facing layoffs, as part of a wider restructure that also “rebalances” investment towards Amazon’s European content division.

Danny Brown has shared the music video for his recent track ‘Y.B.P.’ and announced a UK and European tour for 2024.‘Y.B.P.’ featuring Bruiser Wolf appeared on the US rapper and singer’s 2023 album ‘Quaranta’, his first full-length solo outing in four years.Brown and Bruiser Wolf star in the new music video as a claymation versions of themselves roaming around their home city, as they reflect on being “young, black and poor being raised in Detroit”.The video was created by UK-based directors and animators Edem Wornoo and Will Child. Check it out below.‘Quaranta’ was released digitally in November and will be available on vinyl from Friday (January 19) via Warp Records.Alongside the video drop, Brown has announced a 21-date tour of the UK and Europe in support of the new album, which follows the previously announced North American tour taking place in March.Brown will kick off the UK leg at John Dee in Oslo, Norway, before stopping off in Copenhagen, Berlin, Vienna, Prague and more.

Angelique Jackson Award-winning nonfiction filmmaker and writer Brett Story has signed with CAA ahead of the world premiere of her latest documentary, “Union.” Story co-directed the feature with Stephen Maing about the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), a group of current and former Amazon workers in New York City’s Staten Island, as they take on one of the world’s largest and most powerful companies in a fight to unionize. “Union” will make its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan.

Nicki Minaj has announced new UK, European and US dates for her ‘Pink Friday 2‘ 2024 world tour – see the full list of shows below.The first leg of the tour – featuring US, UK and European gigs – was announced last year and will kick off on March 1 in California.The existing dates run until early June, but new shows have now been added to the lengthy tour.New shows will take place in Glasgow, Paris, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Brooklyn, Toronto, Chicago and more.See the full list of ‘Pink Friday 2’ tour dates below, with newly added gigs in bold. Tickets for the new dates go on sale at 9am local time on Friday, January 19.