How Did the FN Meka Mess Happen?

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Reach Music Publishing has acquired a 50% copyright interest — together with 100% of the writer’s share, including global administration rights — in the song catalog of Public Enemy’s Chuck D, one of the most influential rappers and lyricists in hip-hop history. Further terms of the deal were not disclosed. As a founding member and chief songwriter of Public Enemy, Chuck D co-wrote nearly all of the group’s songs, including such classics as “Fight the Power” (theme song to Spike Lee’s 1989 film “Do the Right Thing”), “Bring the Noise,” “Welcome to the Terrordome,” “Shut ‘Em Down,” and “He Got Game,” all of which are included in the Reach Music acquisition. In total, over 300 songs are included in the deal. 

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor YouTube, the world’s largest streaming platform for music, announced that it has paid more than $6 billion to the music industry in the 12 months between July 2021 and June 2022 — some $2 billion more than it said it paid in the previous 12 months. Like last year, the announcement comes in the form of a blog post from the platform’s head of music, Lyor Cohen. While short on specifics, the post does outline some of the contributing factors. “We want our twin engine of ads and subscriptions to be the #1 contributor of revenue to the industry by 2025,” Cohen wrote. “That’s why YouTube is monetizing all music formats (short & long form video, audio tracks, Live, etc.), on all platforms (desktop, tablet, mobile, and TV), in over 100 countries. And overall watch time of music content on YouTube across desktop, tablet, mobile, and TV continues to grow year over year.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Grammy-winning producer-songwriters Hit-Boy and James Fauntleroy have signed on as  co-executive producers and the sonic creative team for the “NFT supergroup” Kingship. Together, the pair will work with Arnell, Kingship’s “Mutant DJ and Producer,” to oversee the group’s music direction and sound.  “I’m always looking to push things forward musically,” said Hit-Boy, who has worked with Beyonce, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West and many others, “and this is a great opportunity to do something new in the web3 space.” Fauntleroy, who’s collaborated with Beyonce, Rihanna, Drake, Nipsey Hussle and others, added, “It’s so exciting to be a part of something historical and ambitious. As a huge nerd, and music fanatic, I can’t wait to see what comes from the intersection of the web3 collectors/creatives and the entertainment creative community.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor YouTube’s royalty system has long been criticized by multiple music-industry organizations for opaqueness, a lack of oversight and, many feel, insufficient payments. But a new report in Billboard makes a number of detailed allegations, supported by claims from a number of unnamed sources, who say that YouTube — which is the single largest streaming service for music in the world — has a rights-management system that is “full of errors” and “ripe for abuse,” and claim that Create Music Group, which initially established itself as a royalty-collection service for music companies, frequently collected royalties to which it is not entitled. Create co-founder Jonathan Strauss categorically denied those claims, and said the company’s claims are always guided by its clients’ deals — “CMG does not input or remove shares without authorization.” In a statement to Variety, a rep for Create said: “At Create Music Group we work tirelessly to ensure that our clients, independent artists and labels, receive all of the revenue that they are entitled to. We take that responsibility very seriously. We unequivocally deny, however, the assertion made in the Billboard article by our competitors that we “game the system,” and the data proves this out. More than 90% of the conflicts created by our competitors, over 26,000 in all, have been settled in our favor. We follow both the letter and spirit of the rules YouTube has set up for our industry and are very proud of our track record in this regard.”

West Lothian singing superstar Lewis Capaldi has revealed he has been diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor After a grueling, hard-fought and ultimately victorious legal battle over streaming rates for the years 2018-22, the National Music Publishers’ Association, the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and the Digital Media Association today have announced a settlement with streaming services for certain mechanical streaming rates in the U.S. for the years 2023-2027: 15.35%. The announcement comes as a surprise, as the NMPA has been saying for months that it would push for a 20% rate for the forthcoming period. However, sources tell Variety that concessions were made on both sides, likely in the form of modifications that reach beyond the headline rate, such as the way that “bundles” — such as discounted streaming subscription rates for family and student plans — and per-subscriber minimums are treated.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor To celebrate the release of his self-titled new album, British rapper-singer Yungblud has announced “Occupy the Strip,” which will see him performing at three legendary venues  on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip on September 8, with the concerts being livestreamed globally via the Amazon Music channel on Twitch. Yungblud says, “Some of the most iconic artists have played shows at these venues on the Strip.

The man who previously spoke up for the controversial FN Meka project – Anthony Martini – has announced that he is no longer involved with the ‘virtual’ rapper or the company behind it, Factory New.Following the accusations of racism that were made against the project – which resulted in the rapper being dropped by Universal Music’s Capitol label earlier this week – he says that he “should have done more diligence before joining” the venture, and also admits that there was much less AI involved in the creation of the virtual rapper and it’s musical output than previously claimed.Although previously named as a co-founder, Martini says that he joined Factory New in 2020, after the release of the first two FN Meka singles, ‘Moonwalkin’ and ‘Internet’.He also claims that he only learned this week that Kyle The Hooligan, the rapper who voiced those tracks and seemingly wrote their lyrics, had been cut out of the project, insisting that “while I was involved, artists on the project were always compensated fairly and participated in the revenue from their work”.Capitol announced that it had signed FN Meka earlier this month, releasing the single ‘Florida Water’, featuring Gunna.

) ask me to via song. The just released a teaser of the music video for “Calm Down,” her new collaboration with Nigerian Afrobeats star Rema, which will be released on Thursday, August 25, at midnight. In the 12-second clip, which Gomez posted to TikTok on August 24, she wears a denim corset, pleated brown trousers, and gold hoops while leaning up against a vintage Porsche.

K.J. Yossman Ewan McGregor is set to star in “A Gentleman in Moscow,” the adaptation of Amor Towles’ novel, for Paramount+ and Showtime. McGregor, who has previously starred in the Star Wars franchise and “Halston,” will play Count Alexander Rostov who finds himself going from riches to rags following the Russian revolution. A Soviet tribunal banishes him to the attic room of an opulent hotel, where, oblivious to the world outside, he “discovers the true value of friendship, family and love.” “It’s an amazing, wonderful story and I am very excited to get to play such a fabulous role,” said McGregor, who will also produce the series,

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor On the anniversary of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts’ death, Mick Jagger posted a video combining photos of the two over the years, with a brief spoken passage and the group’s 1974 song “Till the Next Goodbye.” “I miss Charlie… because he had a great sense of humor,” Jagger says. “Outside of the band, we used to hang out quite a lot and have interesting times.

became viral TikTok hair trends, Christina Aguilera broke beauty ground with her legendary take on dual-colored, black-on-blonde hair. It was an especially bold look, even for the infamously experimental early aughts. Though it's only now, 20 years later, that I realize the true meaning of Aguilera's statement hair, and how it symbolized so much more than anyone recognized at the time.Hear me out.

Ismael Cruz Córdova is starring as ‘Arondir’ in the Prime Video series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, making history as the first person of color to play an elf onscreen in a J.R. R. Tolkien project.

Outlander star Sam Heughan has delighted fans by joining TikTok as he documents his most recent trip to Mexico, including getting lost in the country.