Senators Slam Streaming Services’ Request to Defer Payment of Back Royalties, as CRB Ruling Looms (EXCLUSIVE)

Sam Fender has shared his B-side ‘Alright’ on streaming platforms for the first time – you can listen to it below.The track was recorded as part of the sessions for the North Shields singer-songwriter’s second studio album, ‘Seventeen Going Under’, and served as the B-side to the single ‘Long Way Off’.‘Alright’ was also previously released as a special edition 7 inch vinyl for Record Store Day 2022.Last night (July 14), Fender posted the official artwork for the song on social media. “Something special coming tonight,” he wrote.He later shared a link to the digital version of ‘Alright’, which is now available to stream and download.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAugust 08, singer-songwriter known for his work with the LA-based collective 88Rising, has inked with Allel Sound, Jhene Aiko’s joint label venture with Def Jam. His debut EP, “Towards The Sun,” drops tonight and includes the new single and video “Water Sign,” which features Aiko.“August is an incredible writer, singer and artist whose music speaks to me on so many levels,” said Aiko.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThree songs from the posthumous 2010 Michael Jackson album “Michael,” which some fans have long insisted were not sung by the late artist, have been removed from streaming services.A statement from Jackson’s estate and Sony Music, which acquired the rights to unreleased material from the singer’s vaults in a blockbuster $250 million deal in 2010, says the songs were removed in an effort to “move beyond” the controversy but effectively maintains that the vocals were not faked: “Nothing should be read into this action concerning the authenticity of the tracks,” it emphasizes.“The Estate of Michael Jackson and Sony Music decided to remove the tracks ‘Breaking News,’ ‘Monster’ and ‘Keep Your Head Up,’ from the 2010 album ‘Michael’ as the simplest and best way to move beyond the conversation associated with these tracks once and for all,” the statement, issued Tuesday, reads. “The album’s remaining tracks remain available.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorYG Entertainment has announced that K-pop powerhouse Blackpink are in the final stages of recording a new album that will be released next month. The album, the second full-length, “starts a continuous large-scale project which will extend through the second half of the year,” according to the announcement.The company stated, “A lot of Blackpink-esque music has been prepared over a long period of time.

Three Michael Jackson songs that appeared on his 2010 posthumous album ‘Michael’ have been removed from streaming services, amid continued claims that they were actually sung by an impersonator.Although, it’s important to note, their removal has “nothing to do with their authenticity”. It’s just that the singer’s fans have become so focussed on the fake vocal claims linked to these tracks that they’ve all – all of them – forgotten that he ever made any other music. Or something like that.“The removal of these three songs has nothing to do with their authenticity”, says a spokesperson.

Sony Music says the removal of three Michael Jackson songs from streaming services has nothing to do with their controversial authenticity.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe French audio streaming service Deezer made its debut on the Paris Euronext market Tuesday and immediately plunged 35% from its €8.5 opening, rising slightly to level off at around €6.2 by late in the afternoon.Earlier this year the company, which is one of the world’s largest streaming services despite a relatively low U.S. profile, merged with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with an eye toward going public at a $1.13 billion valuation.

Kid Cudi has announced his debut 2008 mixtape, ‘A Kid Named Cudi’, will receive an official release on streaming services later this month.In a series of tweets yesterday (July 4), the rapper revealed that a greatest-hits collection titled ‘The Boy Who Flew to the Moon’ would hit streaming platforms this Friday (July 8), while ‘A Kid Named Cudi’ would follow a week later on July 15, two days shy of its 14th anniversary.“I am so damn excited u all get to enjoy it again, remastered, [with] all the jams that made people fans from [the] jump, Cudi wrote. “Also, [I] did a new intro.” In another tweet, he confirmed the mixtape would receive a vinyl pressing.

A teenage girl was left seriously injured after a brutal shark attack on a Florida beach. And we mean ON THE BEACH.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a big win for the publishing and songwriting community, the Copyright Royalty Board reaffirmed the 15.1% headline rate increase in royalties paid by streaming services to publishers for the 2018-22 period.The rate was decided in 2018, but streaming services Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube/Google and Pandora appealed the following year, arguing that the increase will make their business models untenable in light of the billions of dollars that they already pay in royalties.While the decision was not immediately released publicly, sources and National Music Publishers Assn. president/CEO David Israelite shared that the headline rate will increase to 15.1% from 11.4%, as decided.However, in a minor win for the streaming services, the TCC rate, or percentage of label revenue, has been capped, and the definition of bundling — the “family plans” and other discount packages — has reverted to an earlier definition more favorable to the services.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Weeknd’s opening acts for his global stadium tour, which launches in his hometown of Toronto next Friday, will be R&B singer Snoh Aalegra, Canadian electronic artist Kaytranada and top DJ/producer Mike Dean, his team reveals in an exclusive interview with Variety. The full 19 dates, noting which acts are playing in which cities, appear below.The tour’s original opener, Doja Cat, pulled out last month to undergo throat surgery, and although “the phone was ringing” with calls from interested parties, according to Omar Al-joulani — Live Nation’s president of touring and a Toronto native who has worked with the Weeknd since 2014 — the choices reflect the artist’s long practice of having up-and-coming acts open his tours, even one as massive as the stadium show that will work its way across North America (slowly) through Labor Day weekend before moving on to the rest of the world.

TelevisaUnivision said its Vix+ streaming service will launch July 21, at a monthly price of $6.99 in the U.S. and MX$119 in Mexico.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorTelevisaUnivision is putting the polish on ViX+ for the premium streamer’s debut next month — and will try to persuade Spanish-speaking audiences to pay for another service in their monthly mix.The Hispanic programming powerhouse, formed through the merger of Univision and Televisa, is launching ViX+ on July 21 in the U.S and across Latin America. Its will cost $6.99 per month in the U.S.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a big win for major record labels, the Free Artists From Industry Restrictions (FAIR) Act failed to pass out of the California State Senate’s Judiciary committee late on Tuesday night.According to a report in Billboard, the act, also called AB Bill 983, received four votes, two short of the six needed to reach a majority from the 11-member committee.The bill was the latest in a long campaign to repeal a 1987 amendment to the state’s “Seven-Year Statute” that allows record labels to sue artists if they leave after seven years after their contract was signed before delivering the full number of albums required under the contract. Labels can also sue artists for damages.Artists’ rights groups — including the Black Music Action Coalition, Music Artists Coalition and Songwriters of North America — decried the decision but promised to continue the fight.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLegendary rocker Alice Cooper, who should need no introduction, has signed with CAA to represent his touring in North America.He has sold more than 50 million albums over the years and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. His nightly radio show, “Nights With Alice Cooper,” continues to air in nearly 100 cities in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe BET Awards are officially a celebration of “Black excellence,” and Sunday night’s show featured blockbuster performances from Lizzo, Mariah Carey, Latto, Jack Harlow (who was joined by Brandy and Lil Wayne) and an elaborate tribute to Lifetime Achievement honoree Sean “Diddy” Combs that included an unannounced in-person speech from Kanye West.But for the second time in three years, the show coincided with galvanizing events in the United States: In 2020, it was George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police and the ensuing the Black Lives Matter protests, and this year it was the Supreme Court’s polarizing overturn of Roe v. Wade and the impending loss of a woman’s right to choose in many states in the country.

It has now been officially confirmed that Netflix will soon be introducing adverts onto its service following an increase in subscription costs.

Paramount+ has just launched in the UK and the streaming service is a host to movies, TV shows, and documentaries produced under parent companies Paramount Pictures and Viacom CBS.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGeneration Now, the Atlanta-based label imprint founded by DJ Drama, Don Cannon and Leighton “Lake” Morrison, has extended its joint venture partnership with Atlantic Records. The partnership launched in 2015 and labels have launched the careers of Jack Harlow, Lil Uzi Vert — who collectively have achieved a whopping 30 billion-plus streams globally — and many others.