YouTube Music Passes 50 Million Subscribers — Up 20 Million in Less Than a Year

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn a day that has been remarkably good for music companies on stock markets, Warner Music Group — which saw its stock climb thanks in part to Universal Music’s lofty IPO — on Tuesday announced the sale of an aggregate of 2,340,000 shares of the company’s common stock by affiliates of Access Industries to Morgan Stanley & Co. as the sole underwriter in the registered public offering of those shares.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAfter months of strong words, the National Music Publishers’ Association and livestreaming platform Twitch have announced an agreement to work together “to build productive partnerships between the service and music publishers,” according to the announcement.The deal follows months of animosity toward the Amazon-owned streaming platform, from the NMPA along with other industry trade groups, including the RIAA and the Recording Academy, over what they deemed its

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBjorn Ulvaeus, co-founder of ABBA and president of CISAC, unveiled a new global initiative called “Credits Due” on Tuesday that is intended to upgrade the music industry’s payment processes.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHipgnosis Songs, founded by Merck Mercuriadis and launched on the London Stock Exchange in 2018, is one of the most disruptive upstarts in recent music industry history, spending more than $2 billion acquiring catalogs of hitmakers ranging from the Chainsmokers to half of Neil Young’s work, with a foundation in lesser-known but high-earning songwriters and producers such as Kanye West/Harry Styles collaborator Jeff Bhasker and Eurythmics cofounder Dave

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorReggaeton star, actor and philanthropist Don Omar has signed a multiyear partnership with Saban Music Group (SMG). The label founded by entertainment giant Haim Saban and headed by CEO Gustavo López is home to such acts as Static and Ben El, Nakkia Gold and Chesca, among others.“I am thrilled to be joining forces with Saban Music Group and being backed by the savvy business and artistic instincts of Haim and Gus,” said Omar.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorApparently concerts, albums, documentaries, writing songs with Mick Jagger, VMA honors and writing books aren’t enough to keep the indefatigable Dave Grohl busy: Now he’s doing a book tour.Later this month and next, Grohl will undertake an extremely limited run of intimate evenings that’ll see (and hear) him bring his first book to life: “The Storyteller –Tales of Life and Music,” which is described as “a collection of memories of a life lived loud,” is out October

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a major overhaul of its Awards department that began in May with the elimination of the controversial “secret committees” that determined final Grammy nominations and continued with the departure of longtime awards chief Bill Freimuth last month, the Recording Academy has appointed Ruby Marchand to the position of chief awards & industry officer, with Joanna Chu elevated to vice president of awards.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFighting the gender gap in the music industry is not a role that Mattel’s Barbie doll traditionally has taken on, but the company has used the iconic figure for exactly that purpose with its awesome Music-Producer doll, which it announced earlier this week.The company, which partnered with veteran songwriter-producer Ester Dean for the series, is making empowerment the primary theme for the doll too, saying it is “designed to introduce girls to an underrepresented

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe estate of David Bowie and Warner Music Group have announced a global partnership that will bring the late artist’s vast recorded-music catalog from 1968 through 2016 under the Warner umbrella.The new deal sees Bowie’s albums from 2000 through 2016, which were originally released via Sony Music, joining his 1968-1999 catalog at Warner.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRepublic Records today formally launched Imperial Music, a new independent music company led by former Astralwerks executive Glenn Mendlinger that soft-launched last year.According to the announcement, the New York-based label is a new division of Republic and signs, develops and markets emerging independent artists and creators, and partners with Ingrooves Music Group for distribution services.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRecorded music revenues in the U.S. grew 27% in the first half of 2021 over 2020, according to the RIAA’s mid-year report.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLive Nation has resumed its acquisition of a 51% controlling interest in Ocesa Entretenimiento, a leading promoter in Latin America and owner of Ticketmaster Mexico, for an aggregate purchase price of $8,835,000,000 in Mexican dollars, or approximately $444 million U.S.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorYebba — a.k.a. Abbey Smith — is a prodigiously talented 26-year-old singer who’s been buzzing for so long it’s hard to believe “Dawn” is her debut album.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSince the advent of streaming services, one of the major problems with DJ mixes has been ensuring that every musical element in those mixes is identified and paid for.Well, Apple Music has unveiled a new process — in cooperation with major and independent labels — whereby it can properly identify and directly pay the rights holders whose music is used within a DJ mix, building on technology from Shazam, which it acquired several years ago.The program ostensibly will

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJust a couple of weeks after Drake cryptically revealed the release date of his new “Certified Lover Boy” album on ESPN’s flagship program “SportsCenter,” the network has announced that it will work with the superstar rapper throughout the entire NFL season to curate music for select Monday Night Football games.According to the announcement, ESPN has collaborated with Drake to choose music that “encapsulates both the energy and mood” of the games.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe U.K. regulator Competition and Markets Authority has raised concerns around Sony Music’s purchase of Kobalt’s recorded-music services division AWAL, after the first phase of its investigation into the acquisition.The investigation found that the distribution of recorded music in the U.K.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRising indie quartet Big Thief have surprise-released a new song called “Certainty” that was written and recorded directly to 4-track during a three-day power outage. The recorder was plugged into a cigarette lighter, according to the announcement.Guitarist Buck Meek explained the complicated jerry-rigged recording process.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBTS are set to appear on a special episode of YouTube Originals’ weekly music series “Released” on Thursday, September 9 at 11:45 PM ET, which will lead directly into the premiere of “BTS ‘Permission to Dance’ MV (Shorts Challenge ver.)” on September 10 at Midnight ET. The band will be joined by Coldplay frontman, Chris Martin, for a conversation on what inspired the #PermissiontoDance challenge on YouTube Shorts, among other topics.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWith overall revenue growth of 9% and a 7% gain in EBITDA, BMG boasts of its best first half since parent company Bertelsmann returned to the music business with a new-look model in 2008. While the pandemic stymied growth in music publishing, BMG’s core business, a 29.4% uptick by recorded music carried the day for the fiscal period that ended June 30.Revenue for the period was €296 million, EBITDA at €50m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Bonnaroo Music Festival, scheduled to begin on Thursday, has been canceled, organizers announced on Tuesday afternoon. The reason given was not Covid-related, but rather due to heavy rains from Hurricane Ida soaking the festival’s grounds.More to come… We are absolutely heartbroken to announce that we must cancel Bonnaroo.