Posts in category: Sunset Music News

(Bloomberg) — Universal Music Group NV, the world’s largest record company, is talking with the music service SoundCloud Ltd. about overhauling the way artists are paid, a deal that could help major performers collect more revenue from streaming services.

The companies are discussing changes to the standard industry royalty structure, according to people familiar with the talks, and would like to reach a conclusion before the end of the year. Universal Music Group and SoundCloud declined to comment. The exact details are still being worked out. 

Streaming services like Spotify Technology SA have boosted music industry sales for close to a decade. But some major artists and labels say they haven’t shared sufficiently in the takings. The efforts are complicated by the fact that after several boom years, music industry growth is slowing and that fraud and piracy continue to steal revenue from all of the parties.  

Universal Music chief Lucian Grainge and his peers at other labels have floated the idea of adjusting the current model to benefit their artists by, among other things, cutting down on the amount of money and attention siphoned off by formats like white noise or AI-generated tracks. 

In a company memo earlier this year, Grainge advocated for a new payout strategy that “values all subscribers and rewards the music they love.” So far, he’s offered few specifics on how this might work.  

Possible adjustments to the streaming model could involve rewarding artists who listeners actively seek out, rather than paying the same level of royalties when a performer’s song is consumed more passively via a playlist, according to Mark Mulligan, managing director and music analyst at Midia Research. Universal Music has also looked at creating a bonus pool of money for artists who generate streams from new users. 

Under the current model, streaming services pay music rights holders a majority of their sales, placing the money into a pool that’s distributed based on the rights holders’ share of listening. Grainge has railed against “irrelevant” content that can accumulate many hours of listening and account for a substantial share of the royalty revenue, thereby diverting money away from labels and artists.

For years, SoundCloud has been promoting the idea of “Fan-Powered Royalties.” The company divides each customer’s subscription and advertising revenue up among the artists whose music they click on and hear, rather than adding each user’s revenue to an overall pool. The idea is to reward creators with loyal fan bases rather than those who reach many people with less frequency, often from playlists. SoundCloud first announced its FPR model in 2021 and has done deals with Warner Music Group Corp. and Merlin, which represents independent labels.

SoundCloud has differentiated itself from Spotify and Apple Music as a place to find niche communities and genres, typically uploaded by independent artists. A 2022 study from Midia Research, commissioned by SoundCloud, found that those types of artists most benefited from fan-powered royalties. 

“Superstars tend to have more passive fanbases, not because they necessarily want to, but because it is what the pro-rata streaming model incentivizes,” the report said. “Regardless of an artist’s size, operating under the FPR model frees artists from this reliance on passive fans, instead rewarding them for focusing on building deeper fandom.”

Universal Music hasn’t endorsed SoundCloud’s model because executives believe that it did little to address fraud and also disadvantaged certain types of musicians, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the talks. Universal Music specializes in superstars, including Drake, The Weeknd and Taylor Swift, meaning it might be less inclined to opt all the way into FPR. 

But Universal Music has begun advocating for its own version, which it has dubbed an “artist-centric” model. The consultancy Bain & Co. is advising the company, the people said, and helping forecast how the new payouts might work. While music services have been loathe to give Grainge data on his competitors, they have been more willing to engage with and inform the research of a third party like Bain.

Universal has held conversations about a similar model with other streaming services, including Tidal, a Block Inc. subsidiary, and Deezer SA. To date, no deals have been announced. 

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.

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LONGWOOD, Bronx (WABC) — Record labels have disappeared, but the hip-swaying rhythms of salsa and merengue can still be found in a beloved music store that’s remained a fixture in the Bronx for decades.

Charlie Montoyo says people “go crazy” when they walk into the Casa Amadeo music store for the first time.

Montoyo still feels that way and he pays a visit every time he is in New York.

The Puerto Rican bench coach for the Chicago White Sox pops into the store in Longwood to not only sort through the volumes of salsa CDs, but also to catch up with the long-time owner, 89-year-old Miguel Amadeo.

“Sometimes I play maracas with him, and he plays the guitar, and he doesn’t do that for everybody,” Montoyo said. “So, it’s an honor for me that he lets me play with him.”

Amadeo has owned and managed this last-of-a-dying breed store since 1969.

RELATED | NYC social club, a snapshot of the 70s, thrives through decades

Ten years ago, the New York City Council recognized his community service by renaming the corner of Prospect Avenue and Westchester Avenue as ‘Miguel Angel Amadeo Way.’

“This keeps me going, and as long as I can handle this store, I’ll be here,” Amadeo said.

In a world dominated by digital music sales, business certainly isn’t what it used to be, but that’s okay. Amadeo generates most of his income from royalties.

So many people come into the store and don’t realize that Amadeo is much more than just a small business owner. For decades he composed songs recorded by some of the biggest names in Latin music, like Celia Cruz, El Gran Combo, Tito Mieves.

Amadeo often hears from Spanish radio station DJs who call him for insight on a legendary musician or classic song.

“I got a request to play this and this, this song. ‘What’s the title?’ I don’t know the title, but it goes like this, ‘oh, okay.’ That was recorded by Virginia Lopez and it’s called ‘Tu Promesa de Amor’ and I wrote it,” Amadeo said.

The native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico is so widely known throughout the Latin music industry that artists bring their new material directly to him, and that’s how he maintains his inventory.

The record labels have disappeared, but the hip-swaying rhythms of salsa and merengue can still be found in a beloved Bronx music store.

ABC 7 New York is your home for the 66th National Puerto Rican Day Parade. Special coverage begins at noon on Sunday, June 11. WABC-TV is proud to be a broadcast partner of the parade.

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New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Multi award-winning artist and songwriter Anne Wilson pours her heart out in her poignant new release, “Seventh of June.” A deeply personal and heartfelt tribute to her beloved late brother Jacob, the track and accompanying music video is available everywhere today. Wilson enlisted trusted collaborators Matthew West and Jeff Pardo (“My Jesus,” “Living Water”) to craft this soul-stirring account of his passing, reflecting the raw pain of loss while showcasing Wilson’s unwavering faith and conviction. Through her powerful lyricism and emotional delivery, Wilson not only cherishes her brother’s memory but also extends solace to those grappling with profound grief.

“‘Seventh of June’ is a song that was written about the day that forever changed my life. The day that I lost my big brother Jacob in a tragic car accident,” shares Wilson with heartfelt vulnerability. “No matter how much time passes, this is a day that will always be so important to me. I really pray this song impacts people and reminds them that it’s OK to grieve. Jesus is with us in the midst of it all!! This is for you, Jacob.”

The accompanying music video, directed by TK McKamy, a CMA and ACM award-winning director, was filmed at the Wilson Farm, which has been in their family for over a century in the Kentucky countryside.

Given the importance of this song and video, Wilson’s entire family had a hand in the creation of the video that serves as a meaningful collaboration honoring Jacob’s life. Brief glimpses of his resting place and the songstress wearing one of his old shirts while strumming Jacob’s guitar bring personal touches that infuse each moment of the video with depth, heartbreak and healing.

Wilson’s life was forever transformed by the impact of Jacob’s passing, as she discovered her voice and musical mission in the days following the tragedy while delivering a heartfelt performance at his funeral. Since then, Wilson has used her God given talent to create music that resonates with millions.

She went on to write and release “My Jesus,” the “deeply personal breakout ballad” (Billboard) that catapulted her to massive success, quickly being named ASCAP’s 2022 Christian Music Awards Song of the Year, reaching Spotify’s Viral 50, the Shazam Top 200, and Rolling Stone’s Top 25 trending charts.

The follow-up to her introductory track was her GRAMMY-nominated, 15-song debut album, My Jesus. Rising to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Christian & Gospel Albums and the Top 200 Christian and Gospel charts upon release, the record-breaking debut has amassed her catalog over 600M global career streams to date.

This past April, Wilson celebrated her life-changing album with a special edition titled My Jesus (Anniversary Deluxe), featuring two all-new tracks that honored the project in a re-imagined light.

Earlier this week, Wilson and Capitol Christian Music Group announced the expansion of her team, aligning with Universal Music Group Nashville for new music. Also added to her powerhouse team is The Neal Agency for talent booking.

The rising songstress was recently nominated for Best New Female Artist at last week’s K-LOVE Fan Awards. Other career accolades include nominations for her first GRAMMY for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album and nods from the American Music Awards and the Billboard Music Awards for Favorite Inspirational Artist and Top Christian Song, respectively.

Wilson also earned herself a spot on Pandora’s 2023 Artist to Watch: Christian/Gospel list and RIAA’s Class of 2022, all while writing and publishing her first book My Jesus: From Heartache To Hope which launched to major success before going on to make the Evangelical Christian Publishing Association’s Bestseller List.

With a transcendent vocal, down-to-Earth storytelling and a Heaven-sent desire to glorify Jesus, Anne Wilson is one of Nashville’s most inspiring young trailblazers – a Lexington, Ky. native mixing the heart of Contemporary Christian Music, and the sound of Country.

Finding her musical mission in the wake of tragedy, Wilson delivered her first public performance at 15 while singing “What a Beautiful Name” at her brother’s funeral in a moving expression of faith which soon went viral. Called in that moment to continue on, her 2021 debut single, “My Jesus,” marked the arrival of a new star, fusing personal conviction with upbeat roots energy to become a GOLD-certified No.1 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart.

The track made Wilson the first debut female solo artist in chart history to reach No.1 and went on to be named ASCAP’s 2022 Christian Music Awards Song of the Year. Now boasting more than 600M global career streams, her rise is gaining momentum.

Wilson was nominated for a GRAMMY for her 2022 debut album My Jesus (the only female in the category for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album), and has already won two GMA Dove Awards (New Artist of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year for “My Jesus”) and two K-LOVE Fan Awards (Female Artist of the Year and Breakout Single for “My Jesus”), while also scoring a coveted American Music Award nomination (Favorite Inspirational Artist).

Making her Grand Ole Opry debut in 2021, Wilson continues to thrill live audiences, performing 150 shows in 2022 while being named to both the RIAA Class of 2022 and Pandora’s Artists to Watch 2023: Christian/Gospel, and also publishing a bestselling book titled My Jesus: From Heartache To Hope last fall.

Her uplifting anthem “Hey Girl” is out now and has led to the creation of Hey Girl Nation, a community for fans to connect and encourage self-worth. Wilson is looking ahead to a new chapter – one that builds on her vision, and continues to blur the musical divide. “It’s the heart of Christian Music, the sound of Country… and the hope of Jesus,” she says. “I hope it all points back to Him.”

• The wealthy are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on 30-minute performances from music artists.
• These private shows, like bar mitzvahs or birthdays, can draw in big names like Flo Rida and Drake.
• As artists make less money from their music, the idea of “selling out” is changing, New Yorker reports.

From 2008 through 2010, Flo Rida’s music was inescapable — “Low,” and “Right Round,” two pop records about being mesmerized by the bodily movements of women, dominated the radio and secured a No.1 spot on the Billboard charts. 

In the decade or so since, the Miami-raised artist has diversified his business ventures outside of the recording booth, and makes hundreds of thousands of dollars for private performances — at a recent bar mitzvah in Lincolnshire, a suburb north of Chicago, he secured a “six-figure” fee, according to a New Yorker deep-dive on the trend.

This pricetag is par for the course too.

Private performances that aren’t open to the public can range from anything to a closed-off charity event or a small show aboard a yacht, and the New Yorker piece reveals they’ve become Flo Rida’s bread and butter.

They also are becoming more normalized among the world’s mega stars, like Beyonce, and older names like Rod Stewart and Steely Dan, who will agree to perform in front of small crowds, whether for a corporate event or an individual’s party — if the price is right. 

To get Flo Rida at your private event however, it will run you between $150,000 and $300,000, with international shows extending that fee up to around $1 million, the New Yorker reported. A lawyer for Flo Rida confirmed to Insider that fee range was accurate and said his client “loves weddings, birthday parties and bar/bat mitzvahs.”

Back in 2016, Ryan Schinman, the founder and CEO of a talent booking company for corporations and the private sector, told Billboard that Flo Rida — like The Weeknd and Ariana Grande — was one of the sought-after names for bar and bat mitzvahs because he “has had hit after hit after hit.” 

As artists are making less money from their creative labor — a 2017 Citigroup report, noted that of the $43 billion in revenue that the music industry accrued, only 12% of that pie went to recording artists — private events, sponsorships and commercials, and other opportunities that some have characterized as “selling out” has changed, New Yorker reports.

Even a handful of years down the line, the streaming environment has not improved much, with artists securing only $0.16 for every $1 earned through streams. For smaller names, that number goes down to $0.003 to $0.005 per stream. 

Participating in brand collaborations has become normalized, even contributing to an artist’s ethos. Just look at what Travis Scott has done with McDonalds, riding a partnership to the tune of $20 million. 

This kind of normalization around commercial opportunities may be contributing to a current musical landscape where Rod Stewart will do a private event in Italy for 30 people, or Beyonce gives her first performance in four years at the opening of a hotel in Dubai, owned by the country’s government (for $24 million), or Flo Rida to sing in front of three people aboard a yacht in Sardinia. 

And let’s not forget when a video of Drake performing at a bat mitzvah went viral and helped bring mainstream awareness to the celebrity bat/bar mitzvah performance.

DREAM THEATER keyboardist Jordan Rudess and guitarist John Petrucci have weighed in on a debate about people using artificial intelligence (AI) to create music.

The two musicians, who are preparing to launch the “Dreamsonic” tour with DREAM THEATER, made their stance clear during an appearance on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” on Monday (June 5).

“It’s a very big topic, and I personally am very excited about it,” Jordan said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “If people are being nice, that know about AI, like artists, musicians, graphic artists, they’ll usually say, ‘Oh, we can use it as a tool. And we’ve had tools before. And that’s kind of a cool thing.’ But the reality is that the technology — as it’s really always done, but now maybe even more — opens up all these incredible possibilities for new levels of creativity that we haven’t seen before. So, it’s, yes, a tool, but it’s a complete door opener and it kind of shatters what we know in a lot of ways. And it can be used in so many ways so we can hear and we can see things that we’ve never really seen or heard before.

“I myself am somebody who works not only in the audio domain, but I’m also really involved in the visual domain. I’m what’s called an ambassador for a company called Lightricks, which is out of Israel, and they do incredible things with AI and photo and video. And I’ve also been involved in the AI part of music as well. And I’m very excited about it. How much of it will roll over into the DREAM THEATER world or even need to, that’s a whole another question. We’ve actually been pretty open to the technologies that I bring in, although it doesn’t completely take over, obviously, what we do, ’cause we’ve been doing this for a long time. But in general, [I’m] really, really excited about it. I think it’s cool. People should pay attention to it. And as a creative person, I’m very involved in, let’s say, the positive sides of it.”

Petrucci said: “Well, you might have to start calling me Nostradamus, ’cause a few years ago I wrote a story called ‘The Astonishing’. Jordan and I wrote the music to it. It was DREAM THEATER‘s record about, basically, the end of the world due to the fact that AI takes over and there’s no need for humans to be creative anymore. And the NOMACs, or Noise Machines, take over and create this horrible music that starts controlling people. And it takes a musical savior named Gabriel to kind of get us out of it. So I predicted it. It’s gonna happen. It’s happening. That’s my take. The NOMACs are coming.”

Last month, AVENGED SEVENFOLD‘s M. Shadows said that he “would love to” have his voice cloned using artificial intelligence in order to create new songs. The singer, whose real name is Matt Sanders, was also enthused about the possibilities, saying that “AI can be incredibly useful” for songwriters. M. Shadows went on to say that AI gives fans the opportunity to use the work of their favorite acts as a machine learning library to create their own songs.

Pop singer Grimes, whose real name is Claire Boucher, recently said she would “split 50% royalties on any successful AI-generated song that uses my voice”.

“Same deal as I would with any artist I collab[orate] with. Feel free to use my voice without penalty,” she tweeted.

SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor expressed his disdain for AI during a recent interview with “Loudwire Nights”. He said: “It’s cheap shit. I don’t know what it is about human beings — they keep fucking opening Pandora’s box for God’s sake. It’s scary, dude. I thought deep fake was bad and now here comes AI and all you do is teach this thing to do this or you type this thing to do that and all of a sudden it’s just there. How much more do we want to lessen — and I mean lessen as in detract from — what we actually do as human beings? How much more do we want to take away from our own creativity? How much more do we want to make reality completely fucking pointless or better yet, how much do we completely want to devalue true talent, true creativity, true hard work, true persistence and heart to the point now that people are going to question whether it’s you or not. It’s so fucking ridiculous.”

Photo credit: Rayon Richards / InsideOut Music

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In a claim made against ByteDance, the parent company of popular video-sharing platform TikTok, a former executive has reportedly alleged that members of China’s Communist Party (CCP) accessed the data of TikTok users in Hong Kong back in 2018.

The claims were reported by The Wall Street Journal on Monday (June 5), citing a wrongful-dismissal lawsuit filed in early May by Yintao Yu, who previously served as the head of engineering for ByteDance’s US offices from August 2017 to November 2018.

Yu, a resident of California, reportedly worked at ByteDance’s Menlo Park office, as well as in Los Angeles and Beijing. 

He claimed in the filing with the San Francisco Superior Court that a committee of the CCP specifically targeted civil rights activists and protesters in Hong Kong during that time and obtained sensitive user data from TikTok, including network information, SIM card identifications, IP addresses, and even user communications on the platform.

ByteDance, however, denies these allegations.

A spokeswoman for the company strongly refuted the claims, telling the WSJ: “We vigorously oppose what we believe are baseless claims and allegations in this complaint.” 

She further pointed out that Yu was involved with an app called Flipagram, which was discontinued several years ago for business reasons. 

“We vigorously oppose what we believe are baseless claims and allegations in this complaint…his actions are clearly intended to garner media attention.”

ByteDance spokeswoman, speaking to the WSJ

The spokeswoman added that Yu’s termination occurred in 2018, and he had not raised these allegations in the five years since, suggesting that “his actions are clearly intended to garner media attention.”

Charles Jung, Yu’s lawyer and a partner at the law firm Nassiri & Jung, explained that his client decided to come forward now due to what he perceived as misdirection in testimony provided by TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew during a congressional hearing in March. 

“My client is placing himself at risk by telling his story in court. But the truth is powerful, and telling the truth is what’s needed to bring social change,” Jung was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

“My client is placing himself at risk by telling his story in court. But the truth is powerful, and telling the truth is what’s needed to bring social change.”

Charles Jung, Yintao Yu’s Lawyer

These allegations emerge at a critical time for TikTok as the company attempts to lobby the US government to keep the app operating in the US.

Montana last month became the first US state to ban TikTok after a bill to restrict downloads of the app was signed by Governor Greg Gianforte. In response, five TiKTok users in the state filed a lawsuit, seeking to reverse the ban before it takes effect on Jan. 1, 2024.

Lawmakers in Montana are among a number of US politicians that have raised concerns about the potential for the Chinese government to access user data through TikTok or manipulate content on the platform. 

To alleviate these concerns, TikTok has rolled out a number of initiatives including launching ‘Project Texas,’ designed to segregate US users’ data onto servers run by Oracle in Texas.

The company also created a new subsidiary to handle its US data, claiming that this measure will prevent Chinese law from impacting TikTok’s American user data.

Yu’s accusations against ByteDance in Hong Kong follow the company’s decision in 2020 to withdraw TikTok from Hong Kong, citing concerns over complying with the ‘national security law’ that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong, giving it expanded authority in the former British colony.

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