Hipgnosis boss: Music industry at risk from ‘gluttonous’ record labels January 21, 2021 The music industry is under threat from “gluttonous” record labels taking royalties away from artists and songwriters, the boss of music investment firm Hipgnosis has said. Merck Mercuriadis accused the major record companies of “trying to take everything for themselves”, warning that some artists were unable to survive off royalty income as a result. “The [...]
Teacher’s pet: Pearson shares lead the FTSE gainers after return to sales growth January 20, 2021 Teacher's pet: Pearson shares lead the FTSE gainers after return to sales growth
British musicians ‘shamelessly failed’ over post-Brexit touring January 20, 2021 Musicians have been “shamelessly failed” by the government over the failure to secure visa-free touring after Brexit, some of the UK’s biggest music stars have said. Sir Elton John, Ed Sheeran and Liam Gallagher are among more than 100 signatories on a damning open letter that warns many performers could be “tipped over the edge” [...]
Tesla is hiring someone to defend Elon Musk on social media January 20, 2021 Elon Musk’s indiscretions on social media have moved stock markets, led to a high-publicised defamation lawsuit and landed him a $20m fine. But it seems the blunt billionaire is now going on the defensive, hiring someone to fend off attacks by Twitter trolls. A job advert posted by Tesla, Musk’s booming electric car maker, said [...]
BBC warned to ready itself for lower licence fee income by public spending watchdog January 20, 2021 The BBC has been warned to match its priorities and future strategy with an assumption that licence fee income may fall further still.
Audioboom shares rise as podcast listeners tune in January 19, 2021 Audioboom shares pushed higher this morning after the podcasting platform reported a jump in revenue last year. The London-listed firm posted revenue of roughly $26.8m (£19.7m) in 2020, up by a fifth on the previous year. Audioboom, which hosts and distributes podcasts including No Such Thing As A Fish and Sue Perkins: An Hour Or [...]
Greatest Day: One Media IP snaps up Take That producer royalties January 18, 2021 One Media IP Group has bought the producer royalties of a selection of tracks by pop group Take That from British producer Ian Levine. The Aim-listed company said the tracks included “A Million Love Songs” and “I Found Heaven” from Take That’s 1992 album for an undisclosed sum. The group has also bought the producer [...]
ITV taps headhunter Stuart Spencer to pick new chairman January 15, 2021 ITV is said to have hired executive search firm Stuart Spencer as it kicks off the hunt for a replacement to outgoing chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette. The broadcaster’s nominations committee, led by former Jupiter Fund Management boss Edward Bonham Carter, has tapped the US headhunter to scout out potential applicants, Sky News reported. Bazalgette, who [...]
Amazon hit with class-action lawsuit over ebook price-fixing January 15, 2021 Amazon has been slapped with a class-action lawsuit over accusations it colluded with publishers to fix ebook prices. The lawsuit, filed in a New York district court, alleges that Amazon and the so-called Big Five publishers — Penguin Random House, Hachette, Harper Collins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster — agreed to price restraints that cause [...]
Screenshot: Is social media heading for a new era of privacy? January 15, 2021 A weekly column from City A.M. bringing you all the biggest stories and trends in technology, media and telecoms This week **Media Moment of the Week: CNN’s crowbar correction **Whatsapp’s privacy exodus **Music touring: A victim of Brexit? Media Moment of the Week Given the extent of the carnage at the Capitol last week, reporters [...]