The Atlanta-based hip-hop trio Migos will now release music through New York-based Motown Records and Los Angeles-based Capitol Records. The move is an extension of Atlanta-based Quality Control Music’s (QCM) joint venture with Capitol Record’s parent Capitol Music Group (CMG), a wholly owned division of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Universal Music Group. The Migos’ — Quavo,…
Alex Da Kid & Joseph Angel Release New Collab ‘American Funeral’
Producer Alex Da Kid and singer-songwriter Joseph Angel have teamed up on “American Funeral,” a powerful R&B record that targets police brutality and tensions in the United States, with lyrics like “America, the beautiful/ America, the murderer/ America, the funeral/ God bless America.” “We’re living in interesting times, and we’re all trying to make sense of…
‘THERE’S GOING TO BE A RESURGENCE IN INDEPENDENT MUSIC COMPANIES’
Universal is putting a lot of faith in Alex Da Kid (aka. Alexander Grant). The major recently spent big bucks on signing a ‘unique and innovative’ multifaceted deal with the Grammy-winning Brit’s KIDinaKORNER – a combined record label, publisher, production house and marketing agency. The agreement appears to be akin to a label services set-up, where Grant (pictured)…
Live Nation Posts Sixth Consecutive Year of Record Growth
The promotion behemoth celebrates another record year of double-digit revenue growth. Live Nation is celebrating another record year with double-digit growth in revenue, attendance, sponsorship and advertising. Company officials released financial results for Q4 and all of 2016, reporting revenue up 15 percent for the year to $8.4 billion and operating income up a staggering 48…
ARE THE MAJOR LABELS IN DANGER OF TURNING MUSIC STREAMING INTO A MONOPOLY OWNED BY APPLE?
Spotify represents an important piece of our music industry ecosystem, and the system is vulnerable. Competition is a fundamental part of a free market economy, of which we all reap the benefits. Spotify’s revenues increased 80% in 2015 to US $2.18bn (€1.95bn). However, its annual operating losses also jumped from €165m to €184m as it paid…
Interview: Alex Da Kid
We sat down with Alex Da Kid early January in his flat in Knightsbridge. Alex had just spent Christmas in London, a day before he left for the states he invited Wrap Up to join him for an intimate chat on all things music. The Wrap-Up: As a U.K. producer how hard did you…
Universal Music and MQA Announce Hi-Res Streaming Collaboration
Who’s ready for an audio upgrade? Don’t look now, dear fatigued music consumer, but likely coming soon to a music platform near you is a new hi-resolution audio technology that promises better fidelity than all the cold digitally compressed CDs and MP3 hokum the music biz sold us in the 90s and aughts. This…
Facebook makes a play for music
Facebook is working on a broad licensing arrangement with the music industry that greenlights user-generated videos with songs — and potentially professional music content too, Bloomberg reports. This follows the recent news of Facebook hiring Tamara Hrivnak, a key music executive at YouTube, to lead its global music strategy and business development. Parties on both…
Why Music Ownership Matters
Imagine no possessions,” John Lennon asked in a famous song. Then wisely added: “I wonder if you can.” I note that Lennon was driving a 19-feet-long Rolls Royce when he composed the song “Imagine.” In fact, he didn’t really drive it; he had a couple of chauffeurs available for that. The former Beatle spent his…
DEF JAM THEN… AND NOW
After Def Jam Recordings was founded 33 years ago, it changed everything. Primarily, that was down to the artists who helped elevate the cultural status of hip-hop around the world.; from LL Cool J to the Beastie Boys, Slick Rick, Redman, EPMD and Public Enemy. But behind the scenes, an engine room of executive…
