Organizer | Li Chenchang Editor | Fan Zhihui
04.17-04.23
Weekly report at a glance
Large companies
>> Utopia Music announces it will cut 15% of its workforce
>> PRS for Music and Orfium entered into a cooperation agreement
>> Phantom of the Opera ends on the Broadway stage
>> BMG announced that it will integrate the new and old song distribution business
>> SM artists will be featured on HYBE's global fan platform Weverse
>> The Wave Music signed a distribution agreement with Capitol Music Group
>> Spotify introduces a new podcasting tool that allows radio content to be turned directly into podcasts
>> SoundCloud has partnered with music marketing platform Feature.fm
>> Spotify announced that it will be integrated into the instant photo-sharing app BeReal
>> AI-generated song "Heart on My Sleeve" became a hit
>> Lehua Entertainment Zhang Hao became the first Chinese C in the history of the Korean draft
>> WeChat updates the music service function
>> Snap strengthens its partnership with Live Nation to expand the festival's AR offerings
>> Armada Music announces the creation of BEAT Music, a copyright investment company
>> Live streaming platform Mandolin announced its closure
>> 10th anniversary of NetEase Cloud Music
Data control
>> 2022 tape sales hit a decade high, reaching 195,000 sets
>> 2021 Independent Music Copyright Company has a market share that exceeds that of Sony Music
>> In the first quarter of 2023, Web3 investment shrank by 82% year-on-year
capital market
>> AI voice technology company SoundHound raised $100 million in funding
>> TV music streaming platform Roxi received $8.7 million in financing
Artist Dynamics
>> Hipgnosis acquires the author's share of David Foster's performance royalties
Performance Market
>> Qingdao Aikeshi Airport Music Festival lineup officially announced
>> New Pants officially announces Eribaddy's online concert
>> Rainie Yang officially announced the Taipei concert
>> 2023 Westlake Music Festival officially announced the full lineup
>> Sanya Strawberry Music Festival officially announced the full lineup
>> Luhan 2023 tour four stops officially announced
Music variety
>> Hunan Satellite TV and Mango TV jointly produced the music variety show "Youth π Plan" finalized
>> "Endless Sound, Treasure Island Season" exceeded 1.7 billion views
Push song this week
Large companies
>> Utopia Music announces it will cut 15% of its workforce
· On April 17, Mattias Hjelmstedt, the company's co-founder and interim CEO, announced that Utopia Music will cut 15% of its workforce worldwide, about 100 people.
The layoffs are Utopia's second in six months, with the company cutting 20 percent of its workforce, or about 230 people, in November.
Utopia's distribution companies will not be affected by the layoffs, including British independent music distribution company Proper Music Group and music distribution company Cinram Novum.
In addition, the company's CEO has settled the issue of arrears owed to Utopia employees, as well as the Swedish subsidiary Utopia R&D Tech owes 8 million Swedish kronor ($770,000) in taxes to the Swedish tax authorities.
>> PRS for Music and Orfium entered into a cooperation agreement
· On April 17, UK rights management organisation PRS for Music and music technology company Orfium reached a partnership agreement to help PRS expand licensing across Africa.
Orfium will assist PRS in expanding its full licensing in Africa, including public performances (including live performances), broadcasting, cable television and multinational network services on the continent. In addition, PRS's Live Music Services (MLCS) will be applied at live events across Africa.
ORFIUM is a technology company that provides software, data, and licensing solutions for music content and rights management issues, with offices in Athens, London, and Tokyo, and a global team of more than 300 people.
>> Phantom of the Opera ends on the Broadway stage
· On April 18, "Phantom of the Opera" ended on the Broadway stage in New York on the 16th after nearly 14,000 performances in 35 years.
The reason for the suspension was reported to be the new crown epidemic, and after the epidemic resumed the show, the weekly operating cost was close to $1 million, and the total performance revenue was not enough to offset the cost.
It is reported that "Phantom of the Theater" composed by Andrew Lloyd Webb began performing on Broadway on January 9, 1988, and broke the record of the opera "Cats" written by Webb in September 2006, becoming the longest-performing play in Broadway history. In 35 years, it attracted 19.5 million viewers and grossed $1.3 billion.
Although Phantom of the Opera ended on the Broadway stage, audiences can still see the play on other stages.
>> BMG announced that it will merge its distribution operations
· On April 18, BMG announced that it would merge its distribution business, integrating the new and old song distribution businesses, and no longer managing them separately.
The company is also the first global music company in the industry to consolidate its distribution business.
BMG said the reason for the merger was that in the age of streaming, old songs generated three-quarters of the revenue from recorded music.
BMG's repertoire includes recordings by artists such as Black Sabbath, The Kinks, Motörhead, Rick Astley, Mötley Crüe, Kylie Minogue, Chris Rea and Nick Cave.
>> SM artists will be featured on HYBE's global fan platform Weverse
· On April 18, SM Entertainment artists will enter Weverse, HYBE's global fan platform, in the second half of the year. It is reported that including EXO, Girls' Generation, Red Velvet and aespa will land on the Weverse platform in September this year.
SM Entertainment and Kakao announced that they will open official social accounts for SM artists on Weverse, provide richer services and media content, interact with fans, and plan to use WeverseShop to provide fans with a more convenient album and peripheral shopping experience.
Previously, Kakao Entertainment acquired a 40% stake in SM Entertainment.
>> The Wave Music Group signed a distribution agreement with Capitol Music Group
· On April 18, Latin music label The Wave Music Group signed a distribution agreement with the American record company Capitol Music Group (CMG).
The first song under the new deal, "Lisa," from Puerto Rican rapper and songwriter Young Miko, has amassed more than 50 million audio views and 20 million video views. The song has more than 3 million copies on TikTok's second creation, generating 475 million views.
Wave Music Group was founded in 2021 by Torres and Calloway, who previously worked as a manager for Latin musicians for many years, including Mexican singer Mariangela and Puerto Rican rapper Alvaro Diaz. Calloway has amassed more than 22 billion views with his many works, working with artists such as Bad Bunny, Sebastián Yatra, Rauw Alejandro and more.
It is reported that the total revenue of Latin recorded music in the United States in 2022 will reach 1.09 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 23.8%.
>> Spotify introduces a new podcasting tool that allows radio content to be turned directly into podcasts
· On April 18, Spotify launched a new tool, Broadcast-to-Podcast (B2P), which allows radio hosts to convert broadcast content into on-demand podcast content.
The tool is based on Whooshkaa, a podcasting technology platform acquired by Spotify in 2021, and is now available to any account of podcast advertising platform Megaphone. In November 2020, Spotify acquired Megaphone for $235 million, a platform that helps enterprise-grade podcast and media companies publish and monetize their audio content.
Emma Vaughn, Spotify's global head of advertising business development and partnerships, said Spotify's foray into B2P is due to the gradual shift in radio listening to streaming. Between 2019 and 2022, the amount of time Americans spend listening to podcasts increased by 50%.
No technical knowledge is required to use B2P tools, and creators can simply set up their Megaphone accounts to automatically convert broadcast content into podcasts.
Spotify says B2P will help broadcast publishers reach new listeners. In the fourth quarter of 2022, Spotify added another 10 million net premium users, bringing its global paying viewership to 205 million.
>> SoundCloud has partnered with music marketing platform Feature.fm
· News on April 18, SoundCloud partnered with Israeli music marketing platform Feature.fm to provide marketing tools and resources for independent artists.
Feature.fm services include shareable and trackable pre-stored and smart links, event and artist landing pages, real-time analytics, and self-service advertising platforms, among others. The company claims to have created more than 1 million smart links for 300,000 artists last year.
Through this partnership, Feature.fm will provide SoundCloud artists with marketing, advertising, analytics, and CRM tools.
In addition, Feature.fm will introduce a new pricing plan for all SoundCloud artists for the first 90 days, free admission for its Next Pro Artists, and discounted pricing for its Next members. Independent artists on SoundCloud can unlock these offer discounts by connecting their account to Feature.fm.
>> Spotify announced that it will be integrated into BeReal, an instant photo-sharing app
· On April 19, Spotify announced that it will integrate into the instant photo sharing app BeReal, connecting Spotify and BeReal accounts.
Users can tap the displayed music icon before publishing BeReal, or follow the prompts by navigating to Settings in the BeReal app and tapping Music.
Once the two accounts are linked, the app automatically extracts the songs or podcasts that the user is listening to on Spotify. The cover of Spotify audio will appear at the bottom of the BeReal camera lens, where friends can preview what users share.
Currently, Android and IOS users in markets such as the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Brazil can access the integration, with the integration expanded to more countries in the future.
>> AI-generated song "Heart on My Sleeve" became a hit
· On April 19, TikTok user Ghostwriter's AI song "Heart on My Sleeve" caused heated discussion, which was composed using the sound models of Drake and The Weeknd.
On April 17, UMG issued a statement saying copyright had been infringed and asked platforms such as Apple Music, Deezer and TIDAL, SoundCloud and YouTube to remove the track. Before it was deleted, it had received 500,000 views on YouTube, more than 8.5 million clicks on TikTok, and hundreds of thousands of views on other platforms.
Ghostwriter's self-uploaded video clips on TikTok feature the song and have now been played more than 15 million times.
After the removal, the unauthorized copied version quickly spread on Youtube, accumulating millions of views.
>> Lehua Entertainment Zhang Hao became the first Chinese C in the history of the Korean draft
· News on April 20, the final of the Korean draft variety show "Boys Planet" ended, and the C position of the final debut group ZB1 was Zhang Hao, a Chinese trainee from Lehua Entertainment, who also became the first Chinese C in the history of the Korean draft.
In the final, the top 9 trainees were selected by the audience from the audience. This time, a total of five trainees from Lehua Entertainment entered the final night, and 4 contestants Zhang Hao, Ricky, Jin Kuibin and Han Weichen became official debut members.
This time, Lehua selected a total of 8 trainees, and 4 debuted, with a debut rate of 50%. On April 21, Lehua Entertainment shares jumped 11.94%.
>> WeChat updates the music service function
· On April 20, WeChat updated the music service function, allowing users to share musicians to friends.
The update also includes the video conversion audio function released by the official account, the display function of playing songs at the top of the mini program page, the picture sending function of WeChat Apple Watch version, and the display function of voice phone avatar.
At the same time, WeChat and QQ Music launched a limited-time event, and until June 30, users can listen to full VIP songs for free on WeChat.
This time, only the IOS version of WeChat has been updated, the version number is 8.0.36, and the Android side has not been updated.
>> Snap strengthens its partnership with Live Nation to expand the festival's AR offerings
· On April 20, at this year's Snap Partner Summit, Snap announced that it would strengthen its partnership with Live Nation to expand its augmented reality (AR) offerings at live music festivals.
Snapchat has 750 million monthly active users. The partnership with Live Nation will help audiences deliver customized AR experiences at 16 of the largest festivals.
Snapchat has developed new AR products through its creative studio, Arcadia. These tools include 3D maps of festival venues, augmented reality shots, and expanded online and offline experiences.
Features include "Snap Map," which allows users to record moments, share their location with friends, and browse landmarks and hotspots around the event. and the "AI Generated Lenses" feature, which allows viewers to transform themselves into animated virtual humans through "Cosmic Lens."
In addition, Snapchat announced a partnership with Disguise, a live event visualization and virtual production technology company, to bring Snap AR to venues and tours.
>> Armada Music announces the creation of BEAT Music, a copyright investment company
· On April 20, Armada Music announced the establishment of an investment company BEAT Music, which plans to invest $100 million in the first two years to acquire Quku.
BEAT, which stands for "Best Ever Acquired Tracks," has announced two acquisitions, including recording rights to KMS Records, founded by house and techno legend Kevin Saunderson, and recording rights to musician, DJ and producer ARTY (aka Alpha 9).
Armada Music bills itself as "the world's largest independent EDM label." It was founded in 2003 by Armin van Buuren, Maykel Piron and David Lewis.
>> Live streaming platform Mandolin announced its closure
· News on April 20, after completing a $12 million financing 2 years ago, the live streaming platform Mandolin announced its closure.
During the pandemic, it was billed as one of the leading platforms in the field of live music. Last year, it was named one of the world's most innovative music companies by Fast Company.
Mandolin did not say what caused the sudden shutdown. Last year, the company announced the launch of Mandolin Fan Experiences, an all-in-one data and recommendation platform trusted by more than 1,000 artists, as the industry's most comprehensive fan networking app, spanning live streaming, digital meet-and-greets and NFTs.
The company isn't the first live music streaming platform to go downhill in the post-pandemic era, and Sessions, founded in 2020 by former Pandora boss Tim Westergren, quietly shut down in the first quarter of this year.
>> NetEase Cloud Music 10th anniversary event opened
· News on April 21, NetEase Cloud Music's 10th anniversary activity opened, and the "Ten Years of Listening to Songs Report" was launched, making users' songs in the past 10 years into a compilation.
The report lists users' "music of the year" from 2013 to 2023 in reverse chronological order, and counts the number of songs listened to by users over the past decade.
It is reported that NetEase Cloud Music was officially launched on April 23, 2013, and it is now exactly ten years ago. The report can be experienced by clicking on the corresponding section of the main page on the NetEase Cloud APP, or by entering "ten-year report" in the search box.
The editor-in-chief said: Detailed review (NetEase Cloud Music's tenth anniversary, is it a real dark horse or by luck?) ）
Data control
>> In 2022, tape sales hit a decade high, reaching 195,000 sets
· On April 18, the British Federation of the Phonographic Industry BPI reported that tape sales in 2022 reached the sum of the total sales in a decade, the highest in nearly a decade, up 5.2% year-on-year to 195,000 units.
Although tape sales are much inferior to vinyl records, there are ten number one albums on the weekly official album chart, accounting for more than 10% of total sales, some of which sell more than vinyl. Examples include Central Cee's "23," Digga D's "Noughty By Nature," and Blackpink's "Born Pink."
The top seller of tape was Arctic Monkeys' "The Car," followed by Harry Styles' "Harry's House."
Tapes introduced the LinkedIn album market between 1985 and 1992 and were later surpassed by CDs. Annual sales have fallen below 4,000 units by 2012, and purchases have increased year by year since 2013 and accelerated in 2020.
>> In 2021, the market share of independent music copyright companies surpassed that of Sony Music
· News on April 21, the report shows that the total share of independent music copyright companies in the global copyright market in 2021 is 27.1%, surpassing Sony Music Copyright Company.
The data was disclosed by IMPF, an international forum of independent music copyright holders sponsored by Musixmatch in Italy.
The report revealed that at the end of 2021, the total market share of the songwriting copyright departments of the three major records was 59.9%. Sony Music Copyright maintained its market lead with a 24.9% share, up 0.4% year-on-year. Universal Music Copyright Group accounted for 23.2% of the share, and Warner Music Copyright ranked third with 11.8% share. Kobalt accounted for 6.8% share, down 0.2% year-over-year, and BMG accounted for 6.2% share, down 0.2% year-over-year.
It is reported that songsong copyright generated about $13.5 billion in revenue in 2021, up from $12 billion in 2020, including $3.5 billion in copyright dealer revenue (an increase of about $700 million year-on-year) and $10 billion in collective management organization revenue.
>> In the first quarter of 2023, Web3 investment support shrank by 82% year-on-year
· News on April 21, in the first quarter of 2023, Web3 investment support shrank by 82% year-on-year. With a total investment of around $1.7 billion, numerous music startups could struggle.
It is reported that in the first quarter of 2023, the number of Web3 investment transactions was 333, the lowest number since the fourth quarter of 2020. The number of investment transactions in the first quarter of 2022 was 500 and the number of investment transactions in the fourth quarter was 369.
Platforms that received investment this year include Exceed ($8 million), blockchain company AnotherBlock ($2.5 million), music NFT platform OneOf ($8 million), Web3 music platform Public Pressure $6 million, and others.
This year, investors have poured billions of dollars into AI startups.
capital market
>> AI voice technology company SoundHound raised $100 million in funding
· On April 17, AI speech recognition technology company SoundHound announced that it had received a $125 million credit facility.
In January, the company closed a $25 million preferred stock funding round and laid off nearly half of its workforce (200) two weeks ago.
The new loan will allow SoundHound AI to extend its existing $30 million debt through 2027. These funds provide significant incremental capital to drive further innovation and support the company's growth plans.
SoundHound's customers include Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Pandora, Qualcomm, Snap, Square, Toast, LG, VIZIO, KIA and Stellantis.
>> TV music streaming platform Roxi received $8.7 million in financing
· On April 17, TV music streaming platform Roxi received 7 million pounds ($8.7 million) in new financing.
According to the Daily Mail, the startup raised money from existing investor comedian Alexander Armstrong, U2 guitarist Adam Clayton, and the band's former manager, Paul McGuinness.
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in the UK, the company has raised £32 million to date, offering 90 million music videos and 400,000 karaoke tracks. According to the company's LinkedIn page, Roxi has a Sky Q distribution deal with Sky, and a distribution deal with Amazon's Fire TV and Google's Android TV.
It is reported that this round of financing is to prepare for the expansion to the United States and launch the TV business. The app is compatible with TVs such as Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Toshiba, TCL, Hisense, Samsung and Shield.
Artist Dynamics
>> Hipgnosis acquires author share of David Foster's performance rights
· On April 19, Hipgnosis Song Management acquired author shares of all song performance rights royalties from Canadian composer, musician, arranger and producer David Foster.
David Foster has been nominated for 47 Grammy Awards and won 16 of them. The singer's career spans more than 50 years, and the total sales of songs and albums have reached hundreds of millions. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, was named BMI Songwriter of the Year, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He was nominated for three Oscars for Best Original Song, including "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston, "The Prayer" by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, and "Glory of Love" by Peter Cetera. He has since written It's The Falling In Love for Michael Jackson.
It is reported that Hipgnosis reached a copyright deal with Panamanian singer and songwriter Erika Ender at the end of March, and Erika Ender participated in the creation of the number one single "Despacito".
Performance Market
· On April 18, the lineup of Qingdao Aikesh Airport Music Festival, the first airport music festival in China, was officially announced. Including Lin Youjia, Yang Naiwen, Hedgehog, Pharaoh, Summer Invasion Project, Bullet Case, etc. It will be held on May 27-28. The ticket price is 232 yuan for students, 250 yuan for advance tickets, and 299 yuan for the full price.
· On April 19, the New Pants Band officially announced that Eribaddy's online concert will be held on Douyin live at 8 pm on April 22.
· On April 19, Rainie Yang officially announced the Taipei concert, which will be held at the Taipei Arena on June 17-18. Ticket sales will open on April 29 at 11 a.m.
· On April 21, the 2023 Westlake Music Festival officially announced the full lineup. Including Yang Changqing, Kc Zuo Yuanjie, Zhihuo Gang, Liang Bo, Tour Group Band, Wangfu, Lin Youjia, Escape Plan, etc. It will be held from May 19 to May 21 in Hangzhou Prince Bay Park. Single-day advance tickets 480.
· On April 21, the Sanya Strawberry Music Festival officially announced the full lineup. Including Ah Chan, Yang Naiwen, Dada Band, Mr. Turtle, Universal Youth Hostel, Mosaic, The Right to Reshape Statues, Huang Xu, etc. It will be held on May 13-14 at Haitang Square.
· On April 21, the four stops of Luhan's 2023 tour were officially announced, and an official poster was released. It will be held in Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Shanghai.
Music variety
· News on April 21, the youth co-creation music competition variety show "Youth π Plan" jointly produced by Hunan Satellite TV and Mango TV was finalized.
It will be broadcast exclusively on Mango TV every Thursday at 12 noon from April 27, and jointly broadcast on Hunan Satellite TV at 20 pm on April 28. Thirty contestants from different music fields such as opera, pop, rap, and rock completed 7 co-creation stages with different themes.
· On April 21, "Endless Sound Treasure Island Season" exceeded 1.7 billion views and has won the first place in 30 variety show popularity lists.
After the third performance, Karen Mok, Wan Fang and Yang Naiwen joined. Mo Wenwei brought "Suddenly", Zhang Shaohan covered Fan Xiaoxuan's "Oxygen", and Zhang Jie and Zhang Xinzhe partnered to perform "Don't Fear Me Sad".
Recommended this week
· On April 20, Tan Jianji released a new album "DREAMS", with a total of 16 songs, released by Yuzu Music.
· On April 20, Xue Zhiqian released a new single "Nothing", with lyrics by Guo Guanting, music by Xue Zhiqian, and Chaoshi Music released.
· On April 20, Jiao Maiqi released a new single "Swallow", written and composed by Jiao Maiqi, and released by Beijing Youjian Culture Media Co., Ltd.
· On April 20, Bebe Rexha and Snoop Dogg released a new single "Satellite (Explicit)", with lyrics by Bebe Rexha, Calvin Broadus, Samantha DeRosa, Maya Kurchner, Dominic Perfetti, Joe Janiak, and Warner Records.
· On April 20, Lu Xiansen Band released a new single "River of Life", written and composed by Guo Beibei, and released by StreetVoice.
· On April 21, The Weeknd, Future released the theme song of the "Idol Vortex" TV series "Double Fantasy (Explicit)", written and composed by Mike Dean, The Weeknd, Future, Metro Boomin, and released by Republic Records.
· On April 21, Greyson Chance released a new single "Sex & Other Drugs", with lyrics by Greyson Chance and released by Greyson Chance Music LLC.
· On April 21, Lin Junjie released a new album "Regain _Happiness", a total of 12 songs released by JFJ Productions.
· On April 21, Ed Sheeran released the single "Boat", with lyrics and music written by Louis Bell, Andrew Watt, Austin Post, and Billy Walsh, and Warner Records released.
· On April 21, The Chainsmokers and 347aidan released the single "Up & Down", written and composed by Alex Pall, Andrew Taggart, Ian Kirkpatrick, Nick Long, Emily Warren, Ethan Snorek, and Aidan Fuller, and released by Sony Music.
· On April 21, Bird y released a new single "Heartbreaker", composed by Andrew Jackson, Dan Priddy, Jasmine Van den Bogaerde, Mark Crew, and released by Warner Records.
· On April 21, Kim Petras and Nicki Minaj released the new single "Alone (Explicit)", written and composed by Kim Petras, Lukasz Gottwald, Sebastiaan Molijn, Eelke Kalberg, Onika Maraj, Ryan Ogren, Rocco Valdes, and released by Republic Records.
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