Soundation receives $500,000 in funding, appoints new CEO.
Soundation, an online music production service, has announced $500,000 in new funding. The company has also appointed Swedish tech entrepreneur Adam Hasslert as CEO. Launched in 2009, Soundation has over 75,000 active monthly users worldwide. The company will use the funding to build a launchpad for new music producers.
European festival supplier G3 files for bankruptcy.
Amsterdam-based festival supplier G3 has filed for bankruptcy. The company had supplied tents to thirty music festivals across Europe, including Tomorrowland, Milkshake, Pinkpop, and Rock Werchter.
Not everyone will get YouTube Music just yet.
YouTube Music has only rolled out to a few users in the US, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. Google’s new streaming music service is available free with ads, $9.99 per month without, or $11.99 for YouTube Premium, formerly known as YouTube Red.
Gracenote launches recording-level music style datasets for better music discovery, curation, and personalization.
Gracenote, a Nielsen company, has announced the launch of Sonic Style. The music descriptor system classifies the ‘style’ of musical recordings across catalogs. Leveraging audio analysis and machine learning, Sonic Style provides a scalable dataset at the recording level to enable “a more perfect playlist.”
Avicii’s family to hold a private funeral for the late DJ.
Avicii’s family has released the following statement in regards to funeral plans for the late DJ.
“There have been many inquiries regarding the funeral arrangements for Tim Bergling, known by music fans as Avicii. The Bergling family has now confirmed that the funeral will be private, in the presence of the people who were closest to Tim. They kindly ask media to respect this. There is no additional information forthcoming.”
Avicii committed suicide on April 20th. He was 28.
Eric Records hires Dontay Thompson.
Epic Records has named Dontay Thompson as Senior Vice President of Rhythm and Crossover Promotion. He will report to Executive Vice President Rick Sackheim. Thomspon has previously worked at Entertainment One, Bad Boy Entertainment, and the now-defunct Radio & Records.
R. Kelly blasts #MuteRKelly campaign and gets hit with yet another lawsuit for transmitting an STD.
In a leaked video, R. Kelly reportedly told a room of male fans that the #MuteRKelly campaign was “too late” to suppress his influence. While smoking a cigar and holding a glass, the troubled R&B singer said,
“They should have did this s–t 30 years ago. I’ve got a million motherfu—rs hating me, and 40 billion motherfu—rs loving me.”
Kelly has also been hit with yet another lawsuit. On Monday, Faith Rodgers filed a lawsuit against the singer, accusing him of sexual battery, false imprisonment, and transmitting a sexual disease.
A2IM’s Board of Directors Voting Begins.
The indie label group is aiming to fill three seats. And the nominees are:
Emmy Black – Rhyme & Reason Records
Garry West – Compass Records
Jason Croke – Dine Alone Records
Joe Steinhardt – Don Giovanni Records
Joey Elwood – Gotee Records
Katie Alberts – Reach Records
Kim Cameron – SideFx Partners
Kris Gillespie – Domino Recording Co.
Laura Ballance – Merge Records
Lisa Levy – Robbins Entertainment
Mark Jowett – Nettwerk Music Group
Mark Robinson – 300 Entertainment
Matt Medney – Herø Records
Michael Olsen – Entertainment One
Nate Nelson – Innovative Leisure
Randall Foster – ole
Rosie Lopez – Tommy Boy
Steve Dalmer – United For Opportunity
Steve Feinberg – 5Towns Records
Steven Hill – Warp Records
Tony Kiewel – Sub Pop
Zena White – Partisan Records
Voting closes June 11th.
The Pussycat Dolls sue the Daily Mail.
The Pussycat Dolls, a girl group formed by Robin Antin, has filed a lawsuit against British tabloid the Daily Mail over stories it ran in October 2017. The Daily Mail claimed members were abused and that the girl group served as a “front for a prostitution ring.”
King & Ballows’ Richard Busch will represent Antin and The Pussycat Dolls. He previously served in the ‘Blurred Lines’ trial, successful arguing for Marvin Gaye’s family and helping them win $5.3 million in damages as well as half of future royalties from the Robin Thicke song.
Lauryn Hill announces European leg of her world tour.
Lauryn Hill has announced the addition of 12 European dates to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 20th Anniversary Tour. She’ll kick off the European leg of the world tour on November 15th in Oslo. The tour will continue through Belgium, France, the UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, Holland, and Denmark.
LA City Council approves new deal for SMG to operate the Greek Theatre.
The Los Angeles City Council has approved a five-year agreement for SMG to continue operating the Greek Theatre. The agreement includes a $4 million capital plan for the theatre as well as improvements around traffic, sound, and infrastructure.
CityFolk announces performers for 25th anniversary.
CityFolk festival organizers have announced the initial line-up for their 2018 program. Confirmed acts include David Byrne, Hozier, Nick Murphy, Janis Ian, Belle and Sebastian, Kaleo, The Decemberists, Michael McDonald, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Steve Earle & The Dukes, Lindi Ortega, Allan Rayman, Trampled By Turtles, Tune-Yards, Whitehorse, Andy Shauf, Colter Wall, Flint Eastwood, Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Humble Pie, Whitney Rose, William Prince, Ben Caplan, Terra Lightfoot, Chris Smither, Skydiggers, MonkeyJunk, Mt. Joy, and Gene Clark Tribute.
This year’s event marks the 25th anniversary since CityFolk’s original incarnation – the Ottawa Folk Festival – was launched.
South Koreans chose YouTube as their top streaming music app.
According to the Korea Internet Corporations Association, Korean netizens love streaming their favorite music on YouTube. In its ‘Mobile Service Conduct Report,’ 43% chose the Google-owned video platform as their top app for listening to music on mobile. Melon came in second with 28.1%, followed by Genie Music and Naver Music in third and fourth place with 7.7% and 6.5%, respectively. Despite launching in 2016, Apple Music only had a 4.6% share.
Lost Under Heaven signs with Third Side Music.
Manchester-based duo Lost Under Heaven (LUH) has signed a worldwide deal with Third Side Music, an independent synchronization licensing & copyright administration company. Lost Under Heaven joins Third Side Music’s existing catalog of artists including Sofi Tukker, Flying Lotus, Courtney Barnett, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Thundercat, Blonde Redhead, Kurt Vile, ODESZA, BadBadNotGood, The Heavy, and Colin Stetson, among other artists.
Boiler Room announces 4:3, the ‘Netflix of the underground.’
Boiler Room, a global online music broadcasting platform primarily used by DJs, has launched 4:3. Speaking about the new service, the announcement explains,
“4:3, is for a culturally connected audience, the Netflix of the underground. 4:3 aims to expand gateways between image and sound by living across social channels, websites and physical spaces, filled by curated seasons and themes with a mix of archive and underground films, challenging the notions of high and low art.”
UTA announces expansive artist space in Beverly Hills.
United Talent Agency (UTA) has announced a new artist space in Beverly Hills. The 4,000 square-foot UTA Artist Space will provide an expansive outpost for exhibitions and programming opportunities for the agency’s Fine Arts department.
Pandora expands Personalized Playlists to all Premium subscribers.
Pandora has rolled out its Personalized Playlist feature to all ad-free Premium subscribers. Each week, the digital radio service automatically created Personalized Playlists with the help of its Music Genome algorithm, in-house curation team, and machine learning models. Specific to each listener, the playlists focus on a person’s mood, activity, or favorite genre.
Unifier Festival announces line-up.
The Unifier Festival has announced the second phase of its lineup. Mike Love, ill.Gates, Rubblebucket, Lamine Touré & Group Saloom, Cheick Hamala Diabate, Uhuru Afrika, Youssoupha Sidibe, and Kotoko Brass will perform at the 2018 event, taking place June 22nd to the 24th.
Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, and other country stars will perform at the CMT Music Awards.
CMT has revealed that Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Bryan, and Sam Hunt will perform at the CMT Music Awards on June 6th. Little Big Town will host the event. Clarkson will premiere her cover of ‘American Woman.’ Fans can vote for categories, including ‘Video of the Year,’ until Monday, June 4th at CMT.com.
Featured image by Greg Chow (CC by 2.0)