This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Business News Week In Five
CMU Digest – 23 Aug 2013
By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 23 August 2013
The five biggest stories in the music business this week…
01: PRS For Music announced it had signed a new deal with YouTube. The deal will cover the use of songs represented by the rights body across the Google-owned video platform – including in official music videos, live footage and when synced in user-generated content – in no less than 130 countries. It’s pretty wide-ranging, both in terms of the kinds of usage of represented songs it covers, and the number of territories in which the licence will apply, 130 across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. CMU report
02: It was revealed who will lose out financially from the HMV administration. Money lenders to the old HMV Group plc have recovered £38.6 million after the sale of the flagging entertainment retailer to Hilco earlier this year, while financial and legal advisors to the defunct company will earn £15 million for their work. Unsecured creditors, including suppliers and landlords, will likely see nothing, while the old HMV pension fund will lose out on £26 million it was due , though a spokesman for the fund said that this will not affect members of the pension scheme. CMU report | Daily Telegraph report
03: 21st Century Fox took a 5% stake in Vice Media. The $70 million deal with the Rupert Murdoch-owned company gives Vice a valuation of $1.4 billion, and will also reportedly see the company utilise 21st Century Fox’s Star TV in India and its stake in Sky in the UK, Germany and Italy to further push out its brand. CMU report | Financial Times report
04: It was reported that Beats Electronics is looking to buy itself out of its partnership with HTC. The phone maker took just over a 50% stake in the overpriced headphone peddler in 2011, but sold half of that back to the firm last summer. Since then the Beats company has been prepping to enter the competitive streaming music market in addition to the continued expansion of its hardware business. Now Beats bosses reportedly want to buy back HTC’s remaining shares, though there’s no word on whether the key shareholder will sell. CMU report | Wall Street Journal report
05: Ad Age reported details of iTunes Radio’s initial advertising partners. When Apple’s streaming service goes live next month, it will do so with twelve brands in place, including McDonald’s, Nissan, Pepsi and Proctor & Gamble. These companies will remain exclusive advertisers, through audio, video and display ads, until the end of the year. After that, anyone will $1 million spare can come on board. CMU report | Ad Age report
This week in the CMU Daily, we showcased a few of our timelines, which round up all of our reports on key stories, both ongoing and, in some cases, now drawn to a close. This week we looked through the epic tales of the EMI sale, HMV’s decline and fall (and rise?), plus the digital royalties lawsuits sparked by FBT Production’s landmark ruling against Universal, and the saga of MP3 resale service ReDigi.
In the Approved column we had a new track and video from dark lord House Of Black Lanterns, a bit of punk from Eagulls and (for the third time) Parquet Courts, plus some cinematic neo-classical goodness from Lucy Claire.
