I.B. Bad

Somewhat obscured by the boffo marquee numbers on UMG’s recent financials call were Sir Lucian Grainge’s remarks about streaming and catalog acquisition, both of which underscored his...

LIVE CURRENT: Leading the charge among Sir Lucian Grainge’s labels at present is Monte Lipman’s en fuego Republic, which dominates current marketshare in the opening weeks of 2023 with a...

HYBE BE BAD: HYBE’s acquisition of Quality Control is a major win for the South Korean company’s U.S. CEO, Scooter Braun. It’s clear the deal was shepherded by Braun, who has a...

MOTOR MOUTHS: The Motown saga continues to occasion much buzz, with wonderers wondering who will succeed Ethiopia Habtemariam as label boss as the first YoungBoy NBA album under his new deal hits the...

WORLDWIDE AND WIDENING: 2022 marked yet another vital convergence in the biz: the further globalization of music illuminated by easy access to Spotify’s worldwide numbers—providing an...

PUBS ON THE PLAYLIST: The boats of all major pubcos have been lifted by rising streams. Jody Gerson’s UMPG—with revenue up 7% in Q3, helping to goose Uni’s killer quarter—did...

BULLISH ON THE BUNNY: WMG’s big Grammy nominations include two in Best New Artist (Anitta and Omar Apollo) and major-field noms for Lizzo, Mary J. Blige, Coldplay and Brandi Carlile. Recorded...

BULLISH ON THE BUNNY: WMG’s big Grammy nominations include two in Best New Artist (Anitta and Omar Apollo) and major-field noms for Lizzo, Mary J. Blige, Coldplay and Brandi Carlile. Recorded...

The big-money topic of the last couple of years, catalog acquisition, was unquestionably affected by inflation. But while the cost of money pumped the brakes somewhat on the formerly feverish...

The conversation among bizniks at the City of Hope gala, at lunch meetings, on calls and Zooms, has been focused on the pending Grammy noms. Will the Academy do the right thing and recognize the acts...