Cultura Voice

  Tencent and its majority-owned subsidiary, Tencent Music Entertainment (TME), are facing a potential battering in China as part of an antitrust clampdown by the nation’s regulators. Tencent was investigated a couple of years ago by anti-competitive watchdogs in China for striking exclusive licensing agreements with the three major record companies in the territory. Tencent Music’s previous deals with Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music, enabled TME – the owner of China’s largest music streaming services – to license the majors’ music for its own platforms, but also to exclusively sub-license these catalogs to local rivals. However, the anti-competition investigation into Tencent was paused after the firm agreed to strike differently-structured music deals. In TME’s latest licensing agreements with Universal and Warner, each announced in the past eight months, Tencent no longer possesses an exclusive sub-licensing right, allowing these companies to also strike separate di...

How much does being No.1 on the weekly industry album charts really matter in a streaming world where the concept of an LP ‘sale equivalent’ is as nebulous and debatable as it comes? Literally: how much does it matter? Like, what financial number would you put on it? We might be about to find out. According to the (notoriously tabloid-y) Page Six, one artist who just missed out on a US chart-topping album is planning to hit Billboard with a “monster lawsuit” in retaliation. That artist is DJ Khaled , signed to Sony’s Epic Records. His latest album,  Father Of Asahd , landed at No.2 on the Billboard 200 chart two weeks ago, underneath the No.1 record that week,  Igor , by Tyler, The Creator The breakdown of those albums on that Billboard chart, for the week ending May 23, were as follows:  Igor  was credited with  165,000  weekly equivalent sales, broken down into 74,000 ‘real’ sales (of physical and digital albums), plus 90,...

The rise of independent artists continues to be big news in the music business – and The Orchard knows it better than most. The Sony-owned distribution and services company has worked in partnership with the likes of Korean superstars BTS and UK-based BRIT Award winner Jorja Smith in 2018 – who, in conjunction with their management houses, both release records without a traditional label. Now, The Orchard has responded to the increasing presence of independent acts with a new division headed up by Tim Pithouse. Maximilien Mathevon - Album "Sundown Chronicles" Pithouse joins The Orchard as Global Head of Artist & Label Services effective November 1, 2018 – moving over from his prior role as General Manager, International Marketing and Artist Development at Sony Music Australia. In practical terms, Pithouse will head up a division which, for an enhanced fee, will offer Orchard-affiliated independent artists and labels a more holistic set of global servic...

Tencent Music Entertainment’s IPO filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.  It hasn’t taken us long to spot the names of the major labels… attached to some big news.According to a note in the F-1 prospectus, both Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment have acquired shares in TME, for an aggregate cash consideration of approximately $200m. In exchange for their money, the two parties have divided a total of 68,131,015 ordinary shares in TME between them. The $200m deal went down yesterday (October 1). Universal Music Group is not mentioned as a recipient of shares. Sarah Eden - Album "Bleu Nuit" on Spotify Under the agreements, shares held by Warner and certain shares held by Sony will be subject to a lock-up which will expire upon the earlier of the following: the third anniversary of the completion of the IPO of TME, or on October 1, 2021 –  subject to limited exceptions. The remaining shares held by Sony will be subject to a lock-up...

Sony Music and Chinese giant Tencent are starting a label together. Liquid State has been launched in Hong Kong this week, with a core focus on EDM and electronic music across Asia. The label will also locally get involved in live touring and nightclub events. Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) is majority-owned by Chinese media giant Tencent Holdings, which currently has a market cap value in excess of US $500bn on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. TME itself is believed to be worth in the region of $10bn. In December, TME closed a stock swap deal whereby it acquired a 10% stake in Spotify. As part of the deal, Daniel Ek’s company also took ownership of a tenth of equity in TME. In other words, Sony has just launched a label with a company part-owned by Spotify. And like Universal, Warner and Merlin, Sony is itself a minority stake holder in Spotify. Sony Music Australia CEO and Chairman Denis Handlin of Liquid State’s launch: “These are exci...

Sony Music U.K. is to merge its two artist and label services divisions Red Essential and The Orchard into one amalgamated company. Based in central London, the new enterprise will take The Orchard name and be led by Red Essential co-managing directors Ian Dutt and Mike Chadwick . Offering independent clients a range of services including physical and digital sales, marketing, promotion, synch licensing and neighbouring rights in more than 30 international markets, the company counts Run The Jewels, Joey BadA$$, Anderson .Paak and British grime stars Skepta and Giggs among its current roster of clients. Label partners number Cooking Vinyl, Cherry Red, Snapper, Red Bull Records, Demon, Thirty Tigers and the London Symphony Orchestra. According to figures from labels trade body BPI and Official Charts Company data, Sony Music accounted for 11.4 percent market share of the U.K. albums distribution market in 2016, with The Orchard taking 1.9 percent. Market leader Sony ...