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Taylor Swift’s music is back on TikTok
Taylor Swift’s music is back on TikTok after a ten-week hiatus. There’s no specifics regarding the deal, but it doesn’t extend to other Universal artists.
Taylor Swift and other Universal Music tracks are disappearing from TikTok
TikTok profiles for some of the world's biggest music artists no list their available music.
TikTok now has access to Universal Music's full catalog of artists
TikTok and Universal Music Group today announced a “global alliance” that promises compensation for recording artists and songwriters when their songs are used on the short-form video platform. On top of that, TikTok users will also now be able to incorporate clips from UMG’s full catalog of music. On TikTok’s side, its users will have a wider library of songs to add to their videos, and on UMG’s side, its artists will not only get compensation, but also have the chance to be the next viral sensation.
Lego's Vidiyo is a do-it-yourself music video maker for kids
Vidiyo uses AR and Lego minifigures to help teach kids how to shoot a music video.
'Overwatch' college esports series will award $40,000 in scholarships
There's certainly an active Overwatch college esports scene, but it can be difficult for a player to stand out and turn pro when there are hundreds of schools. Activision Blizzard, Torque and UMG might have a way for serious players to shine. They're launching an Overwatch Collegiate Clash series that will have college competitive teams square off for a chance at both recognition and a total $40,000 in esports scholarships. The eight-week series will have eight teams face each other per week, with a final round pitting the winning teams against each other.
YouTube and Universal Music Group are remastering old music videos
YouTube is perhaps the single biggest public repository of music videos, but many are bit outdated, with visuals and audio designed for old TVs with single speakers, and others that could use a bit of an upgrade too. Many videos from major artists will soon look and sound much better though, as YouTube and Universal Music Group are remastering almost 1,000 of them "to the highest possible standards."
Taylor Swift ensures UMG artists will profit from Spotify shares
Taylor Swift doesn't mess around when it comes to her musical empire. Back in 2014, on the eve of 1989 becoming the first platinum album of the year, she kicked streaming service Spotify to the curb, publicly making clear her position on free music. Even after Spotify conceded to her demands and she restored her catalog to the service, she pulled a power move by keeping the then-newly released Reputation off it for the first week. Now, she's signed with a new record label and again, she's not pulling any punches when it comes to the way her music -- and indeed the music of all artists under the label -- is used.
Apple wants courtroom cleared while Steve Jobs deposition is played
Universal Music Group is embroiled in a few lawsuits involving money owed to producers and artists, and in the course of events depositions by Eddy Cue and Steve Jobs were recorded at some point. Now, as these cases near trial, Apple is seeking a modification to a protective order to keep those depositions from being seen by anyone outside the courtroom -- primarily, musicians. While this may sound nefarious, the fact is that previously the court was willing to clear the courtroom (of UMG employees, too) when reviewing these depositions. Apple claims the release of documents that may include discussions between it and record labels would prove materially damaging to its business (iTunes) -- and I'm inclined to agree. While it would no doubt clue musicians in to some interesting tidbits, the fact is that those negotiations were private for a reason. The Jobs and Cue depositions, likely having discussed those negotiations, are similarly in need of protection, lest Apple's competitors know exactly where Apple stands with its groundbreaking iTunes Music Store and record labels.
Apple's iCloud bags last major record label, will cost $25 / year to sign up?
We'd heard that Universal was the only holdout, and now CNET says the deal is done -- Apple has reportedly signed all four major record labels for its upcoming iCloud service. We'll be bringing you all the confirmed details on June 6th, but while you wait, here's some food for thought: the Los Angeles Times says that Apple will eventually charge somewhere around $25 a year for a subscription to the cloud. That will help supplement the 58 percent piece of the pie it's planning to take from the music industry for songs distributed though the network, and possibly some ad revenue as well. 30 percent will reportedly go to the labels, and another 12 percent to publishers, who will apparently be signing their own agreements with Apple tomorrow. Update: There's actually an interesting discrepancy between the two sources here: the LA Times reports that Apple's taking that nice, juicy 58 percent, but CNET says that the labels will take 58 percent while Apple claims its traditional 30 percent instead. We're investigating. Update 2: The LA Times has updated its piece, with different percentages still -- reportedly, Apple will take 18 percent, publishers get 12 percent, and labels 70 percent of the proceedings.
Apple gets cozy with EMI, Universal, and Sony over cloud music licensing (updated)
Ah, so it's all coming together now. Following a report on Warner Music inking a cloud streaming deal with Apple, CNET is back with fresh information that sees three more major record companies jumping on board. Citing "multiple music industry sources," we're told that EMI is the latest addition to Apple's cloud music portfolio, while Universal and Sony are close to sealing the deal to permit this rumored iCloud service. If true, such endorsement will no doubt add pressure on Google and Amazon over their cheeky, license-free cloud streaming offerings -- not a bad way to fend off competition, though it's not clear how much money's involved. Guess we'll know more at WWDC next month. Update: Bloomberg is citing multiple source who claim that Sony has inked a deal with Apple leaving only Universal to play coy. Two sources claim that Apple's cloud music service won't require users to upload their music.
Library of Congress receives 200,000 vintage master recordings from Universal, will stream them online
The US Library of Congress hasn't been shy about embracing the modern age of digital media, though in this case it's having to deal with some decidedly lower-fi data storage. Universal Music Group has announced it's donating over 200,000 master recordings of early 20th century music to the Library, which will be cataloged and digitized -- for future safekeeping and in order to be streamed online starting in the spring. It doesn't seem, however, that the intellectual property rights will be passing with these recordings, as the press release states this agreement continues the Library's "unprecedented authority to stream commercially owned sound recordings online." Either way, it's good to know that the original copies of works by the likes of Louis Armstrong, Billy Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald will reside in the hands of an organization dedicated to their preservation. Full press release follows after the break.
Intel snaps up former Palm and Apple VP Mike Bell for its smartphone push
Seriously, what the hell did HP acquire when it bought Palm? A bunch of pretty patents and a rapidly dwindling talent pool, it would seem. Mike Bell, a celebrated capture for Palm back in 2007 after 16 years at Apple, was most recently occupying the role of Senior VP for Product Development on Jon Rubinstein's team, but he has now switched allegiances to the blue team. Interestingly, though his address might change, his job spec will not -- Mike will act as Director of Smartphone Product Development in Intel's Ultra Mobility Group, where he'll "help build and lead a team to build breakthrough smartphone reference designs to accelerate Intel Architecture into the market." It's hard to imagine how Intel could signal its intent to be a big player in the smartphone realm any more forcefully. Click past the break for the full text of the internal email announcing Mike's arrival.
iTunes Store to add enhanced liner notes, extra media to album purchases
Digital music purchases have been dominating the market for some time now as physical CD purchases continue to fall. For Apple, a significant lead over the rest of the music proprietor world is not enough: according to the Financial Times, the company is now working together with the four largest record labels in the business to add new features to accompany digital music purchases through its iTunes Store in hopes of stimulating full album purchases. [The FT also reports, without hedging, that Apple's "media pad" tablet device will ship in time for the holiday shopping season. According to the paper, the long-rumored iPad is intended as a full-featured portable computer and video & music player, like an oversized iPod touch, including wireless data connectivity but no built-in phone functions.] Apple has formed an alliance with EMI, Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music to bundle whole albums with perks like interactive booklets, digital sleeve notes, and video clips. By doing so, Apple hopes to increase sales of the albums over single track purchases, a sales model that has been immensely popular in the advent of digital music. The project, codenamed "Cocktail," is intended to recreate the former experience of album-purchasing, where you could browse the liner notes, follow lyrics, and look at the album artwork as the music played. Executives have said that users will even be able to play music straight from the proposed interactive booklets without having to use iTunes. Of course, the main motivation for increasing album sales is to increase profits, as albums have a higher margin than individual songs. This change is one that should have taken place a long time ago- having to search for lyrics on shady, ad-ridden websites should already be a fading, shudder-inducing memory (though liner notes have been available on some albums, a change across the board has yet to take place). As items like liner notes and photos are possibly the last benefit that physical CDs can offer over digital purchases, this may turn out to be a very serious blow to the CD market. The iTunes Store album add-ons are set to roll out in September.
Universal songs to hit European SingStore
Music from Universal's catalog is headed to the SingStar's European SingStore. According to Eurogamer, Sony has signed a deal with Universal (UMG), which will release its first content on August 8. As an early reward, Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" was released yesterday due to "popular demand" from fans of the karaoke game. A listing of tracks for wannabe European pop stars can be found after the break -- and yes, to quell any fears, Tiffany is on the list.
Dell pre-loading music mixes, CinemaNow movies, world again asks "Why?"
When Dell started pre-loading digital copies of Iron Man in new systems for $19, we didn't think that was very enticing, but at least it was a pretty good movie, right? Quite possibly encouraged by thousands of accidental purchases (we kid, sort of), Dell's announced two new content pre-loading partnerships -- Universal Music Group and CinemaNow. The music comes in 50 and 100 song bundles starting at $25, but at least it's DRM-free, so if you don't mind a mega mix chosen entirely by Dell it's not all evil. CinemaNow, though, offers $25 and up bundles including (among other flicks) world-renown classics like The Fast and the Furious and the Matrix sequels. Fear.Read - Universal Music GroupRead - CinemaNow
EU gives Activision-Blizzard a big thumbs up
After reviewing Activision-Blizzard's case for a few weeks, the European Commission announced its approval of the huge merger yesterday. The EU had final say approving the merger because Vivendi is a French company. Officials decided the deal wouldn't threaten the fairness of the market.The commission made a statement, saying that Activision Blizzard "would continue to face several strong, effective competitors, such as Electronic Arts, and the game console manufacturers, such as Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft." There were some concerns that the company could have an unfair advantage in licensing music for games because Vivendi owns Universal Music Group, but they were set aside because "competing game publishers would continue to have access to a sufficiently large portfolio of music rights from alternative suppliers."The lesson: Activision Blizzard is officially not a monopoly, thanks to EA. We could go into extreme detail weighing the pluses and negatives of the decision, but we've analyzed this merger plenty enough already. At some point, you just have to decide to sit back and see what happens.
XM and Universal settle Inno lawsuit, Warner next?
The labels and XM have been fighting it out over XM + MP3 players for a while now, but it looks like Universal Music Group is finally backing down, signing a multi-year settlement agreement covering recording-capable XM radios like Pioneer's Inno. Terms of the agreement weren't released, but everyone sounds happy, with XM CEO Nate Davis calling the settlement "a win for everyone involved, especially for consumers." Of course, that means XM is now in a suit with just most of the RIAA instead of all of it, but the outlook's not all bad: Reuters is reporting that Warner and XM are close to settlement as well. No word on when that might go down, but Reuters says it'll be "soon." Now if only the other labels would get it together, no?Read - XM and Universal settlement press releaseRead - Reuters blurb about XM and Warner settling
Drudge: Universal Music will not renew iTunes contract
The Drudge Report has posted a newsflash claiming that Universal Music Group will not renew its annual iTunes contract. So what's going on? Hard negotiations? The recent EMI/iTunes Plus deal? Or maybe UMG just doesn't like earning a ton of money through iTunes? I'm not all that familiar with the Drudge Report and since no sources are cited I suspect this "flash" should be taken with a rather large grain of salt. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.Update: Pretty much confirmed by WSJ--Thanks Charles
Universal Music CEO says iPods are "repositories for stolen music"
Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris is the latest tech exec to call iPod users thieves. Ballmer started it. Then came Glaser - who also dared call His Steveness "pigheaded." The comment was made in the context of the UMG boss stumping for Zune and applauding Microsoft's agreement to pay protection money extortion royalties to the bag man Universal with every Zune sold. About the iPod, Morris said "These devices are just repositories for stolen music, and they all know it,. So it's time to get paid for it."Gee, Doug, you're not still bitter about Apple rebuffing trying to buy your company, are you? Never mind. That was a rhetorical question.
