From Spotify’s ticket deals to WMG’s Meta agreement, we’ve gathered the need-to-know music news of the week.
We’re publishing this post on August 12, which means everyone reading it has survived the dog days of summer amid the hottest year on record. Stretching July 3-August 11 each year, the dog days are known for their unbearable heat. 2022 is certainly not short on sunny days, so we hope you’re finding ways to keep cool.
We’ve spent the last several weeks working on exciting new developments for Haulix that will be revealed in the months ahead. These changes completely rethink our business and the ways we are able to help the music community connect. You probably have a lot of questions, but that’s all we can say for now.
We cannot ease your workload or give you more hours in the day, but we can help you stay informed. Below you’ll find the biggest stories of the week, all covered by the best outlets in tech and entertainment. Click around, learn what’s happening, and use the weekend to prepare for the end of the month.
But let’s be honest. There is no way we can hope to cover everything that happens. If you see a headline we missed that people need to know, please do not hesitate to send james@haulix.com an email. We’ll include your links in the next update.
The Biggest Music News Stories Of The Week
Weezer Cancels Broadway Shows Citing ‘Low Ticket Sales’
Weezer canceled its September Broadway residency due to “low ticket sales and unbelievably high expenses,” frontman Rivers Cuomo announced.
The Los Angeles rock band had planned a six-night stand at the Broadway Theatre to celebrate its “SZNZ” project, which consists of four 2022 releases that correspond with the four seasons.
“I just learned that our Broadway shows have been cancelled (due to low ticket sales and unbelievably high expenses.) I’m very sorry to be telling you this now after we’ve already invested so much time, thought, and emotion,” Cuomo, 52, wrote on the band’s Discord server Wednesday.
Instagram Begins Copying BeReal, Its Latest Competitor
Instagram appears to be missing the essence of why people even enjoy BeReal, even though Instagram is obviously riffing off of BeReal and not Frontback. BeReal is arguably more like Wordle than it is like Instagram or Frontback, despite the two-camera aspect being entertaining (which other writers have also pointed out). BeReal is more about the daily habit of sharing something with your pals than it is about the actual images.
Reportedly, Instagram adopts the Stories feature while Snapchat introduces it. Due to TikTok’s excessive popularity, Instagram switched to short-form videos. Here’s another for the list right now. Reels, Instagram’s TikTok clone, now has a function called Dual that enables simultaneous recording with both the front and rear cameras. This feature was discreetly added this week.
It has a striking visual resemblance to BeReal, the popular social app that has been around for two years and is presently ranked No. 1 on the App Store. BeReal bills itself as the anti-Instagram and was founded in France by former GoPro employees Alexis Barreyat and Kévin Perreau.
WMG Inks Revenue-Sharing Deal with Meta
Warner Music Group has become the latest major music company to announce a fresh licensing deal with Meta. The agreement will enable WMG and its artists to receive a portion of revenue from the use of licensed music on Facebook creators’ posts.
The deal was confirmed by Warner Music Group CEO Steve Cooper during an earnings call on Tuesday (August 9), nearly two weeks after rival Universal Music Group revealed that it had formed a similar partnership with the Facebook owner.
It appears that UMG’s deal with Meta was struck in calendar Q2; Warner’s quickly followed in early Q3.
Meta recently announced that it will start directly sharing a proportion of advertising revenue with music rights holders for certain user-generated video content on Facebook that is 60 seconds or longer.
Meta’s decision follows years of debate over how social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok pay publishers and record labels for the use of their music in videos and how these platforms protect the copyrights of licensed songs.
Spotify Tests Selling Tickets Directly To Fans
Spotify’s testing a new website to sell concert tickets directly to fans, as first reported by Music Ally. The site, dubbed Spotify Tickets, currently has a limited selection of upcoming US-based concerts for participating artists like Limbeck, Tokimonsta, and Annie DiRusso.
Spotify already partners with Ticketmaster, Eventbrite, and See Tickets to sell tickets through its new Live Events Feed, where you can browse nearby shows and purchase tickets through a third party. The new Spotify Tickets site, however, lets you buy tickets through Spotify itself.
As pointed out by TechCrunch, the site’s legal page states the company sells tickets “on behalf of third parties which can include venues, event promoters, fan clubs and artists as their disclosed ticketing agent.” This means that Spotify doesn’t set the prices of its tickets, and that it will also charge customers a booking fee that it will disclose during checkout.
Germany’s Music Business Is Growing, Up 5.5% YOY
The numbers are in. Germany’s record business generated revenues of $1 billion (€967 million) in the first six months of this year from physical music sales and streaming.
That total revenue figure of €967 million (on a retail basis) marked an increase of 5.5% compared to the same period last year for the world’s fourth largest recorded music market.
According to new figures, for H1 2022, published by German Music Industry Association (BVMI) today (August 11), Germany’s revenue haul was driven by audio streams.
Audio streaming grew 9.1% YoY in the first half of the year and now accounts for 73.3% of the recorded music market’s total revenues.
