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Sony Music had a successful quarter, reportedly driven by the success of popular artists like SZA. The St. Louis, MO-born artist is still basking in the success of her sophomore album “SOS,” which was released on Dec. 9, 2022. Billboard reports the album claimed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart when it debuted, selling 318,000 equivalent album units and setting a record for the best streaming week for an R&B album. Hit singles on the album included “Kill Bill” and “Snooze.” Speaking to the album’s inspiration, SZA told Rolling Stone, “I think this album was partially inspired by love lost, but mostly inspired by my departure from attempting to be a nice girl. I’ve tried to be a nice girl for so long and it’s just not who I am, inherently. And I think I’ve done nice things and I am a kind person, but I’m not a nice girl. And that’s okay. And I think coming to terms with that and really expanding upon that and exploring that is kind of like this new chapter in my life.” “SOS”...
Sony’s agreement with Michael Jackson’s estate will remain intact despite pushback. As AFROTECH™ previously mentioned, Sony Music Group reportedly closed a sale related to the late “Rock With You” singer’s legendary catalog, which encompassed half of his publishing and recorded masters catalog. In total, the assets were worth between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion. Sony Music Group reportedly paid at least $600 million in the deal to claim its portion of the stake in Michael’s assets. However, there was allegedly some pushback surrounding the deal from his mother, Katherine Jackson. Billboard reports that she attempted to stop the deal. This was because his executors, John Branca and John McClain, had appeared to privately go to Judge Mitchell Beckloff to get the green light for the deal. Katherine argued that it would “violate Michael’s wishes” and that the catalog’s valuation would still rise if the estate maintained its ownership. Beckloff turned down the notion in April 2023 and...
Beyoncé generated significant gains for a major technology company. The release of “Cowboy Carter” led to a boost for Sony. The album was released on March 29, 2024, in partnership with Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. The album featured 27 songs, including “Blackbiird,” “16 Carriages,” “Jolene,” and “Levii’s Jeans.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Beyoncé (@beyonce) As a Houston, TX native, Beyoncé reflected on the album’s creation in an Instagram post, writing,” This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical...
A TikTok rapper will be going against Sony Music Entertainment in court. According to Billboard, 20-year-old rapper Dantreal Clark-Rainbolt, more commonly known as Trefuego, had a viral hit on TikTok thanks to his release of “90mh.” The songs was featured in at least 155,000 videos on the platform. Additionally, it has been streamed a minimum of 100 million times on Spotify. The outlet also reported he has garnered significant earnings from the song’s popularity, with estimates reaching almost $700,000. However, it appears the rapper won’t be able to roll in the dough for much longer. He is now in troubled water for utilizing a copyright sample from Toshifumi Hinata’s 1986 song “Reflections,” according to Rolling Stone. “Trefuego brazenly sought to ride the coattails of Hinata’s creativity and popularity without regard to the United States copyright laws or the rights of plaintiffs,” Sony’s attorneys wrote per Billboard. “He used and copied plaintiffs’ work without so much as...
Michael Jackson’s catalog continues to stand the test of time. As AFROTECH previously told you, it had been rumored that there would be a sale of the late singer’s timeless hits. The deal was projected to set a new standard in the music industry. There’s no need for speculation anymore as Sony Music Group has completed the sale of the music catalog, Billboard reports. The deal is said to include 50% of Michael Jackson‘s publishing and recorded masters catalog. What’s more, the assets are speculated to be valued at between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion, sources close to the matter have said, according to the outlet. Sony Music Group will reportedly pay at least $600 million for its stake in Jackson’s rights. Based on Billboard’s report, the agreement “does not include royalties from the Broadway play and other theatrical productions featuring Jackson’s music.” The Broadway play the outlet is referring to is “MJ the Musical.” Sony’s interest in the legacy Jackson left behind isn’t...
Sony is betting big on Africa’s video game industry. According to a press release, Carry1st — an African game publisher and digital commerce platform established in 2018 by Cordel Robbin-Coker, Lucy Hoffman, and Tinotenda Mundangepfupfu — has scored a financial commitment from the Sony Innovation Fund, the venture capital arm of Sony Group Corporation. This follows nearly nine months of conversations between Robbin-Coker and the Sony Innovation Fund: Africa, per CNBC. Furthermore, this is the firm’s first investment in Africa and a strategic move as Sub-Saharan Africa’s gaming industry is projected to earn more than $1 billion in 2024, according to data from Newzoo and Carry1st shared in the press release. “We are excited to welcome Carry1st as our first investment in Africa,” said Antonio Avitabile, Managing Director – EMEA, Sony Ventures Corporation, in a news release. “We believe there is tremendous untapped potential for the gaming market in Africa, which we hope to experience...
Musicians behind the scenes are the glue that keeps the industry running, but are often not as supported as their counterparts. With the pandemic’s lasting effects on the music business on not just mainstream artists but all fronts, Sony Music Publishing is backing the unsung heroes. Billboard reports that the top global music publisher has partnered with the 100 Percenters — a music-creatives advocacy nonprofit — to financially support U.S. songwriters, composers, and producers through donating $100,000 for relief grants. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tiffany Red (@iamtiffanyred) Under the new collaboration and its Songwriter Stimulus Program, the nonprofit will award $2,500 stimulus checks to qualifying songwriters. The 100 Percenters will also help music creators with emergency grants. The Songwriter Stimulus program and Emergency Fund will both launch later this year. The 100 Percenters especially champions BIPOC and marginalized songwriters, composers and...
On Aug. 17, Sony Music Publishing announced to extend Tyler Perry’s worldwide agreement with Tyler Perry Studios (TPS). The Oscar and Emmy award-winner owns the largest production studio in the nation and made history as the first African American man to own a major production studio in 2019. Sony Music Publishing’s Visual + Media division (previously known as Broadcast Media Rights) has worked alongside Tyler Perry Studios and music supervisor Joel C High for the last decade. The extension with Sony guarantees authorized music for over 60 productions, comprising 26 films, 20 plays, 1,5000 series episodes, and future projects, Market Insider previously reported. Tyler Perry stated, “I’m very pleased to continue my creative partnership with Jon, Cathy, and the Sony Music Publishing team. I’m grateful for their support and passion for Tyler Perry Studios, and I look forward to future successes together.” Sony Music Publishing Chairman and CEO Jon Platt shared, “Tyler Perry Studios...
Meka Asonye is a man of many talents who wears many hats — and now, he can add “partner” to that list. Forbes was the first to break the news that Asonye — who is best known, perhaps, as the former head of sales for Stripe — has been named the newest partner at First Round venture capital firm. Crunchbase confirms that Asonye knows more than a thing or two about investing: in recent years, he’s had a hand in investing in such companies as Snackpass, Coda, and Confirm. “I’m a Black investor. I know that representation matters, and that as an industry we need to be better about hiring more people, getting more diverse cap tables, and building out a more diverse network. And I think First Round is thinking about that in lots of ways,” Meka Asonye said to Forbes. “But for me, I’m just thinking about how I can be a successful investor, and how I can partner with the next billion-dollar company.” In addition to investing in the first round/Series A rounds for such prestigious companies,...
Sony Pictures Entertainment just promoted Nicole Brown to president of TriStar Pictures, reports Variety. This extends her contract with the studio as she will continue to oversee the specialty label. This promotion comes just a year after she was appointed as executive vice president. Brown will continue to report to the Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group, Tom Rothman, and she will provide oversight for all of TriStar’s film production and development. According to Variety, Brown was instrumental in securing rights to the Whitney Houston biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody;” the first LGBTQ+ holiday rom-com from a major studio “Happiest Season;” “The Woman King,” directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and starring Viola Davis; and more. “Nicole was the very first person I hired when I came to the company seven years ago, and that was a lucky day for me and for Sony Pictures,” Rothman said. “She is a first-rate executive whose energy, drive, taste, and...
Last week, Sony announced it would be rolling out a new feature that allows users to change their PSN name — the ID that follows you throughout the Playstation gaming world — freely and openly. It’s a big step for Sony, since Microsoft allowed XBOX users to do it for years. While gamers are very excited about the change (not being bogged down to one name while you’re owning people in Overwatch is very exciting), there’s one issue. T he new feature has the potential to stir up one of the gaming world’s oldest problems: hate speech and offensive language. Sony recognizes the problems that allowing people to change their PSN names more frequently could bring, and the company is trying to get ahead of it. A company blog post last week outlined that any PSN names using racial slurs, profanity, or any other offensive language that breaks Sony’s terms of service would be automatically changed to “TempXXX.” This punishment is actually light, considering that Playstation used to ban people...
Despite major record labels suing it for its AI technology, Timbaland is standing beside Suno, the music creation program. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Timbaland aligned himself with the artificial intelligence (AI) music creation tool Suno in October 2024, taking on the title of its strategic advisor. He had already been an avid user of the platform for several months. “You can put out great songs in minutes,” he said during an interview with Rolling Stone. “I always wanted to do what Quincy Jones did with Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ when he was [almost] 50. So my ‘Thriller,’ to me, is this tool. God presented this tool to me. I probably made a thousand beats in three months, and a lot of them—not all—are bangers and from every genre you can possibly think of. I just did four K-pop songs this morning!” Timbaland’s embrace of AI is not new. While speaking at the AFROTECH™ Conference in November 2023, during a panel titled “From Producer to Founder: A Conversation with...