The Regimental Band of the Coldstream Guards, made up of members of the military who guard the Queen of England at her royal palaces, have signed a deal with Universal Music Group subsidiary Decca Records that’s reportedly worth £1 million. For… albums of military music. “If they’re good enough for the Queen, they’re good enough for Decca,” said a label bigwig, which I think translates to “C’mon, this may seem crazy, but in a country where Paul Potts and Crazy Frog can top the charts, this isn’t too much of a risk!” [Times of London] MORE »
Posts Tagged ‘universal music group’
Deals
the new model
Buy a slogan-printed T-shirt, get the song whose lyric it’s emblazoned with as a free download with it? Eh, you know, why not: Universal Music Group and the Wal-Mart-owned UK supermarket chain Asda are teaming up on such a promotion, with four shirts featuring lyrics from Steppenwolf’s “Born To Be Wild,” Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back In Town,” the Cure’s “Lovecats,” and, uh, a Hard-Fi song. (NB: The shirt at left is not in the promotion, it’s just something I found while searching on “lovecats shirt.” There were a lot of shirts with similar sentiments!) Given peoples’ willingness to buy shirts that say anything on them, I can see this actually working in an “opening up songs to new audiences” way, provided that the featured lyrics are stoopid enough. [Music Radar] MORE »
web 2.maybe?
Vevo La Vida: Universal Music Group Hoping That It Can Create A Hulu Of Its Own
Universal Music Group has decided to team up with Google’s money-hemorrhaging video site YouTube for a joint venture called Vevo, which will apparently “highlight” clips from the major-label behemoth and make money for everyone (maybe even artists? Haha, just kidding!) via ad revenue. What does this mean for you, the end user? Well, clips that use UMG-owned music—which right now are only available for YouTube viewing if you venture over to the site—will be embeddable on third-party sites, thanks to “a special VEVO branded embedded player,” which reads to me like code for “you’ll be clicking through lots of ads before you see that new Lil Wayne clip.” MORE »
the biz
Eminem and Pals are S.O.L. When It Comes to Song Royalties
As you may recall, F.B.T. Productions, the company which handles Mr. Marshall Mathers’ still profitable back catalog, recently went to court with Universal Music Group over digital royalties. F.B.T. claimed that the ability to mass produce digital copies from a single download meant that F.B.T. were entitled to a larger royalty rate for a song sold online than what they’re currently getting. Like…up to 50 percent. But F.B.T., Eminem, and UMG’s other artistes can apparently go kick rocks according to a Los Angeles jury, which decided the claims were bunk. MORE »
the biz
Major Labels Try To Get Back Into The Video-Distribution Game
It’s probably no coincidence that the announcement that the major labels’ attempt to create a Hulu-like destination site, PluggedIn, was shutting down came the same day that news got out about Universal Music Group’s attempts to make nice with YouTube. Music videos clog the “most viewed” charts on the streaming-video site, but they’ve proven tough to monetize, as evidenced by Universal not allowing third parties to embed clips so interested viewers are forced to visit ad-laden, cash-generating pages on YouTube itself. (Although if you go to YouTube to torture yourself with a clip from the new Chris Cornell album, you’re greeted by a bunch of ads for… Chris Cornell’s Scream.) MORE »
the biz
Eminem Focuses His Ire On His Paltry Digital Royalties
F.B.T. Productions, the publishing company that handles the rights to cranky MC Eminem’s back catalog, is going to court today, where it’ll take on Universal Music Group in a battle over digital royalties. The jury in the trial is being charged with figuring out whether a download deal is a licensing agreement or a distribution agreement—and, by extension, whether or not Universal has to fork over more money to Eminem, as well as other bars in its stable. MORE »
the new model
Universal Music Group Australia Leaks The U2 Album
U2’s No Line On The Horizon leaked early Wednesday morning, a week and a half before it was supposed to be available in Irish record shops and nearly two weeks before its Stateside release. Horizon, being one of the few albums on the docket that is seen as something of a commercial lock, was under heavy lock and key before its release. So what happened? Was Bono blaring his own tunes at home again? Did some enterprising warehouse worker sneak a copy to his laptop? The answer is a lot more surprising—and much more embarrassing for Universal Music Group, which is counting on this album’s sales to beef up its bottom line. MORE »
