Michael Nash: Last News

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music UPDATED: Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, reported revenue of €2,870 million for the third quarter — an increase of 4.3% year-over-year, or 4.9% in constant currency, although it noted that “excluding a prior-year item affecting comparability,” revenue actually grew 6.3% year-over-year, or 7.0% in constant currency. Top sellers for the quarter included Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan and Post Malone.

Picture Parlour have shared their latest single ‘Judgement Day’ – watch the video for the track below.It is the fast-rising band’s follow-up to their debut single ‘Norwegian Wood’, which came out in July and saw them grace the cover of NME.“‘Judgement Day’ is a love letter. It’s being knocked off your feet by someone you never expected to meet and surrendering to that all consuming feeling,” says the band’s Katherine Parlour.

Universal Music Group has signed a deal with German artificial intelligence music company Endel, in a partnership which aims to unlock the 'incredible potential of ethical AI' in support of its artists output.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Driven by big releases from Morgan Wallen, Taylor Swift, Tomorrow X Together, Drake and others, Universal Music Group saw its revenues rise 11.5% year over year to $2.71 billion in the first quarter of 2023. But the company’s earnings call on Wednesday was just as newsworthy for the company doubling down on the strong remarks it has made about the fast-rising presence of — some would say threat from — AI in the music world, which hit UMG in the form of “Heart on My Sleeve,” a song using AI-generated soundalikes of two of the company’s biggest artists, Drake and the Weeknd.  “The recent explosive development in generative AI will, if left unchecked, both increase the flood of unwanted content hosted on platforms, and create rights issues with respect to existing copyright law, in the U.S. and other countries, as well as laws governing trademark, name and likeness, voice impersonation, and right of publicity,” chairman-CEO Lucian Grainge said on the call. 

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorThe NFT train keeps steaming along:  Universal Music Group is the first major music company to ink a partnership with Curio, a nonfungible token platform focused on entertainment brands.Under the deal, Curio will serve as a dedicated global outlet for future officially licensed NFT projects from UMG’s record labels, operating companies and recording artists worldwide. The first project under the partnership will be with British singer-songwriter Calum Scott, a Capitol Music Group artist, which is slated to launch this spring.NFTs provide a way to verify ownership of a piece of digital content, and entertainment companies have flocked to the technology as a way to monetize their intellectual property and boost fan loyalty.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUniversal Music Group, Twitch and Amazon Music have announced an expansion of the companies’ agreements.According to the announcement, the agreements will provide customers with enhanced access to some of the world’s most popular music content on Amazon, including live streams, high quality and spatial audio, artist merchandise, and exclusive experiences with UMG’s industry leading roster of artists from around the world.Twitch and UMG also will work together to foster new innovative opportunities for artists and labels to creatively and commercially engage with their fans and new audiences.Michael Nash, EVP, Digital Strategy, Universal Music Group said, “With the breadth of their music services and products, and their dedicated focus on customers and creators, Amazon Music and Twitch are excellent strategic collaborators, committed to creating the best and most diverse experiences for fans across streaming music, live streaming, artist collaborations, and physical merchandise. With these agreements, we are proud to build on our track record of success in working closely with Amazon, and we’re looking forward to delivering even more incredible experiences for our artists and music fans everywhere.”  “Twitch embodies a creator-first culture, including empowering musicians,” said Tracy Chan, Head of Music at Twitch.