After years of battling accusations of manipulating stream counts and royalty payments, Jay-Z’s TIDAL is now officially under investigation by Norwegian authorities. The accusations for fraud first surfaced in 2018, when a sleuthing reporter at Norwegian publication Dagens Næringsliv discovered streaming manipulation around two exclusive albums: Kanye West’s Life of Pablo and Beyoncé’s Lemonade. Dagens […]
(photo: Tim Mossholder) The U.S. government’s Paycheck Protection Program has distributed over $8 billion to businesses operating in the arts, entertainment, recreation, and information sectors, according to the Small Business Administration (SBA). The Small Business Administration specified these and other figures in a recently released report. Approximately 1.7 million loans have been made as part […]
U.S. Congressional Representative Katie Porter (D-Ca.) Ticketmaster’s decision to quietly modify its stated policy on ticket refunds is rubbing a lot of people the wrong way — including U.S. Congresswoman Katie Porter. Ticketmaster has now been put on blast by U.S. Congresswoman Katie Porter, thanks to an extremely unpopular decision to withhold refunds from ticket […]
Cardi B touts the benefits of Teami on Instagram, November, 2018 The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued official warnings to multiple celebrities and social media influencers — including rapper Cardi B — over disclosure violations. The rapper touted detox tea company Teami on Instagram without meeting FTC sponsorship-disclosure guidelines. Cardi B, who has nearly […]
Following an investigation conducted by the State of New York (as well as a resulting fine), Sofar Sounds, a London-based promoter of secret concerts, has overhauled its artist-compensation system. As part of the update, which was announced via Sofar’s website, “the beginnings of a brand new artist dashboard” have been instituted. When complete, this optimized dashboard will […]
photo: GemGemRemy Burning Man first filed legal paperwork against the U.S. Government in December of last year. Now, its lawsuit has officially been set in motion. Late last year, we broke the story that Burning Man was litigating against the U.S. Department of Interior over escalating land use permits. Now, Secretary of the Interior David […]
StubHub has been fined nearly $1 million ($1.3M Canadian) by Canada’s Competition Bureau, which monitors the domestic marketplace for behaviors and actions that inhibit competition and/or deceive consumers. StubHub’s infractions were classified under the latter category, as the Competition Bureau indicated that tickets had been advertised — through the StubHub website and through promotional emails […]
U.S. Department of Justice headquarters, Washington, D.C. The U.S. Department of Justice has formally filed judgment on Live Nation, officially extending the Consent Decree through 2025. The Department of Justice has filed its judgment on Live Nation, following investigations over alleged violations of the consent decree that accompanied its 2010 merger with Ticketmaster. This judgment […]
FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly is now directly sending his payola questions to the major labels. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is doubling down on its payola probe. In September of 2019, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly sent a letter to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which represents the big three […]