Oakland, CA — Things are constantly changing in the music industry and it’s important to stay on top of trends and news updates, especially as an independent artist. We’ve got you covered with a weekly recap of the top stories you need to know.
NBA Youngboy To Stop Making Music After New Album
It's no secret that NBA Youngboy has been involved in a lot of tea the past couple months, which may have influenced his decision to stop making music for the time being. This week Youngboy announced on Twitter that after dropping his upcoming album “38 Youngboy 2,” he’ll stop releasing music until he’s “in a better situation.” We hope to see you soon, NBA Youngboy!
Juice Wrld Estate Creates Fund To Help Young People Going Through Anxiety, Addiction & More
Juice Wrld’s mother Carmela Wallace has created a new fund called “Live Free 999 Fund” to honor her son's legacy. According to a statement that was put out on her behalf, the fund will be backed by Grade A and Interscope Records and will be dedicated to providing assistance for young people going through drug addiction as well as anxiety and other mental health issues. The Live Free 999 Fund is said to “provide support to programs that address addiction, anxiety, and depression in compassionate ways” as well as “assisting programs that help people find positive ways of processing mental health challenges, i.e. music or similar creative pursuits”.
Spotify Launches Fundraising Tool For Artists To Help Support Themselves
Amidst everything crazy happening during this pandemic, Spotify has launched a new tool that helps artists support themselves by raising money for personal finances, charities or other crew members. Artists can add Cash App, GoFundMe or Paypal links directly on their artist pages which allows listeners to donate money to them or their charity efforts. Support your local artists in need!
J-Lo Considering Buying NY Mets With Fiance A-Rod
Icons Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez are reportedly looking into buying the baseball team the NY Mets...talk about big boss moves! The Mets were in talks to sell the team last December for a whopping $2.6 billion, but the deal fell through. Although the couple are both die-hard Yankee fans and Alex played for the Yankees for 10 years, it looks like they have ambitious plans to build the Mets franchise into something bigger and we can’t wait to see what the future holds.
Ford Slapped With $8 Million Lawsuit Over Unlicensed Music In Their Ads
According to Freeplay Music, Ford Motor Company used 54 songs from their catalog, in at least 74 of their ads, without the proper licensing of the music. Freeplay Music then hit the car company with an $8,000,000 lawsuit accusing them of using multiple songs without any sync licenses. Freeplay provides licensed access to their music catalogs for advertisers, broadcasters, and production studios for use in commercials, and according to their website, they charge $250 for a one-time use of a song, or an annual fee of $500 per song. FPM contacted Ford back in 2017 ordering them to provide licensing for all songs used. Not only did Ford not provide licensing documents, but they’ve continued to use and profit off the catalog content for over three years. Let's see how this plays out.