Indie artist files suit against Apple, Facebook readies tools to prevent harassment, and more
Here’s all the music industry news you need to know today.
A lawsuit filed by independent musician Bryan Eich claims that Apple and Apple Music failed to obtain the required compulsory mechanical publishing licenses for his work before making them available to stream. – via Hypebot
Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino has signed a five-year extension to serve as the CEO of Live Nation Entertainment in a deal that could be worth $9m a year. via Billboard
Kim Jong-hyun, lead singer of the hugely popular and influential South Korean boyband SHINee, has died aged 27 in apparent suicide. – via Guardian
Apple reportedly replaces outgoing India chief with South Asia director – via AppleInsider
Universal Music Group Acquires Stiff Records, ZTT and Perfect Songs Publishing from Trevor Horn’s SPZ Group – via UMG
Former BBC chairman Lord Grade and his business partner Ivan Dunleavy are set to join the board of a music rights company, One Media, after investing £375,000. – via Telegraph
Musical.ly launches $50 million ‘creator fund’ to build out its community – via TechCrunch
VP Operations Simon Marcus is rumoured to be leaving Spotify in New York. – via DMN
Facebook said it will begin notifying people when they appear in the pictures posted by other people – Register
Facebook opens its social VR Spaces platform to HTC Vive – via TechCrunch
15 dance music industry figures on how to combat sexism and harassment. – via Mixmag
Facebook announced it is introducing new tools aimed at preventing harassment on Facebook and Messenger. It’s increasing security features that prevent people from creating fake accounts, including now looking at various signals like IP addresses – via The Verge
Audioboom, which hosts music-focused podcasts, amongst other genres, saw its shares fall by almost 16% after missing revenue expectations. – via Times
Lady Gaga Announces Residency in Las Vegas – via Vulture
Lyric aggregator LyricFind has announced its most-viewed song on lyrics websites this year as Despacito. – via Billboard
Amazon Prime Video reportedly has the most first-week downloads of any Apple TV app – via The Verge
#MeToo creator Tarana Burke will drop the Times Square ball on New Year’s Eve – via Mashable
YouTube TV delays Apple TV and Roku apps until early 2018 – via The Verge
Amblin Partners, an American content creation and entertainment company which produces and develops films and television programming, has signed an exclusive deal with BMG to administer its music publishing rights worldwide. – via RotD
This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.