News March 30, 2017

WMG launches fan-driven, vinyl-only record label & more

Here’s all the music industry news you need to know this morning.

National Community Radio Awards Entries Open – via CBAA

Revenues for BMG rose by 12.2% to €416m in 2016. The employee total grew by around 20% last year to 600 – via Billboard

Chuck Berry Public Memorial Service to Be Held in April – via Billboard

Facebook will launch group chatbots at F8 – via TechCrunch

Lee Brice signs US performance rights deal with SESAC – via MBW

SoundCloud Go and Go+ have launched in the Netherlands. – via Hypebot

Twitter’s live streaming app Periscope gets an analytics dashboard – via TechCrunch

Warner Music Group has launched a fan-driven, vinyl-only record label: Run Out Groove. Each month, fans will vote on the record they want pressed from a trio of selections. its first fan-chosen release was a new collection from Echo & The Bunnymen, It’s All Live Now – via Billboard

Global hires Live Nation’s Debbie Ward after aggressive UK festival acquisition run – via MBW

Facebook opens up 360-degree live streaming to all – via TechCrunch

Music production and DJing company Native Instruments has snapped up startup MetaPop, appointing its founder, former Beatport CEO Matthew Adell, as its chief digital officer. – via MusicAlly

Warner Music UK has launched a label imprint called Black Diamond Records, headed by David Olusegun and Derek Edmund Ojofeitimi, founders of Black Diamond Music Group. – via RotD

The recording console used to record Pink Floyd’s 1972 classic Dark Side Of The Moon sold at auction for US$1,807,500. – via Billboard

Lana Del Rey Teases Her New Album By Suggesting She Has Become an Optimistic Ghost living in the Hollywood Sign – via Vulture