In March 2022, Impala teamed up with YouTube for its showcase of emerging independent artists in Europe. A year on, it’s time to refresh. The post Impala reveals new ‘100 Artists to Watch’ list with YouTube appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

TikTok is under intense scrutiny in the US and Europe alike over data security. Project Clover is its latest response. The post TikTok’s ‘Project Clover’ targets data-security fears in Europe appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

The role of the average music manager has expanded greatly during the streaming era, with plenty of challenges. The post Management body EMMA launches EMMpower initiative in Europe appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Earlier this week we reported on the European Commission narrowing its antitrust investigation of Apple. Now it has responded. The post Apple ‘pleased’ at narrowing of EC’s App Store investigation appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

The European Commission launched a pair of formal antitrust investigations of Apple in June 2020. Now there’s a development. The post EC narrows its Apple music-streaming investigation to ‘anti-steering’ issues appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Last week we reported on TikTok’s announcement that it now has 150 million monthly active users (MAUs) in Europe. The post YouTube, Meta, Twitter and Spotify (sort of) reveal their EU user figures appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

TikTok’s latest music-focused campaign is happening in the UK, and it’s based around homegrown hip-hop artists. The post TikTok debuts Next Gen rap program and hits new Euro milestone appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

It’s been a few weeks since the last call from Spotify for a regulatory crackdown on Apple, so it must be time for another one. The post Spotify and Deezer step up their pressure for an Apple crackdown appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

The numbers involved are still huge, but it’s still a clear snapshot of a difficult year for the sector. The post Report: European tech industry has lost $400bn in value in 2022 appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

A group of music artists are among the signers of an open letter calling for the EU to adopt a new law cracking down on deforestation. The post Music artists and ClientEarth call for new Euro climate law appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

European indies body Impala has been talking about and working on climate emergency issues for some time now. The post Impala launches climate literacy-training IMPACTS project appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Welcome to our second annual Music Ally International Focus report, where we zoom out and dig into the last 12 months of Music Ally’s Country Profiles. This is an utterly essential guide for the internationalised music industry pro – packed with data, interviews, local strategies, and insight from the people who count in each country. We have split our focus between […]

Google and Apple continue to face pressure around how (or indeed whether) they allow apps to use alternative payment systems to their own. The post Google allows alternative Android billing systems in Europe appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Having reported on the progress and implications of Europe’s new Digital Services Act legislation, it’s time to plunge back into an old favourite: Article 17 The post EU’s top court says Article 17 won’t harm freedom of expression appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Europe’s DSA is one step closer to being implemented after the European Parliament and European Council reached ‘political agreement’ on the proposed legislation. The post Europe’s Digital Services Act includes ‘recommender’ rules appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

As music and other creative industries continue to lobby for support from governments and policymakers to get through the Covid-19 pandemic, figures showing their importance to the wider economy are crucial. Expect to hear a lot about a new Rebuilding Europe report by research firm EY, then – commissioned by the European Grouping of Societies of Authors and […]

While musicians in the UK and Europe fret about the Brexit deal’s impact on touring, the British government and European Commission are arguing about who’s fault it is. “We sought a mutually beneficial agreement that would have allowed performers to continue working and perform across the continent without the need for work permits. Musicians, artists, […]

As the music business scraps it out with every other industry for Covid-19 relief, a key part of its argument has been the economic value created by the industry. An aspect that’s at least well-rehearsed, since it is also deployed whenever the music industry is lobbying for changes to copyright legislation. The latest report commissioned […]

The European Commission has been training its sights on Amazon for a while now, with an investigation into its impact on the online retail market. Yesterday, the EC told Amazon that it has reached a preliminary view that “it has breached EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in online retail markets”. It has also opened […]

A group of 110 bodies representing the creative and cultural industries are keeping up the pressure on governments and European policymakers over their post-Covid recovery plans. Impala, the IFPI, ICMP and ECSA are among the bodies who have written to national governments and to the European Commission pressing for at least 2% of each country’s ‘national recovery […]

Triller has been making the most of TikTok’s recent troubles, poaching creators, trumpeting its user growth and even pitching itself in the US as “a form of patriotic capitalism”. But with that higher profile has come scrutiny of Triller’s licensing status, not least from US publishing body the NMPA. On the other side of the Atlantic, […]

American TikTokers have been grappling with the existential (in app terms) question of what they’d do if the app was banned. Now imagine the rumpus if Facebook and Instagram were suddenly unavailable across the whole of Europe. It could happen. Well, Facebook is claiming that it could happen, as part of its fightback against a […]

Earlier today, the European Commission launched two formal antitrust investigations of Apple, including one spurred in part by Spotify’s complaint to the EC last year. This afternoon, Spotify held a Zoom call for journalists where its head of global affairs and chief legal officer Horacio Gutierrez discussed the investigation, with added comments from external counsel […]

In March 2019, Spotify filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission, accusing the latter company of anticompetitive behaviour in the way it managed its App Store and in-app purchases. 15 months on, the EC has now launched a formal antitrust investigation of Apple. In fact, it has launched two, although they’re not just […]

European indie body Impala has published its latest thoughts on the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the music industry. It’s a ten-step ‘recovery roadmap’ that sets out what it would like to see governments across the European Union doing in the coming months. Immediate steps that Impala would like to see include EU states recognising music and culture […]

A collective of 40 European music bodies are calling for the European Union and also national governments to deliver more support to the music industry and its creators, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. “In light of this dire situation, we call for emergency as well as sustainable public support and structural policies at EU, […]

Back in November 2018, we wrote about Chinese technology firm Huawei’s claim that its Huawei Music streaming service had 100 million monthly active users – a surprise to many people in the west who hadn’t been following its growth. Since then, Huawei has become one of the more controversial tech companies in the world thanks to scrutiny in […]

Last week we noted the announcement of a March 2020 launch date for Disney’s new video-streaming service Disney+ in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, but there’s more to say about this. Particularly relating to the service’s launch date in the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand this month. That means a four-and-a-half months […]

Authenticity, Copyright law, and – oh yes – Brexit were all on the agenda during the first day of conference sessions at the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg. In an era where perceived authenticity counts for so much, songwriters composing for clients who want songs for adverts might be asked to create songs that fulfil two […]

Apple has officially responded to the European Commission, as the latter weighs up whether to launch an investigation based on Spotify’s anti-competition complaint earlier this year. It’s interesting to see the different takes on Apple’s response from different publications. “Spotify boss Daniel Ek might have some explaining to do,” is how MBW introduced its article on the […]

Sorry, make that *three* pieces of new legislation in Europe that have implications for the music industry. Alongside the new copyright directive and new platform-to-business regulations, there’s also a crackdown afoot on ticket-buying bots. Yesterday, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted to outlaw the use of bots to get around maximum-limits on buying tickets, […]

The European Parliament has voted to approve its *other* big piece of new legislation that has significant implications for the music industry. That would be new regulations “to improve fairness and transparency of online platforms” – referred to as ‘platform-to-business’ legislation for short. The rules will apply to technology companies running online platforms of all kinds: search […]

Europe’s new copyright directive has passed its latest legislative hurdle, winning the approval of the European Union member states, after being voted through by the European Parliament last month. “With today’s agreement, we are making copyright rules fit for the digital age. Europe will now have clear rules that guarantee fair remuneration for creators, strong […]

The European Copyright Directive has been approved by members of the European Parliament. In a vote this morning, MEPs approved the new legislation: 348 cast their votes in favour, while 274 voted against. The post MEPs approve European Copyright Directive (including Article 13) – 348 votes to 274 appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Much of the limelight in terms of European policy is being hogged by the new copyright directive and Article 13 this week. However, a group of European tech firms and industry bodies want to remind policymakers of another area for modernisation: that covering ‘platform-to-business’ – how large internet platform-owners like Google, Apple and Amazon treat European businesses […]

Full title: Head of Partnership Development (Northern, Eastern & Central Europe) Location: Kings Cross Salary: Circa £75,000 per annum Term: Permanent Closing date: Friday 15 February 2019 The Role We are looking for a Head of Partnership Development (Northern, Eastern & Central Europe) to manage the overall revenue and operational responsibility for the Northern, Eastern and Central Europe […]

Two open letters published this week have laid bare new divisions within the music industry over the proposed new European copyright directive – and its Article 13 section dealing with user-uploaded content platforms like YouTube. Yesterday, a letter whose signatories included the IFPI and Impala (representing labels) and ICMP (representing publishers) called for the directive […]

Yesterday, music-industry bodies the IFPI, Impala and ICMP published a letter calling for the European copyright directive to be scrapped. Now a group of bodies representing musicians, songwriters, managers and producers have criticised the intervention, and the gloves are truly off. “It is hugely disappointing to see the music labels and publishers disregard the interests […]

Europe has a new campaigning group taking aim at inflated ticket-reselling. It’s called the Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing (FEAT for short) and has been founded by a group of promoters who’ve worked with artists including Adele, Björk, Bruce Springsteen, Ed Sheeran, Iron Maiden, the Rolling Stones and Radiohead among other artists. The new body […]