Music Ally reports: “‘Niche’ sounds a bit harsh: the music rights that Cutting Edge Group (CEG) acquires are from some of the most popular TV, film, theatre productions and game soundtracks. Now it’s secured funding to buy plenty more of them. The company has announced a $500m debt refinancing with four banks, led by Fifth Third Bank and Northleaf Capital Partners.”
IGN reports: “The success of Prime Video’s Fallout TV show has spilled over into the video games upon which it is based, boosting player numbers in even decades old titles. Steam data tracker SteamDB reported that Bethesda’s Fallout games have collectively more than doubled their concurrent players on Steam with the release of the Fallout TV series. That’s for Fallout 4, released in November 2015, Fallout New Vegas, released in October 2010, and Fallout 76, released in April 2020.”
Deadline reports: “At a time of Hollywood contraction, the streamers’ fierce push into live sports appears to be paying off, according to the latest research from Ampere Analysis. Ampere examined the SVoDs that hold NFL rights versus those without and found big gains in Q1 2024 related to football coverage and the Super Bowl match-up between the 49ers and the Chiefs.”
Music Business Worldwide reports: “Warner Chappell Music (WCM) announced Monday (April 15) an exclusive publishing agreement with Electronic Arts (EA) to manage music across the gaming giant’s extensive library. This partnership includes soundtracks from world-renowned titles like EA Sports’ sports simulation games to action-adventure, role-playing experiences, and more.”
Peta Pixel reports: “Adobe has previewed generative AI video tools that promise to redefine video creation and production workflows. The tools, designed for Adobe Premiere Pro, enable users to add or remove objects in a scene and will live alongside Adobe’s Firefly generative AI models. Adobe also announced its plans to bring third-party generative AI models directly into its applications, including Premiere Pro, although the timeline is murky for now.”
U.S. News reports: “Microsoft backed artificial intelligence startup OpenAI made a pitch for business in Japan on Monday as it opened its first Asia office in Tokyo. “This is just the first step in what I hope will be a long-term partnership with the people of Japan, government leaders, businesses and research institutions,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a video message.”
Variety reports: “ESPN and Peyton Manning‘s Omaha Productions have signed a new long-term content deal. The deal will keep Manning in business with the sports network until 2034. Manning and Omaha Productions had originally signed a deal with ESPN in 2021 for three years, though an extension was announced in 2022.”
GamesBeat reports: “Buildbox is launching Buildbox 4, taking user-generated games into new territory with a no-code solution for AI-assisted game creation. It lets you build a game in five minutes. The new Buildbox game development platform will let people turn their game ideas into reality faster than ever, said Jonathan Zweig, CEO of Buildbox, in an interview with GamesBeat.”
Engadget reports: “In an interview with the channel TweakMusicTips, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy said that DJ streamers on the platform will have to share their revenue with music labels. As posted by Zach Bussey on X (formerly Twitter), Clancy said that Twitch is working on a “structure,” wherein DJs and the platform “are gonna have to share money with the labels.”
Digital Music News reports: “As China’s music industry continues to expand – and with a growing portion of domestic talent tapping into international fanbases – Universal Music Group (UMG) has inked a partnership deal with Beijing-headquartered TF Entertainment.
UMG announced the TF Entertainment tie-up today, executing the seemingly far-reaching pact specifically via Universal Music Greater China.”
