As Afrojack heads down to Miami for his Ultra appearances both weekends and parties in between, it has been announced that he’s signed a worldwide deal with Island Records and Universal Music Group. Under the deal “As Your Friend,” the first single off his debut album released by Wall Recordings, will have Island Records manage the track’s promotion and sales in the U.S. and it will be released internationally by Wall Recordings, Islands Records UK, and UMG’s PM:AM Recordings.
“I want to take my music to the next level, both creatively and from a business point of view. Partnering up with Island Records will give me the chance to do both, so I am very happy we were able to make a deal. Island/UMG will promote my releases with very strong support and with great people working my music around the world.” – Afrojack
Rebecca & Fiona are back–this time wielding a soulful dance hit that will carry listeners away like a roaring rip tide. The first single to be released from their second album (scheduled for debut later this year), “Taken Over” is an incredibly solid effort from the Swedish duo and undoubtedly promises to put them on other DJs’ watchlists for the remainder of 2013. Featuring strokes of genius from fellow countryman Style of Eye, this powerful mix from the double platinum artists exudes a literal smorgasbord of electrifying sounds that ranges from explosive synths to thundering lasers. This is an undeniably big release for Rebecca & Fiona and one that is sure to catapult the blonde bombshells further into stardom than ever before. Check out the official video and purchase below.
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In a surprising move, YouTube has slashed “fake” view counts for a wide variety of companies — most notably around 2 billion for Sony and Universal Music Group channels. What does this mean? YouTube, now the number one place on the internet for music videos, is an incredibly important media outlet for artists, record labels, and music-related corporations around the globe. It’s widely known that hackers can be paid to artificially increase likes or views on specific videos (a tactic called “black hat”), making them more popular and therefore gaining infinitely more exposure, ad revenue — you name it.
This has always violated YouTube’s terms of service, but only recently did we see the Google-owned mega-company widely enforce such regulations. Universal lost a reported total of one billion views and Sony followed a close second with up to 850 million views docked from their count. Although sources came out blaming the dramatic cuts on housekeeping efforts and cross-channel migrations, YouTube resolutely announced “this was not a bug or a security breach” but rather “an enforcement of [their] viewcount policy.” It’s not clear whether or not there is a direct link between the black hatters and the music industry.
Sony BMG loses more than 850 million views from their YouTube channel in one day.
Universal Music Group lost over 1 billion view counts.
Read more here and here.
via Daily Mail
In another sign of the EDM times, Universal Music Group is launching a new dance label called PM:AM Recordings. According to the press release, the new imprint is comprised of A&R (artist and repertoire) reps from Universal offices worldwide, and will focus on tracks that “currently dominate the airwaves of Radio 1 and festivals alike.” Universal has a bit of experience with big EDM tracks, having signed Avicii’s “Levels” and “Silhouettes,” not to mention “Calling (Lose My Mind).” It will be interesting to see how the label develops, but we’re of course happy to see the big guys investing in the best music ever.
