The Deals: Ticketmaster Integrates With Shazam, Beatport Gets Fraud Detection Partner

July 11, 2024 E Jazz Reporter

Music

Also this week: Virgin Music Group announces a strategic relationship with a Japanese anime company, Believe acquires a stake in Global Records and more.

Courtesy of Shazam

Ticketmaster partnered with Shazam for a deal allowing artists to link to their Ticketmaster-listed events directly in the Shazam app. Through that integration, Shazam users will be able to see where that artist is playing and buy tickets to their show “with just a few clicks” after Shazaming their music, according to a Ticketmaster blog post. The ticketing giant previously announced similar integrations with TikTok and Snapchat.

Fraud detection company Beatdapp Software partnered with Beatport, a digital service that offers high-quality downloads for DJs to use in live sets, in a deal that aims to banish fraudulent activities on Beatport by integrating Beatdapp’s fraud detection technology into the platform. “We launched streaming products under the Beatport and Beatsource brands in 2019, and despite the fact that they have not historically been a target for streaming fraud, suspicious activity has been on the rise in recent months,” said Helen Sartory, chief revenue officer of The Beatport Group, in a statement. “Although our fraud rates still remain half that of the industry average, we rely on accurate streaming data not only to preserve fair compensation to artists and labels, but also for track recommendations and analytics. We are excited to be able to work with Beatdapp to ensure that our data is representative of authentic listener engagement.”

Virgin Music Group announced a “strategic relationship” with Frontier Works, a Japanese animation-related content production company, to release anime music projects. Virgin will provide Frontier Works with access to its music distribution and marketing platform and global team to support Frontier releases worldwide. This includes Virgin’s AI-driven music marketing technology, which filters streaming data “to create dynamic and actionable insights,” as well as “Smart Audience,” an advertising platform that uses “ethical AI” to increase fan engagement and help drive streaming consumption, according to a press release.

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Believe acquired a 25% stake in Global Records, an independent dance music company covering Central and Eastern Europe, and signed a strategic partnership with the label. The acquisition expands Believe and Global Records’ existing relationship, which since 2016 has allowed the latter to ramp up its territorial expansion and catalog development, according to a press release. Global Records’ catalog racked up more than 6 billion streams across all platforms last year alone and has seen more than 20 billion streams to date, the release adds. Global’s roster includes INNA, Minelli, Carla’s Dreams, Antonia and Holy Molly; it has offices in Germany, Romania and the United States.

Artist manager Matt Musacchio‘s Champ Management partnered with Red Light Management in a deal that brings Vincent Mason, Jessie James Decker and Dawson Anderson to the Red Light roster. Kyle Marsh will also join the Red Light team as a day-to-day manager.

ASM Global expanded its reach into Portugal by taking on the operation of two venue spaces located in Lisbon’s LX Factory, which is located inside a converted factory complex in the Alcantara area. ASM Global will additionally manage the venues’ adjacent outdoor bar, terrace and gallery spaces.

Web3 creator platform DRiP acquired limited-edition music platform Vault Music. Both platforms are on the Solana blockchain. Under the deal, all Vault Music drops and users will transition to the DRiP platform. “Vault was our first music partner on DRiP,” said CEO Vibhu Norby in a statement on the acquisition. “They did a phenomenal job harboring musicians from outside of the existing ecosystem, and we’re excited to help them continue that effort.”

ADA Canada signed a global distribution deal with country music label MCM Recordings, which is home to Jess Moskaluke, Charlie Major and The Redhill Valleys.

The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) extended its agreement with the International Copyright Enterprise (ICE) for several more years. According to a press release, the extended deal “will facilitate faster royalty payments to IMRO members for online performances of their works and enhanced usage transparency.” The release claims IMRO’s online revenue saw 30% growth in 2023.

Independent dance music label Armada Music signed a long-term partnership with Amsterdam-based DJ and producer KI/KI and her self-founded label, slash. Armada will work with KI/KI and her team on A&R, label management, distribution and promotion/marketing for upcoming slash releases. The first release under the joint venture is KI/KI’s latest EP, slash 010.

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