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Universal Music agrees deal with Meta to bring its music to WhatsApp

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The music company has agreed to a licensing deal with Meta that will bring its music to the social media messaging platform used by billions of users globally.

The agreement is part of UMG’s effort to strengthen the licensing agreement first signed in 2017 with Meta (formerly Facebook) which brought the label’s catalogue across the company’s social media platforms that now include Threads.

As part of the new agreement, UMG artists and songwriters will get a cut in advertising revenue from the use of licensed music on Meta creator posts.

Michael Nash, UMG’s Chief Digital Officer and Executive VP, in a statement, said: “We are delighted that Meta shares our artist-centric vision for respecting human creativity and compensating artists and songwriters fairly. We look forward to continuing to work together to address unauthorized AI-generated content that could affect artists and songwriters so that UMG can continue to protect their rights both now and in the future.”

The deal will also see UMG’s catalogue becomes the first cache of songs to be accessible for content sharing and usage on WhatsApp. This will see Nigerian artists like Adekunle Gold and Odumodublvck who are signed or affiliated to UMG have their music on available on Whatsapp.

Universal Music under the leadership of Lucian Grainge has been leading the crackdown against unauthorised use of its music, especially through artificial intelligence that infringes on the rights of its artists.

In 2024, UMG was in a protracted disagreement with TikTok over royalty rate and allegations that the social media platform failed to crack down on the use of Artificial Intelligence.

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N5m reward offered to whoever finds Wizkid’s missing phone

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A N5 million reward has been offered to anyone who helps recover Wizkid‘s missing phone.

The phone went missing on Saturday during the singer’s surprise performance at the Nativeland concert at Sol Beach in Elegushi, Lagos.

In a viral video from the concert, DJ Tunez took to the stage to announce the missing phone.

He said Wizkid’s phone dropped during his performance. He also offered a N5 million reward to anyone who finds it.

“When my brother Wizkid was performing, he dropped his cell phone. Anybody that finds Wizkid’s cell phone, N5 million. It is my boss’ cell phone, if anybody finds it, bring it to me. N5 million,” he said.

https://twitter.com/DigiMillennials/status/1870893331024097335?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1870893331024097335%7Ctwgr%5E152da7d8daa3107ca1528fb2c86fd9e40dd11d90%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flifestyle.thecable.ng%2Fwizkid-loses-phone%2F

He also shared the announcement on his X page with the caption: “I’m gooooooooooood! Please if you find Machala’s phone hit me up! Thank you!”

https://twitter.com/DJ_TUNEZ/status/1870941930970079541?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1870941930970079541%7Ctwgr%5E152da7d8daa3107ca1528fb2c86fd9e40dd11d90%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flifestyle.thecable.ng%2Fwizkid-loses-phone%2F

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Speed Darlington gets bail after one month in detention

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Speed Darlington, the Nigerian rapper, has been granted bail after nearly a month in police custody.

The rapper was arrested on November 27 while performing at a show in Owerri, Imo state.

Deji Adeyanju, a human rights lawyer, had alleged that Burna Boy, the Afrofusion star, was responsible for the rapper’s arrest.

Darlington had taunted Burna Boy over his affiliation with the embattled US rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ who is facing multiple charges for sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

He asked Burna Boy to explain how he won the Grammy award for his album ‘Twice As Tall’ — a project executive produced by Diddy. He claimed there was a sexual relationship between the duo.

Stan Alieke, the legal representative of Darlington, earlier revealed that weeks after the rapper’s arrest, the police had denied him access to bail.

The lawyer also called on the law enforcement agency not to “trample on my client’s constitutional rights”.

But in an Instagram post on Monday, Alieke disclosed that his client had been granted bail.

“Apki has been granted bail by the court,” he wrote without including much information.

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Spotify names Burna Boy as the most exported Nigerian artist of 2024

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Spotify has released the data for the most streamed artists outside Nigeria in 2024.

On the list shared by Spotify, Grammy winner Burna Boy is the Nigerian artist with the most streams outside Nigeria. For the past couple of years, the hitmaker has been at the forefront of exporting Nigerian music globally.

Burna Boy’s feat is a testament to his global popularity which has made him the only African artist with 3 albums surpassing over 500 million streams.

Second on the list is Grammy-nominated star Ayra Starr who enjoyed a good year thanks to the release of her critically acclaimed sophomore album ‘The Year I Turned 21’ which enjoyed critical and commercial success.

The album features a star-studded lineup that includes Asake, Seyi Vibez, American singer Giveon and Coco Jones, and Brazilian star Aniita.

Rema is the third most exported Nigerian artist of 2024. His hit single ‘Calm Down’ continues to enjoy global success, especially in the United States where it became the first African song to garner 1 billion streams.

This year, Rema released his sophomore LP ‘HEIS’ which is one of the most talked about albums of 2024. The album buoyed by its upper tempo arrangement, pulsating production, and aggressive chest thumping delivered the bit records ‘Ozeba’, ‘Hehehe’, and ‘Azaman’.

Tems (4) and Omah Lay (5) rounds off the top 5. Grammy winner Tems enjoyed a successful year on the global front with the release of her debut album ‘Born In The Wild’ which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Global Album.

Top 10 exported Nigerian Artists on Spotify in 2024

1. Burna Boy
2. Ayra Starr
3. Rema
4. Tems
5. Omah Lay
6. Asake
7. Wizkid 
8. Davido
9. Fireboy
10. Victony

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