Spotify to push live streaming concerts in response to Covid-19
Artists will be able to list upcoming events as interest in online alternatives during pandemic grows
Spotify has struck a deal with Songkick to promote live streaming events on its app, as the group branches into the burgeoning alternative to concerts during the pandemic.
The music streaming leader has added a feature for musicians to list upcoming events on their artist page to boost virtual concerts during the Covid-19 era.
With the integration Spotify is tiptoeing into live streaming, which has boomed in popularity as a replacement for concerts after lockdowns were imposed across much of the world. With concert halls shut and major tours on hold until at least next year, stars such as K-Pop group BTS have taken to live streaming to perform for fans. BTS made nearly $20m in June from a single virtual show, “Bang Bang Con”.
“With most tours postponed until 2021 and online concerts set to continue, Spotify wants to make it easy for fans to learn about virtual events,” the group said in a blog post on Tuesday.
Through a partnership with Songkick, a ticketing platform owned by Warner Music, live stream events will be listed on Spotify’s artist pages, as well as the “Concerts” tab, which previously listed only live shows.
However, Spotify has stopped short of launching a live streaming function within its app, which rival Amazon has done via its ownership of Twitch, the gaming-heavy platform that has surged in popularity since the start of lockdowns.
This month Amazon unveiled a feature that allows users to watch events from Twitch within the Amazon Music app, its rival service to Spotify.
Amazon Music told the Financial Times in January it had reached 55m users, making it the third-biggest player in the paid music streaming market, which is led by Spotify and Apple.
The music industry has been revived by the growth of streaming on services such as Spotify but, as the growth spurt slows, executives have been on the hunt for their next big moneymaker.
Since the pandemic began, their attention has turned to live streaming as a potential new revenue source.
“Live streaming is not a massive business yet,” said one senior music executive at a major record label. “But this is the future, so you have to learn and experiment and figure out what the business model is.”
*BAFIN ALSO LOOKING INTO SUSPECTED INSIDER TRADING BEFORE REPORT
*BAFIN SAYS IT DOESN'T HAVE LETTERS, EMAILS FROM FRASER PERRING
*BAFIN SAYS IT DOESN'T HAVE LETTERS, EMAILS FROM FRASER PERRING
EY chairman admits ‘regret’ over Wirecard failures in letter to clients
Carmine Di Sibio pledges to raise bar on audits as group tries to mitigate backlash
The global chairman of EY has expressed “regret” that a fraud at collapsed German fintech Wirecard was “not uncovered sooner” by his firm’s auditors and said the Big Four accounting group would “raise the bar significantly” on its vetting work.
Carmine Di Sibio, who has run EY since January 2019, wrote to clients amid a backlash against the group after it failed to identify a €1.9bn fraud at the once high-flying payments processor it audited for a decade.
“Many people believe that the fraud at Wirecard should have been detected earlier and we fully understand that,” Mr Di Sibio wrote in the letter. “Even though we were successful in uncovering the fraud, we regret that it was not uncovered sooner.”
Wirecard collapsed in June after admitting that €1.9bn of cash did not exist. EY signed off Wirecard’s accounts for 10 years despite growing scrutiny of its accounting practices from journalists and some investors. Auditors in EY’s German office did not request crucial account information from a Singapore bank where Wirecard claimed it held large sums of money, which is a routine audit procedure that could have uncovered the fraud. A number of investors are preparing to sue Wirecard and EY, which is also being investigated by German regulators.
The letter, a copy of which was seen by the Financial Times, has been provided to EY partners around the world who manage some of the firm’s biggest audit and consulting client relationships. They will send it to senior executives at the companies they work with in a bid to mitigate the reputational fallout from EY’s role in the Wirecard scandal.
“The collusive acts of fraud at Wirecard were implemented through a highly complex criminal network designed to deceive everyone — investors, banks, supervisory authorities, investigating lawyers and forensic auditors, as well as ourselves,” said Mr Di Sibio. “The public interest clearly requires that much more be done to detect fraud at its earliest stages.”
He said EY would increase its use of technology to improve its audits in the wake of the scandal, including “using electronic confirmations for audit evidence” such as “matching the company’s records of banking transactions with those provided to EY by the bank”.
EY will also use more third-party data and information during its audits and carry out greater checks on “management probity”, according to the letter. All EY auditors will also be given annual training in forensic accounting.
EY has repeatedly claimed responsibility for uncovering the fraud since Wirecard collapsed. As part of its audit on the company’s 2019 financial statements, EY sought external confirmation of trustee-controlled bank balances which led to the discovery that account confirmations were fraudulent. KPMG — which had been brought in to look into allegations made by the Financial Times — had earlier said it was unable to verify the bank balances.
Mr Di Sibio said: “I am not going to pre-empt the outcome of any investigations, but I want to clarify a fact that I know is of considerable importance to you and all our clients . . . When external confirmations for trustee accounts were obtained, the evidence received (including bank confirmations) had been falsified. It is obvious, therefore, that we need innovative techniques and processes to tackle future fraud of this scale.”
Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- RLGT +16.5%, CWH +8.1%, EXLS +6.9%, SMG +6%, NEE +5.9% (also announces 4-for-1 stock split), COOP +4.8%, DAVA +3.3%, MMM +1.5% (August sales), KHC +1.4% (updated outlook)
Other news:
- MRNS +54% (announces "positive" top-line results from Phase 3 Marigold Study)
- ABUS +15.6% (announces AB-729 90 mg single-dose week 12 data in chronic Hepatitis b subjects demonstrating significant and continuous reductions in HBsAg)
- FCAU +11.4% (FCAU and Peugeot amend combination agreement)
- MDC +10.9% (says sharp increase in demand for new homes has extended into Q3)
- NVAX +7.2% (announces COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing agreement with Serum Institute of India, increasing novavax' global production capacity to over 2 billion doses annually)
- AERI +4.8% (announces FDA approval of its Athlone, ireland facility for production of Rhopressa 0.02%)
- BNTX +4.4% (to receive up to €375 mln in funding from German Federal Ministry of Education and Research to support COVID-19 vaccine program BNT162)
- GRAF +4% (scheduled the special meeting of its stockholders to approve its proposed business combination with Velodyne Lidar for September 29)
- NYMT +3.5% (raises dividend)
- PBR +2.7% (reports on the revision of the Exploration & Production (E&P) segment portfolio in face of the crisis caused by COVID-19)
- IAC +2.6% (provides August performance metrics for ANGI)
- SKT +2.5% (provides operational update)
- CTRN +2.2% (reaffirms Q3 comp guidance; reinstates share repurchase program)
- SCM +2.1% (declares special quarterly dividend for Q4 of $0.06 per share)
- LPTX +1.5% (mixed shelf offering)
- MYL +1.4% (Mylan N.V. and Pfizer (PFE) receive final approval from the European Commission (EC) for the proposed combination of Mylan and Pfizer Inc.'s Upjohn business)
Analyst comments:
- PLT +4.9% (upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan)
- RIO +3.7% (upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan; upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays)
- TTD +3.4% (initiated with an Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets)
- WU +3.3% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA Securities)
- ROKU +3.1% (initiated with an Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets)
- CYBR +3% (upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays)
- NEP +2.9% (upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo)
- CX +2.8% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman)
- BHP +1.9% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman)
- NFLX +1.8% (initiated with an Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets)
- FB +1.2% ( initiated with an Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets)
- VFC +1.1% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BTIG Research)
- GOOG +0.9% (initiated with an Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets)
Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- PPD -4.6% (also announces 38 mln share offering by selling shareholders), LEN -3.8%, CCL -2.4% (provides Q3 update)
Other news:
- NKLA -5.8% (confirms it has contacted and briefed the SEC regarding Nikola's concerns pertaining to the Hindenburg report; Nikola intends to fully cooperate with the SEC regarding its inquiry into these matters)
- FRTA -4.5% (stock offering)
- KRNT -3.6% (stock offering)
- LMPX -2.1% (new CFO)
- PSTI -1.4% (provides shareholder update)
- ETNB -1.3% (stock offering)
- SHOP -1.2% (launches offerings of Class A subordinate voting shares and Convertible Senior Notes)
Early premarket gappers
- Gapping up:
- MRNS +61.1%, RLGT +12.5%, FCAU +9.8%, CWH +7.4%, NEE +7.3%, EXLS +6.9%, SMG +6%, NYMT +5.4%, AERI +4.3%, GRAF +4.1%, BNTX +3.7%, SKT +2.5%, CTRN +2.2%, SCM +2.1%, STOR +1.8%, MDC +1.7%, LPTX +1.5%, IAC +1.4%, MRCY +1.2%, FDX +1.1%, GOOG +0.9%, GNMK +0.9%, APLE +0.9%, MMM +0.9%, WMT +0.8%
- Gapping down:
- PPD -4.6%, NKLA -4.5%, FRTA -4.5%, LEN -3.9%, KRNT -3.6%, LMPX -2.1%, ETNB -1.3%