KKR's investments in music over the past 15 years have been fascinating to follow. Here's a brief timeline:

• 2009: acquired 51% stake in BMG
• 2013: sold that stake for $1B
• 2020: invested in Artlist, a royalty-free platform
• 2021: acquired stake in Ryan Tedder's catalog…

Taylor Swift's 'THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT' to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 with further increased 2.6 million units first week (via HITS Daily Double).

Second biggest debut of all-time. #1 vinyl debut and #1 streaming debut.

The incomparable ⁦Miles Johnson⁩ of the @ft winning an ⁦Overseas Press Club⁩ award for his brilliant expose on Russian mercenary group Wagner.

at the press conference where Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer told reporters: “This is a great day for America”.
someone in the park is playing ariana grande loudly in the background. across the street, the Trump trial is taking place.

Bombshell opinion from New York's highest court this morning. Could have a bearing on the Trump trial too.

Updated story w/ Anna Nicolaou

ft.com/content/7d78a5…

this is still one of the most memorable stories I've gotten to write for the FT:
ft.com/content/9b0ef7…

Arthur Aidala's oral arguments in the Weinstein case in New York very much worth watching today youtube.com/watch?v=GQUD3p…

NEW YORK (AP) — New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, ordering new trial in landmark #MeToo case.

the bidding war for hipgnosis continues: Concord has come back with a higher offer to fend off Blackstone

the guy who inspects the finances of Trump's media company has spelled his name 14 different ways in regulatory filings: ft.com/content/2556fa…

Daniel Ek seems to backtrack a bit on his cost-cutting push as Spotify misses forecasts on user growth.
Ek says that mass layoffs in December 'disrupted our operations more than we anticipated'.
he also admits 'we probably pulled back too significantly' on marketing spending

Taylor Swift's 'THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT' now aiming for #1 debut on the Billboard 200 increased 2.3 million+ units first week (via HITS Daily Double).

Biggest streaming debut ever, career high sales and top 3 all-time album debut.

as buyers circle Hipgnosis, Merck is not leaving without a fight.

HSM, the management co he founded & still chairs, says there are 'no legal grounds' to 'terminate' its role as adviser to Hipgnosis. + alleges that HSM was 'blamed for issues that were not...its responsibility'

🚨NEW🚨 Eisai and Biogen's US rollout of Alzheimer's drug Leqembi is faltering. Only 5,600 patients had been approved to use the drug by the start of April, falling short of a target of 10,000 patients by end of March, according to Medicare data shared with the FT.

TTPD will easily pass 2mn first-week sales. This has only happened twice since 1991, when Nielsen began tracking music sales.

Nsync’s No Strings Attached —biggest album of the boyband era when the music business was booming —sold 2.4mn in its first week
ft.com/content/7c1356…

blackstone is now battling with apollo-backed concord to buy out hipgnosis:

Biggest first day album debuts in Spotify history:

#1 THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT 314M
#2 Midnights 186M
#3 1989 (Taylor’s Version) 176M
#4 Certified Lover Boy 155M
#5 Un Verano Sin Ti 146M
#6 nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana 146M
#7 Scorpion 132M
#8 UTOPIA 128M
#9 Speak…

excellent as ever from Lindsay Zoladz nytimes.com/2024/04/19/art…

Netflix using generative AI images in a true crime doc is extremely irresponsible and exactly what archivists are telling documentaries not to do 404media.co/netflix-doc-wh…

FT interview with CNN chief Mark Thompson: eyes subscription service as part of new digital strategy; promises to win back cable viewers but cord cutting and digital shift 'existential'; cost cutting and bootstrapping to fund overhaul, w/ Anna Nicolaou
ft.com/content/d6e8f7…