This Week In Music: Facebook Is In The Video Game, Taylor Swifties Seek Revenge

Bruce Haring
·3 min read

FACEBOOK IS IN: Facebook has jumped into the music video game. The social media giant has announced it will now license content from Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group for Facebook Watch and via individual artists’ pages. They can be shared, reacted to, or commented on like any other video on Facebook. The move is a step up for Facebook, which previously was able to only share short previews of major label content. The target is industry leader YouTube, which has music video as one of the most popular and profitable attractions on that site.

TAYLOR SWIFTIES JUSTICE: The word “fan” is short for “fanatic.” Submitted for your approval: the reaction of certain fans of Taylor Swift this week to a relatively good album review.

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Pitchfork senior editor Jillian Mapes gave Swift’s new record folklore a review that called it “a sweater-weather record filled with cinematic love songs and rich fictional details.”

Pitchfork uses ratings of multiple staffers to determine a final score, and granted the album an 8 out of 10 rating. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough for ultra-fans, who doxxed Mapes by posting her personal information and taking to social media to wage jihad. Swift has yet to comment on the actions, perhaps because she’s celebrating the overwhelming sales of the album, which topped the 2 million mark in its first week

JAPAN IS GOING MUSERK: Music and video rights management firm Muserk has partnered with Video Research of Japan to launch MUSERK V.I.D. The joint venture will service, manage and protect the online rights of the major broadcasters, networks, and production companies of Japan around the world. Japan is the second-largest music market in the world and third-largest YouTube market in the world. Muserk was founded by CEO Paul Goldman and currently manages rights and monetizing content in over 98 territories and 50 countries.

MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS: Nominees were announced this week, but the most interesting notes were the two new categories this year: best music video from home and best quarantine performance. Hopefully both will be one-time affairs. Fans can vote at this link until Aug. 23. Voting for the PUSH best new artist category will remain active into the show on Aug. 30.

The 2020 MTV Video Music Awards 2020 will air on Sunday, Aug. 30 at 8:00 PM ET live from Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

 

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