Priority Income Fund Announces 12.0% Annualized Total Cash Distribution Rate (on Class R ...
Trump's lawyers rebuff DA's idea for upholding his hush money conviction
Technology stocks pulled Wall Street to another record amid mixed trading. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% Monday after closing November at an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%. Super Micro Computer, a stock that’s been on an AI-driven roller coaster, soared after saying an investigation found no evidence of misconduct by its management or the company’s board. Retailers were mixed coming off Black Friday and heading into what’s expected to be the best Cyber Monday on record. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. On Monday: The S&P 500 rose 14.77 points, or 0.2%, to 6,047.15. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 128.65 points, or 0.3%, to 44,782. The Nasdaq composite rose 185.78 points, or 1%, to 19,403.95. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 0.59 points, or less than 0.1%, to 2,434.14. For the year: The S&P 500 is up 1,277.32 points, or 26.8%. The Dow is up 7,092.46 points, or 18.8%. The Nasdaq is up 4,392.60 points, or 29.3%. The Russell 2000 is up 407.06 points, or 20.1%.Democrat Jamie Raskin is running for top Judiciary post in bid to counter Trump
Six-months on: Are we still afraid of the Black Cat?
In the ‘00s, The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan looked at the disruptive nature of early social media platform MySpace and saw the death of the record label. It didn’t exactly work out that way — not with MySpace, not with Facebook, not with TikTok. In fact, the major music companies became adept at using these platforms to break artists and perpetuate their market power; if there’s a breakout song on TikTok, labels rush into an old-fashioned bidding war. While social media certainly disrupted the music business, it didn’t uproot the traditional record label model. There have been numerous other game-changers over the years that failed — on their own, at least — to radically alter how major labels do business, including independent distribution. After TuneCore launched in 2006, major labels continued to sign artists and own their intellectual property, albeit to broader “360” deals that incorporated more than recorded music rights. Nor did the advent of streaming by itself reshape the structure of major record labels. The artists with the most streaming success are involved with major labels in one way or another, be it a traditional record contract, a joint venture or, in rare cases like Taylor Swift , a distribution deal. Corgan may have misjudged social media’s sole impact on record labels, but he wasn’t entirely wrong about its ultimate influence. When combined, social media, independent distribution and streaming form a potent combination that has changed the balance of power and induced major labels to change how they promote music around the world. This dynamic isn’t exactly new, but it was never clearer than in 2024. This year, major labels have increasingly embraced the role of being service providers to those parties who prefer to remain independent and retain ownership of their intellectual property. A few years ago, Universal Music Group (UMG) was pouring money into superstar acquisitions such as Bob Dylan ’s and Sting ’s song catalogs. More recently, the company has been focusing on its artist services model. In the last three months alone, UMG acquired indie label group [PIAS] and agreed to acquire Downtown Music Holdings for $775 million, though the proposed deal has encountered opposition from the independent music community and will need to pass regulatory scrutiny before being finalized. The company also purchased Outdustry — which has an artist- and label-services arm that focuses on China, India and other high-growth emerging markets — and bought a stake in Chord Music Partners, giving UMG distribution and publishing administration duties for the more than 60,000 songs in the investment vehicle’s catalog. In fact, 2024 played out much like UMG CEO Lucian Grainge said it would. His January memo predicted the company would continue to expand globally and offer labels outside of mature markets a “full suite of artist services” while “acquiring local labels, catalogs and artist services businesses.” To be fair, UMG was already on that path: In 2022, it acquired m-theory’s artist services company and installed its founders, JT Myers and Nat Pastor , as co-CEOs of Virgin Music Group to expand Virgin’s independent music division globally. Warner Music Group (WMG) appears to have sensed the shifting landscape, too, as there has been a noticeable shift in messaging during Robert Kyncl ’s tenure as the company’s CEO. In the Stephen Cooper era, WMG was the music community’s leading investor in Web3 startups. In contrast, Kyncl has chosen to focus on expanding WMG’s footprint globally. WMG briefly signaled its interest in acquiring Believe in March and April after the French company announced a CEO-led effort to take the company private . Notably, Believe has a global label services business and a presence in developing markets that take advantage of the “glocalization” of local markets and global streaming platforms’ ability to help music travel across borders. WMG ultimately passed on pursuing Believe, but Kyncl has followed his peers’ interest in emerging markets, purchasing stakes in Indian companies Divo and Global Music Junction. The service model isn’t an entirely original approach. Grainge wrote that UMG is “creating the blueprint for the labels of the future,” but UMG is doing what major music companies have always done: following trends and buying independent companies that established a particular market. Sony Music already bought into the service model with The Orchard and AWAL, the latter purchased in 2022 for $430 million. Independents such as Believe, OneRPM and Symphonic Distribution have become established players by combining distribution and artist services, while investors have poured money into independents such as Create Music Group — which this year raised $165 million at a $1 billion valuation — and gamma, which is backed by $1 billion. But the well-established blueprint was never more of a hot commodity than in 2024. In the music business, nothing signifies the relevance of a business model like the major labels’ desire to buy it and integrate it into their systems — especially when the largest music companies feel they have no choice. The holy trinity of social media, independent distribution and global streaming platforms has given artists an alternative to the much-derided major label record contract. Artists who want to own their intellectual property and have more creative control have never had more of the tools necessary to be independent. That includes financing options, such as advances from well-funded independents or royalty advances from a new breed of financial services companies. When there’s no need for radio promotion and shelf space at brick-and-mortar retailers, the independent model looks a lot more attractive — not only for artists but for the major labels that have become increasingly keen on buying into it. Ironically, the major labels’ acceptance of the independents’ business model means the music business is becoming less independent. Trade groups such as the Association of Independent Music and IMPALA quickly spoke out against UMG’s agreement to purchase Downtown, just as they did with Sony Music’s purchase of AWAL. U.K. regulators ultimately concluded that AWAL was a “relatively small player” and that the deal did not substantially reduce competition. Time will tell if competition watchdogs feel the same about UMG’s much larger purchase of Downtown. In any case, the independents have proved that artist and label services businesses are a good fit for the modern music business. The next step was always going to be consolidation.
As expected, that take aged like milk. Jackson is one of the best quarterbacks in the league while Jones is out of a starting job and off the Giants after they cut him on Friday. Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber is getting roasted for a previous take that he had about quarterback Daniel Jones. He explained on WFAN Sports Radio in New York in late 2022 that he'd rather have Jones than Lamar Jackson heading into the 2023 season. No, he was not kidding. Fans are having a field day with this on social media. "Welcome to Giants Twitter. Jones was better than Herbert man told me," one tweet read . "Was this a real take?? Tiki took one too many ;bonks on the head' when he was playing apparently," another fan tweeted . "This is Tiki we're talking about. Just another bad take," another tweet read . "Colin Cowherd would be proud," another fan tweeted . pic.twitter.com/8jwnLkkvRB As expected, that take aged like milk. Jackson is one of the best quarterbacks in the league while Jones is out of a starting job and off the Giants after they cut him on Friday. Jones asked for his release on Friday morning and the Giants granted him his wish, knowing that they had to move on from him as their quarterback. He finished his Giants tenure with 14,582 yards through the air, 70 touchdowns, and 47 interceptions. Theo Wargo/Getty Images Jones was with the Giants for six seasons but will get a fresh start with a different team at some point. Meanwhile, Tommy DeVito will be the Giants' starting quarterback for the rest of the season before they look for a new QB1 during the offseason. Related: Breaking: Giants Release Daniel Jones Just Days After Benching Him
Farage: Badenoch must apologise for ‘crazy conspiracy theory’ on Reform numbersATLANTA (AP) — Already reeling from their November defeats, Democrats now are grappling with President Joe Biden’s pardoning of his son for federal crimes, with some calling the move misguided and unwise after the party spent years slamming Donald Trump as a threat to democracy who disregarded the law. The president pardoned Hunter Biden late Sunday evening, reversing his previous pledges with a grant of clemency that covers more than a decade of any federal crimes his son might have committed. The 82-year-old president said in a statement that his son’s prosecution on charges of tax evasion and falsifying a federal weapons purchase form were politically motivated. “He believes in the justice system, but he also believes that politics infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who along with Biden and other White House officials insisted for months that Hunter Biden would not get a pardon . That explanation did not satisfy some Democrats, angry that Biden’s reversal could make it harder to take on Trump , who has argued that multiple indictments and one conviction against him were a matter of Biden and Democrats turning the justice system against him. “This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wrote of Biden on the social media platform X. “When you become President, your role is Pater familias of the nation,” the governor continued, a reference to the president invoking fatherhood in explaining his decision. “Hunter brought the legal trouble he faced on himself, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also acknowledging that no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.” Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., said on X: “This wasn’t a politically motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies and was convicted by a jury of his peers.” Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet said Biden “put personal interest ahead of duty” with a decision that “further erodes Americans’ faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all.” Michigan Sen. Gary Peters said the pardon was “an improper use of power” that erodes faith in government and “emboldens others to bend justice to suit their interests.” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., called the pardon “understandable” if viewed only as the “action of a loving father.” But Biden's status as “our nation's Chief Executive," the senator said, rendered the move “unwise.” Certainly, the president has Democratic defenders who note Trump’s use of presidential power to pardon a slew of his convicted aides, associates and friends, several for activities tied to Trump’s campaign and first administration. “Trump pardoned Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort, as well as his son-in-law’s father, Charles Kushner — who he just appointed US ambassador to France,” wrote prominent Democratic fundraiser Jon Cooper on X. Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said there “is no standard for Donald Trump, and the highest standard for Democrats and Joe Biden.” Harrison pointed to Trump's apparent plans to oust FBI Director Christopher Wray and replace him with loyalist Kash Patel and suggested the GOP's pursuit of Hunter Biden would not have ended without clemency. “Most people will see that Joe Biden did what was right,” Harrison said. First lady Jill Biden said Monday from the White House, “Of course I support the pardon of my son.” Democrats already are facing the prospects of a Republican trifecta in Washington, with voters returning Trump to the White House and giving the GOP control of the House and Senate. Part of their argument against Trump and Republican leaders is expected to be that the president-elect is violating norms with his talk of taking retribution against his enemies. Before beating Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump faced his own legal troubles, including two cases that stemmed from his efforts to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Those cases, including Trump’s sentencing after being convicted on New York state business fraud charges, have either been dismissed or indefinitely delayed since Trump’s victory on Nov. 5, forcing Democrats to recalibrate their approach to the president-elect. In June, President Biden firmly ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son, telling reporters as his son faced trial in the Delaware gun case: “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.” As recently as Nov. 8, days after Trump’s victory, Jean-Pierre ruled out a pardon or clemency for the younger Biden, saying: “We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.” The president’s about-face came weeks before Hunter Biden was set to receive his punishment after his trial conviction in the gun case and guilty plea on tax charges. It capped a long-running legal saga for the younger Biden, who disclosed he was under federal investigation in December 2020 — a month after his father’s 2020 victory. The sweeping pardon covers not just the gun and tax offenses against the younger Biden, but also any other “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through December 1, 2024.” Hunter Biden was convicted in June in Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing a gun in 2018 when , prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. He had been set to stand trial in September in a California case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. But he agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges in a surprise move hours after jury selection was set to begin. In his statement Sunday, the president argued that such offenses typically are not prosecuted with the same vigor as was directed against Hunter Biden. “The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden said in his statement. “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son. ... I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.” Associated Press journalists Will Weissert aboard Air Force One and Darlene Superville, Mary Claire Jalonick and Michael Tackett in Washington contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 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