Summary: When her current recording contract expired at Big Machine, Taylor Swift went looking for a new label. After a heated bidding war, Swift wound up at Universal Music landing a deal that allows her to retain control of her masters. Swift also demanded that if the label ever sold its share in Spotify that she get a cut. More importantly, she insisted on this for every single act in Universal’s roster.<br> This is especially notable because Swift is not a big player in music streaming, because she holds back her albums with a window to urge fans to purchase them instead. Unfortunately, the sales of physical albums, like vinyl LPs and CDs, is collapsing, causing many artists to get out of the habit of actually creating them. Instead, some big acts release a constant stream of singles, videos and live cuts since that’s how their fans listen to music these days.<br> Meanwhile the North American box office continues to chug along at 10% over last year’s tally, with a record breaking $12 billion in sight. That growth rate is keeping pace with the Chinese box office, which is up 11% this year, earning $8.1 billion thus far. Maybe the date for when China’s theatrical box office will surpass that of North America’s needs to be pushed back a year or two.<br> Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why pop stars may be headed to Broadway, how YouTube has begun showing blockbuster movies (with ads) and the winners of this year’s International Emmy Awards.<br> <br> Comscore Announces Official Worldwide Box Office Results for Weekend of November 25, 2018<br> <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comscore-announces-official-worldwide-box-office-results-for-weekend-of-november-25-2018-300754926.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comscore-announces-official-worldwide-box-office-results-for-weekend-of-november-25-2018-300754926.html</a><br> Box Office: Netflix’s ‘Roma’ Opens Strong in Limited Release, Say Experts<br> <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-netflix-s-roma-opens-strong-limited-release-say-experts-1163716" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-netflix-s-roma-opens-strong-limited-release-say-experts-1163716</a><br> China Box Office: ‘Venom’ Enjoys Spectacular $87 Million Second Weekend<br> <a href="https://variety.com/2018/film/asia/china-box-office-venom-spectacular-second-weekend-1203032056/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://variety.com/2018/film/asia/china-box-office-venom-spectacular-second-weekend-1203032056/</a><br> How the Oscar Race Became a Referendum on Netflix<br> <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-oscar-race-became-a-referendum-netflix-1160629" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-oscar-race-became-a-referendum-netflix-1160629</a><br> ‘Pirates’ Screenwriter Terry Rossio Apologizes for N-Word Tweet<br> <a href="https://variety.com/2018/dirt/news/terry-rossio-n-word-pirates-screenwriter-antivax-1203035692/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://variety.com/2018/dirt/news/terry-rossio-n-word-pirates-screenwriter-antivax-1203035692/</a><br> Studios Expected to Push for Early Home Release in 2019<br> <a href="https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/studios-movise-early-home-release-1203030705/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/studios-movise-early-home-release-1203030705/</a><br> Legendary Says It Has “No Interest” in Investment From Saudi Fund<br> <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/saudi-arabia-considering-700m-investment-legendary-entertainment-report-1161539" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/saudi-arabia-considering-700m-investment-legendary-entertainment-report-1161539</a><br> China’s Reliance on Hollywood Increases Again<br> <a href="http://chinafilminsider.com/headlines-from-china-chinas-reliance-on-hollywo..."></a>
