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27 Jun 2024

The Most Common Lyrical Themes & Moods on Billboard’s Charts: Love Songs in the Lead

What did songs sound like, lyrically, on Billboard’s charts in 2023?

AI-powered hit song analytics platform ChartCipher has released its latest report, encompassing the Billboard Hot 100’s three weekly component charts – Streaming Songs, Radio Songs and Digital Song Sales – and spotlighting key findings about songs’ lyrical themes and moods on surveys dated Jan. 7 through Dec. 30, 2023.

In October 2023, ChartCipher launched publicly, as announced jointly by MyPart and Hit Songs Deconstructed. The platform utilizes analytics from 10 of Billboard’s most prominent charts dating to the start of the 2000s: the Hot 100, Streaming Songs, Radio Songs, Digital Song Sales, Hot Country Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, Pop Airplay and Country Airplay.

Here are three takeaways from Chart Cipher’s newest findings about the lyrical makeup of chart hits, reflecting performance on Streaming Songs, Radio Songs and Digital Song Sales, during 2023.

Love Language

“In 2023, the theme of love was the most prominent across all three charts,” ChartCipher’s report notes. “The themes of lifestyle and partying/living it up were also relatively significant, though less so than love. Hooking up, inspiration/empowerment and introspection were the least prominent themes, with introspection being the least featured across all charts.”

Love was the leading theme last year on each of the surveys that contribute to the Hot 100, playing into 51% of entries on Radio Songs, 48% on Streaming Songs and 44% on Digital Song Sales.

Plus, over the past five years, love has loomed large in all three metrics, ranging between takes of 48% to 53% of titles on Streaming Songs, 48% to 51% on Radio Songs and 44% to 47% on Digital Song Sales.

Notable hits with a theme focused on love (whether good or bad or in between) in 2023, ChartCipher cites, included Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer,” The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s “Die for You” and Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night.”

The Party’s Not Over on Radio

While common, as noted above, hits about partying on the Streaming Songs chart “have been on a notable decline since 2019, dropping from 44% to 32% during the five-year period,” ChartCipher’s research reveals. Titles on Digital Song Sales “also experienced a decline in the theme, though to a much lesser extent, dropping from 32% to 27%.”

Conversely (and happily), radio played more party-hearty hits from 2022 to 2023, with such entries rising from shares of 30% to 35% on Radio Songs.

Among 2023 party anthems were David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” and Jimin’s “Like Crazy.”

We Don’t Mean to Be Cynical, But …

While love (in all its scope) represented the most common lyrical theme in 2023 on the Hot 100’s three component charts, “Cynicism emerged as the most prominent lyrical mood across all platforms, featured in approximately half of all songs,” ChartCipher reports. “It was followed by dramatic or detached moods, which varied by chart. Songs that evoked a happy mood accounted for just under one-third of songs across all formats.”

Streaming Songs, Common Lyrical Moods 2023, ChartCipher

ChartCipher

(ChartCipher differentiates between songs’ themes and moods, with a theme defined as a song’s overarching lyrical concept, such as love, lifestyle or partying, while mood reflects a range of emotions conjured by a song’s lyrics, from sadness to happiness and more.)

Not to be further cynical, but Radio Songs hits increased in cynical lyrics from a 43% share in 2022 to 52% in 2023.

To end on a positive note, “Both Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales experienced a peak in cynical-themed lyrics in 2021, followed by a subsequent drop in 2022,” ChartCipher notes. Cynicism on Streaming Songs continued a downward trajectory – such titles trended 63%, 59% and 52% in 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively – while entries on Digital Song Sales essentially stabilized.

27 Jun 2024

‘Praise You Anywhere’ Hitmaker Brandon Lake Signs With UTA

Grammy winner Brandon Lake, known for his Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart-topping hits including “Gratitude” and “Praise You Anywhere,” has signed with UTA for booking representation.

Lake recently wrapped a sold-out, 20-city tour crisscrossing the United States and was both a co-host and a winner at the annual K-LOVE Fan Awards in Nashville.

“I am thrilled to be working with UTA and their talented team,” Lake said in a statement. “Their passion and expertise align perfectly with my vision for my music and ministry. I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together.”

“We are wildly impressed with how Lake is changing the game for Christian artists and are thrilled to welcome him to the UTA family,” Matthew Morgan, co-head of UTA Nashville and a UTA partner, added in the statement.

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Lake will partner with Grammy nominee Phil Wickham to co-head their second Summer Worship Nights tour, with direct support from hip-hop artist Hulvey. The tour is set to visit 17 markets over the summer. Additionally, Lake is set for a Sept. 30 concert at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium for “Off The Record” at the Ryman will be an unplugged performance that will also feature surprise guests.

UTA represents talent ranging from actors, athletes, and authors to gamers and digital influencers. The Los Angeles-based company also has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Nashville, New York, London, Munich and Madrid.

27 Jun 2024

Paramount Cuts Nearly All Content on MTV, CMT, Comedy Central and TV Land Websites

Following the unexpected shuttering of the MTV News website earlier this week, Paramount has now largely cleaned house on the sites for several more of its cable channels, in a potential cost-cutting move.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the sites for Comedy Central, CMT, Yellowstone airer Paramount Network and TV Land were instead directing users to the media conglomerate’s streaming platform Paramount+. On Monday, MTVnews.com was taken down, purging some 20 years of stories from the web.

A pop-up window on the Comedy Central site reads, “While episodes of most Comedy Central series are no longer available on this website, you can watch Comedy Central through your TV provider. You can also sign up for Paramount+ to watch many seasons of Comedy Central shows.” Similar language shows up on the CMT, Paramount Network and TV Land sites, as well as that of MTV (which was separate from MTVnews.com).

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aramount said in a statement, “As part of broader website changes across Paramount, we have introduced more streamlined versions of our sites, driving fans to Paramount+ to watch their favorite shows.”

As noted by LateNighter, the cleaning out of the Comedy Central site in particular wipes out a huge trove of archival material from The Daily Show and other late night series, along with clips from South Park, Key & Peele and Workaholics, among many others. Some of that material is available on YouTube, but it’s not as easily searchable or accessible as it was on the network page. (The oldest video on the Daily Show YouTube channel, for instance, is from 2016, while the show’s history stretches back 20 years before then.)

On Paramount+, only the two most recent seasons of The Daily Show are available. The platform has several South Park specials and the 1999 feature film Bigger, Longer and Uncut, but the show’s primary streaming home is on Max. Paramount+ does have the full runs of Key & Peele and Workaholics.

As of publication time, sites for Paramount’s BET, Nickelodeon and VH1 were still active, while MTV.com offered some episodes and clips.

The website changes come on the heels of Paramount’s co-CEOs — George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins — telling employees at a town hall meeting Tuesday that they were embarking on a cost-cutting mission as profits have dropped for the company. Paramount is looking for $500 million in reduced costs, which will mean layoffs for some employees. Cheeks also said at the town hall that “We’re looking at selling certain Paramount-owned assets — in fact, we’ve already hired bankers to assist us in this process — and we’ll use the proceeds to help pay down debt and strengthen our balance sheet.”

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

27 Jun 2024

Devonté Hynes to Make Broadway Debut as ‘JOB’ Composer

Devonté Hynes is well-known as a musical collaborator, songwriter and producer who’s worked with a diverse and ever-expanding group of artists (Solange, Mariah Carey, Harry Styles and Carly Rae Jepsen, to name a few) and a composer for film, television, dance and classical ensembles. Now, Billboard can exclusively reveal that the artist also known as Blood Orange will soon add another creative milestone to his resumé: his Broadway composing debut.

Hynes will compose original music for the play JOB, which begins performances at the Hayes Theatre on July 15 in advance of an official July 30 opening. JOB arrives following an acclaimed, hit off-Broadway run that began in fall 2023 at SoHo Playhouse and transferred to the Connelly Theatre for a second, standing-room-only run.

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JOB

Sydney Lemmon and Peter Friedman star in JOB.

Courtesy Photo

“Anyone familiar with Dev’s work already knows what a naturally brilliant storyteller he is,” producer Hannah Getts said in a statement, “so it’s no surprise that his work on JOB not only enriches the thematic and narrative threads but also deepens the emotional resonance of the play.”

A psychological thriller written by Max Wolf Friedlich and directed by Michael Herwitz, JOB centers on an employee of a big tech company (played by Sydney Lemmon) who’s placed on leave after she becomes the subject of a viral video and, determined to regain the job that gives her life meaning, seeks the help of a crisis therapist (played by Peter Friedman).

Hynes is friendly with Lemmon, who relayed to JOB‘s producers that he’d seen and loved the show during its Connelly run; when it became clear that the show would transfer to Broadway, the producers along with playwright Wolf Friedlich — who’d always wanted to incorporate outside artists into the show’s creative team — approached Hynes about composing music for it.

A 2021 Grammy nominee in the best chamber music or small ensemble performance category for his work with Third Coast Percussion on their album Fields, Hynes has released four solo albums as Blood Orange. His scoring work includes the films Queen and Slim, Passing and Master Gardener, as well as the HBO series We Are Who We Are. A multi-instrumentalist, Hynes was one of just four pianists invited to play alongside composer Philip Glass at the Kennedy Center in 2018, and his own debut concerto for piano and strings premiered at New York’s Little Island Festival in 2021; he’s also collaborated with various major symphony orchestras.

27 Jun 2024

ADE 2024 Adds Empire, Spotify & SoundCloud Execs to Conference

Four months out from its October conference in Amsterdam, ADE is adding a new batch of names to the program.

Today (June 27), ADE announced the addition of Empire president Tina Davis, who will give a keynote question and answer session about her role in expanding the influence of Empire, with a focus on the independent label’s expansion into Afrobeats and Latin.

Amid the explosion of music from the region, Spotify’s head of music for Sub-Saharan Africa Phiona Okumu will talk about elevating African artists and Spotify’s initiatives to support emerging and female artists. Grimes’ manager Daouda Leonard will give a talk looking at the intersection of music, AI and technology, along with artist management and ways to give artists control over their careers and businesses.

Believe’s global head of music Romain Vivien and TuneCore CEO Andreea Gleeson will give a joint keynote address as part of ADE’s Insider Knowledge series that will focus on how artists can navigate the evolving music landscape. Additionally, as part of a new partnership between SoundCloud and ADE, leaders from the platform will present a session on how independent artists can make the most of it.

Along with these execs, electronic artists including Palestinian techno producer Sama’ Abdulhadi, Ukrainian artist Miss Monique and Dutch producer Chris Stussy all join the program. Previously announced speakers include Timbaland, Martin Garrix, Laurent Garnier, music executive Grace Ladoja and representatives from fabric London, Armada Music, WME and UTA, with more names to be announced in the coming months.

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ADE 2024 is taking place Oct. 16-20 at locations throughout Amsterdam. The conference will again be divided into Lab and Pro programming, with Lab content tailored for people trying to get into or just starting out in the industry and Pro programming designed for established managers, label execs, artists, streamers, marketers, promoters and more.

The conference also offers consumer-facing events, with last year’s musical offerings happening in more than 200 venues around the city.

27 Jun 2024

Inside HYBE’s Latin Expansion With HYBE Latin America CEO Jonghyun ‘JH’ Kah

Following its acquisition of Exile Music last November, HYBE is expanding its global entertainment empire in Latin America, launching new offices in Mexico City, Miami and Los Angeles and introducing new properties to its Latin-focused operation. 

The move includes the introduction of a new label, Docemil Music, and the rebranding of Exile Music as Zarpazo. Another Exile division, Exile podcasts, will be rebranded as Ajá Podcasts. 

“Latin music is one of the fastest-growing genres in the global market,” says Jonghyun “JH” Kah, CEO of HYBE Latin America. “Additionally, there are very nimble and smart independent local music companies that aim to change the status quo by developing new acts and really sticking with them.” 

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By the same token, adds Kah, the Latin market is unique in the longevity enjoyed by its artists, and older songs have a long shelf life. “We aim to rediscover the soul of Latin sound and make it a global phenomenon by focusing on talent that resonates with different generations and has a defining impact on the music world, not just within the Latin sphere,” he says.

The company’s executive team includes Jeremy Norkin, who co-founded Exile Music and is now serving as HYBE Latin America’s COO. Elsewhere, Docemil will be headquartered in Mexico City and led by GM Fernando Grediaga, who brings over 23 years of industry experience, including stints at EMI Music and Universal Music, among others. Zarpazo, formerly Exile Music, is based in Miami and will be led by Grediaga and Santiago Duque, who formerly worked at Rimas Entertainment and Sony Music. Zarpazo’s roster includes emerging artists Magna and Chicocurlyhead. 

HYBE Latin America also includes a boutique touring agency led by Norkin with a diverse roster that includes Quevedo, Cypress Hill, Nach, KHEA and Marc Seguí. 

In expanding in Latin America, HYBE is looking to tap into a burgeoning market with no genre borders, says Kah. 

“We see a lot of diversity in Latin music, and we are not bound to any particular genre. As K-pop can encompass many different genres of music, I believe Latin music can be more diverse in many ways,” he says. “As music transcends boundaries, our targets cannot be confined to geographical borders. Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world, which is why we are headquartered in CDMX. Nonetheless, the U.S. Hispanic market is just as big or perhaps even bigger than Mexico. We’re also keeping in mind that Latin artists come from all over the world, including the Americas and Europe.” 

HYBE, of course, is known for developing mega K-pop stars like BTS via a sophisticated artist identification and development infrastructure. “HYBE always seeks out the best talent, allows them to discover their authentic voice, and connects them with their fans. K-pop’s training system is competitive since we’re trying our best to train well-rounded professional artists,” says Kah. “In our new endeavors, we will scout for talent and provide them with the tools they need to improve. Our goal is to ensure that our artists discover their own unique voices and establish stronger relationships with their fans than ever before.” 

That said, Kah adds that HYBE Latin America “won’t just be replicating our practices from Korea, or from the U.S.” Rather, he says, “our system will try to seek the best of both worlds. The Korean approach is highly exclusive, and the initial costs are extremely high. In Latin America, we want to revamp our model, we want to plant seeds and see how they grow. It took K-pop more than a decade to get to where it is. I hope that in 10 years we can confidently say we made the same unique success here.” 

27 Jun 2024

Selena Gomez Talks Paul Rudd Crush, ‘Dream’ Meryl Streep and ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ Reboot

Behind the social media fame, the songs, the movies, the red carpets and the philanthropy, Selena Gomez just wants to make her family proud.

Martin Short is part of that expanded family.

Gomez stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday night (June 26) for a catch-up with Short, her co-star on Only Murders in the Building, that felt like old buddies picking up where they left off.

Gomez is, according to Short, never a second late on set, knows every line, a total pro.

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Deflecting praise, she remarked, “I do what I can with what I have. And I’m so grateful. And I mean, my grandparents are here, I just want to make my family proud.”

The pop culture icon has a busy schedule. Having bagged the best actress award and a rousing standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival following a screening of Emilia Pérez, Gomez is looking ahead to a string of small screen projects. Among them, season four of Only Murders in the Building, which starts Aug. 27 on Hulu, and a reboot of Wizards of Waverly Place, for which she is on board as executive producer and appears in episode one.

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“It brings me to tears because that is the beginning of where I started,” she says of the 2000s sitcom, “and to honor it in this way has truly been a blast.”

Gomez also confessed her crush on Paul Rudd, and the “dream” that was working with Meryl Streep on Only Murders. “As an actress you can only dream to work with someone as great as her,” she recounts “But she would just dally around as if she was just a part of our family. She would sing songs barefoot. And talk to everyone and…that was elegant to me. That was true class.”

Away from the spotlight, Gomez helms the Rare Beauty cosmetics brand, which has a commitment to raise awareness and increase access to mental health services for young people. Gomez, who explored her own mental health struggles in the Alek Keshishian-helmed documentary My Mind & Me, hopes to raise $100 million for good causes. “It’s got meaning and it’s practical,” she explains.

Short is guest host, standing-in (or rather, sitting) for Kimmel this week. Watch the interview below.



27 Jun 2024

Beck Performs ‘Paper Tiger,’ Talks Late-Night Party Antics With Paul McCartney: Watch

Winning album of the year at the Grammy Awards, and recording some of the greatest songs to emerge from the ‘90s, will surely open doors. Not all of them, apparently.

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Beck, an eight-time Grammy winner, whose deadbeat classic “Loser” has become near and dear to Gen Z, stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live to recount his very own loser story.

Chatting with guest host Martin Short during Wednesday night’s episode, Beck told of a Grammy night mission in Hollywood as Paul McCartney’s wingman. The pair went is search of a party, with Mark Ronson working the decks. Beck and McCartney, a household name everywhere since the Beatles got their break in the early ‘60s, were bounced. “How V.I.P. do we gotta get,” McCartney, the two-time Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inducted can be heard saying to the door staff.

To add insult to the injury to Beck’s ego, the late night show aired a clip of the mid-adventure. At least with McCartney, he was in good company.

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Beck will hit the road next month for his orchestral tour. But first, the singer and songwriter warmed up with a performance of Sea Change cut “Paper Tiger,” fleshed out with a full band and strings ensemble. The tour stars July 3 at Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville, WA.

The U.S. artist hasn’t released a full-length solo LP since 2019’s Hyperspace, though he has cut several collaborative singles in recent years, including tracks with Gorillaz, Chemical Brothers and with Phoenix on “Odyssey,” which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart last year.

Watch the late-night performance below.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=ce4SxPr1tKc&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

27 Jun 2024

Neil Young and Crazy Horse Tour Makes ‘Big Unplanned Break’

Neil Young and Crazy Horse press pause on their Love Earth trek, following illness among the touring party.

The show will stop for the foreseeable future to allow bandmates to recover from illness, explains a post on Young’s official website, the Neil Young Archives

The Love Earth Tour, their first trek together in a decade, “has been a great experience for us so far,” the message reads. “Great audiences and music. we have had a blast. Though, when a “couple of us got sick after Detroit’s Pine Knob, we had to stop,” the message continues. “We are still not fully recovered, so sadly our great tour will have a big unplanned break.”

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All dates across this U.S. and Canada this July are now listed by Ticketmaster as canceled.

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“We will try to play some of the dates we miss as time passes when we are ready to rock again,” the rockers’ statement continues. “We know many of you made travel plans and we apologize for the inconvenience. Thanks for your understanding and patience. Health is # 1. We want to stay and do more shows and more albums for you…. and for for us.”

The message is signed by Young, Micah Nelson, Ralph Molina and Billy Talbot.

Billboard’s Joe Lynch caught a recent show at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, the first of two dates. “Musically,” writes Lynch, “Young and Horse were as simpatico and incendiary as ever, stretching out on auditory odysseys like ‘Cortez the Killer’ and ‘Powderfinger,’ chugging through the blunt thump of ‘Cinnamon Girl’ and feeding off each other during the oil industry takedown ‘Vampire Blues.’” 

The Canadian rock icon, 78, and his longtime band gave fans a reminder of their live prowess with Fu##in’ Up, a live album which dropped in April, and captured recordings made in 1990.

27 Jun 2024

Manuel Turizo, Yahritza y Su Esencia & More Win Big at 2024 SESAC Latina Music Awards: See Main Winners List

SESAC Latina celebrated its 30th anniversary with the annual SESAC Latina Music Awards, which took place on Wednesday (June 26) at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.

The ceremony — which included heartfelt speeches and a special performance by tejano/norteño group Intocable — awarded siblings Julián and Manuel Turizo songwriter of the year, pop/Latin rhythm. Meanwhile, for the first time ever, Salvador Aponte received the songwriter of the year, regional Mexican award.

Julián and Manuel were recognized for their smash hit “El Merengue,” which won song of the year, pop/Latin rhythm. On the Billboard Latin Airplay chart, the song peaked at No. 1 last year. As for Aponte, he was honored for música mexicana songs he wrote like “La Patrona,” “Se Buscan Borrachos” and “1500 Pedas” — all of which were recognized with performance awards.

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The SESAC Latina Award for song of the year, regional Mexican went to “Frágil”, written by Yahritza Martínez and recorded by Yahritza y Su Esencia and Grupo Frontera. On the Latin Airplay chart, the song peaked at No. 2 last summer.

Mexican singer-songwriter Luciano Luna was honored with the Legacy Award. He has been previously recognized four times as SESAC Latina Songwriter of the Year for his many hits performed by a variety of acts, such as Banda El Recodo (“La Mejor de Todas”), Calibre 50 (“Tus Latidos”), Julión Álvarez (“Te Hubieras Ido Antes”), Grupo Firme (“El Reemplazo”) and Banda Los Recoditos (“Me Sobrabas Tú”).

See the main winners list below:

Songwriter of the Year – Pop/Latin Rhythm

Manuel Turizo

Julián Turizo

Publisher of the Year – Pop/Latin Rhythm

Sony Music Publishing

Song of the Year Pop/Latin Rhythm, “El Merengue“

Written by: Manuel Turizo, Julián Turizo

Published by: MTZ Publishing, Jutuza Publishing, La Industria Music Publishing, Sony Sounds

Recorded by: Marshmello & Manuel Turizo

Songwriter of the Year – Regional Mexican

Salvador Aponte

Publisher of the Year – Regional Mexican

Universal Music Publishing

Song of the Year – Regional Mexican, “Frágil“

Written by: Yahritza Martínez

Published by: Yahritza Martínez Publishing, Universal Musica Latina

Recorded by: Yahritza y Su Esencia & Grupo Frontera

Legacy Award

Luciano Luna