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Cardenas Marketing Network Breaks Company Record at Midyear, Revenue Up 43% With Hit Tours

Since its founding in 2001, Cardenas Marketing Network (CMN) has grown into one of the most dominant concert promoters in the world, leading the charge as Latin music continues to assert itself on arena and stadium stages. Case in point: In the midyear Boxscore tracking period, the company is up in every conceivable metric, posting the biggest gross and attendance in its history.

According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, CMN grossed $233.3 million and sold 1.9 million tickets from 148 shows between Oct. 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024. That attendance figure marks a 12% increase from the company’s 2023 midyear showing, which was already up by 71% from 2022 — a year that saw a 94% rise in attendance from pre-pandemic 2019.

CMN’s $233 million gross marks the company’s first midyear tracking period that finished north of the $200 million threshold, rising 43% from last year’s $163 million. Its 2024 midyear earnings are notably almost 4.5x higher than its pre-pandemic business. That achievement comes from working both smarter and harder: in essence, by putting on more shows by more artists in bigger venues with maximized potential.

Luis Miguel leads the charge among CMN’s touring artists. The Mexican music icon finished at No. 1 on the midyear Top Latin Tours ranking, grossing $165.6 million and selling 1.2 million tickets during the tracking period — eclipsing the biggest Latin tour of 2023 (Karol G) on both metrics in just six months. That marks the biggest gross for a Latin artist in the history of Billboard Boxscore’s midyear charts.

But as proven by Karol G last year and CMN’s run with Bad Bunny in 2022, the promoter’s reach exceeds genre restrictions. At midyear, Miguel is No. 4 on the all-genre Top Tours chart, behind only U2, P!nk and Madonna. He also ranks third in terms of tickets sold. Elsewhere, Marc Anthony is No. 48 on Top Tours with $23.4 million, while Don Omar and Christian Nodal also pulled in eight-figure earnings with $14.1 million and $11.8 million, respectively.

Notably, CMN is absent from the midyear Top Promoters chart. Having recently entered into a partnership with AEG Presents, the company’s totals were rolled into those of AEG — which ranked No. 2 with grosses of $976.6 million — for midyear chart purposes. AEG’s total is up nearly $300 million from last year thanks to the touring giant’s own promotions and the addition of CMN to its tally. Had CMN been listed individually on Top Promoters, it would have ranked in the top five.

While the midyear tracking period closed on March 31, CMN’s tours have continued rolling. Reported grosses from April and March amount to more than $100 million, outpacing the midyear period thanks to big assists from recently launched treks by Aventura and Victor Manuelle.

CMN’s would-be top five midyear placement tracks, as the company spent the last three years in the upper region of the year-end Top Promoters chart — the culmination of a steady climb since its 2001 inception. CMN volleyed on and off the chart throughout the 2000s before rising from No. 15 in 2018 to No. 10 in 2019 to No. 7 in 2020. It ranked at either No. 3 or No. 4 in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Common Opens Up About Origins of Drake Beef: ‘Wars Happen Over Women’

Before the Kendrick Lamar and Meek Mill rap battles ever transpired, Drake exchanged blows with Common in the early 2010s.

Common pulled up to Drink Champs alongside Pete Rock ahead of their collab album’s arrival last week when the Chicago-bred MC was asked about the origins of his feud with Drizzy.

Common explained he felt Drake was subliminally dissing him, which prompted him to fire back at the 6 God on 2011’s “Sweet.”

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“I felt like Drake was sending me a couple of shots, subliminals,” he said. “I don’t know what motivated him to send me some shots but I think what for sure had me, if I’m just being real, like you know, we mess with one of the same girls.”

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N.O.R.E. then alluded to how Drake was allegedly also romantically involved with Serena Williams, who Common dated circa 2007 to 2010.

“You know, wars happen over women,” Common admitted. “That’s just what it is. But I ain’t going to get at you if you with somebody I was with. But if you start throwing me a couple little, you know, you trying to throw some jabs, you know, and I’m like, ‘Come on man, OK.’”

Drake responded by eviscerating Common with subliminal jabs on Rick Ross’ “Stay Schemin’” in 2012 featuring French Montana. The track peaked at No. 58 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It wasn’t until a face-to-face meeting at the 2013 Grammy Awards and Common having a conversation with Drake’s father, Dennis Graham, that actually helped the two sides reach an armistice.

“I eventually saw Drake face to face. It was at a point where I was like, ‘What’s up?’ And we had little words,” Common detailed. “And then his father was there and was like, ‘Y’all need to squash this.’ And I was like, ‘Man, this an elder talking to me. This this man’s father. Let me chill out.’”

He added: “And then Drake just was like, ‘I ain’t on this.’ So we just squashed it. I was like, ‘Listen, if we face to face, then a’ight, I’m done with it. Even if it was some subliminal disses, I said what I had to say. Right now, we saying we squashing it. We good.’”

Watch the clip starting at the 32-minute mark below.



Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan Calls Taylor Swift ‘Gifted,’ Defends Length of ‘Tortured Poets’

The length of Taylor Swift‘s two-hour The Tortured Poets Department album is just smashing, as far as Billy Corgan is concerned.

In an Irish Times interview published Monday (June 3), the Smashing Pumpkins frontman defended the pop star’s polarizing decision to include a whopping 31 songs on her latest project, giving her high praise in the process.

“Taylor Swift is one of the most gifted pop artists of all time,” he told the publication. “How is it a bad thing that she’s releasing more music? I can’t follow that … You can go on Spotify and just skip it.

“People complained about the length of my last album, Atum,” he added, citing his band’s own two-hour-plus record released in 2023. “I thought, ‘Well, just go make your own playlist. Just listen to the record one time – rag over the six or 10 songs you like and make your own record.’ Why is this such a strange concept?”

The interview comes amid Swift’s sixth straight week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with Tortured Poets, which the 14-time Grammy winner had originally promoted as being just 16 tracks long. Two hours after it dropped at midnight on April 19, however, she unveiled 15 more songs as part of a surprise “Anthology” double album.

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The project went on to sell 2.61 million equivalent album units in its first week, blowing the singer’s previous personal benchmark of 1.653 million for 1989 (Taylor’s Version) out of the water. It also made Swift the first artist to ever occupy every spot of the Billboard Hot 100 top 14 at once, led by chart-topper “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone.

While making his case for Tortured Poets‘ run-time, Corgan also spoke about his late friend Sinéad O’Connor. The Irish singer-songwriter died of natural causes at age 56 last year.

“Let’s go back to Sinéad for a second,” the “1979” singer told the publication. “Now that Sinéad’s gone, would it be a bad thing if somebody turned up tomorrow and said, ‘Hey, I just found this tape, and there’s enough for 20′ – or 30 or 50 – ‘Sinéad songs.’ Would that be a bad thing?”

Monica McNutt Checks Stephen A. Smith On WNBA Coverage On ‘First Take’

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The WNBA is enjoying increased media coverage due to big names from the current season’s draft class, including Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, and more. Things got tense on the set of First Take, ESPN’s popular morning sports program after analyst Monica McNutt checked Stephen A. Smith on his WNBA coverage, or lack thereof.

Eagle-eye fans of First Take caught wind of the moment during the Monday (June 3) broadcast of First Take which had a segment on the WNBA with Stephen A. Smith, 56, having himself a self-congratulatory moment with Monica McNutt, 34, shutting it down as it happened.

Smith began with, “Who talks about the WNBA, who talks about women, who talks about women’s sports more than First Take?”

McNutt’s rebuttal was, “Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to.”

Things got tense after this as Smith reacted to McNutt’s jab in incredulous fashion and the two began talking over each other with Shannon Sharpe interjecting at some point. Show moderator Molly Qerim did her best to get the strong personalities of Smith and McNutt on the same page but seemed frustrated by the overtalking and arguing over the point.

McNutt’s words echo some of the frustration WNBA players and fans have expressed that the larger sports outlet has ignored the league for years until the new influx of young talent, who brought with them the NCAA fandom that the collegiate game grew over the past few years with the aforementioned Reese, Clark, and numerous stars undergoing their rookie campaigns in the W.

On X, formerly Twitter, fans reacted to Monica McNutt dressing down Stephen A. Smith and his WNBA coverage. Check out the replies below.

Photo: Screengrab/ESPN

Illa J Thinks Ye Wouldn’t Be as Big If His Brother J Dilla Were Still Alive

The late J Dilla’s younger brother Illa J sat down with AnecDope to talk about a bunch of topics, including his older brother and his latest self-produced solo album No Traffic. Toward the end of the 42-minute convo, Marco Mello asks Illa if he ever thinks what type of beats Dilla would be making today.

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Illa suggests that his brother would “be making some crazy trap beats,” before acknowledging the late producer tried to listen to all types of rap music despite his reputation as a backpack producer. Adding, “Even when I was younger, he would ask me what I was listening to.”

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He then says, “If [J Dilla] were still here, music would’ve took a different turn,” before giving his opinion on rapper and producer Ye. “I don’t think Kanye is as big as he is if my brother stayed alive. I’m sorry, Kanye needs seven producers. If you look at the credits, there’s like 20 producers on one track,” Illa said of the Chicago artist.

Ye has shown J Dilla love over the years. In 2013, while appearing in the documentary Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton (This Is Stones Throw Records), Kanye says every artist should make music with the late Detroit producer in mind. “We gotta think, ‘If Dilla was alive, would he like this?’ I have to work on behalf of Dilla.” Adding, “The best respect that we can pay to great artists that have inspired us is to never sell out.”



You can watch the full Illa J interview here.

What Led Incubus’ Mike Einziger & Wife Ann Marie Simpson-Einziger to Found Their Skincare Brand Mother Science

Nearly seven years ago, Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger and his wife, Ann Marie Simpson-Einziger, a fellow musician, made a revolutionary discovery in the realm of skincare. The two, who share a love for science as well — Ann Marie majored in biology, later teaching physics and chemistry, while Mike is a Harvard graduate who has lectured at Stanford — uncovered a naturally occurring molecule found on the skin.

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Inspired by Ann Marie’s efforts to eradicate hyperpigmentation and patches of lighter skin she had found on herself, she and Mike came across a breakthrough antioxidant ingredient: malassezin. Malassezin is 10 times more powerful than Vitamin C — helping to set the Mother Science brand apart from competitors in the space.

Ann Marie and Mike stopped by Billboard News to discuss the revolutionary discovery and how they see it transforming the future of skincare, thanks to their products. Mother Science launched one year ago with the The Molecular Hero Serum and more recently added the Retinol Synergist to its lineup.

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The two joked about how throughout the process of developing these products and launching their brand, Mike would often wake Ann Marie up in the middle of the night with a new discovery or idea. They said that curiosity has always driven the both of them, whether that be in science or music — Mike co-founded Incubus, while Ann Marie is an accomplished violinist who has collaborated with Hans Zimmer on several scores, including Interstellar, The Little Prince and more.

Ahead, in addition to teasing his own “glow up” thanks to the Mother Science products, Mike is currently working with Incubus on the band’s forthcoming studio album.

Watch the full interview above to learn more and shop their products.

Zach Bryan Doesn’t ‘Quit’ During First of Three Los Angeles Shows: 5 Best Moments

For Zach Bryan’s The Quittin’ Time Tour, the fast-rising superstar has managed to make arenas feel like intimate backyard jam sessions – which is exactly what he delivered during his first of three nights at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com. 

With a stage situated in the center of the floor, allowing for every seat in the house to be sold with no obstructed view, the set up was simple: string lights hung on either side of the rectangular platform, dangling over the general admission pits, while four screens were suspended high above the stage, flipping between music video clips, personal video footage and close-ups of what was happening down below. 

The casual setting allowed for a rare type of fluidity for a concert of its size, with Bryan gliding from each of the four mics on stage – one positioned on each side, assuring nobody in the arena was left out – with a comfortable ease. The set up also forced him to ensure each and every note he sang was special, so that no matter what side he was singing to, nobody felt cheated out of enjoying their favorite song (but that doesn’t mean he didn’t also have a few lyrical slip-ups, adding to the casualness of it all). 

And for good measure, Bryan’s seven-piece backing band also moved about the stage, each contributing to the jam band-esque nature of the show.  “Me and all these guys behind me grew up in a really small town in Oklahoma,” Bryan told the crowd, noting the musicians on stage were some of his best friends. 

Not much for words, Bryan used his to endlessly thank the crowd and share his shock and appreciation for selling out arenas like this one around the country. He doubled down on the humility after introducing each song, which he would follow by saying, “I hope you don’t hate it.” Judging by the ear-numbing singalongs that reverberated throughout the venue, surely no one did. “I don’t want to say this because I might get canceled online,” said Bryan, eyes widened, “but this is the loudest crowd we’ve had.”

Below are the best moments from night one of Byran’s Los Angeles stop.

Paris Hilton Previews New Album ‘Infinite Icon’ for Pride Month | Billboard News All Access

To kick off Pride Month, Paris Hilton previews her new album, Infinite Icon, at her DJ set for The Heart Nightclub’s EVITA Party. Billboard gives you a sneak peek into the night, her new songs and more!

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Paris Hilton gave fans a peek into her new album, Infinite Icon, with a little help from her hubby and some drag queens, and Billboard‘s giving you a listen in All Access.

Paris Hilton stopped by Heart Nightclub in West Hollywood to DJ a set for their EVITA Party. When Paris arrived, she was greeted by drag artists lip-synching to some of her most iconic songs. The party turned up a level when Paris took over, and her husband was on hand to throw T-shirts and offer moral support. But the highlight of the night was when she shared a seven-minute medley of her new tracks.

Infinite Icon isn’t out until Sept. 6, but WeHo got a taste of four songs to help usher in Pride Month, and the crowd loved it.

SZA Hypes Up Billie Eilish’s ‘Gorgeous’ New Album

SZA is loving Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft.

The “Kill Bill” singer took to X on Monday (June 3) to gush over Eilish’s third studio album, which arrived on May 17. “Billie went f—ing crazy. This album is gorgeous,” SZA wrote.

Produced as usual by the pop star’s brother and longtime collaborator, Finneas, the 10-track set marks Eilish’s third studio LP, following 2019’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and 2021’s Happier Than Ever, both of which spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. No singles preceded the project, with the 22-year-old singer telling fans from the moment she announced it, “i wanna give it to you all at once.”

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On the Billboard 200 chart dated June 1, Hit Me Hard and Soft debuted at No. 2.

“Every time you put anything out, it feels like your nudes leaked a little bit,” the nine-time Grammy winner previously told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe of the album. “I think this one specifically is like that. Something that Finneas and I said to a couple of people when we started to play it for people is we kind of made the album that if somebody had said, ‘I want you to make an album and no one is going to hear it. You don’t have to worry about anyone’s ears or opinions or anything at all. It’s in your contract to make an album but no one can hear it.’ We pretty much made that album. We made that album without much thought of other people.”

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A History of Eminem’s Beefs, From Machine Gun Kelly to Mariah Carey, Joe Budden & Ja Rule

Slim Shady has found himself in quite a few feuds.

In his decades-long career, Eminem has taken part in a number of beefs. With him, no one is safe — the Detroit-bred artist has been known to take aim at everyone from fellow rappers to pop stars, TV personalities and even podcasters. No matter who comes out on top, his showdowns usually end up becoming some of music history’s most memorable lyrical clashes.

And not only does the hip-hop star born Marshall Mathers excel at writing bars, but he’s also exceptional at one-on-one confrontations. It doesn’t come as a surprise, though, when you consider the way he came up. Born from the battle rap culture, Em is right at home when it comes to engaging in a lyrical skirmish — it’s where he shines. As many have stepped into the ring with the precocious wordsmith, he has damaged several careers and embarrassed a lot of people in the process, with no one ever really putting a permanent dent in his sturdy body armor.

From confrontations with Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera to Ja Rule and Limp Bizkit, Eminem’s rap sheet boasts one of the most prolific — and eclectic — lists of beefs pop culture has ever had the shock and delight of witnessing. As the world waits for his next opponent to come out of the woodwork, as they always do, Billboard is taking a look at the many beefs Slim Shady has found himself in over the years.

See a comprehensive list of his head-to-head combats, plus a roundup of the blistering songs they inspired from both sides, below.