djfrosty

24 May 2024

Executive Turntable: Sony Hall Knows Jack; LOCASH Label Staffs Up; Buchalter Bets on Nashville

It’s time for another spin around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music. We also have a weekly interview series spotlighting a single executive, if that’s your thing.

Sony Hall, a tech-forward concert venue in midtown Manhattan, introduced a new booking team made up of senior talent buyer Jack McFadden, talent buyer Alli Vega and junior talent buyer Niko Murray. McFadden’s career arc spans three cities — Chicago, NYC and Austin — and several venues and festivals (Union Hall, Austin City Limits and others) where he helped book early shows for an indie rock murders’ row including The National, The Walkmen, St. Vincent, Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend, among others. No slouch, Vega spent years booking D.C. venues Songbyrd and DC9 before making the move to NYC, where she joined the team at Bowery Presents. Murray, meanwhile, hails from NYU and has already cultivated experience at the Cara Lewis Group and Sony Music. Blue Note Entertainment Group operates Sony Hall, which officially opened in 2018 but began life in 1938 as the legendary Diamond Horseshoe nightclub. The venue, which retains much of its original design and decor while incorporating the latest Sony technology, is located inside the historic Paramount Hotel.

“This is an exciting moment for Sony Hall and Blue Note Entertainment Group as we strengthen and bolster our booking program, further introducing this iconic New York City venue to the live music industry,” said BNEG president Steven Bensusan. “Jack, Alli and Niko each have different and diverse backgrounds within the industry to complement and enrich our talent buying team.”

Trending on Billboard

Meanwhile…

Loeb & Loeb hired Monika Tashman in the firm’s Nashville office, as partner in the Entertainment department. Tashman joins Loeb & Loeb from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. Her expertise includes representing music talent in genres ranging from rock, pop, reggae, bachata and metalcore, as well as representing labels, entertainment-focused businesses and music production companies. She’ll also continue her New York-based practice out of Loeb’s Nashville office. –Jessica Nicholson

Galaxy Label Group, founded by country duo LOCASH, solidified its promotions team with the hiring of four. Joining the label, a partnership with Studio2Bee Entertainment with distribution by BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville, are Kerry Wolfe as vp of promotion, Cheryl Broz as the head of national field promotion, Kristen Brust to handle national promotion strategies, and John Lessard — who is LOCASH’s tour manager — lending his expertise on GLG’s promotion and touring work. All new hires are effective immediately. LOCASH, comprised of Preston Brust and Chris Lucas, is Galaxy’s first signed act.

BMI promoted Gabriella Natali to senior manager of media relations, an elevated role in which she’ll continue to spearhead PR efforts across most music genres (we’re talking pop, rock, hip-hop, gospel, classical, jazz and others). Natali is based out of BMI’s NYC headquarters and reports directly to Jodie Thomas, the PRO’s executive director of corporate communications and media relations. In addition to working on messaging for numerous marquee events, including BMI’s various award shows, songwriter showcases and dedicated stages at festivals like Lollapalooza and SXSW, Natali works with Thomas on PR efforts for BMI’s licensing and industry relations departments. Prior to joining BMI in April 2022 as a media relations manager, Natali spent two years as a publicist at boutique agency Big Picture Media, also in New York.

Lucy Pullin and Virgil Thomas joined UTA as agents in its music crossover division, which works with clients on projects that expand their careers to other mediums. Pullin, previously of ie: entertainment ltd, will be based out of the London office and Thomas, an Endeavor alum, is in Los Angeles. Recent wins by the crossover division include Post Malone’s dip into acting (Road House) and comic book writing, and Recording Academy chief Harvey Mason jr.’s behind-the-scenes work on biopics about Bob Marley and Michael Jackson.

NASHVILLE NOTES: Opry Entertainment Group promoted Anna Lemme to marketing manager for the Grand Ole Opry. In the new role, the Massachusetts native will plan marketing and promotional strategies to continue growing the Grand Ole Opry brand. Lemme has been with the company for five years, most recently serving as an artist & label strategy manager for Opry Entertainment Group … Leadership Music communications and events administrator Lindsay Doheney will leave the post on May 28 to join her husband in a job-related relocation. The organization is seeking a replacement for Doheney … Group Projects welcomed Emma Kiefer as director of A&R, working closely with co-founders Anthony Manker and Cooper Anstett on publishing and management business. She most recently served as A&R manager at Boom Music Group.

Buchalter beefed up its presence in Nashville, adding eight attorneys to its office in Music City — “a vibrant and dynamic legal market,” said Adam Bass, the firm’s president and CEO. Joining Buchalter are Lauren Spahn, Jay Bowen and Lauren Kilgore, from Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley and Norton, along with Rebekah Shulman, Jim Zumwalt, Jacob Clabo, Aaron Steinberg and John Baxter. The Laurens are regulars in Billboard‘s annual list of top music lawyers, and both handle a wide swath of legal and business transactional matters for artists, publishers, writers, labels and more. Shulman, Steinberg, Clabo and Baxter specialize in intellectual property issues, while Bowen’s experience is in high-stakes litigation. Finally Zumwalt represents entertainment clients on a variety of matters. “Jay, Lauren, and Lauren, along with their teams bring a wealth of experience, expertise, and dedication to our firm,” said Bass. “Together, we are poised to make a significant impact in Nashville’s legal landscape and beyond.”

Dom Wallace is the new label and marketing manager at Mahogany, where he’ll oversee release strategy for its label Mahogany Records and its flagship video channel, Mahogany Sessions. His appointment coincides with the launch of Mahogany Songs, the company’s new digital distribution and services platform. Wallace was most recently a senior editor at Spotify, where he helped launch several taste-making playlists, including “Our Generation” and “Fresh Finds UK & IE.”

GAME TIME: Cross-industry veteran Kimberly Knoller is the new chief marketing officer at Earn Alliance, where she’ll spearhead the platform’s mission to connect gamers to games, building fandoms and engaging communities. For the last 14 years, Knoller has built out her own music and tech marketing agency The Knoller Group, where she’s worked with artists, creators, record labels and other companies on brand and monetization-boosting strategies. In the aughts, Knoller put in three years at Warner Records, where she did trailblazing work as vp of direct to fan marketing, e-commerce and innovation. She has also held senior roles at unPaired and PIXELYNX … Metaverse studio Karta, which creates in-game experiential marketing across Fortnite, Roblox and other games, hired Morgan Evans as its new fashion and beauty director, and Sarah Richards as art director.

ICYMI:

Jared Cotter

Jared Cotter

Jared Cotter was promoted to partner at Range Music, where he manages Paul Russell (“Lil Boo Thing”) and co-manages Shaboozey (“A Bar Song (Tipsy)”) … Jason Miller is leaving operational responsibilities at ELA, the joint venture he launched with CTS Eventim in 2021 … and Tekno joined Mr. Eazi’s independent music company emPawa Africa as an investor and a partner.
Last Week’s Turntable: Texas Official Joins Big Loud

24 May 2024

Pepe Aguilar Breaks Down 6 Essential Tracks on New ‘Que Llueva Tequila’ Album

In an ever-evolving landscape that includes new regional Mexican artists and new styles derived from the decades-old genre, Pepe Aguilar‘s music has stood the test of time.

While impressive, it’s not surprising.

Powered by that regal traditional mariachi sound that has characterized his sound for many years, Aguilar carries ranchera music in his veins — and now, more than ever, he’s a fierce protector of the sound that has not only led him to become one of the most revered regional Mexican artists of his generation, but has built a solid foundation for up-and-coming hitmakers.

“I wanted to make an album that feels real — and since I don’t do the type of music that is trending right now, well I didn’t have restraints,” Aguilar says about Que Llueva Tequila, released on Friday (May 24). “I wasn’t making it for the charts, or to compete with this movement that is happening right now. I guess that’s why it sounds the way it sounds. I have complete freedom, I’m completely calm and doing what I like without any pressure. I did it that way and I hope it sounds that way, too.”

Trending on Billboard

A gorgeous set that thrives on mariachi and ranchera, Aguilar — who has overall placed nine top 10 titles on Billboard‘s Top Latin Albums chart — stays true to his essence while also fusing his signature sound with country and bachata. The 13-track LP is produced entirely by him but for the songwriting portion, he recruited some of the best in the game, including Edgar Barrera, Pablo Preciado and Enrique “Fato” Guzmán. The latter has penned some of Aguilar’s greatest hits, including “Me Vas a Extrañar,” “Por Mujeres Como Tú” and “Perdóname.”

With Que Llueva Tequila, his first in two years since A La Medida, Aguilar hopes fans “remember that they have all the right to ask for more quality in the music and I hope that they can see that it’s still available and we can do it. I believe in the craftsmanship of music. I still believe in putting your heart into it,” he adds.

In his own words, Aguilar — currently on his Jaripeo Hasta Los Huesos U.S. Tour — breaks down six essential songs from Que Llueva Tequila below.

“Hasta Que Me Duermo”

I love this song very much, and it was the first single for a reason. It’s the one where you can hear the fusion very clearly. I wanted to do that in this album, I wanted to go a step further when it came to fusion, especially in these days when everything is a mix of cultures, languages and generations. This was the perfect song to do that with. Pablo Preciado wrote this one — he actually wrote five songs on the album. He’s someone I made a click with tremendously, musically speaking, and I think he did too.

“Te Confirmo”

This is not your traditional mariachi, it has more of a contemporary language — and I’m not saying bad words or anything like that, but it’s more digestible. It’s less formal and traditional in a way that rancheras used to be written, but still, it’s a very traditional ranchera. And the theme is different. Normally, we’re always suffering because our partner left us and we’re drinking, feeling sad for ourselves — and this song is the opposite. It’s like, “I can confirm that I’m really okay without you. I’m doing great, actually, and I can confirm that you weren’t that special in my life.” The message is cool for a change. And I like the music very much — it’s really catchy.

“Mira Quién Lo Dice”

It’s an Edgar Barrera song and another type of fusion. It has a lot of soul, blues. It’s not the first time I do a sound like this but Edgar’s songs are very special. His songs give you that liberty to do whatever you want to do with them. They have this magic. I wanted a more blues-y, soul vibe and I did it with my band. That’s one thing I want to mention. Everything you hear in this album it was recorded and made with the musicians I’m touring with, arrangements and everything, we did as a team. We didn’t bring star producers or star arrangers to help us make this album. Everything is made in-house. This song is one of my favorites in the album — and not because it’s written by one of the most important songwriters in the past 25 years, but because it’s really pretty cool.

“No Hay Día Que No Esté Nublado”

This song gave me a chance to do something more upbeat. This album leans more towards the romantic side of things. Although it has some hardcore rancheras, it’s more of a romantic album. This one is not downtempo, it’s completely upbeat. I love it and the album needed a song like that. It’s a sad song because of what it’s saying but the song is so upbeat that it gives you a weird effect. It gave me the opportunity to go deeper with harmonies and vocals. It’s also written by Pablo Preciado. Pablo’s songs are tremendously difficult songs to perform. He writes for himself and he has a huge vocal capability. It was a challenge but it was great.

“Que Llueva Tequila”

This one is one of my favorites, because I really love mariachi — not only because my parents introduced me to it, but because I love how it makes me feel. I enjoy mariachi, and it should never disappear. Although I make many songs that are a fusion, there should always be a song that represents traditional mariachi. This song is it. In its majority, it’s a song that has the traditional mariachi structure, thematically and sonically. And these are really fun to sing. “Que Llueva Tequila” is a mariachi song through and through, and I did it that way because I love mariachi, no other reason.

“Cuestión de Tiempo”

Fato, as you know, has a really important place in my career. I can’t imagine my career without him, and he probably can’t imagine his career without me. I have three songs penned by him on this album, and “Cuestión de Tiempo” is one of them. And it happens to be a bachata. It’s such a different song from the rest of the album. For starters, Fato is a poet, he comes up with great metaphors that are just such great ideas. The song is about behaving in life because well … karma.

They lyrics say: “Recuerda donde pasaste porque algún día regresarás a recoger los pedazos de tu alma rota en la oscuridad.” It’s like, “Yeah man, what goes around comes around” — but said in a very beautiful way, in his style. And musically I wanted to give it a twist. I created a crazy sound based on loops that I made in my studio. This bachata rhythm, the percussions and beats I made for it it gives it a sound that’s also pretty new. And that wasn’t the idea, the song just asked for it. I was mixing the song and I was with the engineer and then I started clapping and heard it in my head. I knew we needed something else. I invited a drummer, who is friend of mine, and the song took another direction.

24 May 2024

Really?: ‘Seinfeld’ Star Michael Richards Claims He’s “Not Racist” & Has “Nothing Against Black People”

HipHopWired Featured Video

Last Days of Seinfeld

Source: David Hume Kennerly / Gett

It’s been nearly 20 years since Seinfeld star Michael Richards went on a career-upending racist tirade at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles in 2006. Since then, he has apologized for his outburst and claimed he isn’t really racist despite the explicitly racist words that poured loudly and passionately out of his mouth.

Now, he’s on his apology tour once again ahead of the release of his memoir that nobody asked for, Entrances and Exits.

“I was immediately sorry the moment I said it onstage,” Richards told People magazine of the infamous moment in which he repeatedly called at least one Black audience member the n-word for reportedly heckling him. “I’m not looking for a comeback.” (Well, maybe not, but he’s promoting a memoir, which makes his little two-decade-late mea culpa just as self-serving as it would if he was trying to make a comeback.)

“My anger was all over the place and it came through hard and fast,” he continued. “Anger is quite a force. But it happened. Rather than run from it, I dove into the deep end and tried to learn from it. It hasn’t been easy. Crisis managers wanted me to do damage control. But as far as I was concerned, the damage was inside of me.”

After pretending he wasn’t making lame excuses by citing his “anger” as the reason for his violently racist remarks, the guy who played Kramer said he spent years doing a “deep analysis,” trying to “figure out where all the anger was coming from,” which he determined was his insecurities as an artist, which he later said “fame magnified.”

Yeah, OK—or maybe he’s just racist.

“I’m not racist,” Richards maintained. “I have nothing against Black people. The man who told me I wasn’t funny had just said what I’d been saying to myself for a while. I felt put down. I wanted to put him down.”

For the record: Michael Richards called “the man” the n-word multiple times and implied that he should be lynched because that’s what happened to Black people “50 years ago.” (If you’re unfamiliar with the scandal, you can see it for yourself.) One doesn’t just come up with something like that on the fly because their anger got the best of them—they already had those words in their heart. 

Richards can keep his apology.

24 May 2024

Kool Kyi Ordered To Pay Nike $1 Million In Lawsuit Settlement

HipHopWired Featured Video

Kool Kyi sneakers

Source: Southern District of New York / DOJ

We think it’s become pretty clear that when Nike sues you for copyright infringement, you’re going to lose as they’ve been shutting down any and everyone banking off of their classic silhouettes and now Kool Kyi has become the latest person to fall to the might swoosh brand and their team of high-powered attorneys.

Almost a year after Nike and Kool Kyi reached a settlement in their original copyright infringement lawsuit, as reported by Kari aka @sneakerphetish, a judge ordered Kool Kyi to cough up a cool million dollars in damages while shutting down their By Kyi sneaker line as it bares a striking resemblance to the classic Air Jordan 1 silhouette.

While some may feel that the Kool Kyi sneakers were just knockoffs of the Air Jordan 1’s, the sneakers did gain popularity over the years and it got to the point that Nike did take notice and decided to put an end to their run ASAP.

Now that Kool Kyi has been ordered to cease production of their sneakers and pay Nike $1 million for their troubles, we wonder if they’ll just return with a new and original silhouette of their own or give up on the sneaker game altogether.

What do y’all think Kool Kyi should do? Sound off in the comments section below.

24 May 2024

Dolly Parton Slates Family Album ‘Smoky Mountain DNA – Family, Faith & Fables’ for November

Dolly Parton is exploring and paying homage to her family legacy and her East Tennessee heritage on an upcoming album and a four-part docuseries. Parton, in collaboration with Owepar Entertainment, will release Dolly Parton & Family: Smoky Mountain DNA – Family, Faith & Fables on Nov. 15, 2024.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The album, which could feature up to 40 songs, will spotlight the legacy of the singer’s paternal Parton family, and her mother’s family, the Owens, by tracing the families’ journey from the United Kingdom in the 1600s to their home in East Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains. The album is produced by Parton’s cousin Richie Owens and will feature several members of Parton’s immediate and extended family, and will also include the voices of some of her beloved family members who have passed on, as well as contributions from today’s generation.

Pre-orders for the album will launch June 21, in tandem with the album’s first two instant grat tracks, as well as the revealing of the full track list. The project will be offered on vinyl, CD, digital download and streaming.

Trending on Billboard

Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton

Courtesy Photo

Also in production is a companion four-part docuseries, which will provide a deep look at the Country Music Hall of Famer’s family’s journey from the United Kingdom to East Tennessee. The docuseries will include interviews with several of Parton’s family members, with a particular focus given to Parton’s grandfather, Reverend Jake Owens, who influenced Parton’s love of music and storytelling, respect for faith and more. The docuseries also features concert performances filmed at Knoxville’s historic Bijou Theater, featuring Parton and other family members featured on the record.

“I cannot believe that it has been 60 years this month since I graduated from Sevier County High School and moved to Nashville to pursue my dreams,” Parton said in a statement. “My Uncle Bill Owens was by my side for many years helping me develop my music. I owe so much to him and all the family members past and present who have inspired me along this journey. I am honored to spotlight our families’ musical legacy that is my Smoky Mountain DNA.”

In 1967, Parton and her uncles Bill Owens and Louis Owens founded Owepar to administer their songwriting business. The company has published songs recorded by artists including Porter Wagoner, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and Olivia Newton-John. In 1972, Owepar acquired two Music Row-area properties in Nashville which housed their offices and a recording facility, with Fireside Studios opening in March 1973. Owepar Entertainment was active as a publishing company until 1981 and relaunched in 2019; the company handles a collection of legacy recordings and publishes songs from artists including Parton’s cousin Richie Owens and niece Jada Star.

24 May 2024

Tina Knowles Says Beyoncé Gave Sage Advice to Blue Ivy After Haters Bashed Her Performance: ‘Go and Work Harder’

Beyoncé is teaching her daughter Blue Ivy Carter one of the most important lessons a budding musician can learn: how to turn haterade into Gatorade to fuel your performance. Bey’s mom, Tina Knowles, revealed how the singer helped her 12-year-old daughter with husband Jay-Z deal with negative comments after Blue performed on stage with her mom during the Renaissance tour.

While appearing on this week’s episode of Vogue‘s The Run Through podcast, Tina Knowles described how blown away she and Jay were by Blue Ivy’s dancing onstage during “My Power” and “Black Parade” on her mother’s sold-out Renaissance world tour. She told Chloe and Vogue beauty commerce writer Kiana Murden that Blue’s moves were “the best” and that “every night her dad and me would get on this platform out there and we would just be screaming our heads off, like, with no shame at all.”

That joy was tempered, however, by some negative comments Blue Ivy read after the shows, which led to Beyoncé sharing some sage advice for her daughter about brushing that dirt off your shoulder.

Trending on Billboard

“One of her friends came back and showed her some negative comments and it was a great life lesson because her mom basically said, ‘Listen, if you let this get you down, then they won. So you should go and work harder. And, you know, just work harder and get your skills together and go out there and blast it,’” Knowles said Beyoncé told Blue. “So it actually worked in Blue’s favor because she was only supposed to do it one time. But now her mom was, that mama bear was on to it. It was like, she was like, ‘You go out there and kill it,’ and she did. She just grew so much from that experience.”

In her Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé concert doc, Bey revealed that Blue Ivy fought for her space on the tour after what was supposed to be a one-off appearance. “She told me she was ready to perform, and I told her no,” Bey said in the movie, in which she also noted that the tween was devastated after reading comments criticizing her initial performance.

Bey added in the film that she was proud of Blue Ivy for training harder for future appearances rather than giving up. That pride (and good advice) clearly soaked in, because Blue was featured alongside her mom in the recently revealed trailer for the upcoming Disney Lion King prequel, Mufasa. Mother (Nala) and daughter’s (Kiara) voices will appear alongside Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., John Kani, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Mads Mikkelsen and Thandiwe Newton in the film.

Listen to the episode here (Blue Ivy bit begins at 39-minute mark).

24 May 2024

Berry Gordy Gifts $5 Million to Establish New Music Industry Center at UCLA

Music industry legend and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. has pledged $5 million to establish The UCLA Berry Gordy Music Industry Center. The center  — launched in affiliation with The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music — will open during the 2024/2025 academic year.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

“I’m thrilled to create a center that provides opportunities for students at UCLA to prepare for careers in the music industry,” said Gordy in a news release. “Music is powerful, inspiring, universal, crossing over political, cultural, social and economic barriers.  It reaches ALL people and has been the guiding force in my life. These students will be the future innovators, artists, and executives that will lead us through the twenty-first century.”

“This center will position The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music to become the leading music industry program in the world,” stated Eileen Strempel, inaugural dean of the school of music. “It will help empower us to recruit and attract the best faculty and students, and to conduct research in cutting-edge fields. Thanks to Mr. Gordy’s gift, our program will be the leading force in shaping the twenty-first century music industry.”

Trending on Billboard

Dedicated to expanding Gordy’s legacy of teaching and mentoring, the center will support the development of new courses and offer a specialized curriculum in songwriting and production. To further raise awareness about careers in the music industry, the center will provide funding to create partnerships with primary and secondary schools. It will also sponsor research for explorations into technology, streaming algorithms and social justice.

“Berry Gordy is an American treasure,” said fellow music industry veteran Michael Ostin who is also a member of the dean’s advisory board. “What he created at Motown was truly remarkable as he combined creative and business acumen in a way that it had never been done before. He represents everything we want to embody in our music industry program. He is also known for his generosity. It is no surprise that Berry would make such a benevolent and transformative gift to help educate and train our next generation of industry leaders.”

Under Gordy’s direction, Motown Records became one of the music industry’s most successful and influential independent record companies. Its legendary roster of hitmakers includes Smokey Robinson, The Miracles, Diana Ross, The Supremes, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and The Jackson Five, among a host of others. 

“I’ve always known Berry as generous and gracious,” commented Robinson. “At the start of my career, I benefitted from Berry’s mentorship. He was always a teacher at heart. What I love about this center is that it is guided by his philosophy that truly great music comes from nurturing young talent and getting them to think holistically about their art and their careers.”

24 May 2024

Lady Gaga Wears Car Part Dress, Reveals She Played Five Shows With COVID at ‘Gaga Chromatica Ball’ L.A. Movie Premiere

Lady Gaga was in typically outrageous form on Thursday night (May 23) at the Los Angeles premiere of her Gaga Chromatica Ball concert film. The singer known for her resplendent red carpet looks showed up in a white strapless Selva dress comprised of car parts, including what looked like a bumper molded into a kind of automotive bustier.

“On the red carpet I told them it was a car part. They said what kind and I said I don’t know, I’m not a mechanic,” the singer wrote on X; Gaga also posted a series of pics of the sculptural dress, along with a poetic ode to her fans, on her Instagram.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, during a Q&A at the premiere, the singer revealed that she played a number of Chromatica dates while sick with COVID because she didn’t want to let her Little Monsters down.

Trending on Billboard

“This was such a special time. This tour went on during a time that people didn’t think that you could tour [amid the pandemic] and stadiums were packed all over the world and they were sold out, all dressed up and dancing and singing. I’m just so excited for you all to see what we made up close,” she said.

“I did five shows with COVID,” she told the assembled press. “I shared it with everyone on my team and I said, ‘I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable at work and you don’t have to perform and you don’t have to work that day, but I’m going to do the show,’ because I just didn’t want to let all the fans down.”

She explained her thinking about playing sick, adding, “The way that I saw it also is that the fans were all putting themselves in harm’s way every day coming to the show. During all my quick changes, I kept going. ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.’”

THR reported that Gaga also said the tour and the album represented an “end of a time in my life and the beginning of a totally new one. And I feel like that time is actually maybe a few albums of time that I was sort of saying goodbye to old wounds or scars or challenges and with this tour, I felt really renewed to do something entirely different… I felt like the Chromatica Ball was a time where I took myself to the next level and it was something worth documenting and seeing for people that I love — not that I didn’t love my other tours,” she explained. “I’m sure we all can relate to that feeling of when you personally feel proud of something is really different from when everyone around you feels that way.”

Though she’s been chronicling the ongoing sessions for her upcoming album, Gaga also spoke at length for the first time about the follow-up to Chromatica, revealing that she’s in the studio “every single day. I have written so many songs, I’ve been producing so many songs, and it’s nothing like anything that I’ve ever made before. I love to break genre and I love to explore music. There’s something really beautiful about knowing that you will be loved no matter what you do.”

Gaga Chromatica Ball — which chronicles a Los Angeles stop of the 2022 tour at Dodger Stadium — debuts on HBO on Saturday (May 25) at 8 p.m. ET.

Check out Gaga’s red carpet post below.

24 May 2024

DOJ, Several States Bringing Lawsuit To Live Nation Entertainment Over Ticketmaster

HipHopWired Featured Video

Minnesota Vikings v Seattle Seahawks

The Justice Department and several states are joining together to sue Live Nation Entertainment in connection to Ticketmaster, whose side accuses the company of owning a monopoly on live entertainment. Justice Department officials are accusing Ticketmaster of blocking out potential opportunities for other companies by striking exclusive ticket and venue deals that essentially gave them the lion’s share of the market.

The New York Times reports that based on the accounts of unnamed invidious close to the matter, the federal government, along with a grouping of states that were not announced in the outlet’s report. The position that will be taken when the matter goes to court is the accusation that Live Nation struck exclusive ticketing contracts with certain concert venues and served as the main ticket hub for concert tours.

Further, the government will claim that other business factors such as venue management according to insiders, aided Live Nation in becoming a monopoly by passing on high costs to consumers and causing damage to any competitors’ efforts to enter the field. Further, the DOJ will state within the lawsuit that tours that were promoted by the entertainment company were more likely to play shows where Ticketmaster had exclusive rights to ticket sales.

Ticketmaster reportedly sells about 600 million tickets annually according to global tallies. It is estimated that the company’s ticketing business is responsible for between 70 and 80 percent of major concert venues domestically.

In 2023, a congressional hearing was held that was sparked by a frenzied Taylor Swift tour presale event which millions of fans were unable to participate in. Both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate called the company a monopoly

The lawsuit will be filed in the Southern District of New York.

—

Photo: Getty

24 May 2024

Justin Bieber Posts Sweet Pics of Hailey Bieber’s Baby Bump: ‘They Wish Baby, They Wish’

Justin Bieber shared a series of pics from a vacation with wife Hailey Bieber on Thursday (May 23) in which the model is seen cradling her growing baby bump. The couple revealed last month that they are expecting their first child together and Justin is clearly getting psyched to welcome their bundle of joy.

In the first snap, Hailey is seen wearing a sheer black top over a black bra with a black leather jacket, jeans and black shades, followed by a second out-of-focus pic of the same scene. The rest of the carousel featured images of Bieber walking through a parking lot with a fuzzy white jacket slung over his shoulders, a few close-ups of his face on what seems to be a vacation, as well as images of a golden flower statue and other pieces by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.

Trending on Billboard

Bieber captioned the pic dump, “They wish baby, they wish.”

It followed an earlier post in which the couple were seen kissing, with Hailey exposing her bare baby belly in a black jacket open at the waist, another pair in which they pose together with Hailey’s stomach exposed again and a few snaps of Justin solo.

Last week, Hailey shared her own carousel of early pregnancy pics and in a Story the Rhode founder also revealed her current mash-up food craving: a pickle topped with egg salad and hot sauce. “No, you’re not allowed to judge!” she captioned a snap of her holding up the unusual snack combo.

Check out Bieber’s pics below.