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Douglas McCarthy, the co-founding vocalist of English industrial dance outfit Nitzer Ebb, has passed away at the age of 58.
McCarthy’s death was confirmed by Nitzer Ebb’s official social media account on Tuesday (June 11). “It is with a heavy heart that we regret to inform that Douglas McCarthy passed away this morning of June 11th, 2025,” a post read.
“We ask everyone to please be respectful of Douglas, his wife, and family in this difficult time,” it added. “We appreciate your understanding and will share more information soon.”
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McCarthy co-founded Nitzer Ebb in 1982 alongside school friends Vaughan ‘Bon’ Harris and David Gooday, with the group taking inspiration from the post-punk genre for their early single releases. That sound soon evolved with more industrial and electronic influences, with the band quickly becoming regarded as noted figures within the ‘electronic body music’ scene – a genre that combined elements of industrial and punk with dance music.
The group’s debut album, That Total Age, would be issued in May 1987, and though avoiding chart success, the single “Join the Chant” would reach No. 9 on the Dance Club Songs charts.
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Nitzer Ebb would remain a fixture of the chart in the coming years, with singles such as “Control I’m Here,” “Lightning Man,” and “Fun to Be Had” all appearing therein, with the latter giving the band their highest peak when it reached No. 5 in 1990. They would also impact the Alternative Airplay charts, with 1991’s “Family Man” giving them a career high when it reached No. 21.
While 1991’s Ebbhead would be their only record to reach the Billboard 200 (peaking at No. 146), their follow-up, 1995’s Big Hit, would be the band’s last for 15 years, with Nitzer Ebb splitting soon after its release.
McCarthy would contribute to Recol, the solo project of Depeche Mode‘s Alan Wilder throughout the ’90s, and later collaborate with French producer Terence Fixmer as one half of Fixmer/McCarthy. Nitzer Ebb would reform in 2006 and release their final album, Industrial Complex, in 2010. In 2013, McCarthy would release his only solo album, Kill Your Friends.
In recent years, McCarthy had suffered from noted ill health, with Harris taking over vocals for a series of 2021 performances after McCarthy collapsed before a show due to a “pre-existing” medical condition. In early 2024, McCarthy announced he would no longer be performing live after being diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver.
Source: The Washington Post / Getty / Elon Musk / Donald Trump
Elon Musk is now looking to repair the bridges he burned when he had all the smoke for his MAGA homie, Donald Trump.
Musk now “regrets” flaming Donald Trump on the platform he allegedly no longer owns after voicing his displeasure about Orange Mussolini’s tax bill, stupidly named the “big beautiful bill.”
On his X account, Musk wrote, “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.”
Musk did not specify which posts on X he was talking about, but it would be a safe bet to assume he was referring to his now-deleted post where he alleged that Donald Trump’s name was on the infamous Epstein list, a claim the White House vehemently denied.
The Tesla chief also called the Orange Menace’s tax bill a “disgusting abomination” that seemingly led to the end of the MAGA bromance with Trump, saying last week that their “relationship” was over and had no interest in patching things up with Musk.
Musk, for his part, let his disgust for the bill be known, urging Americans to call their representatives and demand they “kill the bill.”
In typical Trump fashion, he responded to Musk, claiming the billionaire “lost his mind,” and also threatened to end Musk’s government contracts, which are estimated to be valued at $38 billion.
Following those threats to his contracts, Musk has deleted most of his tweets, including the ones calling for Trump’s impeachment.
Elon Musk Called Donald Trump
According to CNN, Musk called Trump on Monday night, before expressing regret on X, formerly Twitter. The website also reports that the phone call took place after Vice President JD Vance and Trump’s chief of staff, Susan Wiles, spoke with Musk on Friday.
As expected, social media has thoughts on the latest developments in this matter.
You can see those reactions in the gallery below.
1. LOL, bingo
2. Excellent question
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JPEGMAFIA is a difficult artist to explain to casual Hip-Hop listeners, and that’s exactly how he seems to prefer to be perceived by fans. In a new interview, JPEGMAFIA had choice words for Drake, The Alchemist, and Earl Sweatshirt while sharing his aims in becoming a major star in music.
JPEGMAFIA, who previously worked with Ye Ye, spoke with Billboard backstage ahead of his Governors Ball Music Festival set last weekend, and his candid discussion with the outlet was just as outsized as the music he creates. Of course, the portion of the interview that snagged headlines was his barbs aimed at Drake.
From Billboard:
People yearn for something new, especially in rap. We’re yearning, we’re tired. We don’t wanna hear Drake complain about b—hes anymore. We don’t f—king care, he’s 40. We need something different. I’m here to try to provide and cultivate that as much as I can because rap fans are f—king bored.
In another portion of the interview, JPEGMAFIA was asked about fusing the sounds of hardcore, a scene where the Baltimore native cut his teeth, with Hip-Hop.
“Alchemist, Earl and them? They’ve been making the same f—king song for the last twenty f—king years. Nobody gives a s—t. I’m not them,” JPEGMAFIA said.
Check out the full interview here.
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Photo: Frank Hoensch / Getty
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Jonathan Daviss, an actor who broke out as a star for Netflix’s Outer Banks series, has been cast as Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus in an upcoming biopic. The biopic will be directed by Craig Brewer, and Snoop Dogg’s Death Row Pictures is listed as one of the producers for the project.
Deadline exclusively reports that Jonathan Daviss, 25, was cast shortly after Brewer was named as the biopic’s director. Brewer broke out as a director for his 2005 film, Hustle & Flow, and also directed Dolemite Is My Name starring Eddie Murphy, along with Coming 2 America, also starring Murphy.
The untitled biopic will examine Snoop Dogg’s rise from his early days in Long Beach, Calif., to linking with Dr. Dre and Death Row Records, ahead of his current status as a pop culture icon. The film is the first project to emerge from Death Row Pictures’ ongoing deal with NBCUniversal Entertainment & Studios. This extends Snoop’s longstanding partnership with NBCUniversal as the Doggfather will return as a judge for the 28th season of The Voice.
A release date for the biopic has not been announced.
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Photo: Kayla Oaddams / Getty
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Ye, the former Kanye West, has remixed his name once more in his ever-changing quest to forge his identity. In recent business document filings, it appears that Ye is now known as Ye Ye, although it hasn’t been explained why he’s decided to make the change.
As reported by Page Six, Ye Ye initially changed his name from Kanye West to Ye back in 2021. By way of his business manager, the Chicago superstar added the additional Ye, but it hasn’t been explained why he’s decided to make the change.
The new name was seen on the new documents, replacing the former Ye West that had been there before. Yeezy Apparel, Yeezy Record Label LLC, and Getting Out Our Dreams Inc. are now signed as Ye Ye being the “manager or member name.”
The outlet notes that the Vultures star has sunsetted his former @KanyeWest account on X, formerly Twitter, writing on June 1, “Ima finally stop using the @kanyewest twitter cause my name is Ye.”
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Photo: ROBYN BECK / Getty
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Ananda Lewis, who had a celebrated run on MTV as a veejay and as the host of shows including Total Request Live and Hot Zone, has died at age 52. News of Lewis’ death was confirmed in a Facebook post by her sister, Lakshmi Emory. In 2020, Lewis revealed that she had been diagnosed with […]
The Animal Talk kingdom just expanded. The label, founded by dance duo Sofi Tukker in 2018, now encompasses a management company that’s entered a partnership with Palm Tree Management. Sofi Tukker is the first act signed under the agreement.
Along with being a label and management company, Animal Talk is now also an artist collective focused on hosting future Animal Talk events and festivals, creating branded clothing capsules, developing Animal Talk as a lifestyle brand, securing strategic partnerships and more. Animal Talk is being run by Bella Tamis, Palm Tree’s Myles Shear and Mike Hoerner and Sofi Tukker’s Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern.
Animal Talk and Palm Tree Management will work together on management for Sofi Tukker while expanding the brand by signing artists, throwing events and more, effectively creating a management deal that allows Sofi Tukker to grow its vision for Animal Talk.
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“We’re so excited to announce our new management company, launching together with Myles Shear, Mike Hoerner and Bella Tamis,” Sofi Tukker tells Billboard in a statement. “We originally started Animal Talk as a label and a party many years ago. We launched LP Giobbi’s career, and threw some insane parties, but we put it on the back burner until now, because we didn’t have the bandwidth to do everything we wanted with it.”
Sofi Tukker continues that the idea for Animal Talk originally came from the Mary Oliver poem “Wild Geese,” which also inspired its debut EP, Soft Animals. “It has been a mantra for us since the very beginning,” the duo’s statement adds. “‘You do not have to be good… You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.’ We’ve been inspired watching what Myles has built with Palm Tree over the years. His entrepreneurial energy is infectious and we are so excited to start building out the Animal Talk world with him and Bella. We’ve learned so much over the past ten years of being artists with amazing people by our side, and feel really grateful to get to pay it forward. We’re excited to build a roster of hardworking, boundary pushing artists who want to build something special with us and make people dance all over the world.”
Shear, the co-founder of Palm Tree Management and Kygo‘s longtime manager, adds that he’s “really excited to be working with such talented artists like Sofi Tukker; they’re once in a generation talent. This partnership is unique and we have built a special team around this.”
“We couldn’t be more excited about working with Sofi Tukker,” adds Hoerner. “They’re incredibly talented artists and even better people who share an entrepreneurial mindset.”
Before partnering with Palm Tree Management and Animal Talk on the company, Tamis spent five-plus years with The Shalizi Group and its client Marshmello. She tells Billboard that “Sofi Tukker has been a driving force in dance music for some time, and it’s been incredible building out Animal Talk alongside them. They have a strong vision for working with like-minded artists’ brands, and we’re excited to keep growing it out.”
“We are excited to sign artists who push boundaries and create lanes that didn’t exist before them,” Sofi Tukker adds. “The goal for the company is to be a place for artists to thrive with a focus on strategy and staying authentic. It will be more than a management company, we have plans for fashion collaborations, parties and festivals in the future. “
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Ananda Lewis, the well-known former MTV VJ and talk show host, has passed away at age 52 after a long battle with breast cancer.
The sad news was confirmed by her sister, and once it broke, the Hip-Hop community was frozen. Many artists and entertainers had been interviewed by Ananda over the years, and many built strong friendships with her, making her loss even more heartbreaking.
The California native graduated from Howard University in 1995. She first gained attention as the host of BET’s Teen Summit, where she spoke on serious issues affecting young people. Her talent and presence soon led her to MTV, where she became a household name in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She hosted popular shows like Total Request Live and Hot Zone, and her smart, down-to-earth style made her stand out.
In 2001, she launched The Ananda Lewis Show, a daytime talk show that ran for one season. She later worked on other TV projects, including TLC’s While You Were Out. Ananda revealed her cancer diagnosis in 2020. She fought bravely and shared her journey with honesty. Her voice, impact, and spirit will be deeply missed.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends. Take a moment to see how the Hip-Hop community is honoring her legacy and sharing their heartfelt reactions to her passing.
1. Jermaine Dupri
2. David Banner
4. Kevin Powell
5. VIBE Magazine
6. Ryan Cameron
7. Questlove
8. Ed Gordon
9. Juicy J
10. Desus Nice
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U.S. music publishing revenue rose 17% to $7.04 billion in 2024, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) revealed at its annual meeting on Wednesday (June 11). Last year, the trade organization reported total revenue at $6.2 billion, which was up 10.71% from the previous year.
The event, held at Alice Tulley Hall at New York’s Lincoln Center, is considered a state-of-the-union for U.S. music publishers, and this year, its CEO/president, David Israelite, and general counsel, Danielle Aguirre, focused their presentation on both celebrating hitmakers — like award recipients Kacey Musgraves, Rhett Akins, Gracie Abrams and Aaron Dessner — and on talking about ways to grow revenue even more.
There was also a strong focus on calling on the industry, from executives to songwriters and artists, to stand together. As Israelite said, “We should all stand behind [songwriters]…There has never been a greater need to stand up for the value of songwriters.”
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Aguirre and Israelite pointed to three key battlegrounds where remuneration can improve if the industry sticks together: general licensing (licensing for bars, restaurants, venues, etc.); social media; and interactive streaming. As Aguirre noted, 72% of publishing income is under “burdensome regulations” in the U.S. — whether by consent decree or compulsory license — but there are still ways to improve that within the current system.
Interactive Streaming
For interactive streaming, Aguirre reminded the crowd that Phonorecords V proceedings at the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which will determine the rate that songwriters and publishers will be paid for U.S. mechanical royalties from 2028-2032, are “fast approaching” in the next six months.
“One of the biggest challenges [for interactive streaming income] continues to come from Spotify’s mischaracterization of its music service into bundles, which forced the conversion of over 44 million subscribers into bundled platforms that those subscribers did not request,” Aguirre said. (Earlier this year, the Mechanical Licensing Collective’s lawsuit against Spotify, which claimed the company’s bundling of premium tiers and resultant cutting of payments to songwriters and publishers was unlawful, was dismissed by a judge who said the rules were “unambiguous.” However, the NMPA continues to attack the platform through various means, including sending mass takedown notices for podcasts and videos on Spotify that do not properly license music.)
Aguirre revealed that in the first year of Spotify’s new bundling change alone, publishers and writers have lost over “$230 million…and these losses will continue if we can’t reverse or correct Spotify actions,” she said. “In fact, if we don’t stop them, we are projected to lose over $3.1 billion through the next CRB period [which ends in 2032].”
Perhaps taking a cue from Spotify, Amazon has also bundled its music service with other offerings, allowing it to cut royalty rates for songwriters and publishers in the U.S. — another change Aguirre hit on in her remarks. “In just the last three months, we’ve seen a 40% decrease in music revenue from Amazon, which has hit the PROs particularly hard,” she said. Notably, the NMPA had a much more hopeful outlook on the Amazon bundle when it was announced; at the time, the organization released a statement saying it was “optimistic” about Amazon’s new offering and had “engaged” with the company in a “respectful and productive way” to find a compensation model for publishers that “will not decrease revenue for songwriters.”
Social Media
Social media is one of the rare areas of publishing where publishers and songwriters can negotiate without any government interference — and the NMPA is hopeful about capitalizing on that. To date, the income stream is still small: Aguirre reported that social sites like TikTok, Instagram, X and others only make up 2% of income for publishers in the U.S.
However, Israelite believes songwriters have the power to say no to this level of compensation and force the companies to treat them better.
“It’s important for songwriters to understand they already have the power to strike,” he said, despite the fact that songwriters do not qualify for a traditional union. “They do so when the people they entrust to license their songs, the music publishers and collecting societies, say no. There are key industries, such as social media, user-generated content, artificial intelligence training and lyric rights, where songwriters have the power to say no. But too often, when a music publisher or a PRO stands up to licensees who don’t want to pay fair rates, we run into a unique problem that plagues the songwriting industry: Songwriters don’t stick together. This is a tough conversation.”
Case in point: Just last year, Universal Music Group removed its catalog from TikTok in an effort to fight for its “fair value.” However, as Billboard reported at the time, a number of artists, including Ariana Grande, Beyonce and Olivia Rodrigo, found ways around the ban to continue using the platform for marketing purposes.
General Licensing
The final area of focus the NMPA addressed at the meeting was general licensing, or the performance license required to play music in public spaces like restaurants, bars, venues and clubs. While Aguirre noted that this only made up for 5% of total revenue last year, she said that “there is a substantial opportunity for growth.”
“One concern is the lack of licensing from many of these venues. For the first time, we have insight into just how much money is being lost to unlicensed mid-sized venues,” said Aguirre. In a recent study, she said the NMPA found that 80% of “venues that have 50 or fewer locations but are large enough to require performance licenses…misuse consumer streaming services to provide that music.” Others, she added, are using business-to-business (B2B) music services that “are not obtaining all of the necessary rights for the services that they are offering. Some provide features like offline listening, interactive music experiences and on-demand streaming without securing appropriate mechanical licenses.”
To remedy this issue, the NMPA announced it’s sending six cease and desist letters to B2B music services that are allegedly not properly paying for music. The organization did not specify the names of these B2B vendors.
The NMPA’s attack on B2B music suppliers comes on the heels of the U.S. Copyright Office’s Notice of Inquiry regarding U.S. PROs, wrapping up its first comment period. While bars, restaurants, clubs and other public spaces license music from PROs to use in their venues, some recently complained about the PROs’ alleged “lack of transparency” and the fact that there’s been a so-called “proliferation” of new PROs in the market, complicating (and perhaps increasing the cost of) the licensing process. While most countries have just one, maybe two, PRO options for writers and publishers to join, the U.S. now has six: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR, AllTrack and PMR.
Overall Breakdown of Publishing Income Streams
As reported by the NMPA, the breakdown of income streams for U.S. publishers and songwriters is as follows:
Streaming services: 45%
Traditional sync: 8%
Radio: 8%
TV/Cable: 6%
Mass sync: 6%
General Licensing/Live: 5%
Social Media: 2%
Label: 2%
Sheet Music: 1%
Lyrics: 1%
Songwriters
It wasn’t all just business talk — this year’s meeting also celebrated songwriters. The honorees included Musgraves, who received the Songwriter Icon Award accompanied by a tribute from her friend, Leon Bridges, who performed the Musgraves-written song “Lonely Millionaire.” Musgraves also took the stage to perform “Architect” from her latest album, Deeper Well.
Akins received the Non-Performing Songwriter award this year, and the ceremony featured a special tribute from his son, country artist Thomas Rhett, who performed “I Lived It” (released by Blake Shelton) and “What’s Your Country Song,” which he wrote with his father.
Lastly, the NMPA showcased the winners of the Billboard Songwriter Awards. Those honors were originally set to be handed out at a separate NMPA/Billboard Grammy week event that was canceled due to the Los Angeles wildfires and rescheduled for the NMPA’s annual meeting. Abrams and Dessner, who received Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year and the Triple Threat Award, respectively, took the stage on Wednesday to perform “I Love You, I’m Sorry,” which they wrote together.
BTS members Jimin & Jung Kook have completed their military service and were released on Tuesday, June 10th. We take you inside the joyous moment and what the boys had to say! Are you excited for BTS’ reunion? Let us know in the comments! Tetris Kelly: Jimin and Jung Kook of BTS have returned from […]
