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04 Mar 2024

‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ Deals Beyoncé Winning Hand Atop Hot 100 for Second Week

A second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 is in the cards for Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em.” A week earlier, the song ascended to the summit, becoming her ninth leader on the chart.

Plus, SZA’s “Saturn” rockets onto the Hot 100 at No. 6. The song starts as her 10th career top 10.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated March 9, 2024) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, March 5. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

“Texas Hold ‘Em,” on Parkwood/Columbia Records/Columbia Nashville, drew 27.6 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 72%) and 25.5 million streams (down 12%) and sold 22,000 downloads (down 24%) in the Feb. 23-29 tracking week, according to Luminate.

The single dips to No. 2 on the Digital Song Sales chart, after two weeks at No. 1, and to No. 3 after a week atop Streaming Songs, while bounding 43-23 on Radio Songs, as the song claims top Airplay Gainer honors on the Hot 100 for a second week.

Being promoted to multiple radio formats, “Texas Hold ‘Em” leaps 28-16 on Adult Pop Airplay, 25-17 on Pop Airplay, 36-23 on Rhythmic Airplay – as the Greatest Gainer on each chart – 28-24 on Adult R&B Airplay, 36-32 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and 40-32 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. It also debuts on Adult Alternative Airplay at No. 36, while slipping 34-38 on Country Airplay; thanks to its placement on the two tallies, where Beyoncé had not previously logged any entries, she has tied Pharrell Williams for the most airplay charts – 18 – on which any artist has appeared.

“Texas Hold ‘Em” is one of two songs that Beyoncé released Feb. 11 (with instrumental and clean and explicit a cappella versions of the song released Feb. 14), along with “16 Carriages.” Their arrival was announced via a Verizon commercial that aired during CBS’ broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII Feb. 11, ahead of the March 29 release of her new album, which follows her 2022 Renaissance LP.

“Texas Hold ‘Em” concurrently adds a third week at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, which uses the same multimetric methodology as the Hot 100. The banjo-inflected single became her historic first No. 1 on the ranking; prior to its coronation, no Black woman, or female known to be biracial, had previously led the list.

Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Carnival,” featuring Rich the Kid and Playboi Carti, rebounds to a new No. 2 Hot 100 high, from No. 4. It also rises 2-1 for a second week atop Streaming Songs (32.2 million, up 31%), as it wins the Hot 100’s top Streaming Gainer nod. The track also scores its first week atop both the multimetric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts. On the former, Ye notches his ninth No. 1; Ty Dolla $ign, his second; and Rich the Kid and Playboi Carti, their first each. On the latter, the acts’ career No. 1 counts now stand at 11, three, one and one, respectively.

Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me” descends 2-3 on the Hot 100, following six nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1, as it posts a seventh week atop Radio Songs (79.4 million, essentially even week-over-week).

Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” bumps 5-4 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 3, as the chart’s top Sales Gainer, as it becomes his first leader on Digital Song Sales (3-1; 25,000, up 249%, aided by the Feb. 23 release of new a cappella, acoustic, instrumental, piano instrumental, slowed down and sped-up mixes).

Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” retreats 3-5 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 2.

SZA’s “Saturn” starts at No. 6 on the Hot 100, with 25 million streams, 960,000 in airplay audience and 2,000 sold in its first week, following its Feb. 23 release (after SZA teased the track in a Mastercard commercial that aired during CBS’ broadcast of the Grammy Awards Feb. 4).

“Saturn” launches as SZA’s 10th Hot 100 top 10, and joins her No. 2-peaking “Snooze” (6-9) in the region. “Saturn” simultaneously dethrones “Snooze” atop the multimetric Hot R&B Songs chart, debuting as her sixth No. 1. (“Snooze” topped Hot R&B Songs for 30 weeks, tying SZA’s own “Kill Bill” for the longest command by a woman dating to the chart’s 2012 inception.)

Meanwhile, “Saturn” joins a small system of Hot 100 top 10s with names of planets in their titles. The identified such objects that have flown to the top 10:

  • “Venus,” Frankie Avalon (No. 1 for five weeks, 1959)
  • “Venus,” The Shocking Blue (No. 1, one week, 1970)
  • “It’s Too Late”/“I Feel the Earth Move,” Carole King (No. 1, five weeks, 1971)
  • “Give Me Love – (Give Me Peace on Earth),” George Harrison (No. 1, one week, 1973)
  • “Venus,” Bananarama (No. 1, one week, 1986; a remake of The Shocking Blue’s leader, above)
  • “Heaven Is a Place on Earth,” Belinda Carlisle (No. 1, one week, 1987)
  • “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me),” Train (No. 5, 2001)
  • “Saturn,” SZA (No. 6 peak, to date, 2024)
  • “Venus in Blue Jeans,” Jimmy Clanton (No. 7, 1962)

Notably, Saturn becomes the fourth planet in the title of a Hot 100 top 10 (with six of the nine songs above having hit No. 1). Honorable mentions to: Bruno Mars (18 career top 10s), Earth, Wind & Fire (seven), Rare Earth (three) and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band (one); The Neptunes, who have produced 16 top 10s; “Baby Pluto” by Lil Uzi Vert (No. 6, 2020; Pluto was downgraded to “dwarf planet” status in 2006); and all top 10s released on Mercury Records, from the Big Bopper’s “Chantilly Lace” in 1959 through Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” (on Mercury/Republic Records) last month.

(Puts telescope away …)

Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything,” featuring Kacey Musgraves, climbs 9-7 on the Hot 100, after it led for a week upon its debut last September. It tops the multimetric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Rock Songs charts for a 27th week each.

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Tate McRae’s “Greedy” pushes 9-8, after reaching No. 3, and, below SZA’s “Snooze,” Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” falls 7-10, following four nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 beginning in October.

Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on Billboard’s social accounts, and all charts (dated March 9), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (March 5).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

04 Mar 2024

TOMORROW X TOGETHER Announces 6th Mini Album: Here’s When ‘TOMORROW’ Arrives

TOMORROW X TOGETHER is looking to the future. The K-pop quintet announced Sunday (March 3) that its sixth mini album, minisode 3: TOMORROW, is coming up fast on the horizon, marking the band’s first release of 2024.

Bandmates Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and HueningKai broke the news to fans on the second day of their live TXT FANLIVE PRESENT X TOGETHER event in Seoul, which celebrated the fifth anniversary of their 2019 debut as a group. Premiering the EP’s animated logo for the crowd, TXT confirmed that the project will arrive April 1.

The “Sugar Rush Ride” singers went on to share three differently colored variants of TOMORROW‘s cover art on Instagram. Each one features the band’s signature “X” logo adorned with drawings of angel wings, stars and roses.

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The boys also appear in individual concept videos teasing the new mini album on Instagram, with Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and HueningKai each wearing color-changing crowns and posing for the camera as wind blows through their hair. All five of the clips feature a snippet of angelic-sounding music composed of harp and string instruments.

Minisode 3: TOMORROW will serve as TXT’s first release since October’s 10-track album The Name Chapter: FREEFALL, which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. Based on the title, TOMORROW will become the band’s third installment in its “minisode” series, following 2020’s minisode 1: Blue Hour and 2022’s minisode 2: Thursday’s Child — both of which included five songs.

See examples of the covers and concept videos for minisode 3: TOMORROW, arriving April 1, below.

04 Mar 2024

Watch Travis Scott Go Out of His Way to Say Hi to This TV Commercial Personality

It’s rare for Travis Scott to be in Iowa, but women’s basketball phenom Caitlin Clark tends to bring the stars out. With Clark breaking the all-time NCAA scoring record for men and women on Sunday (March 3), La Flame had to be in the building to see the historic moment himself from a courtside view.

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In videos shared online, Scott and his entourage are making their way to their seats at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the Hawkeyes vs Buckeyes game when the Cactus Jack CEO notices another star courtside. That’s when he makes a point to stop and tap Jake From State Farm — whose real name is Kevin Miles — on the shoulder. The State Farm star, who was seated and didn’t see La Flame walking in, quickly turns around to say hello.

The TV commercial personality has seen his profile grow over the last year or two thanks to his repeated appearances with celebrities in State Farm commercials. Rocking a customized Caitlin Clark puffer vest, Jake’s courtside appearance at the Iowa-Ohio State game wasn’t too random, as he recently starred in a State Farm commercial alongside the women’s college basketball star.

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Fans expressed their surprise when they saw the clip of Scott greeting Jake From State Farm at the Iowa game.

“you won’t believe who he daps up,” a viral fan wrote in response to the footage on X.

Scott appeared to have a blast watching Clark break Pete “Pistol Pete” Maravich’s all-time scoring record for the NCAA on Iowa’s way to a 93-83 victory over rival Ohio State.

“We’re out to see C.C. handle business tonight,” Travis told NBC Sports in a courtside interview. “You know Caitlin Clark — she’s one of the greatest humans of all time. So we’re out here to see some good Iowa basketball … I’ve been in a lot of buildings, but this Iowa energy is like no other. I think they need to bottle this energy and bring it around the world.”

Scott seemingly had the time of his life out in Iowa as he posed for photos with Clark as well as the entire team. He jammed out with the marching band and was spotted hyping up the crowd on the jumbotron during his All-American hoops Sunday.

Find some of the highlights of Scott at the game below.

04 Mar 2024

Jay-Z Sports Simple $161K Patek Watch During Lakers Game

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Jay-Z may not be rocking blocks of ice on his person as much as he used to back in the day, but the man is still stunting in subtle ways that many heads may not be aware of if they don’t know what to look for.

While many sneakerheads noticed that Jay-Z was rocking a pair of Off-White Chicago Air Jordan 1s when he attended the Lakers game last week, GQ is reporting that Hova was also sporting a Patek Philippe timepiece that cost more than most people will ever see in their lifetime. With two leather straps holding onto a rose gold dial, the watch boasts 36 baguette-cut diamonds along with 22 extra stones to give it a weight of 4.45 carats, which in turn, gives it a retail price of $161,000. Keep in mind, it’s not like the watch is completely iced out, it’s just a fancy piece of work, and if you know Jay, he likes his accessories to be as exclusive as they come, and this is just that.

Per GQ:

To be fair, Jay-Z owns more complicated watches and more expensive watches. (Not that the 5961R, which features both an annual calendar and a chronograph complication, isn’t expensive at $161,430. The Grandmaster Chime, however, will set you back a cool $2M.) But for whatever reason, the 5961R, sitting as it does at the confluence of haute horlogerie and precious materials, manages to cram an outsized amount of features and bling without feeling…well, blingy. Maybe it’s the baguette cut of the diamonds, which helps them circle the bezel with a higher degree of subtlety than round-cut stones. Or maybe it’s the rose gold, which flies under the radar better than its yellow-hued compatriot—or maybe it’s the soft, black dial. But the 5961R just feels—at least on Jay’s wrist—like it can work in any setting.

Still, we think many people would rather take the Off-White Air Jordan 1s over the watch. Just sayin’.

Check out Jay-Z’s timepiece, and let us know your thoughts on how Jigga man’s flossing game is these days in the comments section below.

04 Mar 2024

Earth, Wind & Fire Wins Trademark Lawsuit Against ‘Reunion’ Tribute Act: ‘Deceptive and Misleading’

Earth, Wind & Fire has won its trademark lawsuit against a tribute act that used the legendary R&B group’s name without permission, with a federal judge ruling that the evidence pointed “overwhelmingly” in the band’s favor.

In a decision released on Monday, a Miami federal judge ruled that the tribute group infringed Earth, Wind & Fire’s intellectual property rights by calling themselves “Earth, Wind & Fire Legacy Reunion.” He called the band’s marketing “deceptive and misleading.”

In particular, the judge cited angry social media posts and emails from fans who attended the “Reunion” shows because they thought it was the original band – proof of the kind of “actual confusion” that’s crucial evidence in a trademark lawsuit.

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“It is not a far cry to think that an average consumer looking for an Earth, Wind & Fire concert would believe that they could acquire that experience from either plaintiff or defendants,” Judge Federico A. Moreno wrote.

Earth, Wind & Fire has continued to tour since founder Maurice White died in 2016, led by longtime members Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson and White’s brother, Verdine White. The band operates under a license from an entity called Earth Wind & Fire IP, a holding company controlled by Maurice White’s sons that formally owns the rights to the name.

Last year, that company filed the current lawsuit, accusing Legacy Reunion of trying to trick consumers into thinking it was the real Earth, Wind & Fire. Though it called itself a “Reunion,” the lawsuit said the tribute band contained only a few “side musicians” who had briefly played with Earth, Wind & Fire many years ago.

“Defendants did this to benefit from the commercial magnetism and immense goodwill the public has for plaintiff’s ‘Earth, Wind & Fire’ marks and logos, thereby misleading consumers and selling more tickets at higher prices,” the group’s lawyers wrote at the time.

Tribute acts — groups that exclusively cover the music of a particular band — are legally allowed to operate, and they often adopt names that allude to the original. But they must make clear that they are only a tribute band, and they can get into legal hot water if they make it appear that they are affiliated with or endorsed by the original.

In Monday’s decision, Judge Moreno ruled that Legacy Reunion had done exactly that – particularly with its references to a “Reunion” and claims that the performers were former members of Earth, Wind & Fire. The judge said the later addition of “Alumni” and other reformulations of the name were not enough.

“While the court understands there is dispute on how prominent of a role the musicians performing in [Legacy Reunion] played in the Earth, Wind & Fire group, defendants advertisements draw a close, unmistakable association with Earth, Wind & Fire to a degree unwarranted by the historical record,” the judge wrote.

“Regardless of if defendants’ musicians were technically sidemen or members, the advertisement and marketing were still deceptive and misleading as to whether the main (or most prominently known) members of the band would be performing,” Judge Moreno wrote.

The judge cited numerous complaints from Earth, Wind & Fire fans who had allegedly been confused by Legacy Reunion’s name. In one email, a fan said the name was “misleading” because they had attended the show “in the hopes of seeing Philip Bailey, Verdine White and others from the original band.” Another email complained that the tribute band was a ‘bait and switch.’ In a Facebook post, another fan said: “If the three remaining original members are not in this tour, this is basically a rip-off!”

In technical terms, Monday’s ruling decided that Legacy Reunion had violated Earth, Wind & Fire’s trademarks, but did not decide how much they must now pay in damages. That issue will be left for a future trial, which is currently scheduled for May. In the meantime, Judge Moreno said that Legacy Reunion would be barred from doing anything that would infringe Earth, Wind & Fire’s trademarks.

Neither side’s attorneys immediately returned request for comment on Monday.

04 Mar 2024

How PinkPantheress’ Perfectionism Took Her From Bedroom Beats to the Billboard Charts

Since PinkPantheress started uploading her music to TikTok three years ago, her songs have gone from locked away on her hard drive to the Billboard charts — but the singer, songwriter and producer’s recording essentials remain the same: microphone, GarageBand-outfitted laptop and a killer ear for finding niche samples primed for her to mold into the next dance-pop earworm.

The 22-year-old from Bath, England, may have started enlisting fellow producers to help polish her work, as on her recent album Heaven Knows, but make no mistake: From her early viral single “Pain” to her 2023 hit “Boy’s a liar, Pt. 2” with Ice Spice, PinkPantheress has been the creative mastermind. In fact, the self-described perfectionist — whose team lovingly refers to her as “Pink” in lieu of divulging her real name — admits that she often finds herself seizing control of her studio sessions with collaborators.

“As soon as I’m at a point where I can’t do anything else, that’s where I go, ‘OK, now can you do the rest?’ ” she says of her process, laughing. “It ends up being a collaborative thing. I just like to get what I can do out of the way first.” When she comes across another artist’s track that she can’t stop obsessing over, that usually means it’s about to become the skeleton of her next project. “I’m just like, ‘I need to somehow make this my song,’ ” she says.

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She can recall only one time that she had to ax a track because she couldn’t get a sample — the original producer’s royalties demands were simply too high. But Billboard’s 2024 Women in Music Producer of the Year knew that what she brought to the table on her own was valuable — something that might inspire young girls who also want to make music — so she walked away.

“For whatever reason, I’ve always felt strongly about that,” she says of her sense of self-worth. “Obviously, it’s a good thing.”

Billboard’s last Producer of the Year honoree, Rosalía, gave you a shoutout during her Women in Music interview. Which female producers inspire you?

That’s really sweet. I didn’t know she knew who I was. Since she’s a [female] producer as well, it’s really cool. There’s obviously not many of us. I’m always going to say WondaGurl, just because she’s who I looked up to when I was starting. Obviously, Imogen Heap, but these are all veterans. I need to tap into more up-and-coming ones.

Sampling has been your bread and butter from the start. How has your process changed over time?

At the beginning, I wasn’t really adding anything to my samples. I was basically just singing over instrumentals. I didn’t mind sampling, but I didn’t like how people… I think people thought it was lazy, and part of me understood what they meant. I’m chopping them, speeding them up or slowing them down way more. I’m adding more instrumentation so it’s more hidden, whereas before it would kind of just be the actual track itself.

PinkPantheress, Women in Music

Lia Clay Miller

You’ve said before that some of your songs are “crap.” Do you really think that?

I’m one of those people who, in my whole life, nothing is ever good enough. For better or worse, this is just how I am. I’ll put out a song and think at the time, “This is 100% amazing.” It’s only when I’ve put it out that I doubt myself. Does that mean I think the song’s actually bad? No. Because at the end of the day, I know it’s still a bop.

What advice do you have for other female producers trying to hold their own in the industry?

It’s the vibe you go in with that people judge to see if they can get away with stuff. If you know what you want to make as soon as you step into the room, there should be nothing stopping you from actually doing it. What I’m saying is, if there’s a MIDI keyboard there, ask to use the MIDI keyboard. If [other producers] say no, then that’s wild and definitely leave. But chances are, they’ll say yes.

This story originally appeared in the March 2, 2024, issue of Billboard.

04 Mar 2024

Selena Gomez on the ‘Liberating’ Experience (and Reese Witherspoon Approval) of New Single ‘Love On’

One week after releasing the sparkling, disco-tinged pop single “Love On,” Selena Gomez has watched the song’s optimism spread across her fan base, and has enjoyed witnessing a positive personal moment translate to her listeners via a new single.

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“It’s been lovely,” Gomez tells Billboard about seeing the general reaction to “Love On” following its Feb. 22 release. “I try not to read too much into things, but I think the whole idea was to make a song that felt good. I feel like I’m in such a light and happy place, and that’s reflected in the song.”

Among the admirers: a certain Oscar-winning actress that Gomez ran into at the SAG Awards last month. “It was really sweet — Reese Witherspoon came up to me and said the song made her really happy and she loved it,” Gomez recalls. “It was a huge compliment, I was glowing. Those messages mean the world to me.”

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“Love On” came together last spring, when Gomez was “in and out of the studio” in April while shooting a film in Paris. Feeling inspired by the City of Light, as well as content within her personal and professional life, Gomez called up longtime songwriting collaborator Julia Michaels and came up with a lyrical concept at once airy and flirtatious.

The standout lyric: “Why we conversin’ over this steak tartare?/ When we could be somewhere other than here/ Makin’ out in the back of a car/ Or in the back of a bar?” Yes, Gomez has seen the flood of TikTok clips dedicated to the “steak tartare” line, and says, “It brings me a lot of joy.”

The music video for “Love On” captures the song’s romantic effervescence, with French director Greg Ohrel surrounding Gomez with opulent parties, ballet dancers and couples sucking face. “It’s so liberating to not worry about how I look,” Gomez says of filming the video, “and I just wanted it to feel like I was having a good time. I didn’t need it to feel very intense or dramatic. It was just a blast, and I wanted it to convey that — I was genuinely that happy.”

Gomez says that she “definitely” has more material with the “Love On” creative brain trust of Michaels, who has helped pen some of her biggest pop hits, and production/songwriting collective The Monsters & Strangerz, which has worked with Gomez dating back to her Stars Dance album in 2013.

“I feel like I have moments where I hit these strides, and we’re just writing song after song, just in the zone, and I tend to do that when I’m with that dynamic group,” she says. “With Julia and I — for some reason the universe has put us in each other’s lives, because we go through so many similar things in our lives. It just feels so nice to have someone who knows me, knows my voice really well. That’s kind of what I feel like the goal is when I work with that gang — I’m always like, ‘How can I make another song that feels kitschy and fun?’”

However, “Love On,” as well as 2023 track “Single Soon,” may not make the track list to her next album, which will follow her excellent 2020 full-length Rare. Similar to how Gomez preceded Rare with a string of singles (including “Bad Liar,” “It Ain’t Me” with Kygo and “Wolves” with Marshmello) that didn’t make the proper album’s track list — they were later included on the Deluxe edition — Gomez says that these recent singles might just exist on their own.

“I think objectively, I would like to say that I am working towards an album, but I don’t know if those songs would be on that project,” she says. “I feel like I’m brewing, and I’m in the process of really creating some great songs, hopefully. I don’t know if they would fit with what I’m gonna go with.”

However the track list shakes out, Gomez simply wants “to make a great album” in 2024, in addition to continuing her film work. She recently returned to the Only Murders in the Building set, as filming on season 4 of the hit Hulu series has gotten underway.

“I want to continue working towards my goals,” she says. “In the acting field, I feel like I haven’t even started. And with music, it’s always evolving. It’s such a therapeutic experience for me.”

04 Mar 2024

Justin Timberlake Unveils ‘Everything I Thought It Was’ Tracklist: See All 18 Song Titles

With less than two weeks to go until his new album arrives, Justin Timberlake unveiled the full tracklist to Everything I Thought It Was via an enormous Spotify billboard in Los Angeles Monday (March 4).

Plastered atop The Reef event building in Southern California, the digital billboard confirms that the pop star’s March 15 record will include a total of 18 songs. Three of them will find the star collaborating with guest artists: Fireboy DML is credited on track 7, “Liar”; Tobe Nwigwe has billing on track 10, “Sanctified”; and Timberlake’s *NSYNC bandmates will appear on track 17, “Paradise.”

Previously released singles “Drown” and “Selfish” are listed at Nos. 6 and 15, respectively. Other song titles include “Memphis” — aka Timberlake’s home city — “F–kin’ Up the Disco,” “No Angels,” “Play,” “Technicolor,” “Infinity Sex,” “Love & War,” “My Favorite Drug,” “Flame,” “Imagination,” “What Lovers Do,” “Alone” and “Conditions.”

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Everything I Thought It Was will mark the “Mirrors” singer’s first proper album since his 2018 effort, Man of the Woods. The project has already been making a splash in the weeks leading up to its arrival, with lead single “Selfish” coming in at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon its release in February, becoming Timberlake’s highest debuting song on the chart in six years.

The former boy bander — who’s been performing a select few “One Night Only” shows to gear up for the release of his new album — is scheduled to embark on his Forget Tomorrow World Tour in April. After first unveiling dates in the U.S. and Canada, he announced a number of shows in Europe Feb. 23, writing at the time, “When I said WORLD tour, I meant it.”

See Timberlake’s Everything I Thought It Was tracklist announcement with Spotify below.

04 Mar 2024

Scott Storch Sued By Beverly Hills Jeweler Over Unpaid $65K Bill

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Scott Storch hasn’t been in the news of late save for making an appearance during the early days of VERZUZ and producing tracks here and there over the past few years. The hitmaking keyboardist was hit with a lawsuit after reportedly not paying a $65,000 bill to a California jeweler.

Scott Storch, 50, was slapped with a lawsuit from Peter Marco of Extraordinary Jewels in Beverly Hills, according to a report from TMZ. Marco says in the filing documents that the monies owed to him by Storch date back to January 2020. Storch bought a diamond-studded platinum ring valued at $61,000.

At one point, Storch was maintaining monthly installment payments but Marco shared in his documents that Storch last paid in 2021 with a bill of $65,5000. Marco’s legal team gave Storch’s side a pair of letters demanding payment with the looming threat of a lawsuit. When the letters did not garner a response from Storch, Marco’s team filed the lawsuit.

According to the outlet, Scott Storch has not responded publicly to the lawsuit.

—

Photo: Getty

04 Mar 2024

Hipgnosis Slashes Valuation of Portfolio By 26%

LONDON — Hipgnosis Songs Fund has cut the value of its portfolio by more than a quarter and told investors that it does not intend to recommence paying dividends “for the foreseeable future” as it focuses on paying down debts.

The London-listed fund, which owns full or partial rights to the song catalogs of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young, Justin Bieber and Blondie, among many others, announced the updated valuation on Monday (March 4).

It follows a detailed review of the company’s portfolio “on a bottom-up basis” by Shot Tower, which was appointed following a public fallout between the firm’s board and its investment advisor, the Merck Mercuriadis-led Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM), over the fund’s worth.

In a financial filing, Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF) said Shot Tower’s preliminary report estimates the fair market value of the company’s portfolio at between $1.8 billion and $2.06 billion (and $1.74 billion and $2 billion after deducting contingent catalog bonuses of just under $60 million).

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Shot Tower gave a midpoint valuation of $1.93 billion, reflecting a multiple of 15.9x net royalty income, which is around 26% lower than the valuation of September 2023.

Hipgnosis Songs Fund said the new valuation was based on a range of criteria, including whether a catalog was made up of publisher, writer, producer or artist’s share of rights royalties. Shot Tower’s report also took into account royalty income streams and administration rights or copyrights due to be returned to the firm in future years, the fund said.

The firm’s cash net revenue (after third party royalty reductions and administration expenses) was $121.7 million for the 12-month royalty statement period ended June 30, 2023, according to Shot Tower’s analysis. 

When adjusted solely for the new valuation, the company’s operative net asset value would be approximately $1.17 (92p) per share, compared to the last reported net asset value of $1.7392 (137p) per share at the end of September, the firm reported.

As a result of the decrease, the board said that it would be using free cashflow to pay down debt “and, therefore, does not intend to recommence paying dividends for the foreseeable future.”

In a statement accompanying the filing, Hipgnosis Songs Fund chairman Robert Naylor said the company’s newly constituted board “is making good progress with the due diligence work” underpinning its ongoing strategic review and that the board “remains focused on identifying all options to deliver shareholder value.”

Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s share price initially fell by 11% to £0.56 on Monday morning following the news.

The slashed valuation represents another blow for HSF, which underwent a turbulent end to 2023 and just-as-rocky start to the year.

In October, shareholders voted against the music royalties fund’s proposed $440 million deal to sell 29 catalogues to Hipgnosis Songs Capital – a partnership between investment giant Blackstone and the fund’s investment adviser Hipgnosis Song Management – citing the lack of an “up-to-date” valuation.

The same month’s annual meeting of shareholders also saw a majority of investors vote against a resolution “to continue running the fund in its current form” — a so-called “continuation vote” — commencing a six-month countdown for the board to come up with a plan “for the reconstruction, reorganisation, or winding-up of the company.”

That led to the installation of a new executive board with Naylor replacing Andrew Sutch as chairman, while last month shareholders passed a special resolution that authorizes the payment of up to 20 million pounds ($25 million) to prospective bidders seeking to acquire the fund’s assets. The fund hopes that the enticement of a large fee will help draw potential bidders to acquire some of the company’s catalogs.

February also saw Mercuriadis step down as chief executive officer of Hipgnosis Song Management to take up a newly created chairman role with Ben Katovsky replacing him as CEO.

Shot Tower is due to present its final due diligence findings to the firm’s board later this month.