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09 Feb 2024

Sony Music Publishing’s Admin Division Moving From Downtown Nashville to Music Row Area

Sony Music Publishing‘s administration division in Nashville will relocate to Nashville’s Music Row area, having signed a lease to move into the 17th + Grand building (located at 1001 17th Ave.) from its current location in downtown Nashville at 424 Church Street, a source has confirmed to Billboard. The move is slated to take place later this year.

Sony Music Publishing’s entire administration division is located in Nashville and will now occupy a 24,000-square-foot space on the eighth floor of the 17th + Grand building. The move will shift the admin division closer to SMP Nashville’s creative office, located at 8 Music Square West. Among the songwriters signed to Sony Music Publishing Nashville’s roster are Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Gabby Barrett, Kane Brown, Cole Swindell and Lainey Wilson.

17th + Grand is a nine-story building totaling over 166,000 square feet of retail and office space, with amenities including a roof terrace, club-level fitness and locker rooms, a conference center and more. Other tenants in the building include property management company Carter-Haston and City National Bank.

Nashville Business Journal first reported the relocation.

Other major music company moves in the city in recent years include the Universal Music Group Nashville office relocation from 401 Commerce Street to its current location at 222 2nd Ave. S. in 2019. The Academy of Country Music moved its headquarters from California to Nashville’s Wedgewood-Houston area in 2022, leasing space at Nashville Warehouse Company. Meanwhile, AEG Presents is set to relocate its regional headquarters to Nashville Yards by 2025, while CAA is also set to relocate its Nashville office to Nashville Yards that year.

09 Feb 2024

Arthur Hanlon Talks About ‘Legados’ Series, What Fans Can Expect From Upcoming Shows & More | Billboard News

Acclaimed pianist Arthur Hanlon talks about the newest editions to his ‘Legados’ series, what inspired him to start playing Latin music, working with other artists like Fonseca and Orishas, other artists he wants to work with, what fans can expect from his upcoming ‘Piano Magic’ tour and more!

Arthur Hanlon
I kinda feel like, you know, the Wizard of Oz when like the house … and she lands in. I get to New York and all the sudden I’m in Latin musiclandia. Hey, everybody, I’m Arthur Hanlon and you’re watching Billboard News.

Lyndsey Havens
I’m Lyndsey Havens for Billboard News, and today we are joined by, I’m gonna say, Latin, Pop fusion pianist Arthur Hanlon. How are you doing?

Arthur Hanlon
I’m fine Lyndsay and I love that, I’m gonna steal it.

Lyndsey Havens
Please use it. It’s very hard to encompass all that you do, which we’ll get into. But I feel like that touches on some of what is drawing me to your music for sure.

Arthur Hanlon
It’s nice, it’s concise.

Lyndsey Havens
You had a very busy 2023, you released two EPs, in this ‘Legados’ series, started with the bachata one into pop. So I’d love to hear the inspiration for that series. And why did you decide to jump in with bachata?

Arthur Hanlon
Well, you know, my story is kind of different. I’m Irish-American with a passion for Latin music, which I discovered in New York and, you know, have 10 albums now and two HBO specials, a bunch of stuff. And I’m thinking what can I do? You know, it’s almost like a momentum memento. … This project is a series, you know, ‘Legados,’ which is legacies of songs that have inspired me when I really first got into heavy, heavy in the Latin music. And I decided in New York, you know, I’m going Latin, I’m going to create this fusion thing. And I’m not turning back. And so, you know, that was in New York in the early ’90s. I studied classical piano, Manhattan School of Music. My teacher was in Washington Heights. Washington Heights was this weird area because it is very classical, you know, Manhattan School, Juilliard, all these things and Dominicans and Colombians and the bachata, salsa, merengue was like pouring out into the street. And so this is the first songs I’ve heard. I walk in, I moved from Detroit playing lots of Motown. I heard that one that was Juan Luis Guerra. And I heard all this stuff like, oh my God, this is glorious. Yeah. So I wanted to start ‘Legados.’ This is like my personal, you know, songs that inspired me since I really really, you know, gotten involved with latin music.

Watch the full video above!

Editor’s Note: Arthur Hanlon is married to Billboard‘s vp/Latin industry lead, Leila Cobo.

09 Feb 2024

Sphere, Spotify Shares Lead Music Stock Gains on Quarterly Earnings Results

The Sphere venue in Las Vegas isn’t turning a profit, but it’s doing enough to encourage investors to buy into its owner, Sphere Entertainment Co.

Shares of Sphere Entertainment gained 13.8% to $40.29 this week after the company’s quarterly earnings report released Monday (Feb. 5) showed that the state-of-the-art venue — currently capturing eyeballs ahead of the Super Bowl in Las Vegas on Sunday — took in revenue of $167.8 million and had an adjusted gain of $14 million (adjusted to certain items including $117 million of non-cash impairment related to the company’s failed bid to open a Sphere in London).

Sphere Entertainment was the top-performing music stock in a week when music stocks soared to new heights, with the 20-company Billboard Global Music Index gaining 3% to land at a record 1,636.43. While the numbers of winners and losers were even at 10 stocks apiece, most of the index’s most valuable companies posted gains this week. Tencent Music Entertainment rose 6.7% to $9.67, Live Nation improved 1.5% to $89.53 and Universal Music Group gained 1.2% to 27.41 euros ($29.55). 

Spotify, another of the index’s largest companies, gained 8.2% to $240.77 after its earnings results on Tuesday (Feb. 6) showed its subscriber number grew to 236 million, up 10 million in the quarter, and that revenue grew 16% to 3.67 billion euros ($4.05 billion). The share price reached its highest mark since December 2021 as investors discovered a renewed faith in Spotify following its decision to cut 17% of its workforce in December. Spotify has always had a good product. Now, there is a growing feeling it can be a good business, too.

“The market is now seeing the potential of this business,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a Wednesday (Feb. 7) note to investors, “as record [monthly active user] net adds and subscribers come alongside price increases and an aggressive turn towards cost efficiency.” Stronger revenue growth and the potential for better margins led Morgan Stanley to raise its Spotify price target from $250 to $270.

Major indexes gained this week, too, and one reached a major threshold: The S&P 500 closed above 5,000 for the first time on Friday as it rose 1.4% to 5,026.61, while the Nasdaq composite improved 2.3% to 15,990.66, its highest level since 2021, thanks to big gains from chip maker Nvidia and e-commerce giant Amazon. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 declined 0.6% to 7,572.58. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 0.2% to 2,620.32. China’s Shangai Composite Index jumped 5% to 2,865.90. 

It was a busy week for corporate earnings reports. CTS Eventim shares rose 5.5% to 66.90 euros ($72.12) following the company’s fourth-quarter results Wednesday. The German concert promoter’s 2023 revenue reached 2.4 billion euros, up 22.5%, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization improved 31.9% to 501.4 million euros.  

Warner Music Group (WMG) shares briefly rallied following its earnings results on Thursday — with the stock up 5.1% to $38.05 — but it finished the day down 2.5% and the week down 2.6% to $35.71. Morgan Stanley analysts remained “overweight” on WMG and kept the price target at $42. Guggenheim analysts reiterated their “buy” rating and maintained their $46 price target. 

MSG Entertainment shares rose 9% to $36.81 after the company’s fiscal second-quarter earnings results were released Wednesday. The New York-based live entertainment company raised revenue guidance for its full fiscal year by 10% to a range of $930 million to $950 million. Executive chairman/CEO James Dolan attributed the strong quarter to “record results” from the Christmas Spectacular production, the long-running show featuring the Radio City Rockettes. 

LiveOne shares fell 2.1% after PodcastOne reported a 22% increase in revenue in the first nine months of its fiscal year on Thursday (Feb. 8). (LiveOne spun off PodcastOne in 2023 and retained a 73% stake.) PodcastOne ranked No. 10 in Podtrac’s top publisher’s rankings and achieved a U.S. audience of 5.3 million, but its net loss increased from $3 million to $13.7 million. 

09 Feb 2024

Sharon Osbourne Explains Why Ozzy Turned Down Kanye’s Sample Request

Former Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne called out Kanye West on social media on Friday (Feb. 9), saying that West had asked to sample a song but was “refused permission because he is an antisemite,” and used the sample anyway at a listening event for his new album at the United Center in Chicago on Thursday. “I want no association with this man!” Osbourne wrote.

Although Osbourne said online that West asked to sample “War Pigs,” the song he seems to have used is “Iron Man” – specifically a version performed by Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band at the 1983 Us Festival.

“We get so many requests for these songs,” his wife and manager Sharon Osbourne tells Billboard, “and when we saw that request, we just said no way.” Without permission, West would be unable to release a new song that used the sample. “We’ve been in touch with his team” about the legal issue,” says Sharon Osbourne. “And it’s also an issue of having respect for another artist.”

Starting in 2022, West, now known simply as Ye, made a series of antisemitic comments, for which he was widely condemned, and lost numerous sponsorship and fashion deals. Although he offered an online apology for his statements in December, the first song from his forthcoming album, Vultures, includes the lyric “How am I antisemitic? / I just fucked a Jewish bitch.” Although West does not seem to have finalized release details for the album – and Ozzy Osbourne’s comments suggest he may face issues clearing samples – he has held a number of listening events to promote it.

Ozzy Osbourne often allows other artists to sample his work. “But the simple thing is, we don’t want to be associated with a hater,” says Sharon Osbourne, who was raised Jewish. (Her father, the U.K. music manager Don Arden, was Jewish.) “To spread hate the way he does, it shouldn’t be allowed. All the excuses – he’s bipolar or whatever – doesn’t change that. It’s like, fuck you, basically.”

Like many early Black Sabbath songs, “Iron Man” was written by the band – Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. Who has the rights to license interpolations of a composition by more than one songwriter can depend on the agreement between them. In this case, Sharon Osbourne tells Billboard that the agreement says all four songwriters need to agree. There could also be permissions issues with the 1983 performance recording, to which Ozzy Ozbourne presumably has the rights.

Coincidentally, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne dressed up as Kanye West and Bianca Censori for Halloween, but that was “a joke,” Sharon Osbourne said.

09 Feb 2024

Ye, Ty Dolla $ign ft. Bump J & Lil Durk “Vultures,” Fivio Foreign & Lil Tjay “Trauma” & More | Daily Visuals 2.9.24

HipHopWired Featured Video

Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles - February 02, 2024

Source: Rachpoot/Bauer-Griffin / Getty

Once again Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign have let a rumored release night for Vultures come and go with no album in sight and while fans still hope to get the highly anticipated album before the day is out, they continues to tease the project with a new music video that’ll leave you scratching your head in confusion.

For their latest visuals to the Bump J and Lil Durk assisted “Vultures,” Kanye and Ty go the apocalyptic route with weird imagery of shadows, clowns and wolves roaming the land where hooded groups of people seem to run things and society has seemingly fallen apart. This was like the 2024 version of the videotape from The Ring.

Back in New York, Fivio Foreign and Lil Tjay do a collaboration of their own and for their clip to “Trauma,” the two take to a bowling alley with a group of females who may or may not realize that playing with balls is indeed the name of the game for the rest of the night. Just sayin.’

Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from E-40 featuring Stresmatic, Nardo Wick featuring Sexyy Red, and more.

YE, TY DOLLA $IGN FT. BUMP J & LIL DURK – “VULTURES”



FIVIO FOREIGN & LIL TJAY – “TRAUMA”



E-40 FT. STRESMATIC – “THE GAME”



NARDO WICK FT. SEXYY RED – “SOMETHIN’”



NLE CHOPPA – “CITY LIGHTS”



BEO LIL KENNY – “DON’T SLEEP”



T.F & ROC MARCIANO – “YOU GOTTA FEEL IT”



LIL DARIUS – “IN LOVE”



09 Feb 2024

‘Halo’ Season 2: How to Watch the TV Series Online for Free

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Gamers rejoice! After almost two years since its debut, Halo Season 2 premiered on Paramount+ on Thursday (Feb. 8).

The series, based on the iconic Xbox franchise, takes place in the same fictional universe that debuted in the very first Halo video game. The series chronicles a 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant.

In the second season, Master Chief John-117 (Pablo Schreiber) “leads his team of elite Spartans against the alien threat known as the Covenant,” according to Paramount.

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The series stars Pablo Schreiber, Natascha McElhone, Jen Taylor, Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Natasha Culzac, Olive Gray, Yerin Ha, Bentley Kalu, Kate Kennedy, Charlie Murphy and Danny Sapani.

Halo is one of the most successful gaming franchises in history with over $6 billion in revenue and more than 82 million copies sold worldwide. The TV series, produced by Showtime in association with 343 Industries and Amblin Television.

Steven Kane and Steven Spielberg are executive producers on the series alongside Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey for Amblin Television in partnership with 343 Industries. Kiki Wolfkill serves as executive producer for 343 Industries, with Otto Bathurst and Toby Leslie of One Big Picture.

Keep reading to find out all the ways to stream the show for free.

How to Watch Halo Season 2 Online

The Halo series is streaming exclusively on Paramount+ at no additional charge to subscribers. The first two episodes from Season 2 dropped on Thursday.

Sign up for Paramount+ and receive a free 7-day trial to watch Halo and other programming in the streaming library. Want a longer free trial? Use the code “JUNE” to receive a 30-day free trial.

Plans start at $5.99 a month for the Essential plan which lets you stream thousands of TV episodes and tons of movies with commercials. For commercial-free streaming, choose Paramount+ with Showtime for $11.99 a month. You also get access to your local CBS station to watch the 2024 Super Bowl and other sporting events.

Want to save on your monthly bill? The annual plan save your around 16% off the monthly price. Paramount+ offers student discounts as well.

Amazon Prime members can add Paramount+ to Prime Video and stream the Halo series and more from one platform.

Want more ways to stream? Paramount+ with Showtime is also available on DirecTV, Sling TV and Fubo TV (use ExpressVPN to stream internationally).

From movies and acclaimed originals to live sports, Paramount+ features a mountain of entertainment. Paramount+ members get access to exclusive shows and must-watch movies such as Special Ops: Lioness, 1883, Frasier, The Good Fight, Mayor of Kingstown, Star Trek: Picard, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, Why Women Kill, Good Burger 2, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Dungeons & Dragons and Transformers Rise of the Beast.

Watch the trailer for Halo Season 2 below.



09 Feb 2024

Stevie Nicks Added 12 More Solo Dates to Her Tour: How to Get Tickets

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Stevie Nicks is making our “Dreams” come true as she announced 12 additional dates to her 2024 tour across North America. The “Landslide” singer has been co-headlining with Billy Joel in various cities across the U.S., but now she is offering opportunities for fans to watch her perform solo and you can still score cheap tickets.

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Nicks took to Instagram on Monday (Feb. 6) to make the official announcement with a photo of her updated tour dates list.

“It’s a new year… Let’s keep this thing going! I’ve added 12 more shows to my 2024 tour. I can’t wait to see you all soon. ✨” the caption says.

Additional cities she’ll be visiting include St. Louis, MO; Thackerville, OK; Nashville; San Antonio; Highland, CA; Salt Lake City; Denver; Indianapolis; Uncasville, CT; Albany, NY; Hershey, PA; and Grand Rapids, MI.

Presale for the newly added dates will occur Friday (Feb. 9) through Ticketmaster, but for those who miss out, you can still get cheap tickets through resale ticketing sites such as StubHub, Seat Geek (first purchases are eligible for $10 off with code BILLBOARD10) and Vivid Seats.

Ticket prices through Ticketmaster range from $40-$229+ and can be higher or lower depending on the resale site.

Where to Get Stevie Nicks Tickets

StubHub ticket prices start at $75+ and can be personalized based on price, section and which ones are recommended by the site. Each purchase also comes with the FanProtect Guarantee, which you can read more about here.

Choose from Seat Geek tickets starting at $93+ and browse through options ranked on a scale of 1-10 to based on how good of a deal it is. Tickets labeled as a 10 are considered the best deal, and one-rated tickets are the worst. You can also include fees when looking at ticket prices and even sign up to get notified if ticket sales drop in cost.

Vivid Seats includes a selection of tickets beginning at $70+ and comes with 100% Buyer Guarantee protection to keep your purchases safe. Using the interactive map, you can find tickets based on price or specific sections in the venue.

09 Feb 2024

Rosé Sings ‘All Too Well’ at Eras Tour, Sabrina Carpenter’s New Album & More | Billboard News

Blackpink’s Rosé sings her heart out to “All Too Well” during the first night of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour stop at the Tokyo Dome, Sabrina Carpenter is working on a new album, Post Malone and Swae Lee celebrate their hit “Sunflower” becoming the first-ever double diamond single in RIAA history.

Tetris Kelly
Rosé jams to Tay, Post Malone breaks a record and new music from Sabrina. Here’s your top stories for Friday, February 9th.

Tetris Kelly
Rosé of Blackpink attended Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Tokyo and her favorite 10 minutes was of course, “All Too Well.”

Tetris Kelly
And Post Malone will be featured on Taylor’s new album April 19th. But he’s got other things to celebrate. Post Malone and Swae Lee’s “Sunflower” becomes the first ever double diamond single in RIAA history. It’s left all of the songs in the dust with an equivalent of 20 million in sales. And I guess all our stories today are connected to Taylor in some way. Sabrina Carpenter, opener of The Eras Tour, is working on some new music, and in an in-depth conversation with Interview, she opened up about how she’s been feeling about her songwriting process. She said, “I feel a lot freer and more excited about what I’m making now because I’ve realized that genre isn’t necessarily the most important thing. It’s about honesty and authenticity and whenever you gravitate towards.”

Watch the full video above!

09 Feb 2024

Watch Meghan Trainor Star With Judge Judy in e.l.f Cosmetics Super Bowl Commercial

Meghan Trainor serves both glowy skin and her civic duty in e.l.f Cosmetics’ 2024 Super Bowl ad.

The beauty brand shared their game day ad this week on YouTube, featuring the “All About That Bass” singer sitting on the juror’s bench as a court correspondent while Judge Judy — who in this universe goes by “Judge Beauty” — presides over a faux case. The plaintiff and defendant are played by Suits‘ Rick Hoffman and Gina Torres, respectively.

When Torres’ character is found guilty for spending company funds on overpriced makeup — which “isn’t even cruelty-free,” as Trainor passionately points out — she is sentenced to use e.l.f’s halo glow liquid filter.

“Here are the eyes.lips.facts: Culture and community are what drive us down the field every
time,” said the company’s chief marketing officer, Kory Marchisotto, in a statement. “We’re leaning
into the true diversity of the Big Game and carving a path that proves beauty not only belongs
there, but everywhere. Our community trusts us to put them at the center of the conversation,
and this campaign is going to do just that.”

The ad also stars fellow Suits alum Sarah Rafferty, Jury Duty breakout star Ronald Gladden, RuPaul’s Drag Race star Heidi N Closet, comedian Benito Skinner and former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho.

This year’s Super Bowl kicks off Sunday (Feb. 11) at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, where the Kansas City Chiefs will defend their title against the San Francisco 49ers. Following performances from Post Malone and Reba McEntire pre-game, Usher will take the stage to lead the halftime show.

Trainor’s album Takin’ It Back arrived in October 2022 and peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200. Its single “Made You Look” reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

See her in e.l.f’s new commercial below.

09 Feb 2024

Denzel Washington & Spike Lee Reuniting For Remake of Japanese Thriller ‘High and Low’

HipHopWired Featured Video

Celebrities At The Los Angeles Lakers Game

Source: Allen Berezovsky / Getty / Spike Lee / Denzel Washington

A new movie directed by Spike Lee starring Denzel Washington, sign us up for that.

Spotted on Variety, Spike Lee and Denzel Washington are coming together for a new movie, well, sort of. The website reports Washington will star in Lee’s remake of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller High and Low.

The film will mark the first project the duo has worked on since 2006’s Inside Man.

Per Variety:

Apple Original Films and A24 are partnering on “High and Low,” which will be released theatrically by A24 before a global launch on AppleTV+. 

The thriller, which starts production in March, is the English-language reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller of the same name. The 1963 film starring Toshiro Mifune was based on the Ed McBain novel “King’s Ransom,” which chronicles the ruin of a businessman following a ransom payment to kidnappers.

Developed and produced by A24, Escape Artists, and Mandalay Pictures, “High and Low” features a script written by Alan Fox and Spike Lee. 

Variety reports High and Low will also reunite Washington with Todd Black (“Emancipation,” “The Equalizer” films), who will produce the film.

Lee doesn’t hide his admiration for Kurosawa’s films, telling Vulture in an interview his classic film She’s Gotta Have Kurosawa’s Rashomon inspired it.

Production on the film will reportedly begin in March.