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12 May 2023

Subway Vigilante Daniel Penny Surrenders To NY Authorities For Killing Jordan Neely

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Former Marine Daniel Penny arrested on felony manslaughter charge in Jordan Neely subway death

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Daniel Penny, the man who choked and killed Jordan Neely on a New York City subway train has turned himself over to authorities.

Penny, a former Marine, arrived at the Fifth Precinct of the New York Police Department in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan at 8 A.M. on Friday (May 12th). He surrendered alongside his attorneys, Steven Raiser & Thomas Kenniff.

Penny faces a charge of second-degree manslaughter, which was announced by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Thursday.

Raiser and Kenniff said in a statement that they were “confident that once all the facts and circumstances surrounding this tragic incident are brought to bear, Mr. Penny will be fully absolved of any wrongdoing.” A second-degree charge of manslaughter in New York is applied when the assailant is accused of recklessly causing the death of another person. If convicted of the charge in a trial, the 24-year-old Penny would face a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. The city medical examiner ruled that Neely died due to compression of the neck on May 3rd.

Penny’s surrender comes after days of sustained but rising outrage expressed by community activists and politicians who were shocked at witnessing the video of Penny restraining Neely, a Black man who was homeless, in a chokehold on a northbound F train. A witness on the same train stated that Neely was yelling at others after boarding the train while in the midst of a mental health crisis. Penny would grab Neely and put him in a chokehold as two other men restrained his arms and legs. Police arrived at the Broadway-Lafayette station, and rushed Neely to a nearby hospital where he died.

Mayor Eric Adams had received heavy criticism from Democratic politicians for not taking a stronger stance on the incident, but after the announcement of charges he said: “I have the utmost faith in the judicial process, and now justice can move forward against Daniel Penny.” Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor who was part of the team that brought the case by the D.A.’s office against the Trump Organization, has been tasked to lead the investigation.

The family of Jordan Neely held a press conference afterward, blasting media depictions of Neely as excessively violent. Family attorney Lennon Edwards said of the charge, “We’re closer now to justice than we were a week ago because Daniel Penny has been arrested.” They also blasted Penny’s previous statement, claiming that “he’s getting to rewrite the account of what happened”.

12 May 2023

Jonas Brothers, BLACKPINK & More Acts That Released Albums With Very Literal Titles

Sometimes, album titles show a great deal of thought. The 1975’s I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It is a title of great complexity and beauty. The full title of Fiona Apple’s 1999 album When the Pawn… is an eight-line poem that contains a whopping 444 characters.

But sometimes artists just like to keep it simple. Real simple. Led Zeppelin’s first four albums were titled Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin III and Led Zeppelin IV.

Chicago titled a long series of albums with just the band’s name and the number of studio albums they had released at that point. They kept this up, with just a couple of exceptions, from Chicago II in 1970to Chicago 18 in 1986.

Adele kept it as simple as could be with the titles of her albums 19, 21, 25 and 30 – her ages when she wrote and recorded them.

Then there are the album titles that are quite literal – they tell you exactly what the album is, with no flourishes whatsoever. The latest example is Jonas Brothers’ The Album, which was released today (May 12). As you’ll see below, it’s not the first time an act has titled an album The Album. (Here’s a ranking of all 12 tracks on the album by Billboard writer Hannah Dailey, who, in the spirit of literal titles, could have titled this piece, The Ranking.)

There have been many other examples of literal album titles over the years, as you’ll see when you scroll through this sampling of albums where it’s all right there in the title – with no frills added. All of these albums made the Billboard 200, with peak positions shown below.

12 May 2023

Keith Urban to Return to ‘American Idol’ as Season 21 Finale Mentor: Exclusive

Keith Urban is heading back to American Idol. The country superstar, who served as an Idol judge from seasons 12 to 15, is returning to the singing competition show as a mentor for the season finale on Sunday (May 21).

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The “Blue Ain’t Your Color” singer will guide the top three contestants through their performances, leading up to one of them getting the American Idol crown. Urban will also perform his 2022 hit “Wild Hearts” on the Idol stage during the three-hour finale, with other performers to be announced soon.

At the time of publication, 18-year-old Hawaii native Iam Tongi, 20-year-old Georgia native Megan Danielle, 18-year-old Mississippi native Colin Stough, 24-year-old New Yorker Wé Ani and 19-year-old Mississippian Zachariah Smith are in the top five. On Sunday night’s (May 14) episode, the top three will be revealed.

“If you come on the show, you’re part of the American Idol alumni. You are part of our history. This show has changed lives in so many different ways,” executive producer and showrunner Megan Michaels Wolflick recently told Billboard. “I think American Idol is now like the NFL, where people train their [whole] lives to come on the show. It’s now bigger than a TV show. It’s something you can aspire to be a part of — young singers are born every day.”

Catch the American Idol finale, featuring celebrity mentor Keith Urban, on Sunday (May 21) at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC.

12 May 2023

Janelle Monáe Has The Internet Parched Over Sultry “Lipstick Lover” Video

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Janelle Monáe has always been a beautiful person and they have long proven that their aims in music were often beyond being superficial. With the release of their new video, Janelle Monáe really hammers home the concept of her new album by way of her racy NSFW video, “Lipstick Lover,” and Twitter’s thirst levels are crazy now.

On Friday (May 12), Janelle Monáe’s name was trending heavily after the release of “Lipstick Lover,” which is a single from her upcoming album, The Age Of Pleasure. The lead-up to the video and single featured clips of Monáe wearing revealing clothing in a pool that barely hid their assets. Further, Monáe is leaning into the sex symbol image and flashed a crowd during a recent concert wearing the same “Pleasure” shirt from the video.

In a recent Apple Music interview, Janelle Monáe, who identifies as nonbinary but uses their own “free ass motherf*cker” pronoun along with they/them and her/she, revealed that The Art Of Pleasure is their attempt to examine through music the things that please her and that she’s ready to experience this side of life by actively chasing.

This mindset is evident throughout the video and reggae-backed groove of “Lipstick Lover,” which features the singer cozying up with a bevy of shapely beauties in bikinis and various stages of undress.

It is a visually arresting video that has sparked tremendous levels of thirst on Twitter, which we’ve captured below. Please sound off in the comments section if we missed any key reactions.

We should also note that while we won’t be posting the age-restricted video in this post, we will urge you to click here and witness “Lipstick Lover” for yourself.

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Photo: Getty

12 May 2023

9 Reasons Why AI and Music Are Worth the Fight (Guest Column)

As a musician, educator, and author, I’ve spent the last few years examining AI’s challenges to the music ecosystem. But recently, after a comical misunderstanding on a U.S. podcast, I ended up playing devil’s advocate for the AI side of the AI and music equation. The experience was thought-provoking as I took on the role of an accidental AI evangelist, and I started to refocus on the question of, “Why are we fighting for ethical use of AI in music in the first place? What are the benefits, and are they worth the time and effort?” 

As we hurtle from the now-quaint AI chatbot ChatGPT, to the expected text-to-video and text-to-music capabilities of GPT 5 (rumoured to drop in December), to Microsoft’s acknowledgment that AGI is feasible (artificial general intelligence, or a sentient AI being, or Skynet to be alarmist), to viral AI-generated hits with vocals in the style of Drake & The Weeknd and Bad Bunny & Rihanna, it can be easy to focus on the doom and gloom of AI. However, doing so does us a disservice, as it shifts the conversation from “how do we harness AI’s benefits ethically” to “how do we stop AI from destroying the world?” There are many, with a cheeky chappie nod to Ian Dury, “Reasons to Be Cheerful” (or at least not fearful) about music and AI. Here are nine reasons why we need to embrace it with guardrails, rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Fun: Yes, damn the ethics – temporarily. Generative AI technologies, which ingest content and then create new content based on those inputs, are incredibly fun. They tease and capture our curiosity, drawing us in. We might tell our employers that we use text-to-image services like DALL-E and Stable Diffusion or chat and search bots like ChatGPT and Jasper to optimise workflow to stay ahead of the technological curve, but they are also so seductively entertaining. Elementary AI prohibition won’t work; our solutions must be at least as stimulating as our challenges. 

Time-saving: According to a survey by Water & Music, this is what music makers desire most. Many musicians spend countless hours managing social media accounts, wishing they could focus on music-making instead. AI solutions promise to grant that wish, allowing them to auto-generate text for social posts and announcements, and providing inspiration and potential starting points for new tracks, giving them the gift of time and helping them write, record, and release music more quickly. Let’s use automation wisely to free up musicians for their art and their economics.

Education: Despite dwindling funds for music education, technology offers new ways to make music accessible to everyone. Affordable AI tools can help students break through privileged barriers, providing access to personalised learning. I work with Ableton, which makes a variety of music production hardware and software. Successful initiatives such as the Ableton Push 1 campaign, which provided discounts to those who traded in their Push 1 midi controller and then refurbished and provided them for free to schools that needed them, demonstrate how digital tools can empower the economically marginalised, enable them to explore new musical styles and techniques, and nurture their passion for music.

Imperfect charm: AI’s imperfections and quirks make it endearing and relatable. AI’s unpredictable nature can lead to happy accidents and repurposing technologies for new musical uses. The fact that LMMs (large language models), which analyze huge swaths of text and then generate new text based on the patterns it learns, can be flawed retains a touch of human magic and humour in our interactions with them. Let’s enjoy this fleeting VHS fuzziness before it’s gone. 

Affordable: Setting aside the environmental costs for a moment, AI has become exponentially accessible. AI allows creators to produce incredible results with basic tools. Last July, I purchased an expensive GPU-filled MacBook with dreams of making mind-blowing AI musical creations, but by September, I was doing just that using only my old phone’s browser. This so-called “democratisation” of music production can level the playing field for musicians worldwide, allowing more people to pursue their passion. Can we get it to increase their income too?

Tech Stacking: Experimenting with new combinations of generative AI APIs (application programming interfaces) opens up a world of DIY creativity. APIs are essentially pre-made functionality that developers can slot into their code easily, allowing them to focus on innovation rather than spending their time creating generative AI applications from scratch. This collision of technologies can encourage collaboration between musicians and developers, fostering a dynamic and innovative environment that crucially must be aligned with new licensing and rights payment models. 

Elevated Chatter: As AI becomes more prevalent, the quality of conversations surrounding it has improved. People are starting to debate the legality of using copyrighted material to train AI, particularly in the music world, with a variety of strong arguments being made on behalf of human creators. In my research, I tried to address the complexities of AI in the music ecosystem, and now, I find these discussions happening everywhere, from John Oliver to barber shops. This elevated discourse can help us as a global industry make informed and necessarily swift decisions about AI’s role in our lives, better integrating its reasonably cheerful benefits and not being overwhelmed by its many chilling implications.

Inspiring the next generation: Introducing AI to young minds can be inspiring and terrifying. In my undergraduate module at Windmill Studios Dublin, I tasked students with inventing new music IP using existing cutting-edge technologies, with one rule of thumb: they could use a hologram but not bring someone back from the dead. Initially, I felt terrible about presenting such a potentially dystopian vision to young minds. But what happened next amazed me: all 40-odd students (from two classes) came up with outstanding commercial ideas. Their creativity and enthusiasm reminded me that the adage, “no one knows anything,” holds as true for music as it ever did.

Time to adapt: Perhaps the biggest reason to be cheerful at the moment, we still have enough time to address AI’s challenges. As Microsoft announces the “first sparks of AGI” and we face a saturated streaming market, we must work quickly together to ensure an equitable future for music makers. In my book, “Artificial Intelligence and Music Ecosystem,” my fellow contributors and I delve into the pressing issues surrounding AI, and now, more than ever, we need to take action to steer the course of music’s evolution. As AI continues to develop, it’s crucial for musicians, industry professionals, and policymakers to engage in open dialogue, collaborating to create a sustainable and equitable music ecosystem. Otherwise, what looks like Drake and sounds like Drake may not actually be Drake in the future.

The Human Artistry Campaign is the first step in this direction and interlinks with the concerns of MIT’s Max Tegmark’s “Pause Giant AI Experiments Open Letter” (which currently has 27,000+ signatures and called for a pause in the development of AI to give governments the chance to regulate it) for a big-vision picture. As we work together, we can ensure that AI serves as a tool for artistic growth and sustainability. But we must move fast and nurture things as AI’s growth is exponential. Do you remember back when ChatGPT was on the cutting edge of AI? Well, that was only five months ago, and we’re now talking about the possibility of sentience. That’s why I am working with some of the biggest companies in music and big tech to create AI:OK, a system to identify ethical stakeholders and help to create an equitable AI music ecosystem. If you are human and would like to help shape this future, it might be the most significant reason to be cheerful of all.

Dr. Martin Clancy, PhD is a musician, author, artist manager and AI expert. He is a founding member of Irish rock band In Tua Nua, chairs the IEEE Global AI Ethics Arts Committee, serves as an IRC Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin, and authored the book Artificial Intelligence and Music Ecosystem. He also manages Irish singer Jack Lukeman and is a leading voice in advocating ethical use of AI in music.

12 May 2023

Friday Music Guide: New Music From Jonas Brothers, Lil Durk & J. Cole, Shakira and More

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

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This week, Jonas Brothers are back for more summer fun, Lil Durk and J. Cole turn contemplative, and Shakira tries to continue her hot streak. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Jonas Brothers, The Album 

Happiness Begins was, for all intents and purposes, Jonas Brothers’ comeback album, a wildly successful return in 2019 after a 10-year gap between full-lengths that brought the trio to the top of the Hot 100 for the first time and launched a long-running, mega-selling arena tour. Four years later, The Album smartly does not try to recapture lightning in a bottle: instead of trying to manufacture another “Sucker,” the project moves briskly across shared ideas and throwback musical interests, as songs like “Waffle House,” “Summer Baby” and “Montana Sky” function like retro FM radio offerings stuffed with warm harmonies. The JoBros have little to prove at this point in their careers, and the looseness of The Album seems to telegraph: this is where the real fun begins.

Lil Durk feat. J. Cole, “All My Life” 

“All my life, they been trying to keep me down,” a choir of children sings on the new Lil Durk/J. Cole team-up “All My Life,” a nod to the doubt that both rappers faced from hip-hop gatekeepers as they evolved their careers over the past decade-plus. Instead of a straightforward proved-the-haters-wrong anthem, Durk and Cole wisely expand their shared focus on the track, with Durk lamenting the systemic issues that forced him to turn to rap as a form of survival, and Cole sounding haunted by the violence that too often pervades his world.

Shakira, “Acróstico” 

Casual fans might regard “Acróstico,” the tender new single from Shakira, as a heat check from the Colombian superstar, considering the monumental success she’s already achieved this year with her Bizarrap collaboration “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53” and Karol G duet “TQG” both hitting the top 10 of the Hot 100. Yet Shakira has spent her entire mastering this sort of piano ballad as powerhouse vocal display: “Acróstico” shimmers with restrained production and technically dazzling emotion, as Shakira follows a pair of ostentatious team-ups with a gorgeously stripped-down solo showcase.

Bailey Zimmerman, Religiously. The Album 

Bailey Zimmerman’s Leave the Light On EP, featuring his smash hit “Rock and a Hard Place,” is barely six months old at this point, but considering the commercial breakthrough that the country singer-songwriter has experienced since its release, it’s little surprise that his debut album has promptly arrived in time for summer streaming. Fortunately, Religiously. The Album finds cohesion in Zimmerman’s songwriting: the Illinois native supplements his husky drawl with phrases that cut right to the listener’s core, whether he’s asking rhetorical questions (“Fix’n To Break”), setting a dimly lit scene (“You Don’t Want That Smoke”), or asserting the “broken roads that I’m tryin’ to mend” (“Where It Ends”).

BTS, “The Planet” 

A soundtrack single from the action-adventure animated film Bastions, “The Planet” marks a welcome check-in from BTS as the world-conquering K-pop group continues its break from group activities. And while it remains to be seen how much the BTS members can actively promote the new track, “The Planet” sounds like a hit regardless of the marketing plan: a snappy electro-pop track with a pogoing beat and playful vocal performances from all of the members, the song contains the hooks and tempo to highlight several summer playlists.

Lauren Daigle, Lauren Daigle

Nearly five years have elapsed between Lauren Daigle’s 2018 album Look Up Child, which turned the singer-songwriter into one of the most successful artists in contemporary Christian music in recent memory, and this year’s self-titled follow-up, during which Daigle signed a new label deal with Atlantic Records, teamed up with veteran producer Mike Elizondo and generally pushed her artistry into several exciting new directions. Instead of doubling down on the stately balladry of her breakthrough hits, Daigle explores ‘60s pop, folk, jazz and R&B on the project, creating a fantasia of inspiration powered by her mammoth vocal takes.

12 May 2023

Achtung! U2 Adds More Dates Again to Las Vegas Residency

Get ready to rattle and hum if the previously announced run of U2 Las Vegas residency dates didn’t work for you, because the band has added eight more shows to U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere, which was originally announced in a Super Bowl commercial.

Citing “unprecedented demand,” the band — who have nearly two dozen Grammys under its belt — announced the new batch of residency concerts at The Venetian on Friday (May 12), with the press release noting that there have been more than one million ticket requests to date. The eight addition concerts brings the show total to 25, with the newly added dates happening Dec. 1-16.

This is the second time U2 has extended its residency. The band added seven dates in late April, also citing demand for tickets in its decision to tack on more shows.

Tickets start at $140, which includes taxes and fees. According to the announcement, U2.com paid subscribers may submit a presale ticket request for the newly added shows even if they already have tickets for previous concerts, with presale happening now through 7 a.m. ET on Monday, May 15. General onsale begins May 19 at noon ET via Ticketmaster.

“U2 hasn’t played live since December 2019 and we need to get back on stage and see the faces of our fans again,” Bono, The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton said in a previous statement announcing the Las Vegas residency at the new, state-of-the art theater at The Venetian. “And what a unique stage they’re building for us out there in the desert. We’re the right band, Achtung Baby the right album, and Sphere the right venue to take the live experience of music to the next level. That’s what U2’s been trying to do all along with our satellite stages and video installations, most memorably on the ZOO TV Tour, which ended in Tokyo 30 years ago this fall. Sphere is more than just a venue, it’s a gallery and U2’s music is going to be all over the walls.”

See U2’s newly added dates to its residency:

  • Friday, Dec. 1
  • Saturday, Dec. 2
  • Wednesday, Dec. 6
  • Friday, Dec. 8
  • Saturday, Dec. 9
  • Wednesday, Dec. 13
  • Friday, Dec. 15
  • Saturday, Dec. 16

12 May 2023

Cardi B Seizes $640 From Tasha K’s Pockets As She Continues To Get Her Payback On

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Cardi B is never shy about expressing herself. She recently stated the obvious after a very suspect clip of the Dalai Lama surfaced online. 

Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz

Cardi B is about her coin and though she’s a multi-millionaire, she’ll take the lint in your pockets if she feels like you owe her any damn thing.

According to Radaronline, Cardi B is coming for any and everything in blogger, Tasha K’s pockets after a court of law awarded her $3 million in a defamation lawsuit that Cardi B won just last year. That includes $640 that Tasha probably doesn’t even have in her purse, but Cardi don’t care. She’s going Fred Goldman on that arse and is taking anything that isn’t nailed to Tasha K’s floor.

Radaronline reports:

As we first reported, Cardi fired off a series of subpoenas to track down Tasha’s assets. She first served JP Morgan Chase where Tasha has a bank account.

The bank said Tasha only had $1,083.02 in her account.

Cardi then served Google — who owns YouTube — to see if Tasha had any advertisement money owed to her.

“YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED to immediately hold all money, including wages, and other property, except what is known to be exempt, belonging to the Defendant or obligations owed to the Defendant named above beginning on the day of service of this summons and including the next 1,095 days,” the notice read.

A rep for Google told Cardi that Tasha had $9,304.81 coming to her, which of course Cardi intercepted on 4th and goal. Then Cardi was told that Tasha had another $640 coming her way, and Cardi bogarted that, too.

Daaaaayumn, Cardi! She isn’t even letting Tasha K get her grocery money.

Still though, if someone was to falsely accuse you of being a prostitute, a drug addict and a bearer of STD’s, you’d want your money by any means necessary as well. So we feel Cardi.

What do y’all think of the lengths Cardi B is going to in order to collect her duckets? Let us know in the comment section below.

12 May 2023

LSU Issues Apology Over Flau’jae Johnson’s 9/11 Lyrics [Video]

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Flau’jae Johnson

Source: C. Morgan Engel / Getty

With newfound stardom comes newfound scrutiny. LSU has apologized for Flau’jae Johnson’s 9/11 lyrics in her new song.

As spotted on TMZ, the NCAA women’s basketball champion is also skilled in another sport. The guard has been pursuing a rap career and has found a way to leverage her recent celebrity to cast a light on her music. This week, Johnson released a video to her freestyle over Latto’s “Put It On Da Floor.” Her version though, featured a pun on the horrific terrorist attacks that took place back in 2001. “In this 911, blowing smoke just like them towers,” which references the popular Porsche luxury coupe and the World Trade Center.

While the track didn’t garner a lot of views upon release, the lyric in question quickly went viral online. So much so that senior officials at Louisiana State University responded to the matter saying they had a word with Flau’jae Johnson. “We spoke with Flau’jae this evening, and while she never intended to offend or upset anyone with her lyrics, she expressed sincere remorse for any possibility of a misunderstanding and immediately took the video down,” LSU said in a exclusive statement to Fox News. “We will learn and grow from this experience together.”

Flau’jae Johnson has yet to comment publicly on the matter. You can see a clip from the video below.

12 May 2023

In Audience and Novelty Acts, Eurovision Is Still the King of Music Television Shows

LIVERPOOL, U.K. — On Saturday, 26 music acts from Europe, Israel and Australia — many dressed in a dazzling display of outlandish outfits — will take the stage at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena to compete in the Grand Final of what can justifiably call itself the biggest music competition in the world: the Eurovision Song Contest. 

When it comes to music television shows, Eurovision, taking place this year in Liverpool on behalf of war-torn Ukraine, dwarfs them all. More than 161 million people across 34 countries watched last year’s show, held in Turin, Italy and won by Ukrainian rap-folk band Kalush Orchestra, an increase of 7 million viewers (4.5%) from 2021, according to organizers the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 

In audience terms, that puts Eurovision ahead of the Super Bowl, the biggest annual U.S. television event, which drew 113 million TV and online viewers for February’s contest. Comparing to awards shows, 12.5 million viewers tuned into this year’s Grammy Awards, a rise of 31% year-on-year, while 2022’s MTV Video Music Awards averaged 3.9 million viewers, up 3% on the prior edition. This year’s Brit Awards, the U.K.’s biggest music awards show, also drew a television audience of just under 4 million. 

While many viewers in the United States and United Kingdom have long regarded Eurovision as little more than a kitsch joke with novelty costumes, the song contest’s enormous audience gives it an unrivaled reach as a marketing platform, making the competition – famous for introducing ABBA to the world — an increasingly attractive launching pad for record labels to develop artists.

Netflix 2020 musical comedy film “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,” starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams, further elevated the event’s international profile, introducing its idiosyncrasies to a wider global audience. 

But it was the success of Italian rock band Måneskin, whose international career exploded after winning 2021’s contest with “Zitti e buoni” (Shut up and behave) that “changed the game completely” in how executives and labels approach the competition, says Andrea Rosi, CEO of Sony Music Italy, which counts Måneskin on its roster. 

Earlier this week, the Italian act played a sold-out show at London’s 20,000-capacity The O2 arena, while the band’s most recent album, Rush!, topped the charts in multiple countries and debuted at No. 18 on the Billboard 200 in January – Måneskin’s highest ever U.S. chart placing. 

In the past, Eurovision “was not so important for the Italian market,” and there were some years when it was not televised in Italy at all, says Rosi. “Now the picture is completely different. National television is giving much more space to the [competition] and it brings massive exposure to the artists [taking part] across the world.”

Italy’s entry in Eurovision’s 67th edition, which wraps up Saturday, is Marco Mengoni, already an established star in his home country, who came seventh in the competition 10 years ago and is signed to Sony Music Italy. Rosi is confident that Mengoni’s song, “Due Vite” (Two Lives), a soaring orchestral ballad sung in Italian, will help open up new markets for the artist. 

Ahead of the competition, which kicked off Tuesday with the first of two semi-finals, Sony Music Italy worked with its international label partners to devise an extensive marketing campaign to build Mengoni’s profile in Europe. Last month, he played club dates in France, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. A larger follow-up European tour, promoted by Live Nation, is scheduled for the fall. This summer, Mengoni will play a series of sold-out stadium shows in Italy, wrapping July 15 at Rome’s Circus Maximus.

Since being selected in February to represent his home nation at Eurovision, Mengoni’s “Due Vite” has topped the charts in Italy and, says Rosi, is now “starting to have traction” in other European countries, including Germany and Switzerland. “It’s been a long time [since] an Italian pop artist has been successful outside Italy,” he says. “We have big hopes for Marco.” 

As one of the so-called ‘big five’ countries taking part in Eurovision, Italy’s entry automatically qualifies for a place in Saturday’s grand final because of their broadcaster’s financial contributions to the event. The rest of the big five is made up of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain, while Ukraine also receives a free pass as last year’s winner. In total, 37 countries are taking part in Liverpool across two semi-finals and the main show. 

Among this year’s favorites to win is Sweden’s Loreen, who won the competition in 2012. Her 2023 Eurovision entry “Tattoo” has earned around 20 million combined views on YouTube. (The singer’s official Eurovision video has 3.8 million views). 

Another hotly tipped act is Finnish rapper Käärijä, whose catchy entry “Cha Cha Cha” has generated around 15 million combined views on YouTube, by Billboard’s calculations. Since being first released in January, the song has been streamed more than 18 million times and has become “the biggest phenomenon ever in Eurovision history in Finland,” says a spokesperson for Warner Music Finland. 

The publicity has given a massive boost to Käärijä’s profile. At the start of the year, the artist had around 1,500 followers on TikTok. Following the first semi-final on Tuesday, that number had grown to just under 100,000. Monthly listens on Spotify have jumped from just under 50,000 in January to 1.2 million. 

Käärijä is one of four Warner Music entries in this year’s contest – the others being Austria’s Teya & Salena’s “Who The Hell Is Edgar?”, Reiley’s “Breaking My Heart representing Denmark and Polish singer and model Blanka, whose song “Solo” marks her debut for the label. Since its release in November, “Solo’s official video has had 23 million views, while Spotify streams have crossed 10 million — largely fueled by the publicity from Eurovision.  

Hubert Augustyniak, head of non-urban A&R at Warner Music Poland, is confident that competing in the competition can help break Blanka outside her home market, where, he says, Eurovision has already made her a “really well-known” star. 

“It is not easy to do international marketing when you are a Polish label,” says Augustyniak, “so this is a huge opportunity for us.”