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10 May 2023

Doja Cat Named Pop Songwriter of the Year at 2023 BMI Pop Awards

Doja Cat was named BMI’s pop songwriter of the year at the 2023 BMI Pop Awards, held on Tuesday (May 9) at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. The smash “Stay,” recorded by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber, was named BMI’s pop song of the year. Sony Music Publishing received publisher of the year.

As previously announced, Khalid received the BMI Champion Award, celebrating his musical contributions and philanthropic efforts.

The private event was hosted by BMI president and CEO Mike O’Neill and vice president worldwide creative Barbara Cane.

Doja Cat had six of the most-performed songs of 2022 – “Get Into It (Yuh)” (co-written with SULLY and Y2K), “I Like You (A Happier Song)” (co-written with Jasper Harris), “Need to Know,” “Vegas” (co-written with Rogét Chahayed and Yeti Beats), “Woman” (co-written with Aaron Horn (PRS), Linden Jay (PRS), Jidenna and Yeti Beats) and “You Right.” The writer/performer had received BMI’s R&B/hip-hop song of the year for co-writing “Say So” in 2021.

Throughout the ceremony, the 50 most-performed pop songs of the previous year in the U.S. were revealed, leading up to BMI’s pop song of the year, which went to “Stay” written by Cashmere Cat, Isaac “Zac” De Boni, Omer Fedi, Haan, The Kid LAROI (APRA), Michael “Finatik” Mulé, Charlie Puth and Blake Slatkin. The mega-hit was the first song to spend its first 40 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart was the most-streamed song globally on Apple Music in 2022.

Sony Music Publishing received publisher of the year for representing 24 of the previous year’s most performed songs, including “Bad Habit,” “Numb,” “Running Up That Hill” and “Shivers.”

BMI also welcomed 53 first-time Pop Award winners including GAYLE and Sara Davis (“abcdefu”), Steve Lacy, Diana Gordon, and Matthew Castellanos (“Bad Habit”), Tyler Cole (“Meet Me at Our Spot”) and dazy and Nicky Youre (“Sunroof”).

Khalid was presented with the BMI Champion Award by O’Neill, who praised his musical contributions and work to benefit the lives of young people. After receiving the award, Khalid treated the audience to an acoustic performance of some of his biggest hits including, “Location,” “Better,” and “Talk.”

Khalid has amassed 18 BMI awards. In 2020, he was honored as BMI’s pop songwriter of the year and his hit “Talk” was named BMI’s R&B/hip-hop song of the year. In addition to his career in music, Khalid is a humanitarian. Alongside his mother, Linda Wolfe, he created The Great Khalid Foundation in 2020, offering music education programs, scholarship awards and community partnerships to support and nurture children.

Previous BMI Champion Award recipients include Mark Ronson, Residente, Sebastian Krys, Keith Urban and Lee Thomas Miller. For a full list of the 2023 honorees click here. 

10 May 2023

Cause of Death Confirmed for Kellie Pickler’s Husband, Kyle Jacobs

Editor’s note: this story contains discussion of suicide.

Three months after the death of Kellie Pickler‘s husband, Kyle Jacobs, reports about his cause of death have emerged. Songwriter/producer Jacobs, 49, was found dead in an apparent suicide in the couple’s Nashville home on Feb. 17, where police said they found him with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in an upstairs bedroom/office.

On Tuesday (May 9), E News reported that a spokesperson for the Davidson County Medical Examiner confirmed that Jacobs died by suicide, with toxicology results revealing that the songwriter behind Garth Brooks’ Hot Country Songs chart-topper “More Than a Memory” did not have any drugs in his system at the time of his death.

The examiner’s report also noted that Jacobs had a history of “pseudoseizures, gastrointestinal bleeding, elevated liver enzymes, and chronic alcohol use,” according to Taste of Country, which obtained a copy of the autopsy. Officers were called to the Pickler’s Tennessee home in Feb. after the 2006 American Idol alum said she couldn’t find her husband when she woke up.

Jacobs and Pickler wed on Jan. 1, 2011, and previously starred together in the reality show I Love Kellie Pickler for three seasons. Jacobs was also behind songs recorded by Trace Adkins, Clay Walker and others, as well as producing a number of Lee Brice hits, including “I Drive Your Truck,” “Hard to Love” and “Drinking Class.”

If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, available 24 hours, at 988.

10 May 2023

BTS Solo Documentaries From J-Hope, Suga, Getting Global Release in Theaters

A pair of BTS summer blockbusters are coming to screens near you next month. Two solo documentaries chronicling the break-out journeys of members J-Hope and Suga will be released in theaters worldwide beginning June 17.

j-hope IN THE BOX and SUGA: Road to D-DAY will be released to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the K-pop superstar group that is currently on a break as its members pursue their solo ventures and prepare for (or begin) their compulsory South Korean military service. According to a release announcing the films, “moviegoers around the world will get a behind-the-scenes look at the lives and work of the global music superstars in an immersive experience that can only be felt in movie theaters, thanks to large screens, three-dimensional sound.”

Tickets for both films will be available here beginning May 16 at 7 p.m. ET.

According to a description of IN THE BOX, the doc follows the BTS member as he works on his first solo album, Jack in the Box. “Over the course of the documentary, viewers will be given a close look at the creative process of the artist during the album’s preparation process, as well as front row seats to j-hope’s epic 2022 Lollapalooza performance and the Jack In The Box listening party,” the release promises.

The Suga film follows the rapper as he heads out on his solo adventure, “traveling the world in search of inspiration for his recently released solo album D-DAY. Throughout the documentary, moviegoers will see the star at his most vulnerable, as he discusses his writer’s block with other musicians, and delves deep into his most traumatic memories to pen lyrics for several of his latest songs.”

In a statement about the films, Trafalgar Releasing CEO Marc Allenby said, “We are excited to continue our long-standing working relationship with the HYBE team for the theatrical release of j-hope and SUGA’s solo documentaries, following our recent record-breaking successes with the BTS projects ‘BTS PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE – SEOUL: LIVE VIEWING’ and ‘BTS: Yet To Come in Cinemas’. It’s great to bring their stories to the big screen in celebration of BTS’ 10th anniversary, a must-see experience for moviegoers around the world.”

Check out a poster below.

09 May 2023

Ed Sheeran’s ‘Subtract’ Sprints to U.K. Chart Lead

Ed Sheeran’s sixth U.K. chart title is within reach, as – (Subtract) stockpiles a massive midweek lead.

Based on sales and streaming data at the halfway mark, Sheeran’s Asylum LP is already the U.K.’s fastest-selling album of 2023, the Official Charts Company reports.

With no major new titles threatening Sheeran’s pursuit of the crown, the English singer and songwriter should nab his sixth consecutive U.K. No. 1 – a streak that includes all four of his mathematics-themed sets, and 2019’s No. 6 Collaborations Project.

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Subtract has already racked-up more than 56,000 combined units, more than any album has notched during a full-frame this year, according to the OCC.

The previous mark was owned by Lana Del Rey’s Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, which accumulated 41,000 chart units during its first week.

Sheeran appears to be everywhere, all at once. The singer and songwriter performed on American Idol last Sunday, he won a high-profile copyright lawsuit last week, he’s the subject of a special four-part Disney+ docuseries, The Sum Of It All, he’s set to perform at the 2023 ACM Awards, and, yes, he’s currently on tour.

Also eyeing a U.K. top 10 debut is Manchester rapper Tunde with First Lap (via Tunde), new at No. 3 on the chart blast; former Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan’s first solo album The Reckoning (Destruct), at No. 4; and Therapy? with Hard Cold Fire (Marshall) at No. 9, which could net the veteran Northern Irish rock outfit a third career top 10 album, and highest-charting effort since 1995’s Infernal Love.

Finally, Katy Perry’s performance at King Charles III’s Coronation Concert over the weekend has handed an immediate boost to the U.S. pop superstar catalog. Perry’s sophomore set Teenage Dream (Virgin), a leader following its release in 2011, is set to reenter the chart at No. 40. Teenage Dream features “Firework,” with which she closed her set and dedicated to the king, saying, “Thank you for bringing out the firework in so many young people.”

All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published Friday (May 12).

09 May 2023

Zach Bryan, Hailey Whitters Take Home Early ACM Awards Wins

Ahead of Thursday evening’s (May 11) Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony, two artists are already winners.

On Tuesday evening (May 9), the ACM revealed Hailey Whitters as the winner of the new female artist of the year honor, and Zach Bryan as the winner of the new male artist of the year trophy.

This marks the first ACM wins for both Whitters and Bryan.

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Whitters earned a top 30 Billboard Hot Country Songs hit with “Everything She Ain’t,” featured on her 2022 album Raised, cementing her place as both a “rising” and go-to songwriter, having written songs recorded by Little Big Town (“Happy People”), Alan Jackson (“The Older I Get”) and Martina McBride (“Low All Afternoon,” “The Real Thing”). In 2015, Whitters released the project Black Sheep (via Carnival), and, later, inked a label deal with Nicolle Galyon’s Songs & Daughters imprint (Big Loud) in 2020. Whitters also released the projects The Dream and Raised, and will make her debut ACM Awards performance on Thursday evening.

Bryan earned a top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit earlier this year with “Something in the Orange,” which was also a six-week No. 1 Hot Country Songs hit and topped the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. His 2022 album American Heartbreak debuted at No. 1 on the top country albums chart, while his followup EP, Summertime Blues, debut at No. 7. He is launching his headlining Burn Burn Burn tour this month, and just earned a song of the year nomination at the upcoming Americana Honors & Awards for “Something in the Orange.”

The 58th annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be free to stream live on Prime Video on May 11 beginning at 7 p.m. ET from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

09 May 2023

Warner Music Group Stock Falls Nearly 10% After Disappointing Earnings Report

Warner Music Group’s share price fell nearly 10% on Tuesday (May 9) following the release of the company’s second quarter earnings report, which showed that revenue from the recorded music division was effectively flat over last year ($1.143 billion vs. $1.147 billion in the year-ago quarter).

On Tuesday, Warner’s stock fell from $28.50 at the start of the day to $25.76 at the market’s close — a 9.58% drop.

This marks the second straight quarter of disappointing results in recorded music for Warner, the world’s third-largest label. Last quarter, revenue in the division fell 10.6%, or 5.6% in constant currency, on lower digital, physical and artist services and expanded rights revenue.

In the current quarter, streaming revenue was down 0.4% (or, in constant currency 2.2% higher) on fewer releases and a slowdown in ad-supported revenue due to macroeconomic uncertainty. By contrast, music publishing revenue grew 12% to $257 million, up from $230 million a year ago.

“While our publishing was best in class, we underperformed in recorded music,” said CEO Robert Kyncl on an earnings call Tuesday.

In attempts to bolster confidence, WMG executives on the call stressed that the company is already seeing improvement with the late-April releases of Jack Harlow’s Jackman., Tïesto’s Drive and Ed Sheeran’s Subtract, which was released earlier this month. CFO Eric Levin noted that the label’s release slate “was a little lighter in the first two quarters of the year and will be weighted to (the third quarter) and (the fourth quarter),” with upcoming releases expected from Dua Lipa‘s Barbie soundtrack, among others.

“We absolutely expect this to improve our results in recorded music streaming in the second half of the year,” Levin added.

Nonetheless, investors appear to be growing skittish over the lackluster performance. Tuesday’s closing price marked a sharp drop of nearly 20% of Warner’s stock over the past month, with the share price falling from $32.12 on April 10.

09 May 2023

Sia Marries Boyfriend Dan Bernad

Sia married her boyfriend Dan Bernad over the weekend in Italy, Billboard can confirm.

According to People, just four guests attended the intimate ceremony, which took place at Villa Olivetta, a private estate owned by fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in Portofino, Italy. Pictures shared by People show a candlelit ceremony, with the bride in a high-neck lace gown and her hair pulled back to show her oft-hidden face and the groom in an off-white tuxedo.

While it’s unclear how long Sia and Bernad have been dating, they were photographed together at the red-carpet premiere of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake back in December 2021. Sia also shared a picture with Bernad to her Instagram account in October 2022, with the caption: “Pride forever! #lgbtqia+#LAFC #22 also just finished my next album! A great day all round!”

The Australian singer/songwriter was previously married to filmmaker Erik Anders Lang. The pair announced their engagement in June 2014 and were married two months later at her home in Palm Springs, Calif., before filing for divorce in December 2016.

Sia hasn’t released a studio album since 2016’s This Is Acting, but that hasn’t kept her off the Billboard charts. Last year, her song “Unstoppable” from the 2016 project found new life thanks in part to TikTok, topping the Adult Pop Airplay and Adult Contemporary charts six years after its initial release and peaking at No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. This Is Acting also spawned Sia’s lone Hot 100 No. 1, the four-week chart-topper “Cheap Thrills.”

09 May 2023

How Luke Combs Drove ‘Fast Car’ to the Pop Charts for His First Crossover Hit

Luke Combs made his Billboard Hot 100 debut back in 2017, but in the six years since, the country hitmaker isn’t likely to be called a “pop star.”

That all might change, thanks to his new cover of Tracy Chapman‘s 1988 classic “Fast Car,” which is featured on his latest album, Gettin’ Old, and marks his very first song to cross over to the pop and adult contemporary charts.

This week, “Fast Car” debuts on Pop Airplay at No. 39, Adult Pop Airplay at No. 40, and Adult Contemporary at No. 30 — marking the first time the country star has appeared on any of those charts. On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking all about the song’s longevity. We even get a little help from Billboard‘s own Gary Trust — who manages the Hot 100, Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and Adult Contemporary charts — to ask why he thinks the song is catching on with pop radio.

Listen to the podcast here:

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how SEVENTEEN, Eslabon Armado and Jack Harlow all debut in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and how Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” becomes the first song to concurrently be No. 1 on both the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 and the Country Airplay chart. Plus, we’re talking all about Taylor Swift announcing Speak Now as her next re-recorded album, and big news across the pond this week with Beyoncé launching her Renaissance Tour in Sweden and the Eurovision Song Contest kicking off in the U.K.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

09 May 2023

MTV News Signs Off for Good After 36-Year Run

Thirty-six years after MTV News was created to expand the stable of programming that defined the cable channel MTV, it is no more.

MTV News was shuttered this week as part of larger layoffs at parent company Paramount Global.

What launched as a single show in 1987 (The Week in Rock, led by correspondent Kurt Loder) eventually became a bona fide news outlet for Gen X and older millennials who found that traditional TV programming on the broadcast networks and CNN wasn’t cutting it.

Correspondents like Loder, Tabitha Soren, SuChin Pak, Gideon Yago, Alison Stewart and others covered music, pop culture, politics and other topics with an eye toward the younger generation that was tuned to MTV, rather than the network evening newscasts.

Along the way, MTV News created some pop culture moments itself, perhaps none bigger than in 1994, when President Clinton appeared on MTV’s Enough Is Enough, a town hall addressing violence in America.

The special was led by Soren and Stewart and saw them, as well as audience members in attendance, asking questions of Clinton about fighting crime and balancing personal freedom with social responsibility. But it was a section of lighter questions and answers that made national headlines, when an audience member asked Clinton, “Mr. President, the world’s dying to know, is it boxers or briefs?”

“Usually briefs. I can’t believe she did that,” Clinton responded, to laughter from the crowd.

MTV News subsequently held town halls with Barack Obama, John McCain, Bill Gates and others, and boxers or briefs would become a running joke still referenced to this day.

Coverage of topics like sexual health, the Iraq War and devastating natural disasters earned the news division and its correspondents Emmys and Peabody Awards, while it continued to deliver news and criticism of music and pop culture.

On April 8, 1994, MTV broke into regular programming after it had confirmed the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, with Loder breaking the news to the channel’s viewers.

To be certain, the MTV News of 2023 was much smaller and far less high-profile than the MTV News of the 1990s and early 2000s, when it could help define pop culture and cover stories more traditional outlets wouldn’t touch.

MTV News was already significantly reduced in size back in 2017, when it largely abandoned a strategy to take on outlets like BuzzFeed and Vice with a team of digital journalists led by Grantland alum Dan Fierman. The company said at the time it would refocus on shortform content and video in a return to its roots (MTV News used to have interstitials at the top of the hour on the cable channel with news updates). The most recent iteration focused on entertainment and pop culture news and criticism.

Now, however, amid a larger upheaval in the entertainment business, and with Paramount looking to cut costs, MTV News is one of the pieces that just didn’t fit in the larger strategy at play. According to Comscore, MTV drew 6 million monthly visitors to its flagship website in March, up slightly from 5.6 million in the same month a year earlier.

It was a real digital presence, but small potatoes compared to competitors like BuzzFeed and Vice, which have also shuttered or downsized their news divisions in recent months.

At its peak, beyond covering pop culture, MTV News was a part of the culture, as were its correspondents, none more so than Loder, the former Rolling Stone writer who spanned multiple decades at the news division.

“He never wishes his audience a good night or a pleasant tomorrow,” wrote New York Times reporter Judith Miller in a 1993 story about MTV News’ embrace of politics. “Attired in funereal black, he looks as if he hopes that it will thunder and rain all day. He is, in short, the contemporary Reverend Dimmesdale of rock.”

Loder appeared as himself in episodes of shows like The Simpsons, That ’90s Show and Kenan & Kel.

In fact, Loder made one final MTV News appearance for corporate parent Paramount in March … sort of.

It was a fictional segment meant as an ad to tee up the new season of the Showtime series Yellowjackets.

Loder played himself at the MTV News desk, reporting on the missing soccer team whose “whereabouts are still unknown,” as Loder told viewers.

It was a throwback in more ways than one, with deepfake technology used to age Loder down to make him look and sound as he did in the early 1990s (he is now 77), the glory days for MTV News.

“Later, we’ll catch up with Grammy winner Alanis Morissette, fresh off her Jagged Little Pill tour,” Loder said to end the fictional segment, before it signed off with MTV News’ tagline: “MTV News, you hear it first.”

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

09 May 2023

President Biden Nominates Former RIAA Lawyer as U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator

On Monday (May 8), President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Deborah Robinson as the next Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC). The role was formed in 2008 as part of the Executive Office of the President and advises the president on U.S. intellectual property strategy.

Robinson most recently served as the head of intellectual property enforcement at Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS), but before that, she worked at the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for five years, protecting music rights. She also spent seven years as an assistant district attorney for Philadelphia.

Along with her strong history of employment in the entertainment business, Robinson serves as co-chair of the diversity committee of the IP section of the New York State Bar Association and as a Board Member of Aequitas, a non-profit focused on access and quality of justice in cases of human trafficking and gender-based violence.

Robinson would replace Vishal Amin, who was confirmed as IPEC under President Donald Trump and left the post in 2021. Since then, the position has been vacant, something pointed out by Congressman Adam Schiff and Mark Cohen — a distinguished senior fellow and director of Asia IP Project, Berkeley Center for Law and Technology — in a recent meeting for the Congressional subcommittee on courts, intellectual property, and the internet.

“RIAA applauds President Biden’s nomination of Deborah Robinson to serve as Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator,” said RIAA chairman/CEO Mitch Glazier in a statement. “Deborah is deeply qualified to serve our nation as IPEC and will bring unmatched policy depth and appreciation for the economic and cultural importance of strong IP enforcement to this vital role. Deborah will be an extremely welcome and effective addition to the Executive Office of the President, filling a position that has been vacant for the past three years and leading an exceptional team. We thank President Biden for selecting such an outstanding nominee to advance smart, pro-growth IP policies and enforcement practices around the world.”

“We welcome the nomination of Deborah Robinson to serve as the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC),” added NMPA president/CEO David Israelite. “Ms. Robinson brings incredible experience and insight to the role which serves an important function to spotlight and safeguard creator’s work across the globe. In addition to an extensive career as a prosecutor, she has held senior positions specifically in the field of music and copyright enforcement. We look forward to engaging with Ms. Robinson and supporting her important work once confirmed.”