djfrosty

09 Mar 2023

Ukraine’s Eurovision Winner Kalush Orchestra Returns To Tour U.S., Raises Money For War Effort

Kalush Orchestra, the Ukrainian act that captured the world’s attention last year when it won the Eurovision Song Contest as its country was being torn apart by war, wraps up a second North American tour on March 16 with a performance at SXSW in Austin.

The seven-member group’s song “Stefania” won Eurovision in Turin, Italy, with a record-setting 438 points from the public, reflecting the widespread pro-Ukraine sentiment at least year’s event three months after Russia launched its unprovoked invasion.

After the competition, Kalush Orchestra did an 18-show promotional tour, with performances in Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, France and at Glastonbury Festival in the U.K., before embarking on a 13-city North American tour. The shows helped raise funds for the Ukrainian armed forces. The group also sold its Eurovision trophy for $900,000, with the proceeds earmarked for the purchase of combat drones for Ukraine’s military. (The band raised $1.6 million overall.)

The current five-city U.S. jog cements the group as one of the few Eurovision winners to turn a victory at the pan-European competition into global success, following in the footsteps of ABBA, which won with “Waterloo” in 1974, and Måneskin, which triumphed with “Zitti e Buoni” in 2021. Billboard talked to the Kalush Orchestra’s founder and leader, rapper Oleh Psiuk, via Zoom about returning to the U.S., the impact of Eurovision on the band’s career and the ongoing war with Russia, which is now in its second year.

BB: Who came up with the idea for this new tour?

First, we were invited to the big showcase festival SXSW in Austin. We considered it to be a very cool opportunity, so we decided we should show our creativity, our works and of course we decided that then we could visit several cities which we’ve never been to in the U.S. before. That’s how our new tour was born, even though the previous one was just five months ago.

What was that first tour like and what would you like to see this time?

We had 18 concerts during the previous tour, and they were daily, so unfortunately, we saw only airports and the venues where we had those concerts. But still, we had a little bit of time to see sunny Los Angeles. L.A. is my favorite because I’ve always been listening to the music and to the performers from that area. And this time I do hope we’ll have more time to see and enjoy your country.

What performers from the West Coast are your favorites?

I love the performers from the so-called Golden Era. Like N.W.A, Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre. I listen to lots of music from the West Coast.

Last time you met Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he appeared in your video for ‘Generous Evening’ and spoke in Ukrainian. Are there any plans this time to meet any celebrities or government figures?

We don’t have any plans now, but honestly speaking we didn’t have any plans then as well. We wrote to Arnold that very day when we met and that was a lucky coincidence. So we do hope that this time we’ll also have such a day when we write to someone famous and we’ll have an opportunity to meet.

In the U.S., Eurovision is not that well known, though the Will Ferrell film (Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga) has helped increase awareness. How did American audiences find you on your first tour?

The bigger part of our audience was still Ukrainians who are living in the U.S. But there were other people who were coming to our concerts. The people who knew Eurovision, what it is, or people who just saw some announcement or billboard in the city and they decided to see us. They were just curious to get to know who we are, but after the concert, all kinds of people came up to us because they really loved it.

What are the main goals you want to accomplish for both the band and Ukraine?

First, we would like to show our music, for it to be known both in the U.S. and in Europe. Whatever city we visit, we’d like to perform and disseminate Ukrainian culture, for it to be well known anywhere. And, of course, we are raising money using the QR codes and the auctions. Last year, we raised 60 million hryvnia ($1.6 million) and we do hope to raise even more this time.

What does the money you raise support? 

We send this money to some of the well-known foundations like United24 and the Sergey Prytula Foundation. And we buy armored vests and helmets and other important things for our war servicemen and military.

Kalush Orchestra

Kalush Orchestra

Katrin Oleynik

How do you feel when you’re out of your country? Does the trauma of the war continue?

Honestly speaking, it does not affect me. It does not influence me whether I’m in Ukraine or not, because there are lots of relatives and my parents and close friends, my good acquaintances who are now in Ukraine and I would say that I worry for them more than for myself. Because I don’t worry about myself that much. Obviously, I carry this burden with me everywhere and this kind of anxiety for them.

Let’s talk about what American audiences can expect on this current tour. Will you play new songs?

Yes. We have prepared a program which includes some of the new songs and some of the ones which have just been issued. For instance, we just issued a very new song which has the title “Changes.” It’s a very cool song with a cool video, which reflects all the changes which we are waiting for.  We have a program which unites something authentic with some new styles.

Will an album be coming out soon?

So far, we plan to release singles. If we speak about the album coming out, it is planned closer to the end of the current year or maybe in the beginning of the next year. So far, we are issuing singles with cool videos in English.

It’s been not quite a year since you won Eurovision. How has your life changed, and the career trajectory of the band changed since?

We can now play a bigger role. We can have more impact on the bigger and vaster audience. We can disseminate our concert abroad and we can cover a broader audience with that. We can tell more about Ukrainian culture abroad.

That must have been an important reason for participating in Eurovision in the first place.

Yes, there were many reasons. Not only this one, but it was so important for us to win at this Eurovision, because victory is so important for Ukraine in every aspect. We made lots of people happy with this victory and we do hope it will go on like this.

Ukraine first won Eurovision in 2004 when Ruslana triumphed with “Wild Dances.” Where were you that year when she won? What did her victory mean to you and Ukraine?

I was only 10 years old then, so I don’t remember that much. But I do remember that it was a big noise, a big event in Ukraine. It had a huge resonance as an event. It was because Eurovision for Ukraine was always a very important competition.

What is next for the band after the American tour? Will there be any more touring in other countries?

Sure. We would like to get to as many of various festivals as possible to show our music and culture to the maximum. We would like to have as productive a year as the previous one was, to raise as much money and to disseminate information about us, about Ukraine.

The Kalush Orchestra’s 2023 U.S. tour dates:

March 9 — Cleveland, OH @ Cleveland Masonic

March 10 — Orlando, FL @ The Beacham

March 11 — Detroit, MI @ The Magic Stick

March 12 — Atlanta, GA @ District Atlanta

March 16 — Austin, TX @ SXSW

09 Mar 2023

U.K. Recorded Music Revenues Increased 4.7% In 2022 on Streaming and Vinyl Growth

LONDON – Vinyl sales generated more money for record labels and artists than CDs for the first time in more than three decades in the United Kingdom last year, helping drive a 4.7% rise in overall music revenue, according to annual figures from labels trade body BPI published Thursday (March 9). 

In 2022, sales of vinyl LPs climbed 3.1% year-on-year in the U.K. to £119.5 million ($142.4 million) and now account for over half (55%) of all trade revenues from physical sales. The last time vinyl revenues eclipsed CD sales in the United Kingdom, BPI says, was in 1987 when Michael Jackson’s Bad was the year’s best-selling album and Rick Astley had the best-selling single of the year with “Never Gonna Give You Up.” 

In total, 5.5 million vinyl LPs were sold in the United Kingdom last year. That marks the highest level of vinyl purchases in the country since 1990, according to BPI figures released in January measuring music consumption. The best-selling vinyl titles in the U.K. in 2022 were Taylor Swift’s Midnights, Harry Styles’ Harry’s House and Arctic Monkeys’ The Car. 

Despite the ongoing vinyl revival, overall revenue from physical formats was down 10.5% to £216 million ($258 million), with CD sales slipping 24% to £89 million ($107 million). 

Offsetting that decline was 6.3% year-on-year growth in streaming revenues, which climbed to £885 million ($1 billion) and accounted for 67% of U.K. recorded music revenues in 2022 — up from 66.2% the 12 months prior. Vinyl sales made up 9% of the market in terms of annual trade revenues, while CDs accounted for 7%. 

Breaking down streaming revenue, paid subscriptions generated £763 million ($910 million), up 4.8% on 2021, while ad-funded revenue grew by more than a fifth (22%) to £63 million ($75 million). Digital download sales fell 17.5% to £28 million ($33 million). 

Synch revenues were up even more sharply, rising 39% year-on-year to £43 million ($51 million), while public performance income spiked 23% to £143 million ($170 million). 

Total U.K. recorded music sales — comprising digital and physical revenues, public performance rights and synch — climbed 4.7% to £1.32 billion ($1.57 billion) in 2022. That marks a rise of 36% over the past five years, according to BPI, as well as the eighth-consecutive year of growth. 

The United Kingdom is the world’s third biggest recorded music market behind the United States and Japan with sales of just over $1.8 billion in trade value, according to IFPI’s 2022 Global Music Report. (BPI’s year-end sales figures are based on pound sterling, rather than the far stronger U.S. dollar, hence the perceived decline in overall revenues when BPI’s figures are converted into dollars at a constant currency basis).   

“2022 was another great year for British music, but we must guard against any complacency in the face of growing challenges and keep promoting and protecting the value of music,” BPI chief strategy officer and interim CEO Sophie Jones said in a statement. She also called upon the U.K. music community to work together to “create the impetus” for further growth and “futureproof the success of British music in an increasingly competitive global music market.” 

As previously reported, British artists accounted for the top 10 biggest-selling singles in the U.K. last year (either as the lead or as a featured artist) for the first time since year-end charts were introduced more than 50 years ago. Leading the pack was Harry Styles’ “As It Was,” which topped the U.K. singles chart for 10 consecutive weeks (it also spent 15 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100) and was streamed more than 180 million times in the country. 

Joining Styles in the U.K. top 10 was Ed Sheeran, Cat Burns, Glass Animals, Lost Frequencies & Calum Scott, LF System, Sam Fender and Kate Bush, whose 1985 track “Running Up That Hill” spent three weeks at No. 1 following its high-profile Stranger Things synch; it was streamed 124 million times in her home country last year. 

Styles also landed the year’s best-selling album with his third studio set, Harry’s House, making him the first artist to have both the United Kingdom’s top single and top album since Lewis Capaldi in 2019. Sheeran’s = (Equals) and Swift’s Midnights were the year’s second and third-best-selling albums. 

09 Mar 2023

Anitta Joins ‘Elite’ Cast For Season 7: Here’s the First Look

Anitta is one to wear many hats: she’s a trilingual singer, a great performer, a savvy businesswoman and, now, an aspiring actress. 

On Thursday (March 9), a collaborative Instagram post between the Brazilian artist and Élite Netflix revealed that she will be joining the Élite cast in its upcoming seventh season. “A girl from Rio you may already know… is about to make an entrance at Las Encinas. @Anitta is joining the #Élite7 cast,” read the post, referring to the Spanish series’ fictional elite high school. 

The caption is accompanied by photos of the artist in her new role showing a pensive yet potent look in her eyes and wearing a cropped grey sweater, red bra, and braids. 

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

On October 25, 2022, Netflix confirmed the renewal of Élite, created by Carlos Montero and Darío Madrona, for a seventh season, with the return of original star Omar Ayuso. 

The news comes shortly after the pop star — who had a breakout in 2022 with the success of her tri-lingual album Versions of Me, a No. 1 track on the Billboard Global Ex. U.S. chart with “Envolver” and performances at Coachella and the Latin Grammy Awards — lashed out at Warner Music on Twitter, saying she regrets signing with the label and wants to be let out of her contract. 

When one fan said he wished she could be free of her contract, she responded that “if there was a fine to pay, I would have already auctioned off my organs, no matter how expensive it was to get out. But unfortunately, there isn’t. When you’re young and still don’t know a lot, you need to pay close attention to the things you sign… if you don’t, you could spend a lifetime paying for the mistake.”

In response, fans have organized a #FreeAnitta movement on Twitter.

09 Mar 2023

HHW Gaming: Documents Reveal That Sony Is Worried Microsoft Will “Sabotage” ‘Call of Duty’ For PlayStation

HipHopWired Featured Video

Sony Is Worried Microsoft Will

Source: Joe Buglewicz / Getty / Sony

The ongoing battle between Sony and Microsoft over this Activision Blizzard acquisition continues to get weird.

Sony has numerous concerns about Microsoft’s still stalled acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and now thanks to a PDF, we know every one of them.

In the documents sent to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Sony says it fears that Microsoft could raise the price of Call of Duty, make it exclusive to its Xbox Game Pass service, and sabotage the game so that it runs poorly on PlayStation consoles.

To be more specific, Sony hints at Microsoft releasing a Call of Duty game on PlayStation full of bugs and errors.

Sony’s claims in its documents:

Microsoft might release a PlayStation version of Call of Duty where bugs and errors emerge only on the game’s final level or after later updates. Even if such degradations could be swiftly detected, any remedy would likely come too late, by which time the gaming community would have lost confidence in PlayStation as a go-to venue to play Call of Duty. Indeed, as Modern Warfare II attests, Call of Duty is most often purchased in just the first few weeks of release. If it became known that the game’s performance on PlayStation was worse than on Xbox, Call of Duty gamers could decide to switch to Xbox, for fear of playing their favourite game at a second-class or less competitive venue. 

It remains unclear if Sony means that Microsoft would intentionally wreck the game or do the whole “plays best on Xbox” thing because it will own the franchise if the acquisition goes through.

Still, Sony has fears Microsoft could sabotage COD on PlayStation in multiple ways by “degrading the quality and performance of Call of Duty on PlayStation compared to Xbox”; “degrading Call of Duty to ignore PlayStation-specific features (eg. better controller haptics)”; or “restricting, degrading, or not investing in the multiplayer experience on PlayStation.”

None of This Makes Any Sense For Microsoft Financially

While these are legit concerns, financially and optically, it makes no sense for Microsoft to do such a thing even if they wanted to.

Sony is also very concerned about the Xbox Game Pass exclusivity for Call of Duty, fearing Microsoft would prevent the company from putting the game on its subscription service.

Ironically in documents submitted by Microsoft, they claim the exact opposite, with Microsoft claiming “any CoD Game in a Microsoft multi-game subscription is eligible for inclusion in Sony’s multi-game subscription service, at the same time and for the same duration.”

Sony is scoffing at that deal because it does not care about the licensing terms or pricing, adding the terms “would commercially destroy Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) multigame subscription business model.”

MS Has Made Two Big Offers To Ease Regulator’s Concerns

Microsoft did extend a 10-year offer to Sony to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation, but the Japanese company has yet to sign the deal. Microsoft secured a 10-year agreement with Nintendo hours before meeting with the EU regulators and reached a similar deal with Nvidia in what many saw as a way to put more pressure on Sony.

Sony remains firm in its stance, writing in its documents, “Microsoft has not shown any real commitment to reaching a negotiated outcome. they had dragged their feet, engaged only when they sensed the regulatory outlook was darkening and favored negotiating in the media over engaging with SIE.”

Still, Microsoft’s decision to strike deals with Nintendo and Nvidia seems to have worked, as the EU will reportedly approve the $68.7 billion acquisition deal.

That leaves the United States as the last remaining hurdle.

—

Photo: Joe Buglewicz / Getty

09 Mar 2023

This Drugstore Powder Foundation Has Been Going Viral for 2 Years – Here’s Where You Can Buy It Online

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.

Finding the perfect foundation for your skin type takes a little digging, but TikTok can help. With more than 1 billion monthly users, TikTok is one of the largest social media apps in the land, so it’s no wonder why so many products go viral.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

One of the many beauty essentials that TikTokers can’t seem to stop talking about is a drugstore powder foundation that you can buy on sale for less than $12.

L’Oréal Infallible Fresh Wear Powder Foundation has been going viral on TikTok for the last two years. Videos on the cult-favorite powder foundation have racked up 175.7 million views on TikTok alone — and we’re not even counting the number of Reddit threads, YouTube videos and posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This low-cost body makeup offers up to 24 hours of longwear foundation in pressed powder form. As the brand’s “most lightweight, breathable, longwear foundation” L’Oreal Infallible Fresh Wear Powder Foundation mattifies without the cakey residue.

It’s also waterproof, heatproof, sweatproof, suitable for every skin type — even acne-prone skin and oily skin — and available in 20 different shades including sienna, ebony and deep amber in addition to lighter shades like pearl, porcelain and ivory.

Walmart

L’Oreal Paris Infallible Up to 24H Fresh Wear Powder Foundation

$11.99

The powder foundation retails for $15 on L’Oreal’s website but you can save a few bucks by ordering it at Walmart for $11.99 and $12.79 at Ulta and Amazon.

L’Oréal Paris is no stranger to going viral. In January, the beauty giant’s Telescopic Lift Mascara became the talk of TikTok after a beauty influencer’s post about the mascara sparked controversy.

In other L’Oréal news, the brand has retooled its best-selling True Match Foundation. The new and improved L’Oréal True Match Super Blendable Foundation is made from a vegan, alcohol-free, oil-free, fragrance-free and non-comedogenic formula and available in more than 24 shades.

Grammy, Emmy and Oscar-winning singer H.E.R stars in a new commercial for True Match Super Blendable Foundation. The Bay Area native signed on as a global ambassador for L’Oréal Paris last year.

09 Mar 2023

Four Takeaways From RIAA’s 2022 Year-End Report: Paid Subscription Growth, Ad-Supported Dip & Vinyl Vinyl Vinyl

On Thursday (March 9), the RIAA released its annual year-end report on recorded music revenues in the U.S., with an encouraging top line: In 2022, total revenue was up 6% to $15.9 billion, with paid subscription and wholesale revenues each surpassing $10 billion for the first time. That marks the seventh straight year of growth for an industry that at this point is far removed from the doldrums of the early part of the century.

In fact, the industry could credibly be a little underwhelmed by the rate of growth, as the 6% figure is the lowest percent increase across those seven years — and the only time other than pandemic-affected 2020 (+9.2%) that growth has fallen below double digits during that period. In actual figures, it’s the smallest increase ($900 million) year over year since 2016, when the business grew 11.4% and added $700 million.

There are plenty of other interesting takeaways to discern from digging through the RIAA’s report. Here are four (plus one bonus item!) that stand out.

Paid Subscriptions — Anything to Worry About?

Both the average number of paid subscribers (those subscribing to full-catalog services like Apple Music or Spotify’s paid tier) and the revenue from full-catalog paid subscriptions grew at much slower rates, both in percentage terms and in actual numbers, than in recent years. The former metric showed an increase of 8 million subscribers (9.5%; 84 million in 2021 to 92 million in 2022), while the latter metric reflected an increase of $600 million (7.2%; $8.56 billion to $9.17 billion). As with the overall growth rate for the industry, that’s the first time in several years that those figures grew by less than double-digit percentages. So, is it anything to worry about, when looking at how much growth there is left in the paid streaming business?

Not necessarily. For one thing, between 2018 and 2022, paid subscribers (up 96.2%) and revenue from full-catalog subscriptions (up 93.6%) have grown fairly in line with each other, and the revenue per subscriber has averaged $98.92 over that period of time (pandemic-affected 2020 was an outlier year, at $92.35). In 2022, the average revenue per subscriber was $99.77, which was down from $101.94 in 2021 but not out of line with the overall average.

That number should be expected to grow, given price increases by Apple Music, Amazon Music and Deezer in the past year and the increasing pressure on Spotify to boost its price higher than $9.99/month, where it has stayed since entering the U.S. in 2011. This will be something to keep an eye on as the year progresses, as strategies shift from gaining subscribers to getting more out of those who do subscribe, given that a ceiling on the number of subscribers could be coming into view (for context, the U.S. government counted 124 million households in the latest census).

Another reason for optimism: The above numbers don’t include limited-tier subscription revenue — things like Amazon Prime and fitness apps like Peloton — which crossed the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2022. Since 2020, when the pandemic led to a home fitness app craze and resulted in additional areas of limited music subscription beyond the traditional paid streaming realm, limited-tier subscription revenue has grown 47.7%. As more licensing opportunities arise, that sector should continue to contribute meaningful revenue moving forward.

Ad-Supported Streaming Takes a Hit

Ad-supported on-demand streaming revenue reached $1.8 billion in 2022, accounting for 11% of the overall revenues for the business last year. But growth was just 5.5% over 2021 — a big reality check after the category grew 46.7% in 2021 over pandemic-affected 2020 and 16.4% at the mid-year mark of 2022. Even in 2020, when the world essentially came to a standstill for several months, year-end ad-supported streaming revenues grew 16.8%, up $170 million — higher than the $95 million gain seen in 2022.

The advertising slump last year was certainly a blow to U.S. industries, with layoffs across the music and tech landscapes in particular. Many companies cited “economic headwinds” due to a combination of factors, including the war in Ukraine, rising interest rates, inflation and the threat of recession as companies scaled back spending that had ballooned coming out of the pandemic and readjusted forecasts for an uncertain future. All of that certainly played a part. But since 2018, ad-supported on-demand streaming revenue grew 137%, becoming an increasingly large part of the overall pie. In comparison, 5.5% is likely a disappointing number to many in the industry.

Vinyl, Vinyl, Vinyl

Another year, another big headline involving vinyl’s 16-year winning streak: For the first time since 1987, the number of vinyl LPs sold in the United States (41 million) surpassed the number of CDs sold in the calendar year (33 million). Vinyl sales reached $1.2 billion in 2022, up 17.2%, while CD sales plummeted once again, decreasing 17.6% to $482 million. Despite the eye-popping vinyl revenue numbers, however, actual unit sales only rose 3%, meaning that the price of vinyl is getting more expensive. In 2021, the average vinyl record cost $26.12; in 2022, that number rose to $29.65. There’s plenty to unpack there, including increased production costs and inflation.

Another notable development in the vinyl craze that has sharpened in recent years is the shifting market share among vinyl retailers. As far back as 2015, when the industry started to emerge from its nadir, the market was dominated by indie records stores (45.42%), internet/mail order sellers like Amazon (32.88%) and chain stores like Best Buy (15%), according to Luminate. By 2018, indie stores and Amazon sales had essentially settled into a market share tie — each at 41% — while the Best Buys of the world had shrunk to just north of 10%.

But beginning in 2019, a fourth player began to emerge: Mass merchant stores like Walmart and Target, which dramatically expanded their inventories. As a result, their market share went from less than 1% in 2015 — accounting for some 7,000 sales — to 10.19% in 2019 and 14.75% in 2021, with sales of 6.1 million units. While the market share economics have shifted during that time, sales have continued to increase for each sector across the board. In short, part of what has been driving the boom has been sheer visibility in some of the biggest stores in the country, which has correlated to more sales, and thus more visibility, and around and around we’ve gone. (For those curious, in 2022 indie stores accounted for 48.1% of the market, having reclaimed their dominant position as the country emerged from the pandemic.)

The Synch Explosion

In the past few years, more and more songs have caught huge waves due to synchs in popular TV shows and films. Think Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” following its Stranger Things placement, The Cramps’ “Goo Goo Muck” following its Wednesday placement and Gerry Rafferty’s “Right Down The Line” from Euphoria, to name a few. That seems to have stemmed from the explosion of content, as the streaming wars in TV/film world heated up during that time — with Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+, Apple TV+ and the rest all throwing money around to reel in subscribers. The RIAA numbers back that up: In 2022, synch revenue grew 24.8%, from $306.5 million to $382.5 million, marking a gigantic jump. In fact, from 2020 to 2022, synch revenue jumped 44.2%, outpacing the industry at large (which was up 30.3% in that span).

Will that upward trend continue? It’s unclear. The TV/film streamers have publicly cut back their content spends in the past six months as the battle for market share and subscribers veered into profligacy and waste, while corporations looked to reel in costs amid the broader economic landscape. But it’s possible those gains are here to stay, even if they regress a bit. One music group executive recently told Billboard that in addition to the big four streamers (Spotify, Apple, Amazon and YouTube), Netflix was quickly becoming a fifth major source of revenue thanks to a combination of direct synch payments and the long tail of streams that result from a high-profile placement. That’s something to keep an eye on moving forward.

Bonus Takeaway — Ringtones!

Finally, a small bonus addition from a personal favorite aspect of the RIAA report. The mid-to-late-2000s were, of course, a time of great uncertainty and anxiety in the recorded music business, as piracy and digital music chipped away at a once-dominant physical sales format. At their height in 2007, ringtones and ringbacks were able to plug the gap to the tune of $1.1 billion, according to the RIAA. (That would be around $1.6 billion today.) So, how much money did ringtones and ringbacks generate in 2022?

$11 million!

Please, RIAA, continue printing this as a line in every report, no matter how small the figure gets. While it’s currently the smallest line item by revenue in the entire report, I cherish it more than all the others.

09 Mar 2023

Emilia, Big One & Callejero Fino’s ‘En La Intimidad’ Holds at No. 1 on Billboard Argentina Hot 100 Chart

Emilia, Big One and Callejero Fino hold at No. 1 on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 for a second frame as “En La Intimidad” rules the March 4-dated chart. The song, released Feb. 1 through Fifty One, debuted at No. 9 and landed at the summit in its third week (chart dated Feb. 25).

Karol G and Shakira score their career-high debut as “TQG” arrives at No. 2. The song, which becomes the Hot Shot Debut of the week, is the fifth single from Karol G’s latest album Mañana Será Bonito, which debuted at No. 1 on the overall Billboard 200 chart, Top Latin Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums charts (dated March 11). The track concurrently debuted at No. 1 on Hot Latin Songs in the same period.

Further, TINI’s “Cupido” moves up the ranking with a 6-3 climb. It’s the closest she’s been to the top since “La Triple T” reached No. 1 in its second frame, where it remained for five weeks starting on the May 14-dated tally.

Back to Shakira, her Bizarrap collab “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” dips 2-4 after its four-week run at No. 1 (Jan. 21-Feb. 11). Meanwhile, BM’s “M. A (Mejores Amigos)” holds steady at No. 5 for a third week.

Elsewhere, 16-year-old Camilo Villaruel, known by his stage name Milo J, has the Greatest Gainer of the week as “Rara Vez” rallies 61-17, a 44-position trek. It’s the closest the Argentinian rapper has gotten to the top as his “Milagrosa” rises to its new No. 61 peak also on the current chart. “Rara” propels to the top 20 mainly supported by its popularity on TikTok, where the song has generated more than 31,000 videos.

Further, Miranda! and Emilia each add a new chart entry with their collab “Uno Los Dos,” at No. 28.

The week brings four other debuts, starting with The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s “Die for You” at No. 63, followed by Sebastian Yatra’s “Una Noche Sin Pensar” at No. 70, Sech’s “29 de June” at No 87, and Camilo and Camila Cabello’s “Ambulancia” at No. 88.

09 Mar 2023

FKA Twigs Debuts Boyfriend Jordan Hemingway After ‘Taking Control’ of Online Speculation

FKA Twigs has had enough of the gossip and is taking matters into her own hands. The star took to Instagram on Wednesday (March 8) to share details on her new relationship after seeing an article questioning who her “mystery man” is.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

“The whole of my career i’ve been hunted for who i am dating. so this time i’m pipping you to the post and taking control of the situation,” she captioned a screenshot from Daily Mail, asking for emails with information on FKA Twigs’ new love interest.

She also shared a series of photos posing with her new boyfriend, director and photographer Jordan Hemingway, whom she called “a beautiful artist whose heart has restored my faith in love,” before adding, “Pap pics will always be rough so swipe for the hot pics. and now i’d like to go back to my nice private life with the dogs.”

The “Cellophane” singer was previously engaged to Robert Pattinson before the duo split in 2017. She has also been romantically linked to The 1975 frontman Matty Healy and Shia LaBeouf, the latter of which she claimed to have verbally and physically abused her.

In December 2020, she filed a lawsuit against LaBeouf, which included claims of sexual battery, assault and emotional distress. LeBeouf has since denied all allegations, but he responded at that time, in part, “I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years. I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt. There is nothing else I can really say.”

Twigs later told Gayle King of those words, “I think it reminds me of some of the gaslighting I experienced when I was with him — the taking some of the blame, but not all of it and then denying it.”

09 Mar 2023

GloRilla Concert Stampede Claims 3rd Victim

A third person has died after being injured in a stampede after a weekend concert by the rapper GloRilla in western New York, police said Thursday (March 9).

Aisha Stephens, 35, of Syracuse was the only person who remained hospitalized following a Sunday evening performance by the Memphis, Tennessee, rap star and Finesse2tymes at the Rochester Main Street Armory. She died Wednesday night.

Two other women, Rhondesia Belton, 33, of Buffalo and Brandy Miller, 35, of Rochester, also died and several people were injured after being caught up in a crush of concertgoers who surged toward the exits after the show.

Police said the stampede may have been triggered by unfounded fears of gunfire.

The city refused to renew the venue’s entertainment license on Wednesday, effectively shutting it down while criminal and regulatory investigations are underway, said Patrick Beath, the city’s deputy corporation counsel. In addition to a police investigation, he said fire and code enforcement authorities are inspecting the building and reviewing photos and video from the concert to determine if there were any violations.

The armory’s owner has not responded to numerous emailed requests for comment.

The main arena in the fortress-like armory has a capacity of about 5,000 people, city officials said.

As the concert ended Sunday, people exiting the venue just after 11 p.m. began to surge dangerously after hearing what they believed to be gunshots, city officials have said. Police found no evidence of gunfire.

Crowd surges at large events have turned deadly before, including one at 2021’s Astroworld concert by rapper Travis Scott in which 10 people died.

09 Mar 2023

TikTok Fights Sprawling Litigation Over Alleged In-App Browser Data Harvesting

TikTok is facing a slew of class action lawsuits alleging it tracks and harvests troves of personal information on users through its in-app browser.

In the most recent suit filed on Wednesday, users allege TikTok has “secretly amassed massive amounts of highly invasive information and data by tracking their activities on third-party websites.” At least a dozen class actions have been filed since November alleging violations of the federal wiretap act, among other claims.

TikTok remains under fire by the government due to concerns that data it collects on American users can be leveraged by the Chinese government to advance its interests. The company could, for example, be forced to tweak its algorithm to boost content that undermines U.S. democratic institutions or muffles criticism of China and its allies, according to lawmakers. A bipartisan bill backed by the White House was introduced on Tuesday that would establish a unified process for reviewing and addressing technology that could be subject to foreign influence. Under the measure, Chinese parent company ByteDance could be forced to sell TikTok or the platform could be completely banned, though that would face significant hurdles.

The first suit, known as Recht v. TikTok, was filed in November. It was based on a report from Felix Krause, a software researcher who found that the company injects lines of code that commands the platform to copy user activity on external websites. Of the seven popular apps he tested — including Instagram, Snapchat, Amazon — he found that only TikTok monitored keystrokes.

The named plaintiff in the complaint, California resident Austin Recht, says he clicked on an ad to a third-party website, where he bought merchandise after he entered private data that included his credit card information. Tiktok “surreptitiously collected data associated” with his activity on the third-party site accessed through the platform’s in-app browser, according to the complaint.

The class actions detail how TikTok intercepts and harvests data. The in-app browser inserts code into the websites visited by users with the purpose of tracking “every detail about [their] activity,” Recht claims.

“In the case of online purchase transactions, this would include all of the details of the purchase, the name of the purchaser, their address, telephone number, credit card or bank information, usernames, passwords, dates of birth,” reads the complaint filed in California federal court.

The data isn’t limited to purchase information and extends to private information about users’ health, the suit alleges. When users click on a link to Planned Parenthood on TikTok, for example, their activity on the site is tracked and harvested. This could identify users looking for abortion services or those looking for information about gender identity, according to the suit.

TikTok has faced legal action for illegally harvesting user data. In 2020, it was sued for alleged violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, a state statute that prohibits private companies from collecting users biometric identifiers without first obtaining consent. It settled the litigation for $92 million.

In response to suits alleging violations of the Federal Wiretap Act, Tiktok has said that the purported class members are covered under the settlement for those who sued for violations of the Illinois privacy law because it “addressed all user data collected through the app.”

Though the plaintiffs in the suit don’t allege any injury, the Federal Wiretap Act doesn’t require proof of actual harm to recover monetary damages. The law prohibits the intentional interception of communications, which includes personal information.

Some of the suits also allege violations of state invasion of privacy and competition laws. A hearing has been set for March 30 on whether the litigation should be consolidated.

In California, TikTok could face massive damages if there’s a data leak. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, companies that mishandle personal data face statutory damages ranging from $100 to $750 for each consumer per incident.

TikTok didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

This article originally appeared on THR.com.