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23 Feb 2023

The Deals: STX Music Library Acquired; Deezer to Power Sonos Radio

Multimedia Music acquired the music publishing and music master rights for the entire film music library of STX Entertainment, which encompasses titles such as Bad Moms, The Gentlemen and Den of Thieves and music from composers such as Hans Zimmer, Cliff Martinez and Nicholas Britell. The eight-figure deal does not include rights in any of STX’s current or future films.

Deezer struck a long-term partnership with Sonos to power Sonos Radio and the subscription service Sonos Radio HD. Starting in April, Deezer will provide Sonos with a catalog of 90 million tracks, metadata, licensing, reporting & royalty management, business intelligence & data and strategic collaboration for growth and monetization of the service. Deezer and Sonos will deliver services to 16 countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

Yusuf/Cat Stevens signed to Dark Horse Records, which will release the singer-songwriter’s forthcoming album as well as seven legacy albums from his catalog, which are owned by Yusuf’s Cat-O-Log Records. Dark Horse’s merchandising arm, DH Merchandise, will operate the official Yusuf/Cat Stevens store.

ClicknClear, a music tech company that provides access to officially licensed music for performance sports and fitness, signed a multi-year agreement with the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), a leading sports organization in the United States. The NFHS promotes amateur sports participation throughout all 50 states and Washington, D.C., serving 19,500 high schools and an estimated 12 million young people across the country. It also administers high school athletics and activities and establishes regulations for the sanctioning of events. Through the deal, ClicknClear will license the catalogs of its more than 800 label and publisher partners to NFHS’s performance sports participants, with the NFHS also using ClicknClear’s license verifications system to enforce that licensing. Performance sports include cheerleading, dance, gymnastics, figure skating, marching band and show choir. ClicknClear’s music catalog currently includes 5 million tracks and more than 15 million publishing rights from Sony Music, Warner Music, Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG, Kobalt, Concord and Downtown, among many others.

Cutting Edge Media Music (CEMM) secured $100 million in new financing from a consortium of banks led by Pinnacle Financial Partners. CEMM — a financing and investment company with expertise in music for film, TV, video games and more — is supported by other businesses under its parent company, the Cutting Edge Group (CEG), including Cutting Edge Music Publishing, Lakeshore Records, Broadway Records, Music.Film and White Stork. “I look forward to our partnership with Pinnacle to help give the next wave of film and TV composers the opportunity to monetize their catalogues,” said Cutting Edge Group founder/CEO Philip Moross in a statement. CEG’s head of mergers and acquisitions, Tim Hegarty, represented Cutting Edge in the deal.

Triller acquired Julius, a software solution for influencer marketing. “We are delighted to integrate the industry-leading technology from Julius into Triller’s Creator Platform,” said Triller CEO Mahi de Silva in a statement, adding that with the acquisition, “Our unique AI-powered platform now delivers an end-to-end solution for the creator economy from brand storytelling to driving e-commerce.”

Music credits database Jaxsta executed a heads of agreement (a.k.a. letter of intent) to acquire Vampr, a music industry social networking platform. The acquisition increases Jaxsta’s footprint in the creator community by 1.3 million creators. According to a press release, Vampr’s freemium business model successfully converts 4% of the app’s weekly active users into paying subscribers — a number that’s expected to increase when Vampr Pro is bundled with the Jaxsta Creator subscription. Vampr founder/CEO Josh Simons will join Jaxsta as chief strategy officer.

GreenCity Partners and ASM Global struck a deal to develop and operate the proposed 17,000-seat GreenCity Arena in Henrico County, Va., which is part of a planned $2.3 billion mixed-use/net-zero energy GreenCity development. The agreement allows ASM Global to partner in other aspects of the development, including its main street retail and hospitality uses. Construction is slated to begin in early 2024, with completion expected in 2026.

In more ASM Global news, the company struck a long-term lease agreement and $40 million renovation plan with the City of Glendale, Ariz., for the Desert Diamond Arena as part of a strategy to increase the venue’s returns and prominence as a key component in the city’s growth as an entertainment hub. ASM Global has operated the city-owned venue for the past six-and-a-half years. The firm HOK has been selected to help with the venue’s renovation and design.

ASM Global also signed with the city of Fishers, Ind., to provide pre-opening services and professional management for the city’s new $170 million sports and entertainment center, which is set to open in Dec. 2024. In addition to hosting concerts and other events, the forthcoming 7,500-seat venue will be home to the East Coast Hockey League’s Indy Fuel. Expected to break ground in March, the venue is part of the city’s $1.1 billion in economic and entertainment investments announced in September.

Los Angeles-based rock duo Loveless signed with BMG worldwide. The duo, which released their debut self-produced EP, End of an Era, last year, is slated to embark on a headline tour this spring in North America and Europe, in addition to festival dates.

Amazon Music is the new title sponsor of The Ivors, under a global deal that will see the company showcase the Ivors’ commitment to supporting songwriters via exclusive content offerings and live performances as well as an “immersive” red carpet and backstage interviews that will be livestreamed on the Amazon Music UK Twitch channel for the 2023 ceremony. Additionally, the company will integrate the Ivors’ 2023 “Rising Star” nominees into its global developing artist program, Breakthrough.

Micro-licensing and music solutions company Lickd struck a deal with EMPIRE and Kobalt Music Group to license their music catalogs to Lickd’s Chorus music player for use in the metaverse world of Decentraland’s Vegas City.

SESAC Digital Licensing and Wise Music Australia partnered on an exclusive digital licensing deal for the Wise Music catalog in Asia (excluding Japan, South Korea and China) for rights including performance, mechanicals, grand rights, hire materials and synchronization. SESAC Digital will negotiate agreements with online service providers on behalf of Wise Music in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam. The partnership will be administered by Mint Digital Services, an alliance between SESAC-US and Swiss authors’ rights society SUISA.

Singer-songwriter Susan Tedeschi signed with Brian Greenbaum at CAA. The signing coincides with the 25th-anniversary reissue of Tedeschi’s 1998 album, Just Won’t Burn. Tedeschi and her husband, musician Derek Truck, are with Full Stop Management for their solo work.

Memphis-based music credit and information services provider Sound Credit partnered with PPL for neighboring rights collections in North America. Via its sister brand Soundways, Sound Credit’s North American artist community will now be able to take advantage of PPL’s international collections service.

Live Nation will serve as the exclusive promoter for BECU Live and the Pepsi Outdoor Summer Concert series under a new deal with Northern Quest Resort & Casino and the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in Washington state.

Grammy-nominated songwriter and artist Delacey signed to Photo Finish Records, which released her new single, “Man on the Moon,” on Friday (Feb. 17).

Underoath signed to MNRK Heavy on a global basis. The label released the rock band’s latest single, “Let Go,” on Feb. 15.

Virgin Music UK reached a sales and distribution deal with Liverpool-based independent label Modern Sky UK (Jamie Webster, Leah Weller, Red Rum Club).

Pop duo Crash Adams signed to Warner Music Canada/Warner Records, which released their latest single, “California Girl.”

British DJ/producer Riton signed with Atlantic Records/Big Beat, which released his first-ever solo single, “Sugar,” on Friday (Feb. 17).

Sony Classical signed organist Anna Lapwood and will release a five-track EP of film transcriptions in April, with an album to come later in the year.

Tuned Global singed a deal with Lululemon Studio to provide their B2B white-label playlist app for Lululemon’s in-person and virtual workouts.

Chicago trio Lifeguard signed with Matador Records. New music from the band — which previously released an album and two EPs — is expected in the spring.

23 Feb 2023

Three Songs from Sanremo 2023 Enter the Billboard Global 200

The top three finishers at Italy’s Sanremo music festival have entered Billboard’s global charts, including the contest’s winner, Marco Mengoni. The Billboard Global 200 dated Feb. 25 sees debut from rapper Lazza’s “Cenere” (“Ashes”) at No. 68; Mengoni’s “Due Vite” (“Two Lives”) at No. 80; and Mr. Rain’s “Supereroi” (“Superheroes”) at No. 97.

The Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart features two more Sanremo artists – Madame and Tananai – for a total of five songs from Sanremo 2023. On that chart, “Cenere” debuts at No. 29, “Due Vite” bows at No. 32 and “Supereroi” enters at No. 42. Meanwhile, Madame’s “Il Bene nel Male” (“The Good in the Bad”) starts at No. 104 and Tananai’s “Tango” arrives at the No. 195 spot. On Luminate’s Global Hits – Italy chart for the week ending Feb. 16, “Cenere,” “Due Vite,” “Supereroi,” “Il Bene nel Male” and “Tango” are Nos. 1-5, respectively.

Since the launch of the Billboard global lists in 2020, Sanremo’s most successful songs enter the charts each year after the event. The 2021 edition saw three songs make it to the Global 200 and six enter the Global Excl. US immediately after the contest. In that year, the song that won Sanremo, “Brividi” by Mahmood and Blanco, reached the highest positions on both charts, and at more impressive spots: No. 15 on the Global 200 and No. 7 on the Global Excl. U.S.

Mengoni, who is signed to Sony Music Entertainment’s Epic Records Italy, won Sanremo 2023, after the pop star dominated the song contest from start to finish with “Due Vite.” It was his second victory at the festival, his first coming in 2013 with “L’essenziale” (“The Essential”).

Under the artistic direction of Amadeus, who oversaw his fourth Sanremo this year, recent editions of the Italian song contest have started resonating with younger audiences, especially on streaming platforms. This year’s edition was the highest rated since 1995. Overall, 63.1% of TV viewers followed the five nights of the event, with the final night (Jan. 11) drawing an audience of 12,256,000 people, or 66% of Italian TV viewers.

23 Feb 2023

Mario Reveals Why He Relates to Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’

R&B singer Mario caught up with Billboard ahead of his latest single, “Used to Me,” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, now available across streaming platforms. The chart-topping vocalist and songwriter delved into the early years of his musical career, signing his first deal with Clive Davis’ J Recordings at 15, touring with Destiny’s Child, his musical process, and even serenaded the Billboard staff with an a capella rendition of his hit single “Let Me Love You.”

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On signing his first deal, Mario shares, “It happened pretty fast. I got adopted when I was 13 and moved from Baltimore to Jersey. That span of two years happened really quick. It prepared me for this industry and the fast pace of it.”

Not long after, the budding singer joined his first world tour alongside it-girls Destiny’s Child. “I was talking to Beyonce at Steve Stoute’s party and I said thank you for taking me on my first major tour,” he added, calling the experience “amazing.”

Twenty-one years following his breakout single “Just a Friend,” Mario is continuing to share R&B gems, including his latest single, the Ty Dolla $ign-assisted “Used to Me.” The pair have been hard at work in the studio with super-producer D’Mile, eventually leading them to creating the smooth track, which earned “27 fire emojis” from the feature favorite himself.

“Me and Ty known each other for years,” Mario says. “We were just waiting for the right time [to create] something that feels classic and can live forever.”

Mario also touched on Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, one of the albums he’s listened to and resonated with in the last year. “I relate to Kendrick in general as an artist, his process and how he delivers the music,” he says. “I relate to the whole album because growing up I saw a lot of toxic relationships between men and women. I understand the duality of light and dark when it comes to love.”

The singer continues to have his finger on the pulse of R&B, naming artists such as SZA and Lucky Daye as acts he’d love to work with, and teasing new music with Sabrina Claudio. “We have a little surprise we’re about to spring on y’all,” he says.

Check out Mario’s interview with Billboard above.

23 Feb 2023

Spotify Is Testing Token-Enabled Playlists for NFT Holders

Spotify is experimenting with “token-enabled playlists,” meaning users in possession of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can connect their wallets and listen to collections of music put together by the likes of Overlord (a company developing blockchain-based games) and KINGSHIP (Universal Music Group’s Bored Ape band). Android users in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and New Zealand can now test the new feature.

“At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve our user experience,” a spokesperson for the streaming platform said in a statement. “Some of those end up paving the path for our broader user experience and others serve only as important learnings. We have no further news to share on future plans at this time.”

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek discussed blockchain technology — which enables the creation of unique digital files that are also uncopyable — on the Culture: Now Streaming podcast in 2019. “The most important thing is it will enable paying for things digitally in many of the places around the world where those kind of methods just doesn’t exist,” Ek said. “A service like Spotify, you can imagine what would happen by allowing users for instance to be able to pay artists directly. That can open up massive opportunities where all of a sudden, a user in Japan might pay a creator in Argentina. And that opens up huge opportunities for how we can further our mission.”

Last year, Spotify started allowing “a small group of artists [to] promote their existing third-party NFT offerings via their artist profiles,” according to a statement from the company. (At the time, Spotify reiterated that it “routinely conduct[s] a number of tests in an effort to improve artist and fan experiences” some of which “serve only as an important learning.”)

Steve Aoki and The Wombats were among those testing the feature, which was made available to Android users in the U.S.

23 Feb 2023

eill Talks Being a Young Female Singer-Songwriter in Japan: Billboard Japan Women In Music Interview

Billboard Japan launched its Women in Music initiative last year featuring various women in the music industry in a string of projects, one being the interview series highlighting trailblazing women in the industry. This initiative follows the established example of Billboard’s Women in Music event that has honored artists, producers and executives who have made significant contributions to the music industry and empowered women through their work since 2007.

J-pop singer-songwriter eill is the next guest in the interview series. The 24-year-old aspired to become a singer after seeing the K-pop girl group KARA as a child, and now that she has made that dream come true, her music is being featured as themes of movies and anime series and appeals to a wide range of generations. Incorporating elements of R&B and K-pop into her sound, she continues to explore the possibilities of her signature sound accompanying lyrics that encourage people to cherish their individualities.

eill looks back on her beginnings, shares her experiences being a young female singer-songwriter and elaborates on wanting to raise her voice more about various issues in this new interview.

What were you like when you were little?

I was a really shy kid who would blush and look down when the teacher asked me to do something in class. That all changed when I saw KARA perform on TV in sixth grade. I was shocked by the way they wore stage outfits and did their makeup and hair in styles that didn’t pander to anyone, very much unlike my image of “idol” singers, and powerfully sang songs with lyrics that expressed their resolve. I thought, “I want to carve out my own life just like these girls!” and they even influenced my path in life.

So it wasn’t just about KARA’s fashion and songs that grabbed you, but also their attitude and the way they were. What changes did you go through after that?

First, I began to think that I wanted to be a singer. And I became so fascinated with the world of K-pop that I began to study Korean along with singing and piano. I became so absorbed in (learning Korean) that I stopped paying attention to my schoolwork. I couldn’t stand to lose, so when I got into something, I wanted to work as hard as I could at it. I even went too far and was found secretly reading a Korean reference book during class, and when the teacher scolded me, I talked back in Korean. [Laughs] But in the end the teachers supported me because I was trying so hard. 

It’s amazing how you really did realize your dream of becoming a singer. Could you share some of the efforts you must have put into behind the scenes along the way?

I wasn’t very good at singing either, and started out by picking out the pitch of each note one by one. So from that level, I gave myself my full attention and made a list of what I lacked, and worked hard to fill in the gaps.

The one who can understand me the best is me, so the thing to do was to face my inner self and have conversations with my heart. Even if I mess up or if I have some kind of shortcoming, I try to accept it fully. And then I go to my favorite sauna or eat my favorite food to get myself in a good mood and move on. I’ve reached a point where I can think like that over the past year or so.

What did you do before you settled into your own way of picking yourself up mentally?

I always hit rock bottom. When I couldn’t come up with lyrics or songs, it felt like I was in a daze day and night, like I was in a nightmare where I’m being backed against a wall. But the lyrics and songs that were born when I was being hard-pressed like that are the ones that could only have come out from that time, and they feel so real that I just feel like hugging them now. So I’d like to tell myself who was going through all that back then that it’s OK to be yourself.

You write your own lyrics. What does the act of writing do for you?

I guess you could say that it’s like “a costume for being who eill is.” I often sing about life, and feel that there’s a side of me that writes lyrics with the sense of “this is the kind of person I want to be.” Someone who’s strong to begin with probably wouldn’t sing “I want to be strong.” For me, writing lyrics is a process of having conversations with myself, and my weak side also comes out along the way. So by putting into words that feeling of “this is who I want to be” and singing them, it’s like I’m encouraging myself.

I couldn’t love myself when I was a young girl, but came across music and discovered the meaning of my life. So I think I’m singing now to bring even a little light to those who might be feeling the same way.

I’m sure there many young women out there who are uplifted by your songs, like “palette,” a celebration of life that encourages people to color their lives in their own way, and “Tada no Gyaru” (“Just a Gal”), a number about how a woman feels about being looked down upon because she’s young. How do you think being a woman has affected your life and your music career?

In the past, like the lyrics in “Tada no Gyaru,” I often experienced being slighted because people thought I don’t write my own music or lyrics. Being a woman and making a living as a singer-songwriter, chances are you’re treated like a dress-up doll. But fortunately, my current team tries to protect me from such treatment. They respect my wishes and walk with me so I’m really grateful for that. On the other hand, I get comments like, “I don’t like strong-looking women like that” when I’m just performing in an outfit with matching top and bottom and holding a loudspeaker. In Japan, there’s still a tendency to shun women who have a strong sense of self, or consider women who lack self-confidence as being “cute,” or shut down anything a woman says as being “tacky” or “scary.”

I recently watched the American movie She Said about the #MeToo movement in the U.S., and while the incidents of 2017 were portrayed in a tone of “this stuff is still happening,” I thought that even in 2023, Japan is still so far behind. There weren’t too many people in the theater to see the film when I saw it, and I wish more people knew about it.

Meanwhile, when I look around me, I have friends who are having a hard time as single mothers. But some haven’t voted in elections even though they’re not satisfied with the current measures taken by the national and local governments. So I say to each of them, “First of all, you have to vote and express your opinions.” I hope society will change so that a kind of system where women don’t have to give things up due to pregnancy and childbirth and are able to see them in a positive light become functional. To achieve this, I think we should communicate what we’re thinking like the #MeToo movement, or take action together with others who share the same problems, maybe in a more pop and fun way, with a vibe like, “Let’s liven things up together!”

So not only do you convey your messages through your music, but you also directly reach out to your friends as well. Why do you think there’s such a difference in your current way of thinking despite the fact that you and your friends grew up in the same place?

I think that’s because I was introduced to music. I looked up to stars like KARA and Beyoncé around the same time, and these divas who were independent and sent out powerful messages were my role models. I also would like to be the kind of person who can give courage through music.

—This interview by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan

23 Feb 2023

Marilyn Manson Sex Abuse Accuser Recants Allegation, Claims Evan Rachel Wood ‘Manipulated’ Her

A woman who sued Marilyn Manson for sexual assault says in a new legal filing that the allegations were untrue, claiming she had been “manipulated” by the rocker’s ex-girlfriend, Evan Rachel Wood.

With Manson currently suing Wood for allegedly orchestrating an “organized attack” of false rape accusations, the singer’s lawyers filed a bombshell statement Thursday (Feb. 23) from Ashley Morgan Smithline — one of several women who has accused Manson of sexual abuse over the past two years.

In it, Smithline claims that she had been “manipulated by Ms. Wood” and others, and eventually had agreed to “spread publicly false accusations of abuse” against Manson (real name Brian Warner).

“I succumbed to pressure from Evan Rachel Wood and her associates to make accusations of rape and assault against Mr. Warner that were not true,” Smithline wrote in the sworn statement. “Eventually, I started to believe that what I was repeatedly told happened to Ms. Wood and [others] also happened to me.”

In a statement to Billboard, a spokesperson for Wood strongly denied Smithline’s accusations: “Evan never pressured or manipulated Ashley. It was Ashley who first contacted Evan about the abuse she had suffered. It’s unfortunate that the harassment and threats Ashley received after filing her federal lawsuit appear to have pressured her to change her testimony.”

The statement by Smithline is a major revelation in Manson’s two-year legal saga, in which at least five women have accused him of serious sexual wrongdoing. After Wood posted her allegations to Instagram in February 2021, lawsuits quickly followed from Smithline, Manson’s former assistant Ashley Walters, Game of Thrones actress Esme Bianco and a Jane Doe accuser.

Smithline’s case was dismissed last month after she fired her lawyer and stopped participating in the case.

Manson has denied all of the allegations and filed his own defamation lawsuit in March 2022 claiming that Wood and another woman, Illma Gore, had “secretly recruited, coordinated, and pressured prospective accusers to emerge simultaneously” with false accusations against him.

In her declaration on Thursday, Smithline told a story that supported Manson’s allegations against Wood. She said she had been initially contacted by other alleged victims and, when she denied that such abuse had happened to her, was repeatedly told that she might just not remember it.

“While at first I knew Mr. Warner did not do these things to me, I eventually I began to question whether he actually did,” Smithline wrote. “On numerous occasions, I was told … that I may just be misremembering what happened, repressing my memories of what happened, or that my memories had not yet surfaced — which they said happened to people against whom these acts were perpetrated.”

Eventually, Smithline said she agreed to participate. She said Gore drafted an accusation statement for her and posted it to her account for her, and that she was then connected with Jay Ellwanger, the same lawyer who represented Bianco.

“Leading up to the filing of the complaint, I felt pressured by Mr. Ellwanger to go on a press tour, which included an interview on The View and an interview and photoshoot with People magazine,” Smithline wrote. “I was very uncomfortable doing this press but felt pressured to do it.”

Smithline also noted that she had “never received any money” from Manson as part of any settlement agreement to stop pursuing her case and that she did not intend to refile her case against him.

“Looking back, I feel I was manipulated by Ms. Wood, Ms. Gore, Ms. Bianco, and Mr. Ellwanger to spread publicly false accusations of abuse against Mr. Warner,” Smithline wrote.

In a statement to Billboard, Ellwanger said that his response to Smithline’s allegations was “constrained by ethical obligations regarding client confidentiality” to his former client. “But what I can say is that the specific allegations regarding my representation of Ms. Smithline are categorically and verifiably false.”

The new revelations come as Wood’s attorneys are seeking to dismiss Manson’s case by citing California’s so-called anti-SLAPP statute — a law that aims to make it easier to dismiss cases that threaten free speech. Wood’s lawyers say Manson’s case is exactly that: an effort to punish Wood after she chose to speak publicly about years of abuse.

“For years, plaintiff Brian Warner raped and tortured defendant Evan Rachel Wood and threatened retaliation if she told anyone about it,” her attorneys wrote. “Warner has now made good on those threats by filing the present lawsuit.”

Manson’s attorneys want to cite Thursday’s new statements from Smithline as a reason to deny the anti-SLAPP motion since such motions require courts to assess the validity of a case’s allegations. In asking the court to heed the filing, they wrote: “This newly obtained evidence is critical to Warner’s opposition to the anti-SLAPP motions, in which defendants argue that there is no ‘admissible evidence substantiating his allegations.’”

In a statement to Billboard, Manson’s attorney, Howard King, said Smithline’s declaration “proves” that the lawsuit’s core accusations are true. “As we have always said, the coordinated campaign of #MeToo lies against Brian Warner is going to go down as one of the greatest hoaxes of all time,” King said. “Vulnerable women were manipulated by unscrupulous individuals seeking to build their own brands and pursue their own vendettas.”

Read Smithline’s entire declaration here:

23 Feb 2023

Depeche Mode Becomes Second Act With Entries in Every Decade of Alternative Airplay Chart

Depeche Mode becomes one of just two acts to appear on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart in each decade of the list’s existence thanks to “Ghosts Again,” which debuts at No. 27 on the Feb. 25-dated survey.

The song is the act’s 21st appearance on Alternative Airplay, which began in 1988, and first since “Where’s the Revolution,” which hit No. 40 in 2017.

Depeche Mode has made at least one appearance on Alternative Airplay in the 1980s, ‘90s, 2000s, ‘10s and now the ‘20s, making it the second act to do so, following Red Hot Chili Peppers, which accomplished the feat last year.

The No. 27 entrance of “Ghosts” gives Depeche Mode its best-charting Alternative Airplay hit since “Soothe My Soul” reached No. 27 in 2013, as well as the band’s top debut since “Wrong” started at No. 27 in 2009.

Among its 21 entries, Depeche Mode boasts four No. 1s: 1990’s “Enjoy the Silence” and “Policy of Truth,” and 1993’s “I Feel You” and “Walking in My Shoes.”

Concurrently, “Ghosts” opens at No. 30 on Adult Alternative Airplay, where it’s Depeche Mode’s first song to chart since “Wrong” reached No. 15 in 2009.

On the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, “Ghosts” bows at No. 24 with 1.5 million audience impressions, according to Luminate. It’s the band’s best rank on the survey, which began in 2009.

“Ghosts” is the first single from Depeche Mode’s 15th studio album, Memento Mori, due March 24.

23 Feb 2023

Dierks Bentley Meshes Country & Bluegrass Influences on ‘Gravel & Gold’: ‘The Best Representation of the Country Music I’m Trying to Do’

“I really do feel like it’s my best,” Dierks Bentley says of his upcoming 10th studio album, Gravel & Gold, which arrives Friday, Feb. 24 via UMG Nashville.

It’s the kind of platitude that artists often say with every new project they set out to promote. However, Bentley says it with the kind of steady confidence borne of the painstaking process of scrapping two previous album-making attempts in order to craft the new album, picking up portions of those previous projects and adding new songs and recordings.

“I feel like this is my best representation of the kind of country music I’m trying to do, the kind I’ve been trying to work on since I moved to town,” Bentley says.

The third attempt worked, resulting in an adept synthesis of the sleek, commercial country sounds that have permeated previous projects such as 2016’s Black, his ‘90s country influences, and the organic, bluegrass leanings that swathed previous projects including 2010’s Up on the Ridge (helmed by Jon Randall) and 2018’s The Mountain (Randall and Ross Copperman).

“All the pieces were there for the 10th project, and those earlier sessions were good, it just ultimately wasn’t right,” Bentley says. “I hadn’t been in the studio much, and I hadn’t been writing a lot of songs; I had taken a lot of time off during the pandemic. With every album, you gotta leave out some songs. It’s gonna hurt when you are going in there to make the final sequence — and it should be painful; it means you are cutting out good stuff to get to the best songs you can.”

Gravel & Gold marks Bentley’s first time as an album co-producer, working on tracks with Randall, Copperman and F. Reid Shippen.

The album is the result of Bentley falling back in love — with Nashville, with music — after a year spent living in Telluride, Colorado. Arizona native Bentley had been trying to find a respite from Nashville for 15 years, longing to spend more time out West, though his touring and recording schedule didn’t allow for it. In 2020, when tours shut down during the height of the COVID-19, pandemic, he relocated to Colorado for a year with his wife Cassidy and their three children, Evie, Jordan and Knox.

“I was really happy being out there, but when I came back to Nashville, I realized how much I love Nashville and how great the town has been to me — the history I have here, the friends I have here. It’s realizing that gravel can be gold; it’s just about your perspective on it and the way you look at it. That’s the underlying theme I had going into the making of the album, and certainly on that third go-around of making it. It felt like I settled back into Nashville.”

While other artists have used the pandemic become ever-more prolific in their songwriting, and issue multi-part albums, Bentley opted for a tightly-constructed project across a comparatively lean 14 tracks.

“I love that a lot of guys are putting out double and triple albums, but for me personally, I can’t consume much more than like 11 or 12 songs. But it’s a different world. I also see kids’ attention spans are so little these days — so it’s hard to get through a whole album, let alone a double or triple album.”

Taken together, the songs are a natural evolution for an artist who discovered his love of bluegrass while taking in countless shows at Nashville’s longtime bluegrass hotbed Station Inn and playing some of his earliest shows at Exit/In. He released his debut album in 2003 and earned a Country Airplay-topping hit with the sleek “What Was I Thinkin’.” In the 20 years that have elapsed, he’s become a consistent hitmaker (with 18 No. 1 Country Airplay hits), a 14-time Grammy nominee and an artist unafraid to take risks to follow his creative inclinations.

“Something Real” is straightforward about Bentley’s intentions for substantive music.

“I had ‘Gone’ and ‘Beers on Me’ on the radio, and those are fun songs that needed to be there at the time, coming through this whole pandemic, songs that feel good,” Bentley says. “But I really wanted to make an album that has great country songwriting that packs a whole lot of emotion, feeling and story into three minutes.”

The humor fans know from songs like “Drunk on a Plane” returns in the clever “Beer at My Funeral.” Meanwhile, a similar tone to Bentley’s 2013 hit “I Hold On” — which displayed a fierce loyalty to “dancing with the one that brought ya,” whether it be worn, lived-in trucks or guitars — permeates “Cowboy Boots,” featuring recent Grammy winner Ashley McBryde,

“Everyone loves Ashley McBryde,” Bentley says. “She’s a great singer, songwriter, a great personality. I was lucky enough to get to tour with her last year and just watch her command a stage every night. She has this great mix of rock, country and attitude. The first time I saw her perform, I was blown away by her whole deal.”

Bentley has utilized the music videos accompanying the songs on this album to spotlight music venues around Nashville, including Exit/In (“Same Ol’ Me”) and Robert’s Western World (“Cowboy Boots”).

“This album is all about returning to Nashville, with a new appreciation for all that we have here, that I’ve kind of taken for granted — places like Exit/In, Station Inn and Robert’s. Robert’s is one of my favorite bars — I used to go down there and watch BR-549, Brazilbilly, Wayne ‘The Train’ Hancock. It was nostalgic for me to go back to these venues where I cut my teeth.”

Reprising his previous bluegrass-centric work, Bentley pays homage to weed and bluegrass on the album’s closing track, “High Note,” while welcoming red-hot bluegrass picker Billy Strings, as well as a host of musicians including Jerry Douglas (dobro), Sam Bush (mandolin), Charlie Worsham (guitar) and Bryan Sutton (guitar/banjo). Since making his debut in 2017, Strings has risen from clubs to selling out a string of arenas on his current tour — a rarity for a bluegrass artist.

“I’m just lucky that I got the chance to meet [Billy] as he was coming up five or six years ago,” Bentley says. “His rise is unbelievable. Charlie Worsham wrote [“High Note”] and I wanted to have some bluegrass on this project. We cut it with drums and gave it a bit of a country-rock feel. It’s just a great collection of people coming together, playing on a fun song. I would love for that song to be a single on country radio, but I don’t know if it would work. It’s a great way to end the project and go out on a high note.”

The album’s blend of well-crafted songwriting across an array of styles from ‘90s honky-tonk, pop-country, and bluegrass leanings is uniquely positioned, given country music’s current sonic landscape. The highly produced works of Morgan Wallen top the country charts alongside the decidedly less-polished acoustic-rock works of Zach Bryan and the ‘90s country influence of Luke Combs, while Strings’ progressive bluegrass and Tyler Childers’ raw roots music draw ever-surging audiences, and Elle King powers her country-rock with banjo.

Though perhaps not reaching the threshold of a full-fledged bluegrass/roots music resurgence on the scale of 2001-2002 — spearheaded by the juggernaut soundtrack of O Brother Where Art Thou?, which dominated the charts alongside albums from Tim McGraw, LeAnn Rimes and Lonestar, while artists like Patty Loveless and Dolly Parton released acoustic albums and Nickel Creek won Grammys for their breakthrough album — hints of rootsier leanings are apparent. The landscape could be more akin to early 1980s, when two former members of Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys (Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley) went on have chart-topping country music careers.

In 2015, Bentley and his touring band delved deeper into his ‘90s country influences, often serving as tour openers for themselves via the side project Hot Country Knights, which released an album, The K Is Silent, in 2020. In recent months they have continued their bluegrass connection by launching bluegrass group Long Jon, with a slate of regular performances on the first Tuesday of each month at Station Inn.

“I think for me and the guys, it’s about chasing that first-time feeling again, musically,” Bentley explains. “With Hot Country Knights, it was scary, that first time walking on stage like that. I thought my whole career was gonna come to a crashing halt, but it ended up obviously being super fun. With Long Jon, I have a huge respect for the Station Inn stage. To me, the Station Inn is as important to Nashville as the Ryman. And I’m a little biased, but my band’s incredible and I’m so proud of them to be able to jump between all these different gigs. It keeps us all on our toes.”

23 Feb 2023

JoJo to Make Her Broadway Debut as ‘Moulin Rouge’s Satine: ‘This Is All a Dream Come True’

Moulin Rouge! has found a new Satine. On Thursday (Feb. 23), the Broadway musical announced that “Get Out (Leave)” singer JoJo will be joining the cast starting this spring. JoJo’s appearance in Moulin Rouge! will serve as her Broadway debut.

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“I can’t believe I’m finally able to say this… I’m making my Broadway debut in MOULIN ROUGE!!!” JoJo excitedly shared with followers on Instagram. “When I first saw this musical I fell instantly head over heels in love. I watched from the edge of my seat, hanging onto every word of every song. This show is a full on feast for the senses and the opportunity to play Satine feels like the culmination of so many dreams. I cannot believe I get to join this phenomenal cast and company!!!! You guys blow me away!!!”

She continued, “Special love & respect to @ashleyloren who currently SLAYS as Satine: theee most incredible badass singer actress artist i’m lucky to call friend and experience her sisterhood and generosity of spirit. * Thank you to the amazing producers and directorial staff for believing in me like you do. Performing on Broadway and living in NYC?! This is all a dream come true. I know this show means so much to so many and I promise to put all I have into every single night as Satine.”

JoJo will take the stage at Broadway’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre starting on Tuesday, April 11. The limited engagement will last for 14 weeks, and concludes on July 16. Derek Klena will return to Moulin Rouge! as Christian. Ashley Loren, the production’s current Satine, and Aaron Tveit (Christian) will deliver their final performances on April 9.

See JoJo’s Instagram post below.