This year brought several multi-week No. 1 hits on Billboard’s country charts, along with a surge of new artists earning solid hits with their first singles. Meanwhile, several established artists delved deep into themes of redemption, heartbreak, nostalgia and even revenge.
On this list, Billboard highlights some of country music’s top songs of the past 12 months, from established artists and upstarts alike.
First Country is a compilation of the best new country songs, videos & albums that dropped this week. Trace Adkins and Melissa Etheridge team upn for the best duet for their careers, Kenny Chesney remembers his recently passed dog, Ashley McBryde’s standout track from ‘Ashley McBryde: Presents Lindeville’ and more!
Billboard Japan unveiled its 2022 year-end charts on Dec. 9. Breakout singer Ado topped the Artist 100 ranking, compiled from the results of the Japan Hot 100 and Hot Albums lists.
The enigmatic songstress burst into the J-pop music scene with her smash hit “Usseewa” two years ago, and this year she dominated the Japan charts as Uta from the blockbuster animated movie One Piece Film: Red. The young singer, born in 2002, says she “took on new challenges” this past year and looks back on some of her major accomplishments including her headlining show at her dream venue — the Saitama Super Arena — and her smash OPFR collab in this latest interview with Billboard Japan.
You’re the No. 1 artist on Billboard Japan’s year-end Artist 100 ranking, which combines the Japan Hot 100 and the Hot Albums charts for this year. Could you share your honest impression about this result?
I’m really happy that so many people are listening to my music. After singing the songs for One Piece Film: Red, I checked the charts quite a bit, and when it looked like, Ado, Ado, Ado all the way down from the top, it really took me by surprise.
What kind of year was 2022 for you?
I performed a headlining concert at Saitama Super Arena in August, which was the biggest dream of my life so I was really happy about that. It was my second headlining show after the first one in April at Zepp DiverCity, so I was surprised that I reached my goal so unbelievably quickly.
The scope of your activities has been expanding at a dizzying pace. When was the first time you noticed your music’s reach?
When “Usseewa” charted on the Billboard Japan charts, I couldn’t help but think, “Whoa, awesome!” Of course, rankings aren’t everything, but “Usseewa” was the first song of mine that ever charted and I was blown away when it reached the top.
Any other moments in your daily life when you feel you have some hits?
When I suddenly hear the chorus of “Usseewa” being used on a variety show, or “New Genesis” on a YouTube video that has nothing to do with the song… When I see people mentioning my songs or me in a genre that’s completely different from my own, it really hits home that my music is reaching a pretty wide audience.
“New Genesis,” the theme of the animated movie One Piece Film: Red, hit No. 1 on Billboard Japan’s Hot 100 for a total of six weeks. It’s become your biggest hit so far.
I sang 7 songs (on the soundtrack album) and each was completely different from the other in taste, including a ballad, which I’d never sung before, and a song with full-blown rap. Before I recorded these songs, I was worried about whether I’d be able to sing them properly or if everyone would enjoy them, but the fact that so many people listened to them gave me a lot of confidence.
If you were to compile a personal song chart for 2022, which song would be No. 1?
Wow, there are too many to choose from! But one that I listened to a lot for a while was “Future Eve ft. Hatsune Miku” written by Sasakure.UK for this year’s [Hatsune Miku event] Magical Mirai.
Billboard Japan launched a new chart in December, the Niconico Vocaloid Songs Top 20, which ranks the popularity of vocaloid songs on the Japanese video-sharing platform Niconico, courtesy of Dwango. How do you usually come across new vocaloid music?
My main go-to is still Niconico. After the Vocaloid Collection (Voca-colle) event began, I’ve been using it a lot. Niconico lets you to add various tags to videos and when you jump to the links of the tags, you can find lots of songs in a similar genre. I came across a hip-hop vocaloid track before that was tagged “Mik-hop” and was like, “Wow, I never knew this kind of thing existed.”
Hatsune Miku meets hip-hop?
Right. There’s also “Alternative Mik,” a combination of alt-rock and Hatsune Miku. I personally like the tag “Osharena Miku-uta (stylish Miku songs).” Also, the rankings on Niconico are easy to see and Voca-colle even has a rookie list, so it’s useful in finding new artists.
You began your singing career by uploading covers of vocaloid songs online. How did you first get into vocaloid music?
When I was in first grade or thereabouts, I visited my cousin who told me “I’ve been listening to some interesting stuff lately,” and showed me “Daughter of Evil” and “Servant of Evil” by mothy (Aku no P) on the computer. They were derivative videos characteristic of the vocaloid genre. After I came across this world that I’d never known about, I asked my dad to teach me how to use the computer and began searching for similar stuff online on my own.
Any vocaloid producers that you’ve been into lately?
I go through Iyowa phases periodically. I’m currently going through one now and have been listening to his works like I’m possessed. Many of his songs have a kind of dissonance in a good way, like melodies that make you feel a little uneasy. On the other hand, each number has a story that’s a little sad and human. They make you want to listen to them over and over…They feel like those dreams you see when you have a fever.
You recently announced a partnership with Geffen Records in the U.S. Was working outside of Japan one of the goals you’d originally envisioned?
No. Around the time I first got into music, the idea of working overseas was so huge in scale that I felt intimidated by it and never thought I could pull it off. But I did think that it’d be so cool if I could. I receive comments from people living in other countries and I think it’s really awesome that they’re listening to my songs despite the language barrier.
When I received this offer, I thought it was my turn to approach those fans. I also hope I can help promote J-pop music through my activities. Even if we don’t understand each other’s languages, I’m sure we share the same feelings and emotions as human beings, so I hope I can convey those aspects. I’m committed to my music so I hope to touch people through my songs.
Do you have any specific goals for your activities outside of Japan?
Concerts definitely. I’d love to perform at festivals and events overseas, too. My first domestic tour will began in December, and I’m looking forward to doing more shows going forward.
Lastly, please tell us about your aspirations for next year and beyond.
I don’t think too many people have seen me perform live yet, so I’d like more people to get to know “Ado in concert.” I took on new challenges in 2022. I finally invited Hatsune Miku into my home and started singing with her. I also hope to be able to do other things like producing.
For this year’s update of our ongoing Greatest Pop Star by Year project, Billboard is counting down our staff picks for the top 10 pop stars of 2021 all this week and next. First, a salute to the artist who made the most impressive comeback this year: resurgent (and reinvented) pop star Sam Smith.
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By 2015, Sam Smith’s name was synonymous with global success. The U.K. singer-songwriter achieved hits and acclaim in Britain as early as 2013 — and in 2014, that acclaim built to stateside recognition, after they released a career-defining single in “Stay With Me” and unveiled their debut album In the Lonely Hour. Capping the year off with their first U.S. tour, the star would go on to win four Grammys in ‘15, including a near-sweep the Big Four categories.
While Smith never lost the cultural capital they’d accrued at the outset of their career, the next half-decade saw diminishing returns for the singer. With hits becoming more sporadic and album sales trending in the wrong direction, it seemed as though Sam Smith’s star was dimming.
Yet 2022 proved the opposite — not only is Smith back, but they are reinventing their own fame. With the release of their first Hot 100 No. 1 single – one whichreinvented their tried-and-true sound — and even more new music to come, 2022 may well be as important a year for Smith as their breakthrough year in the mid-‘10s.
Public transformation is perhaps something of a theme for Smith; in 2019, the singer publicly came out as non-binary. Changing their pronouns to “they/them,” Smith quickly captured the attention of the world as the most publicly recognized artist to identify as such.
Their first album after coming out, 2020’s Love Goes, didn’t appear to benefit much from that increased awareness — debuting at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 (compared to No. 2 and No. 1 debuts, respectively, for Lonely Hour and The Thrill of It All) and moving a mere 41,000 equivalent album units in its first week, the project was not the triumph that some had hoped it could be.
By the time 2022 had rolled around, the British singer understood that it was time for a change. In April, they unveiled their single “Love Me More,” a self-love anthem that appeared to safely straddle the two musical worlds that Smith has always inhabited — euphoric dance-pop (as in their breakthrough release “Latch” with Disclosure) and brooding ballads (“Stay With Me, “I’m Not the Only One,” etc). The lyrics and vocals of the single sounded like they could have been deep cuts off of their debut album, with Smith’s signature croon placed front and center. But in the background, a groovier, bass-and-drum-focused production hinted at something more.
Smith made it clear what their intention was when speaking to their fans about the song. In an Instagram post for the video — which celebrates chosen family, as Smith and a group of queer friends go out clubbing in London — Smith said the song marked “the beginning and the end of something.” The rest of their year would prove that sentiment right; gone was “the old Sam Smith,” now replaced by a newer, truer self with more confidence, a keener eye for trends, and the ability to follow-through with major results.
“Love Me More” performed largely the same way that their last few singles had — it reached a peak of No. 73 on the Hot 100 almost three months after its release, while growing a steady Top 40 radio audience, peaking at No. 34 on Billboard’s Radio Songs chart. It wasn’t the smash hit success that they may have hoped for, but “Love Me More” managed to put Smith’s name back in the pop conversation.
Speaking to Billboard for our August cover story, Smith revealed that the slow-burn, transitional appeal of “Love Me More” was, in fact, the point. “People sometimes come out the gate in such a big way,” they said, revealing that their fourth studio album was on its way. “This album, for me, is the best album I’ve ever made, and it’s the most excited I’ve ever been about [my work]. So, I really wanted to start things off in a kind way, because there’s some big messages on the record.”
Smith would go on to reveal that they had gotten involved on the production side of their new album, working with a team of producers to tweak their sound to create what they would go on to call their “first non-heartbreak album.” The defining theme of their upcoming work, they said, was “me doing exactly what I want to do,” and having a ball while doing it. “I think joy for me, and for a lot of queer people, is quite a dangerous place. We’re all masters of pain, and I think it’s actually a very courageous act to step into the queer joy of it all.”
It didn’t take long for them to follow through on their promise of “queer joy.” In a TikTok post midway through August, Smith showed themself in the studio with rising pop singer Kim Petras, playing a snippet of something new; a clanking industrial beat punctuated their voice as they wailed, “Mummy don’t know Daddy’s getting hot/ At the body shop/ Doin’ something unholy.”
For the first time in their career, Sam Smith went viral. In a matter of days, the chorus of their single “Unholy” was circulating TikTok, as users soundtracked their videos of everything from glow-ups to cosplay to thirst traps with it. In the four months since it was first shared, the sound has been used over 500,000 times.
“Unholy” naturally caught fans off guard — while dabbling in dance-pop was not necessarily new for Smith, the implicit eroticism of the lyrics signaled a complete tonal shift from the superstar. The innuendo and subtlety of past dance-adjacent hits like “Dancing With A Stranger” or “How Do You Sleep?” were gone, replaced by brazen sexuality and unbridled confidence.
Enjoying more buzz than they had ever experienced around an unreleased track, Smith finally unveiled “Unholy” in its entirety in September, complete with a gloriously queer, cabaret-inspired music video. The result of reinventing their image and sound was suddenly clear as day — “Unholy” debuted at No. 3 on the Hot 100, eventually overtaking Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” for the No. 1 position on the chart dated Oct. 29. The song even earned Smith their first Grammy nomination since their big night in 2015, for best pop duo/group performance.
Not only was this moment monumental for both Smith and Petras’ personally — the song marked both artists’ first No. 1 single — but it demonstrated a key milestone for queer performers; “Unholy” was the first song by publicly transgender or non-binary solo artists to go No. 1.
Breaking that record with “Unholy” also meant more than personal victory for Smith; by having the biggest hit of their career release after they’d been publicly out as non-binary for over three years, Smith effectively dispelled any dormant ideas of the “marketability” of queerness from label boardrooms of ages past. The song definitively proved that audiences aren’t turning away from LGBTQ art – if anything, they’re interested in hearing from voices that have often been left out of our pop milieu.
With a sudden burst of career momentum from a surprise smash-hit, Smith finally announced their new album Gloria in mid-October. Citing “emotional, sexual and spiritual liberation” as the album’s primary inspiration, Smith set a Jan. 27 release date for the LP. The project has already garnered plenty of attention, thanks in large part to Smith capitalizing on the viral success of “Unholy” by sharing short teasers of songs off the project in a series of TikTok clips.
It’s no small feat to become a near-overnight success at the outset of your music career; to replicate that success nearly a decade after your debut is practically unheard of. Yet Sam Smith proved that they are more than just the heartbroken balladeer persona that was pushed onto them after smash hits like “Stay With Me.” They are a preeminent voice of pop stardom, one who isn’t going anywhere any time soon
Aimer’s “Zankyosanka” rules Billboard Japan’s 2022 year-end Japan Hot 100, the comprehensive song chart that includes CD sales, streaming, and video views. The J-pop singer’s smash hit, featured as the opener for the entertainment district story arc of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, topped the mid-year chart and continued to be loved by listeners during the second half of 2022, becoming a hit number that symbolizes this past year in Japan.
The 32-year-old songstress celebrated the 10th anniversary of her debut in September 2021, marking the milestone with her domestic arena tour entitled Cycle de 10 ans that ended in October this year. Aimer is wrapping up her anniversary celebrations with the release of a new mini-album called Deep down Dec. 14 and spoke to Billboard Japan over email about her progress over the past year, as well as the turning points and dreams that have come true in the decade since her debut.
“Zankyosanka” hit No. 1 on Billboard Japan’s mid-year Japan Hot 100 and has since remained a long-running favorite for many music listeners. Congratulations on the song topping the 2022 year-end chart.
The song was written by the team I’ve been working with since my debut, and I’m so happy and touched that so many more people than we imagined in the beginning have listened to it. I’m very honored.
What kind of year was 2022 for you?
It was an exciting year, like I’ve been riding various roller coasters repeatedly without getting bored.
If you were to compile a personal song chart for 2022, which song would be No. 1?
I’ve been giving my full attention to my own music, so sometimes there are moments when I distance myself from listening to music, but Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” gave me a lot of energy, so that’s my choice.
Your 10th anniversary concert in October was great. How do you look back on it now?
Thank you so much. It was a live show that we carefully created so we could trace our past ten years and depict the next ten together. I recalled so many memories of each song as I sang them during the concert, which was something I’d never experienced before. I was able to express my gratitude in the form of a live performance to each and every person who discovered me, and was overcome with deep emotion to see people accepting my appreciation.
Could you share a moment from the past decade that you consider to be a turning point?
I think that making my fourth album daydream was a turning point. I was celebrating the fifth anniversary of my debut at the time, and to be able to create music with artists that I respected was a rewarding opportunity. It was very inspiring for me as a musician, and was an occasion that turned my focus outward.
Tell us about your dreams that have come true since your debut. Also, what kind of future do you envision for next year and beyond?
I feel that my biggest dream of continuing to sing has been fulfilled for the past decade in a very gratifying way. I’d like to continue to express and pursue various kinds of music more voraciously in the next ten years, and would like to stand on many stages that I’ve never been to before together with everyone who supports me.
Could you tell us about your new mini album Deep down, which comes out on December 14?
Since I was able to meet many new people through “Zankyosanka,” something I had in mind for one of the themes for the album was “to kick off the next ten years, I want to make music from a perspective I’ve never encountered before.” A number of songs were created during the tour, and “Ivy Ivy Ivy” was written while thinking of all the people I was able to meet at each stop.
The title track “Deep down” is the ending theme for the animated series Chainsaw Man. What was your initial reaction when they offered it to you? Also, what was your impression of Chainsaw Man and what aspects of it did you want to incorporate into the music?
The episode I was offered to write the ending theme for was where “the story suddenly plunges into deep muddy waters,” and I was very honored that they thought I was the right person for the role. I wanted to create a song that symbolized the dark side of Chainsaw Man, which permeates the episode I wrote for, and would trace the deepest parts of the heart with both hands and go even deeper.
Which song do you feel like you were able to break new ground with on Deep down?
All of the songs were written from a slightly new perspective, but I particularly like the title track “Deep down” because I feel like I was able to reach out to the bottom of darkness more than any of my previous songs.
Do you have a message for your audience?
If you discovered me through “Zankyosanka,” it’d make me really happy if you could also get to know the music that I’ve been expressing for the past decade, including my new mini album Deep down.
Besides gifting fans with her powerhouse vocals in top Billboard hits such as “De Contrabando,” “Inolvidable,” and “Ya Lo Se,” the late Jenni Rivera had a passion for fashion. Whether it be on the stage or on a red carpet, La Diva de la Banda was hard to miss with her iconic looks.
When people think of Jenni, they automatically envision the prideful Mexican superstar in her long, colorful gowns with beautiful floral embroideries and matching shawls. Others picture the laid-back Long Beach native wearing a cozy jogger set and baseball cap. Oftentimes, she dressed sassy on stage with leather jackets, cowboy hats, and miniskirts.
Ten years after her sudden death in a plane crash in Mexico on Dec. 9, 2012, Rivera’s legacy continues to shine in her very own Jenni Rivera Fashion store that re-opened in November 2022 at the Brea Mall in Orange County, Calif. The store offers merch that includes T-shirts, memorabilia jackets, and more, running from size small to 2XL, and ranging from $19.99 to $99.99. The Rivera family hopes to expand to an online store for fans.
“She’s come a long way from the first store that was opened in 2013, and it is a very proud moment for us to be able to achieve this milestone to honor our mother’s legacy,” Jacqie Rivera said in a press statement. “I bet she is smiling down remembering the days she used to sell CDs at the swap meets, and now she has a whole store in a prime location honoring her music career and legacy.”
Below, we celebrate Rivera’s legacy with some of her iconic outfits.
Not long ago, a placement on Spotify’s RapCaviar or Apple Music’s Today’s Hits playlists could ignite a single’s streaming numbers overnight. “Today’s Top Hits [32 million followers on Spotify] used to be the holy grail,” says one manager of several major-label acts. “Or even Pop Rising [2.7 million] — it was like, ‘If a song got on Pop Rising, it’s going to get to Today’s Top Hits and do 5 million streams a week.’ ”
But in 2022, the manager continues, “it doesn’t feel like that’s the case.” This realization is growing around the music industry. “The Spotify and Apple editorial playlists don’t have as much punch” as they did, agrees Kieron Donoghue, founder of Humble Angel Records and former vp of global playlists strategy at Warner Music Group. “The major streaming platforms are reacting to culture now rather than driving it,” adds Tatiana Cirisano, music industry analyst and consultant for MIDiA Research.
In a statement to Billboard, Sulinna Ong, global head of editorial at Spotify, countered that the platform’s “top five editorial playlists are followed by more than 80 million listeners — they’re wildly popular.” She added that the overall audience for playlists is larger than ever, “these listeners have increasingly diverse tastes, Spotify is meeting that consumer demand, and, as a result, more artists are being discovered.” A representative for Apple Music declined to comment for this story.
But managers sound nearly misty-eyed when they reminisce about the streams that some editorial playlists once generated. “There used to be a world where an unknown artist would get the cover of the Fresh Finds playlist [on Spotify] and they would get between 60,000 and 100,000 streams a week,” says one manager who works primarily with developing acts. “Now you’re looking at more like 15,000 to 20,000 streams a week.”
“Does Today’s Top Hits move the needle as much now as it did four years ago?” one senior label executive asks. “No.” The difference is especially stark, he adds, if you’re not near the top of the playlist.
Label executives say the change in firepower of marquee editorial playlists is caused in part by the increased emphasis on personalization, especially at Spotify, which encourages users to play music similar to what they’ve streamed — in essence, burrow deeper into their own tastes — rather than pushing all listeners to play the same tracks. The shift is also a reflection of the growing power of apps like TikTok in music discovery: “The pie of ‘discovery market share’ has become more fragmented,” according to Daniel Sander, chief commercial officer of music marketing technology company Feature.FM. The gatekeepers who program editorial playlists are ceding ground to user-generated content on short-form-video platforms.
There are exceptions: Managers say some of Spotify’s editorial playlists in Southeast Asia, for example, still have oomph, as does the phonk playlist, which launched earlier this year and caters to a rising subgenre of dance music popular in Eastern Europe. (Beneficiaries include dhruv, who has 7.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and Kordhell, with 12.7 million.) But executives maintain that many of the big-name editorial collections are not magnifying songs the way they once did.
Some of that decline is due to changes at the streaming services. In 2019, Spotify took playlists like Beast Mode and Chill Hits, which previously had been the same for all listeners, and personalized them “for each listener based on their particular taste,” according to a company press release. (This change did not affect playlists like RapCaviar, Baila Reggaeton, and Today’s Top Hits.)
Spotify found that this had two effects: Listeners tuned in to personalized collections for longer, and the streaming wealth was spread across more acts — raising “the number of artists featured on playlists by 30% and the number of songs listeners are discovering by 35%,” according to one 2021 announcement.
In her statement, Spotify’s Ong noted that “listener habits have become increasingly diverse, so our playlist strategy has expanded to accommodate that.” She says personalized editorial playlists are responsible for “a third of all new artist discoveries on Spotify.”
TikTok, which now spurs a lot of music discovery, embraced personalization from the beginning. Users marvel at how well the app seems to anticipate their tastes: “Everything on TikTok feels like it was meant especially for you,” says one music executive.
Short-form-video platforms like TikTok have also fundamentally altered the timeline of a hit. “With the rise of TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, artists can play song snippets or behind-the-scenes content and drive fans to take action — discovery is happening before your song would even be able to be put on an editorial playlist,” says Sander.
In addition, TikTok rejuvenates catalog tracks — ranging from Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” (released in 1977) to Thundercat’s “Them Changes” (2017) — and pushes them back on to the charts, defying many marquee editorial playlists’ emphasis on front-line releases. “The path of a hit has changed,” says one major-label executive. The major streaming platforms “haven’t built anything to adjust to that.”
As a result, the power of streaming-service gatekeepers has eroded. “You’re going to find the next curator on TikTok,” says one A&R consultant at a major label. The mantle of the editorial playlisters has been taken up partly by remix-focused accounts on TikTok, which release sped-up or slowed-down versions of sounds that millions of users incorporate into their own videos.
User-generated content is “what’s driving TikTok and driving the charts,” says Kuok Meng Ru, CEO of music technology company BandLab. “People feeling involved gets them more excited.”
And there’s no way to be involved with editorial playlists other than hitting the “like” button. “We’re seeing in consumer surveys how much Gen Z really does want to actively participate in music — not just listen and consume passively, but make their own videos, remix the song, create their own content on top of it,” Cirisano adds. “The major streaming services don’t offer that.”
Britney Spears‘ husband, actor and model Sam Asghari, is reminding fans that there should be boundaries on social media.
In a recent message posted to his Instagram Story, Asghari asked his wife’s fans to ease up on their scrutiny of Spears’ own Instagram activity. “Social media can be traumatizing,” he wrote. “Sometimes it’s good to take a break. She has her voice and is a free woman.”
On Dec. 2, the “Toxic” singer confused many by posting praise of her younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, with whom Britney has been very publicly feuding since her conservatorship legal battle. Then, on Tuesday (Dec. 6), she deactivated her account before reactivating two days later, according to ET.
Asghari himself hasn’t been posting much of Spears on his account in recent months, something he also addressed in his story. “I have respect for her privacy and I protect it at all times,” he wrote. “Out of respect for her privacy, I don’t post her 247. I ask for permission if I ever do.”
“For my job I have to attend many events. It would be my honor if she joins. For her, those things are not fun. They’re [hectic] and full of stress,” he wrote. “Specially since she’s been doing these things since 8 years old. Plus she already slayed every single one she has been to.”
Spears and Asghari tied the knot in June this year after dating for five years, first meeting on the set of the 41-year-old pop star’s “Slumber Party” music video in 2016. Their marriage came about seven months after Brit’s conservatorship was legally terminated in November 2021 after a harrowing legal battle, after which the “Hold Me Closer” singer started posting from time to time about her newfound independence on social media.
Spears also recently posted about her two sons Jayden and Preston, writing that she “would give anything just to touch your face.” This follows a public back and forth between Spears, her kids and their father Kevin Federline regarding the singer’s separation from the boys.
Asghari, however, didn’t mention specific posts of Brit’s in his post, instead giving a general plea for privacy on her behalf. “I’ve always respected and supported her privacy with everything I’ve had,” he wrote. “I ask of you supportive and protective fans to do the same. Sometimes being over protective can cause more stress and damage.”
After years of trying to clean up its act and shed its reputation as a major source of pirated music, Russian streaming service VK is allowing users to upload albums released on major record labels that exited Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
A search by Billboard on Dec. 7 found that dozens of albums from major labels were were available to all VK users and could be found using the service’s search tool. They included Taylor Swift‘s Midnights, released by Universal Music Group’s Republic Records, and Red Hot Chili Pepper‘s Return of the Dream Canteen, a Warner Records Music release.
VK did not reply to Billboard‘s request for comment.
Global labels body IFPI in London did not immediately condemn the apparent copyright violations, nor confirm if they or its label members had issued takedown orders to VK in recent days. “We’re continuously monitoring the situation in Russia with regard to unauthorized services and will take appropriate action as necessary,” an IFPI spokesperson said.
Sony, Warner and Universal all declined to comment. “It’s disappointing and wrong but comes as no surprise considering [Russia’s] current lack of respect for rights or the rule of law,” one senior industry executive told Billboard.
Courtesy Photo
Just some of the pirated Taylor Swift music featured on VK.
Courtesy Photo
Launched as VKontakte in 2007 in St. Petersburg, VK offers music and other features of a social media platform. As of last month, it was the sixth most-popular web site in Russia, according Similarweb, a website tracking company. It is the second most-popular platform offering music in Russia after Yandex.Music.
In the first quarter, VK had 73.4 million monthly average users and a global audience of 100.4 million. The platform offers both an ad-sponsored model and a subscription service with 3.5 million subscribers, according to the most-recent data available. (Before pulling out, Spotify reportedly had 600,000 paid subscribers in Russia.)
VK’s history of piracy is well noted. When VK emerged as Russia’s response to Facebook, it had a feature that Facebook didn’t — a tool allowing users to upload music tracks that immediately became available to all other users.
That feature was, arguably, one of the reasons why VK quickly became popular with younger users. However, it also made the social network an archenemy of international major labels who accused it of facilitating online piracy.
A range of lawsuits were brought against VK, but the company stood its ground, claiming it had no technical capability to control user-generated content but was willing to remove any copyrighted content at rights holders’ request. The problem was that if a pirated music track was removed, another copy of it would be almost immediately added by another user.
For a while, courts accepted VK’s argument about its inability to control user-generated content, but an array of lawsuits eventually forced VK to sign licensing deals with the majors and the streaming platform got rid of user-generated pirated music a few years ago.
Then in March, in support of Western sanctions to penalize Russia for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Sony, Warner and Universal said they were suspending operations in Russia, and their new releases were no longer available on VK. That same month, Amazon, Deezer, Spotify and TikTok either closed their Russian offices or stopped trading in what was previously the 13th largest music market. (YouTube, for its part, suspended all monetization programs for users in Russia in March.) Among major global music providers, only Believe, the French music distributor, has continued to operate in Russia, saying in September that it was doing so “to support its artists, labels and protect its people’s safety as well as ensure access to music production and distribution.”
The pullout by the global music industry slowed the legal development of a market that Spotify, in particular, had targeted as a key country in its expansion into Eastern and Central Europe. Russia was the fastest-growing market among the global top 20 both in 2019 and 2020, when it produced $328 million in recorded-music revenue, a 58% increase over 2020, according to IFPI.
Some Russian officials have called for a regulation that would permit the use of music and movies whose rights holders have left Russia. The most popular proposal was that all royalties owed to foreign rights holders who left Russia would be held in a dedicated account in Russian rubles and then distributed at some point in the future. Nothing concrete has been done in that area so far, but the Russian government has authorized imports of products by companies which left Russia. They cannot be technically sold in Russia, but they are imported via third countries.
Under current Russian law, the use of music or movies without permission from rights holders remains illegal.
Additional Reporting By Richard Smirke
Zac Brown Band lead singer Zac Brown will soon be a married man again. He is engaged to actress-model-stuntwoman Kelly Yazdi, sources confirm to Billboard. People first reported the story, noting that Brown proposed to Yazdi in Hawaii.
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According to her IMDB page, Yazdi has worked on projects including the TV series Hawaii Five-0 and Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Ranch Challenge, as well as films including The Beautiful Ones and The Martial Arts Kid. She was raised in Minnesota and moved to Los Angeles while still a teenager. She studied advanced acting and performing arts at the University of California Santa Barbara.
This will mark the second marriage for Brown. He and his former wife Shelly divorced in 2018 after a decade of marriage, and share five children together.
“We have led a whirlwind life together growing into a beautiful family with five amazing children and while life will be rearranging a bit, our love and commitment to our family will always be there,” Brown and Shelly said via a statement to People at the time. “This was a difficult decision, but we’ve done plenty of tough things together and this is our next venture — love, mutual respect, and care for each other are what we are moving forward with.”
Zac Brown Band has also undergone musical shifts recently, welcoming singer-musician Caroline Jones as the first full-time female member of the group. Jones first opened shows for them in 2017 and has continued joining the band on their more recent tours.
The Zac Brown Band has earned 14 Billboard Country Airplay chart-toppers to date, including their latest hit, “Same Boat,” in 2021. Last year, they released the project The Comeback, and issued a deluxe version of the project in September. Next up, they will take part in New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash and have a string of shows overseas beginning in March, including stops in Ireland, the UK and Australia.
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