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18 Nov 2022

NCT Dream Announce Comeback With Holiday Mini Album ‘Candy’

Get ready for a very NCT Christmas! On Thursday, NCT Dream announced they will spread cheer to their fans during the most wonderful time of year with the release of a special holiday album titled Candy.

“NCT DREAM Winter Special Mini Album Candy 2022.12.19 (KST),” the group tweeted, along with a festive illustrated visual of an NCT Dream house decked out in Christmas-themed regalia with bows, mini Christmas trees, candy canes, peppermints, bows, twinkling lights and more. Candy will mark the group’s first-ever holiday album.

The holiday album will also serve as a comeback for the group — which consists of members Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Chenle, Jaemin and Jisung — since the release of Beatbox, the repackaged deluxe version of their second studio album Glitch Mode that contained four additional tracks on the album.

Glitch Mode served as the K-pop group’s last official album release. The project debuted at No. 50 on the Billboard 200 but spent a total of five weeks on the Top Current Album Sales chart following its April release, and reached a peak of No. 5 on the chart.

Up next for NCT Dream is bringing THE DREAM SHOW 2 : In a Dream world tour to Japan. The trek kicks off in Aichi at the Nippon Gaishi Hall on Nov. 23 and will play three nights in Kanagawa at the Nov. 26-28. The Japanese leg of the tour will conclude in Fukuoka for a show at the Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A on Dec. 1.

See NCT Dream’s Candy announcement below.

18 Nov 2022

Jack Antonoff Blasts Touring Industry & Music Venue Practices: ‘Include Artists in More Areas of Revenue’

In light of fans — and Taylor Swift herself — taking issue with Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s highly publicized Verified Fan Presale failure, Jack Antonoff has a few choice words to share about the touring industry’s treatment of artists.

The Bleachers frontman and producer hit Twitter on Friday (Nov. 18) to blast music venues for taking away the revenue that newer artists have the potential to make from merchandise sales during concerts.

“While we are having the discussion can venues simply stop taxing merch of artists? This is literally the only way you make money when you start out touring,” he started. “The more we make it tenable for young and small artists to make a living on the road the more great music we will get. Touring is one of the most honest ways to make a living. Some of the hardest and most heartfelt work you can do. So why must [they] f— artist[s] so hard?”

The Grammy winning producer continued, “[Simple] solutions, stop taxing merch, stop lying to artists about costs of putting on shows, include artists in more areas of revenue. The stories I could tell from my years of touring are bananas. Young artists on tour are the last to see any money.”

Antonoff’s thread comes at what feels like a watershed moment for the music industry. Ticketmaster and Live Nation have come under fire from Antonoff’s frequent collaborator Taylor Swift, her fans and lawmakers after the disastrous sale of tickets for her 2023 The Eras tour.

The failure has led to the U.S. Department of Justice launching an investigation to see if the companies have abused its market shares in the music industry after 14 million fans attempted to access the presale, experienced major technical difficulties and failed to secure tickets, despite gaining entry into Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan Presale for the event. “It’s truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them,” Swift said in a note to fans.

Another one of Antonoff’s collaborators, Lorde, spoke about the harsh realities of touring in a newsletter post to fans, stating, “for pretty much every artist selling less tickets than I am, touring has become a demented struggle to break even or face debt.” According to the “Solar Power” singer, an increase in ticket prices could cover the heightened cost of touring, but “no one wants to charge their harried and extremely-compassionate-and-flexible audience any more f—ing money.”

Antonoff, with the rest of Bleachers, will complete the final dates of the band’s How Dare You Want Tour on Dec. 3-4 at the Zona Festival in Phoenix. The band are confirmed for two festival dates in 2023; the High Water Fest in North Charleston, S.C., on April 15 and the Adjacent Music Fest in Atlantic City, N.J. on May 27.

See Antonoff’s tweets below.

18 Nov 2022

Bruce Springsteen Opens Up About Ticketmaster’s Dynamic Pricing: ‘Ticket Buying Has Gotten Very Confusing’

Following the ticket chaos of Taylor Swift’s The Eras tour this week, the conversation has shifted to Ticketmaster’s monopoly in the business and their out-of-control “dynamic pricing” model.

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It’s hardly the first time that an artist’s tour tickets have been blown into wildly expensive territory on Ticketmaster. When Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’s 2023 tour tickets went on sale a few months back, some ended up costing thousands of dollars.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Springsteen gave his two cents on the struggle between balancing affordable tickets and making enough money for his band. “What I do is a very simple thing. I tell my guys, ‘Go out and see what everybody else is doing. Let’s charge a little less.’ That’s generally the directions,” he shared. “They go out and set it up. For the past 49 years or however long we’ve been playing, we’ve pretty much been out there under market value. I’ve enjoyed that. It’s been great for the fans.”

He added, “This time I told them, ‘Hey, we’re 73 years old. The guys are there. I want to do what everybody else is doing, my peers.’ So that’s what happened.”

The Boss followed up by nothing that “ticket buying has gotten very confusing, not just for the fans, but for the artists also,” and that “most of our tickets are totally affordable.” He then concluded by noting, “We have those tickets that are going to go for that [higher] price somewhere anyway. The ticket broker or someone is going to be taking that money. I’m going, ‘Hey, why shouldn’t that money go to the guys that are going to be up there sweating three hours a night for it?’ It created an opportunity for that to occur. And so at that point, we went for it. I know it was unpopular with some fans. But if there’s any complaints on the way out, you can have your money back.”

18 Nov 2022

Inside the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Party & Concert: Exclusive Photos

From artists to executives, hip-hop luminaries flooded Academy LA on Thursday (Nov. 17) night in Los Angeles to celebrate Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players event.

Billboard cover stars Future (who opened up about fatherhood and marriage) and SZA (who promises her new album S.O.S. is finally for real coming) were in attendance, as was Amazon Music’s Head of Hip-Hop & R&B Tim Hinshaw, who is Billboard’s executive of the year, topping our annual R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players list.

“When I thought about the [music industry] landscape, it was like, ‘Amazon is already in everybody’s homes,’ ” Hinshaw told Billboard of his initial strategy. “I knew if I could authentically bridge the gap between company and artist and tell that story to consumers in an authentic way, I could help Amazon be a major player in this entertainment space.”

City Girls and Flo Milli performed, bringing down the house late into the night. Past Billboard cover star Pusha T was also in attendance, as was our rookie of the year Blxst, who has worked with everyone from Kehlani to Kendrick Lamar in 2022.

“I’m more about the art,” Blxst told Billboard about his approach to collaborating. “If I’m a fan of the song or if it fits with the direction that I’m going in, I’mma jump on a song off the strength. If I don’t like it, I’mma just not do it.”

SAINt JHN stopped by, as did Isabel Laurent, Sylvia Rhone and many more. See who else chopped it up at Billboard’s 2022 R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players event.

18 Nov 2022

Billboard Honors 2022 R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players, Blxst, SAINt JHN & More at Star-Studded LA Event

Billboard unveiled its 2022 R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players list that honors executives across the business and celebrated current cover stars SZA and Future at Billboard Live: R&B/Hip-Hop on Thursday night at Academy LA.

The night’s program began with Billboard executive director of R&B/hip-hop Gail Mitchell and deputy editor of hip-hop Carl Lamarre taking the stage. The pair congratulated the night’s honorees, which numbered over 200 on the Power List, thanked the rest of Billboard‘s R&B and hip-hop team, including reporters Neena Rouhani, Heran Mamo and Cydney Lee and charts team member Trevor Anderson, and devoted a moment of silence to Takeoff, PnB Rock, Young Dolph, Pop Smoke, Nipsey Hussle and other rappers who have lost their lives in recent years as a result of gun violence.

Future kicked off the awards presentation by introducing the Rookie of the Year, Blxst, who sported a gray mohair shirt-jacket with matching pants and his shiny Evgle label chains. “Sheeeesh,” the LA singer-rapper-producer said to the crowd, his signature ad-lib, before beginning his speech. “God is real. I just came back from a sold-out world tour, so to come home to this is nothing short of amazing, you feel me?” he said. “For me, this is like a symbol of believing in yourself, trusting your heart, trusting the process.” Blxst then told a story about how he used to get in trouble for singing all the time, which was met with laughs from the crowd. “My dad used to be like, ‘You can always remember lyrics to a song, but you can never remember to be quiet.’ But I guess it’s just in me,  not on me, but that sh– paying off now.” Blxst then thanked his Evgle team, Red Bull Records, his support system and Billboard.

Later in the night, SZA presented the Executive of the Year award to “a gentleman that has contributed so much to our culture,” Amazon Music executive Tim Hinshaw. “I’m overjoyed to accept the award,” he said after embracing SZA on stage, while thanking “everybody in this room for picking up my calls, answering my calls, showing up for me” as well as his wife and two children. “When I was growing up, I used to go see my pops in federal prison at Terminal Island, and everybody’s asking ‘bout my outfit. It was inspired by the canvas he used to wear,” Hinshaw explained. “I wanted my kids to see this moment so they remember.” 

Then Hinshaw tearfully thanked his mother, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. “My mom worked in my high school, and I was going through so much. I didn’t want to go to school and I would embarrass my mom. The teachers would come and say, ‘He’s not doing his work.’ My mom would come and talk to me and I could see the pain in her eyes. I just couldn’t move in that moment because I was stubborn, I was going through what I was going through. But Mom, I hope this moment makes up for all the times that I embarrassed you. I really appreciate you.” Hinshaw, who reminded everyone he will forever be “Westside Timmy from the west side of Compton,” shouted out his Rotation team and assured there was no beef between him and Carl Chery, creative director/head of urban music at Spotify, who was gleaming nearby. “Carl told me I was the first streaming executive to receive this award, so I’m super appreciative. Thank you everybody.” 

Vibe magazine and Remy Martin’s Impact and Excellence Award was presented by Vibe editor-in-chief Datwon Thomas to Guyanese-American artist SAINt JHN. “That’s a fantastic introduction,” he began, gazing down at his “well-designed” award. The songwriter extraordinaire, who self-identified as “well-spoken,” shared that the award was his first that he was invited to accept in person, speech and all.

In addition to the issue cover stars and award recipients, guests at the night’s festivities included artists, managers and executives, with DJ Drama, Nick Cannon, Hit-Boy, Pusha T, Epic Records CEO Sylvia Rhone, EMPIRE CEO Ghazi, Top Dawg Entertainment president Terrence “Punch” Henderson in the crowd. The night also included a women-centric show, including performers Flo Milli and City Girls. Sporting a racy two-piece set, Flo Milli opened the show with her viral hit “Conceited” and later used a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 to record a thank you message to Samsung. Milli is a celebrity mentor for Billboard and Samsung’s NXT 2.0 competition to discover the next great unsigned artist.

City Girls’ JT and Yung Miami delivered an electrifying medley of their hits to a sold-out crowd, including “Jobs,” “Pussy Talk,” “Take Yo Man,” “Twerkulator” and their top 40 hit “Act Up.”

18 Nov 2022

Doja Cat’s ‘Vegas’ Takes Top Slot on Rhythmic Airplay Chart

When it comes to Doja Cat and rhythmic radio, the odds, as of late, are always in her favor.

For the second year in a row, Doja Cat achieves four No. 1s on Billboard’s Rhythmic Airplay chart and strengthens her status as one of the format’s top-tier acts. The achievement comes as “Vegas” climbs from No. 3 to lead the list dated Nov. 19. The song ascends after a 7% increase in weekly plays that made it the most-played song on U.S. monitored rhythmic radio stations in the week ending Nov. 13, according to Luminate.

“Vegas” appears on the soundtrack to the film Elvis and samples the Big Mama Thornton’s 1952 version of the song “Hound Dog,” which Presley covered and turned into a major pop hit four years later.

The new champ also banks Doja Cat’s fourth Rhythmic Airplay No. 1 hit of 2022. She previously reigned this calendar year with “Woman,” (five weeks in March – April), “Freaky Deaky,” with Tyga (one week in May), and through a featured spot on Post Malone’s “I Like You (A Happier Song)” (four weeks in August – September).

She likewise managed a quartet of chart-toppers in 2021, which then made her the first woman to land four No. 1s in the same calendar year since Rihanna in 2012.

Beyond her quadruple plays in 2021 and 2022, Doja Cat has also topped the chart once more. Her breakout single, “Say So,” led for three weeks in 2020.

All told, “Vegas” gives Doja Cat her ninth No. 1 on Rhythmic Airplay and moves into a joint share of 10th place, with Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj, for the most in the chart’s history since its launch in 1992. Here’s a look at the current standings for most No. 1s:

36, Drake
17, Rihanna
13, Bruno Mars
13, Usher
12, Chris Brown
12, Lil Wayne
12, The Weeknd
11, Beyoncé
10, Post Malone
9, Doja Cat
9, Jay-Z
9, Nicki Minaj

Elsewhere in the radio world, “Vegas” climbs 5-3 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart, with a 13% boost to 60 million in audience reach. In addition to its success at the rhythmic format, “Vegas” logged a four-week stay at No. 1 on Pop Airplay (and drops 1-3 this week). Further, with “I Like You (A Happier Song),” immediately ruling Pop Airplay for the three weeks before “Vegas” took over, Doja Cat combined for a seven-week stay at the penthouse.

18 Nov 2022

First Country: Dierks Bentley, Billy Strings, Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives

First Country is a compilation of the best new country songs, videos & albums that dropped this week.

Dierks Bentley with Billy Strings, “High Note”

Dierks Bentley teams with arena-touring bluegrasser Billy Strings for this ode to the mood-elevating aspects of bluegrass and weed, while the airy production builds into an all-in jam session with the addition of bluegrass legends Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush and Bryan Sutton. The song is the first from Bentley’s upcoming album, set to arrive next year. Bentley, of course, is no stranger to the bluegrass/folk world, having released his own bluegrass-tinted album Up on the Ridge, in 2010.

Billy Strings, Me/And/Dad

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Strings has taken the bluegrass and Americana Music worlds by storm in recent years. Today, he releases Me/And/Dad, his first album with his father, Terry Barber. This 14-track mix of bluegrass and country classics the two have played together for years, including The Carter Family’s “The Wandering Boy,” George Jones’ “Life to Go,” and Doc Watson’s “Way Downtown.” Top-notch, wooly bluegrass picking wraps around distinct, family harmonies throughout the album.

Granger Smith, Moonrise

“Backroad Song” singer Smith is set to make his acting debut in the movie Moonrise on Dec. 15, but today he surprised fans today by dropping a 12-song album by the same name. Smith wrote or co-wrote every song on the album and every song will be featured in the movie. The songs contained here convey a range of life experiences, love and loss (“Something to Go On,” “Black Suit”) and the values his family is working to build (“This House”).

Nate Smith, “Wreckage”

Smith has been burning up Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart with his hard-charging song “Whiskey on You,” but with his latest, he proves he can just as deftly communicate a tender, vulnerable ballad. “When everyone else saw baggage/ you loved what no one could,” he sings. Smith will release his debut, self-titled album on Feb. 17.

Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, “Country Star”

Stuart and his fabulous band come with a full-throttle blast of power from the first note, and refuse to let up, as they detail a vivid portrait of fame and life on the road. The group’s superior body of work will be honored next week, when they are inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame on Nov. 22.

Jason Nix, “Happy Accidents”

Nix is known for his writing contributions to Lainey Wilson’s No. 1 Country Airplay hit “Things a Man Oughta Know,” but he proves he’s got a winning vocal of his own here. His sometimes-lover “lives on gin, coffee and compliments,” and he pledges that if she takes him back again, “I’ll take the place the lonely’s always been.” A sturdy outing from an ace singer-songwriter.

Ashley Cooke, “Running Back”

Ashley Cooke is missing the teenage romance she had with the high school running back, even years after the breakup. Written by Cooke and Emily Weisband, this cooly moody track vibrates with a sleek pop sheen.

Bri Bagwell, Red or Green

Bagwell collects a few previously-released holiday singles for this four-track EP, along with a previously unreleased acoustic cover of the Elvis Presley classic “Blue Christmas,” infusing it with her smooth, New Mexico twang. A worthy collection to get anyone into a more relaxed holiday mood.

Brian Kelley, “Florida Strong”

Kelley, a native of the Sunshine State, shows his support for those impacted by natural disasters, with all of the royalties being split between the American Red Cross and the Florida Disaster Fund to help support hurricane relief. Written by Kelley, with production by Kelley with Kaitlin Owen, the track sails along pleasantly, leading up to a spoken-word section with Kelley reciting words of resilience and hope.

18 Nov 2022

Justice Dept. Investigating Live Nation for Antitrust Violations Amid Taylor Swift Fiasco: Report

In the wake of Ticketmaster’s disastrous sale of tickets to Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour, a report has surfaced that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether parent company Live Nation has abused its huge market share in the live music industry.

According to a story Friday in the New York Times, the DOJ’s antitrust division had already been scrutinizing Live Nation for months before Tuesday’s botched rollout, which saw widespread service delays and website crashes as millions of fans tried – and many failed – to buy tickets for Swift’s 2023 Eras Tour.

The Times report said that antitrust investigators have been contacting music venues and others involved in the live music industry for months to ask about Live Nation’s practices, aiming to determine whether the company maintains an illegal monopoly over the sector. The story was sourced to “two people with knowledge of the matter”; a spokesperson for the DOJ did not immediately return a request for comment.

Though the DOJ probe reportedly predates the Swift debacle, it echoes criticism that has been leveled at Live Nation in the days since the messy Eras presale.

On Thursday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the chair of the Senate subcommittee for antitrust issues, wrote an open letter to Live Nation, complaining that the company’s market power “insulates it from the competitive pressures that typically push companies to innovate and improve their services.” Klobuchar said the results were the kind of “dramatic service failures” that took place during Swift’s presale.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), was even blunter, tweeting Tuesday: “Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, it’s merger with Live Nation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in. Break them up.”

As alluded to by Ocasio-Cortez, Ticketmaster and Live Nation have long been dogged by accusations that they exert an unfair dominance over the market for live concerts, particularly since they merged in 2010 to create their current structure.

The combined entity has operated for its entire existence under a so-called consent decree imposed by the DOJ when it approved the merger. Under the decree, Live Nation is prohibited from retaliating against venues that refuse to use Ticketmaster. Those restrictions were set to expire in 2020 but were extended by five years in 2019 after the DOJ accused Live Nation of repeatedly violating the decree.

Ticketmaster has already tried to offer explanations for what went wrong on Tuesday, publishing a since-deleted in-depth blog post that said that it had misjudged demand for presale tickets and was ill-prepared for the millions of fans that tried to log in.

“I apologize to all our fans. We are working hard on this,” Liberty Media CEO and Live Nation chairman Greg Maffei said in an appearance on CNBC on Thursday. “Building capacity for peak demand is something we attempt to do, but this exceeded every expectation.”

Whether or not that explanation satisfies federal antitrust investigators, it does not appear to have been enough for Swift. In a statement issued Friday in which the star said the calamitous presale “really pisses me off,” Swift did not call out Ticketmaster explicitly, but laid the blame on an unnamed “outside entity.”

“I’m not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could,” Swift wrote.

18 Nov 2022

First Country: Dierks Bentley Teams Up With Billy Strings For ‘High Note’, Nate Smith Belts His Out Heart On ‘Wreckage’, Granger Smith Surprises Fans With New Album & More | Billboard News

First Country is a compilation of the best new country songs, videos & albums that dropped this week. Dierks Bentley teams up with Billy Strings for new track ‘High Note’, Nate Smith sings his heart out on ballad ‘Wreckage’ and Granger Smith drops a surprise album ‘Moonrise’ which is the same title as the movie he’s in and more!