Blog
Page: 26
The Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ recorded masters catalog is up for sale, and sources say the band is seeking upwards of $350 million from suitors. The catalog includes such hit songs as “Under The Bridge,” “Dani California,” “Snow (Hey Oh), “Californication,” “Otherside,” “Can’t Stop” and “Give It Away.”
Sources say the band owns the 13 studio albums and other releases issued by the Warner Music Group (WMG) in the U.S. Billboard couldn’t determine if the band also owns its first four studio albums, which were issued through EMI in the U.S., although one source says they do. Whatever rights the band owns in those EMI records, those rights are also a part of what’s being offered for sale, sources say.
Billboard estimates that the Red Hot Chili Peppers master recording catalog generates about $26 million in revenue annually, with the bulk of that coming from the WMG portion of the catalog and about $1 million in revenue coming from the EMI portion. While some sources suggest that a potential deal for the recorded music assets has already been reached and that WMG is the most likely buyer, other sources say a deal has yet to be struck.
Trending on Billboard
The news comes four years after the band sold its music publishing to Hipgnosis for about $140 million to $150 million. That means that if the Red Hot Chili Peppers realizes its $350 million asking price for the recorded music catalog, it will have snared about $500 million for selling its music assets. Sources say Eric Greenspan of the law firm Wyman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobster Younger & Light has been shopping the band’s recorded music catalog deal, just as he did for its publishing assets.
While sources say the deal includes all of the rights for the band’s recorded music catalog, Billboard couldn’t determine if the deal also includes merchandising and name, image and likeness rights.
What’s more, it’s also unclear if all the suitors were shopped the same set of recorded music assets, based on the math involved in the deal. With $26 million in revenue, after subtracting production, distribution, shipping, warehousing and reserve expenses, Billboard estimates that net label share (NLS), or gross profit, for the catalog would be about $20 million. But non-strategic suitors who are aware of the assets say that they hear that the catalog’s NLS is about 3/4 of that, or about $15 million.
While the band is seeking upwards of $350 million, it’s more likely the deal will go for $325 million to $340 million, some sources say. If the band were to achieve $340 million for the sale of its recorded catalog, on a NLS of $20 million, that would imply a 17-times multiple, which is pricey for recorded music assets — even for a steady high revenue earner like the Chili Peppers. Moreover, at the $15 million NLS cited by some sources, a $340 million potential sale price would work out to a 22-23 times NLS multiple, which music asset traders would describe as a “frothy” valuation. Consequently, sources suggest that the deal makes more sense for a strategic suitor, like one of the majors, than a private equity firm or a music asset buyer backed by private equity.
WMG declined to comment for this story. Greenspan, the band’s lawyer, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Offset isn’t letting anyone shake his confidence following his split from Cardi B — especially fans claiming his famous ex is the only reason other women have dated him since.
In a since-deleted post on X Tuesday (Feb. 18), the Migos rapper shut down a troll who wrote that “the only reason” he’s attractive to women is “because he was married to Cardi B.” “Incorrect lol I’m him,” ‘Set simply replied, according to VIBE.
Earlier in the thread, another person had pulled up five-year-old screenshots of posts by Atlanta model Melanie Jayda — whom Offset is rumored to be dating — praising the “WAP” hitmaker back in 2019. “Just excited to get Cardi’s leftovers,” the user had written of Jayda.
Trending on Billboard
Another Cardi fan also got a reaction out of the “Stir Fry” artist by writing, “Offset is operating from a bruised ego!! Cardi not only moved on, she upgraded … with another man who is better looking and has more money,” potentially referring to the Grammy winner’s rumored new boyfriend, Houston Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs.
“You b—hes delulu wouldn’t I be the perfect n—a if …,” Offset wrote in another now-deleted reply. “Stop talking bout money baby u delusional.”
The exchanges come about seven months after Cardi filed to divorce ‘Set for a second time. Just over a month later, the couple’s third child arrived Sept. 7, 2024.
The exes have been going back and forth on where they stand ever since. While the Whipshots founder has said she wants a “healthy co-parenting relationship” with Offset, both hip-hop stars have put each other on blast online multiple times. In December, for instance, the “Ric Flair Drop” musician accused Cardi of focusing on “d—” and trying to “make me look bad,” after which she fired back, “So dating because I’m single means I’m just worried about d—?? You sound like a dummy … F–k off and sign the papers TODAY.”
Cut to Valentine’s Day, and Offset appeared to air out his grievances on a new single titled “Ten.” “I don’t need you, I got money/ I don’t miss you, I got money,” he spits on the track. “Love you, but not like money/ Love all my hoes the same.”
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Source: Handout / Getty
President Donald Trump and the White House are being blasted for releasing a video online showing immigrants in chains being deported with a flippant caption, with social media expressing revulsion.
On Tuesday (February 18), the White House released a dehumanizing video showing immigrants whose faces are not shown being shackled being put on a flight during the deportation process, alarming many. The video shows multiple people being placed in handcuffs and shackled around the ankles with a torso chain, with the sounds vividly captured including that of the aircraft waiting on the tarmac. It currently has 63.8 million views on X, formerly Twitter, and 2.6 million views via Instagram reels.
The video was posted on their social media accounts, with the caption “ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight.” ASMR stands for autonomous sensory meridian response, which is a sensation that promotes relaxation and a tingly sensation and goosebumps in people. It has been a popular genre of social media videos, growing over the past decade. There has been no clarity of who is responsible at the White House for the posting of the video, as the Trump administration has kept the identities of those operating those accounts under wraps, a stark contrast to the Office of Digital Strategy under the previous Biden-Harris administration which was more transparent.
The immediate reactions from the video by supporters of President Trump were appalling, with tech billionaire and Trump advisor Elon Musk chiming in on his X platform calling it “so based.” Another online figure who has frequently used racism in their posts, Joshua Kilgore, applauded the video. “Got what I voted for award,” he wrote.
But far many more online, including Democratic Senators Ed Markey and Seth Moulton, expressed their outrage and disgust. March For Our Lives board member Caroline McCarthy Pompizzi summed it up in an X post: “I don’t care what side of the aisle you’re on or who you voted for – I think we can all agree this is *extremely* psychopathic s–t.”
Less than two years after first appearing on a Billboard chart, Sleep Theory hits No. 1 on a ranking for the first time, jumping three spots to the top of the Mainstream Rock Airplay list dated Feb. 22 with “Stuck In My Head.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The four-piece reigns with its third charted song on Mainstream Rock Airplay, following “Fallout” (No. 2 peak last August) and “Numb” (No. 9, January 2024).
Sleep Theory, which formed in Memphis in 2020, is the first act to land an inaugural Mainstream Rock Airplay since The Funeral Portrait led with “Suffocate City,” featuring Spencer Charnas, in November.
Trending on Billboard
Concurrently, “Stuck In My Head” becomes Sleep Theory’s first song to reach Alternative Airplay, debuting at No. 38.
On the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, the single lifts 15-13 with 2.6 million audience impressions, up 6%, in the week ending Feb. 13, according to Luminate. It’s a new best rank for the band, eclipsing the No. 14 peak of “Fallout.”
On the most recently published multimetric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart (dated Feb. 15, reflecting data accrued Jan. 31-Feb. 6), “Stuck In My Head” ranked at No. 8, after reaching No. 6 in January. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 728,000 official U.S. streams.
“Stuck In My Head” is the third single from Afterglow, Sleep Theory’s debut full-length, due May 16 via Epitaph. The band is set to follow with more than 30 U.S. tour dates between May 18 and July 18.
All Billboard charts dated Feb. 22 will update Tuesday, Feb. 18, on Billboard.com.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Jeff Kravitz / Getty / Kanye West
Kanye West and his Twitter fingers aren’t done typing. The rapper took to his favorite soapbox at the moment, X, formerly Twitter, to complain about the Grammys not giving him and his wife, Bianca Censori, tickets.
West had all the smoke for the Recording Academy for not blessing him and his naked wife, Bianca Censori, with tickets to music’s biggest night despite him earning a nomination for his song “Carnival” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, but eventually losing to Kendrick Lamar who took home the Grammy for his iconic Drake diss, “Not Like Us.”
“How could the Grammies [sic] nominate me Then not give me tickets And then people mad when I go off,” Ye wrote on X.
“I had to fight for 5 hours and call everyone I knew to get tickets to the Grammies [sic] They eventually gave me tickets but only for the red carpet. At that point I hadn’t started the rampage.”
The Grammys Confirm Not Giving West Tickets
According to a Grammys producer, the rapper (47) and his mannequin (30) were not given tickets to attend the Feb 2 award show held inside the Crytpo.com arena.
“They didn’t have a nomination on the [telecast] and Kanye wasn’t presenting,” Raj Kapoor told People. “He was not performing either, which is mostly what those seats are.”
The “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” crafter didn’t need to make it inside to cause a scene. He used his time on the red carpet to continue parading around his naked wife. Censori dropped her fur coat to reveal she wore a sheer dress with nothing underneath it.
Rumors hit the web that the couple was kicked out of the event due to Censori’s lack of clothing, but that was not the case. A source told Page Six that they left on their own accord.
Kanye West Has Been Dominating The Headlines
West has been dominating the headlines with his antisemitic rants on X, his bizarre Super Bowl ad that led potential shoppers to a Nazi shirt, and rumors of his wife divorcing him.
A rep for the rapper shot down claims of West and Censori splitting.
“Announcements about their private life will come from them directly, not unsourced rumor in the tabloid press,” spokesman Milo Yiannopoulos said.
We honestly wouldn’t mind if West, who claims he is now autistic, would go away and get some damn help.
The charity album Good Music to Lift Los Angeles makes a chart-topping debut, as the 90-track set arrives atop Billboard’s Compilation Albums chart (dated Feb. 22).
The effort — which boasts acts such as Dawes, R.E.M. and Perfume Genius — was sold for 24 hours only through Bandcamp as a digital download on Feb. 7. The price of the album was $20.25, but customers could choose to pay more. Proceeds from the project benefit the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Fund, both supporting individuals impacted by the January wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
In total, the Good Music to Lift Los Angeles album sold just over 10,000 copies in the week ending Feb. 13 in the U.S., according to Luminate. The last non-soundtrack compilation to sell more in a single week was another benefit project, Cardinals at the Window: A Benefit for Flood Relief in Western North Carolina, which sold nearly 12,000 and debuted atop the Compilation Albums chart dated Oct. 19, 2024.
The 90-track project is comprised entirely of previously unreleased recordings, including new songs, covers, remixes, live versions and unreleased demos. Other acts featured on the collection include K.Flay, Faye Webster, Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service, Mac DeMarco, Neko Case and TV On the Radio.
Good Music to Lift Los Angeles also launches at No. 5 on the Top Album Sales chart and in the top 40 on Top Alternative Albums (No. 16), Independent Albums (No. 20), Top Rock Albums (No. 20), Top Rock & Alternative Albums (No. 26). It was also the top-selling digital download album in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 13.
As Good Music to Lift Los Angeles opens at No. 5 on the Top Album Sales chart, let’s take a look at the rest of the chart’s top 10. Kendrick Lamar’s GNX reenters the list at No. 1 for its first week on top (116,000; up 10,100%) after its physical release on CD, vinyl and cassette; The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow falls 2-1 in its second week (29,000; down 92%), Dream Theater’s Parasomnia starts at No. 3 (16,000) and Chappell Roan’s chart-topping The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess dips 3-4 (14,000; up 24%).
Closing out the top 10: Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet slips 5-6, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft is steady at No. 7, the Wicked film soundtrack falls 6-8, Stray Kids’ former No. 1 HOP descends 4-9 and Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.d City jumps 18-10.
Drake has remained at odds with Sacramento Kings star DeMar DeRozan ever since the former Toronto Raptor seemingly sided with Kendrick Lamar during the 6 God’s feud with the Compton rapper last year.
Footage went viral earlier this week when a DeRozan jersey was thrown on stage during Drake’s Sydney concert, and once he realized who was on the back of the No. 10, Drizzy discarded the jersey in disgust as “Rich Flex” rang off.
Like many DeRozan fans, the Sacramento Kings’ social media team came to the defense of the team’s superstar wing with a clip clapping back at Drake.
Trending on Billboard
The video uses Drake launching the DeRozan jersey, but is edited to a Kings fan happily catching it. “the 916 loves Deebo,” the Kings captioned the video.
Kings fans chimed in defending the Compton native in the Instagram comment section: “DeMar did more for Toronto and Canada than Drake could ever dream of.”
Another added: “SOCIAL TEAM NEEDS A RAISE!”
DeRozan spent the first nine years of his NBA career in Toronto, where he grew a close friendship with Drake, before being shipped off to San Antonio.
“No matter what, when it comes to him, he’ll forever have a friend in me and loyalty out of me because he cared,” DeRozan said of Drake in 2021 after leaving the Raptors. “He was there for me when everything was kind of going crazy.”
However, the relationship looks to have soured when DeRozan appeared in Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” video after K. Dot shouted out the hooper on the track. DeRozan also showed up to support Lamar’s Pop Out concert on Juneteenth, where Kendrick performed “Not Like Us” for the first time live.
DeRozan attempted to play it down the middle even after showing his support for Lamar. “We love Drake, we always can play him,” he said during an interview last summer. “Kendrick been a friend of mine, family. Damn near family, for a long time, for a while.”
Drake wasn’t having it, and he proceeded to blast DeRozan and the idea of the Raptors retiring DD’s No. 10 during an appearance on the Raptors broadcast in a game against the Sacramento Kings in November, threatening to “pull it down myself” if his number ever went up on a banner.
Watch the Sacramento Kings’ reaction to Drake spiking DeRozan’s jersey below:
Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery and Cutting Edge Group announced they were teaming up to launch a joint venture to generate more money from one of the original Hollywood studios’ catalog of 400,000 movie and television songs.
The blockbuster deal — reportedly worth $1 billion — includes the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises, Friends, Game of Thrones, and Succession, to name a few.
This novel arrangment was inspired by WBD’s need to get more out of its most valuable assets as the rise of streaming shakes the fundamental economics underlying modern media businesses. Cutting Edge Group is a nearly 15-year-old company founded by Philip Moross, a former real estate developer who saw an opportunity to acquire, manage and develop music rights from films and TV shows.
Trending on Billboard
Now a three-prong company that also includes studios where partnering artists like Timbaland produce music specifically for Cutting Edge projects in the film, TV or wellness space, Cutting Edge is embarking on its biggest project yet.
Billboard spoke with CEG’s Moross about how the joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery will work, including what Cutting Edge brings to the table and if they other joint ventures between music companies and studios to follow.
What are you aiming to accomplish with this joint venture, and what role will Cutting Edge play do day-to-day?
I put the idea [to WBD] that as we are solely focused on music, we could help make it a larger profit center for them. We are working closely with Warners’s music department … and hope to build a music business within the framework of Warner Bros. Discovery the way that Warner Chappel was in the past. We are a music business. They are a film and television business that incorporates music into their creative process. Our job is to effectively maximize the monetary end of it. But how it’s going to work on a day-to-day basis we are still working out. I will say We have no interest in changing the relationships [Warner Bros. Discovery] has with UMPG and Sony. We’re an independent and we don’t compete with any of them.
This is a massive catalog. How will you manage maximizing its value?
You compartmentalize—pure instrumentals, songs, etc.—and then see what the market wants from each category … and take into account the composers. We understand the composers are the lifeblood of the business. Warner wants to take care of them from a creative point of view.You must balance the economic value of that with the creative process. A composer may not want the main theme to Harry Potter used anywhere else, but the body of the music may be available. On the other hand, the song “Shallow” is a huge song, which is relevant now, that you may be able to get some very big synchs on. We are going to have to work to make sure all parties are involved–because it is not 100% owned by one party and the master is owned by Gaga’s record label. We have the time and inclination to do that whereas Warner is on to the next movie already.
You’ve got 400,000 titles so it’s not going to be quick and easy. If I am advising I’d be saying go for the top 20% that generate 80% of the revenue, but don’t lose sight of the gems in there.
Will Cutting Edge be providing its two cents on films?
We hope to provide input on songs for films in the works. In the core business of Cutting Edge, we’ve done that. We’ve bought catalogs of film rights and suggested to composers … to use the same themes again because creatively it works.
What is so important to Warner Bros. Discovery is maintaining creative integrity. They are never going to tell a director what music to use and what music not to use. … [and] it is not our role to impose any creative ideas. What we hope to do is to suggest [through the Warner Bros. Discovery music department] to the creatives, “If you’re doing Aquaman 3, why don’t you use the same themes from Aquaman 1 and 2 for certain characters?”
Cutting Edge’s Myndstream business does a lot linking music with the wellness industry. Are there opportunities in the wellness space in this catalog?
Absolutely it’s an area of focus for us. We work on [opportunities like these] all the time. There is a Nicholas Britell track called Agape [from the score of If Beale Street Could Talk]. It’s one of the most used tracks on Peloton for their meditation programs. Everything is about the emotional connection and identifying opportunities.
Everyone knows the soundtracks of “Harry Potter” and Friends. But there are music cues in the catalog as well. Can you describe what those are and their potential?
When you are watching a film or television show and you hear the background music, every item of music that sits in that film or television show is a cue. It is the background music that you’ve got right up to the songs. For example, The Rembrandts in Friends — the opening titles can be a cue. It could be the 3 ½ minute version of the Rembrandt song — a full song — or the 1-minute portion of that. That is the cue. The cue that is registered with BMI is earning its revenue from broadcast performance. So when the TV show plays, the network that is paying the royalty will pay the PRO which then pays the publisher, which in this case is our joint venture. We track to make sure nothing is missed.
How much of your day will be devoted to this?
[Cutting Edge’s] operating team will spend the majority of its time on this. It’s certainly the biggest deal that I’ve ever done. It deserves the attention because it is such a big scale.
What kind of return is this JV expected to produce on Warner Bros. catalog?
I can’t give you a number as to how much we will increase revenue.
Tell us about your team.
This is a family affair. My background was in real estate historically; I gave it up in 2010. All three of my kids are in the business; 12 on 12 is run by my daughter Claudia, Freddie runs the MyndStream business, and Tara [Finnegan] runs the bigger picture. Tara has done an exceptional job in this whole process, but we have really navigated together from the beginning. Tim Hegarty and the Cutting Edge M&A team, as well. The deal could not have been done without them.
Do you think more studios will do deals like the one Cutting Edge has done with Warner Bros. Discovery?
I hope so. We are having discussions with various rights owners who are interested in maximizing the value of their music rights either through a sale or a partnership with Cutting Edge. They are driven by different motivations, which include the ability to release equity from ancillary rights that are fully amortized on their balance sheets; or the opportunity to work with Cutting Edge’s team of professionals to help with supervision, exploitation, soundtrack release and marketing.
There should be no major obstacles since we have completed the deal with WBD and proved the value we can add to these types of copyrights. We operate in a very specialist area of the music business and each rights owner has their own specific needs. It takes time to create a bespoke offer to meet these needs, which Cutting Edge is uniquely placed to do.”
The Backstreet Boys are psyched that they will be the first pop group to take the stage at Las Vegas’ Sphere in July, and when Billboard asked what fans can expect from the shows, AJ McLean promised, “one incredible experience,” while Nick Carter added “sensory overload.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
In addition to performing their 1999 career-peak Millennium album in full along with some greatest hits and new single, “Hey,” McLean teased that there might be “some new adaptations of things,” requesting that attendees pack “something all white” for the 12-show run that will bring McLean, Carter, Brian Littrell, Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough to the high-tech venue in July.
The Boys, who are now men in their mid-to-late 40s and early 50s, said they’ll be bringing their friends, and families, along for the ride, with McLean reminiscing about going from the original in-the-round configuration for the first Millennium run to the bump-up to the most state-of-the-art, “sonically overwhelming… visually outstanding” venue on the planet. (Check out the full interview in the video above.)
They’re also psyched to make history as the first pop band to touch down in the futuristic arena that to date has hosted U2, Phish, Dead & Company, the Eagles, EDM act Anyma and, later this spring, Kenny Chesney.
“Die hard fans are going to get a great experience, a great nostalgic moment,” McLean said, with Dorough revealing that they are working on the setlist at the moment. “Even just playing the whole Millennium album, there’s some deep cuts in there that we were just discussing the other day,” Dorough said. “[We were] reminiscing about some of the songs like ‘The Perfect Fan’ and ‘No One Else Comes Close to You’ [and ‘Spanish’] Eyes,’ which are songs that the fans probably haven’t heard since the Millennium tour.”
The 25th anniversary celebration of the album that topped the Billboard 200 for 10 weeks and has sold more than 24 million copies to date coincides with the July 11 release of Millennium 2.0, a two-CD collection featuring a remastered version of the original — including the hits “I Want It That Way” and “The One” — along with six demos from the sessions for the album, as well as b-sides from international releases, six live tracks and the previously unheard track “Hey.”
Richardson said “Hey” was tracked during the session for their 2019 DNA album, and while they all agreed it was a “beautiful song,” it didn’t quite fit that LP’s vibe. Not to worry, though, it will get its live debut on what McLean said will be the “massive” stage set-up that will include the men pulling off some of their most iconic choreography, and maybe some new moves.
As for who they would like to see at the Sphere once they’re done burning up the stage, Richardson said for sure Coldplay while Carter joked that he’s like to see, well, the Backstreet Boys.
The BSB will touch down at the Sphere on July 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26 and 27, as well as August 1, 2 and 3. The artist presale for the shows is open now, with the general on-sale slated to launch on Friday (Feb. 21) at 9 a.m. PT here.
While cameras were rolling on Sabrina Carpenter and Dolly Parton‘s music video set for their new remix of Billboard Hot 100-topper “Please Please Please,” the former was totally professional. But between takes, she fangirled exactly as much as anyone would having the Queen of Country on set with them.
In a behind-the-scenes video from the shoot posted to Parton’s official TikTok account Wednesday (Feb. 19), Carpenter — dressed in a checkered pinup leotard and a teased-to-the-heavens hairdo — loudly gasps with delight when she arrives on set to find her legendary collaborator already there, modeling sparkly shoulder pads and sunglasses.
“You look so cute!” Carpenter chirps ecstatically, smiling at the “Jolene” singer. “You look amazing.”
Trending on Billboard
The clip then shows footage of the pair bonding inside the rusting pickup truck used in the music video to tow a kidnapped man whose face is covered by a bag (but whose outfit just so happens to match one worn by Carpenter’s ex Barry Keoghan in the original “Please Please Please” visual). “We’re in a pickup truck,” the Girl Meets World alum tells the camera while leaning in close to Parton in the TikTok. “Big hair. The stars are all really aligning.”
After showing a few more shots of the two women filming the Thelma & Louise-esque project, the behind-the-scenes camera circles back to the duo having a love fest between takes. “We’re little, we’re blonde and we love each other,” the country icon says as Carpenter cackles.
“Two blondes are one thing, a collab with @Sabrina Carpenter is another,” reads Parton’s caption.
The post comes just five days after the pair’s duet version of “Please Please Please” arrived on Valentine’s Day, along with the rest of Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet deluxe version. Announced shortly after the original LP took home best pop vocal album at the 2025 Grammys, the expanded edition also includes four new songs: “15 Minutes,” “Couldn’t Make It Any Harder,” “Busy Woman” and “Bad Reviews.”
On release day, Carpenter and Parton also posted a video of their first time meeting, which included an adorable bonding moment over their shared short statures. “I didn’t know how tall you were … you’re like my height!” the 5-foot “Espresso” artist gushed in the clip while hugging her longtime hero, later saying she “can’t wait” to look like Parton when she gets older.
Watch Carpenter fangirl over Parton on the set of “Please Please Please” below.