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Atlanta’s prodigy, Jiah, pulled up to Hip-Hop Wired to perform her new track ‘Probably Nun,’ which is from her project Never The Same, dropped on November 20th, 2024. The song is already catching people’s attention with its smooth vibes and catchy beats, showing off Jiah’s unique style in R&B.Jiah’s been getting major love from big names in the music game, but the biggest shout-out came from none other than Rihanna. Riri hopped in the comments of one of Jiah’s posts saying, “melody and pocket…proud of you man!” That type of cosign from a legend like Rihanna speaks volumes and shows that Jiah’s got something special.
With her fresh sound and raw talent, Jiah is quickly making a name for herself. Never The Same is just the start of what looks like a crazy run for this Atlanta prodigy. If she keeps grinding like this, you’re gonna be hearing a lot more from her in the future.
Check out her Hip-Hop Wired performance here:
More about Jiah
Atlanta native musician, Jiah (Ji-ya), expresses her persona through her soulful R&B and pop music. She doesn’t like to label herself as a singer or rapper, but instead identifies as an artist with a distinctive melodic flow. Her lyrical intelligence and connection to her music speaks volumes.
Drake has filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) over allegations that the music giant defamed him by promoting Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us,” claiming the label boosted a “false and malicious narrative” that the star rapper was a pedophile and put his life in danger.
Hours after his attorneys withdrew an earlier petition, they filed a full-fledged defamation lawsuit Wednesday against his longtime label – claiming UMG knew Lamar’s “inflammatory and shocking allegations” were false but chose to place “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.”
“UMG intentionally sought to turn Drake into a pariah, a target for harassment, or worse,” the star’s lawyers write in a complaint filed in Manahttan federal court. “UMG did so not because it believes any of these false claims to be true, but instead because it would profit from damaging Drake’s reputation.”
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In one of the lawsuit’s most vivid accusations, Drake claims that the release of “Not Like Us” has subjected him to risk of physical violence, including a drive-by shooting on his Toronto area home just days after the song was released.
“UMG’s greed yielded real world consequences,” his lawyers write. “With the palpable physical threat to Drake’s safety and the bombardment of online harassment, Drake fears for the safety and security of himself, his family, and his friends.”
Notably, the case does not target Lamar himself — a point that Drake’s attorneys repeatedly stress in their filings.
“UMG may spin this complaint as a rap beef gone legal, but this lawsuit is not about a war of words between artists,” Drake’s attorneys say.
A spokesman for UMG did not immediately return a request for comment.
Wednesday’s lawsuit is yet another dramatic escalation a high-profile beef that saw Drake and Lamar exchange stinging diss tracks last year, culminating in Lamar’s knockout “Not Like Us” — a track that savagely slammed Drake as a “certified pedophile” and became a hit in its own right.
Drake shocked the music industry in November when he filed petitions suggesting he might sue over the fued — first accusing UMG and Spotify of an illegal “scheme” involving bots, payola and other methods to pump up Lamar’s song, then later claiming that the song had been defamatory. But those cases were not quite full-fledged lawsuits, and Drake withdrew one of them late on Tuesday.
Now it’s clear why: In Wednesday’s lawsuit, he formally sued UMG over the same alleged scheme, claiming the label “unleashed every weapon in its arsenal” to drive the popularity of Lamar’s track even though it knew the lyrics were “not only false, but dangerous.”
“With his own record label having waged a campaign against him, and refusing to address this as a business matter, Drake has been left with no choice but to seek legal redress against UMG,” his lawyers write.
The filing of the case represents a doubling-down for Drake, who has been ridiculed in some corners of the hip-hop world filing legal actions over a rap beef. It also will deepen further his rift with UMG, where the star has spent his entire career — first through signing a deal with Lil Wayne’s Young Money imprint, which was distributed by Republic Records, then by signing directly to Republic.
In his complaint, Drake’s lawyers said the label opted to boost “Not Like Us” despite its “defamatory” lyrics because they saw it as a “gold mine” — partly because UMG owns Lamar’s master recordings outright, but also because it could use the song to hurt Drake’s standing in future contract talks.
“UMG’s contract with Drake was nearing fulfillment … UMG anticipated that extending Drake’s contract would be costly,” his lawyers write. “By devaluing Drake’s music and brand, UMG would gain leverage to force Drake to sign a new deal on terms more favorable to UMG.”
This is a breaking news story and will continue to be updated with additional details as they become available.
While a number of U.S. awards shows and nomination announcements have been postponed or reworked due to the ongoing devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, England’s BAFTA Film Awards announced its nominations slate on Wednesday morning (Jan. 15).
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Among the films garnering multiple nods was the musical drug drama Emilia Pérez, which snagged 11 nominations, including best film, director and leading actress for Golden Globe winner Karla Sofía Gascón, as well as supporting actress for co-stars Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña.
The first part of Wicked was nominated seven times, including best leading actress for Globe nominee Cynthia Erivo and best supporting actress for Ariana Grande, as well as costume design, hair/makeup, production design, sound and special visual effects. Notably, though, the box office smash re-telling of the Wizard of Oz-inspired Broadway musical was shut out in a number of major categories, including best film, director and adapted screenplay.
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The BAFTA nominations were the first for Grande and Gomez.
The top-nominated film was the Vatican thriller Conclave, which had 12 nominations, while post-WWII epic The Brutalist scored nine, followed by the stripper drama Anora and Dune: Part Two, which each snagged seven. Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown was tapped for six BAFTAs, including best film, adapted screenplay and leading actor for Timothée Chalamet and supporting actor for Edward Norton.
Scrappy Irish music comedy Kneecap also had six, including outstanding British film, outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer for writer/director Rich Peppiatt and original screenplay.
There have been a number of postponements due to the fires that have killed 25 so far an scorched more than 14,000 acres, including a push-back of the Critics Choice Awards, an extra week for academy members to vote on this year’s Oscars (and a postponement of the nomination announcement until Jan. 23) and the cancellation of the major label events surrounding this year’s Grammy Awards.
In light of the devastation in L.A., BAFTA film chair Sara Putt told Variety, that the British Academy’s thoughts are “very, very much” with everyone impacted by the still raging wildfires, the worst in the city’s history. “It’s a dreadful, dreadful time,” she added, noting that the BAFTAs have not yet decided if they would move the dates for the final voting rounds. The BAFTA Film Awards ceremony is slated to take place on Feb. 16 at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
Check out the full list of 2025 BAFTA nominations here.
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Drake shocked his legion of fans and detractors by taking pre-trial legal action against Universal Music Group and Spotify for allegedly platforming “Not Like Us,” the scathing diss track from his rival Kendrick Lamar. This week, Drake filed to drop the legal petition against UMG and Spotify which prompted many on X to assume that the OVO honcho is waving the white flag.
As reported in detail by Billboard, Drake and his legal team filed for the withdrawal of the petition on Tuesday (Jan. 14) in a Manhattan court. The Canadian superstar’s Frozen Moments LLC was the top name on the petition and as the outlet adds, the company still has an active filing aimed at UMG and iHeartRadio in Texas courts. No official statements have been made by the aforementioned parties in these matters.
In November, Drake took action against UMG and Spotify in the aftermath of his explosive audio feud with Kendrick Lamar, with “Not Like Us” topping the Billboard charts and shifting the musical landscape. Many on the sidelines believe that the Canadian superstar’s light has dimmed since taking the heavy blows delivered during the back-and-forth battle, along with unproven accusations of sexual misconduct and other heinous charges.
The petition was a revelation for many considering the longtime partnership between Drake and UMG, which began with Lil Wayne’s Young Money outfit before signing with Republic Records. In 2022, Drake signed a deal with UMG reported to be up to $400 million, adding to the shockwaves felt by the industry with the filing of the petition.
In it, Drake states that UMG violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and added that Spotify worked with the company by offering reduced licensing fees in exchange for pushing “Not Like Us” into the algorithms of users of the streaming service. The Texas petition levies similar charges. The outlet rightly explains that a petition is a pre-trial action that legal teams use to gather information ahead of filing a full-on lawsuit.
On X, formerly Twitter, music fans are taking shots at Drake for pulling the petition. We’ve got those reactions below.
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The night of Oct. 20, 2024, was full of firsts for Xavi. The 20-year-old Mexican American singer-songwriter gave his first televised performance of his breakout hit, “La Diabla,” at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, where he also won his first trophy, for artist of the year, new. And this occurred just eight days after he released his celebrated debut album, Next, which became his first top 10 on any albums chart.
“I’m still processing it,” Xavi says today. “It’s something that I didn’t really expect, but it’s a blessing. My grandpa and my whole family would always talk about this type of stuff; it was their dream to make it in the music industry. I’m really trying to push their dreams forward.”
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Jennifer McCord
This digital cover story is part of Billboard’s Genre Now package, highlighting the artists pushing their musical genres forward — and even creating their own new ones.
It was a fitting, and familiar, flurry of events for the young artist. After the August 2023 release of “La Víctima,” “La Diabla” followed in November and took off in 2024, helping maintain Xavi’s momentum and quickly establishing him as one to watch.
“La Diabla” has since tied for the second-longest-reigning title of the year on the Hot Latin Songs chart, dominating for 14 weeks. (“La Víctima,” Xavi’s first chart entry, peaked at No. 2.) By the end of 2024, Xavi had placed nine songs on the tally while Next debuted at Nos. 6 and 9 on the Regional Mexican Albums and Top Latin Albums charts, respectively. But Xavi’s greatest accomplishment in a year of many is the spread of his hybrid subgenre: tumbados románticos.
Xavi photographed December 3, 2024 in Los Angeles.
Jennifer McCord
Jennifer McCord
With his pioneering blend of the musicality of corridos tumbados with the melodies of sad sierreño, Xavi has paved a clear path for himself to explore other genres, too. Growing up between Sonora, Mexico, and Phoenix, his mother would wake him up with music by Vicente Fernández and Selena, but he says coming to the United States was “a whole different world” and he quickly became a fan of artists like Justin Bieber and Daniel Caesar. Now he’s eager to explore all kinds of sounds — sometimes simultaneously.
“We’re talking about R&B, we’re talking about música mexicana. When you get all those elements and put them into one, it literally becomes its own — it brings out this new sound,” he says. “Since it’s something new and we’re getting to the bottom of it, it’s done with so much love and patience. We do it with a lot of passion.
“The studio is a kitchen, you know?” he continues. “And we’ve just been working on the sound of the fusion because there’s a lot of styles out there. But what happens when you put two, or three, or four or five genres into one song? It’s a fusion of corridos — I don’t want to say we invented it, but we definitely brought something new.”
This story appears in the Jan. 11, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department finished 2024 as the most popular album of the year in the U.S., according to music data tracking company Luminate. Meanwhile, the most-streamed song by on-demand audio streams was Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” and the most-heard song on the radio was Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control.”
Total music consumption in the U.S. – as measured in audio equivalent album units – increased by 5.6% in 2024. (View Luminate’s 2024 Year-End Music Report.)
See Luminate’s year-end top 10 albums, along with other year-end rankings and industry volume numbers, below.
But first, the fine print:
Equivalent album units – for album titles and chart rankings cited below (but not industry volume numbers) – comprise traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album, or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. Album titles and album chart rankings by equivalent album units do not include user-generated content (UGC) streams, but UGC streams are included in Luminate’s industry volume numbers. (UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s weekly charts.)
For the sake of clarity, equivalent album units do not include listening to music on broadcast radio or digital radio broadcasts – including programmed streams – operating under Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) regulations. All numbers cited in this story are rounded, and reflect U.S. consumption only.
Luminate’s equivalent album unit totals include SEA and TEA for an album’s songs registered before an album’s release, but during the tracking period of Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025.
Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991 when the company was known as SoundScan. Luminate’s sales, streaming and airplay data is used to compile Billboard’s weekly charts. Luminate’s 2024 tracking year ran from Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025.
Luminate’s 2024 tracking year contained 53 weeks, instead of the usual 52 weeks. So, for 2024 volume comparisons to 2023, a corresponding 53-week period was used by Luminate for 2023: Dec. 30, 2022, through Jan. 4, 2024.
Highlights from Luminate’s 2024 U.S. year-end data:
Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department was Luminate’s top album of 2024 in the U.S. It’s the third time Swift has led the year-end list. She was also tops with 1989 (in 2014) and Fearless (in 2009).
Poets earned 6.955 million equivalent album units in 2024 in the U.S., according to Luminate. That’s the biggest yearly total for an album since 2015, when Adele’s third album, 25, earned 8.008 million units.
Swift is the first artist in Luminate history (1991-present) to have three different albums be a year-end No. 1.
Poets was also the top-selling album overall in the U.S. in 2024, by traditional album sales. It was also the top-selling album in each of CD, vinyl and cassette tape formats, as well as among digital download albums.
Total U.S. audio album consumption increased 5.6% in 2024.
U.S. on-demand audio streams increased 6.4% in 2024.
Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” was the most-streamed song in the U.S. in 2024 by on-demand audio streams: 912.7 million.
U.S. vinyl album sales increased by 4.3% in 2024.
Seven of the year’s top 10-selling albums were K-pop projects.
Digital track sales declined for a 12th year in a row in the U.S. in 2024.
Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” was the biggest song at U.S. radio in 2024: 3.250 billion audience impressions.
Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated May 4, 2024, and has spent 17 nonconsecutive weeks atop the tally (through its most recent week at No. 1 on the chart dated Dec. 21). The last album by a woman to spend as many weeks at No. 1 was Adele’s 21, which earned 24 nonconsecutive weeks on top in 2011-12.
Poets is the third Swift album to be named Luminate’s year-end No. 1 album, following 1989 (2014) and Fearless (2009). In both 2014 and 2009, the year-end list was based solely on traditional album sales. In 2015, the year-end ranking started being based on equivalent album units.
Since Luminate began electronically tracking music consumption in 1991, Swift is the first artist to have three different albums be Luminate’s year-end No. 1. Adele is the only other act to have the year-end top album in three different years, but Adele did it with two albums: 21 (2011-12) and 25 (2015).
Poets is the first album not by a solo male to be Luminate’s year-end No. 1 since 2015, when Adele’s 25 was tops.
Poets earned 6.955 million equivalent album units in 2024 in the U.S., according to Luminate. That’s the biggest yearly total for an album since 2015, when Adele’s third album, 25, earned 8.008 million units. (Previous to Poets, the last album to clear 6 million units in a single year was 25.)
Half of Poets’ 2024 units was generated by traditional album sales (3.491 million of 6.955 million) – via purchases of physical (CD, cassette and vinyl) and digital download albums. Streaming equivalent album (SEA) units comprise 3.434 million and track equivalent album (TEA) units comprise 30,000. Poets was also the most-streamed album of 2024, by total on-demand official streams generated by its songs, with 4.490 billion streams.
Poets was initially released on April 19 as a standard 16-song digital download album, as well as in an array of 17-song physical configurations. Two hours after the album dropped, Swift issued an expanded 31-song edition of the album, dubbed The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, which added 15 additional songs. However, the Anthology edition was only available as a digital download and streaming set until Nov. 29, when its CD and vinyl editions became available for purchase exclusively through Target. The Target CD and vinyl additionally boast four bonus acoustic tracks (which were previously released in other alternate versions of the album). All told, more than 40 variants of Poets were released to U.S. customers in 2024, across CD, vinyl, cassette and digital download album versions.
Poets yielded 10 top-10 charting songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including the No. 1 “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone.
Rounding out Luminate’s year-end top 10 albums are titles by Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter, SZA, Billie Eilish, Noah Kahan, Chappell Roan, Zach Bryan, and Future and Metro Boomin.
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2024 IN U.S., BY TOTAL EQUIVALENT ALBUM UNITS1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department (6.955 million)2. Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time (3.183 million)3. Sabrina Carpenter, Short n’ Sweet (2.491 million)4. SZA, SOS (2.473 million)5. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft (2.259 million)6. Noah Kahan, Stick Season (2.213 million)7. Chappell Roan, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (1.946 million)8. Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album (1.895 million)9. Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan (1.723 million)10. Future & Metro Boomin, We Don’t Trust You (1.606 million)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025. UGC streams are not included in this chart, but are included in Luminate’s on-demand streaming charts (below).
TOTAL U.S. AUDIO ALBUM CONSUMPTION INCREASES 5.6%: Audio equivalent album units increased by 5.6% in 2024, to 1.1 billion. For this figure, audio equivalent album units comprise traditional album sales (excluding independent retail sales*), track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA, excluding video streams). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported on-demand official audio streams generated by songs from an album, or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio streams generated by songs from an album.
*Note: There was a change in methodology behind Luminate’s independent retail store reporting beginning in January 2024, and, in turn, independent retail physical sales under the new methodology for 2024 are isolated and no trending analysis is provided versus 2023. So, any year-over-year album sales volume excludes independent retail physical sales, including the “total U.S. audio album consumption” figure above. Independent retail sales are included in all figures for individual album titles throughout this story.
TAYLOR SWIFT’S ‘TORTURED POETS’ IS 2024’S TOP-SELLING ALBUM: Poets is also by far the top-selling album of 2024, with 3.491 million copies sold across all configurations (physical and digital purchases combined: CD, vinyl LP, cassette, digital download album). That makes it the highest-selling album of any calendar year in the U.S. since 2015, when Adele’s 25 sold 7.441 million copies. See the top 10-selling albums, below.
Poets’ sales were so big that it outsold the year’s Nos. 2-8 top sellers combined.
TOP 10-SELLING ALBUMS OF 2024 IN U.S. (PHYSICAL & DIGITAL SALES COMBINED)1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department (3.491 million)2. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft (570,000)3. Travis Scott, Days Before Rodeo (493,000)4. Sabrina Carpenter, Short n’ Sweet (484,000)5. Chappell Roan, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (472,000)6. Stray Kids, ATE (449,000)7. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (414,000)8. ENHYPEN, Romance: Untold (378,000)9. Taylor Swift, Lover (343,000)10. Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter (329,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025.
An album by Swift has been the year’s top-seller in seven of the last 11 years: Poets in 2024, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in 2023, Midnights in 2022, Folklore in 2020, Lover in 2019, Reputation in 2017 and 1989 in 2014. She also had the year’s top seller in 2009 with Fearless. Swift is the only act to have the top-selling album of the year at least eight times since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991.
Poets was also the year’s top-selling album on CD (1.512 million), vinyl (1.489 million), digital download (465,000) and cassette (24,000).
As mentioned earlier in this story, Poets was available across more than 40 different variants in the U.S. in 2024 – helping its sales figures. In total, there have been 15 CD editions, seven vinyl variants, four cassettes, and 19 digital download versions. Most versions contain at least one bonus track (ranging from bonus studio songs to acoustic or live renditions of songs from the album).
Taylor Swift sold the most albums of any act in 2024 in the U.S., as her collected catalog of albums sold 6.003 million copies (across all configurations, physical and digital combined). The second-biggest act, by album sales in 2024, was Stray Kids, with 1.009 million sold. Swift and Stray Kids were also the Nos. 1 and 2-selling acts, by album sales, in 2023.
PHYSICAL & DIGITAL ALBUM SALES DECLINE: Luminate reports that physical album sales – excluding independent retail store sales – declined 1% in 2024 to 55.6 million. (Indie store sales are excluded from this year-over-year album sales volume comparisons due to a methodology change, as noted earlier in this story, behind Luminate’s independent retail store reporting in 2024 versus 2023.) Digital album sales fell 9.5% in 2024 to 16.8 million.
VINYL ALBUM SALES INCREASE 4.3%: Luminate’s year-end report reveals that U.S. vinyl album sales increased 4.3% in 2024 as compared to 2023, when excluding independent retail store sales (due to the methodology change noted above in this story). In 2023, industry-wide, vinyl sales increased for an 18th consecutive year.
TOP 10-SELLING VINYL ALBUMS OF 2024 IN U.S.1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department (1.489 million)2. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft (340,000)3. Chappell Roan, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (336,000)4. Sabrina Carpenter, Short n’ Sweet (291,000)5. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (200,000)6. Taylor Swift, Folklore (267,000)7. Taylor Swift, Midnights (188,000)8. Taylor Swift, Lover (185,000)9. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (178,000)10. Olivia Rodrigo, Guts (175,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025.
The Tortured Poets Department was the top-selling vinyl LP of 2024, with 1.489 million sold – more than four times the number of copies that the second-biggest vinyl set of the year, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft, sold: 340,000. Poets is only the second album to sell a million copies on vinyl in a calendar year since Luminate started tracking sales in 1991. Swift’s own 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was the first, in 2023, with 1.014 million copies sold on wax that year.
Poets scored the single-largest sales week for a vinyl album in the modern era (since Luminate began tracking data in 1991) with its opening sales week of 859,000.
Swift finished 2024 with five of the top 10-selling vinyl albums. Further, her catalog of albums sold 2.935 million copies on vinyl in 2024 – the most of any artist. (Billie Eilish was the second-biggest selling act on vinyl in 2024, with 520,000 sold.)
K-POP CONTINUES TO DOMINATE CD TOP SELLERS: Seven of the year’s top 10-selling CD albums are by K-pop acts, while efforts from Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish are the lone non-K-pop projects among the top 10 best sellers. Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department is the top-selling CD album, with 1.512 million copies sold. A year ago, seven of the top 10 sellers were also K-pop titles. All of the titles in the 2024 year-end top 10 ranking below profit from their availability across multiple collectible editions aimed at superfans.
TOP 10-SELLING CD ALBUMS OF 2024 IN U.S.1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department (1,512,000)2. Stray Kids, ATE (442,000)3. ENHYPEN, Romance: Untold (363,000)4. ATEEZ, GOLDEN HOUR: Part.1 (250,000)5. Stray Kids, HOP (248,000)6. TOMORROW X TOGETHER, minisode 3: TOMORROW (240,000)7. ATEEZ, GOLDEN HOUR: Part. 2 (225,000)8. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (175,000)9. TWICE, With YOU-th (174,000)10. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft (165,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025.
ON-DEMAND AUDIO STREAMS UP 6.4%: Total U.S. on-demand audio streams (inclusive of UGC streams) grew 6.4% in 2024 to 1.4 trillion. (Note: UGC streams are included in Luminate’s industry streaming on-demand volume numbers and its year-end streaming song charts. UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s weekly charts.)
TOP 10 MOST STREAMED SONGS OF 2024 IN U.S., ON-DEMAND AUDIO1. Shaboozey, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (912.7 million)2. Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us” (823.5 million)3. Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help” (822.9 million)4. Benson Boone, “Beautiful Things” (800.5 million)5. Teddy Swims, “Lose Control” (785.8 million)6. Sabrina Carpenter, “Espresso” (758.9 million)7. Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything” (739.5 million)8. Tommy Richman, “Million Dollar Baby” (731.3 million)9. Billie Eilish, “Birds of a Feather” (660.7 million)10. Hozier, “Too Sweet” (630.9 million)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025. Includes UGC streams.
DIGITAL TRACK SALES DROP FOR 12TH YEAR IN A ROW: Digital track sales declined for a 12th year in a row, falling 12.8% to 118.77 million in 2024 (down from 136.20 million in the comparable 53-week period of 2023). The top-selling digital song of 2024 was Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” with 480,000 sold. It was the third year in a row that no song sold at least a half-million downloads. Prior to 2022, it last happened in the early days of downloading, in 2004 (the first full year of the iTunes Store, which launched in mid-2003).
2024 also marks the third year in a row that no song sold at least 1 million downloads. Before 2022, the industry last had a year without a million-selling download in 2005.
TOP 10-SELLING DIGITAL SONGS OF 2024 IN U.S.1. Shaboozey, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (480,000)2. Teddy Swims, “Lose Control” (311,000)3. Benson Boone, “Beautiful Things” (293,000)4. Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help” (252,000)5. Beyoncé, “Texas Hold ‘Em” (192,000)6. Hozier, “Too Sweet” (162,000)7. Jelly Roll, “I Am Not Okay” (152,000)8. Jimin, “Who” (131,000)9. Sabrina Carpenter, “Espresso” (125,000)10. Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us” (121,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025.
TEDDY SWIMS’ ‘LOSE CONTROL’ DOMINATED AIRWAVES: Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” was the most popular song on radio in 2024, with 3.260 billion audience impressions earned across all monitored radio stations in the U.S. Audience impressions are measured by cross-referencing plays with Mediabase, Nielsen Audio and/or Luminate Metro Radio Streaming audience data – i.e., a play of a song on a top-rated New York station at 8 a.m. on a Monday has more listeners (audience) than an overnight weekend play in a smaller city.
TOP 10 RADIO SONGS OF 2024 IN U.S. (BASED ON AUDIENCE IMPRESSIONS)1. Teddy Swims, “Lose Control” (3.250 billion)2. Shaboozey, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (2.767 billion)3. Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help” (2.591 billion)4. Benson Boone, “Beautiful Things” (2.565 billion)5. Hozier, “Too Sweet” (2.436 billion)6. Jack Harlow, “Lovin’ On Me” (2.325 billion)7. Sabrina Carpenter, “Espresso” (2.253 billion)8. Doja Cat, “Agora Hills” (2.098 billion)9. Taylor Swift, “Cruel Summer” (2.054 billion)10. Luke Combs, “Fast Car” (1.993 billion)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025.
Billboard cover star & the ‘Future of Latin’ singer Xavi is making his mark. The young singer is sacrificing his youth to put in the work to take over the Latin music, and he shares how he first started getting into music, how he created “La Diabla,” why he’s putting love and passion into his music and more!
Xavi:
Yes, sir. We speaking English today. Hey Phoenix, Arizona, is where we at. Billboard! I grew up listening to Vicente Fernandez, Selena, you know, the typical music where like, that’s what my mom would wake me up to, you know, like she would be cleaning and she would put on Selena, Vicente. You know, I feel like I just grew up with all that music and then going to the U.S., there was a whole different world, you know. And I got to, like, hear Justin Bieber, Daniel Caesar and a lot of other ones, you know. I was, like, I was a little kid, so I would, like, dress up, yeah, I don’t know. I just really liked his music and like style. Instead of, like, expressing my emotions, I expressed it through music.
Lyndsey Havens:
Do you remember the first time that you actually started writing out lyrics for your own music?
Oh my gosh, it was a long time ago, but yeah, I do remember. I was 12, and I remember I would just like freestyle songs and stuff, and so, like, I got to a point where I was like, Wait, why am I not writing this, you know? So I started writing it, and I didn’t have the best handwriting, you know, but we made it work, and we wrote a little song, but it’s an old, old, old song. I don’t even remember it, but yeah, I was told when I wrote my first song.
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A TikTok clip went viral showing Hunxho’s dad driving an Uber, and people started talking. Some fans felt that, since Hunxho’s making big money with cars, jewelry, and houses, he should be taking care of his pops so he doesn’t have to work.
Hunxho came out and addressed it, saying his dad is his own man and does what he wants. He said, “My pops his own man he choose to do what he want to do, was he around? No. I was raised by all women. Do I hold dat against him? No. Still bought him what he asked for, a new Cadillac truck, way before dat old a** video came out. I don’t owe nobody nun. I take care ALL my people.”
Hunxho’s dad was seen working as an Uber driver by a fan 👀
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— My Mixtapez (@mymixtapez) January 13, 2025
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Hunxho made it clear that he doesn’t hold any grudges against his dad, even though he wasn’t around growing up. He said he’s still been supporting his family, buying his dad a new Cadillac, and he’s not worried about what people think. Basically, he’s got love for his people, but he’s not obligated to take care of grown folks who make their own choices.
This is the first time we’re hearing anything outside of rapper Hunxho’s roller-coaster relationship with R&B legend Keyshia Cole. Recently, Keyshia bought a new ring that symbolized a broken heart, sparking rumors that the couple had broken up. Fans went wild with speculation, but just a day later, Hunxho shut down the rumors. He posted a message confirming that everything was good between them, and they’re still very much together. The back-and-forth drama had everyone guessing, but it seems like Hunxho and Keyshia are still solid, despite the internet trying to stir things up.
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What does it say about a person that attaching their name to a product instantly increases the likelihood that the product’s value and saleability will plummet?
Apparently, this is a question for Elon Musk.
Not only has the platform formerly known as Twitter done virtually nothing but tank in every possible sense of the word since Phony Stark took the reins, but a recent study has shown potential Tesla buyers are shopping elsewhere for their automotive needs ever since Musk outed himself as an enthusiastic MAGA cultist who wears Donald Trump’s hind parts as a hat.
According to a new study published by Clean Technica, an independent journalism site focused on green and clean energy, researchers for JW Surety Bonds found that approximately 1 in 4 Americans “avoid Tesla’s technology due to their opinions on Elon Musk.”
Imagine that: Tesla’s latest innovation, the Cybertruck, is an $80,000 vehicle (that’s the low-end price tag) that has been rife with malfunctions and subsequent recalls and looks like it was designed by Homer Simpson for children who still participate in soap boxcar racing — but that might not be why a consumer won’t buy it. Basically, a company could be selling an authentic spaceship for cheap and folks still might not shell out a dime for it because Musk’s name is on it. That’s a damn shame, especially for a CEO who is supposedly a tech genius. (I mean, we all know Elon is a tech pro like Ronald McDonald is a fry cook, but still.)
The only thing particularly surprising about the results of JW’s study is that it’s not young people who are likely to reject a product attached to Musk, it’s also the older generations that Trump has relied on for votes.
From Clean Technica:
Perhaps surprisingly when you consider values and norms they are known for, but perhaps unsurprisingly when you consider how popular Tesla has gotten among young people, the age group most likely to avoid Tesla technology due to Elon Musk is Baby Boomers (people born people 1946 and 1964). Despite stereotypes, though, Baby Boomers came of age in the massive cultural change era of the 1960s and 1970s. They were extremely involved in busting up conservative and closed-minded cultural norms and charting a new course forward for American culture and the world. So, it’s also not that surprising that many in the generation are offended by the strong push to “go backward” and be more closed minded and deeply traditional again. That generation also appreciates more the efforts required to change society, and are more aware of what life was like before those changes.
Tesla sales declined in 2024 compared to 2023. It was the first annual decline for the company since the Model S was launched in 2012. There are many reasons for that, but Tesla definitely took a sales hit in the key market of California, as well as elsewhere, because of Elon Musk’s more and more involved and more and more extreme political engagement. There was already strong research on that as well as a wicked drop in Tesla sales in California. However, the situation surely grew as the year went on and reached new heights in November when Donald Trump was elected president instead of Kamala Harris and Elon Musk was by Trump’s side along the way, during Thanksgiving, during Christmas, and on New Year’s Eve.
It’s almost as if no one really benefits from being a Trump supporter besides the orange man himself. (Just ask Rudy Giuliani.)
My Morning Jacket announced on Wednesday morning (Jan. 15) that their 10th studio album, Is, will be released via ATO Records on March 21. The group’s first new full-length LP in more than three years was produced by Grammy-winner Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam).
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The Louisville-bred group that has typically self-produced their albums in the past mostly recorded Is at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles with O’Brien. Lead singer/guitarist Jim James — who has produced or co-produced all of their studio albums since 1999 — explained in a statement that their interest in working with the acclaimed producer came from a “newfound willingness to open up their process and involve an outside creative force.”
“Up until now I’ve never been able to let go and allow someone else to steer the ship,” James said in the statement. “It almost felt like an out-of-body experience to step back and give control over to someone who’s far more accomplished and made so many more records than us, but in the end I was able to enjoy the process maybe more than I ever have before.”
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The first fruits of those efforts is available now via the gauzy lead single “Time Waited,” which dropped on Wednesday along with a Danny Clinch-directed video. The impressionistic clip from the photographer/director known for his work with the Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam features a mix of performance footage and floating flowers with archival photos from throughout the band’s quarter-century-plus history.
“I made a loop of that piano intro and listened as I went for a walk, and all these melodies started coming to me,” said James about the song that was inspired by a sample of a piano part the singer found on pedal steel master Buddy Emmons’ classic 1969 Emmons Guitar Inc. album.
“For a long time, I didn’t have lyrics, but then I had a dream where I was in a café and a song was playing, and the lyrics to that song became the lyrics to ‘Time Waited’ – the melodies just fit perfectly,” he added. “And the lyrics are about how flexible time is, how we can bend and warp time, especially if we are following our hearts, the universe and time itself can flow to work with us.”
“Well they say time waits for no one dear/ And it takes near death to show one, yeah/ But time waited… for you and me,” James sings over a hypnotic piano and gentle drums in the first verse before the track expands into one of the group’s patented psychedelic pop slow-burns.
According to the release, before teaming up with O’Brien for the sessions for their follow-up to 2021’s self-titled ninth album, they had recorded more than 100 demos to land on the final 10 that made the cut.
The final list includes: “Out in the Open,” “Half a Lifetime,” “Everyday Magic,” “I Can Hear Your Love,” “Time Waited,” “Beginning From the Ending,” “Lemme Know,” “Squid Ink,” “Die For It” and “River Road.”
“It feels really great to have a collection of songs we all love this much, and to know that we worked as hard as we possibly could on them,” James said. “Hopefully those songs will be helpful to people and give them some kind of peace as they try to deal with the insanity of the world – because that’s what music does for me, and doing the same for others is always my greatest dream come true.”
The band also said they will announced tour dates in support of the album soon. Before that, they will head down to Florida for the next edition of their three-night My Morning Jacket’s One Big Holiday festival at Miramar Beach’s Seascape Resort from April 3-5.
Watch the “Time Waited” video and check out the band’s album announcement below.