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BandLab, the free social music creation platform, now reaches 100 million users.
There’s not trumpet-blowing for the mobile app’s major milestone. The news is shared by way of a report written by Bloomberg’s Ashley Carman, who caught up with BandLab’s Singapore-based CEO Meng Ru Kuok for a chat on growth and its future.
The U.S. accounts for around 30% of BandLab’s users, he said, and is its largest market.
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“It’s funny when you get to these large milestones, especially something like 100 million, which is slightly hard to fathom in terms of the scale of the number,” he tells the news title. “It was also something that really felt like nothing really special. It sort of crossed, and I think we all realized, like, ‘Oh, that’s great.’ But I think that’s just the result of how fast things have grown.”
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Just last year, the platform boasted over 60 million-plus registered users, nearly 40% of whom were women, up from 50 million-plus in 2022.
BandLab’s music-making software includes an arsenal of virtual instruments, as well as the ability to automatically generate multipart vocal harmonies, record, sample and manipulate sound in myriad ways. The service can also distribute music to streaming services, and it incorporates components of a social network: Musicians can create individual profiles, chat with one another, comment on their peers’ releases, solicit advice or break up a song into its component pieces and share those to crowdsource remixes.
A major commercial breakthrough was delivered with d4vd’s “Romantic Homicide,” which the then 17-year-old Houston native created in July 2022 using BandLab. The brooding, guitar-hooked track caught fire on TikTok, d4vd (pronounced “David”) signed to Interscope, the song peaked at No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100, and he landed on the bill for Coachella 2023.
“Seeing artists go on to major labels and independent labels is a great, great joy and success for us,” Meng continues. “Our relationship with an artist doesn’t end when they progress in the industry.”
BandLab was founded in 2015, and doesn’t receive royalties from music made on its platform. Instead, the company makes money on artist services (which include distribution, livestreaming and BandLab Boost) that allow acts to turn their profiles or postings into ads on the platform to better reach users.
Erykah Badu and Azealia Banks took to social media to give their unfiltered thoughts on Beyoncé’s upcoming album ‘Cowboy Carter.’ After having to postpone 29 shows, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band make their big return at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Djo returns to the top spot on the TikTok Billboard Top […]
Djo returns to the top spot on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart as Beyoncé and Dasha break into the top 10. Tetris Kelly: Djo returns to the top, while one fresh face breaks into the top 10. Djo aka Joe Kerry’s “End of Beginning” bounces back to No. 1 after spending some time at […]
Next month’s Rabbit Eats Lettuce festival will etch its name in the history books as the first event in an Australian state to offer pill-testing services.
Set for the Easter long weekend, from March 28-April 1, the electronic and dance-specialist fest is at home near Warwick in the south-east corridor of Queensland — the first Australian state or territory to commit to supporting pill testing on an ongoing basis.
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Partygoers will have access to free, voluntary, and confidential pill testing by an “appropriately qualified chemist,” reads a statement from state government, which is tipping in nearly A$1 million ($660,000) in investment over two years.
“I am thrilled to be supporting new and innovative services to help reduce harms from illicit drug use,” comments minister for health, mental health and ambulance service Shannon Fentiman.
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These services, Fentiman continues, “are all about harm minimization; we don’t want people ending up in our emergency departments – or worse losing their life.”
According to figures published by Queensland government, 2,231 drug-induced deaths were reported in Australia in 2021– the equivalent of five deaths each day.
“That’s 2,231 deaths too many,” Fentiman continues, “and we know this number will continue to grow if we don’t act now.”
In 2019, two people died after consuming drugs at Rabbit Eats Lettuce.
Harm Reduction Australia is contracted to deliver “several” festival-based services in 2024 and 2025 following an open market tender process. The state government has also engaged the University of Queensland to conduct an evaluation of the services and to develop a statewide monitoring process.
Also, through a healthcare partnership, fixed-site services will operate at two locations in south-east Queensland, including one in Bowen Hills, central Brisbane, and “at least one festival-based service” in 2024.
It’s a “step in the right direction in reducing drug-related harm,” Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival organizer Eric Lamir tells the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and, through the process, police have been “extremely supportive” in preparing for the gathering. Data captured from chemical tests will be shared with the festival’s medical staff, which “means our paramedics and doctors will be able to have up-to-date data on what drugs might be circulating at the event.”
The public debate on pill testing in Australia has rumbled on for years, and entered a trial phase for the first time at the Groovin the Moo festival in the Australian Capital Territory in April 2018, where two potentially deadly samples were identified and half the drugs tested were found to contain no psychoactive substances.
Off the back of that trial and others in Canberra, Queensland developed testing protocols, and gave the green light for chemically-checking drugs in February 2023.
With pill testing services rolling out proper at the 15th edition of Rabbits Eat Lettuce, an “important milestone” is notched “in the ongoing efforts of Queensland to reduce drug related harms,” comments a spokesperson for Pill Testing Australia, “and we know the patrons of the festival and their families and friends will greatly appreciate the availability of this vital public health service.”
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If form is a guide, Lenny Kravitz ought to be a shoo-in for the Rock Hall class of 2024.
With a new album out in May, the veteran rocker has been soaking up the plaudits on the awards trail, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, presented earlier this month (with a savage roasting by his daughter Zoë Kravitz), and the Music Icon Award at the 2024 People’s Choice Awards, held last month in Santa Monica, Calif.
The most-coveted music award of them all potentially awaits, a spot in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, for which Kravitz is nominated alongside the likes of Mary J. Blige, Oasis, Dave Matthews Band, Cher, Mariah Carey, Kool & the Gang and more.
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Nothing is certain. Though Kravitz is taking the time to smell the flowers.
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“It’s a beautiful thing. It’s lovely to receive flowers,” he explained when he stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, for an interview which aired Wednesday night, March 20.
The “Fly Away” singer’s recording career took off in the early ‘90s, following a bidding war among the-then five major labels. He decided on Virgin, and the label’s promise that the multi-hyphenate would have total creative control.
“I promised myself,” he told host Jimmy Fallon, “when I was coming up I never took the time to enjoy those kinds of things. I was always moving forward, not thinking about the past or what was happening. So, I said when this stuff starts happening again, I’m going to take the time, and I’m going to enjoy the moments because it’s beautiful.”
Awards are a bonus for Kravitz, who is readying the May 24 release of Blue Electric Light, his 12th studio album. The collection, he remarked, is about “celebration, life, humanity, sexuality, sensuality, spirituality.”
Its title track came to Kravitz in a dream during the final stretch of recording sessions in the Bahamas. He cut it the next day, and guitarist Craig Ross persuaded Lenny to dump his previously planned album title.
Blue Electric Light is “just that vibration of love, of god, of spirit,” he explained to Fallon.
Kravitz will support the album with a summer European arena and festival tour, kicking off June 23 at Sporthalle in Hamburg, Germany. But first, the rock star and his band gave a taste of things to come with a late-night performance of album track “Human,” a song about us “spiritual beings having a human existence, the journey, man.”
Watch the late-night interview and performance below.
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On an evening when the Piano Man’s music filled the room, it was Spaghetti & Meatballs who rolled out of the competition on Fox’s The Masked Singer.
The celebrity contestants got down for “Billy Joel Night” on Wednesday (March 20), which saw the pasta master pitted against Poodle Moth, Clock and Lizard, with the loser going home early.
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Spaghetti & Meatballs dished up “Only the Good Die Young,” Clock turned back time with “Piano Man,” Lizard performed “Uptown Girl” and Poodle Moth hit “Just The Way You Are.”
Even panelist Robin Thicke got in on the action, belting out Joel’s “My Life.”
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Spaghetti & Meatballs and Lizard found themselves in the bottom bracket, and in a duel for a lifeline. Both performed “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song),” but it was the Spaghetti Man who was moving out.
Before he got sent out of the competition, the Spaghetti & Meatballs helmet came off to reveal Masterchef judge and restaurateur Joe Bastianich – a personal friend of Billy Joel.
This man can sing and cook, though none of the judges were able to make the food connection.
“You have an incredible voice,” Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg remarked.
Singing, the TV personality explained, “is a passion for me my whole life. So, when I got the opportunity to do this and share with you all, I jumped on it.”
Bravo.
Bastianich as Spaghetti & Meatballs follows the exit of Savannah Chrisley (as Afghan Hound) and Kevin Hart (as Book) in this 11th season of Fox’s quirky singing competition.
Nick Cannon returns as host of The Masked Singer, which features the returning judges Thicke, McCarthy-Wahlberg, Ken Jeong and newbie Rita Ora, who is filling in for Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, who had a stint on London West End performing in Sunset Boulevard.
Watch Spaghetti & Meatballs’ performance and unmasking on The Masked Singer.
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Beyoncé unveiled the cover for her highly anticipated upcoming album ‘Cowboy Carter’ and Maren Morris showed her support after the ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ singer revealed she didn’t feel welcome in the country music world. Olivia Rodrigo announces that she’s releasing a deluxe version of her album ‘Guts’ which will include new tracks “So American,” “Obsessed,” […]
Billboard and the city of Madrid teamed up for the first-ever Encuentro de la Música en Español. The event highlighted Spanish and Latin American music and was held to celebrate its global reach. Nicki Nicole and Raphael participated in special Q&As, while panels were packed with stars, music executives and managers. Tetris Kelly: Billboard Español […]
Ariana Grande is having a massive week on Billboard’s charts. Along with claiming the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 and reigning as the No. 1 act on the Billboard Artist 100, she also rules the Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts for the first time.
As such, Grande becomes just the fourth artist to top all five of those surveys simultaneously, a feat achieved just 10 times since Billboard launched the songwriter and producer charts in 2019. Here’s a look at every such week.
Chart Date, Artist, Billboard 200 No. 1 album, Hot 100 No. 1 songMarch 23, 2024: Ariana Grande, Eternal Sunshine, “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”Nov. 18, 2023: Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), “Cruel Summer”Nov. 11, 2023: Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]”Sept. 9, 2023: Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan, “I Remember Everything” ft. Kacey MusgravesDec. 3, 2022: Taylor Swift, Midnights, “Anti-Hero”Nov. 26, 2022: Taylor Swift, Midnights, “Anti-Hero”Nov. 12, 2022: Taylor Swift, Midnights, “Anti-Hero”Nov. 5, 2022: Taylor Swift, Midnights, “Anti-Hero”Nov. 27, 2021: Taylor Swift, Red (Taylor’s Version), “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)”April 4, 2020: The Weeknd, After Hours, “Blinding Lights”
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Taylor Swift has led all five charts simultaneously a record seven times, and via three albums: Red (Taylor’s Version), Midnights and 1989 (Taylor’s Version). The Weeknd and Zach Bryan have both achieved the feat once, thanks to their LPs After Hours and Zach Bryan, respectively.
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Grande tops the latest Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts thanks to her credits on all 12 of her charting songs on the Hot 100, all from Eternal Sunshine. Notably, she’s the only co-songwriter and co-producer on all 12 songs. Here’s a recap.
Rank, TitleNo. 1, “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”No. 10, “Yes, And?” (up from No. 31; debuted at No. 1 on Jan. 27)No. 16, “The Boy Is Mine”No. 17, “Supernatural”No. 23, “Eternal Sunshine”No. 25, “Bye”No. 28, “Don’t Wanna Break Up Again”No. 30, “True Story”No. 37, “Imperfect for You”No. 38, “Intro (End of the World)”No. 39, “I Wish I Hated You”No. 55, “Ordinary Things,” feat. Nonna
Eternal Sunshine is Grande’s first album cycle in which she’s credited as a co-producer. She logged her first career Hot 100 entry as a credited producer on “Yes, And?,” with Max Martin and ILYA. Of the 12 charting songs from the set, Martin is a co-producer on all but “Intro (End of the World)” and “I Wish I Hated You.” ILYA co-produced all except “Intro,” “Supernatural” and “Ordinary Things.” Martin and ILYA rank at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, on Hot 100 Producers.
Martin has an unprecedented history on Billboard’s charts, having produced a record 25 No. 1 songs on the Hot 100. He tallied his record-breaking 24th leader in January with “Yes, And?” (passing late Beatles mastermind George Martin). He tallies his 25th with “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).”
As for ILYA, 26 of Grande’s Hot 100-charting entries have been produced or co-produced by the hitmaker, including her two most recent No. 1s, as well as her first top five hit, “Problem,” featuring Iggy Azalea, in 2014. He also co-produced Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ 2022 No. 1 “Unholy,” along with songs by Justin Bieber, Jonas Brothers, Lizzo and Normani.
Billboard’s weekly Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot 100. As with Billboard’s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings). Billboard launched its Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, as well as genre-specific rankings for country, rock & alternative, R&B/hip-hop, R&B, rap, Latin, Christian, gospel and dance/electronic in June 2019. Alternative and hard rock joined in 2020, along with seasonal holiday rankings in 2022.
Judas Priest lands its third No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart, as Invincible Shield starts atop the ranking dated March 23. Invincible Shield bows with 25,000 equivalent album units earned March 8-14 in the U.S., according to Luminate. Of that sum, 23,000 units are via album sales. It’s the first new No. […]