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Questlove won best music podcast of the year at the fifth annual iHeartPodcast Awards on Tuesday (March 14). The virtual event, hosted by actor and comedian Brian Baumgartner, was video-streamed on iHeartRadio’s YouTube Channel and Facebook Page and broadcast on iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and on the iHeartRadio app.
Charlamagne Tha God presented the award to Questlove, host of Questlove Supreme. This adds to Questlove’s growing trophy collection which includes an Oscar for directing Summer of Soul and six Grammys.
Sportscaster Bob Costas opened the 2023 iHeartPodcast Awards.
Jason Alexander and Peter Tilden presented the fan-voted podcast of the year award to Las Culturistas. Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang thanked Marc Maron and Snookie for paving the way in podcasting.
Zach Braff and Donald Faison presented Nicole Byer, host of Why Won’t You Date Me, with best comedy podcast of the year. Alex Borstein later presented Byer with her second award of the night for best overall host.
Comedian Iliza Shlesinger awarded the new best overall ensemble award to Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett of SmartLess.
The show also featured appearances by Mayim Bialik, Colin Cowherd, Malcolm Gladwell, Draymond Green, Bethany Joy Lenz, Enrique Santos, Angela Yee and more.
Executive producers for the 2023 iHeartPodcast Awards are John Sykes, Tom Poleman, Conal Byrne and Bart Peters for iHeartMedia, and Deviants Media Studio founder Ivan Dudynsky and show runner Jayson Belt.
Here’s the full list of 2023 iHeartPodcast Awards winners:
Social Impact Icon Award: Dr. Laurie Santos and Dr. Joy Harden Bradford
Audible Audio Pioneer Icon Award: Kara Swisher
Innovator Icon Award: Ashley Flowers
Podcast of the Year Award: Las Culturistas
Best Overall Ensemble: SmartLess
Best Overall Host: Nicole Byer
Best Music Podcast: Questlove Supreme
Best TV & Film Podcast: Films to be Buried With
Best Pop Culture Podcast: Decoder Ring
Best Business & Finance Podcast: Planet Money
Best Comedy Podcast: Why Won’t You Date Me
Best Crime Podcast: Believe Her
Best Food Podcast: The Sporkful
Best Wellness & Fitness Podcast: Maintenance Phase
Best History Podcast: You’re Wrong About
Best Kids & Family Podcast: Wow in the World
Best News Podcast: The Daily
Best Fiction Podcast: Welcome to Night Vale
Best Sports Podcast: The Draymond Green Show
Best Science Podcast: Radiolab
Best Technology Podcast: Pivot
Best Ad Read Podcast: Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Best Political Podcast: NPR Politics Podcast
Best Spanish Language Podcast: Ciudad Mágica
Best Advice & Inspirational Podcast: Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People
Best Beauty & Fashion Podcast: Natch Beaut
Best Travel Podcast: Atlas Obscura
Best Green Podcast: TED Climate
Best Spirituality & Religion Podcast: On Being
Best Branded Podcast: Smart Talks with IBM
Best Emerging Podcast: Sounds Like a Cult
Best International Podcast: El Viaje (Mexico)
More information can be found at iHeartPodcastAwards.com.
Gary Glitter, the disgraced former glam rock star, is back behind bars after breaching the terms of his probation.
The convicted pedophile, whose real name is Paul Gadd, enjoyed just over one month of freedom before he was recalled for unspecified reasons.
A Probation Service spokesperson confirms the development to the BBC, noting that protecting the public was their “number one priority”. The spokesperson adds, “That’s why we set tough licence conditions and when offenders breach them, we don’t hesitate to return them to custody.”
The 78-year-old singer was released from a prison in Dorset, in southwest England, last month after serving half of a 16-year prison sentence for sexually abusing three young girls in the 1970s.
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Sex offenders like Glitter “are closely monitored by the police and Probation Service,” the Ministry of Justice said in a statement at the time, noting they face being fitted with a GPS tag. “If the offender breaches these conditions at any point, they can go back behind bars,” that statement continued.
Glitter was initially found guilty of one count of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13.
On that occasion, the Brit was arrested back in October 2012 as part of Operation Yewtree, the national investigation launched in the wake of the child abuse scandal surrounding the late BBC entertainer Jimmy Savile.
Glitter’s total fall from grace began in 1997, when he was arrested after indecent material was found on his computer, which resulted in a prison stint and the enduring scrutiny of Britain’s tabloid press.
The singer’s music career took off in 1972 when his debut “Rock and Roll Parts 1 and 2” reached No. 2 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart. He would go on to bag 12 U.K. top 10 hits, including No. 1s with “I’m The Leader Of The Gang (I Am!),” “I Love You Love Me Love” and “Always Yours.”
To celebrate EXO member KAI dropping his latest solo album Rover, nearly all his band members came together for a light-hearted reaction viewing of his new music video.
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For the first time together in years — after different members handled their mandatory Southern Korean military service from 2019 to 2023 — EXO’s Suho, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O, Xiumin, Sehun and KAI gathered as eight to review KAI’s new single, gain some insight from their bandmate, and tease upcoming EXO music.
Despite being active with solo albums and special releases, EXO has not released music together as a whole group (which includes ninth member Lay, who is currently active in China) since 2018 with their sixth studio album, Don’t Mess Up My Tempo, which became their highest-charting entry on the Billboard 200 when it peaked at No. 23.
Despite the friendly viewing, KAI admitted his nerves and how it was the first time watching one of his solo music videos with his members. “I feel so nervous,” he shared. “It feels like an evaluation session. It feels really odd.”
Yet his band mates showered KAI with compliments on his dancing (Xiumin said, “I love that choreography”), single choice (“The song is so good,” commented D.O), and future success with “Rover” (Chanyeol said, “This should make it to the Billboard charts”).
After applauding at the end, several EXO members shared additional reviews.
“First of all, I really like the style of the song,” youngest member Sehun said. “The choreography is good. I think the producing was great too. Everyone agrees, right?”
Chen added, “From what we’ve seen from KAI before, we know he’s a great performer but from this music video, I was also able to see more of KAI as a person, like his acting, the whole atmosphere. I think it’s fair to say I could feel that he’s matured more. I could see a more manly side.”
“I loved it because it seemed like you relaxed more,” Baekhyun, a member of SuperM with KAI, said. “You went for less. I liked how I could tell you did that.”
Chanyeol even suggested that the guys “make this an EXO song” and “choose this as our next song,” a tease for their highly anticipated comeback album together. KAI shared that he “actually really mentioned that” suggestion before Chanyeol brushed off the idea and countered that “only KAI can pull this off.”
Before the video ends, EXO leader Suho shared a heartfelt message while asking fans to support KAI’s new music: “We, EXO, will always be rooting for him by his side as well.”
Watch the full reaction video for why KAI chose to shorten his new single, different movie and dance inspirations in the visual, and more from the EXO members.
Shenseea is gearing up to drop some heat in the coming months. Billboard News caught up with the dancehall star at Rolling Loud LA — which took place March 3 to 5 — to discuss what’s to come from her forthcoming music and her reaction when she found out about the joke that Prince Harry listened to her music in difficult times.
Speaking with Billboard News host Tetris Kelly, the “Blessed” singer talked about her plans to follow up her debut studio album, Alpha. “I’m about to shoot my very first single from my second studio album real soon and I’m really excited about that. I think it’s going to be amazing,” she said, adding that people can expect “dancehall that Americans can definitely love and understand” on the project.
Shenseea revealed that she had the privilege to meet Kanye West and said that if she ever had the chance to, “It would be amazing to work with him again. I absolutely loved Kanye from even before I met him.” Kelly asked Shenseea and Ye have hopped on a project together, which she remained tight lipped about.
Following the release of Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, rumors circulated that an excerpt from the novel read, “In the times I felt alone and separated from my family, I always took time to myself to sit back and listen to Shenseea. Her lyrics resonated with me and got me through a lot.”
While the rumor was never confirmed, Shenseea briefly touched on it in the interview, saying, “That was very much unexpected to be honest, but big up to Prince Harry for tuning in.”
Up next for the dancehall star is a performance at Coachella next month, in which she’ll perform several of her hits for festival attendees. Watch Shenseea’s interview with Billboard in the video above.
Harry Styles is so hot right now. Like, smoldering, earth-torching hot. The former One Direction singer had the top single on the planet last year with “As It Was,” lifted from his hit third album Harry’s House, which bagged Grammy Awards, Brit Awards and No. 1s, pretty much everywhere.
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Oh, and he’s currently playing stadiums across the globe, and starring in feature films. That kind of hot.
Laura Littleton captured a little bit of that heat when she stepped onto The Voice stage on Monday night (March 13) for the Blind Auditions. A native of Dickson, Tennessee, Littleton, a “country girl through and through,” took that early solo Styles song “Sign Of The Times,” added some country tones and immediately won the hearts of three judges.
When Kelly Clarkson used her block on country star Blake Shelton, it was game on.
As the performance wrapped, Clarkson praised the contestant’s energy. “I feel like you match mine,” she enthused. She also admitted she ought to have blocked Niall Horan instead, seeing as, you know, he played with Harry in 1D and, just maybe, Littleton is a Directioner.
Kelly lifted her sales pitch. “I feel like you’re gonna attract people from different genres. You just have all these cool, like, connections vocally. I was like, ‘this is like Dolly meets Florence and the Machine.’”
Horan took the mic and paid tribute to the “super unique” style of her voice, with its “natural shakes.” And, yes, he was into her song choice.
Littleton had a big decision to make. Go country, or go with a member of 1D?
In the end, she chose Horan.
Watch below.
It might take a miracle to halt Miley Cyrus’ reign over the U.K. singles chart. Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding could have just the thing.
The all-British collaboration “Miracle” (via Columbia), a throwback to ‘90s warehouse raves, dropped last Friday (March 10) and is dancing to a fast start on the national survey.
“Miracle” debuts at No. 4 on the Official U.K. Chart Update, and is set to become Harris’ 29th and Goulding’s 12th top 10 singles, and their third as a duo. The pair previously landed hits with 2012’s “I Need Your Love” (peaking at No. 4) and 2014’s “Outside” (No. 6).
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The top of the chart update looks no different from recent weeks. Cyrus “Flowers” (Columbia) is the midweek leader, and looks set to land a ninth consecutive week at No. 1, while its parent Endless Summer Vacation, has a strong grip on the U.K. albums chart race. If matters stay as they are, Cyrus will bag a U.K. chart double later in the week. The U.S. pop star also looks to enter the singles chart with “River” (No. 13) and “Jaded” (No. 29), for what would be Cyrus’ 22nd and 23rd top 40 appearances.
An unchanged top three on the singles chart update sees PinkPantheress’ “Boy’s a liar” (Warner Records) and the Weeknd’s “Die For You” (Republic Records/XO) hold positions No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, while Afrobeats artist Libianca could snag a new high with “People” (5K), up 10-6.
Finally, the U.K.’s entrant to the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest 2023, Mae Muller, is enjoying early support in her homeland with “I Wrote A Song” (Capitol). It’s on target for a No. 24 debut for what would be the 25-year-old singer’s first-ever solo charting single in the U.K.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Singles Chart is published Friday.
Daddy Yankee gets to swing for the fences in his new role as ambassador for the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC).
As part of his ambassadorial duties, the reggaeton artist throws his superstar status behind an anthem for the current tournament, “Chispa,” which he co-produced with Play-N-Skilz.
According to a statement from organizers, “Chispa” will be featured across WBC and MLB social platforms, and with the Classic’s coverage, in-park activations and more.
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Also, Daddy Yankee is expected to attend several games played at loanDeport park in Miami throughout the tournament, which he launched by throwing out the first pitch last Sunday (March 12) before the Venezuela vs. Puerto Rico game.
Much has happened in the year since Yankee announced his retirement from music.
The Puerto Rican artist (born Raymond Ayala) ends his touring career on a high, with his La Ultima Vuelta trek raking-in $197.8 million and 1.9 million tickets sold over 83 shows in 2022, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
That’s by some distance the biggest tour of his career, and behind only Bad Bunny among Latin artists.
Yankee’s collaboration with Luis Fonsi, “Despacito,” last year extend its reign as the most-viewed music video on YouTube, by hitting the magical 8 billion streams milestone. And his final album, 2022’s Legendaddy, gave Yankee a career-high No. 8 peak on the Billboard 200, his second top 10 appearance on the all-genres chart.
The 46-year-old artist’s beloved Puerto Rico is one of 20 nations competing in the Classic, which reaches its climax March 21 in Miami. Sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), it’s the sport’s premier international competition — essentially, the world cup for baseball.
Monsta X member Minhyuk shared a personal letter with fans to confirm his upcoming military enlistment date.
The 29-year-old singer and host will enter the South Korean military for his mandatory service on April 4. He’s the second Monsta X member to enlist in Korea’s military after group leader Shownu who enlisted in July 2021. Shownu will be discharged in late April, days after Minhyuk enlists.
The K-pop star shared a handwritten letter with Monsta X fans—affectionately known as Monbebe—on the group’s fan cafe website. Read the full letter below (with translations provided by Soompi):
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Hello, this is Minhyuk!
I feel like our Monbebe came in to this post already feeling sad after seeing the words “this is Minhyuk” so I feel apologetic.
On April 4, for my national duty, I won’t be able to see you all often for a very short period of time. I have to come in to the fan cafe and write posts, promote, upload photos, let you know when I’m done working out, do bubble live [broadcasts], and do all the things Monbebe likes often, but not being able to do that for a little while is what hurts my heart most. Besides this, I plan to go with a happy heart!
I will use this upcoming period as a time to make myself stronger and become a cooler Minhyuk. I’m already excited to receive Monbebe’s even greater love haha.
Also, I’m not going somewhere far so don’t be too sad. I think Monbebe will be very sad but I hope you aren’t!
Thank you for always giving so much love to me, who is just a regular person. I feel like I cannot repay it well no matter what I do, so I’m also sorry.
For the time we cannot see each other, I will be healthy in mind and body and return after becoming a cool person.
Monbebe, I love you so, so much, thank you, and let’s meet next year while smiling!
I’ll be back soon!!
Minhyuk
In other news, Monsta X was previously announced as one of the headliners for the upcoming Las Vegas K-pop festival We Bridge Music Festival & Expo in late April. The fest confirmed that Minhyuk would not appear but that “the remaining members of Monsta X are still confirmed and scheduled to be at the We Bridge Music Festival and Expo.”
The most recent chart Monsta X entered was the World Digital Song Sales chart earlier this year when latest single, “Beautiful Liar,” peaked at No. 8 to become their 17th top 10 entry on the chart to date.
Avril Lavigne won the fan-voted Fan Choice Award for the fourth time at the 2023 Juno Awards on Monday (March 13). And she reminded fans why they love her with her deft handling of a topless stage-crasher.
When Lavigne was introducing a performance by AP Dhillon, the first Punjabi artist to perform at the Junos, a topless woman appeared on the stage behind her. According to a CBC News report, a message written on her back appeared to read “SAVE THE GREEN BELT” — an apparent reference to a controversial development plan by the Ontario government.
Lavigne turned around and told her to “get the f— off,” and the protester left the stage.
The moment recalled the most famous stage-crashing incident at a music awards show, when a stage crasher with the words Soy Bomb scrawled on his chest was able to get on stage at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York in 1998. He gyrated while Bob Dylan was performing “Love Sick.” Dylan endured the strange moment stoically and just kept on playing.
Lavigne, by contrast, put the woman in her place. When she later won the Fan Choice Award, Lavigne joked about her take-charge attitude. “Now nobody try anything this time. I’ll f— a b—- up.”
Marvel star Simon Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), who hosted the show for the second year, praised Lavigne for “handling that topless lady like a champion.”
The 52nd Annual Juno Awards were held at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. Just five competitive awards were presented on the two-hour show. More than 40 awards had been presented at the Juno Opening Night Awards on Saturday (March 11), which allowed the Monday telecast to focus on performances by Tenille Townes, Alexisonfire, Aysanabee, Jessie Reyez, Tate McRae, AP Dhillon, Banx & Ranx, Preston Pablo and Rêve, as well as a 50th anniversary to hip-hop which focused on Canadian hip-hop talent.
The Weeknd won five awards over the course of the two nights. These five awards bring The Weeknd’s total of Juno Awards to 22, which puts him in second place on the all-time Juno leaderboard. Anne Murray continues to lead all artists with 25 Junos.
Abel Tesfaye won four of those awards at the Juno Opening Night Awards, which was livestreamed from the Edmonton Convention Centre. On the live telecast, he won one more award — album of the year for FM Dawn. It was his third win in the category, following Beauty Behind the Madness and After Hours. But he wasn’t on hand to accept his honor, which led to ringing boos from the audience.
The Weeknd has famously been on the outs with the Grammys since the annual ceremony gave him a grand total of zero nominations in the year of “Blinding Lights,” one of the biggest and best singles of recent years. But the Junos have showered him with awards. It’s easy to see why the audience felt he was disrespecting them by not showing up.
The Weeknd has yet to win the Fan Choice Award. Lavigne, by contrast, is one of only three artists to win it four or more times. Justin Bieber leads with five wins in the category. Shawn Mendes has also won it four times. (Either Lavigne or Mendes has won the award in each of the last seven years.)
Toronto singer Jessie Reyez won the first award of the night, contemporary R&B recording of the year for her 2022 album Yessie. The Weeknd had won the award in each of the last two years.
Nickelback was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Actor Ryan Reynolds called the band “the pride of Alberta” during a pre-taped segment, which was followed by an onstage introduction from Edmonton Oilers hockey player Connor McDavid.
The band closed the show with a performance with included such global hits as “Rockstar” and “How You Remind Me.”
Rappers Haviah Mighty and Kardinal Offishall introduced a 50th anniversary tribute to hip-hop in Canada.
“One of my favourite MCs went on to be the world’s favorite,” said Kardinal Offishall, referring to Drake. “The world would not look the same if it wasn’t for the unprecedented talent, influence and vision of [a man] like Drake. He continued to open doors and help focus the world’s attention on our thriving hip hop scene.”
Kardinal Offishall is best known in the U.S. for his 2008 single “Dangerous” (featuring Akon), a top five single on the Billboard Hot 100.
Maestro Fresh-Wes, who won the first Juno for rap album of the year (1991’s Symphony in Effect), announced this year’s winner, TOBi’s Shall I Continue?
Here are the nominees in the categories that were presented on the live telecast, with winners checked.
Here’s our report on the winners from Saturday’s Opening Night Juno Awards.
TikTok Juno Fan Choice
WINNER: Avril Lavigne, Warner
Lauren Spencer-Smith, Island/Republic*Universal
MacKenzie Porter, Big Loud*Independent
Preston Pablo, 31 East*Universal
Rêve, 31 East*Universal
Shawn Mendes, Island*Universal
Tate McRae, RCA*Sony
The Reklaws, Starseed*Independent
The Weeknd, XO*Universal
Tyler Shaw, Sony
Album of the year
Who Hurt You?, Ali Gatie, Warner
Love Sux, Avril Lavigne, Warner
Demons Protected by Angels, NAV, XO*Universal
i used to think i could fly, Tate McRae, RCA*Sony
WINNER: Dawn FM, The Weeknd, XO*Universal
Breakthrough artist of the year
Dax, Columbia*Sony
Devon Cole, Arista*Sony
WINNER: Preston Pablo, 31 East*Universal
RealestK, Columbia*Sony
Rêve, 31 East*Universal
Rap album/EP of the year
GONZO, Boslen, Capitol*Universal
Retrospected (Acoustic), Classified, Halflife*Universal
The Fleur Print Vol. 2, Jazz Cartier, Petal Garden*Believe
Demons Protected by Angels, NAV, XO*Universal
WINNER: Shall I Continue?, TOBi, RCA
Contemporary R&B recording of the year
“When Flowers Bloom,” Adria Kain, ArtHaus*Warner
“If I Get Caught,” dvsn, OVO
“No Longer in the Suburbs,” Dylan Sinclair, Five Stone*The Orchard
WINNER: “Yessie,” Jessie Reyez, Island*Universal
“WTF,” Savannah Ré, Universal
Canadian Music Hall of Fame Inductee Award
Nickelback
MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award
Jewel Casselman, Lakewood School, Winnipeg
Garth Brooks put forth a call for unity to radio programmers at Country Radio Seminar during a Monday (March 13) session, asking them to use their platform for good.
“How divided is this nation right now and who on the planet has a single voice to cover this entire nation? You do,” he said, in a session moderated by CRS executive director RJ Curtis. “Think about what you say when you open your mouth on those airwaves. Think about the music you play. Do the people listening to your station feel better about the future than they did [before]?”
He continued with a dire warning if cooler, more unified heads don’t prevail. “You’ve got a big voice. This country needs a big voice spreading the most important thing and that’s love. People, I’m telling you, with the Internet, people, if it keeps going the way it is civil war is waiting for this country again. It will be here before your children grow up,” he said. “Those are real voices behind those real microphones talking to those real people [at radio]. Unify them. Find that common ground. Amplify our similarities instead of our differences.”
He also gave programmers a tough love pep talk as terrestrial radio finds itself competing streaming.
“You guys have convinced yourselves for some reason you are the victim of streaming. You have convinced yourself that your time is coming to an end,” he said. “People, I am promising you radio’s time is not coming to an end. What radio has that streaming will never have is discovery. I can’t ask for anything new on Alexa. Alexa doesn’t know how to play anything new. You guys get to play it all and we get to hear if first through you.”
He then went on to tell an anecdote that flies in the face of the popularity of on-demand listening about turning to terrestrial radio while working on his truck and, as the hours go by, hearing a new song repeatedly that he grows fonder of each time he hears it until it becomes his favorite song. “If I had the option of going ‘next,’ I would never have heard the song. That’s a gift you have. Do not take it lightly,” he said. “You guys will forever be discovery. That’s the coolest part of this business.”
The purpose for Brooks’ appearance was to tout the Garth Brooks “No Fences” Award, which was announced in November and will be handed out at CRS starting in 2024. The award will honor someone in the country music community who has “defied traditional standards and practices, positively changed the face of the industry, and established higher standards for measuring success,” as well as raised country music’s profile on a national level for a sustained duration.
Curtis and Brooks looked back to the superstar’s first visit to CRS in February 1989, when his first single, “Much Too Young (to Feel This Damn Old),” was struggling at radio. Brooks and his team, including managers Bob Doyle and Pam Lewis, roamed the halls greeting programmers and handing out buttons, now collector’s items, with the song title on them.
By the time he returned to CRS a year later in 1990 to debut “Friends in Low Places” at a luncheon, he’d scored four top 10s, including No. 1s with “If Tomorrow Never Comes” and “The Dance.”
While much of the conversation was looking back on those early days, Brooks also gave hints at what is coming up for him, including his new Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace that begins in May.
While he didn’t give a timetable for when his long awaited bar/entertainment space, Friends in Low Places, would open in Nashville, he said he “owed” Nashville the bar for all the town has given him. He also added, “If there was ever a song that described Lower Broadway…,” to strong audience laughter.
He also alluded to another attraction—“it’s not a museum because I’m not dead”—that will house his archives and will feature interactive exhibits, spanning his entire career. “We’re very fortunate that we own every bit of music that we’ve ever played. We own every frame of footage… we own everything we’ve ever done,” he said. In addition to static displays, he brought up that fans will be able to take photos with his record-breaking seven CMA entertainer of the year awards and with his nine diamond RIAA awards, the most of any artist, for sales of 10 million or more for an album or song. “It’s coming, that’s where the archives live,” he said.