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Refik Anadol unleashes his creative mind — with the help of AI — to render the exterior of the Sphere event space in Las Vegas for the very first time.
From Friday (Sept. 1), the Exosphere, the fully-programmable LED exterior of Sphere, is taken over by a so-called AI Digital Sculpture created by Anadol, the Istanbul, Turkey-born multi-media artist.
The immersive art project, “Machine Hallucinations: Sphere,” is a creative interpretation of humanity’s attempts to explore the depths of space, and will be visible on Sphere for four months.
It’s a two-chapter series, which, according to Sphere Entertainment Co., draws on more than 300 million publicly-available images of flora and fauna, which are presented as pigments, shapes, and patterns.
“I am extremely honored to be the first artist to utilize the exterior of Sphere,” Anadol comments in a statement. “It’s so exciting to be given such an architectural and engineering marvel as a canvas. This opportunity aligns perfectly with our studio’s long-term mission of embedding media arts into architecture to create living architectural pieces that are in constant interaction with their environments.”
Sphere is, according to its operators, a next-generation entertainment medium, covered with nearly 580,000 square feet of fully programmable LED paneling, for the largest screen of its type in the world.
Anadol’s project could be the first of many. Sphere Entertainment, the live entertainment and media company, anticipates its attraction could ”redefine the future of live entertainment,” and provide an “unparalleled canvas” for artists, partners and brands, including music companies, to showcase eye-catching content.
“Through the captivating power of the Exosphere and our unwavering commitment to showcase both art and brands on Sphere’s exterior,” comments Guy Barnett, senior vice president, brand strategy and creative development, Sphere Entertainment, “we will forever change the way artwork and commerce co-exist.”
Moving forward, the Nevada site will host original Sphere Experiences from leading Hollywood directors; concerts and residencies major artists; and premier marquee events. Those artists include U2, which kicks off a 25-date residency Sept. 29 at the new 20,000-capacity entertainment venue, located near the Las Vegas Strip next to The Venetian.
As previously reported, U2 and others will plug into the Sphere Immersive Sound system, created in tandem with Berlin-based audio company Holoplot.
UK Music chief executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin has announced he is stepping down after three years at the helm of the British music industry trade body to become director of strategy for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
A date has yet to be announced for Njoku-Goodwin’s exit from the organization, although it is expected to take place imminently. UK Music Deputy chief executive Tom Kiehl will take over from Njoku-Goodwin while the search for a new CEO is underway.
Njoku-Goodwin took over as CEO of UK Music in September 2020, succeeding Michael Dugher. Prior to joining the London-based organization, Njoku-Goodwin worked in politics, serving as a special adviser to former cabinet minister Matt Hancock and the department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
The first two years of Njoku-Goodwin’s time at UK Music, which represents all sectors of the United Kingdom’s music industry, coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and saw him campaign for government funding to help prop up the business at a time of national lockdowns and the shutdown of live shows.
In conjunction with other music trade groups, UK Music also lobbied the government to remove barriers to touring in Europe brought about by the country’s exit from the European Union. Those barriers — many of which still exist — include new restrictions for U.K. artists and crews entering Europe (and vice versa for European acts playing the United Kingdom) and increased production costs due to cabotage, carnets, visa and work permit charges.
A recent focus for UK Music has been ensuring that creators and rights holders receive effective protection from artificial intelligence’s (AI) transformative impact on the industry.
Last year, Njoku-Goodwin strongly criticized what he referred to as “dangerous and damaging” plans by the British government allowing AI developers to freely use copyright-protected works, including music, to train their systems without the need for creators and rights holders to provide permission.
Speaking out against the proposals, which were met with a fierce backlash from across the music and creative industries, Njoku-Goodwin — who sits on the board of the London Philharmonic Orchestra — said they “would give the green light to music laundering.”
After further consultation with representatives of the music and media industries, the government announced that it was shelving the proposed text and data mining exceptions in February.
Other issues that UK Music has campaigned for in the past three years include music education and improving diversity and inclusion throughout the industry. The organization has also continued to regularly produce reports on the health of the U.K. music business, including last month’s “Here, There and Everywhere” assessment of the country’s live sector.
“The U.K. music industry is one of this country’s great national assets, and it’s been a privilege to represent it for the past three years,” said Njoku-Goodwin in a statement announcing his departure. “I’m delighted our sector is in much better shape now to take on the challenges and opportunities it faces in the future.”
Paying tribute, UK Music chairman Lord Watson said Njoku-Goodwin had “played a key role” in helping the industry get back on its feet after the struggles of the pandemic and called him “a passionate advocate for our sector.”
It’s early afternoon on Friday (August 25), the last day of class for students at this year’s No Label Academy (NLA) music business program. IDK, his team and I are driving to Harvard Medical School for two lectures on mental health. He maintains a calm demeanor, and is focused and pensive, as he prepares for one last session of helping his nearly two dozen students realize their personal and artistic potential.
“I felt like there was a lot of people like me who may not have the academic accolades but have the capability to be successful in music,” IDK tells Billboard in the backseat of a black Chevy Suburban. “They just needed the confidence.”
Two years ago, the Maryland rapper-producer and entrepreneur (born Jason Mills) and Boston-based non-profit No Label sought to break down the barriers to entry into the music industry by holding their first-ever No Label Academy. The nine-day seminar, held at Harvard University offers advice, resources, job opportunities and internships surrounding various topics in the music industry, and is “aimed at democratizing and improving opportunities for students from systemically disadvantaged backgrounds interested in careers in the music business,” a press release explains. The program is open to applicants ages 18 to 25, regardless of collegiate status, and also includes wellness exercises like morning workouts, meditation and daily affirmations.
This year, NLA returned for its second iteration — and invited Billboard to sample the experience, paying for this reporter’s lodging and transportation to visit the academy. Due to the busy schedules of IDK and No Label’s co-founders Marcelo Hanta-Davis and Miles Weddle, the program took around a year and a half to curate. After an application process consisting of a resumé submission, interview rounds and a video essay, 23 students were chosen to participate in the immersive music business course.
2021’s guest speakers included the late Virgil Abloh, Mike Dean and Zane Lowe. This year’s iteration follows suit with lectures from star rappers Roddy Ricch and Joey Badass, award-winning actress Issa Rae, celebrity stylist Bloody Osiris and more. And thanks to high-profile sponsors like Nike, Dior, Converse, Jordan Brand, Warner Music Group, Microsoft, Timberland and YouTube, transportation, lodging and meals are fully covered — making the program free for the students.
Joey Badass lecturing No Label Academy’s 2023 student cohort at Harvard University’s Science and Engineering Complex.
Lev Diamond
“Most stuff in entertainment is driven by financial decisions – and that’s not a core component to what it is we do here,” says Weddle, who is also a Harvard alumnus. “We’ve never paid a speaking fee, so every artist who comes here is really doing it because they want to give back to the community and educate individuals. The primary driver of our ability to do this is sponsor dollars.”
Weddle and fellow Harvard alumnus Marcelo Hanta-Davis founded No Label in 2018 to “utilize hip-hop and popular culture to make education more accessible,” says Hanta-Davis. “We’ve found this niche space of bringing hip-hop and academia together.” The idea for NLA came to fruition after the co-founders invited IDK to give a lecture on criminal justice reform at the Ivy League school for No Label’s Uncut speaker series in February 2020.
“I’m a middle-class person who went to prison, partially because I went to a bad school in a bad area,” the 31-year-old told Billboard in 2020. “Then I go back four times on the same exact charge … because I didn’t take home detention or violated this or that. Knowledge and education are important for empowerment, especially in the Black community.”
Hanta-Davis and Weddle maintained their relationship with IDK throughout the pandemic and combined their platforms to ideate No Label Academy. “We determined that there was a need for some kind of music education, and we thought we had a platform based in terms of our relationship with Harvard as alumni,” says Weddle.
IDK made sense as a professor given both the real-life hardships he endured and the first-hand experience he has a signed musician. In the mid-2010s IDK (which stands for “Ignorantly Delivering Knowledge”) began releasing mixtapes as an independent artist. In 2019, his label Clue Records signed a joint venture with Warner Records and released his critically acclaimed breakthrough album Is He Real? the same year. Four albums followed including 2021’s USEE4YOURSELF which reached No. 164 on the Billboard 200 and this year’s F65, which reached No. 21 on the Heatseekers Albums chart and features other big names like NLE Choppa, Musiq Soulchild, Snoop Dogg and more.
But as much success as he’s had as an artist, he’s finding even more satisfaction in his new role as a professor — to the point where he may consider teaching above making music in the future. “I’ve seen a few people cry a few times. I see people really trust the way that I think and the way that I look at things — their willingness to listen and learn,” he says. “There was a Harvard professor [who] is making synthetic hearts… he said he was inspired by what I do and wants to change the way he teaches his course after coming to my class two times. For me, to come from not really graduating high school properly, it means a lot.”
When asked if Harvard has remained cooperative while hosting NLA, he answers vaguely but alludes to the recent reversal of affirmative action in college admissions proving this year’s planning process to be difficult — even though NLA is merely using the institution’s facilities. (Back in June, the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action in college admissions, “declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies,” according to AP.)
“I can’t really speak on the affirmative action thing, honestly,” he says. “It’s still an ongoing thing that we are working to make sure we’re doing right in representing Harvard in a way that they felt was good and also we felt was accurate.”
@leviberlin
Once we arrive at Harvard Medical School, IDK meets up with LaShyra “Lash” Nolen, who walks us inside. Nolen is in her last year at the school, and is the first Black woman to be named Harvard Medical School’s class president. She is an advisor to NLA (along with Brian Price, clinical professor of law at Harvard Law School) and the next speaker for the day.
The last day of class at this year’s No Label Academy is almost identical to the previous four days of the week. Students start the day with 6:00 a.m. workouts, followed by breakfast, meditations, then lectures running from 9:00 a.m. to around 5:00 p.m., with breaks and lunch in between. Each day has a theme – like monetization, financial literacy or mental health — along with surprise guest lecturers.
“My own experience is probably the most important factor to this course,” says IDK. “When you go to school, oftentimes the people who are teaching, especially in music, aren’t currently practicing. And even if they are, they may not have the time to practice full-time. Every guest speaker, at least 99% of them, are personal friends, or people that I’ve met along my journey, and I just reach out to them. I personally believe they add value to what we are trying to do and our mission.”
Following Nolen, Chicago artist Saba and TDE rapper Ab-Soul join Friday’s class to discuss their personal bouts with mental health. The latter opens up about his suicide attempt, what he prefers to call his “near-death experience,” fighting addiction and moving forward. Saba primarily touches on grief (the lyricist lost a handful of his family and friends to violence in a short amount of time) and the pressures of fame and being a provider.
“I think grief is one of the most informative experiences,” Saba says to the class. “Grief can be so many different versions of pain. It’s inevitable and shows you yourself. Grief taught me that everybody going through some s–t.”
Whereas the past few weeks concluded with studio time, Friday evening is more celebratory, with a joint graduation ceremony/fashion show dinner ceremony held at Harvard Art Museum. The students walk a rose-lined runway to accept their certificates of completion while modeling their custom Dior uniforms, designed by IDK and Kim Jones, the fashion house’s men’s artistic director. Rapper and Massachusetts native Bia also stops by to perform at the students’ after party.
NLA 2023 graduate Zahir Muhammad, a 21-year-old rising film/music video director and senior at LSU, says the entire experience has been incredible for him. “I love learning [and] it’s been great having no limit on how much I can learn from everybody here,” he shares.
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“The first day of class, the theme was vulnerability,” Muhammad continues. “IDK said, ‘If you all can make it through this day, then you can make it through anything the entire week.’ None of us knew why he said that, but that whole day was [us] sharing the things we hated about [ourselves]. Everybody was crying but supporting each other. He basically broke us all the way down and built us all the way back up by the end of the week.”
In the future, as funding and time permit, IDK, Weddle and Hanta-Davis plan to expand NLA to colleges and universities nationwide.
“Sometimes we don’t acknowledge the knowledge that we have, because we may have not accomplished some of the things that society deems makes [us] valuable,” says IDK. “This program is a demonstration of perseverance, belief and the ability to never take ‘no’ for an answer — and showing how far that can take you if you have an actual plan that makes sense.”
IDK and No Label Academy’s 2023 student cohort.
Tito Garcia
LONDON — BMG’s revenues jumped 11.5% to 414 million euros ($450 million) in the first half of 2023, fueled by strong growth in the company’s publishing business and a number of high-profile acquisitions, including a major interest in Paul Simon‘s portion of the Simon & Garfunkel catalog and a deal for George Harrison’s solo recordings.
The record label and publisher’s operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were up 23% (on a constant currency basis) to 90 million euros ($98 million) at the mid-year point ended June 30, according to figures released Wednesday Aug. 30 by BMG’s German parent company Bertelsmann.
Classic songs from Blondie, Kurt Cobain, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards – coupled with hit releases by contemporary artists like Lewis Capaldi and Austrian rapper RAF Camora — helped drive the company’s 62% of revenues that come from publishing. That equates to around 257 million euros ($280 million) by Billboard’s calculation (the company didn’t break out revenue numbers).
Recorded music represented 34% of revenue (around $152 million) with Jelly Roll, Kylie Minogue, Godsmack and Rita Ora among BMG’s top-selling recording artists. Among its most listened-to catalog titles were tracks by Motley Crue, Black Sabbath and George Harrison.
In total, BMG said its digital businesses accounted for 63% of revenue, down from 69% in the first half of the previous year. The company said the decrease was due to higher digital revenues being offset by stronger growth in live revenues, driven by a post-pandemic surge in touring.
BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld, who took over from longstanding chief executive Hartwig Masuch July 1, said the double-digit percentage growth reflected the company’s “strong performance in the face of an increasingly tough market.”
“Against the background of a soft advertising market, a maturing subscription streaming business and a physical music market impacted by inflation-driven cost increases, this is a very positive result,” said Coesfeld in a statement.
Breaking down the revenues on a regional basis, the U.S. was BMG’s biggest market, generating 217 million euros ($236 million), a rise of £14 million euros ($15 million) on the first half of 2022. Germany was BMG’s second biggest market with revenues of 49 million euros ($53 million), followed by the United Kingdom, which brought in 42 million ($46 million).
BMG completed 15 acquisitions in the six-month reporting period, including a deal for Paul Simon’s royalty and neighboring rights income to the full recorded Simon & Garfunkel catalog. Other deals closed in the first half of this year included the acquisition of the song catalog of 1960s British band The Hollies and a share of the writer’s royalties from the heavily synced German Eurodance group SNAP!
In February, BMG reached an agreement with Dark Horse Records over George Harrison’s solo works, marking the first time that the former Beatle’s recorded and publishing rights have sat together under the same roof. To commemorate Harrison’s Feb. 25 birthday, Dark Horse and BMG released Harrison’s entire catalog in Dolby Atmos surround sound exclusively on Apple Music.
Alongside BMG, Bertelsmann’s media holdings include RTL Group, Penguin Random House and service provider Arvato. Bertelsmann reported total revenue of 9.7 billion euros ($10.6 billion) for the first six months of the year, up 4.5% on the previous year. Organic revenue growth was 2.3%.
City of Hope held its third annual Closing the Care Gap event Monday evening (Aug. 28) in association with its Music, Film and Entertainment Industry (MFEI) fundraising group. Focusing on the progress that’s being made while overcoming the challenges that still exist in bringing quality health care to underserved communities, the event was hosted by YouTube and Google global head of music Lyor Cohen and Epic Records chairperson/CEO Sylvia Rhone. Cohen is also MFEI’s 2023 Spirit of Life honoree. He’ll accept the award at City of Hope’s annual gala on Oct. 18.
Held at the Los Angeles home of real estate agent and TV personality Josh Flagg, Closing the Care Gap began with a welcome from Evan Lamberg, president of North America for Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG). Among the healthcare experts, entertainment industry professionals and prominent music industry executives on hand were City of Hope’s Dr. John D. Carpenter and Kristin Bertell, 300 Entertainment CEO Kevin Liles, UMPG CEO Jody Gerson, CAA head of music and past Spirit of Life honoree Rob Light, former BET CEO Debra Lee, Republic Records executive vp Danielle Price Sanders, 50/50 Music Group Management CEO Willie “Prophet” Stiggers and songwriter Justin Tranter.
Kristin Bertell, Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, Jonathan Azu, Sylvia Rhone, Lyor Cohen, Danielle Price Sanderson, John D. Carpten, Gail Mitchell and Evan Lamberg attend City of Hope’s 3rd Annual Closing the Care Gap Event on August 28, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Lester Cohen/Getty Images for City of Hope
In addressing the audience, Cohen said, “The more you give, the more you receive. And today we are all in the business of giving — of our time, our influence, our connections and experiences. It’s our responsibility to do the work to close the care gap. We need to provide access to early detection with routine screenings and better treatment and, of course, resources and education that help increase health equity.”
Rhone, MFEI’s 2019 Spirit of Life honoree, introduced Cohen to the audience. “I’m grateful to have the privilege to help solve these challenges with our industry and give everyone fighting cancer the hope they deserve,” she said.
According to statistics shared by City of Hope, only 20% of cancer patients in the United States are treated at National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers like City of Hope. In the meantime, economically disadvantaged and racially diverse communities face systemic barriers that limit their ability to find and sustain specialized, lifesaving care.
Dr. John Carpten, director of City of Hope’s National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and director of the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope as well as the organization’s chief scientific officer and the Irell & Manella Cancer Center Director’s Distinguished Chair, further amplified the equity issue. “Too many people needlessly suffer due to lack of access to the latest medical innovations and systemic barriers that prevent them from getting the best cancer care,” he said. “At City of Hope, we are working to carry out solutions that increase the likelihood that every person living with cancer — regardless of race or region — can get the best care.”
Jacqueline Saturn, Sylvia Rhone, Dina LaPolt and Jody Gerson attend City of Hope’s 3rd Annual Closing the Care Gap Event on August 28, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Lester Cohen/Getty Images for City of Hope
Culture Collective CEO and MFEI board member Jonathan Azu added a personal note by sharing his journey after being diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 44. Growing up in a family of medical professionals, he had access to resources and health care that many don’t.
“My outcome is going to be a lot better because of the prostate cancer screening and active surveillance I was able to receive,” Azu said. “There’s nothing I’m more passionate about than breaking the barriers that prevent those who look like me from getting access to screenings and treatment that could save their lives.”
Bertell, City of Hope’s chief philanthropy officer, closed the evening by noting, “You are part of the movement. Your philanthropic partnership supports us in removing obstacles to care for everyone. We cannot cure cancer if we don’t cure it for all.”
Closing the Care Gap is part of a year-long fundraising initiative by City of Hope that will conclude with MFEI’s Spirit of Life Gala honoring Cohen. The gala will celebrate 50 years of philanthropic partnership with MFEI on Oct. 18 at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles.
Grimes is among the first wave of featured speakers for the 2024 South by Southwest (SXSW) conference, an event which promises to lean into AI-focused programming.
Announced today (Aug. 29), the multidisciplinary artist will join a session dubbed “AI and the Independent Artist,” which will explore how artificial intelligence is changing the way artists create and market their music, engage with their fans, and, of course, the challenges and responsibilities for the music industry that come with it.
The Canadian artist is known for pushing boundaries in the creative space. She enhanced that reputation by unveiling her Elf.Tech project earlier in the year, an open-source software program which encourages fans to make music (and money) with replications of her voice.
TuneCore CEO Andreea Gleeson and CreateSafe CEO Daouda Leonard are also confirmed for the panel, on which they will “present principles for companies to consider” and share results and lessons learned from early AI pilot programs, according to a SXSW statement.
The conversation on AI is only getting started. Just last week, streaming giant YouTube and Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest music company, announced a new initiative with artists and producers for an “AI Music Incubator,” and YT unveiled its own set of principals as it promised to “embrace” AI “responsibly together” with its music partners.
Other SXSW daytime discussions will drill into “AI and Humanity’s Co-evolution,”” with speakers venture partner at SignalFire Josh Constine and OpenAI’s VP of consumer product and head of ChatGPT Peter Deng; “Building the Next Era of the Internet” with author, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, and founder/managing partner at a16z crypto Chris Dixon; and a conversation with creator, host, and executive producer of the podcast Call Her Daddy Alex Cooper and founder and CEO of ACE Entertainment Matt Kaplan.
Also slated for the conference schedule, CEO of the Future Today Institute and professor at NYU Stern School of Business Amy Webb will launch the 2024 Emerging Tech Trend Report.
SXSW 2024 will take place March 8–16 in Austin, TX.
Established in 1987, SXSW celebrates the convergence of tech, film and television, music, education, and culture and is recognized as an important destination for professionals who play in those spaces.
SXSW 2024 is sponsored by Porsche, C4 Energy, and The Austin Chronicle.
Visit sxsw.com for more.
Of his previous trips to Africa, Larry Jackson says simply, “[They have been] tattooed on my heart.” Now, with his latest venture, he’s looking to put his own stamp on the continent.
Gamma, Jackson’s recently launched media company, announced in May that it was expanding operations into Africa and the Middle East with Sipho Dlamini and Naomi Campbell onboard as president and special advisor for Africa and the Middle East, respectively. And this month, the company named Larry Gaaga vp/GM for Africa and Dany Neville as vp of A&R for the Middle East. One of Gaaga’s primary focuses will be spearheading initiatives to develop local talent, and he’s already begun discussions with Dlamini and Campbell on how they’ll discover and develop more African female artists. In his role, Neville will be identifying and nurturing Middle Eastern talent.
The move into both regions comes at an opportune time. According to the 2023 IFPI Global Music Report, Sub-Saharan Africa became the fastest-growing region in the world last year, with a 34.7% increase in revenue largely driven by South Africa’s booming market, where sales were up by 31.4%. Meanwhile, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), 2021’s fastest-growing region, experienced a 23.8% increase in revenue driven almost entirely by streaming, which has a 95.5% share of the region’s recorded music market — the highest of any in the world.
Gamma is joining a long list of Western music companies to have set up shop in both territories over the last few years. UMG Nigeria and Sony Music Entertainment West Africa have both established offices in Lagos, Nigeria. In 2020, EMPIRE signed a distribution and publishing deal with Olamide’s independent label YBNL Nation, leading to the launch of EMPIRE Africa in Lagos two years later. Elsewhere on the continent, Warner Music Africa is based out of Johannesburg, South Africa, where Universal Music Africa also established one of two regional headquarters (the other is in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire). UMG has also been making inroads in the MENA region, from Republic Records partnering with Wassim “Sal” Slaiby to launch Universal Arabic Music to becoming the first major music company to open operations in Casablanca, Morocco. Universal Music MENA and Sony Music Middle East have headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, while Warner Music Middle East is based out of Beirut.
Gamma will have staff in Johannesburg, Lagos and Dubai, with plans for a physical office in Lagos. Dlamini will be based in Lagos and Dubai while frequently traveling to South Africa, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the markets; Campbell will also be frequently present in both regions, says a company spokesperson. On the African continent, Gaaga will help guide teams in Johannesburg and Lagos (where he’ll be based). And in the Middle East, Neville will be stationed in Dubai, where he’s established himself as one of the UAE’s groundbreaking on-air radio personalities/DJs.
The company has already gained a foothold in Africa thanks to its acquisition of music distribution service Vydia in December. Vydia’s founder/gamma chief technology and product officer Roy LaManna says that since Vydia launched on the continent in 2017, it’s become the company’s second-largest territory in the world thanks to partnerships with local record labels like Mr. Eazi’s emPawa Africa and Don Jazzy’s Mavin Records — which gamma is now using to further expand there. In April, gamma exclusively distributed and marketed a re-release of Mavin artist Rema’s Rave & Roses debut album in African territories, marking the company’s first regional move. The album includes Rema’s latest smash “Calm Down” with Selena Gomez, which has amassed 7.52 billion total on-demand streams globally, including user-generated content (UGC does not count toward Billboard’s charts). Vydia says the single has garnered 482 million streams across the African continent, while Rave & Roses has amassed more than 580 million streams across all tracks.
By owning Vydia, gamma will be able to support African artists in building careers in their home countries and beyond by offering technology and data that “can identify where tracks and artists are performing and then support and elevate them into a better space,” says Dlamini, while also offering staff on the ground where they are.
Dlamini has an impressive track record. For 24 years, he has been a music industry leader in Africa, including the seven years he spent at UMG, first as MD and then as CEO, along with a four-year stint at the Southern African Music Rights Organization (SAMRO), where he was eventually promoted to CEO. Prior, Dlamini was vp of operations at CSM Sport & Entertainment in Dubai, where he oversaw the largest concerts and music festivals in the region. In his previous role as MD of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, he launched Def Jam Africa — where he hired Gaaga as vp of A&R last year — with headquarters in Lagos and Johannesburg.
Jackson says he “had always admired” Dlamini’s hustle as CEO of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. “[He] built them into the No. 1 market share of any company in music in Africa,” he says. When the two eventually met through a mutual friend, music industry veteran Marc Byers, he continues, “I knew that I wanted to work together.”
While Campbell may not be known for her music industry experience — which has been limited to music video cameos and one studio album — she has long been a champion of developing opportunities in both Africa and the Middle East. She’s founded several charitable organizations benefiting emerging markets, including Fashion for Relief, which helps develop fashion, technology, business, entertainment and arts industries around the world, as well as the Emerge Initiative, which supports the next generation of creatives and entrepreneurs through apprenticeships, after-school programs and more.
“Naomi is truly one of the most powerful and impressive dignitaries in the world,” says Jackson. “She’s really rising to the challenge of being an executive and really has foresight, energy, ambition, ideas, influence – all of it.” Before gamma, Campbell helped him sort out “some work visa issues” when he traveled to South Africa with Drake in 2016 (during his stint as global creative director at Apple Music) by tapping her contacts within the country’s government as well as with Nelson Mandela’s family. Since then, she has introduced him to some of the most notable figures in Africa and the Middle East, from Afrobeats superstars Wizkid and Burna Boy to the Saudi Arabian minister of culture, Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud.
“I’m proud that a brother, a man of color and culture, is taking the reins and starting his own company,” says Campbell. “When he offered me this gig, I said yes because it’s a challenge for me. Yes, it’s not my day job, but at the end of the day, it’s about if you care. And I care, as everyone knows, about the continent and all the emerging markets.” Campbell also signed a podcast deal with gamma, according to Jackson, with the show expected to launch later this year.
For all of their promise, the African and Middle Eastern music markets come with significant hurdles. Chief among them is the issue of low streaming service subscribers in Africa, which Jackson is currently focused on finding solutions for.
“Streaming services in one of the biggest [African] territories, if not the biggest territory, Nigeria, have very low subscriber growth and very low subscribers in general,” says Jackson, adding that he’s already been speaking with his former Apple colleague Oliver Schusser about solving what he calls the biggest issue limiting that growth: payment.
While “the value of music and people’s willingness to pay for music” on the continent “is a lot less than in other territories,” Jackson admits, part of the payment issue stems from the fact that more people in Africa are likely to own a mobile phone than a bank account — which is why streaming services have been relying on telecommunications deals to significantly grow their subscriber bases. Through partnerships with local wireless providers in key markets — Vodacam in Tanzania, Airtel in Nigeria and MTN in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa — Africa-focused streaming service Mdundo can bypass the issue of low penetration of payment cards in Africa and reach 185 million wireless subscribers, according to the company’s June 2023 guidance report. Other streamers have developed alternative payment methods, such as M-Pesa, which transforms a user’s SIM card and phone into a virtual banking system. Spotify allowed users in Kenya to pay using M-Pesa when the company began operating in the country two years ago.
While Jackson certainly sees the value in streamers making telco deals in Africa, he believes more can be done to convert music fans into streaming subscribers by, for example, making exclusive deals with artists — a strategy he successfully implemented during his previous gig. “Nothing has more relevance than Drake’s album being exclusive on Apple,” he says. “You can debate that all day, [but] there’s no carrier deal that’s going to bring you that level of audience. Bringing the artists and the culture and the community together with the streaming services I think is a missing part that hasn’t been done.”
Sony Music Nashville artist Nate Smith, who earned a No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hit with “Whiskey on You” early this year, signed with The Neal Agency for booking representation. He is also represented by The Core Entertainment for artist management. The Neal Agency’s roster also includes Morgan Wallen, Bailey Zimmerman, HARDY, Ernest, Chase Rice, Anne Wilson, Ella Langley and Jake Worthington, as well as lifestyle brands Whiskey Jam and Stevenson Ranch. – Jessica Nicholson
Genre-agnostic singer-songwriter Atlus signed with UTA for global booking representation. The Denver native is preparing to hit the road on his nine-stop High Expectations tour and will release his latest single, “Tom Petty,” on Friday (Aug. 1). He’s represented by Brett Saliba and Mackenzie Coberley at UTA.
Warner Music China signed Chinese R&B artist Elva Hsiao. The label will work to strengthen Hsiao’s domestic following while using its international network to boost her fanbase throughout Asia and the rest of the globe. According to a press release, Hsiao was the first native Mandarin-speaking artist to release an R&B album into the Chinese market and is one of the country’s biggest-selling artists.
The Familie signed singer-songwriter sombr (born Shane Boose) to its roster. Sombr signed with Warner Records earlier this year and will be releasing an EP in September. He’s best known for the track “Caroline,” which was propelled by TikTok where he boasts over 258,000 followers and 8.7 million likes.
Artist-songwriter-producer JHart (a.k.a. James Abrahart) partnered with United Masters for the distribution of his upcoming D’Mile-produced EP, The Wishing, The Wanting, The Longing, which is slated for release on Oct. 27. As a songwriter, he has co-written songs for artists including Justin Bieber, Jason Derulo, Rita Ora and Little Mix. He is managed by Lucas Keller, Danny Herrle and Nic Warner at Milk & Honey Music + Sports.
Songwriter-executive producer-vocalist Trey Campbell signed a worldwide management deal with SILO: Music. The Grammy-nominated Campbell has collaborated with artists including Kim Petras, Giveon, Ellie Goulding, Ariana Grande, Lola Young and John Legend. He was brought to the company by SILO: Music director of A&R, management/publishing Jessica Thomas.
Cincinnati-based singer-songwriter Nolan Taylor (“68”) signed with Atlantic Records, which released his latest single, “Wicked Ways,” on Friday (Aug. 25). He’s represented by Kanan Vitolo at WME for booking and managed by Julian Wilkey at Unlikely MGMT.
Chicago band Friko — comprised of Niko Kapetan (vocals/guitar) and Bailey Minzenberger (drums) — signed with ATO Records. The label re-released a new 7-inch vinyl of the band’s “Crimson to Chrome,” limited to 500 copies worldwide, and will put out its debut album early next year. Friko is represented by manager Dawn White and booking agent Erik Selz at Arrival Artists.
LONDON — Located around 65 miles outside London, Bicester in leafy Oxfordshire is far removed from the bustling world of rock and roll. Despite its lack of star power, the historic market town is nevertheless set to play a key role in the British record industry as home to the United Kingdom’s biggest distribution warehouse for physical music and home entertainment.
Due to begin trading today (Aug. 29), the new 25,000-square meter facility is being opened by Swiss-based Utopia Music as part of a £100 million ($125 million) long-term deal with international logistics company DP World. With handling capacity of up to 250,000 units per day, operators say the state-of-the-art warehouse will distribute over 30 million CDs, vinyl records and Blu-ray discs a year across the United Kingdom and export markets on behalf of clients, including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and [PIAS].
For Utopia Music, the opening of the Bicester site provides a much-needed boost after a troubled 12 months that has seen the company undergo multiple rounds of job cuts, executive departures, office closures, legal action over a stalled acquisition deal and the offloading of three of its businesses — Absolute Label Services, U.S.-based music database platform ROSTR and U.K.-based publisher Sentric.
For the wider music industry, the new warehouse facility acts as further proof of the continued demand for physical music formats, driven by the ongoing vinyl boom.
Last year, vinyl sales climbed 2.9% to 5.5 million units in the United Kingdom, marking the 15th consecutive year of growth, according to labels trade body BPI. In contrast, CD sales fell 19% year-on-year to 11.6 million units in 2022, though the format still accounted for more than two-thirds (67%) of all physical music purchases. Total revenue from physical music sales stood at £280 million ($352 million) in the United Kingdom last year — down 3.8% versus 2021 but up £9 million ($11 million) on 2020’s total, according to trade organization the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA).
The latest year-to-date figures from BPI, meanwhile, show slight growth across the U.K. physical music market in 2023 compared to last year, while vinyl sales are up by around 15% versus the first 33 weeks of 2022 in volume terms. The trade body says that physical music revenues are on track to record double-digit percentage growth in 2023.
“A lot of people were too quick to write off physical and maybe now realize there is still a large and viable business here,” says Utopia Music vp of distribution Drew Hill on the eve of the new facility opening.
Fintech firm Utopia Music has owned a large stake in the U.K. physical music distribution business since January 2022, when it acquired Proper Music Group, the United Kingdom’s biggest independent physical music distributor, for an undisclosed sum. Eight months later, Utopia bought up the assets of Cinram Novum — which provides warehouse, fulfillment and distribution services to music labels and home entertainment companies — and renamed it Utopia Distribution Services (UDS).
Drew Hill
Utopia Music
Over the summer, stock has been transported from UDS’ previous warehouse in Aylesbury to the new Bicester site, which will handle 70% of all U.K. physical music sales, as well as 35% of domestic physical video (DVD and Blu-ray discs) sales each year, according to Utopia. Proper Music Group, which trades as a standalone entity within the Utopia group and provides distribution to over 5,000 indie labels and service companies, will continue to operate from its existing warehouse in Dartford.
Hill says the multi-million-pound investment that UDS is making in physical music will help ensure the survival of CD and vinyl formats for future generations. “Lots of other distributors have either gone to the wall or they have been massively underfunded. The physical music business is still a quarter of a billion-pound industry, and it really needed someone to come in and upgrade the infrastructure to be able to support that,” he says.
Utopia Music co-founder and interim CEO Mattias Hjelmstedt says the Bicester facility “marks a new beginning for the U.K.’s physical distribution market.”
The continuing shift away from physical formats toward streaming does, however, present considerable challenges to any company operating in the physical market. In 2022, Proper Music Group recorded revenue of £30.1 million ($38 million) for the nine-month period ending Dec. 31, down from £42 million ($53 million) in the prior 12-month accounting period, according to its latest financial records. The company says lower sales and increased operating costs were behind the £1.9 million ($2.4 million) net loss it posted last year.
In response to inflationary pressures, Proper raised its prices for the first time in over 15 years in late 2022, with UDS also increasing prices on what Cinram Novum was previously charging clients. Hill declines to reveal how much prices have increased but is confident that the measures taken will help Proper return to profitability in 2024, while the new Bicester facility will enable UDS to grow its client base through increased capacity and a greater focus on direct-to-consumer sales.
By tapping into DP World’s global network, which spans 75 countries on six continents, UDS will also be looking to grow physical music exports outside the United Kingdom. It also, says Hill, has long-term plans to replicate its centralized distribution model overseas, possibly in North America or Europe.
Commenting on Utopia’s well-publicized recent difficulties, Hill says support from the Swiss-based tech firm has been “unwavering” and both Proper and UDS have been “ring-fenced” from the cuts Utopia has implemented elsewhere over the past year.
“[CEO] Mattias [Hjelmstedt] has talked internally about how physical distribution is the engine room of Utopia. We provide a funnel through which it can present and sell its other products and services,” says Hill, who has worked for Proper for more than 15 years.
Hill adds that he has no concerns about the financial stability of Utopia and points to the growing popularity of vinyl, deluxe boxsets and special edition releases among music fans as a thriving growth area for the physical music business.
“Over time, maybe we will start to shift fewer units, but they will be units of higher value,” he says. “As long as you create a beautiful package with valuable content in it, people will always want to buy it.”
In his Washington, D.C. office, Michael Huppe rolls his chair past gold records, an Elvis Costello poster and an electric guitar to a back shelf to locate a key and unlock a drawer. “Let me see if I still have it here,” the SoundExchange president/CEO says before pulling out a black vest with capital yellow letters that read “RIAA Anti-Piracy Unit” and draping it over his coat.
Prior to collecting performance royalties from digital radio stations, as well as broadcast companies such as SiriusXM and distributing them to creators for non-interactive digital streaming through SoundExchange, Huppe helped hunt down piracy rings around the country for the RIAA to ensure artists weren’t losing out on revenue. “I have gone on raids — flea markets, cassette operations, some CD operations,” he says.
Since Huppe joined SoundExchange in 2007, his tactics have changed — but his primary goal of getting performers and rights owners paid has not. Over the past two decades, he has helped raise their royalty rates and helped track them down at locations from music festivals to Mississippi Delta homes to distribute earned royalty payments. Now SoundExchange is marking its 20th anniversary and, in May, announced it had distributed $10 billion overall in payments. According to the organization’s most recent annual report released in July, SoundExchange collected $1 billion in digital royalties from more than 3,600 digital streaming platforms and distributed them to over 600,000 creators and rights holders in 2022 alone.
“You recognize you’re really making a difference in people’s lives,” Huppe says.
Explain what it means for SoundExchange to cross what it calls the “$10 billion distribution milestone.”
The growth rate of our payments surprised everyone, including me. When I came over to SoundExchange, I saw streaming was going to grow. We pay significant amounts of money to the big superstars, but also good amounts to working-class musicians that you may or may not have heard of. It makes a difference as to whether they stay in the industry. During the pandemic, for a lot of those musicians, we were the only revenue stream. The emails we received … it’s really gratifying.
What are some examples of those messages?
One band with regional popularity had been driving around trying to make it in a van, crashing on friends’ couches, barely getting by. We were trying to find them because we had money for them. They were literally about to hang it up — they were at the end of their run, running out of steam. That initial SoundExchange payment made all the difference and incentivized them to keep going.
There was a widow of a Delta blues singer we had been trying to find forever. We finally found her, and she was in tears because they were about to foreclose on her house and because of that [payment], they saved her house.
Country artist Randy Travis (seated), his wife, Mary Travis, and Michael Huppe.
Courtesy of SoundExchange
After working at the RIAA, you joined SoundExchange in 2007, which had been operating for four years. What were those early days on the job like?
We were still sending out paper checks. Back then, they were quarterly or semi-annually, and half the staff would gather into a room and run the distribution. That makes me think how far we’ve come, from paper checks to a system that processes 35 billion [digital] performances a month from 600,000 accounts. We were like, “Oh, my God — the next $100,000 [comes in] this quarter!” Now we’re regularly doing $1 billion [in payouts] per year.
It’s SoundExchange’s 20th anniversary. What have been the company’s biggest achievements during your tenure?
When I first started working — I guess I was still at the RIAA — SiriusXM was paying 2% of revenue, and now it’s 15.5%. And streaming rates we get from webcasting have more than quadrupled. We’ve done a really good job of demonstrating and achieving the value for music. [Editor’s note: In August, SoundExchange filed a lawsuit against SiriusXM claiming the platform is “gaming the system” to “grossly underpay the royalties it owes” to the amount of $150 million by manipulating how it bundles satellite services with web streaming services. A representative for SiriusXM has denied the allegations.]
How has SoundExchange helped those rate increases?
For the first few years, we would go before this three-judge panel at the Copyright Royalty Board. We’ve had a good track record of convincing them why we should be paid higher rates for music, which is so important to these services. The last satellite radio proceeding we had went from 11% to 15.5% overnight. So Dec. 31 of one year [2017], it was 11%, and the next day, they were paying us 15.5%. For the most part, it has been a gradual uptick.
What is SoundExchange’s general strategy for helping to persuade the CRB to raise the rates?
You put on artist witnesses and people from the union and record-label folks who explain what goes into the making of sound recordings. You bring in experts who can talk about the profitand-loss situation or what the future five years of the industry is projecting. You do all that the right way and make a convincing case, and the court increasingly recognizes the value music plays in the services. They are big, long, expensive cases, but it’s worth it because we have to look out for the value of music.
How quickly does SoundExchange make those payments?
Ninety percent of our royalties are out the door in 45 days, whereas around the world, on average, folks pay out annually, semi-annually or quarterly. We’re working for the creators. Our job is to take their money from the digital service providers and get it to them as accurately and efficiently as possible.
Are you a musician?
I’ve played piano since I was 4 years old. My chops are not what they used to be! So don’t ask me that. I played in different bands through high school. I’ve always loved music.
I’ll be honest with you: I never thought I’d end up in the music industry. I’m a recovering lawyer. When I was in law school, I got really interested in intellectual property [IP]. It’s this thing you can’t touch, you can’t hold, it’s not tangible — but the government vests a property right in it because they want to incentivize investment in creation. It just was a really interesting concept. [Without it], you wouldn’t have research in the next cancer treatment. You wouldn’t have people investing in music or movies or software.
Rapper Armani White (left) and Michael Huppe.
Courtesy of SoundExchange
After Harvard Law School, you started at the RIAA in 2000. How did you get to that job?
I clerked in court in the Eastern District of Virginia. We saw a lot of IP — when someone’s infringing your patent, you could be losing millions of dollars a day or tens of millions, and it makes a difference going to a quick court. When I started out as a lawyer in a law firm here, I tried to do IP if I could, but I was just doing general litigation. I got this headhunter to [help me] come over to work at this place called the RIAA, which happened to be across the street from where I was working. I came in to do litigation and piracy work and a lot of other things at the RIAA.
Like what?
There were still full-blown, big, commercial pirate cassette operations. I was helping to develop processes and cases. Slowly, that work moved from cassettes to commercial CDs to burnable CDs and downloads, and by the time I left, it was all streaming. We had eight offices around the country, probably 60 people in the department, tons of investigators. I helped create a system where we could build our own cases against pirates because we started to move toward the civil side instead of just criminal.
Any stories about busting flea markets?
The more tense times are when you’re going to someone’s house and they’ve got a CD-burning factory in the basement. Then you move on to the internet. It’s a whole different ball of wax. You’ve got people hiding behind 14 different anonymizers who may not even be based in this country. It was an interesting way to get into the business, that’s for sure.
In addition to Michael Huppe, SoundExchange is guided by an executive leadership team consisting of (from top) chief business officer Tommy Korpinen, CFO/COO Anjula Singh, general counsel Tim Dadson and chief technology officer Luis Bonilla.
Elliot O’Donovan
What are the next big goals for SoundExchange?
SoundExchange, 10 years from now, is going to be an even bigger part of the industry than we are today. When we moved into publishing in June 2022, part of that was to bring some of the same philosophy and perspective and transparency into the publishing world that we brought into the sound-recording world. The ultimate thing is to marry up the metadata. Wouldn’t it be great if there was one central nonprofit place where you had all the authoritative data about who wrote the song, who owns the publishing, what are the splits, who played [in the] background, who sang vocals? It’s interesting and a little crazy we don’t have that as an industry. If we can move in that direction, that removes friction.
Obviously, [artificial intelligence] is a big topic. There are a lot of benefits and a lot of threats. We would like to play a part in making sure AI is rolled out responsibly so we can take advantage of all the benefits, but also set up guardrails so it doesn’t hurt creators — and, by the way, society.
I would love to continue our work in making the business side of music flow more smoothly. The sign of success, in 10 years, is that no one’s even talking about transparency or metadata or mistaken lineups or not knowing who wrote a song. I hope in 10 years, we’re not even talking about that because we’ve solved the problems that got us here.
How has SoundExchange changed over 20 years?
In those early years, people didn’t necessarily know who SoundExchange was. We would have money for somebody and contact them: “Just give us your name and number and bank account.” Understandably, people rarely give that up unless they get to know you. I think people know who we are now. At South by Southwest, we get a list of all the bands, we cross-reference bands, we put up fliers: “Do you know this band? Send them here. We have money for them.” If you’re commercially active in the industry and you don’t know who SoundExchange is, that’s kind of more on you than it is on us.
SoundExchange’s Fight for Fairness
Visitors are cast in silhouette at the top of stairs near the Capitol Visitors Center at the United States Capitol on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Under its president/CEO, Michael Huppe, SoundExchange has consistently supported the American Music Fairness Act — which would, for the first time ever, impel terrestrial radio companies to pay performers and copyright holders when airing their songs.
Since U.S. Reps. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., and Darrell Issa, R-Calif., introduced the bill in June 2021, it has slowly progressed through Congress. In December 2022, the House Judiciary Committee approved the legislation. “For decades, broadcast corporations have made hundreds of billions of dollars while denying creators royalties for music played on AM/FM radio stations,” Huppe said in a statement at the time. “That’s fundamentally wrong.” In February, Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; Thom Tillis R-N.C.; and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., reintroduced the bill into the U.S. Senate.
On its website, SoundExchange summarized a key exception for small, local broadcasters: Those making less than $1.5 million in annual revenue and whose parent companies make less than $10 million annually would pay just $2 per day to rights holders so they could play any song they want over the air.
The National Association of Broadcasters, which opposes the bill, last December called the legislation an “onerous performance fee” and a “new performance tax” that would “irrevocably damage local radio.” Since the Copyright Act of 1909, broadcasters have consistently won this argument. In the 1930s, top bandleaders Fred Waring and Paul Whiteman formed an advocacy group called the National Association of Performing Arts; in the late 1980s, Frank Sinatra wrote letters to fellow pop stars to build a unified artist coalition; and in the 1990s, Congress passed laws forcing digital services to pay royalties and exempted over-the-air broadcasters from doing the same.
In a December 2022 Billboard op-ed, Huppe countered the NAB: “Corporate broadcasters argue that a ‘mutually beneficial relationship’ exists between AM/FM radio and music creators,” he wrote. “Yet their actions belie that claim, as they spend millions to fight this legislation and avoid sharing the billions of dollars they make in advertising from music.”
This story originally appeared in the Aug. 26, 2023, issue of Billboard.