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While some industry observers looking back on 2024 may see a half-empty cup due to slowing music industry revenue growth, a lackluster stock performance from the publicly traded major music companies and slightly declining valuation multiples in private catalog deals, Shot Tower Capital says it sees the “half-full” side of things.
That’s because Shot Tower, the boutique investment banking firm specializing in music asset transactions, says the sector still enjoys plenty of investor interest, adding that the industry is recession-resistant, as proven over time. As a result, it foresees stable valuation multiples.
Even though fewer music asset transactions closed in 2024 than in any year since 2018, some of the transactions for music assets carried valuations larger than $1 billion resulted in the “highest dollar value year for music M&A transactions in the post-streaming era,” according to Shot Tower’s annual Year in Review and Music Industry Outlook report. In 2024, transactions with an aggregate dollar value in excess of $8 billion have closed, according to the Baltimore-based firm.
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Moreover, Shot Tower notes that while some institutional investors like KKR, Vine Alternative Investments and Elliot Management have exited the music asset space, other private equity groups have entered it or increased their investments in the sector, including Hellman & Friedman, which bought a majority stake in Global Music Rights; New Mountain Capital, which acquired BMI; and Flexpoint Ford, which launched
in the music space with an investment in Nettwerk Music Group in March 2023 and has since invested in Create Music Group, Goldstate Music and Duetti.
Finally, while interest rates now offer competitive returns on music assets, thus negating somewhat the attractiveness of some music assets while making potential deals more expensive to finance, that has been offset by the breakout of asset-backed securitization, which allows buyers to finance deals at rates more favorable than rates offered by bank lenders.
During the last 18 months, Shot Tower has been either the financial advisor or sell-side advisor in transactions that included the sale of 50% of Michael Jackson music assets to Sony Music Group; the sale of a majority interest in Mavin Records to Universal Music Group; and the sale of the Hipgnosis Songs Fund to Blackstone. And those are just the publicly disclosed deals; the company declines to say how many deals it participated in last year.
Shot Tower compiled data on some 25 publicly known and privately sold music asset transactions during 2024, including deals it advised on and other deals it was aware of, even if it wasn’t a participant. From that, it reports that typical music publishing multiples averaged 16.1 times net publisher share (NPS) in 2024 versus 16.7 times in 2023.
However, if iconic transactions — assets with valuations over $200 million — are included, then average multiples are larger but nevertheless also declined from 2023’s 18.4 times NPS to 17.5 times NPS in 2024.
(How are multiples figured? If a song catalog collects $25 million in revenue and, after paying out royalties of $15 million, leaves $10 million in net publisher share, or NPS; and if that catalog is then sold for $200 million, that means the transaction carried a 20 times NPS multiple.)
Recorded music multiples also declined last year. Net label share (NLS) fell to a 13 times multiple for music asset transactions — excluding deals of iconic assets — from the prior year’s 13.8 times NLS multiple. If iconic transactions are included, then the average multiple in 2024 was 14.2 times NLS versus 15.2 times NLS in 2023.
Looking at multiples over time, Shot Tower says that the peak year for average music publishing multiples was 2021, when 19.4 times, including iconic transactions, was the average multiple; while the peak year for recorded music transitions was 2022, when the average multiple for deals including iconic catalogs was 16.3 times. NLS generally trails NPS, but overall, the window between the two multiples is narrowing slightly.
In most years between 2014 and 2022, the multiple spread between music publishing and recorded music catalogs was bigger by a factor of 4 in favor of NPS. For example, in 2014, NPS averaged a 12.5 times multiple while NLS averaged an 8.5 times multiple. But in the last two years, that window has narrowed to a factor of three, with last year’s NPS coming in at 16.1 versus NLS at 13.0; while in 2023, NPS averaged a 16.7 times multiple while NLS averaged a 13.8 times multiple.
Shot Tower attributes the valuation gap between recorded music and music publishing to a number of factors. For one, marketing costs to exploit recorded music are much higher. Music publishing also has more diversified income streams than recorded music. Additionally, music publishing growth slightly exceeds recorded music growth, according to Shot Tower’s analysis.
Looking forward, Shot Tower says it expects music publishing valuation multiples to decline slightly to about a 15.1 times multiple in 2028 from 2024’s 16.1 times average multiple, while it expects recorded music average multiples for valuations will decline to an average of a 12 times multiple from 2024’s average of a 13 times multiple.
One of the reasons Shot Tower thinks institutional investors will remain interested in investing in music assets is because of the increasingly popular use of asset-backed securitization (ABS) to finance deals due to “stable royalty income streams.” According to Shot Tower’s analysis, a buyer using asset-backed securitization can pay about 10% higher than a bank-financed buyer while achieving the same equity return. ABS deals also allow for a greater ratio of debt to equity (up to 65% leverage) than deals financed using bank financing (55% leverage).
Consequently, “this represents a meaningful offset to rising interest rates,” the report notes.
Latin music continued its extraordinary rise in the U.S. in 2024, hitting a record-breaking $1.4 billion in revenue, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Adjusted for inflation, this milestone represents an 18% increase over the genre’s previous peak in 2005 and marks the third consecutive year surpassing $1 billion.
Streaming remained the lifeblood of Latin music’s success, accounting for a staggering 98% of total revenue in 2024. Paid subscription services contributed more than two-thirds of those earnings, growing 6% year-over-year to $967 million. Meanwhile, ad-supported on-demand streaming platforms like YouTube, Vevo and the free tier of Spotify amassed $354 million, nearly 25% of the genre’s total value — an outsized share compared to the overall market’s 10% in this area, according to the annual report.
“I’m heartened by the continued explosive popularity of Latin music across the U.S. as artists and labels forge new ways to connect with fans,” says Rafael Fernandez Jr., RIAA’s svp of state public policy & Latin music, in a press release. “With streaming delivering 98% of Latin revenues, we can see how the Latin music community’s embrace of innovation lets traditional stars and new generations reach fans like never before — breaking language and access barriers to more boldly shape America’s music future every year.”
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Powering this dominance is a lineup of global superstars driving engagement across platforms. According to Billboard’s year-end Top Latin Artists chart of 2024, Bad Bunny claimed the No. 1 spot for a sixth consecutive year. Meanwhile, Fuerza Regida surged to second place following a string of album and EP releases that resonated with fans across the U.S. Karol G held her own as the only female in the top 10, at No. 4, while Peso Pluma came in at No. 3 — artists who are blazing new trails and cementing Latin music’s cultural and commercial growth.
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While streaming dominates, physical formats also experienced a surprising resurgence, with revenues up 35% from 2022. Despite still accounting for only 1% of overall U.S. Latin music income, this trend indicates opportunities to cater to collectors and superfans through vinyl and other tangible releases.
“There are still more opportunities to push the bounds of innovation, engaging superfans, expanding paid streaming and introducing vinyl nostalgia to this specific market,” adds Matthew Bass, RIAA’s vp of research and gold & platinum operations, in a press release. “After nearly a decade rising and rising again, Latin music keeps surging across the US and is only getting started!”
According to IFPI’s recent Global Music Report, Latin America has experienced a 15-year growth streak, becoming one of the fastest-growing regions in the world. For the first time, Mexico has entered the top 10 global music markets, overtaking Australia for the No. 10 spot. Meanwhile, Brazil holds steady at No. 9, making 2024 the first year that two Latin American countries have appeared in IFPI’s top 10 rankings, which are based on recorded music revenue.
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Pophouse Entertainment, the Swedish catalog company behind the virtual live show ABBA Voyage, said on Monday it raised a total of 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to invest in acquiring catalogs and entertainment experiences around those music rights.
The fundraise consists of 1 billion euros raised through a private equity fund, and 200 million euros ($216 million) raised through dedicated co-investment vehicles, where outside investors put money to work alongside the Fund in certain transactions. Roughly 30% of the fund has already been deployed into partnerships related to the acquisition of rights to songs by KISS, Cyndi Lauper, Avicii and Swedish House Mafia.
Founded by by ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus and Conni Jonsson, of the Swedish global investment firm EQT AB, Pophouse has been acquiring the publishing, recording and name, image and likeness rights to iconic pop catalogs and then building entertainment experiences around them, through theatrical and virtual shows, museums and movies.
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Pophouse’s playbook has been at work through productions like The Avicii Experience, a tribute museum to the late dance music producer that opened in his hometown of Stockholm, Sweden, in 2021; Mamma Mia! The Party, an interactive dinner party set in London theater modeled after a taverna from the Greek island of Skopelos; ABBA Voyage, the band’s wildly successful virtual show that uses ABBA-tars to digitally depict the foursome as they looked in 1979, and ABBA The Museum, which opened in 2013.
KISS, which sold its name and likeness rights to Pophouse, has hinted that a virtual performance of its songs could launch in Las Vegas in 2027.
“By investing across publishing, recording, and brand rights, Pophouse has created a uniquely attractive prospect not only for investors but also for artists, empowering them to explore and amplify their legacy to new generations of fans,” Pophouse managing partner Johan Lagerlöf, said in a statement.
Pophouse’s CEO is Per Sundin, the first music industry label executive to partner with Spotify when he at Universal Music Sweden and president of the labe’s Nordic region business. Jonsson recruiting Sundin to helm Pophouse with the intention of taking advantage of the external business opportunities music rights present in the streaming era.
“Facing unprecedented disruption caused by streaming and technology, music intellectual property presents a differentiated, lifetime opportunity for investors,” Jonsson said in a statement. “We are reshaping the entertainment industry by applying an active, value-add approach that unlocks future generations for fandom.”
Berlin-based music company BMG reported on Monday (March 31) that it generated 963 million euros ($1 billion USD) in revenue over the course of 2024, marking a 6.4% increase from the year-ago period, thanks to a double-digit jump in digital income streams a strong slate of major releases. The performance amounted to 8.1% in organic growth, the company said.
Digital revenue, which now accounts for 68% of BMG’s overall revenue, rose 16% in 2024, as BMG continues to see the fruits of moving oversight of its digital distribution business from WMG’s ADA to in-house in late 2023.
Operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) adjusted — BMG’s preferred metric for profit — rose 37% to 264 million euros ($274.2 million, based on the foreign exchange rate as of Dec. 31, 2024) compared to last year’s 194 million euros ($214 million, based on 2023’s year-end exchange rate).
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BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld credited the “BMG Next” strategy — a localized yet globally scalable approach — for being pivotal in the company’s success in 2024, highlighting improvements in go-to-market strategies, digital distribution catalog acquisitions and technology. The company made significant changes to its global distribution strategy, including direct licensing agreements with Spotify and Apple Music and transitioning physical distribution management to Universal Music Group. BMG also invested around half a billion euros in catalog acquisitions — it counts 24 for the year — and signings, strengthening its rights portfolio through investment initiatives.
“Our BMG Next strategy has been instrumental in driving a successful 2024 with a step-change performance in a fast-evolving music market,” he said. “Building on the strong performance of our artists and songwriters, ongoing go-to-market improvements, such as insourcing digital distribution, and continued high investment into our people, catalog acquisitions and technology development, we achieved an incredible 2024.”
Notable successes in the recorded music sector included releases from George Harrison, Kylie Minogue, Bryan Ferry, Lainey Wilson, Sum 41, Travis, Crowded House, Rita Ora and others. The company signed new label deals with Blake Shelton, Mustard, YG, New Kids on the Block and K. Michelle, among others.
In music publishing, BMG songwriters such as Bruno Mars, D’Mile, Steve Miller, Trevor Horn, The-Dream, Roselilah and others achieved chart success, with contributions to major hits like Eminem’s “Houdini,” Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album, Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” and Mars and Lady Gaga’s Hot 100 chart-topper “Die With a Smile.” BMG also signed or extended publishing agreements with artists, including Carly Pearce, KT Tunstall and Tyron Hapi, among others, and secured publishing agreements with Tomorrowland Music and Cirque du Soleil.
The company’s catalog division saw continued growth, with Mötley Crüe’s remastered ripper from 1989, Dr. Feelgood, driving a 10% increase in global streams and Australian garage rockers Jet (“Are You Gonna Be My Girl”) achieving milestones on streaming while selling out anniversary shows. Sync licensing also played a crucial role, securing placements in advertisements, trailers and TV series for artists like Lenny Kravitz, Jennifer Lopez, George Harrison, Pitbull and Rita Ora.
Here are some of BMG’s 2024 highlights:
Operating EBITDA adjusted jumped 37% to 264 million euros ($274 million) from the previous year of 194 million euros ($214 million).
EBITDA margin was 28% compared to the previous year of 21.4%.
BMG said it made 24 catalog acquisitions in 2024, compared to 30 the year before.
K-pop companies SM Entertainment and HYBE were among the best-performing music stocks of the week as most stocks were dragged down by continued uncertainty about U.S. tariff policy and new data on higher-than-expected inflation.
SM Entertainment, home to NCT Dream and RIIZE, was the week’s best performer after gaining 6.7% to 107,000 KRW ($72.91). That brought the company’s year-to-date gain to 47.4% — the best of any music stock.
HYBE, which counts BTS and its solo members’ projects among its vast roster, improved 3.7% to 240,500 KRW ($163.87). On Thursday (March 27), HYBE announced that BTS songs such as “Dynamite” and “Butter” will be featured on Lullaby Renditions of BTS, out April 4 on Rockabye Baby! Music. HYBE shares are up 19.7% year to date, the fifth-best among music stocks.
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K-pop fared well during a down week for most stocks and markets in general. YG Entertainment, home of BLACKPINK and BABYMONSTER, rose 3.3% to 63,500 KRW ($43.27) while JYP Entertainment was unchanged at 61,300 KRW ($41.77).
Outside of South Korea, music stocks reflected the challenging economic conditions and uncertainties that have hurt stocks in recent weeks. The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) declined 2.9% to 2,459.98, marking its fourth decline in the last six weeks. With just eight of its 20 stocks finishing the week in the black, the BGMI fell into correction territory as its value has declined 10.7% since the week ended Feb. 14. The first six weeks of 2025 were good enough to overcome the recent slump, however, and the BGMI is up 15.8% year to date and has gained 40.4% over the last 52 weeks.
Stocks took another hit on Friday (March 28) after the core personal consumption expenditures price index, a measure closely watched by the U.S. Federal Reserve, increased 0.4% in February. That put the 12-month inflation rate at 2.8%. Both figures were above experts’ expectations. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite finished the week down 2.6%, increasing its year-to-date decline to 11.7%, while the S&P 500 fell 1.5%. In the U.K., the FTSE 100 increased 0.1%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index fell 3.2%. China’s SSE Composite Index dropped 0.4%.
The BGMI was pulled down by Spotify’s 6.5% decline and a 4.2% drop by German concert promoter CTS Eventim. Warner Music Group, one of the index’s largest companies, dropped 2.7% to $31.56.
Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) gained 2.7% to $14.38 after Deutsche Bank upgraded its rating on TME shares to buy from hold. Universal Music Group rose 2.0% to 25.99 euros ($28.12) after Wells Fargo upped the rating on the company’s shares to overweight from equal weight and increased the price target to 33 euros ($35.70) from 28 euros ($30.29).
Music streaming company LiveOne had the week’s biggest decline at 14.1%. The company announced on Wednesday (March 26) that subscribers and ad-supported users surpassed 1.4 million.
Radio company iHeartMedia fell 6.8%, putting its year-to-date loss at 23.0%. Satellite broadcaster SiriusXM dropped 3.1% to $22.75, though it’s still up 1.7% in 2025.
Voting members of the Recording Academy’s Los Angeles chapter are being asked to vote again in the election that determines that chapter’s governors. The problem: Not enough people voted in the election that concluded Wednesday (March 26) for the Academy to consider it a valid election. As a result, a new election will open on April 9 and close on April 16.
Harvey Mason jr., Recording Academy and MusiCares CEO, and Tammy Hurt, chair of the academy’s board of trustees, sent an email to L.A. chapter voting members on Friday (March 28) explaining the situation and asking them to please be sure to vote this time. Members who voted in the initial election must vote again because this is a new election.
In their email, Mason and Hurt expressed sympathy for L.A. voting members, who have been through a lot in the past few months. Even those who weren’t personally affected by the wildfires that devastated the region beginning Jan. 7 were stressed by being part of a community that went through a traumatic event. “We understand that the past few months have been incredibly challenging for our LA members, and that you have had far more pressing matters to navigate,” they wrote. “However, it is critical that our elected leaders reflect the broad and diverse will of our members.”
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The L.A. chapter is the largest of the academy’s 12 chapters. The others are Atlanta, Chicago, Florida, Memphis, Nashville, New York, Pacific Northwest, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Texas and Washington, D.C.
Julia Michels, who won a Grammy five years ago as a music supervisor on Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper‘s A Star Is Born soundtrack, is president of the L.A. chapter, which currently has 31 governors, all of whom are elected by voting members in the chapter. The governors, in turn, elect the national trustees. The L.A. chapter currently has seven trustees (more than any other chapter): Cheche Alara, Evan Bogart, Maria Egan, Sara Gazarek, Mike Knobloch, Ledisi and Jonathan Yip.
Here’s the email from Mason and Hurt, in full:
Dear Los Angeles Voting Members,
Voting in the Recording Academy’s twelve chapter elections concluded Wednesday night. Unfortunately, the Los Angeles chapter election for Voting Member Governor races did not receive the required turnout for a valid election. As a result, we are going to hold a second election. We understand that the past few months have been incredibly challenging for our LA members, and that you have had far more pressing matters to navigate. However, it is critical that our elected leaders reflect the broad and diverse will of our members.
The new election will open on April 9 and close on April 16, and again, it will only be for the Voting Member Governor races. Please note that even if you voted in these recently-concluded races, you must vote again. This is a new election.
We ask that you please make time to participate in this important step and vote. You will determine the next class of Recording Academy elected leaders that will guide the Los Angeles Chapter. Please vote and please encourage others to do the same.
If you are in need of assistance due to the LA wildfires, please visit www.musicares.org/get-help.
Best regards,
Harvey Mason jr.
Recording Academy & MusiCares CEO
Tammy Hurt
Chair, Board of Trustees
At Universal Inside, held Wednesday (March 26) at the Tempodrom in Berlin, UMG Central Europe chairman/CEO Frank Briegmann showcased some of the label’s acts, updated attendees on the state of the German music market and offered a glimpse into the company’s future.
After an appearance by the pop act Blumengarten, Briegmann shared some good news about the German business. As streaming growth slows in other regions, Germany still has plenty of headroom, which is why the market grew 7.8% in 2024, surpassing the 2 billion euro mark for the first time. He also made the point that this was good news for artists, who one study showed increased their collective revenue faster than labels between 2010 and 2022.
Briegmann also laid out a plan for growth that relies on UMG’s “artist-centric model” to increase payments to acts that meet certain criteria, as well as the “streaming 2.0” idea that is intended to induce superfans into paying more for subscriptions. The label had an impressive 2024, accounting for five of the year’s top 10 albums, including Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish releases in the top two spots. Briegmann also pointed to the success of UMG’s classical label Deutsche Grammophon, where he is also chairman/CEO, as a particular highlight.
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Much of the potential for growth lies in superfans, Briegmann said, and pointed to the history of UMG’s efforts to identify, track and reach them directly. The latest iteration of that is a new in-house direct-to-consumer operation, SPARKD, which will offer artists a new service to reach consumers with both albums and merchandise sold by UMG’s Bravado, which will be integrated into the label business in Germany. Bravado will continue to do business with both UMG artists and others. The idea is to use existing data to drive more different kinds of business — which would, in turn, generate more data. Already, Briegmann said, Bravado had grown its German merchandise revenue by 50% in the last three years, thanks in large part to its direct-to-consumer business.
Universal Inside is never all business, and as usual, Briegmann introduced some of the label’s artists. He briefly interviewed German pop star Sarah Connor, who spent much of her career singing in English but will soon release the final album of a German-language album trilogy, Freigeistin. Deutsche Grammophon president Clemens Trautmann introduced the label’s star pianist Vikingur Ólafsson, and Gigi Perez played two songs on acoustic guitar.
The event closed with a brief speech from Berlin Senator for Culture and Social Cohesion Joe Chialo about the significance of the Electrola label, after which the German act Roy Bianco & Die Abbrunzati Boys played a few songs, joined for the classic “Ti Amo” by the schlager icon Howard Carpendale.
With the recent news of slowing streaming growth in the U.S. and declining global revenue growth in recorded music, one might think the trends could have a negative impact on the market for publishing and recorded music catalogs.
Think again. For a handful of reasons, industry insiders who spoke to Billboard don’t believe the slowdown will have much — if any — effect on the continually brisk business in music intellectual property rights. Subscription revenue, which accounted for roughly 66% of U.S. revenue and approximately 51% of global revenue in 2024, according to the RIAA and IFPI, respectively, will continue to grow in mature markets and elsewhere.
“I don’t think the numbers that we’ve seen are enough to make any [music investors] worry too much,” says MIDiA Research’s Mark Mulligan. “I know that a lot of these funds have seen our numbers, and our numbers are relatively cautious about the outlook. We’re not bearish, but we’re not bullish either.”
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Numerous people pointed to Goldman Sachs’ estimates — a closely watched music forecast that remains something of a gold standard in the business — that both global recorded music and publishing revenue will grow at approximately 8% annually through 2030. What’s more, equity analysts seem comfortable with Universal Music Group’s forecast of 8-10% subscription growth through 2028.
In mature markets, future growth will come from higher prices after more than a decade of unchanged subscription fees. “We’ve all gotten comfortable with getting music at what I believe to be a subsidized rate versus its value,” says Jeremy Tucker, founder/managing member of Raven Music Partners, an investor in music catalogs. That subsidy is an underpricing of music subscriptions in order to attract new customers and help platforms achieve scale. Now that there are 818 million global subscribers, according to MIDiA Research, labels and streaming services seem intent on getting more from each subscriber.
Many streaming services raised their prices in 2022 and 2023, and Spotify raised prices in a few markets in 2024. Major labels that have renewed their licensing agreements with Spotify suggested the deals allow for higher-priced superfan tiers. Additionally, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl said at a March 10 banking conference that “there’s quite strong evidence that there’s a lot of room to grow on pricing, especially in … mature markets.” All of this means there will be more value coming to rights holders, says Tucker, who looks at a lengthy time horizon, not any single year’s results, when considering potential gains. “We think there’s going to be growth over the medium to long term. But, in any given year, the actual growth is not something I’m too worried about.”
Additionally, people expect rights holders will extract more value from catalogs through better blocking and tackling. While companies focused on subscriber growth over the last 15 years, the next era will be marked by better execution, says a person in the music investment field. Artificial intelligence, this person says, can help rights owners expand the global reach of their music by creating versions in multiple foreign languages at little cost. AI can also make royalty collection more effective and cost-efficient. These wins may not have the appeal of, say, a biopic that boosts an artist’s catalog. But from a financial point of view, expanding a song’s reach and cutting costs serve the buyer’s core mission of improving the return on investment.
While U.S. growth slows, much of the world is growing quickly, and Western companies that focus on English-language repertoire face a “bleak” future as emerging markets outpace markets where English-language music is most popular, says Mulligan. As a result, companies that failed to invest a decade ago are playing catch-up in markets dominated by local music. “What they should have done is started signing loads of artists [in emerging markets] 10 to 15 years ago,” Mulligan says.
Still, there’s opportunity in emerging countries and their local repertoire. Subscription penetration rates — the ratio of subscribers to the country’s adult population — are a good proxy for a country’s potential, explains Mulligan. Developed markets like the U.S. and U.K. have penetration rates in the high 40 percent, according to MIDiA’s latest data. Elsewhere, lower penetration rates suggest subscription revenue will increase down the road and, as a result, the local music business infrastructure will grow over time. Poland’s subscription penetration rate, in contrast, is 17%, Brazil’s is 16% and China’s is 13%. Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country, has a 1.8% penetration rate. India, the world’s second-largest country, has a penetration rate of just 1.3%.
Low penetration rates correspond with growth potential, as streaming platforms help fuel infrastructure growth and subscription adoption adds more value to the market. “You get this virtuous circle of influence,” Mulligan explains, “where if you establish the infrastructure to create an audience, that creates the virtuous circle of investment, where people start setting up labels, people start being able to have their careers as artists, they create more music, more of that music exports, and the impact on the global market increases. India is maybe a third of the way along in the journey, whereas Indonesia has not even got started.”
The ASCAP Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2025 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards. Established in 2002, the program recognizes gifted young jazz composers, defined as up to the age of 30. It carries the name of music legend and ASCAP member Herb Alpert in recognition of The Herb Alpert Foundation’s multi-year financial commitment to the program. The recipients, who receive cash awards, are selected through a juried national competition.
“With The Herb Alpert Foundation’s unwavering support, the Young Jazz Composer Awards continue to elevate emerging voices of jazz, one of our most vital art forms,” ASCAP Foundation president Paul Williams said in a statement. “These gifted young composers are the future of the genre, and we are honored to be a part of their musical journey.”
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“The ASCAP Foundation has been dedicated to nurturing the musical talent of tomorrow for 50 years,” added ASCAP Foundation executive director Nicole George-Middleton. “We are incredibly grateful for the generous support of The Herb Alpert Foundation that allows us to do what we do best — uplift the next generation of music creators.”
The 2025 ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award recipients are listed below with their age, current residence and place of origin:
Jonah Barnett, 25 of Washington, D.C. (Alexandria, Va.); Eli Feingold, 27 of Brooklyn, N.Y. (Marlboro, N.J.); Michael Hilgendorf, 26 of New York (Chesterfield, Mich.); Benedict Koh, 25 of Boston (Singapore); Aditi Malhotra, 27 of Boston (New Delhi, India); Giovanni Martinez, 20 of New York (Jacksonville, Fla.); Alan Montaño, 20 of Brighton, Mass. (Concord, Calif.); Bakhari S. Nokuri, 19 of Los Angeles (Dayton, Md.); Marc Perez, 24 of Los Angeles; Artur Ponsà of Boston (Barcelona, Spain); Jahari Stampley, 25 of Chicago; Katie Webster, 24 of Brooklyn, N.Y. (Seattle); and Alejandra Williams-Maneri (Alejandra Sofia), 26 of Brooklyn, N.Y. (Barre, Mass.).
The restriction that recipients need to be under age 30 keeps the focus on young talent. Alpert reached his career peak at age 30 in 1965 with the release of Whipped Cream & Other Delights, his first of five No. 1 albums (all recorded with his Tijuana Brass ensemble) on the Billboard 200. Alpert and Jerry Moss had formed A&M Records three years earlier.
Additional funding for the program is provided by The ASCAP Foundation’s Bart Howard Fund. Howard, who died in 2004, is best known as the composer of the jazz standard “Fly Me to the Moon.”
The Herb Alpert Foundation, a non-profit, private foundation established in the early 1980s, makes significant annual contributions to a range of programs in the fields of arts, arts education, and compassion and well-being. Its funding is directed toward projects in which Herb and Lani Alpert and Foundation president Rona Sebastian play an active role. [The Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals.]
Founded in 1975, The ASCAP Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to supporting American music creators and encouraging their development through music education, talent development and humanitarian programs.
New details have emerged in the legal case between Departure and Canadian Music Week’s former owner Neill Dixon.
In an updated statement of claim filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on March 25, Dixon expands on his initial lawsuit. In addition to the approximately $485,000 in damages in that earlier March 18 filing, the new statement also seeks the removal of Dixon’s non-compete and non-solicitation clauses.
Those clauses – referred to in the statement as the Restrictive Covenants Agreement – were part of the sale agreement in June 2024, when Dixon sold the company to Oak View Group and Loft Entertainment for $2 million. Now, he claims the new owners of Departure (who changed the festival’s name from Canadian Music Week after buying it last year) have not lived up to their end of the agreement.
“Announcing my retirement was predicated on getting the full sale price,” Dixon tells Billboard Canada. “Retirement in this economy is not cheap. Not getting paid the final payment threw me for a loop. I now realized I couldn’t even work in the industry I love because of a non-compete clause.”
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A spokesperson for Departure says they have not yet seen the new statement of claim and can’t comment on it.
After Billboard Canada broke the news of the lawsuit last week, The Canadian Press reported that Loft Entertainment co-founder Randy Lennox (a former head of Bell Media and Universal Music Canada) sent an email to his staff referring to Dixon’s legal action.
“We see things very differently,” he wrote in the memo, according to CP. “We stand firm in our position of integrity, beliefs and values.”
Dixon’s new legal filing claims that in the sale of Canadian Music Week, he agreed to a three-year non-competition and non-solicitation clause, which would be effective until June 1, 2027. That would effectively prevent him from working in the music industry in the province of Ontario during that time.
“The plaintiff [Dixon] states that the defendants [the owners of Departure] were opportunistic and took advantage of the plaintiffs’ goodwill and trust when they unilaterally decided to avoid their legitimate payment obligations…” Dixon’s lawyers write in the statement. “Specifically, the defendants knew or ought to have known that the plaintiff was retiring, after having spent his career building the brand and goodwill of CMW.”
The claim further states that the new owners “deliberately prevent[ed]” Dixon from earning income during his retirement.
There are also new details on the financials of the deal and the outstanding payment Dixon claims is allegedly still owed.
In 2024, it says, CMW incurred a loss of $121,072. An earlier draft of CMW’s 2024 financials showed a smaller loss of $14,640, the claim states, and the first $500,000 installment was paid on November 7, 2024.
The agreement requires Dixon to cover any losses, it continues, and the updated amount has been deducted from the remaining $500,000. The statement says no notice or objection was claimed within 30 days, as per the terms of the agreement. Dixon is also claiming unpaid consulting fees and damages, which contributes to Dixon’s $485,428 claim.
Read more here. – Richard Trapunski
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The Indigenous Music Office Brings Inaugural Cultural Cadence Mentorship Participants to 2025 Juno Awards
The Indigenous Music Office (IMO) is introducing the 10 participants in its inaugural Cultural Cadence Mentorship.
The cohort of First Nation, Inuit and Métis musicians and entrepreneurs includes singer-songwriter Cassidy Mann, funk artist Curtis Clearsky and poet and sound artist January Rogers.
The group is set to head to Vancouver this weekend, as the mentorship culminates at the 2025 Juno Awards on March 30, marking the conclusion of a four-month professional development program launched in 2024.
The Indigenous Music Office is a new organization in the national music landscape, with the Cultural Cadence Mentorship serving as its flagship initiative. The program was designed with the goal of bolstering Indigenous expertise in the music industry, where Indigenous professionals are especially under-represented behind the scenes.
“The majority of Indigenous artists in Canada don’t have managers or teams,” says Alan Greyeyes, IMO chairperson. “I’m excited about this project because it supports the development of managers and administrative talent who know just how daunting the road travelled by Indigenous artists is because they’ve had to walk it too.”
Mentors and presenters from the program will be joining the cohort in Vancouver, including Margaret McGuffin of Music Publishers Canada, multi-disciplinary artist Tessa Balaz, folk musician Jason Burnstick and founder of the International Indigenous Music Summit and Ishkōdé Records, ShoShona Kish, among others.
Find the full list of participants here. –Rosie Long Decter
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Universal Music Canada Names Amanda Kingsland and Shawn Marino Co-Heads of A&R
Universal Music Canada is bolstering its talent development team, announcing Amanda Kingsland and Shawn Marino as co-heads of A&R.
Kingsland moves up within the company to a new role as vp of A&R, and will work alongside Marino — VP of A&R operations — to lead the team.
The announcement follows Julie Adam’s recent ascent to president & CEO of UMC, succeeding Jeffrey Remedios.
Kingsland and Marino will have a renewed mandate for signing and developing talent, UMC says. Kingsland has already led the rebuilding of UMC’s country roster — which includes major breakouts Josh Ross (who co-leads nominations for this weekend’s Juno Awards) and Owen Riegling — and now she’ll focus on big picture strategy for UMC’s full roster.
Marino will continue to oversee UMC’s recording facility 80A Studios as well as performance space The Academy and working with artists like The Tragically Hip and Anne Murray who are seeking to revitalize their catalogues.
They will report directly to Adam and are actively seeking new signings.
In addition to Ross and Riegling, UMC breakouts include pop singer Preston Pablo, rock band Valley, and comedian-turned-singer-songwriter Mae Martin, all of whom are currently charting on Canadian radio. UMC also recently signed prominent Punjabi Wave artist AP Dhillon in partnership with Republic Records.
The UMC A&R team is rounded out by Kwaku Agyemang, Widney Bonfils, Natassha Cuachon-Cruz, Ivan Evidente, Morgan “MJ” James, Shirley Ichkhanian, and Shannen Serrano, and supported by UMC’s venue and studio team Don Kitchen, Lisa Lorenz, and sound engineer Phil Hotz. –RLD