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In two weeks, Oliver Anthony went from an unknown artist to the owner of the No. 1 track on the Hot 100 chart with the surprise hit “Rich Men North of Richmond” — and in the process went from earning less than $200 in weekly royalties to roughly $356,000 in his chart-topping week.
“Rich Men North of Richmond” generated an estimated $218,000 in royalties for both recorded music and music publishing from track purchases and on-demand audio streams in the week ended Aug. 17, Billboard estimates based on Luminate data. And because he owns his master – released through digital distributor Vydia – and publishing, Anthony will pocket all that money. The track, released through digital distributor Vydia, generated 147,000 track sales and 17.5 million audio on-demand streams over that time period. Luminate did not track any on-demand video streams for the recording. The track also earned Anthony a small amount of publishing royalties from 517 spins at radio.
After the unlikely, whirlwind week in America’s spotlight, Anthony’s long list of accomplishments include the first artist to debut a first Hot 100 chart entry at No. 1; No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs charts; the 23rd song to top both the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs charts simultaneously (and the first to do so by a solo male); the first solo-written Hot 100 No. 1 since Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” in March and April 2022; and a rare independently released recording to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100.
The intense interest in “Rich Men North From Richmond” — it instantly found favor in conservative political circles and became a cultural lightning rod among liberals — bled over to the other 18 individually released tracks in Anthony’s catalog and generated an additional $139,000 from 73,000 track sales, 14.8 million audio on-demand streams, 658,000 on-demand video streams and 65,000 programmed audio streams. Anthony had four of the week’s top 10 track downloads: “Ain’t Got a Dollar” was a distant No. 2, “I’ve Got to Get Sober” was No. 5 and “I Want to Go Home” was No. 10. (Strong download sales also put “Ain’t Got a Dollar” and “I’ve Got to Get Sober” onto the Hot Country Songs chart.) In all, Anthony had 16 of the top 100 track downloads in the country last week.
Country music took the top three spots on the Hot 100 but took different routes to get there. Track purchases was the deciding factor in “Rich Men North of Richmond” beating out Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” and Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night.” “Fast Car” had just 10,000 track purchases, 7% as many as “Rich Men North of Richmond,” but its radio audience of 101.7 million was more than 100 times more than the 937,000 achieved by “Rich Men North of Richmond.” Combs’ “Last Night” had the most on-demand audio streams of the trio — 20.5 million to 17.5 million for “Rich Men North of Richmond” and 16.4 million for “Fast Car” — but the fewest track purchases with 6,000 and a radio audience — 70.5 million — about 69% the size the audience of “Fast Car.”
Daily data suggests Anthony’s hot streak will continue. This week’s track purchases of “Rich Men North of Richmond” may decline from last week but through the first two days of the tracking week purchased enough to likely give Anthony the top download for a second consecutive week. And with radio programmers following the lead of consumer purchases and streams, this week’s broadcast radio spins will easily top last week’s count. That’ll all mean more money for the independent artist — and plenty of leverage as he considers offers coming in from major labels “rushing” to sign him.
Grammy-winning songwriting/production duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis first met Clarence Avant — who died Aug. 13 at age 92 — in the summer of 1982 when they wrote a song for his Tabu Records act, The S.O.S. Band. They famously went on to work with A&M artist Janet Jackson, for whom they produced the blockbuster 1986 album, Control, and its 1989 follow-up, Rhythm Nation 1814, among others.
The hitmakers paid tribute to Avant in an interview.
Jam: We wrote “High Hopes” for The S.O.S. Band. But we didn’t produce it. When we met with Clarence, we told him that. And he was like, “Well if you were to produce it, what would it sound like?” So we played him a demo of the song and he loved it.
Lewis: Yeah, we told him that we would have put the chili sauce on it. He cracked up; he really loved that comment.
Jam: I didn’t know a whole lot about Clarence before that meeting. But my first impression is of him making me laugh because he called us two thugs: “Who are these two thugs coming in here?” He’d get on a phone call and be cussing everybody out. He was just a character, so funny. It was like being in a movie: two kids from Minneapolis sitting in suits and hats in 90-degree weather, here in L.A.’s high-powered music scene. We were a hilarious anomaly to him.
Lewis: He was definitely funny and animated. But I knew he was shrewd and smart by the way he conducted the meeting; it was so comfortable and easy. It was different from other meetings we’d had with people wanting to hire us. But what really struck me is when Clarence talked to us by himself, without our manager. And he told us, “You motherfuckers need to learn to count. In order to make things happen the right way, you’re going to need this and that.” When he gave us more than we’d asked for, it established a whole new paradigm for me. He helped us reevaluate and understand what our value was. He put the official rubber stamp on it.
Jam: I’m glad his story got told in the Netflix documentary The Black Godfather. It only scratches the surface of Clarence’s greatness and influence. It should be required viewing as there will never be another Clarence in the singular sense. But there will be from all the seeds that he planted: a bunch of people with Clarence characteristics that will power positive growth across entertainment and other areas.
Lewis: Coming up through the ranks, fighting for everyone’s diversity and equity, it was important for Clarence to teach. His obsession was to do the right thing and force people who didn’t to do the right thing. That was what Clarence was always about. He was never about the rewards in it. I think Clarence was definitely pleased with his life. He had a beautiful wife and beautiful kids. He created some beautiful music as a label owner; inspired and crafted some beautiful deals. How could he not feel good about that? All we really have at the end of the day is our relationships. The one way that you can judge a person is by their relationships. And Clarence touched so many people in a beautiful way. Whether they were record company owners, presidents or executives, artists, politicians or just regular people. He touched everyone in a positive way.
Jam: One of the things we always tried to remind him of, though, were the connections that he had made that then led to other things that he didn’t know about … we were able to connect the dots for him. Like, “Did you know this happened because of this thing that you did five years ago?” Because he was involved in so many things, he couldn’t keep track of everything that he had possibly done. But I totally agree that he felt very comfortable with what he had done [in his life]. There were just so many people and things that he affected.
Jam: Clarence and Jerry [Moss] were also really good friends. As partners [in A&M Records], Herb Alpert and Jerry were certainly a blueprint for Terry and myself. They started with a handshake like Terry and I did. I remember back around the Rhythm Nation days when there [were] a lot of crazy negotiations going on for us to do the record. Clarence called up Jerry and said let’s get this deal done. Give these guys a million dollars. And literally the next week, the deal was done and we were in the studio recording.
Lewis: Jerry was an incredible man. Both he and Clarence were part of an incredible era of human beings. But they live on through all of us.
Jam: Whenever we win an award, God would be the first person we thank. And the next person we thank would be Clarence Avant, who was the earthly god for us.
Lewis: There are no words that I could use to adequately express my personal feelings for Clarence. But I always do simply say he’s the greatest man I’ve ever known.
As Southern California braced for its first tropical storm in 84 years, Salt-N-Pepa’s Cheryl “Salt” James made history as the first female keynoter at the Guild of Music Supervisors’ (GMS) ninth annual State of Music in Media Conference (Aug. 19). Her invigorating speech fittingly kicked off the daylong event at The Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood.
In addition to a suite of panels celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, the conference schedule — a collaboration between GMS and L.A. Film School — was packed with sessions ranging from “Music Clearance 101” and “The Global Craft of Music Supervision: We Are Worldwide!” to “AI and the Art of Music Supervision: Finding Harmony in the Age of Automation” and “The Ethics of Music Supervising Projects That Tell Diverse Stories.” Among the host of industry participants and guests: rap pioneer/Public Enemy frontman Chuck D, Joel C. High of Creative Control Entertainment (a GMS founder and its outgoing president), Stax Records icon/Songwriter Hall of Famer David Porter, Format Entertainment’s Julia Michels, producer Steve Schnur (Star Wars Jedi: Survivor), Singularity Songs founder/president Andre Marsh and Cue the Creatives founder Qiana Conley Akinro.
Lindsay Wolfington and Joel C. High
Khalid Farqharson
Just before the keynote speech, the ongoing challenges facing music supervisors during the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike were addressed by incoming GMS president Lindsay Wolfington and High. Speaking to the attendees, the pair referenced a page in the conference booklet featuring a list of resources for strike-impacted workers. The intro to the page said in part, “Music supervisors do not have a union and the AMPTP and Netflix continue to refuse to recognize a Music Supervisior union. We continue in our fight … and GMS fully supports this mission.”
It was also announced that Heather Guibert is the GMS board’s new vp.
Here are a few more highlights from GMS’ 2023 State of Music in Media Conference:
‘The Showstopper’
Walking onstage to rousing applause, James riffed on a phrase from the Salt-N-Pepa classic “Shoop” (“Here I go, here I go …”) then asked the audience a question. “Can we not call me the keynote speaker?” said a smiling James. “That makes me nervous. I just came here to talk to you.”
And that she did, taking the audience back to her growing up on Motown and jazz in Brooklyn. Then she heard The Sugarhill Gang on the radio in 1979. Before segueing into an impromptu audience rap-along to that group’s “Rapper’s Delight,” James said, “I fell in love even more [with the fledgling genre]. There was something about it that just grabbed me deep in my heart.”
After sharing milestones that the Grammy Award-winning group has achieved during its barrier-breaking 38-year career, starting with 1986 debut single “The Showstopper,” James noted, “I remember the question journalists used to ask in the beginning, ‘Will hip-hop last?’ Now we’re here 50 years later, growing from a novelty genre into a whole entire culture. Hip-hop started a whole movement from fashion, movies, politics and beyond to becoming the music of a generation. I would go so far as to say it’s actually shaping generations.”
Drawing a through line between hip-hop’s evolution and that of music supervision, James concluded her keynote by adding, “I know we all can relate to having good intentions and then possibly becoming jaded in our different vocations or callings. But when something is our calling and it gets hard, we have to just put one foot in front of the other and keep going because this is what we’re called to do.”
The Next 50
“The Global Impact of Hip-Hop: Passing the Torch for the Next 50 Years” was the first in the day’s quartet of sessions dedicated to the genre and the fact — as noted in the conference booklet — that “hip-hop has proven itself to be a soundscape for any genre of music and can be used to tell any story.” Kobalt Music Publishing’s senior vp of global creative Chris Lakey moderated this panel, orchestrating a conversation between artist Igmar Thomas, Peermusic Publishing vp of A&R Tuff Morgan, En Homage artist/producer Camille “Ill Camille” Davis and artist/educator Medusa aka The Gangsta Goddess.
Lakey questioned the panelists on a variety of subjects from their first inkling of hip-hop’s international reach beyond its Bronx birth to trends/hybrid sounds they’re seeing on the horizon. Asked to share some of the hottest areas they’re most excited about in terms of hip-hop’s evolving sound, the panelists shouted out locales such as Ghana, Nigeria, Johannesburg, London, Mexico City and Jamaica. “Every single piece of music that’s out today has undertones of hip-hop,” said Morgan. “It’s influenced every genre at this point.”
Global Impact of Hip Hop
Jay Farber
Medusa and Davis also advocated for more female presence in the hip-hop arena. “I definitely want there to be more reverence for female producers and MCs,” said Davis. “I want more women to experiment with the music. There are women that I revere, the same way that I revere [late hip-hop producer] J Dilla, who are constantly making music but you don’t hear about them. I would like more women to make DJ and MC collectives. I just want more of that energy where we take more ownership, and autonomy over the sound, the brand, the look; you feel us and see us in everything. I want more women in hip-hop to put their flag down.”
Lorrie Boula, Chuck D and Carol Dunn
Jay Farber
Rounding out the day’s quartet of hip-hop sessions: “Fight the Power: How Hip-Hop Changed the World” featuring Channel Zero.net co-founders Chuck D and Lorrie Boula with Human Worldwide’s Carol Dunn as moderator; “The Origins of Hip-Hop” featuring James, Berklee College of Music’s John Paul McGee, artist/Likwit Radio’s King T, Salamani Music’s Amani “Burt Blackarach” Smith and composer Jae Deal; and “The Golden Age of Hip-Hop: A Cultural Phenomena” with moderator/Moonbaby Media’s Angela “Moonbaby” Jollivette, television host/activist Ananda Lewis, veteran A&R executive Dante Ross, Universal Hip-Hop Museum OM/curator SenYon Kelly, DJESQ’s Paul Stewart and Rich + Tone Productions’ Rich & Tone Talauega.
Close-Up on Daisy Jones
One of the afternoon’s popular offerings was the session spotlighting the hit television series Daisy Jones & the Six, adapted from Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel of the same name about a ‘70s band. The session centered on what’s involved in “preparing for successful on-camera performances” as outlined in the conference program. Moderator/music supervisor Amanda Krieg Thomas of Yay Team Inc. was joined by Daisy Jones’ music supervisor Frankie Pine of Whirly Girl Music and Lauren Neustadter, president of film & TV for Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine production company. Among the show’s nine 2023 Emmy Awards nominations are nods for outstanding limited or anthology series, outstanding music supervision and outstanding sound mixing.
Neustadter spoke first about the show’s origin and the challenge of doing on-camera performances. “My husband read the book and created the show. But we had no idea really of how to do a project that was music driven in the way that this is. But we also knew that we had carte blanche from Taylor. She said, ‘I’m excited for you guys to work with experts in the music field to actually bring the soundtrack and the different albums in the book to life on screen.”
So the next move was to bring in showrunner Will Graham. “We chose him for a bunch of reasons,” said Neustadter. “But one of them was he had worked on Mozart in the Jungle, so he knew how to do a show that had a huge music component. And the first person that Will introduced us to was Frankie.”
Picking up the story, Pine said, “The first thing that I did was put together a list of executive music producers that I thought would be right for the time period; to be able to give us that ‘70s vibe, but also not pigeonhole us too much into that world where these songs [can] kind of live outside of the ‘70s. After reading the book, the one thing I wanted … was for this to feel organic and real. I wanted everybody that watched it to think literally in their minds, ‘This band was in the ‘70s? I swear I missed this band.’”
Pine also shared a major lesson from her experience. “The sooner you can get [started] with an on-camera project the better. Because that gives you all kinds of time to curate and work not only on the music but to also take your time in assembling the right music team and giving your actors [enough] time. That really is the key to a successful run.”
Hired in March 2019, Pine initially wanted to spend four months with the actors. Then she and Neustadter received an unexpected extension when their April 2020 shoot start was delayed by the pandemic. So music lessons were done instead over Zoom. In addition to explaining the genesis of the on-camera performances in two show clips that were shown, Pine and Neustadter touched on several other topics such as Pine collaborating in the casting and writing process as well, mic tips and why trust is an important factor.
“What we witnessed was these actors becoming musicians and these musicians becoming a band,” said Neustadter. “It was totally awesome.” She also noted that Pine will be working with Hello Sunshine on two more productions, one of which is Run, Rose, Run. Starring Dolly Parton, the upcoming show is an adaption of the same-titled book by Parton and James Patterson. Parton also released a companion album to the book in 2022.
Morrison Hotel Gallery, the brick-and-mortar and online fine art music photography destination, is changing hands and looking to expand.
Original founders/owners iconic music photographer Henry Diltz, former music executive Peter Blachley and former music retailer Richard Horowitz started the gallery 22 years ago, and later were joined by noted photographer Timothy White. The quartet has sold MHG to private markets investor Grand Mountain Partners, former Sony and Amazon executive Adam Block and former Concord CEO Scott Pascucci for an undisclosed price.
Block will serve as the new CEO, while Pascucci will be executive chairman focused on strategy and development. Block was encouraged to take on the role after Pascucci, whom Block calls “the mastermind behind the acquisition,” told him their first order of business “’is make sure we do absolutely no harm,’” Block recounts. “’The foundation is solid. We want to see it continue to build and grow in the spirit that it’s existed for so long.’”
That answer resonated with Block, who was most recently global head of catalog music at Amazon Music, but is best known for his 25-year tenure at Sony Music Entertainment where he rose to president of catalog division Legacy Recordings. Under his guidance, Legacy amplified the prestige of icons such as Miles Davis, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, A Tribe Called Quest, and others.
At MHG, he sees the opportunity to do the same for some of the most legendary images in existence, including Bob Gruen’s 1974 shot of a cross-armed John Lennon in a sleeveless New York City t-shirt, Jim Marshall’s portrait of a defiant Johnny Cash flipping the bird, and, of course, Diltz’s Morrison Hotel album cover for the 1970 Doors LP.
Henry Diltz
“What these guys have been doing for 22 years is telling stories and celebrating the legacies of music, artists, photographers and art and it just felt like a real natural continuation of work that I’ve loved doing for most of my professional life,” Block says.
MHG operates retail locations at Los Angeles’ historic rock and roll hotel the Sunset Marquis and on Prince Street in New York’s Soho neighborhood. A third location at Mick Fleetwood’s restaurant and bar in Lahaina, Maui was destroyed in fires earlier this month.
“It’s absolutely our intention to remain in Maui,” Block says. “Beyond that and before that, we’re just trying to figure out how as extended members of that community we can be helpful.”
An immediate goal is to expand galleries into more cities with either permanent or pop-up locations, with an eye towards Nashville, Tokyo and Mexico City. “It’s part of a very rough roadmap that’s being sketched out now,” Block says. Mall locations have been ruled out. “It’s not my intention to see this become a cookie cutter mass market,” he continues. “Part of the beauty and success is the uniqueness of it from market to market.”
Block says there are also plans to expand MHG’s “relatively new” online business, which is “growing quite nicely. We see a huge upside there.” White, who will remain with MHG as creative director, will help develop a most robust website and online sales business. “The Morrison Hotel Gallery is a living testament to the power of music and the moments that define our culture. I am so excited to be a part of this next chapter under new stewardship, and the guidance and direction of Adam Block,” White said in a statement. “His visionary leadership and expertise will be instrumental in shaping the gallery’s future and continuing its enduring legacy. I’m excited to work alongside him as we continue to create an experience that resonates deeply with music fans and collectors across the globe.”
Marketing the gallery, the photographers and the work by enhanced storytelling is also an area for future development, Block says, including through a greater social media presence. “It’s making sure that the legacies of these photographers, the subject matter and the work itself continues to be celebrated,” he says.
Block also plans to add more photographers and areas of coverage. “Going forward, we’d like to continue to diversify both our roster and the subject matter that we’re offering,” he says, adding the gallery now features more than 120 photographers. “Morrison Hotel Gallery is and will always be the rock music gallery, but beyond that we’re seeing that our community and our customers are interested in music more than just rock music.”
To that end, both the New York and Los Angeles galleries currently feature exhibits celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop, highlighting some of the most famous photos from the genre featuring Jay Z, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Tupac and more.
“It’s exciting to me to have the opportunity to find ways to be more relevant to more people and celebrate more art that speaks to different kinds of people. I think there’s a huge upside to us,” Block says. “It’s really important that we become recognized as champions of younger photographers who are speaking to a different generation of potential customers. There’s a role that the gallery can play in encouraging and even accelerating some of that.”
Longtime National Public Radio (NPR) programming executive Anya Grundmann will leave the network after nearly 30 years, the media organization announced Monday (Aug. 21). Grundmann will step down from her post as senior vp of programming and audience development at the end of the year. “It’s been the best kind of roller coaster ride,” Grundmann […]
Tencent Music Entertainment topped all music stocks this week after second-quarter earnings on Tuesday helped the company’s share price gain 7.2% to $6.53. The Chinese music streaming company, traded on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, reported second quarter revenue of $1.01 billion (up 5.5% year over year) and net profit of $179 million (up 51.6%).
Investors tend to react positively when companies report strong subscriber numbers and TME had good news about the surging Chinese market. TME finished the quarter with 99.4 million subscribers, up 20% from the prior-year period, and for the first time its music services (QQ Music, Kuguo Music and Kuwo Music) generated more revenue than its social entertainment services (WeSing). Users’ willingness to pay for copyrighted music, whether to listen to songs or enjoy premium features, “marks a significant step along TME’s growth trajectory,” said CEO Cussion Pang during Tuesday’s earnings call.
Tencent Music Entertainment was the only music stock with a double-digit gain and one of only two stocks to finish the week in positive territory. With Round Hill Music Royalty Fund unchanged, the remaining 18 stocks in the 21-stock Billboard Global Music Index lost ground this week. The index fell 3% to 1,299.04, the fourth straight week the index declined, and has lost 10.2% of its value since peaking at 1,447.32 for the week ended July 21.
Streaming companies (Spotify, TME, Cloud Music, Anghami, Deezer) dropped by an average of 1%. Live music companies (Live Nation, MSG Entertainment, Sphere Entertainment Co., CTS Eventim) had an average decline of 3.1%. Record labels, publishers and distributors (Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, HYBE, SM, Believe, Round Hill, Hipgnosis Songs Fund) fell an average 4.6%. Radio and satellite broadcasters (SiriusXM, iHeartMedia, Cumulus Media) dropped by an average of 5.1%.
Music stocks’ decline reflected the losses seen by stocks around the world this week. Higher bond yields have helped dampen interest in equities and investors are increasingly looking for safer places to put cash. In the United States, the S&P 500 declined 2.1% and the Nasdaq composite fell 2.6%. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 dropped 3.5%. South Korean’s KOSPI composite index fell 3.3%, the biggest one-week point and percentage decline since Sept. 2022, due to falling operating profits, concerns about the Chinese economy and high interest rates.
K-pop stocks were among this week’s biggest losers. Shares of YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, neither of which are in the index, fell 12.1% and 13.3%, respectively. HYBE shares dropped 7.3% and SM Entertainment fell 6.7%. All four K-pop companies’ share prices have made large gains this year, however. Even after this week’s declines, SM, YG and JYP have gained between 63% and 66% while HYBE shares are up 36.3%.
Skye Landgraf is the first director of partnerships and programs at We Are Moving the Needle, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering and supporting women and non-binary pros in the recording industry. The D.C.-based Landgraf will work to expand WAMTN’s core programs in higher education and oversee the org’s annual Fix the Mix report. (This year’s FtM found that women and non-binary people are drastically underrepresented in audio producing and engineering roles.) Landgraf is also tasked with growing WAMTN’s institutional partnerships to help drive meaningful change in the industry. Prior to joining WAMTN, Landgraf served as the director of institutional advancement at the American Association of University Women (AAUM), as well as the associate director of foundation relations at George Washington University.
“In just two short years, WAMTN has already made a difference in the careers of women and non-binary individuals pursuing careers behind the boards, but we still have much work to do,” We Are Moving the Needle founder Emily Lazar. “Bringing in Skye, whose decade of experience in the nonprofit world, deep knowledge of music, and commitment to gender inclusivity and equity, will allow us to make an even bigger impact on our industry.”
Josh Javor departed X-ray Touring and is now a partner at WME and co-head of the talent agency’s music department in London. Javor spent 17 years at X-ray, scoring a spot on last year’s Billboard International Power Players list for his handling of Coldplay’s massive world tour, and for a major partnership between X-ray and Artist Group International. Over the years, he has had a hand in guiding the UK live careers of such artists as Eminem, Phoebe Bridgers, Bright Eyes, Belle & Sebastian and many more. “Josh has not only built a roster of artists that shape music, he’s also been an integral part of building the international touring industry as we know it today,” said Lucy Dickins, WME’s global head of contemporary music and touring, who Javor will be reporting to. “With Josh coming on board, our London office is doubling down on being the leading team in the region and on the international stage.”
Arista Records vp of promotion Mark Neiter announced his departure from the label, effective Aug. 23. The radio promo veteran joined the Sony Music imprint in September 2021 and points to successful campaigns for Maneskin, Lola Brooke and Beach Weather among his top accomplishments. Prior to joining Arista, Neiter put in the work (21 years worth) at Interscope, where as vp of national top 40 promotion he collaborated with — and built airplay dominance for — artists ranging from Maroon 5, Lady Gaga, Imagine Dragons and Eminem. According to RAMP, Neither will continue to consult for Arista. “I want to thank Davi Massey, Nick Petropoulos and the whole Arista team for a great run here,” he said. “I am excited to learn about what future opportunities lay out there.” He can be reached at mneiter11@gmail.com.
RIP Two All-Timers: Clarence Avant and Jerry Moss
Craig Newman joined the loving embrace of Paladin Artists, where he’ll focus on expanding the agency’s performing arts, family, special attractions and comedy divisions. The veteran agent won’t stop rocking, however, and is bringing along his diverse roster of clients that includes Bachman-Turner Overdrive, WAR and former Monkee Micky Dolenz, among others. Based in Los Angeles, this is a reunion of sorts for Newman, who used to work with Paladin co-founders Steve Martin and Andy Somers, as well as Bruce Solar, during his time as head of performing arts at APA. Newman’s diverse client list also includes chef Robert Irvine, illusionist Rick Thomas, American Girl Live! In Concert and Mini Pop Kids. “Craig Newman — aka Craigie Fresh! Master of time, the Ukulele and Arts Centers,” said Martin. “Paladin is happy to welcome Craig and his indomitable spirit, taste in artists, perspective and work ethic.”
Big Machine Label Group advanced Brooke Nixon to director of streaming, while the label’s The Valory Music Co. imprint has named Chris Waters to succeed Nixon in her previous role as southeast director of promotion & marketing. Nixon joined Big Machine Label Group in 2015, serving as the Dot Records promotion coordinator, before to moving to The Valory Music Co. imprint. Waters most recently served as director of promotion at Pearl Records with Garth Brooks. His career has also included radio and record promotion roles with Show Dog Nashville, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Cumulus Nashville WSM Radio. –Jessica Nicholson
Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a non-profit providing support services to school districts and musical instruments to underfunded music programs, named Tricia Williams as its next president and CEO in anticipation of the departure of Felice Mancini, who guided MHOF for a quarter century. Williams has been program director at the org since 1999 and is credited with creating a novel consulting service that districts use to more efficiently secure music and arts funding. Replacing Williams as program director is Todd Shipley, the former Director of Arts Education for the Tennessee Department of Education. Over Mancini’s tenure, MHOF has invested more than $34 million in musical instruments distributed to thousands of school music programs nationwide. “Felice has been instrumental in molding MHOF into the most admired music education foundation nationwide,” said Scott Holtzman, chairman of the board. “Our entire Board joins me in saying that we feel that Tricia has proven she is exceptionally qualified to lead MHOF at a critical time in the evolution of music and the arts in our public schools.”
ICYMI: Oak View Group (OVG) appointed Ade Patton as CFO … Elektra Entertainment promoted Jacob Fain to executive vp and head of A&R .. and the music team at TikTok was hit with layoffs. The cuts affected seven staff members, including senior product strategy & ops lead Kelly Chen and U.S. music partnerships and operations lead Marisa Jeffries.
Kobalt promoted Alaine Fulton to vice president of creative and clearance synch, putting her in charge of the London-based team that tackles strategy across how synchs are used, their clearance, and licensing administration. Fulton was previously director of UK creative and clearance synch and in the past year has negotiated and closed deals with the new Barbie movie, Samsung and Lexus, among others.
Various Artists Management hired Emily Thorpe-Jones as the London-based agency’s new head of brands and corporate. In her new role, which is effective immediately, Thorpe-Jones will work on all brand partnerships, commercial opportunities and corporate live bookings, and report jointly to Group CEO David Bianchi and Various Artists Management USA CEO Matt Luxon. She splits her time between Los Angeles and London. Prior to joining VAM, whose roster includes Melanie C, La Roux, The Libertines and Supergrass, among others, Thorpe-Jones worked extensively in radio PR before moving into the publishing sector, where she agency director at Hearst.
Too Lost, a music distribution and technology company, just added seven new employees — and a pair of promotions — within its office in Los Angeles. Up first at director of communications is Damien Ritter, formerly COO of BeatStars. Next up is Meghan Lyttle, who takes on the role of product manager following her time at Spotify and Peloton. Then its Jennifer Ferrer, a former senior manager at ADA Worldwide, who is Too Lost’s new senior product manager. Jake Selvey, previously with 300 Entertainment, steps into the role of A&R manager. Jheanelle Henry joined Too Lost’s Label Services department from MySeat. Ariana Slater and Carly Golisch round things out as new product and operations coordinators. And finally, Aldo Davalos was promoted to general manager and head of business development, while Buster Ross got bumped up to associate director of A&R. Too Lost offers distribution and publishing services that deliver, monetize and protect the songs of over 200,000 indie artists and labels.
Apple veteran Peter Stern joined Ford as president of the automaker’s new Ford Integrated Services unit. Up until January, Stern was vice president of services at Apple, where he was the driving force in launching non-music pillars including Apple TV+, iCloud and Apple Arcade. As part of his job, he headed up all marketing for Apple Music and Apple Podcasts.
UK-based marketing and digital consultancy agency Blackstar hired Dan Alani as head of creative. He’ll oversee Blackstar’s creative studio and work in tandem with the agency’s social and marketing teams on client campaigns. Alani was previously a senior producer at Able Media, working on campaigns for Harry Styles, Beyonce and others. Blackstar was launched in 2018 by former Universal Music Group marketing exec Olivia Hobbs, who is “beyond excited to be welcoming Dan… who brings with him 10 years of experience delivering creative campaigns for some of the world’s biggest icons.”
Dr. Moiya McTier joined the Human Artistry Campaign, a coalition of music and entertainment organizations that support ethical standards around AI, as an advisor and public communicator. The org describes Dr. McTier’s role as essentially “Explainer-in-Chief,” advising and educating policymakers and fellow creatives about the promise and the risks of AI. Since being announced at this year’s SXSW, the HAC’s efforts have been co-signed by music firms including Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), SoundExchange, ASCAP and BMI, among others.
Nashville Notes: Courtney Gregg launched Blue Sky Artist Management, with an artist roster that already includes Gaelic Storm, David Cook and John Baumann, among others. The former Carnival Music president (with previous stops at Billboard and ASCAP) is joined at Blue Sky with Kelsey Fitzgerald (Artist Management as Management Coordinator) and Corey Piper (Social Media and Tour Promotions Coordinator). Reach her at courtney@blueskyartistmgmt.com. … Bobby Bones renewed his affiliation with iHeartMedia. He will continue as an iHeart vp/creative director … Canada’s Corus Entertainment promoted Ronnie Stanton to vp of audio from vp of programming … Bad Blocks Music hired senior director of A&R Autumn Ledgin and creative coordinator Elizabeth Cook. Ledgin arrives from Good Company Entertainment. Cook joins following internships at Creative Nation and King Pen Music … Sarah Bennett joined The GreenRoom PR as senior publicist following a run in the same role at IVPR.
The music team at TikTok was hit with layoffs last week in an effort to improve efficiency, multiple sources tell Billboard. The cuts affected seven staff members, including senior product strategy & ops lead Kelly Chen and U.S. music partnerships and operations lead Marisa Jeffries. All affected employees were based in the United States. Sources […]
After at least five months of deliberations, Paramount Global has decided against selling a majority stake in its BET Media Group, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
The move to take down the “for sale” sign for the unit — which includes the BET channel, streamer BET+ as well as VH1 and BET Studios — follows publicly expressed interest from the likes of moguls Tyler Perry, Byron Allen, Sean “Diddy” Combs and others in acquiring a majority interest. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported Paramount’s decision to end the bidding process for BET.
Perry is already in business with Paramount via a multiyear content partnership struck in 2019, while Allen has been aiming to expand his TV station empire that counts The Weather Channel and Combs has a TV presence with his Revolt network.
During Paramount’s latest earnings call, on Aug. 7, CEO Bob Bakish was asked about the status of the potential sale and didn’t address BET by name, but replied: “We’re always looking for ways to maximize shareholder value. And as we said before, that might involve divesting, acquiring or potentially partnering on assets all of which we’ve done. But other than that, I’m not going to comment on anything specifically.”
The company has owned BET since 2000, when the Sumner Redstone-led firm then named Viacom snapped up Black Entertainment Television for $2.3 billion in stock and $570 million in debt. At the time, the BET channel was carried in 62.4 million households domestically.
For the past several years, Paramount has been looking to slim down its collection of assets in order to scale up in streaming and burnish its core entertainment portfolio (Paramount Pictures as well as CBS, Showtime, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, BET and streamers Paramount+ and Pluto TV). That effort has boosted Paramount+ to about 61 million subscribers globally, but the streaming division still isn’t profitable, tallying $424 million in losses in the second quarter.
Earlier this month, the company struck a $1.62 billion deal with private equity giant KKR to sell off major book publisher Simon & Schuster. That sale (a yearslong effort after its first attempt was blocked by a judge over antitrust concerns) followed Paramount selling tech site CNET for $500 million in 2020, CBS’ New York BlackRock headquarters building for $760 million and CBS’ Studio City lot for $1.85 billion in 2021.
Paramount, with its large collection of linear channels, has been subject to headwinds in the industry amid the march of cord-cutting as consumers look beyond pay-TV packages to subscription streaming offerings. In the last quarter alone, more than 1.7 million subscribers were shed by the major pay-TV and cable companies (including Comcast, Charter and DirecTV), per a tally from Leichtman Research.
Affiliate and subscription revenue at Paramount’s TV Media unit was off 2 percent in its most recent quarter, the company disclosed Aug. 7, noting that the decline was “primarily reflecting the impact from subscriber declines, partially offset by pricing increases.”
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
Boosted by K-pop’s growing popularity and artists’ return to concert stages, the four publicly traded South Korean music companies — HYBE, SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment — posted average revenue growth of 71% in the second quarter of 2023, according to Billboard’s analysis of their recent earnings reports.
Sky-high growth rates in recent quarters have helped make the K-pop companies a wise investment in 2023: Through Wednesday (Aug. 16), the four share prices increased an average of 63.6% year to date, adding more than $4.7 billion in market capitalization cumulatively to the companies’ stocks. In contrast, stocks of the two largest standalone music companies, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, have gained 3.6% and lost 6%, respectively, year-to-date through Tuesday (Aug. 15).
In terms of revenue growth, the leader in the second quarter was JYP Entertainment, home to the groups Stray Kids and Twice. JYP’s revenue grew 124% to 151.7 billion won ($115.2 million), with new albums by Stray Kids, Twice and NMixx driving a 298% increase in physical sales to 74.1 billion won ($56.3 million). Republic Records, JYP’s partner in the United States, accounted for 14.5 billion won ($11 million) of physical sales, or about 20% of the total amount. Elsewhere, JYP’s concert revenue grew 44% year-over-year to a record 14.4 billion won ($10.9 million) while merchandise sales climbed 151% to 21.7 billion won ($16.5 million). Domestic streaming revenue grew 18% to 2.2 billion won ($1.7 million) while overseas streaming revenue jumped 82% to 10.3 billion won ($7.8 million).
YG Entertainment boasts the greatest share price gain among the group at 75.6% year to date. The company behind breakthrough girl group BLACKPINK, YG posted revenue of 158.3 billion won ($120.2 million) in the second quarter, up 108% from the prior-year period.
JYP Entertainment’s operating income grew 88% to 45.6 billion won ($34.6 million) but missed its 51-billion won estimate, causing the company’s share price to fall 8.2% the following day. Although its revenue grew 124% in the quarter, JYP was hurt by what it called a “temporary increase in content product costs.” As a result, its cost of goods sold rose 162% while gross margin percentage — gross profit as a percent of sales — declined 1.6 percentage points to 47.7%.
Expenses also grew faster than revenue at HYBE, where cost of sales grew 25% while sales, general and administrative expenses climbed 32%. HYBE’s operating profit declined 8% as a result, while net income improved 19% despite a 21% growth in revenue. HYBE’s share price declined just 0.9% the day after the results were released; with a 38.9% gain year-to-date, its stock boasts the lowest appreciation of the four K-pop companies.