Business News
Page: 18
Hugh Forrest has been promoted to president of South by Southwest, where he will continue to oversee programming and assume full leadership of an organization he’s worked at for 36 years. Previously co-president and chief programming officer, Forrest takes on this new role as Jann Baskett, the current co-president and chief brand officer, prepares to step down on Dec. 31. Baskett will transition into an advisory and project-based role.
As president, Forrest will focus on driving business growth and work closely with the board of directors, which includes co-founder Roland Swenson, Jay Penske (CEO of Penske Media, SXSW’s largest shareholder), and Amy Webb (CEO of the Future Today Institute). Forrest expressed his enthusiasm for leading SXSW into its next phase, emphasizing “the experience of connection, inspiration and discovery that we provide for so many different industries each March” and its role in fostering community globally.
Founded in 1987 by Swenson, Nick Barbaro, Louis Black and Louis Jay Meyers, SXSW has evolved into a globally renowned event in Austin. Swenson, who led SXSW for 36 years, became executive chairman in 2022. Over the past two years, Forrest and Baskett successfully navigated SXSW’s post-COVID recovery, including expanding the festival to Sydney and London.
Trending on Billboard
Baskett reflected on her time leading SXSW, sharing pride in her contributions alongside Forrest and the team. She praised the event’s mission of supporting creative individuals — “Never has that purpose been more necessary” — and expressed excitement about her ongoing involvement as an advisor. “SXSW continues to be a beacon of light for artists and change makers,” she said.
“I want to extend my gratitude to Jann Baskett for her leadership, commitment, and creative vision as Co-President of SXSW over the past few years,” said Jay Penske. “Her contributions have been key in evolving the festival. Looking ahead, we are confident that Hugh Forrest will continue SXSW’s long tradition of supporting innovators and artists, expanding our global footprint, and building upon the incredible foundation of the world’s premier gathering of creative minds.”
The Executive Leadership Team supporting Forrest includes co-founders Swenson and Barbaro, as well as chief culture & people officer Autumn Amescua, chief technology officer Justin Bankston, chief logistics officer Michele Flores, chiefpartnerships officer Peter Lewis, chief financial officer Leanna Rossman, general counsel Stevie Fitzgerald and executive vice president Darin Klein
Note: Billboard’s parent company PMC is the largest shareholder of SXSW and its brands are official media partners of SXSW.
LONDON — The music business is calling on the U.K. government to robustly protect copyright and “safeguard against misuse” by technology companies in any future regulations governing the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
On Tuesday (Dec. 17), the British government launched a 10-week consultation on how copyright protected content, such as music, can lawfully be used by developers to train generative AI models.
The proposals include introducing a new data mining exception to copyright law that would allow AI developers to use copyrighted songs for AI training, including commercial purposes, but only in instances where rights holders have not reserved their rights. Such an opt out mechanism, says the government proposal, gives creators and rights holders the ability to control, licence and monetize the use of their content – or prevent their works being used by AI developers entirely.
The consultation also recommends new transparency requirements for AI developers around what content they have used to train their models and how it was obtained, as well as the labelling of AI-generated material.
Trending on Billboard
Policymakers will additionally seek views from stakeholders on the protection of personality and image rights, and whether the current legal framework provides sufficient protection against AI-generated deepfake imitations.
“Currently, uncertainty about how copyright law applies to AI is holding back both sectors from reaching their full potential,” said the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in a statement announcing the consultation. “It can make it difficult for creators to control or seek payment for the use of their work, and creates legal risks for AI firms, stifling AI investment, innovation, and adoption.”
The government said that its proposed changes to copyright law will give clarity to AI developers over what content they are legally allowed to use when training generative AI models and “enhance” creators’ ability to be paid for the use of their work.
Before any new exceptions to copyright law can be introduced, further work would need to take place to ensure transparency standards and the mechanisms for rights holders to reserve their rights are “effective, accessible and widely adopted,” said DCMS.
“This government firmly believes that our musicians, writers, artists and other creatives should have the ability to know and control how their content is used by AI firms and be able to seek licensing deals and fair payment,” said Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in a statement. “Achieving this, and ensuring legal certainty, will help our creative and AI sectors grow and innovate together in partnership.”
The start of the government’s long-awaited consultation on AI policy comes amid heightened lobbying from both the creative and technology industries. On Monday, a coalition of rights holders, including record labels, music publishers and artist groups, came together to call for copyright protection to be at the heart of any U.K. AI legislation.
The newly formed Creative Rights in AI Coalition, whose members include U.K. record labels trade body BPI, umbrella organization UK Music and the Music Publishers Association, wants policymakers to draw up AI laws that permit a “mutually beneficial, dynamic licensing market” built around “robust protections for copyright.”
The creative industries coalition said any future AI legislation must ensure accountability and compliance from AI developers and tech companies, who it said have thus far been exploiting copyright protected works “without permission, ignoring copyright protections and clear reservations of rights.”
The U.K. creative industries generated around £125 billion ($158 billion) for the country’s economy last year, according to government figures, with the music industry contributing a record £7.6 billion, up 13% year-on-year, of that total, according to UK Music research.
The U.K. is the world’s third-biggest recorded music market behind the U.S. and Japan with sales of $1.9 billion in 2023, according to IFPI. It is also the second-largest exporter of recorded music worldwide behind the U.S.
“Without proper control and remuneration for creators, investment in high-quality content will fall,” said the coalition, which also includes the Association of Independent Music (AIM) and British collecting societies PRS for Music and PPL, as well as trade groups representing photographers, illustrators, journalists, authors and filmmakers.
“Just as tech firms are content to pay for the huge quantity of electricity that powers their data centres, they must be content to pay for the high-quality copyright-protected works which are essential to train and ground accurate generative AI models.”
In a separate statement, BPI CEO Jo Twist said the organization was looking forward to working with the government on developing its AI policy but said it remains the BPI’s “firm view” that introducing a new exception to copyright for AI training “would weaken the U.K’s copyright system and offer AI companies permission to take – for their own profit, and without authorisation or compensation – the product of U.K. musicians’ hard work, expertise, and investment.”
“It would amount to a wholly unnecessary subsidy, worth billions of pounds, to overseas tech corporations at the expense of homegrown creators,” said Twist in a statement. She went on to say that opt-out schemes in other markets similar to what is being proposed by the U.K. government have been shown to increase legal uncertainty, “are unworkable in practice, and are woefully ineffective” in protecting creators’ rights.
The government’s recommendation to introduce a new copyright exception for AI training is an idea that it has floated before – and received strong push back from the music industry to. In 2021, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) was heavily criticized by artists, labels and publishers for suggesting a new text and data mining (TDM) exception that would have allowed AI developers to freely use copyright-protected works for commercial purposes (albeit with certain restrictions).
Those proposals were quietly shelved by the government the following year but progress on any U.K. legislation governing the use of AI has been slow to arrive. In contrast, the 27-member block European Union, which the United Kingdom officially left in 2020, passed its world-first Artificial Intelligence Act – requiring transparency and accountability from AI developers – in March.
Meanwhile, other major music markets, including the United States, Japan and China are advancing their own attempts to regulate the nascent technology amid loud opposition from creators and rights holders over the unauthorized use of their work to train generative AI systems.
Earlier this year, the three major record companies – Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group — filed lawsuits against AI music firms Suno and Udio alleging the widespread infringement of copyrighted sound recordings “at an almost unimaginable scale” Sony Music and Warner Music have additionally issued public notices to AI companies warning them against scraping their copyrighted data.
More recently, in October, thousands of musicians, composers, actors and authors from across the creative industries – as well as all three major record labels – signed a statement opposing the unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI. The number of signatories has since risen to more than 37,000 people, including ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, all five members of Radiohead and The Cure’s Robert Smith.
Three years after Downtown Music sold its 145,000-song catalog — including works performed by Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Bruno Mars and Beyoncé — the president of its publishing division says it makes more money than it did when it owned copyrights.
That reveal comes amid Monday’s announcement that Universal Music Group’s Virgin Music Group is buying Downtown Music Holdings for $775 million in an all-cash deal expected to close by mid-next year.
Emily Stephenson, who since 2023 has been president of Downtown’s suite of publishing companies (Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust and Sheer), says her division will generate more than $200 million in revenue in 2024, a 40% increase from last year and a higher gross than it had in 2020, the year before Concord bought its catalog.
Trending on Billboard
“We are in the middle of extreme growth mode right now,” says Stephenson, who has overseen client acquisition, business development, A&R, rights management and client services for Downtown since March 2023.
Since Stephenson took the lead, the publishing division has signed deals with indie rockers The National, Spirit Music Group and Peso Pluma’s Double P Records. According to the company, it now serves some 2 million songwriters and clients in over 60 countries — more than 40% of them outside the United States — manages over 1.5 million copyrights and has distributed over $100 million in royalties through Songtrust.
Access to additional funds has helped. In May, Downtown announced it secured another $500 million in credit from Bank of America — on top of its previous $200 million credit facility — to finance advances.
“We have been earnestly and aggressively putting that money to work,” Stephenson says, by offering competitive advances without forcing independent creators to give up any rights. As a result, “We think we’re growing at nearly twice the rate of the rest of the industry,” she says.
That growth is one of Downtown’s draws. The combined market share held by independent distribution and music companies — i.e. non-major labels and self-releasing artists — rose to 36.7% in 2023, up from 28.6% in 2015, according to MIDiA Research. As a result, the majors have made acquisitions and investments to defend their market share. Downtown’s scale and position of dominance in this segment made it an attractive way for UMG to grow.
However, Downtown’s growth has also led to customer complaints of long wait times at Songtrust and concerns that the platform is becoming more exclusive. Stephenson says there are no plans to restrict who can sign up for Songtrust, adding that over the past year, Songtrust has cut the average response time to customer complaints from 33 days to 17 hours.
Stephenson, 35, has spent more than a decade at Downtown and previously served as Downtown Music vp of business operations, and she says roughly 70% of the managers in her division have similarly long tenures.
That experience has helped with client retention and led to facilitating opportunities. This past summer, “Parade” by French composer Victor le Masne, a Downtown client, became the official theme song for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. This holiday season, the team landed Griff’s cover of the Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory classic “Pure Imagination” in Target’s Christmas campaign.
“We are the only player doing this at scale for indie songwriters globally,” Stephenson says. “I think our future is bright.”
A version of this story appears in the Dec. 14, 2024, issue of Billboard.
In July, six women — Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Ariana Grande and Charli XCX — cracked the top 10 of the Billboard 200, the first time that had happened since 2019. And when Grammy nominations were announced Nov. 8, six of the eight slots for record, album and song of the year were headlined by women — the second year in a row women had such high representation in the major categories. Women artists are ruling pop music in 2024.
At the major companies that power these superstars, however, women have been leaving powerful roles — moves that have rattled other women fighting for inclusion and influence at the top of the business. Between Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music and Warner Music Group (WMG) — the three major music companies — there were four labels that started this year with women CEOs: Capitol Music Group’s Michelle Jubelirer, Atlantic Music Group’s Julie Greenwald, Epic Records’ Sylvia Rhone and UMG Nashville’s Cindy Mabe. Eleven months later, that number has dropped: Rhone, who is also one of very few Black CEOs in the major label system, is the only one left at the coastal majors. And a number of other women left music’s C-suites this year as part of major-label restructurings that impacted both genders.
Trending on Billboard
It hasn’t been all bad news for women execs: Mabe is still in place at UMG Nashville, and Taylor Lindsey, who had been vp of A&R, will take the chairman/CEO role at Sony Music Nashville at the top of 2025. But the high-profile departures have shaken the confidence of many women music executives, says a high-ranking woman in the industry: “It makes them nervous because people like Julie Greenwald didn’t take shit from anybody. And the message is, ‘Oh my God, look at that. If they can let Julie Greenwald go, anybody can go.’”
The CEOs of the industry’s biggest streaming services, promotion companies and most agencies, meanwhile, are all men; many distribution CEOs are, too. Publishing and Nashville both fare better, but the industry is largely led by men in the top jobs. Most of the top indie labels are led by men as well.
Jubelirer, Greenwald, Rhone, Mabe and former Motown CEO/chair Ethiopia Habtemariam, who left her role at the end of 2022 and was not replaced, either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
Despite the varied reasons for these departures, the decline in the number of women among music’s top ranks marks a step backwards during a decade that started with the Black Lives Matter movement and the major music companies pledging to better embrace diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. As Andreea Gleeson, CEO of TuneCore, puts it, “There’s not a full effort being made and that’s really dangerous. To drive meaningful change in the diversity of your company, you need to be committed to it. That starts at the top.”
Natalie Prospere, founder and CEO of the label, publishing and live events company Friends Only, says she hasn’t been surprised by the recent exits. “I knew this was going to happen. Nobody actually wants to stand for anything other than posting a black square on your Instagram.”
There are still many women in COO, president, GM and other chief-level or department-head roles across the major label system. But the actual CEOs are still almost all white men. According to Believe, Tunecore and MIDiA Research’s fourth annual “Be The Change” women’s equality in music study, in 2024, 49% of women also believe that the music industry is still “generally discriminative” based on gender. The study also found that women in music are twice as likely as men to discover they are paid less than colleagues in the same or similar roles.
“When you see the scarcity of female executives in the music industry, coupled with the way female executives are treated, how, as a young woman in the industry, can you not question your ability to succeed?” says a female former label executive.
At the labels, Jubelirer was the first to go this year. In February, amid reports that Capitol and its parent company UMG were restructuring, Jubelirer stepped down from her post, which she held since the end of 2021, as Capitol’s first female CEO in its entire 80-year history. Had she stayed, Jubelirer would have been effectively demoted, moved from being the head of her own family of record labels and reporting straight to UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge, to being under the umbrella of the newly formed Interscope Capitol Labels Group (ICLG) and reporting to ICLG chairman/CEO John Janick. She was replaced by Tom March, a British-born executive who most recently led Interscope offshoot Geffen Records.
Then, in September, Greenwald announced her exit from her role at Atlantic Music Group, a company she co-led for 20 years, the latter two as its first female CEO in its own 70-plus-year history, amid a similar restructuring in WMG’s recorded music division. She was replaced by Grainge’s son, Elliot Grainge, the founder/CEO of WMG-acquired label 10K Projects.
These high-profile exits come two years after Habtemariam, chair/CEO at Motown, stepped down from her post when rumors began to circulate that Motown would lose its status as a standalone label and would be reintegrated under Capitol Music Group, which ultimately did happen. While the label’s profitability during Habtemariam’s tenure is unclear, Habtemariam took Motown’s U.S. current market share from 0.85% to 1.30%.
The recent executive departures are even more troubling to some women in the industry given the challenges these women had faced getting to their top posts in the first place. When Steve Barnett retired as Capitol Music Group CEO at the end of 2019, Jubelirer, an attorney who worked her way up over a decade to become COO of Capitol, was believed by many to be the next in line. Instead, the role was given to Capitol Records president Jeff Vaughn. (Under Vaughn, Capitol’s current market share dipped from 7.36% in 2020 to 5.64% in 2021. He was replaced by Jubelirer in less than a year). While market share cannot tell the full story of Capitol Music Group financials at the time, Jubelirer then grew CMG market share by almost a full percentage point from 2022 to 2023.
While Mary Rahmani, CEO and founder of Moon Projects, a joint venture label/publisher with Republic Records/Warner Chappell Music, says she came up in the major label business around “lots of women assistants and coordinators,” there were not many women executives to look up to. “If there were any, they were specifically in PR, radio and sync. I didn’t really see many badass women A&R or marketing executives, and I always wished there were more examples for me.”
Years later, when Rahmani was on maternity leave with her first child, she was cut from the major label she worked for during a sweep of layoffs. Reflecting on the experience now, she says it “wasn’t personal,” but feels motherhood is often a reason why it’s harder for women to climb up the ladder in the way men, even men who have children, do. “It’s for sure a big reason. I think a lot of women in the mid-level phase take a step back once they have a family.”
At Billboard’s Women in Music event in March, Jubelirer accepted the award for Executive of the Year and highlighted another way women face extra adversity in the workplace: their presentation. “Women, do these comments sound familiar?” Jubelirer addressed the crowd. “‘You’re too emotional.’ ‘You don’t have to be so direct when you talk.’ We all know that’s code for ‘Stop being a bitch.’ ‘You should smile more.’ … We know that it takes quite a bit of fortitude to present our true selves in the workplace and rebel against those stereotypes that have been expected of women.”
In some other areas of the music business, women fare better in their share of CEO roles. Though it’s far from gender parity, the publishing sector is a bright spot. Many of publishing’s most respected leaders are women, including Universal Music Publishing Group’s CEO/chair Jody Gerson, who has held her post for a decade, and Warner Chappell’s COO/co-chair Carianne Marshall at the majors and Reservoir Media’s founder/CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi and Peermusic’s CEO Mary Megan Peer at the large independents.
“It’s likely a result of a positive feedback loop,” says Khosrowshahi of the publishing sector. “As more women rise to the top of various publishing entities, that leads to the success of more women [beneath them].”
Ironically, though women artists in country music struggle to make their voices heard on country radio, the presence of female CEOs and chairs is stronger in Nashville. Today, all three major labels in town have women in their highest ranks: Mabe is chair/CEO of UMG Nashville, Lindsey is soon to become chairman/CEO of Sony Nashville, and Cris Lacy is co-chair/co-president of Warner Music Nashville.
The C-suites at the majors do have women among their ranks: Alamo, ICLG, The Orchard and Verve all have women COOs in Juliette Jones, Annie Lee, Colleen Theis and Dawn Olejar, respectively; Julie Swidler is general counsel at Sony Music and Erica Bellarosa holds the same title at Atlantic Music Group; Republic Records counts Wendy Goldstein as president/chief creative officer and Donna Gryn as chief marketing officer; Capitol (Lilia Parsa), Columbia (Jenifer Mallory), Virgin (Jacqueline Saturn), Interscope (Michelle An, Nicole Wyskoarko), Atlantic (Lanre Gaba), 10K Projects (Molly McLachlan), 300 Entertainment (Rayna Bass), ADA (Cat Kreidich) and EMPIRE (Tina Davis) all have women with president or co-president titles; and high-ranking women can be found across the corporate majors and individual labels.
But the path to the chief executive’s office remains an especially challenging one — and even then, some women CEOs say they still feel excluded from the conversations, meetings or other gatherings where decision-making happens in their organizations.
When Greenwald was named Billboard’s 2017 Women in Music Executive of the Year, she spoke of how she hoped her platform could lead to more women executives in the next generation. “I love all the women here who put their hands up and say, ‘Listen, at some point I want your chair,’” Greenwald said. “I want someone to come take this chair. I want women to come in with a tape measure.”
The independent music sector has offered executives like Rahmani, Gleeson, Khosrowshahi, Prospere and Milana Rabkin Lewis, co-founder/CEO of STEM Disintermedia, another path, thanks to the growth of indie music’s market share both in the U.S. and abroad. For Rabkin Lewis, who got her start at UTA before founding the distributor/label, she says she wanted to run her own independent company because “I could be more in control. I also wanted to set a new example, and I wanted to create my own path, which potentially had [fewer] road bumps and hurdles than the perceived corporate path.”
Still, a high-ranking female music executive says it’s essential for the next generation to see women in CEO and chairwoman roles at the major labels specifically because “power comes in P&L responsibility, and there’s a scarcity of women at major labels who have P&L responsibility.” Another adds, “The major labels are the front lines… They’re the ones that set the tone for how the industry is going to proceed.”
Representatives for UMG, WMG and Sony declined to comment or did not respond to a request for comment.
Universal Music Group’s Virgin Music Group said on Monday it agreed to buy Downtown Music Holdings for $775 million cash in a deal that will bolster the world’s largest music company’s slice of the independent music segment. Founded in 2007 in New York, Downtown Music Holdings is the parent company of the direct-to-creator distributor CD Baby, […]
K-pop stocks rebounded this week from a slump caused by the country’s political turmoil. HYBE, which was also dragged down by news of an investigation of its chairman, Bang Si-Hyuk, regarding the company’s 2020 initial public offering, led the group of South Korean music companies by gaining 8.7% to 205,500 won ($143.16), bringing the stock back to its level from one month ago. Elsewhere, YG Entertainment gained 7.2% to 48,250 won ($33.61) to recapture losses from the previous three weeks while SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment had smaller improvements of 3.3% and 2.6%, respectively.
The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) dropped 1.6% to 2,243.59, marking its first weekly decline in seven weeks. After reaching record highs in each of the previous five weeks, the index was overcome by the losses among 13 of its 20 stocks. The BGMI fared worse than many major indexes. In the United States, the Nasdaq composite gained 0.3% and the S&P 500 fell 0.6%. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 lost 0.1%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index gained 2.7% while China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4%.
Trending on Billboard
The week’s biggest gainer was Abu Dhabi-based music streaming company Anghami. In the absence of any market-moving news or regulatory filing, the company’s shares spiked 17.4% on Tuesday (Dec. 10) on heavy trading volume. On an average day, 80,000 shares of Anghami trade hands. But nearly 3.5 million shares — 5% of the company’s shares outstanding — were traded on Tuesday, and another 616,000 shares exchanged hands over the next two days.
Other than Anghami and K-pop stocks, only two companies posted gains this week. Universal Music Group, the index’s second-largest company, gained 4.6% to 24.46 euros ($25.69), its best closing price since it lost 24% following second-quarter earnings on July 25. Warner Music Group improved 0.3% to $32.52.
Spotify, the hottest music stock of 2024, had a losing week for the first time since September. The streaming company’s share price dropped 3.1% to $483.31, finishing the week 4.6% off its all-time high of $506.47 set on Dec. 4. Still, investors have renewed faith in Spotify after the company improved its margins and bottom line while maintaining the same rapid growth rate before it laid off nearly a quarter of its workforce in 2023. Spotify shares are up 157.2% year to date and the company’s market capitalization briefly surpassed $100 billion a week ago.
Live Nation shares fell 0.6% to $135.95 despite more analysts raising price targets on the concert promoter’s share price this week. Wolfe Research increased its price target to $160 from $152. JP Morgan upped its price target to $150 from $137. And Roth MKM raised Live Nation to $152 from $132. Live Nation’s stock is up 45.2% year to date and is one of the best performers on the BGMI.
SiriusXM had the week’s biggest loss after dropping 14.8% to $24.11. On Tuesday, the company announced guidance for 2025 revenue that would represent a 2% decline from full-year 2024 revenue guidance. The company also revealed it is doubling down on in-car listening and refocusing on satellite radio after its year-old streaming app delivered disappointing results. Following the news, Seaport Global lowered its recommendation on SiriusXM’s stock to “neutral” from “buy.”
In other stock moves, German concert promoter CTS Eventim fell 4.9% to 34.37 euros ($36.10). The company announced this week that it acquired a 17% stake in French ticketing company France Billet. Lastly, New York-based live events company Madison Square Garden Entertainment dropped 8.5% to $34.37 and radio giant iHeartMedia was down 12.3% to $2.29.
What a year it’s been for the music business. With 2024 drawing to a swift close, Billboard put together a series of year-end stories running down the biggest developments in the worlds of record labels, publishing companies, live music, music law, radio, AI and sustainability over the past 12 months. And we certainly weren’t lacking […]
TikTok is taking the Canadian government to court.
Last month, the popular social media app was ordered by the federal government to “wind down” its operations in Canada following a national security review.
“We will challenge this order in court,” TikTok said at the time.
Now, the company is following through on the promise. TikTok Canada has filed notice of application for judicial review, which is an official legal challenge to the decision.
“This order would eliminate the jobs and livelihoods of our hundreds of dedicated local employees – who support the community of more than 14 million monthly Canadian users on TikTok, including businesses, advertisers, creators, and initiatives developed especially for Canada,” the company wrote on its official website. “We believe it’s in the best interest of Canadians to find a meaningful solution and ensure that a local team remains in place, alongside the TikTok platform.”
Trending on Billboard
TikTok posted the whole legal filing on its website, which you can read here. The document breaks down the order of events, suggesting TikTok cooperated with the security review but was surprised by the abrupt announcement.
The company is requesting a court date to challenge the decision in Vancouver, B.C., one of the two locations of its offices. The other is in Toronto.
The filing calls the order “grossly disproportionate” and says it “will result in the termination of hundreds of employees in Canada and the potential termination of over 250,000 contracts with Canadian-based advertisers.”
The legal filing also focuses on the impact to those creators who use the platform, stating that the order “will cause the destruction of significant economic opportunities and intangible benefits to Canadian creators, artists and businesses, and the Canadian cultural community more broadly.”
The federal government made the decision to shut down TikTok’s Canadian operations following a review of its Chinese parent company ByteDance Ltd., calling the operation “injurious to national security.” Canadian users would still be able to use and access TikTok, but the company would be forced to close its offices in Canada.
The filing follows a new law in the United States that would require ByteDance to divest TikTok by January 19, 2025 or face a ban in the country. – Richard Trapunski
≈
Charlotte Day Wilson to Play Special Orchestral Concert in Toronto in 2025
Charlotte Day Wilson is preparing for a hometown concert that she calls “a dream opportunity.”
On Feb. 28, 2025, the Grammy nominated R&B/soul singer-songwriter will play a Red Bull Symphonic concert with members of the the Symphonic Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall, the home of the acclaimed Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Charlotte Day
Emily Lipson
Tickets go on sale Friday, December 13, 2024 at redbull.ca/symphonic.
Previous editions of Red Bull Symphonic in Atlanta and Los Angeles have featured Rick Ross and Metro Boomin, plus special guests including John Legend, Swae Lee and more.
It will be the first orchestral concert for Wilson, and she’s approaching it as a full vision of her current state as a musician.
“I want people to come away from it understanding the musical makeup that I have and of my sense of self within music,” Charlotte Day Wilson tells Billboard Canada over Zoom from her apartment in Toronto.
She’s still in her early 30s, but Wilson has been recording and performing for well over a decade. With two albums and multiple EPs, she has a full body of work to play from, and she’s excited to rethink it in a new context.
Her 2024 album, Cyan Blue, has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Engineered Album, and though Jack Rochon was the primary engineer, Wilson says the two of them made everything in the room together as “an exchange of two people producing and engineering and writing all in tandem.”
Charlotte Day Wilson’s soulful voice and songwriting chops have become a secret weapon for many renowned musicians. She’s performed and collaborated with Kaytranada, Daniel Caesar, Mustafa, BadBadNotGood and Nelly Furtado, and one of her songs was even sampled by Drake.
The Grammy recognition and the ability to do a full-scale orchestral concert feels like a mark of wider recognition in a field that can often include a lot of isolation. It also feels like a “maturing moment,” she says, which fits her mindset right now.
“It’s something I think about a lot as an artist,” she says. “In an industry that is ruthlessly obsessed with youth, how do we graduate into a next chapter of life and still maintain our integrity and relevance. That’s something I think about all the time, and it’s something I want to approach really deliberately.” – R.T.
≈
Patrick Watson’s ‘Je te laisserai des mots’ Becomes First French-Language Song To Hit A Billion Spotify Streams
Canadian singer-songwriter Patrick Watson has made history on Spotify.
His 2010 song “Je te laisserai des mots” is now the first French-language song to hit a billion streams on the platform.
The song, a wistful composition led by piano and strings, was first written for the 2009 film Mères et Filles.
Listeners clearly agreed that the song has a cinematic quality: it went viral in 2021 and 2022, used by thousands of TikTokers — including Justin Bieber — to soundtrack serene or sad moments in their own lives during Covid restrictions.
Watson joins Bieber and other Canadian artists like Drake, Tate McRae, Alessia Cara and Shawn Mendes in Spotify’s Billions Club. Most of the other Canadian members are major label signees with a pop-oriented sound, which makes Watson — an acclaimed indie singer-songwriter represented by Montreal’s Secret City Records — a more unusual entry into the club.
“Je te laisserai des mots” was the most-streamed French language track both in Canada and globally this year on Spotify, while the veteran songwriter and producer is the No. 6 most popular Québécois artist on Spotify this year in Canada. He finishes alongside Quebec legends Les Cowboys Fringants and Celine Dion, pop star Charlotte Cardin and rappers Souldia and Enima.
Spotify notes that since 2019, listening to music in French has jumped by 94% on the app — which means after Watson, another Billions Club French-language song could only be a matter of time. – Rosie Long Decter
≈
Music Business Year In Review
Drop that tonearm on this week’s Executive Turntable, Billboard’s compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music.
Read on for personnel news but don’t forget to cast your vote for the Power 100 Players’ Choice Award, plus peruse our rundown of the richest music investors who made their bones outside the industry (hint: one rhymes with Lauren Tuffet), our weekly interview series spotlighting a single c-suiter and our calendar of notable goings-on.
Virgin Music Group named Mark Robinson to the newly created role of executive vice president of global business and legal affairs. In this role, Robinson will lead global business affairs and corporate strategy, supporting dealmakers worldwide to establish needle-moving partnerships. Robinson brings extensive experience, previously managing music business affairs for brands like MTV, CBS, BET, CMT and Paramount+ during a tenure Paramount Global. His career also includes serving as General Counsel at 300 Entertainment and BMG North America, as well as nearly a decade in Warner Music Group’s business affairs division. Based in New York City, Robinson will report to co-CEOs Ned Pastor and JT Myers, both of whom he worked with previously. “I am thrilled to re-unite with Nat and JT who I worked with previously and deeply respect,” he said. “Virgin is building a next generation music company, and I am looking forward to working with their world-class team on the wide variety of exciting global deals they have in the pipeline.”
Trending on Billboard
Former Warner Music Nashville co-chair and co-president Ben Kline joined Red Light Management’s executive leadership team in Nashville as a senior executive, reporting to Red Light founder Coran Capshaw. Kline will help oversee Red Light’s Nashville operations, in addition to focusing on new business opportunities for the company and its artists. Kline’s career has also included senior leadership roles at Ingrooves, Rostrum Records and UMG Nashville. “We are very happy to welcome Ben,” said Capshaw. “His experience and reputation within the Nashville music community make him a great addition to the Red Light team.” –Jessica Nicholson
SiriusXM Holdings named Wayne Thorsen as its new executive vp and chief operating officer, effective Dec. 16. Reporting to CEO Jennifer Witz, Thorsen will oversee product and technology functions, commercial activities, business development, consumer marketing and corporate strategy. His appointment — the company has never had a COO before — coincides with the departure of chief product and technology officer Joseph Inzerillo, who played a pivotal role in modernizing SiriusXM’s technology platform and launching its new streaming app before departing to pursue other opportunities. Thorsen brings extensive experience in product development, strategic partnerships, and business leadership. At ADT Inc., he led teams responsible for innovation and product engineering, spearheading the ADT+ platform and Trusted Neighbor product. His career also includes senior roles at Google, SoFi, Microsoft, Viacom, Telefónica Digital and BlueKai. CEO Jennifer Witz praised Thorsen’s expertise in business development and innovation. “Wayne is a seasoned leader who brings significant experience driving business development and innovation, and he is well-positioned to help guide the company through this next chapter as we sharpen our focus on delivering meaningful results alongside greater efficiency,” she said.
Crispin Hunt, a multi-platinum songwriter and producer, has been elected president of the PRS Members’ Council, starting Jan. 1. Known for his work with artists like Florence and The Machine, Lana Del Rey and Rod Stewart, Hunt has a strong background in advocacy — he’s been on the PRS Members’ Council since 2019, chaired the UK’s Ivors Academy and co-led the Featured Artists Coalition. As president, Hunt aims to champion the interests of PRS for Music’s songwriters, composers and publishers, and strengthen connections between music creators, the Members’ Council and PRS leadership. Hunt takes over from Michelle Escoffery, the council’s inaugural president, who launched initiatives on rights protection, education and career development.
Round Hill Music Royalty Partners appointed Katie Kowinski as chief of investor relations and business development. Reporting to CEO Josh Gruss, Kowinski will focus on expanding investor relationships and raising capital, supported by investor relations director Kellie Kirschner. Kowinski brings over 20 years of marketing and fundraising expertise in private equity and investment management, having previously led capital markets and music IP strategies at Raven Capital Management, plus roles at Kairos Ventures and Artisan Partners. Since its founding in 2010, Round Hill has raised and deployed over $1.1 billion, leveraging an integrated asset and music IP management platform with teams in London, Los Angeles, Nashville, and New York. The firm said its portfolio of music rights is currently valued at $900 million. Gruss emphasized music rights’ attractive investment opportunities and highlighted Kowinski’s experience as key to advancing Round Hill’s goals. “Round Hill prides itself as having been one of the first movers in the music rights investment space,” he added. “This has enabled us to build a trusted reputation throughout the music industry while achieving numerous successful exits for our investors over the years.”
Peermusic appointed Harry Knyt as head of A&R for the U.K. Based in London, Knyt will oversee signing, development and creative strategies for Peermusic’s UK publishing roster, leading the A&R team and reporting directly to managing director Ralph W. Peer. Knyt brings over a decade of experience from roles at Insanity Group, Milk & Honey, Sony Music/RCA, and NQ/Sony Music Publishing. His career highlights include managing Grammy-winning songwriters and producers and contributing to UK chart-topping albums and singles. Ralph W. Peer praised Knyt’s industry relationships, creative vision and dedication to artist and writer development, aligning with Peermusic’s nearly 100-year legacy. “He is an exceptional A&R executive with incredible taste, focus, and the ability to take our creative strategy in exciting directions,” Peer said of Knyt. “The opportunity to bring Harry on board to continue our legacy of artist/writer development a perfect fit for our creative culture at Peermusic U.K.”
Condé Nast has hired Antonious Porch away from SoundCloud, where he’s been general counsel for the last six and a half years, as well as chief diversity officer for part of that time. He is set to join the publishing giant as general counsel in February — there he will manage all legal, business affairs, policy and compliance matters, and serve as corporate secretary. (Condé hired a new DEI chief in November.) Before joining Soundcloud in early 2018, he was general counsel at Shazam, aiding in its transformation and eventual sale to Apple. Porch also held leadership roles at Viacom and began his career at Latham & Watkins. Replacing Porch as SoundCloud’s top legal advisor will be Ama Walton, who joined the company in early 2021 after several years handling legal affairs at BMG and EMI.
BOARD SHORTS: A2IM appointed Steven Hill, head of North American & global marketing at Warp Records, as chair of the indie label trade org’s 2024-2025 board of directors. Hill joins treasurer Tony Alexander, co-founder of Made in Memphis Entertainment, and secretary Nabil Ayers, president of Beggars Group, on the rxecutive committee. Hill supports a diverse range of artists at Warp Records, including Aphex Twin and Brian Eno. The new board also features industry leaders like Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group, and Louis Posen, founder and president of Hopeless Records … The AIMP released its ’25-’26 election results. In Atlanta, Tony D. Alexander was re-elected as chapter president, with Crystal Morris and Tye Huntley as co-veeps. David Alexander will serve as treasurer, and Cheryl Potts remains secretary. In Los Angeles, Frank Handy will succeed Marc Caruso as chapter president, with Eric Polin as vp, Yvonne Drazan as secretary, and David Quan as treasurer. In Nashville, Ree Guyer steps down as president but remains on the board, while Duane Hobson and Dave Pacula join as new members. In New York, Debbie Rose takes over as chapter president, with Jeff Pachman as vp, Art Levy as secretary, and outgoing prez Michael Lau as treasurer. A national chair will be selected in January.
Sun Label Group, encompassing Sun Records, Gaither Music Group, Green Hill Productions, and emeraldwave by Green Hill, announced key promotions and hires to support its continued growth. Promotions include Chad Smith as senior creative director, overseeing all creative output, and Bryce Egan as marketing manager for Sun Records, Green Hill Productions and emeraldwave. Olivia DeMasters assumes the new role of senior manager of catalog development, focusing on expanding the group’s catalog. Hayley Tolley is now social media and marketing manager for Gaither Music Group, managing engagement with Gaither’s extensive social media following. New hires include Mary Clark Webb as social media and community coordinator and Jeremy Maier as digital streaming coordinator for Green Hill, along with Maggie Hairston as marketing coordinator for Gaither Music Group.
Amanda Samii and Sam Schulman
Ziggy Chareton
Good Play Music, a new Los Angeles-based firm specializing in career management, publishing and development for songwriters, producers, artists, and creative directors, has launched. Founded by Amanda Samii, a veteran A&R pro known for her work with artists like Rogét Chahayed, ASHE and Jon Bellion, the company’s mission is to “elevate our clients’ talents, break down barriers, and spark meaningful conversations that inspire change in the entertainment industry.” Samii brings experience from Capitol Records and Kobalt Music Publishing. Joining Samii is Sam Schulman, a notable talent in management and A&R who has worked with stars such as ASHE and FINNEAS. Good Play’s roster already features acclaimed songwriters and visionary photographers with over 1 billion streams collectively, including Annie Schindel, CASHÆ, Matt Hall, David OD, Renee Cox, Elizabeth Miranda, Bradley Rittmann and Hunter Moreno. You can contact Samii at amanda@goodplaymusic.com.
Slipstream Music named Jonathan Lane as vice president of sync and partnerships at the music licensing platform. With over 15 years in music licensing and supervision, Lane will spearhead sync and partnership strategies, collaborating with networks, streaming platforms, production companies and ad agencies to deliver music-related solutions for global content creators. Lane previously served as vp and head of TV and film at Audio Network, where he oversaw U.S. operations, and as senior director of sync and licensing at 5 Alarm Music, which was recently acquired by Slipstream alongside Jingle Punks and Cavendish Music. This appointment supports Slipstream’s mission to redefine music licensing through strategic acquisitions and partnerships, including collaborations with Kobalt, to provide creator-safe music for digital and traditional media clients. CEO Dan Demole lauded Lane’s expertise and “deep industry connections,” saying they’ll “help us unlock new opportunities and strengthen our position as the best possible partner for creators, brands, and studios.”
River House Artists promoted Kayla Adkins to senior director of creative/A&R, where she will continue developing and managing the publishing roster of new and established songwriters. Adkins joined River House in 2018 and has worked with artists and writers including Pillbox Patti, Austin Snell and Hudson Westbrook. Lauren Lieu has joined the publishing team as director of creative, helping to support River House’s roster. Lieu’s career has included time at ole Music (now Anthem Entertainment) and Play It Again Music. –J.N.
Integrity Music tapped Stone Meyer as vice president of music publishing. Meyer previously worked at Capitol Christian Music Group and The Bridge Church, where he was executive pastor of worship and creative. At Integrity, Meyer will lead the creative publishing team and expand the song catalog. In addition, Taylor Agan was promoted to creative director and will report to Meyer. Agan, a Dove- and Grammy-nominated songwriter, joined Integrity in 2022 as A&R manager. Finally, Taylor Brady, who also joined Integrity in 2022, transitioned from business development director to A&R director. Both Brady and Meyer will report to Blaine Barcus, president of Integrity Music. These appointments aim to provide artists and songwriters with the necessary resources and support to succeed in the evolving music industry.
Deborah Mannis-Gardner and Pär Almqvist launched AYO Music Group, a copyright administration company specializing in global management of publishing, neighboring rights and recordings. AYO focuses on organizing and protecting music copyrights while educating rightsholders on maximizing licensing opportunities. Mannis-Gardner, owner and president of DMG Clearances, and Almqvist, co-founder and ex-CEO of Tracklib, collaborated with SyncLodge chief legal officer Stacey Haber to launch AYO. Since its soft launch, AYO has built a catalog exceeding one billion streams, featuring tracks from A$AP Ant, MC Lyte, and numerous estates. The company also offers free webinars on music copyright and will collaborate with IAFAR on Jan. 21 for a session on neighboring rights and producer payments. AYO aims to empower rightsholders with knowledge and tools to optimize their revenue potential.
Stephen Stallings is the new senior director of creative sync and advertising at Silver Side Productions. Based in New York, Stallings will report to head of music licensing Craig O’Neill and oversee ad pitching for the company’s diverse catalog, featuring 1950s-1970s recordings and independent artists. This appointment aligns with Silver Side’s efforts to expand in advertising and diversify its roster. With over a decade of experience, Stallings previously served as an in-house music supervisor at Dentsu, managing music licensing and production for major brands like American Express, Verizon, and United Airlines. Stallings expressed enthusiasm for the role, highlighting the opportunity to reconnect audiences with classic tracks while exploring innovative sync opportunities for Silver Side’s catalog. Silver Side Productions owner and co-founder Mike Locke added, “His knack for pitching and deep knowledge of both the music and ad industries perfectly aligns with Silver Side’s sync-driven business ethos and is integral to our next phase of growth.”
ICYMI:
Tim Leiweke
CD Baby, one of the biggest do-it-yourself distribution services in the industry, laid off members of its creator services team last week … plus Oak View Group chairman and CEO Tim Leiweke sat down with our friends in Canada to talk up the company’s strategy there, his dream of a national stadium and being “dragged into” the DOJ’s lawsuit back in the U.S.
Last Week’s Turntable: A Goldenvoice Legend Retires
Universal Music Group (UMG) signed a strategic partnership deal with global advertising and public relations giant WPP that will center around audience engagement strategies “leveraging the power of music,” according to a press release. The deal will allow WPP clients access to UMG’s music catalog, with the two companies working together to “unlock additional areas of amplification through data-driven and technological innovation” and exploring ways artificial intelligence “can better help brands and artists connect and create authentic cultural moments,” the release adds. The partnership builds on a pre-existing relationship between UMG and WPP, which have previously teamed up on initiatives including the Coke Studio and Sprite Limelight music platforms. In a statement, UMG chief digital officer and executive vp Michael Nash said that by “combining innovative new technologies with UMG’s industry-leading data insights, we can create significant new commercial opportunities for our artists and songwriters. In addition, working together with WPP, we will harness and amplify the unmatched power and reach of music for WPP’s clients and brands through new strategic initiatives and programs.”
Sony Music launched in Greece following its acquisition of Cobalt Music, one of the country’s biggest independent labels, to re-establish Sony Music Entertainment Greece. The deal will allow Cobalt artists to connect with audiences internationally. it was concurrently announced that Anna Maria Antippas will serve as MD of Sony Music Entertainment Greece after having held leadership roles in the Greek music industry for nearly 20 years. Greek music industry revenues reached $70.4 million last year, a 14.91% increase from the prior year. Streaming accounts for 63.1% of that revenue, marking year-over-year growth of 15.2%, while synch revenues have increased 49.4%, according to a press release.
Virgin Music Group struck a strategic long-term agreement with Hungama Digital Media, a leading digital entertainment company operating out of India. Through the deal, Virgin will help expand the global reach of Hungama’s music catalog, including SVF, Grassroute, OTV and numerous film soundtracks. In turn, the deal will allow Virgin to deepen its presence in India’s regional music scene. “Hungama’s expansive network will enable us to unlock incredible new opportunities for our artists,” said Amit Sharma, country manager of India for Virgin Music Group, in a statement.
CTS Eventim acquired a 17% stake in French ticketing company France Billet from Fnac Darty, making it France Billet’s majority shareholder. Fnac Darty retains a 35% stake after the transaction and will continue its involvement in the company’s governance. France Billet’s management team will remain in place following the deal.
AEG Presents assumed a partnership stake in Germany-based concert promotion company MCT Agentur. “I wanted a partner who shared my vision of how our business should run and could provide some extra muscle in my corner when needed,” said MCT Agentur founder Scumeck Sabottka in a statement on the deal. “Concert promotion is still a gamble…that’s what makes it fun, but it’s a full-contact sport at times. You need a teammate you can trust and Jay and I trust each other.”
Warner Music Japan (WMJ) entered a strategic partnership with NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan (NBCUJ) through which it will produce and promote new releases by NBCUJ’s artists. WMJ will additionally acquire the distribution rights of more than 9,000 works in NBCU’s music catalog, including anime-related tracks, and begin digitally distributing them globally starting early next year. WMJ will also handle distribution and sales of physical products. The two companies will also work to expand opportunities for music tie-ins with anime projects, exploring possibilities for WMJ artists to contribute songs to NBCUJ titles. With the deal, WMJ has also launched an anime business division, which has brought on former Aniplex president/CEO Koichiro Natsume and former TMS Entertainment Co. senior executive officer Hiroyasu Shinohara as external advisors. “This partnership will not only enable us to help bring NBCUJ’s catalog to the world through our global network, but also give our artists opportunities to further grow their careers by leveraging anime-related collaborations,” said Takeshi Okada, president/CEO of WMJ, in a statement.
Under a new strategic partnership, ADA — Warner Music Group’s indie music distribution and artist services arm — will now oversee worldwide distribution for music projects developed by FaroLatino Music, the label division of ForoLatino. “This alliance marks an important chapter for both companies as we unite to champion Latin American music on a global scale,” Javier Fainzaig, president of FaroLatino, said in a statement. ADA president Cat Kreidich added, “We’re excited to partner with FaroLatino and help lead the charge on the global growth and recognition of the many diverse artists and genres that make up Latin music.” Launched in 1995, FaroLatino offers artist services ranging from marketing and press to strategic partnerships. Some of its latest projects include Jessi Uribe and Alejandro Fernández’s collab “Tu Maniquí” and Noche de Brujas and Jorge Celedón’s cross-genre single “Vente Conmigo.” – Griselda Flores
Event management platform Events.com acquired the Wonderfront Music & Arts Festival out of San Diego. “Under our ownership, we’ll streamline operations and create more digital engagement opportunities for guests,” said Stephen Partridge, president/COO of Events.com, in a statement. Launched in 2019, Wonderfront boasted nearly 42,000 attendees at this year’s edition of the festival. “With Events.com’s expertise in event management and the innovative capabilities of its platform, we’re looking forward to creating even more memorable experiences for our guests as we enhance our operational efficiencies, including ticketing, guest engagement, and overall festival management,” added Wonderfront founder/executive producer Paul Thornton. The 2025 iteration of the festival is slated for May 16-18.
Create Music Group acquired a 50% share of the London-based dance music label and music publisher Enhanced Music, which boasts such genre brands as Enhanced Recordings, Enhanced Progressive, Colorize, Shapes of Solitude and Enhanced Chill. Enhanced has publishing rights to thousands of songs by artists including The Chainsmokers, Elley Duhé, Tiësto and Steve Aoki.
Symphonic Distribution partnered with Masterchannel to provide artists with an AI mastering tool that makes tracks release-ready and optimized for streaming. Under the deal, Symphonic artists can upload as many tracks as they want and receive unlimited free full-length master previews.
Also at Symphonic, the company signed South Korean lable EchoesInDream (EID) to a global distribution deal. Upcoming EID releases include “Swimmin’”, a collaboration between Filipino R&B artist Jay R and emerging artists PAAK and AVN, along with new music from PAAK, an Afrobeats artist. Both are slated for release in January.