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At the Music Biz 2025 conference in Atlanta, the “Let’s Get Physical” segment opened with a panel featuring Luminate’s director of partnerships, Chris Muratore, who shared the latest industry insights around the continued success of Record Store Day.
One of Muratore’s slides pointed out that in the last 10 years, there have only been a dozen weeks in which album sales reached the 1 million unit mark, and Record Store Day was responsible for five of those weeks, with most of the other million-selling weeks coming during the year-end holiday season.
Staying with the panel’s theme of updating the industry on “Indie Retail Sales Data,” Muratore explained how Luminate — which shares a parent company with Billboard, Penske Media — has evolved its approach since partnering with StreetPulse to gather data from independent record shops.
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Muratore — who was joined by Coalition of Independent Music Stores executive director Andrea Paschal and StreetPulse CEO John Weston on the panel — began with a brief history lesson, explaining how Luminate’s predecessor, SoundScan, first began tracking indie retail data back when physical music was the only game in town. At the time, around 300 independent stores reported sales. However, the weighting system used to extrapolate sales for the entire indie sector hadn’t been updated since it was first implemented in 1991.
When Luminate began its collaboration with StreetPulse in 2024, it was only after it had made the controversial decision to end weighting for indie stores at the end of 2023, resulting in widespread industry resistance.
By June 2024, Luminate struck a deal to collaborate with StreetPulse on collecting indie retail sales data and assembled a dedicated data team to develop a new, more flexible and efficient weighting model to replace the outdated system. As part of the partnership, Luminate initially gathered sales reports from 200 indie stores, with the number growing to around 250 stores by the end of 2024, according to Muratore.
For her part, Paschal acknowledged that Music Biz president Portia Sabin “was very involved in bringing us all together.”
Muratore noted that, through its partnership with StreetPulse, Luminate continues to expand its network of reporting stores, now surpassing 400 locations contributing sales data. “We think we have identified another 100-plus stores to bring on by the end of the year, so we will have over 500 stores reporting sales,” he said.
In order to get to 500 stores, Weston thanked labels and distributors for pointing out retailers that should be added. Then, speaking to store owners, he pointed out that one of the challenges is that every store owner runs their business “a little different.” “There is a reason you are called independent because you are all different,” he noted. “So if you are not reporting to us and want to, we need to know what kind of POS system you have.”
While Luminate may reach 500 reporting stores — roughly one-third of the estimated 1,500 independent U.S. shops selling new physical music — by year’s end, that one-third likely represents about two-thirds of total physical sales volume. Conversely, the remaining two-thirds of stores that aren’t yet reporting likely account for just one-third of the volume. “That’s because we know who the tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 stores are,” Muratore explained.
Also, as Luminate and StreetPulse add stores, the new weighting system is flexible enough to accommodate the new ones coming on without distorting the sales picture.
Using the new weighting system, Luminate apparently backfilled the weighted numbers back to the beginning of last year because Muratore reported that in 2024, while physical sales were 77.8 million, the largest segment was indie retail, which collectively sold 23 million album copies of vinyl and CDs, representing 36% of physical sales.
Breaking it down, Muratore noted that of the 44.4 million vinyl albums tracked by Luminate in 2024, independent retailers accounted for 17.3 million — roughly 36%. And indie retail continues to gain ground, particularly in vinyl sales: In just the first four months of 2025, indie stores were responsible for 5.7 million of the 13.1 million vinyl units sold, representing 44% of total sales, he said.
As for CD sales, last year indie stores collectively accounted for 5.4 million of total U.S. sales of 32.9 million CD copies, or 17% of CD sales. So far this year, indie stores account for 1.8 million units of the 8 million CD sales recorded so far — or 22% of CD sales.
Focusing on Record Store Day, Muratore emphasized the importance of recognizing who’s buying physical music today. Unlike the early days of the vinyl revival, he noted, it’s no longer just older people driving sales of physical music — and Record Store Day clearly reflects that shift.
Muratore reported that the top three Record Store Day 2025 titles were Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight” single featuring Post Malone, which led with 59,000 copies sold; Malone’s Tribute to Nirvana with 12,000 copies; and Gracie Abrams’ Live From Radio City Music Hall, which moved 11,000 units.
Muratore further emphasized the shift toward a younger demographic in physical music buying, noting that a recent Luminate consumer survey found that 25% of vinyl purchasers are under the age of 25. He went on to urge labels and music distributors to make sure “they put the right product out for who the consumer is for physical,” adding that the younger physical music buyers wanted Swift and the Wicked soundtrack album.
“We have to pay attention to who is showing up in the stores because it has changed drastically,” Muratore said. “If there were more allocation, this could have been the biggest Record Store Day ever.”
The International Music Summit (IMS) will return to Dubai this fall. This will be the electronic music industry conference’s second time in the United Arab Emirates after debuting in Dubai in late 2024. The event will happen November 13-14 at 25hours Hotel One Central. At this year’s conference, IMS will gather industry figures from the […]
LONDON — Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena has teamed up with Adidas and Abbey Road Studios for the launch of a new recording studio inside its premises.
The Adidas Originals Recording Studio is situated inside the U.K.’s largest music arena and has been designed as “a vibrant hub for emerging musical talent and young creative communities.” The studio has been engineered by Abbey Road’s technicians and sound engineers.
The studio in Manchester, England will be available to local musicians from August onwards. The initiative is launched in conjunction with a number of existing schemes, including Abbey Road’s Amplify and Equalise programmes, which hosts a number of panels, workshops and recording opportunities at the iconic London studios each year.
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Factory’s International’s Factory Sounds initiative, which provides financial support and mentorship to underrepresented groups in the Greater Manchester area, is also involved with the project. Courteeners frontman Liam Fray, who was born and raised in Middleton, Manchester, opened the studio with an acoustic live performance and praised the space and the opportunities it may provide: “To have something of this level up here that is a focal point in Manchester opens up the industry and takes it to a wider audience.”
Despite a rocky, delayed opening, the Co-op Live Arena has become a key venue on the U.K.’s touring circuit, with a number of huge acts set to perform there this summer, including Bruce Springsteen, Olivia Rodrigo, Tyler, the Creator, Massive Attack and more.
Sally Davies, managing director of Abbey Road Studios, said in a statement: “The launch of the adidas Originals Recording Studio is a world-first collaboration creating a new, Abbey Road-engineered recording space beyond the walls of our home in London.”
“We are enormously proud to partner with Adidas, Co-op Live and Factory International to create a new platform for talent in Manchester and the North-West, expanding our mission to enable and empower the global community of music makers and creators, and shape the future of music making.”
LONDON — A new Tube map showcasing the breadth of London’s artists and music venues has been published as part of a campaign championing the capital’s grassroots scene.
The map highlights record shops, nightclubs and historic locations across the city, as well as venues such as XOYO and Electrowerkz to institutions such as the Barbican. London-raised artists including Dua Lipa, Dave and recent Billboard U.K. cover star Loyle Carner also feature.
Each Underground line has been reimagined as a different aspect of the city’s music scene, with the Jubilee line displaying London-made albums, the Metropolitan line showing independent record labels, and the District line listing “25 artists to see in 2025.” The iconic map was designed by Harry Beck and first came into use in 1933.
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London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan and Transport for London (TfL) joined forces with media leaders to devise the map as part of the London Creates campaign. Over the next month, it will be displayed at digital exhibition space Outernet London in Tottenham Court Road.
In a statement, Khan said: “London’s grassroots music scene is renowned around the world. From providing opportunities for talented aspiring artists to develop their trade, to giving Londoners a great night out, our venues are an essential part of our life at night and provide a huge boost to our economy.
“However, they have faced huge challenges in recent years, which is why we’re joining with partners across the capital to champion all parts of London’s grassroots music scene. This special edition Tube map is a great way to highlight what a huge impact the scene has on our capital, as we continue to do all we can to support venues and build a more prosperous London for everyone.”
Mark Davyd, founder and CEO of Music Venue Trust, added: “London is one of the world’s great music cities, constantly reinventing itself with new sounds, new genres, and incredible new artists. The network of grassroots music venues in London are an essential part of what makes the capital’s music thrive, delivering an extraordinary range of music, community and life changing experiences at affordable prices.”
According to City Hall, London is home to 179 grassroots music venues, which in the last year have welcomed more than 4.2m audience members, hosted performances by more than 328,000 artists, employed nearly 7,000 people and contributed £313m ($417m) to the economy.
The map was formally published in the Metro newspaper yesterday (May 13). Further information about the campaign can be found at the newspaper’s official website.
Bill Ackman, whose hedge fund Pershing Square Capital has been among Universal Music Group’s largest investors, said he will resign from his seat on UMG’s board of directors effective Wednesday “due to new executive and board obligations arising from his recent investments,” according to a company statement. In a brief announcement posted Wednesday hours ahead […]
Chinese streaming platform Tencent Music Entertainment grew its stake in the world’s largest music company, Universal Music Group (UMG), by picking up a direct 2% equity holding worth $327 million in March, the company said on Tuesday (May 13).
While it did not identify the seller — described in Tuesday’s filings only as “one of our associates” — Pershing Square sold 50 million shares of UMG on March 13, raising about $1.3 billion, according to filings and research reports. Tencent Music and Pershing Square did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The news means that Tencent Music and UMG each own notable stakes in each other’s companies, as UMG owns a 0.79% stake in TME as of Dec. 31 that’s currently worth $181.2 million.
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Tencent Music has been an investor in UMG since March 2020, when it joined a consortium of investors led by its parent company, Tencent Holdings. That consortium accumulated a 20% stake in UMG from UMG’s parent company, Vivendi S.A., between 2020 and 2021, of which Tencent Music owned a 10% share, according to filings.
This March, that consortium “completed a transfer of the UMG shares held by the consortium to its members,” which resulted in Tencent Music acquiring a direct 2% equity interest in UMG, according to its annual report.
Tencent Music, which reported first-quarter revenue of 7.36 billion Chinese yuan ($1.01 billion) on Tuesday, recognized “other gains” worth 2.44 billion Chinese yuan (US$336 million), of which the UMG stock comprised 2.37 billion Chinese yuan (US$327 million), according to filings.
Pershing Square has been an investor in UMG since 2021, and though the mid-March stock sale reduced its stake in UMG to 4.9% from 7.6%, the music company remains the hedge fund’s largest single holding, comprising 17% of its capital.
The sale came ahead of Pershing Square’s plan to register its UMG shares in the United States in September. Pershing Square head and UMG board member Bill Ackman has advocated for the company to move its primary listing from the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange to a U.S.-based exchange, saying it would add value for the company.
Jeremy Sirota will leave Merlin at the end of the year, the licensing organization announced on Tuesday (May 13).
Sirota has served as CEO since 2020, guiding Merlin as it steers digital music licensing for independent labels and distributors. During Sirota’s tenure, Merlin reached new deals with Apple, Audiomack, Canva, Peloton, Snap, Twitch and more.
In a statement, Darius Van Arman, who is both chairperson of Merlin and co-founder/co-owner of Secretly Group, called Sirota “an extraordinary CEO” who brought “great focus, tremendous energy and brilliant thinking to one of the most important and challenging roles within the independent community.”
“His work and leadership has Merlin more prepared than ever to manage an increasingly complex music licensing landscape and to achieve our mission of enabling greater independence for all Merlin members,” Van Arman continued.
In his own statement, Sirota called helming Merlin “the privilege of a lifetime.” He added that the organization continues “to be the most important organization representing independents” and that it “has a bright future.”
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Sirota previously worked as a tech lawyer before spending nine years at Warner Music Group and then jumping to Facebook Music.
That experience “gave me the ability to relate to people at different levels in the business, whether it’s a product manager at a digital platform, or an engineer who’s now a founder of a startup, or it’s a member who runs a metal label,” he told Billboard last year. “I’ve always been on the service side, and that’s always been the through line.”
During Sirota’s time as CEO, Merlin added over 100 members. In addition, the organization launched Merlin Engage, a program to mentor the next generation of women executives, and Merlin Insights, to help members analyze the deluge of data that’s available in world of streaming.
“We now have a data operations team to make sure that all trends data is being delivered in the right format,” Sirota explained in 2024. “Our market share on some of these platforms is significant — more than just the 15% we talk about. So we have this incredible wealth of data. We have the ability to pull out interesting stories that help our members — things they don’t know because they’re not on the ground.”
After shaping some of the biggest acts in global pop, HYBE is setting its sights on Latin music with an ambitious new reality series from its subsidiary, HYBE Latin America. Billboard has exclusively learned that production kicks off this week in Mexico City on the yet-to-be-titled project, which aims to form a new all-male pop group.
The series will train and develop 16 contestants from countries including Mexico, Brazil, the U.S., Peru and Spain, narrowing the field to a final five by the end of the season this fall.
The series’ format and execution differs from other reality talent competition in multiple key ways. First and foremost, it’s HYBE’s first artist development venture of this scale focused entirely on Latin talent, combining the development discipline the company has applied in K-pop with Latin American cultural and artistic sensibility.
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Further, instead of airing as a carefully formatted weekly television show, the reality show is a multi-platform production that integrates long-form storytelling, performance content and behind-the-scenes narratives distributed across streaming, social and music platforms.
The project also features a roster of mentors that may be unprecedented in a Latin reality show. It includes director and choreographer Kenny Ortega (High School Musical, The Descendants) as executive producer; Charm La’Donna (Kendrick Lamar’s 2024 Super Bowl, Bruno Mars) as head choreographer; and Robert J “RAab” Stevenson (SZQ, Rihanna) as head vocal coach.
“This project is about much more than music. It’s about reimagining how Latin talent can be discovered, developed and presented to the world. We are building the foundation for the next generation of global Latin artists with the highest creative and production standards,” said J.H. Kah, CEO of HYBE Latin America, who is leading efforts on the venture, in a statement.
The new project joins a roster of properties that includes newly-announced talent competition Pase a la Fama, which HYBE Latin America developed with Telemundo. The competition show seeks to find the next regional Mexican band and premieres on Telemundo June 8 with Ana Bárbara, Horacio Palencia and Adriel Favela as judges.
This show, however, doesn’t have a partner network.
While contestants officially arrive in Mexico this week (beginning May 12), preproduction for the show has been underway for months. Hundreds of applications poured in from across Latin America and the U.S., leading to an initial shortlist of 300 candidates. From there, 16 finalists were selected to begin intensive training at a custom-built “bootcamp” located in Mexico City’s Parque Bicentenario.
The bootcamp will include some 30 instructors, including vocal coaches, producers, fitness trainers and choreographers and is supported by Weverse, HYBE’s extremely successful social media/fandom platform.
HYBE Latin America
courtesy of HYBE Latin America. ©️ 2025 HYBE Corporation.
Make no mistake — this is a distinctly Latin production. The show is being helmed by two seasoned Colombian producers: showrunner Jaime Escallón (X Factor, Survivor) and production designer Lucas Jaramillo. Both serve as executive producers and co-creators of the format, with a clear mission to build a production environment that authentically reflects Latin culture.
“This is different from other talent reality shows in that it takes place in a space designed for the city to participate in,” says Jaramillo, noting that production is working closely with Mexico City government and fans will be allowed to actually visit the space and be part of performances and media experiences. “That’s why we’ve developed a cultural program that’s both artistic and media driven, and includes things like podcasts. This is a show that’s alive.”
The project is HYBE Latin America’s latest venture after launching in 2023 with the acquisition of Exile Music, the music division of Spanish-language studio Exile Content, led by Isaac Lee, who is now chairman of HYBE Latin America. The company has moved quickly since then. With offices in Mexico City, Miami, and Los Angeles, the division houses labels such as DOCEMIL Music and Zarpazo Entertainment.
Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis is launching his own coffee brand, and he’s turning to Live Nation for help getting it in front of coffee drinkers.
Today, Kiedis and longtime friend Shane Powers are debuting their coffee in a can consumer brand JOLENE along with a marketing campaign, which a press release says is “built to move with the rhythm of live entertainment and meet the ambition of those living life to the fullest.”
Kiedis and Powers have partnered with Live Nation as both an investor and distribution partner for JOLENE. The global concert promoter will carry the coffee brand at its festivals and 40 amphitheaters owned or operated by Live Nation, including the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington, Northwell at Jones Beach Theater in New York and Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront in Richmond, Virginia.
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Live Nation is an equity investor in JOLENE as is consumer spirits company Global Brand Equities and h.wood Group founder John Terzian. The agreement is similar to one Live Nation struck with water company Liquid Death in 2021 and its celebrity ownership group that included Wiz Khalifa, Machine Gun Kelly, Steve Aoki and Tony Hawk. That agreement had Live Nation selling Liquid Death at its 120 owned-and-operated venues as part of a larger sustainability effort to phase out the sale of single-use plastics at all owned and operated venues and events.
JOLENE comes in two flavors: Black (cold brew) and White (oat milk latte) and will be used to make four signature cocktails at Live Nation-owned venues. According to a press release, JOLENE is sourced through an all-female co-op in Peru, “ensuring high-quality beans while directly supporting the women growers and their communities,” the release reads. The product is also available for purchase online at retailers in Los Angeles and New York.
The origin of the coffee goes back several years, according to Kiedis. “Shane shouted at me down the sidewalk ‘Let’s do something!’ I shouted back ‘how ’bout coffee’? He said ‘done.’ And so began the adventure of putting a high-quality spin on a can of coffee.”
The name JOLENE is a spin on the phrase “cup of Joe” and the common descriptor “skinny latte” or “lean latte” referring to a latte without whole milk, as well as a reference to the hit country music song “Jolene” by Dolly Parton.
Russell Wallach, Live Nation’s global president of Media & Sponsorship added “Fans want options that fit the pace and energy of live music,” noting, “Cold brew has come up again and again, and JOLENE delivers — it’s high quality, easy to enjoy, and adds something new to the fan experience. It’s one more way we’re evolving to meet what fans are asking for.”
On Friday afternoon, the U.S. Copyright Office released a report examining copyrights and generative AI training, which supported the idea of licensing copyrights when they are used in commercial AI training.
On Saturday (May 10), the nation’s top copyright official – Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter – was terminated by President Donald Trump. Her dismissal shortly follows the firing of the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, who appointed and supervised Perlmutter. In response, Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) of the House Administration Committee, which oversees the Copyright Office and the Library of Congress, said that he feels it is “no coincidence [Trump] acted less than a day after [Perlmutter] refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk’s efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models.”
This report was largely seen as a win among copyright owners in the music industry, and it noted three key stances: the Office’s support for licensing copyrighted material when a “commercial” AI model uses it for training, its dismissal of compulsory licensing as the correct framework for a future licensing model, and its rejection of “the idea of any opt-out approach.”
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The Office affirms that in “commercial” cases, licensing copyrights for training could be a “practical solution” and that using copyrights without a license “[go] beyond established fair use boundaries.” It also notes that some commercial AI models “compete with [copyright owners] in existing markets.” However, if an AI model has been created for “purposes such as analysis or research – the types of uses that are critical to international competitiveness,” the Office says “the outputs are unlikely to substitute” for the works by which they were trained.
“In our view, American leadership in the AI space would best be furthered by supporting both of these world-class industries that contribute so much to our economic and cultural advancement. Effective licensing options can ensure that innovation continues to advance without undermining intellectual property rights,” the report reads.
While it is supportive of licensing efforts between copyright owners and AI firms, the report recognizes that most stakeholders do not hold support “for any statutory change” or “government intervention” in this area. “The Office believes…[that] would be premature at this time,” the report reads. Later, it adds “we agree with commenters that a compulsory licensing regime for AI training would have significant disadvantages. A compulsory license establishes fixed royalty rates and terms and can set practices in stone; they can become inextricably embedded in an industry and become difficult to undo. Premature adoption also risks stifling the development of flexible and creative market-based solutions. Moreover, compulsory licenses can take years to develop, often requiring painstaking negotiation of numerous operational details.”
The Office notes the perspectives of music-related organizations, like the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which all hold a shared distaste for the idea of a future compulsory or government-controlled license for AI training. Already, the music industry deals with a compulsory license for mechanical royalties, allowing the government to control rates for one of the types of royalties earned from streaming and sales.
“Most commenters who addressed this issue opposed or raised concerns about the prospect of compulsory licensing,” the report says. “Those representing copyright owners and creators argued that the compulsory licensing of works for use in AI training would be detrimental to their ability to control uses of their works, and asserted that there is no market failure that would justify it. A2IM and RIAA described compulsory licensing as entailing ‘below-market royalty rates, additional administrative costs, and… restrictions on innovation’… and NMPA saw it as ‘an extreme remedy that deprives copyright owners of their right to contract freely in the market, and takes away their ability to choose whom they do business with, how their works are used, and how much they are paid.’”
The Office leaves it up to the copyright owners and AI companies to figure out the right way to license and compensate for training data, but it does explore a few options. This includes “compensation structures based on a percentage of revenue or profits,” but if the free market fails to find the right licensing solution, the report suggested “targeted intervention such as [Extended Collective Licensing] ECL should be considered.”
ECL, which is employed in some European countries, would allow a collective management organization (CMO) to issue and administer blanket licenses for “all copyrighted works within a particular class,” much like the music industry is already accustomed to with organizations like The MLC (The Mechanical Licensing Collective) and performing rights organizations (PROs) like ASCAP and BMI. The difference between an ECL and a traditional CMO, however, is that under an ECL system, the CMO can license for those who have not affirmatively joined it yet. Though these ECL licenses are still negotiated in a “free market,” the government would “regulat[e] the overall system and excercis[e] some degree of oversight.”
While some AI firms expressed concerns that blanket licensing by copyright holders would lead to antitrust issues, the Copyright Office sided with copyright holders, saying “[the] courts have found that there is nothing intrinsically anticompetitive about the collective, or even blanket, licensing of copyrighted works, as long as certain safeguards are incorporated— such as ensuring that licensees can still obtain direct licenses from copyright owners as an alternative.”
This is a “pre-publication” version of a forthcoming final report, which will be published in the “near future without any substantive changes expected,” according to the Copyright Office. The Office noted this “pre-publication” was pushed out early in an attempt to address inquiries from Congress and key stakeholders.
It marks the Office’s third report about generative AI and its impact on copyrights since it launched an initiative on the matter in 2023. The first report, released July 31, 2024, focused on the topic of digital replicas. The second, from Jan. 29, 2025, addressed the copyright-ability of outputs created with generative AI.