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When country singer-songwriter Brett Young celebrated his first Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Diamond-certified single for his 2017 hit “In Case You Didn’t Know,” the Nashville party looked a bit different than the typical Music Row shindig. The father of two welcomed not only his wife and daughters, but music executives were encouraged to bring their children as well — with more than 30 kids taking part in the event.
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The celebration was also a launch party of sorts for Family Alliance in Music (FAM), a Nashville-based non-profit, which advocates for and supports professionals across all facets of the music industry, including executives and creatives, who are achieving their career aspirations while caring for members of their family units.
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FAM was co-founded by a collective of Nashville music executives — Jackie Jones (senior vp of artist and industry relations for the RIAA), Haley Montgomery (senior manager of awards & membership for the Academy of Country Music) and Margaret Hart (YouTube’s head of Nashville industry and label relations).
The organization offers a place of community, education, and support for all families, aiding music industry members who are also parents, caretakers for aging or sick family members, and those who want to start families. FAM’s multi-pronged approach encourages employers to provide clearly defined, comprehensive family benefits and flexible work practices, as well as offering information to employers detailing why such benefits are vital.
“We all have a family,” Montgomery tells Billboard.
The idea for FAM sparked in 2021, after Montgomery invited Jones to a breakfast meeting in Nashville.
“She thought I wanted to do the typical networking meeting, but I said, ‘I would love to talk about your kid,” Montgomery recalls. “You actually post about her [on social media] and you are successful. How does that work?’” At the time, Montgomery had been surveying the music industry around her as she was hoping to start a family.
“I had been looking at this industry that I had put so much of my heart into and I couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t going to support my full self, which included starting a family,” Montgomery says. “I showed her a survey I’d done across the industry — 25% of companies in the music industry don’t even support the minimal amount of time it takes to heal your body after giving birth. So, to me, that said, ‘This isn’t welcome here.’”
Meanwhile, Jones, who has an eight-year-old daughter, had been having conversations with Hart because they had heard from others in the music industry questioning how to balance family and career.
“Seeing how this is an industry that goes way beyond just the ‘9-to-5,’ and asks so much of those working in it — if the industry wants to truly be inclusive, it has to consider these issues,” Jones says.
“Part of what we’re doing is ripping the blindfold off,” adds Hart, a mother of two. “This is who we are; this is our whole selves.”
According to a survey of employers conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in March 2022, 24% of private-industry employees had access to paid family leave (parental leave and family caregiving leave) through their employers.
There is currently no federal law requiring paid family and medical leave for the private sector, though 13 states and the District of Columbia have laws creating paid family and medical leave programs for eligible workers. In Tennessee, the Tennessee Paid Family Leave Insurance Act went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, allowing insurance companies to offer paid family leave, which employers can voluntarily choose to purchase for their employees. The insurance would cover the birth or adoption of a child by the employee, placement of a child with the employee for foster care, care of a family member with a serious health condition, or in aiding families of service members of active duty or an impending call/order to active duty.
In surveying 20 music companies, FAM found that more than half offered at least 12 weeks of fully paid leave for birthing caretakers, while 25% supported only four weeks or less of fully paid leave for a birthing caretaker. Some of the top company policies did include aid for IVF, adoption and fertility testing.
FAM advocates for companies in the music industry to offer more comprehensive family benefits including, at a minimum, 12 weeks of fully paid leave for birthing caretakers, six weeks of fully paid leave for family caretakers (those caring for sick or aging family members) and for non-birthing caretakers, as well as offering travel to the nearest compliant state/care in aiding with termination assistance.
In 2023, the organization formed a task force encompassing top executives across the spectrum of the industry, including Shannon Casey (Wasserman Music), Halie Hampton-Mosley (Why & How Management), Morgan Mills (CmdShft), Tiffany Provenzano (mtheory), Rachael Terrell (Paramount), Rachel Wein (Prescription Songs), Dan Wise (maddjett) and Mackenzie Cooper (Triple Tigers).
The task force’s work is centered around four core pillars: education and resources, community, benefits and grants. In helping to increase visibility for parents and caretakers within the music industry, they just held a music industry family meet-up event in Nashville a few weeks ago. The task force is also working on holding a fertility-focused workshop and expanding the organization’s current benefits resource to include recommendations for employers regarding fertility benefits and caretaker leave. FAM is under fiscal sponsorship with the Players Philanthropy Fund (PPF), allowing the organization to receive charitable donations, while working to eventually have its own 501c-3.
“I’ve been so fortunate to work for companies that provided incredible benefits and understanding,” Jones says. “I’ve taken care of a child, I’ve had maternity leave. I’ve now lost a parent — those aren’t things you get over in a week—these are things you have to take time and have grace for.”
“It’s important to have diversity in our workforce,” Montgomery says. “Having people with different lifestyles and backgrounds at the table is going to allow you to reach more people. And it’s good business; it’s such a recruitment and retention tool.”
Hart says that their discussions with various music industry companies has been met with openness and she advises senior executives to advocate for others in their company through encouraging these policies.
“When you can be a senior executive and come into these conversations, make sure that as you protect yourself, that you’re protecting the people coming behind you, that maybe don’t have the influence that you have in the room. It’s not just about getting you the leave that you need — it’s about getting the new employee the leave that they will need if they decide to have a family or need to be a caretaker. We’ve had conversations where someone will say, ‘Oh, my boss told me I can kind of take what I need.’ That’s a lovely sentiment, but ultimately what happens when a coordinator or assistant might need to go on leave, they aren’t protected by the handshake agreement that you’ve just made.”
Jones notes that some of the industry members who have navigated the biggest issues with family and caretaking benefits are the creatives, musicians, and artists, and says they hope to provide grants to aid this segment of the industry: “These are the very people who drive the industry at large. How are we going to help the musicians, the touring teams? Those issues are harder than, ‘Hey, can you change your policies? There is no safety net for a 1099 touring employee.”
Jones adds that making meaningful change in this segment of the industry doesn’t always necessitate a complete policy overhaul.
“I don’t want people to think, ‘They want me to provide maternity leave to my entire road crew, my band.’ It’s about what other things can you do to help make things easier—can you help with shipping breast milk from the road? Or, if someone needs to spend several weeks caring for a sick or elderly family member, can you promise them that their job will still be there? It’s not about the cost; it’s about the culture.
“In the case of women touring, whether in a band or on the road, they are usually in the minority,” Jones continues. “If you are the only woman in the band, how do you speak up? Or you look around and there are those fears of, ‘If I voice this concern, what if I don’t get to be on this tour anymore?’ Or it could be a woman that is a tour manager, or a dad that wants to take time with his newborn, or someone who needs to care for a parent.’”
“We have to be proactive to create a safe space for people to have benefits and resources that are going to be able to keep them in this industry,” Hart says. “It’s a very complicated issue and I don’t want to say, ‘We’re going to fix it,’ but I think we can help make it better.”
Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) stock rose 15.7% to $15.43 after the release of its first-quarter earnings on Monday (May 13), which showed net profit rising 28% to $212 million as music subscription revenue surpassed $500 million and the company’s subscribers rose by 7 million to 113 million. Online music revenue climbed 43% to $693 million, helping offset a nearly 50% decrease in social entertainment revenues to $244 million.
Numerous analysts upped their price targets for TME this week following the company’s earnings release. Jefferies raised TME to $15.40 from $12.00. Mizuho raised its price target to $15.00 from $13.00. HSBC also raised TME to $15.00 from $13.00.
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Another Chinese music streaming company, Cloud Music, jumped 11.7% to 105.00 HKD this week after it announced a licensing deal with Kakao Entertainment for distribution in China. Kakao has over 50 “star” artists and 70,000 tracks, according to a press release announcing the pact. Cloud Music has not announced a date for its first-quarter earnings release.
Shares of TME have risen 97.6% over the last 52 weeks and gained 71.3% in 2024. The company (which trades on the NYSE and Hong Kong Stock Exchange) and Cloud Music (which trades on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange) are part of an upswing in Chinese stocks in 2024. After falling in January, the Shanghai Composite Index is up 15.5% since Feb. 2 — far better than the gains of the FTSE 100 (10.6%), S&P 500 (7.0%) and Nasdaq composite (6.8%) over that period.
TME has come a long way since being targeted by government regulators in 2021 for anticompetitive behavior. Its shares traded below $5 for much of 2022 and dropped as low as $3.14 in October of that year.
The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index rose 3.3% to a record 1,847.64, topping the previous high mark of 1,841.66 for the week ended April 5. While there were an equal number of winners and losers, the three top performers had double-digit gains — Cumulus Media was up 18% — while the worst-performing stock, Sphere Entertainment Co., fell 8.1%. Most of the index’s most valuable companies posted gains this week: Spotify increased 2.8% to $302.84, Universal Music Group rose 2.6% to 28.74 euros ($31.31) and Warner Music Group gained 1.3% to $32.04.
Music stocks bested numerous indexes. In the United States, the Nasdaq composite rose 2.1% to 16,685.97 and the S&P 500 gained 1.5% to 5,303.27. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 declined 0.2% to 8,420.26. South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index dropped 0.1% to 2,724.62.
B. Riley resumed coverage of Reservoir Media on Thursday (May 16) with a “buy” rating and an $11 price target. Reservoir shares rose 0.2% to $8.40 this week. The company will release first-quarter earnings on May 30.
Elsewhere, iHeartMedia dropped 6.2% to $1.21 this week. Guggenheim lowered its price target to $3 from $5 following the radio company’s earnings release on May 9, which prompted the stock to fall 36% last week. While Guggenheim maintained its “buy” rating, it dropped its price target to account for “headwinds at the core broadcast business,” analysts wrote in a May 15 note to investors.
Sphere Entertainment Co. dropped 8.1% to $36.07, bringing its year-to-date gain to 6.1%. The company announced Monday that it bought out the remaining shares of Holoplot GmbH, the German company that provided the 3D audio technology for the Sphere in Las Vegas.
Outside of the Billboard Global Music Index, JYP Entertainment fell 13.4% to 60,000 won ($44.30) following the company’s release of first-quarter earnings after the markets closed on May 10. Revenue increased 15.6% to 136.5 billion won ($100.8 million) but operating profit declined 20% to 33.6 billion won ($24.8 million) and net profit fell 26.3% to 31.4 billion won ($23.2 million). Operating profit and net profit declined due to increases in artist fees, labor costs and commissions at JYP Three Sixty, the company’s businesses that produce merchandise and license artists’ intellectual property.
Another non-index stock, Sony Corp., rose 11.1% to $83.74 following its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings release Tuesday (May 14). Driven by subscription streaming growth and aided by foreign exchange, Sony Music’s yen-denominated revenues jumped 23.5% to $2.85 billion in the quarter and the music division was the parent company’s largest contributor of operating income.
Canadian musicians who worked with Steve Albini are sharing their admiration.
Albini’s phenomenally prolific career included work on an estimated 2,000 albums, including landmark alt-rock records by Nirvana, Pixies and PJ Harvey. A wide range of notable Canadian artists worked with Albini and were quick to respond with effusive tributes to the Chicago-based studio wizard.
Toronto drummer, composer and author Don Pyle worked with Albini as a member of acclaimed Toronto instrumental bands Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet and Phono-Comb. Albini was an admirer of Shadowy Men, even sending them a fan letter that helped prompt the band to hire him for sessions that led to the trio’s second album, 1993’s Sport Fishin’: The Lure of the Bait, The Luck of the Hook.
Albini would later work with Dallas Good and The Sadies on The Sadies’ 2001 album Tremendous Efforts and then its 2006 live album, The Sadies In Concert, Vol. 1, recorded at Lee’s Palace in Toronto (Pyle also assisted on the record). Alongside fellow Shadowy Men member Reid Diamond, Beverly Breckenridge and Good (later of The Sadies fame), Pyle was also in the lineup of Phono-Comb, a Toronto band that recruited Albini to work on its 1996 album, Fresh Gasoline.
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In an interview with Billboard Canada, Pyle confirms that his late friend Dallas “definitely had a warm relationship with Steve. The Sadies recorded with him on two occasions. I know Steve definitely enjoyed the experience around coming up here and doing The Sadies live album. Doing the Phono-Comb album allowed for more social time and friendship to happen with them. Steve definitely respected who Dallas became.”
Acclaimed Guelph post-rock band King Cobb Steelie worked on material with Albini prior to the release of its second album, 1994’s Project Twinkle, which would later be credited to Bill Laswell as producer.
“He stayed at my house for a week and was a very generous and gracious guest,” group frontman Kevan Byrne tells Billboard Canada. “I think we were one of the first sessions he engineered after In Utero. Steve raved about Dave Grohl’s drumming and insisted that our drummer buy new white-coated Ambassador heads. Then he used a heat gun to break them in.”
Toronto hardcore faves Fucked Up offered up a succinct and poignant tribute on X: “rip steve…you hated our band and made fun of us while we were recording at your studio but you stood for something honest and fair in music and tried to make it a better place in everything you did and there will never be another one like you.”
Head to Billboard Canada for more remembrances and Albini tidbits from KEN Mode, Joel Plaskett, Metz and more.
Feist, Allison Russell, Mustafa Shortlisted for 2024 Prism Prize
The Canadian Academy has announced the top 10 Canadian music videos of the year. The videos, selected from a pool of 300 by a jury of music and video production professionals, have been shortlisted for the 2024 Prism Prize. The award comes with a $20,000 prize.
Singer-songwriter Feist, pop-rock group The Beaches, roots artist and Grammy winner Allison Russell, musician and poet Mustafa, and hip-hop duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids (who took home the prize last year, for “Damn Right”) are all amongst the shortlisted nominees.
Since its introduction in 2013, the Prism Prize has been celebrating outstanding work in Canadian music video production. The shortlist is determined by a jury of more than 120 leading figures in Canadian music, film and media arts. In evaluating the music videos, the jury considers elements such as originality, style, creativity, innovation and execution.
Each of the top 10 finalists is also eligible for the fan-voted Audience Award, which comes with a $2,500 CAD prize for the winner.
A celebration of the Class of 2024 will take place in July, featuring a screening of the top 10 videos and the announcement of the winners.
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The 2024 Prism Prize Top 10 (in alphabetical order):
Blame Brett – Artist: The Beaches | Director: Ievy Stamatov
Borrow Trouble – Artist: Feist | Directors: Mary Rozzi, Colby Richardson, Heather Goodchild & Leslie Feist
Demons – Artist: Allison Russell | Director: Ethan Tobman
feral canadian scaredy cat – Artist: young friend | Director: Sterling Larose & Zachary Vague
I’m Good – Artist: Snotty Nose Rez Kids | Director: Sterling Larose
I Wanna Be Your Right Hand – Artist: Nemahsis | Directors: Norman Wong & Amy Gardner
My Mind At Ease – Artist: Dominique Fils-Aimé | Director: Adrian Villagomez
Name of God – Artist & Director: Mustafa
Of Woods And Seas – Artist: Alaskan Tapes | Director: Andrew De Zen
Revenge of the Orchestra (feat. Magugu) – Artist: Apashe | Director: Adrian Villagomez
NASHVILLE — In a keynote interview on the last day of the Music Business Association annual conference, SESAC CEO John Josephson easily sidestepped an early question on what he thought about the seemingly hip-hop-like feud that had recently evolved between ASCAP and BMI, over the latter’s decision to switch to a for-profit model and its subsequent acquisition by a private equity firm. But he wasn’t shy in touting the advantages his company offers songwriters and publishers over the competing U.S. performance rights organizations.
When BMI announced it was switching to a for-profit model and was acquired by New Mountain Capital, ASCAP took to social media reaffirming its commitment to pay out out all revenue it collects — minus overhead — and unlike BMI, not taking any profit.
“I have nothing to add to that conversation,” Josephson said in response to the feud characterization put forth by interviewer, Billboard editor at large Robert Levine.
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Josephson nevertheless acknowledged that it will be interesting to watch BMI’s evolution of its business model, saying it may cause indigestion but he doesn’t think it will have a big impact. Beyond that, he said it will also be notable to see “what will happen to the beef between some of the large publishers and BMI.”
When Levine observed that some rights holders say it is tricky to leave some U.S. PROs, Josephson responded, “The great thing about the U.S. market is people can choose” a PRO.
But when Levine pointed out that it isn’t always easy to leave some PROs, Josephson agreed, pointing that there has been friction in moving from one PRO to another that has even resulted in arbitration. However, at SESAC, “we don’t view our writers and publishers as captives,” he said. “If they want to leave, they are free to go. We win by delivering better service and more money. If you do that, then you don’t have to make it difficult to leave.”
In focusing on SESAC’s future, Josephson said that the company has an infrastructure that serves as an intermediary between rights holders and businesses that want to exploit music and it has been looking for ways to leverage that capability. “We think we can double or triple our market share,” Josephson said.
It has already grown considerably through the acquisitions of 11 different companies, including the Harry Fox Agency, Audiam and Audio Network, within the last decade, he said. It also has a joint venture in Mint Digital Services with the Swiss collective management organization SUISA. All in all, its multi-pronged approach has made SESAC a global company, he added.
Furthermore, he added SESAC currently has a “backlog of 7 or 8 companies” it is talking to now about acquiring. If deals are made, Josephson said SESAC can help such companies “grow at a faster rate than they already have been organically growing,” all of which will deliver “compound growth.
Beyond its PRO, SESAC divides its company into three segments, church music resourses, audio-visual licensing and music services for publishers and labels. Of the latter segment, which includes the aforementioned HFA, MINT, and Audiam, he said. “We are not interested in the long tail. We are interested in small publishers and small labels. Over time we want to broaden services that we offer to those customer groups.”
In turning to church music resources, he said Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) has been “a great business for us.” In fact, he said, it was the “first extension of our business to be global,” with more than 50% of the church licensing occurring outside the U.S. He conceded that licensing to that segment is not without challenges, noting that churches tend to operate on a non-profit business and may expect to pay lower rates, “even though they are multi-million dollar commercial enterprises.”
As for SESAC’s audio-visual segment, he said it is a much bigger” business for the company that it is for ASCAP or BMI.
For the last seven years, SESAC has been majority owned by the giant private equity firm Blackstone, which he says has been a great relationship and a phenomenal capital source.
“They give us a lot of latitude to pursue our vision of where we want to take our business,” Josephson said. “It’s’ not like they tell us what we can do and can’t do. They think about what’s best for the longterm business.”
When interviewer Levine observed that most private equity often invest with the goal of cashing out within five years, Josephson said that the Blackstone fund that invested in SESAC has an investment goal of holding a company for “10-15 years, which is why we were interested in selling to them. They don’t think about what we can do to goose earnings this year,” and instead focus on the long-term.
When Levine expanded to the overall impact that private equity has had on the music business in recent years, Josephson observed that in the past private equity had sometimes disappeared from the music industry equation. But going forward, “as long as interest rates don’t go up further dramatically…private equity’s involvement in the music industry may wax and wane but I don’t think it will disappear.”
It’s time for another spin around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music. We also have a weekly interview series spotlighting a single executive, if that’s your thing. After focus group testing we landed on “Executive of the Week” — find them here.
Ralph W. Peer was named managing director of peermusic UK, based in London. In addition to his new role, Peer will continue directing company initiatives in Australasia, Africa and the Middle East, with his new mouthful title being managing director of U.K. and Australasia and vp of peermusic’s African and Middle East operations. Peermusic UK staff will report directly to Peer, with peermusic Europe president Nigel Elderton continuing to oversee creative and administrative operations throughout Europe. Peer, who is the grandson of late peermusic founder Ralph S. Peer, joined the family business full time in August 2019 as vp for Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East but soon added business affairs work in the London office as well. “We remain steadfastly focused on providing our peermusic roster of artists, songwriters, and producers with the very best in executive talent, A&R prowess, sync, and administrative expertise,” said Elderton. “With this move, we know our U.K. office remains in very capable hands as we continue to expand peermusic as the preeminent independent music publishing company throughout Europe.”
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Brendan Anthony joined Big Loud Texas as vice president of the recently launched label. The delicious sounding BLT was founded by Miranda Lambert and Jon Randall in late 2023 in partnership with — you guessed it — Big Loud Records. The Austin-based Anthony will oversee the label’s operations and work closely with Lambert, Randall and the Big Loud brass in Nashville. Prior to joining Big Loud, Anthony spent nearly a decade as director of the Texas Music Office, which guides music policy statewide in close partnership with the governor’s office and other agencies. In 2026, he created the Music Friendly Texas Communities program, which helps connect dozens of cities across the state to encourage economic development of local industry stakeholders. Earlier in his career, Anthony served as head of e-commerce and artist relations for ONELIVE Media. “We’re so proud to have Brendon join us at Big Loud Texas,” shared Lambert. “He is as passionate as we are about the Texas music scene and has knowledge that will benefit artists in so many ways.”
Cumulus Media appointed Travis Daily as vice president of Country, putting him in charge of content for the company’s 55 country stations in the U.S. He replaces Charlie Cook, who departs at the end of the month. Prior to joining Cumulus in Nashville, Daily was program director at Beasley’s WQYK in Tampa and before that spent 17 years in vaulted roles across the Clear Channel/iHeartRadio empire. “When Charlie Cook told me he was departing, I was faced with one of the tougher decisions of my career: who could I trust to lead and represent our vast fleet of important Country stations with the finesse and character that Charlie did? On every front, Travis rises to the demands,” said Brian Philips, chief content officer.
Burr
credit Katie Kauss
The Recording Industry Association of America elevated Erin D. D. Burr to senior vice president of media relations and Matthew Bass to vp of research. Burr joined the RIAA in August 2022 following a nearly 12-year tenure as a communications executive at Big Machine Label Group. In addition to handling press outreach, Burr handles strategy surrounding Gold & Platinum certifications at the music industry lobby group. Bass has spent the last decade at RIAA, where he helps craft the org’s highly researched annual reports. He has also played a major role in modernization efforts across RIAA’s Gold & Platinum program. “Erin and Matt are stars who have already shined so brightly at RIAA and in their new roles will be even more visible and effective,” said RIAA chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier. “As the music community works together to address unprecedented new opportunities and challenges from the meteoric rise of streaming to the current effort to chart a path towards responsible and pro-artist AI, we are all lucky to have Erin and Matt embracing greater responsibilities.” Erin can be reached at eburr@riaa.com while Matthew is at mbass@riaa.com.
BMG promoted Marc Johlen to managing director for operations in Germany, Switzerland and Australia (GSA), the company’s third largest territory after the U.S. and U.K. Johlen joined BMG in 2020 following a tenure at Budde Music to lead the GSA publishing team, which has since signed Robin Schulz, Bunt., Michael Schulte, AVAION and other big names to its roster of writers and producers. Johlen will be based in Berlin and report to Maximilian Kolb, evp of Continental Europe repertoire & marketing. “Marc is a forward-thinking leader with a proven track record in publishing, artist management and career development,” said Kolb. “His global perspective and local expertise make him an ideal fit for this role within our new organizational structure.”
Sony Music Publishing promoted Nasra Artan to the new position of head of international A&R, effective immediately. She’ll work across all of SMP’s A&R teams to build opportunities and drive collaborative initiatives for roster writers. The London-based Artan, who joined Sony in 2022 as European A&R manager, will continue reporting to SMP’s president of international, Guy Henderson. “In addition to her skill set, energy and drive, Nasra approaches the creative world with an open mind, knowing that great songwriters and big songs can come from anywhere,” said Henderson.
Shareholders recently affirmed Utopia Music‘s plan to rebrand as Proper Group, which now intends to move more of its operations from Switzerland to London as the music distribution and tech company eyes a “more focused approach that aligns with its long-term goals.” As a result of the realignment, the company said the “Swiss entity is being right-sized to reduce operational costs,” bringing an undisclosed number of layoffs. “As we step into a new era of growth and technological advancement at Proper Group, I want to express my sincere sorrow that part of our journey involves parting ways with some of our valued colleagues,” said Michael Stebler, who is wrapping up his brief tenure as transitional CEO. The company said it would instead split its focus into two areas, with Drew Hill taking on the role of CEO of Proper Distribution and a TBA executive to lead its Music Tech division.
Nick Spampanato has been promoted from svp of venue operations to chief operation officer of venues for global live leader AEG Presents. The LA-based executive oversees the business and operations for AEG’s 50 owned and operated clubs and theaters, and reports directly to Brent Fedrizzi, AEG Presents President, North American Regional Offices. Spampanato joined AEG in early 2019 following a 10-year tenure at MSG Entertainment, where he rose to svp and oversaw all operation of the legendary Forum arena in Inglewood, Calif. Prior to MSG, Spampanato put in over 17 years in management at venues owned by Live Nation. “His track record speaks for itself,” noted Fedrizzi. “He’s got an institutional knowledge of venue management at every level, from clubs and theatres all the way up to arenas. Nick has a clear vision on how to effectively manage our critical portfolio of owned and operated venues, and how to propel the business forward.”
Former Billboard news director Colin Stutz recently joined Stand Together Music as managing director of artist relations. At his new gig, Stutz is tasked with building a team that will assist and champion artists looking to deliver on ways to push social change. Stand Together Music works alongside music industry stakeholders to co-create custom-fit solutions around societal challenges including criminal justice, addiction recovery, education, free speech and ending the war on drugs. (Stand Together recently partnered with Marcus King to launch a foundation to support sober touring musicians.) “With his wealth of experience and passion for driving social change through music, Colin is a great addition to our team,” said Colette Weintraub, head of Stand Together Music, Sports & Entertainment. “Together, we look forward to empowering artists to make a meaningful impact on the issues that matter most to our society.”
Educational Media Foundation (EMF) CEO Todd Woods has resigned. EMF is the Tennessee-based parent company of Christian radio networks Air1 and K-LOVE. Woods will continue in an advisory role through June, while EMF board chair Tom Stultz takes on the role of interim CEO. Woods joined the company in 2022 and rose to CEO in March 2023.
Universal Music Group promoted Todd Goodwin to senior vp of culture marketing and creative strategy at °1824, the creative and marketing division he launched with the label in 2019. °1824 provides UMG labels with services including content creation, public relations, A&R scouting, brand partnerships, strategic insights and experiential marketing. Additionally, Goodwin’s team produces live-streaming events. Goodwin will remain based at UMG’s Santa Monica office and continue reporting to Michele Anthony, Executive Vice President of Universal Music Group. “Todd has created a best-in-class creative resource as well as a path for the next generation of industry leaders,” Anthony said. “I’m thrilled to announce his promotion and congratulate the 1824 team on all of their accomplishments.”
Elsewhere at UMG, the label group elevated Sanujeet Bhujabal to managing director of Universal Music India and South Asia. Previously the evp of content at the label, Bhujabal will report to Devraj Sanyal, the chairman and CEO of India & South Asia. UMISA also said Viral Jani had been appointed chief revenue officer.
Former Nettwerk Music Group executive Jon Granat and ex-Ipecac Recordings general manager Marc Schapiro launched Auxilium Music, a highly curated and boutique publishing administration company. Auxilium’s inaugural roster since coming into existence earlier this year includes Melvins legend Buzz Osborne, post-metal artist Bryant Clifford Meyer of Isis and Palms, Michael Crain of thrash supergroup Dead Cross and singer-songwriter Fay Wolf, among others. Indie-minded and self-published songwriters/artists itching for a more personalized option for publishing administration can hit up Granat and Schapiro at info@auxiliummusic.com.
TaP Music welcomed veteran artist manager Will Bloomfield to the team as co-president and head of global artist management. He’ll work alongside co-presidents Wendy Ong and Anna Neville, as well as co-founders Ben Mawson and Ed Millett, to oversee all areas of the TaP business (TaP Management, non-profit TaP Futures and TaP2, formerly TaP Sports). Bloomfied spent the last two decades at Modest! Management, where he rose to partner working a stacked roster of talent including One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer, MNEK and more. (Back when he was eligible, Bloomfield was featured in our 40 Under 40 list.) “Will joins us at a time of great change in the industry and what we believe is an opportunity for managers and artists,” said Mawson and Millett. “TaP’s founding principle of self sufficiency informs our approach to management now more than ever, with a range of specialists across all key areas.”
PULSE Music Group promoted Annie Aberle to senior vp and head of creative. Previously vp of A&R, with a roster including James Blake, Ryan Beatty and Jack Rochon, Aberle’s expanded remit now includes overseeing creative strategy for the company’s roster of writers and producers across its publishing division. Aberle is based at the company’s Los Angeles headquarters and reports directly to co-CEO Scott Cutler and group president Ashley Calhoun. “One of the most essential parts of this job is remaining a fan first—Annie does not lose sight of that,” said Calhoun. “Annie knows how to deliver a strategy for each of our clients that makes them inspired to show up and show out in the studio every day.”
UTA went on a parter promotion spree, elevating two dozen staffers to the lofty title across media, publishing, talent, publishing and other disciplines. In the music division, new partners include Obi Asika, Kevin Gimble, Steve Gordon, Jeffrey Hasson and Matt Meyer. In comedy touring, Doug Edley and Heidi Feigin made the grade. Head over to THR for a full rundown of the promotions.
Music marketing veteran Joe Aboud officially launched consultancy firm 444 Sounds, with a roster including Sony Music, UnitedMasters, Major Recordings and artists such as Jung Kook and Enrique Iglesias. Aboud was most recently vp of marketing and streaming at HITCO, and prior to that worked as a marketing manager at Atlantic Records.
NASHVILLE NOTES: Natalie Kilgore has boomeranged back to Brown Sellers Brown, rejoining the music company as vp of publicity. Kilgore previously held the same role at BSB from 2020 until late 2022, when she joined BBR Music Group to develop its in-house media relations department. BSB is home to two labels, Quartz Hill Records and Stone Country Records … Soft rocker Walter Egan — whose “Magnet and Steel” was a top 10 hit in 1978 — joined Nashville’s Hippie Radio 94.5 to host a show called “Walt’s Record Vault” … Primary Wave Music officially launched Sun Label Group as a biome for legendary labels like Sun Records and Gaither Music, among others. Paul Sizelove will oversee SLG as president, with each of the labels — which also includes Green Hill Music, Rural Rhythm and emeraldwave by Green Hill — retaining their own leadership and organizational teams.
Global Merchandising Services hired veteran executive Lisa Streff as senior vp of licensing & brand development for North America. Founded in 2008, Global works with artists on design, product development, branding, manufacturing, and direct sales of licensed merch. Streff, who was most recently svp of global licensing for UMG’s Epic Rights and Bravado units, will focus on growing the North American licensing programs for Global’s roster of clients.
MNRK Music Group promoted Ian “J.Y.” Williams to senior director of A&R, in charge of signing and developing untapped talent for the label. Williams joined MNRK in March 2022 as director of A&R and since then has played a pivotal role in developing acts including Kash Doll, K. Michelle, Tyfontaine, OBN Jay, C Stunna and Neek Bucks, among others. Prior to MNRK, Williams worked in artist management at Atlantic Records and has consulted artists through Def Jam, EMPIRE and RCA.
Music consultancy firm Huxley hired Jordan Shepley as associate director of publicity and Chisomo Phiri as communications manager. Shepley will help oversee publicity for Huxley’s roster, which includes J Balvin, Kelly Lee Owens, Munya Chawawa, Calvin Harris and A24 Music. Phiri will handle corporate communications for clients Three Six Zero, Dirty Hit and SailP. In addition, Huxley has also promoted Emily Connick to junior publicist and has hired Tom O’Sullivan, who joins from Sold Out Advertising, as a team assistant.
Concert and festival promoter FKP Scorpio is widening its focus to cover exhibitions, family events and special projects with the rebranded FKP Scorpio Entertainment. FKPE’s leadership team includes James Cassidy and Barry Campbell, who have been appointed president and senior promoter, respectively. Also joining the team are Nathan Birch as head of ticketing, Daisy Parry as special events coordinator, Suzy Bryant as marketing consultant, and Ollie Catchpole as comedy promoter.
AI-driven music financing platform beatBread hired Julian Dunn as director of business affairs. A former corporate attorney, Dunn most recently worked in the Bay Area startup scene at Segment and Hightouch.
ICYMI:
Lucian Grainge
UMG chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge‘s pay package for 2023 was approved by shareholders … Downtown Music elevated Tom Allen to president of its newly hatched royalties and financial services division … Warner Music restructured its Mexican music division but did it in-house … and Brent Fedrizzi (‘memba him from the Nick Spampanato blurb?) was named president of AEG Presents‘ North American regional offices.
Last Week’s Turntable: Allison Moorer Joins Country Hall
Rimas Sports — an agency partnership between Bad Bunny and executives Noah Assad and Jonathan Miranda — has signed The Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. to an exclusive representation agreement, the company tells Billboard. “We are thrilled to welcome the Acuña family to Rimas Sports,” Miranda, CEO of Rimas Sports, said in a statement. […]
Universal Music Group (UMG) shareholders approved CEO Lucian Grainge‘s 138.8 million euros ($128 million) compensation package from 2023 in a nonbinding advisory vote at the company’s annual general meeting in The Netherlands on Thursday (May 16).
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A majority of investors voted to approve all proposals up for a vote this year, including the reappointment of billionaire Bill Ackman, Cyrille Bollore and others as non-executive directors despite criticism from shareholder advisory groups Glass Lewis, who last month called UMG’s pay practices excessive and said the board lacked independence.
Advisory shareholder votes like these are only advisory and not enforceable, but they are closely watched as indicators of investors’ feelings on a company’s pay policies and the people who make up their boards. Anytime a significant percentage of investors expresses disapproval, which Glass Lewis defines as 20% or more, directors consult with shareholders about how to make internal changes to address their concerns.
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Investors in Live Nation and Cumulus Media used recent shareholder meetings to vote their disapproval of those companies’ CEO pay packages.
UMG did not immediately disclose the percentage of votes cast in support of the proposals at this year’s annual meeting, which was livestreamed only to registered shareholders. Last year, a slim majority of UMG investors representing roughly 59% of shares voted in approval of UMG’s remuneration policy, which details the 2023 compensation packages paid out to Grainge and deputy CEO Vincent Vallejo.
About 58% of UMG’s voting shares are collectively held by Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, Tencent, Bollore and Vivendi. Last year, all four shareholders voted to approve UMG’s remuneration policy.
Grainge’s total 2023 compensation is 138,814,000 euros, or $128,264,000 based on a monthly average foreign exchange rate of 0.924. In 2022, he was the third highest-paid music executive, having made total compensation of 47.3 million euros ($49.7 million) thanks to a 28.8 million euros ($30.3 million) performance bonus in addition to a base salary of 15.4 million euros ($16.2 million).
In 2023, Grainge had a base salary of 7.5 million euros (just over $8 million) and bonus of 15.16 million euros (nearly $16.3 million), and a one-time transition equity award worth 92,406,852 euros (roughly $100 million). That award was paid out in half in restricted stock units and half in performance stock options. The performance stock options vest over the coming five years and can only be excised once UMG’s stock hits certain thresholds.
Glenn Peoples contributed reporting.
Concord confirmed on Thursday it will no longer proceed with its $1.51 billion offer to buy Hipgnosis Songs Fund, giving rival bidder Blackstone a now unimpeded path to acquire the Merck Mercuriadis-founded company and its catalogs of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Journey, Neil Young and others. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news […]
NetEase Cloud Music struck a licensing agreement with South Korean music company Kakao Entertainment that will allow NetEase to distribute Kakao’s catalog in China. Both companies will work together to jointly promote Korean music in the Chinese market. Kakao artists include Jay Park, Chungha, FTISLAND and CNBLUE. According to a press release, Kakao had 2016 million monthly active users and more than 44 million paying subscribers in 2023.
Rapper Lil Durk partnered with AWAL to re-launch his label venture, OTF. Under the deal, OTF will identify and develop artists with the help of AWAL’s global infrastructure and artist development expertise. Durk will act as CEO while OTF’s COO, Cedrick “SB” Earsery, will work alongside AWAL CEO Lonny Olinick, president Pete Giberg and senior vp/head of urban music Norva Denton to foster the OTF roster. The first release under the deal, “GTA” by DJ Bandz featuring Rob 49, Skilla Baby and Fivio Foreign, is dropping Friday (May 17).
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Music Venue Trust announced the second acquisition by its own Music Venue Properties via the U.K. charity’s Own Our Venues scheme: The Ferret in Preston, a 200-capacity venue that has hosted artists including Ed Sheeran, IDLES, Alt-J and Royal Blood. With the purchase, the venue will be placed in permanent protected status via a “cultural lease” — an agreement designed by Music Venue Properties to guarantee that, as long as The Ferret operates as a space for grassroots live music for the local community, they can use the building. Own Our Venues has raised nearly 2.6 million pounds to date from more than 1,200 individual investors. In October 2023, Music Venue Properties made its first purchase when it acquired The Snug in Atherton, Greater Manchester. An additional seven venues across the country have been identified for purchase in this initial phase.
AI solutions company Veritone signed a deal to power theCAAvault, a synthetic media vault created by Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to store the intellectual property of CAA clients, including AI clones and voice recordings. The hope is to ensure the proper compensation of CAA talent for any use of their name, image and likeness.
ASM Global invested in Boston-based EDGE Sports Group, marking a significant move by the company to become a market leader in providing advisory, development and venue management services to clients and partners in the domestic youth sports and sports tourism industry. Following the close of the transaction, EDGE will operate under the moniker EDGE Sports Global. EDGE brings a portfolio of more than a dozen sports venues in the New England region and is expanding with development projects in Florida, Arizona and more; it also owns or manages youth sports clubs, academies and camps totaling more than 350 teams and 8,000 athletes. EDGE Sports Group founder/president Brian DeVellis will continue serving as president of EDGE Sports Global.
Music licensing hub Broma16 signed an international agreement with YouTube and partnerships with three collecting societies from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region. The YouTube deal will see Broma16 collecting music royalties from the platform in territories including Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the CIS and distributing them to its members. The company’s new collecting society partners are ANCO (Moldavia), SIIP (Uzbekistan) and KAZAK (Kazakhstan). SIIP and ANCO will use Broma16’s online licensing services to collect royalties for their songwriter and publisher members. KAZAK has granted Broma16 the right to collect royalties from YouTube.
NASHVILLE – The Music Business Association conference kicked off successfully in Nashville this week, with the annual gathering bringing together more than 2,100 music industry professionals representing attendance from over 750 companies and more than 30 countries, the trade group’s president, Portia Sabin, announced on Tuesday (May 14) in her annual address on the state of the Music Biz organization.
What’s more, Sabin said proposals for programming at the conference, which is crowd-sourced from industry executives, saw a 30% increase this year, “reflective of everything our industry wants to discuss — from hot topics like AI, gaming, and social impact, to perennial favorites like synch, music and money, and marketing. And don’t worry, we still have the critical but non-sexy topics like metadata and neighboring rights.”
With a full-court press of panels and seminars on many of the industry’s challenges and opportunities, Sabin also reported that about 325 speakers/panelists are set to take part in this year’s conference. She additionally noted the the trade group’s membership has grown by 106 companies and organizations since last year’s gathering, with Deezer, Audiomack, Pirames International, SonoSuite, the NMPA (National Music Publisher’s Association) Louisiana Entertainment (a division of Louisiana Economic Development) and Toronto Metropolitan University joining the fold.
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Beyond the convention, Sabin reported that the organization continues to stage its Music Biz Roadshow event series in places like Dallas, Miami and Huntsville, Ala., with programs for local indie musicians that have included topics like “Tech Solutions in Music,” “The State of Independent Distribution” and “Where’s My Money and How Do I Get It?” Those events have featured companies like the Mechanical Licensing Collective, CD Baby, Bandcamp, TropiSounds, Songtrust, Symphonic Distribution, Syntax Creative, Switchchord and Music Audience Exchange. “If your company wants to be a part of a Roadshow this year, please let my team know – they are some of the most fun and inspirational events we do and we’d love to have you join us,” Sabin said.
Besides going on the road, the trade group has also created a new virtual series, Music Biz Passport, which explores a different international market each time. “These events are meant to connect music business executives from the U.S. with international trendsetters so they may both learn what does and doesn’t work in these communities, and build new partnerships that will ultimately make our industry stronger,” Sabin elaborated, adding that upcoming events will focus on local music industries in Finland, Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
On the good works front, Sabin reported that Music Biz has partnered with the Music Health Alliance to set up the MHA Mental Health Fund. Since its launch, backed by a $50,000 contribution from the SCARS Foundation — an organization created by Sully Erna and the band Godsmack to support mental health initiatives — the fund has grown to $355,000 and served more than 500 music industry professionals through 5,246 outpatient counseling and psychiatry visits.
Meanwhile, the organization’s scholarship foundation has raised $60,000 and given out 12 scholarships to deserving music business students to the tune of $5,000 each, Sabin reported, thanking the scholarship committee for their hard work as well as “Lisa Robinson and Aaron Tochini for going above and beyond.”
Finally, Sabin celebrated another big accomplishment the trade group achieved during the year: persuading Luminate to abandon its implemented plan to unweight physical sales data, thus changing the chart methodology. Following the initial change to unweight sales data, Sabin, the retail coalitions and other stakeholders pulled together to partner with Streetpulse to collect that data from indie stores. After indie music retailers began boycotting reporting to Luminate, Music Biz worked with the coalitions to negotiate a deal that brought indie store data back into the Luminate system. As a result of that effort, the number of stores reporting to Luminate has more than doubled to 315 stores, up from the 140 retailers that previously reported to Luminate before the imbroglio.
“I want to thank everyone who was invested and made their voices heard on this issue, from retail stores to labels to distributors to individual artists – and of course to Rob Jonas and Luminate for coming to the table and being good partners,” Sabin said. “Those who’ve been around since the NARM days know that physical retailers are the original heart of Music Biz, and this year’s Record Store Day was another off-the-charts success… proving yet again that physical is a vital part of our industry.”
Sabin closed by noting that the conference is moving to Atlanta next year and will take place May 12 to May 15 at the city’s Renaissance Waverly Hotel. “It’s a great property that’s close to The Battery and Braves Stadium; and we’re especially excited that we were able to buy out the entire hotel, meaning everyone there will be a Music Biz attendee,” she said. “Sounds like sleepaway camp, right?”