Business News
Page: 41
This week, Taylor Swift made history in more ways than one with the release of her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department. But perhaps the most mind-boggling of all the records she set was the first-week vinyl sales for the album, which came in at 859,000 — by far the largest sales week for a vinyl album in the modern era, blowing past the second-largest week by more than 160,000 units.
That second-largest week, by the way? The debut frame of her last release, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), which sold 693,000 vinyl copies in the week ending Nov. 2, 2023. In fact, Swift has the top four biggest vinyl sales weeks in history — all of which have come in the past 18 months — and six of the top eight, reflecting not just the industry-wide popularity boom for the format, but her own evolving strategy and emphasis on physical media and fan-focused collectibles.
Trending on Billboard
For Tortured Poets, Swift released six different vinyl variations (in addition to nine CD versions and four cassette versions), four of which were available widely and two of which were exclusives, one signed iteration through her own web store and one through Target. Of the four widely available, each included a different bonus track, and each have individually sold enough copies to top the vinyl sales charts for the week: the Manuscript edition (342,000); the Bolter edition (85,000); the Black Dog edition (79,000); and the Albatross edition (62,000).
That’s a continuation of the strategy she’s deployed in force since her, for lack of a better phrase, pandemic albums, Folklore and Evermore. And it’s a shining success story for how artists have been capitalizing on the resurrection of vinyl as not just physical art piece but also merch item, as the format has continued to surge for 18 years in a row, having hit 43.2 million U.S. sales in 2023, amounting to $1.35 billion in revenue, according to the RIAA.
Swift’s own career, in terms of album output, has grown along with that trend. Her self-titled debut album was released 18 years ago, in October 2006, a year when vinyl revenue sales in the U.S. were a mere $23.7 million. At that point, vinyl was such a niche market (and Swift was such a new artist) that for Taylor Swift and her second album, Fearless, Swift didn’t even release vinyl editions until May 2016, when they sold 500 copies and 1,000 copies, respectively, in their first week of availability. By the time of 2010’s Speak Now, Swift’s star power was much more formidable, but vinyl was still pretty niche; all vinyl sales in the U.S. that year accumulated $124.2 million, according to the RIAA, and Speak Now moved 500 copies in its first week.
Red, in 2012, was a true breakthrough moment for Swift in terms of her pop career, and the vinyl business had itself added nearly $100 million in value in just two years, to $213.3 million; Red sold 1,000 copies in the first week it came out in the format. Two years later, when she released 1989, the vinyl industry had added another $100 million per year, and the standard vinyl moved 11,000 copies in its first week of availability. For 2017’s Reputation, a slightly delayed street date release led to a 9,000 sale week in what was technically its second week of availability, with Swift still sticking to the standard vinyl option.
It was for Lover that Swift’s strategy first began to change, as she began experimenting with vinyl offerings beyond the standard black record, and the numbers began to really jump. When the album came out on the format in November 2019, it was as a colored double-vinyl, sold exclusively at Target, which helped boost that first-week number to 18,000 copies — at the time, the largest vinyl sales week by a woman since Adele’s 25 during Christmas week 2015 (reflected on the Jan. 9, 2016, chart). By 2019, vinyl sales in the U.S. had reach the half-billion-dollar mark — and the real jump for the format was on the horizon.
The figures for Folklore — 9,000 copies week one — at first may seem like a regression. But the pandemic brought about two competing trends: both an aggressive jump in the popularity of vinyl, and vast, industry-wide supply-chain issues related to the production of it. Since Folklore was a surprise release on July 24, 2020, the vinyl was delayed until November; but Swift sold digital-physical bundles when the album was first released, meaning that the digital sale was counted during the July release week, but when the vinyl finally shipped in November — the first-week availability tracked here — the sales were not counted as vinyl, as they had already been counted as digital. (The chart rules have since changed so they are no longer counted together.) So while Folklore’s first week as a wide release had 615,000 album sales, there’s no clear way of delineating how many of those sales included vinyl copies; and the first-week figure in November, of 9,000 copies, represents the number purchased during that week, when many of Swift’s die-hard fans were receiving the album, though it was not tracked that way.
Nonetheless, Folklore was the first Swift album to really lean in to the vinyl-as-collectible trend, with seven alternate covers in addition to the standard black pressing available. Evermore would follow suit, with another pandemic-related delay helping its first week: The album was released in December 2020, but the vinyl came out in May 2021, allowing for five months of banked pre-orders, and with a collectible tweak: It was available in two green-colored variants and a red-colored Target exclusive, resulting in a then-record 102,000 vinyl sales in its first week of availability.
What followed was the furious slate of re-releases of her older albums, as well as her own new releases, many of which followed similar strategies — and led to truly eye-popping, record-breaking numbers. Fearless (Taylor’s Version), also with a delayed physical release, came with two vinyl versions, a gold variant and a red Target exclusive, leading to a 67,000-copy first week; Red (Taylor’s Version) followed shortly after with two versions, both of which were four-LP sets that sold for $49.99 and led to a 114,000-sale first week, re-setting her own record.
By the time Midnights rolled around a year later, Swift’s playbook was complete: multiple covers, multiple colored vinyl variants and multiple vinyl editions of each album. Midnights had four variant editions sold widely, as well as another as a Target exclusive, while each of the wide releases were also available as signed copies. The result: 575,000 LPs sold in a week. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), the following July, had three colored variants, one of which was a Target exclusive; 268,000 vinyl sales later, it also entered the pantheon. And 1989 (Taylor’s Version) completed the pre-Tortured Poets set: five color variants, one a Target exclusive with an extra bonus track, and 693,000 LPs sold in its first week.
Since the pandemic year of 2020, vinyl sales in the U.S. ballooned from $820 million to the 2023 peak of $1.35 billion in revenue. And while that’s an industry-wide trend, Swift’s strategies, and successes, have surely had plenty to do with it, too.
SAG-AFTRA members have voted to ratify the 2024 Sound Recordings Code which requires the record labels — Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Disney Music Group — to abide by its AI safety rules. Notably, these are the first-ever explicitly defined compensation requirements for the release of sound recordings containing AI voices.
With a vote of 97.69% to 2.31%, SAG-AFTRA members, which include actors as well as singers and recording artists, now will receive this protections, effective immediately, for the term of 2021-2026. Now, the term “artist,” “singer” and “royalty artist” under this agreement only can refer to human talent. “Clear and conspicuous” consent is required prior to the release of a sound recording that uses a digital replication of an artist’s voice.
Artists who are replicated are also entitled to receive specific details about the replica’s intended use and to minimum compensation. Compensation for artists must align with the royalty share the artist would earn on other sound recordings under their contract, and sessions singers must receive a minimum of three sides per project. A minimum of 28 hours notice of any recording session for the purpose of creating a digital replica is expected and that session time should be paid as work time.
Trending on Billboard
Additionally, blanket consent for digital or AI replication is prohibited. Instead, record labels must obtain consent on a per-project basis — a provision which will prevent labels from asking artists to sign away their digital likeness for lengthy terms as part of their deals.
In the year since Ghostwriter’s fake-Drake song “Heart On My Sleeve” brought conversations about AI voices to the forefront, little has been done to actually enforce the protection of artists’ identities. While the federal government is considering a few bills (like the draft NO FAKES Act and the NO AI FRAUD Act) to create a nationwide right of publicity that would create uniform protection for artists’ names, images, and voices, these protections, for now, remain a patchwork of varying state laws that were largely written before artificial intelligence presented new use cases for AI.
“Singers and recording artists have a profound impact on our culture, and I’m thrilled that they’ve achieved a contract that not only recognizes their value with significant wage increases, but also provides them essential protections around artificial intelligence,” said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher. “We celebrate our human performers! I applaud the negotiating committee and staff, the record labels, and SAG-AFTRA members for getting this contract across the finish line!”
SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said, “This contract secures groundbreaking A.I. guardrails while also achieving crucial and substantial wage increases, and other key wins for singers and recording artists. Protecting human artistry will always be SAG-AFTRA’s priority, and I’m heartened that our members have a contract that provides immediate gains and recognizes the importance of human contributions to the industry. I also want to acknowledge Negotiating Committee Chair Dan Navarro and the entire committee and staff for their outstanding and dedicated work in achieving this agreement.”
Sound Recordings Code Negotiating Committee Chair Dan Navarro said, “Members’ feedback played a key role in the formation of this contract and the negotiating committee prioritized the concerns that were most crucial to the singers and recording artists impacted by these terms. We’re proud to have achieved these essential wins in A.I. protections along with substantial wage increases and gains in health and retirement funding.”
Other wins included wage increases and gains in health and retirement funding. To read the full list of provisions, see here.
Concord Label Group has promoted Joe Dent to executive vp of operations and Jill Weindorf to executive vp of marketing, the company announced Tuesday (April 30). Weindorf is based in Los Angeles while Dent is located in Concord’s Nashville headquarters.
The promotions, some of the first under newly-appointed Concord Label Group CEO Tom Becci, aim to modernize Concord’s structure to support an expanding roster of talent while increasing the company’s ability to sign, develop and support artists within the global ecosystem.
Weindorf began her career in marketing at Elektra Records and has spent 17 years at Concord. In her new role, she will lead marketing efforts across Concord’s eight active labels and, in conjunction with Concord’s label presidents, continue to develop career artists globally.
Trending on Billboard
Dent previously spent a decade at Fat Beats Distribution, where he rose to GM. Since joining Concord, he has led the charge to stabilize the company’s vinyl pipeline during the COVID-19 pandemic, increased its in-house spatial audio capacity and developed a business-to-business (B2B) system for interacting with artists. In his new capacity, Dent will continue to concentrate on improving processes across the active label and back-office teams. He will also build further internal system efficiency and interconnection while working with external partners on capacity, supply chain and process efficiencies.
“Music is about connection and Jill’s ability to devise a marketing strategy in concert with an artist, while considering their priorities, who they are, the place they want to be, and then work tirelessly in support of that plan is unparalleled,” said Becci in a statement. “Having Jill in this role will certainly allow Concord to remain competitive in an increasingly complicated and global market. Joe has an incredible understanding of how to look at a classically messy system, identify areas for improvement, and make real and lasting corrections. I have no doubt that Joe will continue guiding Concord towards further operational efficiencies in support of our artists.”
“My focus has always been the artists and music,” Weindorf said in a statement. “Concord has offered me the opportunity to build long-term trust with so many career artists and I love being part of the journey with them. I’m also excited by our legacy recordings and the depth and historical relevance of our catalog. Many executives don’t get the chance to work across such a wide breadth of repertoire; I have been here for 17 years, and I am still excited by that opportunity every day.”
“What I genuinely appreciate about Concord is that, despite our size, we are still incredibly nimble,” added Dent. “If we believe there is a superior way that we can do things, there is a reasonable chance that we will do it that way. I’m incredibly grateful for the trust that so many amazing artists put in us and I’m excited to continue finding ways we can better support them. This really is a dream come true for a punk from New Jersey.”
A dip in SiriusXM‘s paid subscribers in the first quarter caused the satellite radio giant’s stock to fall by more than 7% on Tuesday (April 30), even as first-quarter revenue beat analysts’ expectations.
The company reported that first-quarter revenue inched 0.8% higher to $2.16 billion — analysts polled by the London Stock Exchange were expecting $2.13 billion — thanks mainly to a 7% uptick in ad sales revenue.
Ad revenue totaled $402 million in the quarter, enough to offset a 1% decline in subscription revenue, which came in at $1.68 billion and contributes nearly 80% of the company’s overall earnings.
A 1.4% decline in self-pay subscribers to 31.58 million customers in the quarter contributed to “slightly higher churn” as an increase in sales of vehicles with existing subscriptions led to those subscribers shifting into unpaid trials, SiriusXM CFO Tom Barry said on a call with analysts.
Trending on Billboard
Executives reiterated their 2024 guidance and said they expected improvements in their subscription revenue, trial subscriptions and ad revenue in the second half of the year.
Despite the rollout of a new and costly streaming app with features SiriusXM says allow it to tailor content to subscribers, executives faced questions from analysts over what will charge future growth.
“On the business side, it’s really about reinvigorating demand,” SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz said on the call. “It’s taking longer than we’d hoped in terms of the rollout of the new platform and our ability to capitalize on improvements in marketing. But the key opportunities to build demand … are clear, across price, discovery and control, and we have this multipronged effort to [drive] these things.”
The company is hopeful that the revamped app, which launched in December and costs $9.99 per month, will attract new subscribers and drive revenue growth.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 4% to $650 million. The company’s gross profit edged 0.6% higher to $1.13 billion, while the gross profit margin held flat at 53% in the quarter compared to last year. Total operating expenses held roughly flat at $1.73 billion.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is a big investor in SiriusXM, having purchased nearly 9.7 million shares worth approximately $44 million last fall and then another 1.9 million shares worth $50 million of its tracking stock earlier this month.
In February, SiriusXM laid off 3% of its workforce affecting around 170 workers at the company, which said the cuts would enable it to invest in content and new technologies.
SiriusXM’s stock closed at $2.92 on Tuesday (April 30), down 7.2%.
Reservoir Media plans to sell an additional $100 million of securities, according to an S-3 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday (April 29). The funds may go toward acquisitions, debt repayment, share buybacks and other general corporate purposes, according to the filing.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The company will often offer common stock, shares of its preferred stock, debt securities, depository shares, warrants, purchase contracts or a combination of these offerings, according to the filing. Reservoir Media currently has an authorized capital stock of 825 million shares — 750 million common shares and and 75 million shares of preferred stock. As of Feb. 5, it had 64.82 million shares of common stock outstanding. No shares of its preferred stock have been issued.
Tapping the market for additional capital now would enable Reservoir Media to benefit from a recent upswing in its share price. Its stock, which trades on the Nasdaq, reached a 52-week high of $9.20 per share on Friday (April 26) — and its highest point since May 4, 2022 — and closed at $9.03 on Monday(April 29), up 26.6% year to date. Reservoir Media went public in 2021 by merging with Roth CH Acquisition II, a special purpose acquisition corporation, or SPAC.
Trending on Billboard
The company’s pipeline of potential deals was roughly $2 billion in total value, CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi said during the company’s Feb. 7 earnings call. “We remain a highly respected and regarded partner,” she said, “and our proven reputation for being a steward for catalogs through value enhancement initiatives allows us to acquire some of the best assets in the market.”
Since its inception in 2007, Reservoir Media has invested $938 million, according to its latest investor presentation — with $770 million of that amount spent on acquisitions of catalogs and companies. It owns Chrysalis Records, Tommy Boy Music and Philly Groove Records and manages artists through Blue Raincoat Music and Big Life Management.
In February, the company reported first-quarter revenue growth of 19%, to $35.5 million, and raised its guidance for full-year revenue to $140 million to $142 million, implying 15% annual growth at the midpoint.
Country singer Josh Turner, known for hits including “Your Man” and “Would You Go With Me,” has re-signed with longtime label home MCA Nashville. Later this week, Turner will be inducted into the South Carolina Entertainment and Music Hall of Fame. He released the song “Heatin’ Things Up” on Friday (April 26). – Jessica Nicholson
Sister duo Aly & AJ (“Potential Breakup Song,” “Like Whoa,” “Slow Dancing”) signed with UTA for global representation in all areas. Composed of Aly and AJ Michalka, the duo will continue to be represented by Scott Felcher at Felcher & Freifeld, LLP, Joel McKuin at McKuin Frankel Whitehead LLP, Jared Rosenberg at Redlight Management and Andrea Pett-Joseph at Brillstein Entertainment.
British-Brazilian singer-songwriter Liana Flores (“rises the moon”) signed with Verve Records. Flores, who merges bossa nova and folk music, recently toured with Laufey and is ramping up for her first U.S. headlining dates. She’ll release her debut album later this year, preceded by the single “I wish for the rain.” Her booking agents for North and South America are Sam Gans and Wilson Zheng at High Road Touring, with Primary Talent handling the rest of the world.
Trending on Billboard
Absolute Label Services signed a deal with Universal/Capitol Records Italy for the release of Jack Savoretti‘s first Italian language album. Through the deal, which covers the United Kingdom and Ireland, Absolute will manage the distribution, marketing and promotion of the album, titled Miss Italia (set for release on May 17). Savoretti is managed by Niko Michault and Danielle Livesey at P.U.S.H. Music Management.
Also at Absolute, the company signed a deal to market, promote, distribute and handle synch for a new album from “neo-skiffle” band Fairground Attraction. The album, titled Beautiful Happening and set for release Sept. 20 on band member Mark Nevin’s Raresong Recordings label, marks the first time all four original members of the group — Nevin, Eddi Reader, Simon Edwards and Roy Dodds — have worked together since 1989.
Downtown Neighboring Rights signed singer-songwriter ANOHNI (lead singer of ANOHNI and the Johnsons), whose entire catalog will be represented by the company. She’s been a Downtown Music Publishing client since 2022. The company also unveiled an international agreement with publisher and label Position Music (Welshly Arms, 2WEI, Ryan Oakes) as well as TH3RD BRAIN Records (Emmit Fenn, Zerb).
Singer-songwriter Debbii Dawson signed with RCA Records, which released her new single, “Happy World,” on April 19 ahead of a forthcoming EP. Dawson’s booking agency is Wasserman and her managers are Matthew Kennedy and Rachel Higg at WeManage. She has a co-publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music and Katy Perry‘s Unsub Publishing.
Capitol Christian Music Group signed hip-hop/pop artist gio. The 21-year-old’s debut single, “reality,” was just released. His first EP in conjunction with the label is slated to arrive in the fall. – Jessica Nicholson
Country artist Louie TheSinger signed with UTA for global representation in all areas. Louie released his first single for Universal Music Group, “Brothers,” in January and recently announced his Desperado Tour, which launches in June. – Jessica Nicholson
RECORDS Nashville artist Alli Walker, along with her manager, Brad Turcotte, joined Vector Management. Walker, who just released her new single, “Creek,” becomes part of a management roster that also includes Charley Crockett, Molly Tuttle and Marcus King. – Jessica Nicholson
Universal Music Group Nashville signed singer-songwriter Timothy Wayne. A Franklin, Tenn., native, Wayne is currently a sophomore at LSU and working on his first project. He’s slated to support his uncle, Tim McGraw, for several dates on his Standing Room Only Tour. – Jessica Nicholson
Mario Olvera Acevedo, an event promoter specializing in Regional Mexican music, has died at the hands of unknown assailants in a direct attack that occurred in the early morning hours on Saturday (April 27).
According to a statement issued by the Secretaría de Seguridad Ciudadana (or Secretariat of Public Safety) of the Government of San Pedro Cholula, Puebla, Mexico, police officers responded to the scene after receiving a report of gunshots.
Paramedics from the Municipal Civil Protection confirmed that Olvera, age 42, no longer had vital signs when he was found. They proceeded to cordon off the area while awaiting forensic experts from the State Attorney General’s Office.
Trending on Billboard
Initial investigations indicate that it was a “presumed direct attack.” According to the press release from Seguridad Ciudadana, after “a motorist hit the rear of the truck of the deceased to force him to get out and shoot him, at that moment a third person on a motorcycle arrived and both subjects fled in the direction of Periférico Ecológico, where they finally abandoned the vehicle.” The authorities are still looking for the perpetrators.
The death of Olvera shocked the world of Regional Mexican music. For more than two decades, Olvera was a promoter of events in the states of Tlaxcala and Puebla with his company, Ranch Music Sinaloa, and countless artists and managers had working relationships and friendships with him.
Over the weekend, misinformation circulating in several media outlets about Olvera’s relationship with big stars of the genre suggested he acted as their representative and was a direct part of their teams, neither of which is true.
Last Wednesday (April 23), Olvera attended a meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, of the ADEEM (Association of Entertainment Entrepreneurs in Mexico), of which he was once a member of the board of directors.
Multiple artists took to social media to express their condolences, including Los Tucanes de Tijuana, El Flaco Elizalde and El Yaki. The latter artist said he was close to Olvera and considered him an older brother, though the two were not biologically related.
“This is how I say goodbye to you my brother! Because I know you would have liked me to share it… and I do it from my heart,” wrote El Yaki on Instagram below a photo of the two together. “You taught me some really bitchin’ things and opened my eyes to something that today little by little I’m still building […] Fly high compa!”
In Puebla, Olvera was also known for his activities in the restaurant business. At the time of his death, he owned three establishments: Humo Gris, Ostería Humo and Puerto Marisco.
On Monday (April 29), Olvera’s body will be buried at the Valle de Los Angeles Funeral Home in Puebla.
Superfans have become an very buzzy topic within the industry since last summer, when Goldman Sachs projected that this segment of fans could put more than $4 billion into the music industry by 2030.
As previously reported by Billboard, in January Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl called for “stok[ing] the blue flames of superfans” and additional “direct artist-superfan products and experiences”, while Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge highlighted the value of “superfan experiences and products”; and Spotify hinted at future “superfan clubs” in a blog post.”
Defined by Luminate as listeners who “engage with artists and their content in five-plus different ways” superfans were a topic of conversation at IMS Ibiza 2024, which last week brought hundreds of electronic music industry figures to the island for three days of panels and parties.
Trending on Billboard
On Friday (April 26), programming included a conversation on superfans presented by industry knowledge platform Music Ally. The talk featured Evie Thomas of Atlantic Records and Warner Music Group UK, Jack Bridges of SoundCloud, Myradh Cormican of U.K. management company Frame Artists and was moderated by Marlen Hüllbrock of Music Ally.
The conversation cited statistics from Music Ally which found that superfans spend 80% more on music each month than the average listener and that 2% of an artist’s monthly listeners on Spotify account for more than half of that artist’s monthly merchandise purchases.
Additionally, superfans are 54% more likely to be the first among their friends to discover new music and new artists, and superfans are 59% more likely to say they want to connect with an artist on a personal level. Around 15-20% of all music listeners consider themselves superfans.
These are five other takeaways from the talk.
1) Even 100 Superfans Can Successfully Launch a Campaign — If You Can Find Them
Fanbases are spread across myriad platforms, which makes it challenging for artists to understand who their fans are. This is particularly true because given that data is segmented and also often controlled by third parties, meaning that artists have no direct access to fans and must rely on different tools and platforms to figure out who their superfans are.
Music Ally’s Hüllbrock noted that it’s “incredibly important” for artists and labels to figure out how to directly speak to their own fans, “because they’re battling the algorithm if they’re just posting on their own channels.” One solution here is cutting through the content clutter by taking artist/fan conversations to more more closed and direct spaces like WhatsApp and Discord.
“It’s about how to cut through the noise in an authentic way but also a relative way so even if an artist has 10,000 fans, they’re reaching a 1,000 or even 100 to successfully launch a campaign,” added Bridges. Thomas noted that it’s key for teams to test to see what different platforms are working and where engagement is happening for each particular artist, “as it’s not one size fits all; every artist is different; every community is different.”
2) Soundcloud Has Long Been a Home For Superfans
“I think there’s also been an underestimation of how much the superfans mattered before they were being properly identified,” said Bridges, citing the 2022 hit “Afraid To Feel” by U.K. duo LF System. That song “went to No. 1 but lived on Soundcloud for nearly a year before it got picked up and signed,” he added. “When that got signed and as part of the release strategy, it came off of Soundcloud, and straightaway the artists were inundated with messages every day asking where the record had gone.”
Bridges cites this as a moment “where the labels, the artists, the artist managers really realized how important it was to not mess with certain things or go to market without certain platforms.”
He says that over the last 18 months, as the industry has sharply focused on superfans, there’s been a change in strategy that’s seen “a lot more artists and labels go to Soundcloud early… and build records from nothing and by artists messaging their fans directly, because we have the tools to do that.”
3) Strategy Is Not One Size Fits All
“You have to look at how much time you have to invest, the reward you have made for your fanbase and where your fans really messaging you and commenting and which platforms are you seeing that on,” said Thomas, adding that ones those factors are sorted, the process can be very bespoke. “Maybe for a bigger artist with bigger budget,” she continued, “you can do something like Discord where you can bring in agencies and there’s a lot of paid features.” Meanwhile for artists that want a simpler solution, “something as simple as a WhatsApp group can be amazing.”
Cormican of Frame Artists cited Scottish DJ Arielle Free as a success story in terms of using WhatsApp to connect with superfans. “It’s been an easy lift thing to do, we’ve just given it space to develop,” she said, noting that the conversation in the group is often about topics beyond music and that many fans from the group meet IRL to attend Free’s shows.
The panelists also agreed that an artist’s language and tone should be tailored based on what platform they’re using and what fan group they’re talking to. On WhatsApp, the artist will likely be more open and relaxed, whereas Instagram caption will be shorter and sharper. Overall, the key is creating different spaces for different fan types.
4) Filtering Superfans By Territory Is Effective
When data is used to separate superfans by location, artists can easily reward these people with special experiences — meet and greets, guest lists, etc. — when they come to town.
Thomas cited Atlantic Records artist Fred again..’s March tour of Australia, for which the team cross-referenced people that were in the artist’s Australian fan community and anyone who had their birthday on the day of one of the Australia shows. The team then DM’d these fans from the Fred again.. account saying that they’d been put on the guestlist +2 for their birthday.
“That’s such a unique experience,” said Thomas, “I think it really heightens the user experience of that fan.” In terms of longterm benefits, she compared it to receiving a surprise upgrade by an airline: “You’re going to want to fly with that airline again.”
5) Bring Superfans Into The Narrative
When coordinating Chase & Status‘ 2023 Boiler Room set, their management at Frame Artists told organizers they wanted a small guest list dedicated to superfans “because,” said Cormican, “we wanted to have their energy in the room.”
This guestlist offer was distributed via the U.K. duo’s Discord channel. When the recording of this set was made live, there were a few people in the crowd who knew every lyric, danced the entire time and never once looked at their phones: the superfans who’d gotten in on the Discord guestlist.
The team from Frame Artists then messaged one of these fans, Don Lemons, and had him take part in a merchandise campaign. (And offered him “free guest list for life, obviously,” said Cormican.) When Chase & Status performed at the 2024 Brit Awards, fans from the artists’ Discord were invited to be part of the performance, as the team “wanted real ravers onstage.” This group got to take part in show rehearsals and the live show, and a video clip of this performance is now Chase & Status’ highest performing piece of content ever, with 100 million views. The video includes Dom Lemons “who,” said Cormican, “is now a legend in our scene.”
Billboard Pro members have selected Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) president of Latin America and U.S. Latin Alexandra Lioutikoff as the first recipient of the International Power Players’ Choice Award. The peer-voted award honors the global executive who Billboard Pro members believe had the most impact across the business in the past year. Being the first to […]
Blackstone saw Concord’s most recent offer of $1.25 per share to acquire Hipgnosis Songs Fund and raised it a nickel to $1.30 on Monday, potentially putting a capper on a back-and-forth bidding war for the music rights company’s assets.
In a joint announcement, HSF and Blackstone said the board of directors of both companies approved of the revised all-cash acquisition of Hipgnosis’s assets at a value of nearly $1.6 billion, up from Concord’s most recent bid that valued the company at around $1.51 billion.
The new price reflects a 48.1% premium over HSF’s closing share price on April 17, the day before Concord’s initial offer became public. Any offer will require the support of investors representing at least 75% of the company’s public shares at a court meeting expected to be held on June 10; until that date, additional new offers may still be lodged.
Trending on Billboard
Blackstone’s official bid arrives a week after the private equity giant made what it called a “possible offer” of $1.24 per share, or roughly $1.5 billion, on April 22. HSF’s board of directors signaled that they would support that bid if it was made official, however two days later (April 24) Concord raised their bid by one penny and the board reversed and unanimously recommended shareholders approve the Concord bid.
With Blackstone upping the bid by $0.05, the board now says that “after careful consideration” the revised bid “represents a superior offer for Hipgnosis shareholders” compared to Concord — and now will recommend shareholders to access the new terms.
“The Board is pleased to unanimously recommend this [offer] for Hipgnosis from Blackstone,” said Hipgnosis chair Robert Naylor. “Since we started our strategic review, we have been clearly focused on looking at all the options to deliver shareholder value. We are delighted that, following competitive interests in acquiring Hipgnosis, our investors now have a chance to immediately realise their holding at an increased premium.”
The London-listed fund owns rights to songs by Neil Young, Journey, Lindsey Buckingham, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira, Blondie and other artists.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s stock price fell 6.75% on the news, from $1.35 on Friday when Concord’s bid increase pushed the stock to a 52-week high to $1.26 by 9 a.m. Monday New York time.
Blackstone is also the majority owner of Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s investment adviser, Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM), and it funds Hipgnosis Songs Capital (HSC), a private music rights fund operated with HSM that has its own portfolio of music rights from such stars as Justin Bieber and Kenny Chesney.