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The Weeknd has signed with William Morris Endeavor (WME) in all areas, the agency announced on Thursday (May 1). He leaves Creative Arts Agency (CAA) after signing with them in 2021, having left WME. WME is also representing the superstar’s production company, Manic Phase, which produced his 2023 HBO series The Idol and his upcoming […]
Mike Van, who was appointed the first CEO at Billboard earlier this week, has been named to Gold House’s annual list of the 100 most impactful Asian Pacific leaders, it was announced Thursday (May 1).
Van will be celebrated alongside the other honorees on this year’s list, known as The A100 List, during a slate of events taking place in New York on May 9 and May 10. Those include the A100 Celebratory Reception (co-hosted with the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and East West Bank); the A100 Honorees Dinner presented by OpenTable, which will host past and present A100 honorees and judges; the Gold Gala, where A100 List honorees known as “A1s” — described as “the most impactful in their respective categories” — will be honored; and the Billboard x Gold House Founders Party, during which DJ Anderson .Paak is set to perform.
In celebration of the A100 and to kick off Asian Pacific Heritage Month, the Nasdaq stock market and Gold House partnered on a half-day Gold Power Summit on Wednesday (April 30) that culminated with Gold House CEO/co-founder Bing Chen and several A100 honorees, including Van, ringing the Nasdaq closing bell, an event broadcast across multiple financial networks. Van also served as a featured speaker on a Gold Power Summit panel on Wednesday.
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Others included on this year’s A100 list include Wicked director Jon M. Chu; Pachinko author Min Jin Lee; comedian and actor Ronny Chieng; K-pop group aespa; Goodwater Capital co-founder/managing partner Eric Kim; and multiple individuals listed under the banner “Los Angeles Wildfire Heroes.”
As part of the celebration of the A100 List and the Asian Pacific community, landmarks across North America will light up in gold lights. Participating cities and landmarks include: Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium), Chicago (Willis Tower), Honolulu (City Hall), Los Angeles (City Hall & Paramount Tower), Las Vegas (LV City Sign), Ontario (Niagara Falls), New York City (Empire State Building, Nasdaq Tower & The Edge), Seattle (Columbia Center Tower), Toronto (CN Tower), and Vancouver (BC Place & Olympic Cauldron).
Wednesday’s Gold Power Summit marked the second annual edition of the event, which first took place last May. Attendees at the inaugural summit included executives from Citibank, Netflix, McKinsey & Company and EMPIRE.
Prymax Media & Technology Group has acquired all the remaining masters from the estate of music industry pioneer Stan Lewis, founder of the legendary labels Jewel Records, Paula Records and Ronn Records. While Prymax Media declined to reveal the purchase price, Billboard can exclusively report that the New York-based private investment firm’s acquisition encompasses more than 1,600 songs. Those include recordings by Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Willie Nelson, Ike & Tina Turner, Albertina Walker and Lightnin’ Hopkins, among other iconic artists representing America’s golden era of blues, R&B, soul, rock & roll, gospel and country.
Prior to co-founding Prymax Media in 2020, Tyrone Holmes worked primarily as a music and film producer who collaborated with Grammy-winning artist Faith Evans and late Stellar Award-winning artist LaShun Pace, among others. In a statement announcing his firm’s acquisition, Holmes said, “This is about more than just reclaiming music. It’s about preserving cultural heritage and sharing stories that have long been silenced. With the release of this vault, we’re not only honoring the legacy of the artists involved but also opening the door for new interpretations and collaborations in the future. These recordings were hidden treasures, and now we can introduce them to the world.”
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Added Beverly Paige, a member of the Prymax team, “This isn’t just an acquisition it’s the recovery of a cultural legacy. We look forward to seeing how this music resonates with lifelong fans as well as invite newcomers to discover the rich legacy of music that has shaped the industry. We’re also excited for the conversations it will spark around the significance and impact of gospel music in our lives.”
In addition to the aforementioned Albertina Walker — aka “The Queen of Gospel Music”— Prymax’s acquisition features released and unreleased recordings by fellow gospel artists Shirley Caesar and Dorothy Norwood, Jimmy Reed, Bobby Rush, John Lee Hooker and Malcolm X. Among the song titles now under new ownership are “Judy in Disguise,” the 1967 No. 1 hit by John Fred and His Playboy Band, “I Feel Good” by John Lee Hooker, “Knock on Wood” by Ike & Tina Turner and “A Message for You” by Curtis Mayfield.
Beyond fully finished tracks, the catalog cache includes rare studio sessions and alternate takes.
Lewis’ industry career began with the opening of Stan’s Record Shop in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1948 (a frequent customer was the yet-unknown Elvis Presley) from money earned selling newspapers. From there at age 20, he established what became the South’s largest independent record distribution network. In addition to Chess Records, where he also worked for a time, Lewis represented several other independent labels such as Atlantic, Checker and Specialty. Moving back to Shreveport after his Chess stint in Chicago, Lewis founded Jewel Records in 1963. Its roster and catalog holdings included Big Joe Turner, John Lee Hooker, Ike & Tina Turner, Aretha Frankline, B.B. King and Fats Domino. Prior to establishing Jewel, he had begun producing music artists while also co-writing with Dale Hawkins the 1957 rock & roll classic “Susie Q.”
Lewis later bought the masters of Chicago blues label Cobra Records in the late ‘60s (home to Buddy Guy). Then came the founding of the Paula (named after his wife Pauline) and Ronn imprints. The former sported a roster headed by The Uniques (led by Joe Stampley), Toussaint McCall, John Fred and His Playboy Band and others.
It was Garland Jones, owner of record store Garland Super Sounds and a longtime Lewis mentee, who helped the latter’s son Lenny outline all the music assets in Lewis’ vault before his death in 2018.
“After a decade-long legal battle, I finally obtained the rights to Stan Lewis’s succession and successfully sold this extraordinary, once forgotten collection of music to Prymax Media,” said Jones. “This partnership now can resonate with and inspire a new generation. The collection also includes the complete unreleased vault from the legendary Q Records and Gramercy Records.”
Attorney Jeffrey D. Garfin oversaw the transaction for Prymax Media. “The material derived from the estate of Stan ‘The Record Man’ Lewis represents a literal time capsule containing hundreds of unknown recordings from incredibly well-known artists,” commented Garfin. “Many of these iconic performers are no longer with us. So to be able to hear alternate takes on their hits and even new material is just fantastic. I’m honored to be shepherding these recordings into the 21st century.”
South Korea’s HYBE used its artists’ heavy touring schedule and strong merchandise and licensing revenues to overcome a slight drop in recorded music sales in the first quarter of 2025.
In the historically slow first quarter, total revenue rose 38.7% to 500.6 billion KRW ($350 million), the second-lowest quarterly revenue since the first quarter of 2023. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of 47.3 billion KRW ($33 million) was up 19% from the prior-year period.
“Typically, the first quarter is a period when artists take a break after busy year-end activities and prepare for new albums and projects,” CFO Kyungjun Lee said during the earnings call Tuesday (April 29). “Therefore, in Q1, we had relatively fewer album releases and content offerings, thus posting a slightly lower profitability compared to the prior quarter.”
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Recorded music revenue fell 5.9% to 136.5 billion KRW ($95 million), with streaming accounting for almost half of recorded music sales, said CEO Jaesang Lee. “While album sales fluctuate quarter over quarter depending on release schedules, steady streaming revenue serves as a stable source of profit. Streaming helps mitigate recorded music sales volatility in quarters like this quarter, when the number of new albums is relatively smaller.”
Concerts revenue jumped 252% to 155.2 billion KRW ($108 million). CEO Lee cited the “huge success” of tours in South Korea, the U.S., Japan and elsewhere in Asia by J-Hope, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, ENHYPEN and BOYNEXTDOOR. Additionally, J-Hope’s solo shows in Mexico “marked the beginning of active expansion to the Latin market,” he added.
Merchandise and licensing improved 75.2% to 106.4 billion KRW ($74 million). Whereas concert-related merchandise was most popular in the past, HYBE has found success with artists’ character-driven merchandise, such as for Seventeen’s MINITEEN, a group of animal representatives for the band. “All the character products have been selling really quickly, and many items are in high demand, resulting in additional rounds of pre-order sales,” said CFO Lee.
Content revenue fell 32.7% to 41.2 billion KRW ($29 million). It included sales of the Seventeen in Carat Land Memory Book and BTS 7 Moments, an archive of group members throughout 2022 and 2023 that includes a 66-minute video and 180-page photo book.
CEO Lee also teased details of Big Hit Music’s upcoming boy band that will debut in the third quarter of 2025. He described the five-member group as “a next generation creator crew that pursues self-expression in completely new styles and senses” and will perform “very original music that has not existed in the past.”
Separately, a seven-member, all-Japanese boy band called aeon will debut in June. Created by YX Labels, HYBE’s Japanese operation, the group formed from a TV show that aired in Japan on Nippon TV from February to April.
Strong subscription revenue helped Universal Music Group’s first quarter revenue rise 11.8% year over year (or 9.5% in constant currency) to 2.9 billion euros ($3.05 billion at the average exchange rate in the first quarter), the company announced Tuesday (April 29). Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) also rose 11.8%, to 661 […]
Hugh Forrest is out at South By Southwest, four months after assuming leadership of the music, tech and film conference, following a decision by the SXSW board to select Penske Media Corporation executive Jenny Connelly to lead the festival, Billboard has learned.
Connelly, a longtime executive vp of product and technology at PMC and a SXSW board member, has been appointed director in charge of the annual event in Austin. Consequently, Forrest was offered the opportunity to retain his titles as president and chief programming officer, reporting to Connelly in her new role, according to PMC. “When Hugh was told he wasn’t going to get the CEO role at SXSW, and would be reporting to her, Hugh made the decision to leave SXSW,” said the spokesperson for PMC, which has had control of SXSW for two years and is also Billboard‘s parent company.
Since joining PMC in late 2017, Connelly has overseen multiple teams responsible for engineering, data, IT, product and SEO, and also leads the subscriptions and email teams. Pre-PMC, Connelly was senior vp of product at Dreamworks NOVA, tasked with bringing that company’s 3D imaging technology to other industries. Earlier, she spent seven-plus years at Live Nation Entertainment, rising to senior vp of digital at Live Nation Studios.
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Connelly is based in Los Angeles but has begun traveling to Austin on a weekly basis, the company said.
“I’m happy to announce that after 3+ years on the SXSW board of directors, I’m now working as Director in Charge of SXSW,” she said in a social post on Tuesday (April 29), adding she’s “working with a killer group of dedicated, creative & skilled people who throw the world’s most influential festival. We are dreaming up the evolution of this event, so that SXSW never stops helping creative people achieve their goals.”
Several other key moves were announced Friday (April 25) during a company town hall as part of ongoing succession planning at the festival, the PMC rep said, along with additional promotions for festival veterans Peter Lewis, Greg Rosenbaum and Brian Hobbs. The organization said it has several open jobs to fill at SXSW.
Forrest declined to comment on last week’s chain of events when reached by Billboard but remarked in a statement over the weekend that “leaving South by Southwest was definitely not my decision,” adding, “I put my heart and soul into this event for more than 35 years, and I was looking forward to leading several more editions.”
Hugh Forrest speaks onstage during the 2023 SXSW Conference at Austin Convention Center on March 10, 2023.
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Forrest joined SXSW in 1989, when it was in its nascent stage, and spent the bulk of his tenure as chief programming officer. In 2022, he was promoted to co-president alongside then-chief brand officer Jann Baskett, succeeding the retiring CEO Roland Swenson. Forrest became the sole president late last year following Baskett’s departure to start her own consultancy.
As president, Forrest had been tasked with driving business growth and collaborating closely with the event’s board of directors, which includes co-founder Swenson, Jay Penske (CEO of Penske Media and SXSW’s largest shareholder) and Amy Webb (CEO of the Future Today Institute), among others.
The company told Billboard that the 2025 edition achieved the highest sponsorship revenue in the event’s history, while the SXSW EDU conference had its best turnout since its 2011 founding.
The Austin Chronicle hinted at a wider staffing shakeup at SXSW, reporting on Saturday (April 26) that “another 10 or more staff members … have left the company, either through previously planned departures or unexpectedly.” One departure, James Minor, the vp and head of music at the conference, was one of those planned exits. Minor told the Austin American-Statesman on Sunday he “already had plans to leave SXSW in motion for the fall.”
Founded in 1987 by Swenson, Nick Barbaro, Louis Black and Louis Jay Meyers, SXSW has grown into a globally influential event in Austin, which also now includes satellite events like the two-year-old SXSW Sydney and the upcoming debut of SXSW London, which launches in June. Swenson, who led SXSW for 36 years, transitioned to executive chairman in 2022.
The leadership change follows a recent announcement that next year’s conference will be on the shorter side, running from March 12-18, with interactive, film/TV and music programs happening concurrently. The reduction in days — and by extension, the number of showcasing music artists and shows — is due to the $1.6 billion redevelopment of the Austin Convention Center, which is underway. The new center, expected to open in 2029, will nearly double its size and focus on accessibility and sustainability. “A shorter SX gives attendees more of a chance to be here for the entire run,” a spokesperson told Billboard at the time.
Note: Billboard’s parent company PMC is the largest shareholder of SXSW and its brands are official media partners of SXSW.
Republic Records will be the label honoree at the 2025 Grammy Hall of Fame Gala, which will take place on Friday, May 16 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. John Mellencamp and Conan Gray are set to perform at the event to lead the tribute. Atlantic Records was the initial label honoree […]
For Leslie Fram, the highly respected former senior vp of music and talent for CMT, launching her own company that continues her work advocating and amplifying artists’ voices is a natural move.
Fram, Billboard’s 2021 Country Power Players executive of the year, has founded FEMco (Fram Entertainment & Music), a consulting company with divisions focused on artist development, talent booking and production, as well as a B2B arm that will connect outside businesses to Nashville companies.
“I’ve always wanted to start my own company, leveraging my three decades of accumulated experience and opportunities to intentionally design a purpose-driven business that aligns with my personal and professional aspirations,” Fram tells Billboard. “Through my time in radio and television, I’ve gained a wealth of knowledge, skills and insights from various roles, industries and projects that are not just a collection of past events but a foundation for future endeavors with FEMco. Starting my own company, doing what I enjoy most, was the best choice for me.”
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The new company will allow Fram to use her estimable mentoring, community-building and networking skills that she put into practice during her 13-year tenure at CMT, which she left in September. While there, Fram launched a number of programs, including CMT’s Next Women of Country, which gave a platform to nascent female country artists. She also created the Next Women of Country Tour, which paired Next Women of Country participants with established headlining acts. She was also a fierce advocate for equity, pushing CMT to institute its Equal Play initiative, with a commitment to 50/50 video airplay for female artists on the TV network and CMT Music channels.
FEMco
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While at CMT, Fram executive-produced the annual CMT Music Awards, CMT Crossroads and Storytellers. In January, she served as talent producer on CBS Presents Ringo & Friends at the Ryman. Prior to CMT, she had an illustrious background in rock and alternative radio, serving as program director and on-air talent at influential Atlanta alternative rock station 99X before becoming program director and morning show co-host with Matt Pinfield at New York rock station WRXP. She moved to Nashville in 2011.
While FEMco’s other divisions focus on all genders, keeping with her groundbreaking work with female country artists at CMT, Fram has already launched FEMco Presents, “the company’s music-focused production arm that will create multiple opportunities for female artists to increase their visibility and reach via events, sponsorships and more,” Fram says. The first franchise under FEMco Presents is FEMcountry, which will work with women country artists as “a continuation of my work in creating programs like ‘Next Women of Country’ and my passion for elevating female voices in country,” she adds.
FEMcountry soft-launched in March with a singer-songwriter event at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Georgia. “Moving forward, FEMcountry will include writer’s rounds, showcases, listening events both in Nashville and nationwide, along with curating festivals,” Fram says. “The goal is to support female artists in all aspects of their career, finding a stage to play on and to get paid.”
Fram sees her new venture as a through-line in her decades-long work supporting artists. “FEMco will absolutely represent the work I did at CMT in elevating women in country music via FEMcountry,” she says. “A program like ‘Next Women of Country’ is still as relevant today as it was when I launched it over 10 years ago — women are still criminally underrepresented in the country music format.”
Fram also plans to launch FEMpop and FEMrock.
The B2B element will connect companies and brands looking to establish a presence in Nashville with the local music and entertainment market. “Through our extensive industry relationships, we are able to help navigate the city’s unique blend of creativity and commerce with relationships to build authenticity and visibility,” Fram says.
Through FEMco, Fram will also continue working with mtheory CEO Cameo Carlson on another former CMT program, Equal Access, which helps artists and management professionals break into the country music industry.
FEMco will work with artists and companies on an a la carte basis depending upon their individual needs, Fram says.
Mike Van has been elevated to the role of CEO of Billboard — the first time anyone has held the role.
In this position, Van will oversee Billboard’s global brand footprint in 15 countries, along with all aspects of strategy, revenue, business operations, live experiences, international licensing and brand partnerships. Van will oversee both the business and editorial teams, with Billboard editor-in-chief Hannah Karp now reporting to him directly.
Van has served as the president of Billboard since 2022, driving double-digit revenue growth and expanding the brand’s global presence. Van has also driven Billboard‘s digital transformation and continued to develop cutting-edge live experiences, including Latin Music Week, the Billboard Latin Music Awards, THE STAGE at SXSW, the Billboard Music Awards and Billboard Women in Music.
Van will report to Jay Penske, chairman and CEO, Penske Media Corporation.
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“Mike is a one-of-a-kind leader, visionary and partner,” Penske said. “His passion for the Billboard brand and clear vision for its future has always set him apart. Mike has fostered a collaborative environment with a team committed to building a formidable global business – innovating and trailblazing at every level. It has been inspiring to watch Billboard’s seismic growth over the last several years and I look forward to seeing the brand continue to thrive under Mike’s leadership.”
“It is the honor of a lifetime to lead Billboard and the team,” Van said. “Together, we have cultivated a culture of excellence. What we’ve built over the last several years has been nothing short of extraordinary, particularly in a media landscape marked by contraction and consolidation. I am deeply proud to carry this legacy forward as we shape the next 125 years by continuing to celebrate artist and executive achievements through our charts, content, global IP expansion and evolving our signature live experiences, cementing our position as the definitive voice of music business and culture.”
Van’s career has spanned media, entertainment and business transformation. He has held leadership positions at Billboard for the last seven years before serving as president. In addition to his time with Billboard, Van brings more than 25 years of marketing and monetization experience, including leadership roles at Pandora, Electronic Arts and Complex.
Proving that the best way to get stock prices to rally is to first bury them deep underground, markets surged this week as President Trump eased his tone on U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and said tariff negotiations with China are ongoing (although China denied the claim).
The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index surged 6.1% to 2,595.95, marking its third consecutive weekly gain after falling 10.9% in the two-week period ended April 4. The spoils of a less chaotic global market were felt by nearly all music stocks. Of the 20 stocks in the index, 16 finished the week in positive territory, and two — Anghami and Sphere Entertainment Co. — had gains exceeding 10%.
Major indexes improved this week as investor sentiment regarding U.S. tariff policy improved and President Trumpsaid he would not fire Powell. The Nasdaq composite rose 6.7% to 17,382.94 and the S&P 500 gained 4.6% to 5,525.21. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 improved 1.7% to 8,415.25. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 2.5% to 2,546.30. China’s SSE Composite Index rose 0.6% to 3,295.06.
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After investors’ confusion about the U.S. tariff policy put a damper on stocks in recent weeks, markets seemed to find comfort in reports that said the U.S. Trade Representative was quickly working with some trading partners under a streamlined process. Jay Hatfield, founder/chief investment officer of InfraCap, told CNBC, “We’ve reached peak tariff tantrum” and believes the worst of the uncertainty has passed. In fact, the market could have been due for a rebound. Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT in Atlanta, told Reuters the stock market “was oversold by virtually all measures.”
Sphere Entertainment Co. was one of the week’s winners, rising 13.8% to $28.88. On Friday, Sphere Entertainment subsidiary MSG Networks announced it had negotiated a $514 million reduction in its debt and lower fees to broadcast New York Knicks and New York Rangers games. The news sent Sphere’s share price up 9.1%.
Spotify, which reports first quarter earnings on Tuesday (April 29), rose 8.1% to $620.72, giving the streaming giant a 23.3% gain over the past three weeks. This week, UBS lowered its price target to $680 from $690 and Wolfe Research raised its outlook on SPOT to “outperform” from “peer perform.”
Live Nation gained 4.4% to $132.76. Wolfe Research lowered its price target to $158 from $165 and maintained its “outperform” rating.
Warner Music Group (WMG) improved 2.4% to $29.83. Morgan Stanley lowered WMG shares to $32 from $37 and dropped the rating to “equalweight” from “overweight.” Universal Music Group (UMG), which also reports earnings on Tuesday, rose 3.5% to 24.79 euros ($28.28), bringing its year-to-date gain to 3.7%.
K-pop stocks had an unremarkable week after performing well during the tariff-driven chaos. HYBE, which, like Spotify and UMG, reports first-quarter earnings on Tuesday, rose 0.9%. SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment improved 0.6% and 0.2%, respectively. YG Entertainment dropped 4.9%. Still, K-pop stocks are outperforming most music stocks this year. Collectively, the four South Korean music companies have posted an average year-to-date gain of 27.1%.
Cumulus Media shares dropped 16.0% to $0.21 after the company announced on Wednesday (April 23) it will de-list from the Nasdaq exchange on May 2 and immediately begin trading over the counter. The radio broadcaster’s shares are down 72.7% in 2025 and have fallen 92.2% over the last 52 weeks.
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