State Champ Radio

by DJ Frosty

Current track

Title

Artist

Current show
blank

State Champ Radio Mix

12:00 am 12:00 pm

Current show
blank

State Champ Radio Mix

12:00 am 12:00 pm


Business News

Page: 54

Dear Industry Leaders,
Last year, the Black Music Action Coalition and the Academy of Country Music joined together to launch OnRamp, a new initiative designed to create economic empowerment and access to the music industry for young Black creatives and industry executives, giving them a year of guaranteed income and a menu of mentorship services from music industry leaders.

Following the success of the OnRamp program, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has united with the BMAC to continue this important work and support both young female and Black creatives and industry professionals in search of careers as musicians, songwriters, producers and executives.The program assists young creatives with basic needs such as rent, utilities and food, as well as opens the door for previously challenging activities such as studio time, travel for shows or networking opportunities, marketing and even legal services. It also provides mentorship focused on improving inclusivity and equity within music and empowering the next generation of leaders in the early stages of their careers by granting access to professional development opportunities, mentorship and industry exposure. The BMAC will facilitate the program as well as document and track the artists’ and young professionals’ journeys as they share their stories of success and triumph from the year of empowerment.

After reviewing applications in 2023, the BMAC has selected 20 female and Black emerging creatives for the program. We are currently fundraising in order to begin the program during Black Music Month in June.

As we are all very aware of the incredible contributions female and Black creatives continue to make to the growth of our industry, we see the BMAC Music Maker Guaranteed Income and Mentorship Program as a valuable long-term partner that will provide a structured system that will open doors and train the next generation of creatives and executives in the music industry. We ask that you become an inaugural partner with us on this important initiative so that we can create the true scale needed to open the doors to the future creators and leaders in our industry.

Trending on Billboard

As part of Grammy Week 2024, BMAC co-founder and president/CEO Willie “Prophet” Stiggers hosted John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation; Michael Tubbs, founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income; Maura Cuffie-Peterson, director of strategic initiatives for guaranteed income for Creatives Rebuild New York; and Billboard editorial director Hannah Karp for an economic justice summit at UTA to galvanize the music industry to take action.

We now look to our industry and partners to donate to this initiative. We would be so grateful for your support.

WILLIE “PROPHET” STIGGERS, Co-founder and president/CEO Black Music Action Coalition

HANNAH KARP, Editorial director Billboard

JOHN SYKES, Chairman Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation

IRVING AZOFF, Chairman/CEO The Azoff Company

ROB LIGHT, Managing partner/ head of worldwide music CAA

To support this program, please visit bmacoalition.org/halloffame.

This story originally appeared in the March 9, 2024, issue of Billboard.

Spain‘s recorded music industry enjoyed revenue of nearly 520 million euros ($567 million) in 2023, marking the third consecutive year of double-digit growth. The industry witnessed a notable 12.33% increase from the previous year, with music sales contributing 465 million euros ($507 million), according to the latest report from PROMUSICAE, an association representing over 95% of the Spanish recording sector.
The growth is attributed to a robust digital market, which now accounts for 86% of music consumption in Spain, with streaming services leading the charge. Remarkably, nearly 99% of digital sales, amounting to 398.6 million euros ($435 million), came from streaming, with audio platforms generating 330 million euros ($360 million) and video accounting for the remainder. This trend underscores the continuing shift towards digital consumption, with physical sales also seeing an uptick, particularly in the vinyl segment, which experienced a 19% revenue increase and commanded over 56% of the physical market’s turnover.

The report highlights the increasing embrace of premium subscription models, with over 6 million Spaniards opting for such services in 2023, a 15% jump from the previous year. This reflects a growing willingness among consumers to pay for enhanced music experiences, although Spain still lags behind other markets in terms of premium subscriber shares.

Trending on Billboard

PROMUSICAE’s president, Antonio Guisasola, reflected positively on the industry’s achievements in 2023, underscoring the pivotal role of the streaming model in providing consumers access to a vast array of recorded music at a modest price. He credited this success to the collective talent of artists and the concerted efforts and investments of the recording industry. “We make a very positive assessment of the 2023 year’s closure, with big hopes in the reasonable advance of the streaming model that brings to the consumer at a modest price all recorded music created thanks to the sum of artists’ talent and the work, effort, and investment of all the recording industry of our country,” he said in a press release. However, he acknowledged the industry’s ongoing journey to recover and reach the pre-piracy-crisis levels of 2001 when revenue was 37% higher than it was last year.

Guisasola advocates for comprehensive support from the public sector and continued investment in artist development to reach and surpass the revenue levels seen before the piracy crisis, with the aim of Spanish music having a stronger presence on the international stage. “These aids, combined with the recording industry’s enormous commitment — investing over 30% of its benefits in marketing and developing its artists, and with worldwide investments exceeding 7.1 billion dollars as per IFPI details, spanning all facets of phonographic production and the commercialization and promotion of works — shall allow us to take the definite plunge and overcome,” said Guisasola. He claims this will allow the Spanish recording industry to surpass all-time revenue highs, as has been achieved in other countries.

Top 10 albums in Spain by revenue in 2023:

Quevedo, Donde Quiero Estar

Karol G, Mañana Será Bonito

Bad Bunny, Un Verano Sin Ti

Bad Bunny, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana

Aitana, Alpha

C. Tangana, El Madrileño

Rauw Alejandro, Saturno

Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version)

Feid, Feliz Cumpleaños Ferxxo Te Pirateamos el Álbum

Mora, Paraiso

Top 10 songs in Spain by revenue in 2023:

Bizarrap x Shakira, “Shakira: BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53”

Marshmello x Manuel Turizo, “El Merengue”

Vicco, “Nochenterai”

Manuel Turizo, “La Bachata”

Yandel x Feid, “Yandel 150”

Karol G x Shakira, “TQG”

Quevedo x Myke Towers, “Playa Del Inglés”

Quevedo, “Columbia”

Rosalía x Rauw Alejandro, “Beso”

Myke Towers, “Lala”

Larry Jackson‘s year-old media company gamma announced a global partnership with independent label Three Six Zero Recordings on Tuesday (March 12). Under this new agreement, gamma will handle the label’s music distribution, marketing and multimedia production needs. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The companies also announced […]

For the first time, Billboard is expanding its peer-voted Power Players’ Choice Award globally, asking music industry members from all sectors across the world to honor the international executive they believe had the most impact across the business in the past year. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and […]

For the first time, Billboard is expanding its peer-voted Power Players’ Choice Award globally, asking music industry members from all sectors across the world to honor the international executive they believe had the most impact across the business in the past year. Voting is now open to all Billboard Pro members, both existing and new, […]

(WMG) revealed its interest in acquiring the French music company.
Believe shares rose 2.5% to 15.88 euros ($17.38) after WMG announced its interest in the owner of distributor TuneCore, publishing administrator Sentric and such record labels as Naïve and Groove Attack. Last week, Believe announced it had interest from an unnamed party, which caused the share price to exceed the 15 euro ($16.52) per share offer from a consortium led by CEO Denis Ladegaillerie and investment funds EQT and TCV. After the potential suitor was given a name, Believe’s share price rose even more. WMG, which hasn’t made an official offer, said it would pay “at least” 17 euros ($18.60) per share. WMG shares fell 4.4% to $33.93 this week. 

With Believe trading at 15.88 euros ($17.38), investors don’t appear convinced that WMG will make an offer at 17.00 euros. Not only would WMG need to pass regulatory scrutiny, the Ladegaillerie consortium has a head start and appears to be moving quickly to close the deal. Last week, the consortium said it waived the board’s condition that an independent expert weigh in on its offer’s fairness to shareholders. WMG’s announcement singled out the maneuver, stating that “WMG considers that such a waiver violates a number of rules of French securities regulations which are meant to protect shareholders (including the sellers and their investors) and the Company, and that the validity of such waiver could be challenged.” 

Sphere Entertainment Co. shares rose 10.1% this week to $48.77, adding $127 million to the company’s market capitalization and bringing its year-to-date gain to 43.5%. Three of four live music companies posted gains in an otherwise muted week for music stocks: German promoter CTS Eventim gained 2.2% to 75.10 euros ($82.19), while on Thursday (Mar. 7), Live Nation shares surpassed $100 for the first time since May 2, 2022. The concert giant finished the week up 2.7% to $99.75. 

Trending on Billboard

The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index fell 0.9% to 1,700.37 this week as half the stocks were gainers, nine were losers and one was unchanged. Streaming stocks had an average gain of 4.2% thanks to an 18.4% improvement by music streamer LiveOne. Abu Dhabi-based streaming company Anghami rose 3.2%. The bigger streaming companies lost ground, however. Spotify fell 1.6% to $259.40, a rare stumble for a stock that has gained 38.1% year to date. Deezer shares dropped 0.4% to 2.24 euros ($2.45).

K-pop stocks were down across the board this week. JYP Entertainment, home to Twice and Stray Kids, fell 8.0%. SM Entertainment, home to aespa and Girls’ Generation, dropped 6.5%. HYBE sank 2.3% and YG Entertainment, the company behind BLACKPINK, slipped 1%. The four companies have an average year-to-date loss of 22.7%. HYBE’s 16.7% decline in 2024 is the best of the group. Elsewhere, JYP Entertainment shares have fallen 33.1% and SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment dropped 20.6% and 20.4%, respectively. 

Stocks were mixed globally. In the United States, the Nasdaq composite dropped 1.2% to 16,085.94 and the S&P 500 declined 0.3% to 5,123.69. U.S. stocks reached new records on Thursday following comments by Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell that indicated the central bank will ease interest rates. “If the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year,” Powell told the House Committee on Financial Services on Wednesday (Mar. 6).

Stocks ended the week on a down note after Friday’s U.S. jobs report offered mixed messages to investors. Total confirmed payroll rose by 275,000 in February, but at the same time, the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points to 3.9% and wages rose just 0.1% in February — not necessarily welcome indicators, but perhaps signs that the Federal Reserve can move ahead with future rate cuts without fearing the economy will overheat. 

In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 fell 0.3% to 7,659.74. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 1.4% to 2,680.35. China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange index improved 0.6% to 3,046.02. 

The beloved Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, a vital annual event in the comedy world, has canceled its 2024 edition and laid off about 70% of its staff.
The festival’s managing body, Groupe Juste pour rire inc. (JPR), is facing financial hardships and has sought legal measures to avoid bankruptcy. JPR said the decision is aimed at finding new investors or potential buyers to keep the festival afloat. The challenges leading to this point include the economic strain from the pandemic and other industry hurdles, including rising costs and media mergers. Despite the tough times, organizers hope to come back stronger in 2025. 

“The decision to initiate restructuring proceedings was reached after thorough consideration of all options available to the company,” a news release states, “taking into account its very difficult financial situation given the significant changes in our business landscape in recent years.” – Rosie Long Decter

Trending on Billboard

Billboard Women In Music Expands to Canada in 2024

This June, Billboard Women In Music is expanding to Canada, shining a light on the influential women and gender-diverse talents who are shaping the nation’s music scene. With this expansion, Billboard Canada aims to honor those making significant strides across the industry, from production to live performances.

The music community is invited to participate, with nominations now open. It offers a platform to recognize and celebrate the outstanding contributions of individuals in the Canadian music industry while fostering a more inclusive and diverse musical landscape.

Canadian executive Golnar Khosrowshahi, the founder/CEO of Reservoir Media, one of the biggest independent music companies in the world, is an Executive of the Year hall of famer. This year, she offered this piece of advice: “Pivot to a path that allows for growth equally across your professional and personal lives. You should not have to compromise, but rather be empowered to find the route that allows for the multitudes present in you.” – Richard Trapunski

Music Canada’s Game-Changing Update: Video Streams Now Count Toward Gold and Platinum Certifications

Earlier this week, Toronto-based Music Canada announced a significant update to its Gold/Platinum Program for Single Awards: It will now incorporate official video streams into the certification calculations.

The change celebrates the evolving ways fans engage with music, particularly through video. With this update, video streams from platforms like YouTube, Vevo and Apple Music from Jan. 1, 2020, onwards will contribute to the criteria for Gold, Platinum and Diamond certifications, ensuring that artists who engage fans through music videos receive recognition toward certifications. – David Farrell

4batz has signed a deal with Drake’s label OVO Sound for one EP, according to two executives familiar with the deal. The EP deal is a short-term license, the sources say. A rep for Drake and OVO declined to comment. Multiple labels have been wooing 4batz since his track “act ii: date @ 8” — […]

BMG acquired the catalog of Cologne, Germany-based record label Coconut Music. The deal includes the recorded rights of singer Haddaway, whose 1993 single, “What Is Love,” became a massive global hit and reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The deal gives BMG 100% control of the track, which was also sampled in Eminem‘s 2010 hit “No Love” featuring Lil Wayne. The song was also covered in 2023 by David Guetta, Anne-Marie and Coi Leray as “Baby Don’t Hurt Me.” Additionally, it was a cornerstone of the recurring Saturday Night Live sketch “Roxbury Guys” and its 1998 film adaptation, A Night at the Roxbury.

The acquisition also includes tracks by Bad Boys Blue, London Beat and Wolfgang Petry. Coconut Music was founded in 1981 by Karin Hartmann and Tony Hendrik.

Trending on Billboard

The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival announced a partnership with NFT marketplace OpenSea to launch Coachella Keepsakes, a series of three collections that will serve as an “all-access pass” to some of the festival’s exclusive experiences and products, according to a press release. Using the Avalanche blockchain network, each of the collections will pair collectible Coachella IP artwork with real-world benefits, including exclusive access to areas including the VIP Rose Garden and Oasis Lounge as well as limited edition Coachella merchandise, VIP passes and more. The first release in the series, dubbed the VIP Pass + Oasis Lounge Keepsake, was released on Mar. 5; it provides owners with a 2024 VIP festival pass and the new Oasis Lounge. The second release in the series, the Canvas Welcome Box Keepsake (available Mar. 25), will offer access to unique merchandise, digital content, access to the Rose Garden and more; that one will be available starting Mar. 25. The third and final drop will include an artist collaboration, with details to be revealed in late March.

A consortium led by the Persianas Group and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority — an independent investment institution of the Nigerian federation — is partnering with Oak View Group and Live Nation on a proposed 12,000-capacity arena in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. Other partners on the $100 million project include Tunde Folawiyo, managing director of the Yinka Folawiyo Group; Nigerian investment fund Adino Capital; and MBO Capital. Upon completion, the venue will become the first dedicated arena in Nigeria. It is expected to create more than 1,500 direct and indirect jobs.

Warner Music Group (WMG) expanded its agreement with Tips Industries Limited (Tips Music), one of India’s leading music labels. WMG has been exclusively distributing Tips Music’s catalog since 2020. Under the new agreement, WMG will spearhead the commercial and distribution responsibilities for all of Tips Music’s frontline and catalog music, spanning 23 Indian languages and more than 30,000 songs. Tips owns the “lion’s share” of Bollywood film soundtracks from the 1990s, according to a press release.

The U.K. office of Believe signed a long-term, global label solutions deal with indie label Bella Union that encompasses new Bella Union releases and select catalog. In addition to all-format physical and digital distribution, Believe will provide services including synchronization; digital service provider and retail editorial and marketing partnerships; strategic release management; unique digital expertise and in-house technology; video and audience development; and ongoing advance funding. Bella Union’s current roster includes Beach House, Father John Misty and Ezra Furman.

Hook, a music platform that allows fans to legally remix popular songs to use on social media, extended its seed round, bringing on additional investments from Natalie Massenet and Nick Brown‘s Imaginary Ventures in addition to a group of strategic music and social media industry investors and advisors. The new investment brings the company’s total seed round to $3.5 million, adding to the original funding led by Point72 Ventures and Edgar Bronfman Jr.‘s Waverley Capital.

Collaborative music creation platform BeatConnect secured $2.25 million CAD ($1.67 million) in funding ahead of its relaunch. The round was supported by music and tech investors including Sfermion, FICC, Anges Québec and Triptyq Capital. The relaunch, slated for the spring, will amount to an overhaul of BeatConnect’s multiplayer Digital Audio Workstation (mDAW) that will incorporate gaming elements into its music production capabilities.

ADA and Warner Music Australia signed a global distribution deal with Americana label Cheatin’ Hearts Records, which is home to Australian country, folk and blues music. Founded by Luke Woods and Aaron Curnow, the label has put out albums by Henry Wagons, Melody Moko, Watty Thompson and more. The first music to be released under the deal is from Tasmanian singer-songwriter Claire Anne Taylor.

Independent digital distributor and artist and label services company IDOL has signed new deals with Le Plan Recordings and Old Soul Music. IDOL expanded its deal with New York-based Le Plan to provide global digital distribution and marketing for all of its catalog and frontline titles along with physical distribution for new releases. Its deal with North Carolina-based Old Soul, recently launched by Austin Hart (a.k.a. producer L’Orange), encompasses global distribution and marketing.

The dispute over the YouTube Music union, whose 43 members were abruptly laid off last week while one was testifying during an Austin City Council meeting, largely depends on the definition of “contractor.” Because they are not permanent, full-time employees, “their project on YouTube Music has ended,” according to a rep from their employer, information-technology subcontractor Cognizant, and “the contract expired at its natural end date.”
Independent contractors, according to Kate Bronfenbrenner, Cornell University’s director of labor education research, are “not under the regulatory state,” so they lack basic workplace protections. “Whether it’s labor law, health and safety or race discrimination, independent contractors have almost no rights in our economy,” she says. “So employers say, ‘We want to make as much money as possible — let’s make all our employees temporary employees.’”

Trending on Billboard

The 43 YouTube contractors, who work for Cognizant and Google to oversee content for the music-streaming service’s 80 million subscribers, voted unanimously almost a year ago to form a union under the auspices of Alphabet Workers Union-CWA. They’ve complained of hourly wages as low as $19 and a lack of sick pay and benefits. And they say Google has not been willing to bargain with them; in January, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Google’s refusal to do so was illegal and must “bargain on request.” (An appeal is pending.)

In a statement, Google spokeswoman Courtenay Mencini repeated that Cognizant, not Google, is “responsible for these workers’ employment terms.” On Cognizant’s side, Jeff DeMarrais, chief communications officer, says “nobody was laid off” from YouTube Music and the contractors have seven weeks of paid time to “explore other roles within the organization.”

Sam Regan, a YouTube Music data analyst who is on the union’s organizing committee, responds that his team’s project was “never considered as temporary” and the Cognizant moves are, in fact, layoffs, as opposed to reassignments to different areas of the company. “Our team was fired and we had no notice, no warning, that we were going to get laid off,” he says. “It was cold, ruthless, dehumanizing, inhumane. The practice of tech companies laying off large swaths of people without notice is indicative of a pretty sick orientation towards workers in our culture.”

Regan and Katie-Marie Marschner, a subject matter expert on YouTube Music’s charts team until last week, accuse company managers of forcing them to leave their office without giving them a chance to remove their belongings. The office was a “total destruction zone,” Marschner says, alleging company employees and on-site security refused to let them remove certain personal items. “The experience was traumatic for a lot of us,” Regan adds.

Members of the YouTube Music team had been scheduled to testify before the Austin City Council on Feb. 29 to ask city officials to help convince Google to negotiate with their union. But as data analyst Jack Benedict was speaking, Marschner received a text saying her entire team was fired. Shaken, she interrupted the colleague’s speech — a moment captured in a video clip that went viral. Watching the clip afterwards, Marschner says, has been surreal and traumatic. “It’s such an insane experience opening my phone and that’s the first thing I see — myself talking, and not just talking, but the sound of my voice and the pain and shock,” she says.

Marschner accuses Cognizant and Google of “union-busting” and says the team members were “fired illegally.” And Cornell’s Bronfenbrenner is skeptical of Cognizant’s assertion that the temporary employees had a “natural end date” of Feb. 29. “There are a whole lot of questions about that,” she says. “From everything I’ve read, there wasn’t a certain date. And if there was an uncertain date, the employer can’t say their contract just ended and they can’t be laid off.”

Reached at home, Marschner says she plans to continue pursuing union recognition for her team: “We’re not done with this. We’re very much ready to keep the fight going.”