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Seventeen cartoon renditions of Taylor Swift — wearing pink sunglasses, posing in her purple Speak Now dress, posing in a “Not A Lot Going On At the Moment” t-shirt — are stamped onto an Amazon page for a 24-piece cupcake-topper set. “Our Singer cake decorations are made of high-quality food-grade cardstock,” reads the description. “Can be applied safely!” The $12.99 birthday party set, listed by the brand wgzftrys, which is headquartered in Guangdong Shen, China, is among the hundreds of Swift products available on Amazon — some bearing the megastar singer’s name and likeness, others using “TS” or a generic Taylor-ish young-blonde-woman image.
They’re mostly illegal bootlegs, according to music industry sources — a form of international intellectual property rights infringement that costs clothing, electronics, toy and sporting goods companies billions of dollars annually. In 2023, U.S. Border and Customs Protection seized nearly $2.8 billion in copyright-infringing goods shipped from multiple countries — most prominently China, Turkey and Canada. Jeff Jampol, CEO of Jam Inc., which manages the estates of the Doors, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane and others, says that his lawyers serve “dozens and dozens” of cease-and-desist orders monthly to suspected bootleggers on a variety of e-commerce sites and other webpages who cost artists roughly $20,000 to $50,000 for every $1 million in annual t-shirt sales.
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“In terms of how much money we lose, who knows?” says Steve Culver, president of Dreamer Media, a Nashville merchandising company that works with Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Melissa Etheridge and others. “It’s just so easy to set up an Amazon store — if you get shut down, you just put it back up again.”
Reps for Swift and her label, Republic Records, didn’t respond to requests to comment for this story as they prepare to release her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19. But music merch companies have been battling this kind ofonline bootlegging for years, and they say the problem is getting worse. In 2021, Global Merchandising Services, citing rampant Motörhead trademark violations and counterfeiting, filed a lawsuit against 278 companies that “employ no normal business nomenclature and, instead, have the appearance of being made up.” These online stores sell knock-off t-shirts and other products, according to the suit, and each seller is “likely to cause and has caused confusion, mistake and deception by and among consumers.”
“It’s a game of Whack-a-Mole, and it’s a constant every day,” says Barry Drinkwater, executive chairman for the 15-year-old merchandiser, which handles products for Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden, Niall Horan and others. He estimates that the company issues “hundreds of thousands” of takedown notices annually: “All we can do is keep on top of it and spend some dollars,” he adds
Swift’s popularity is so immense that companies everywhere have co-opted her name, likeness and song titles to market and sell products big and small, from a Royal Caribbean International cruise for Swifties to “Tayl-gating” donuts to Swift flashing double middle-fingers on a t-shirt sold on eBay to the more than 1,000 Swift-themed items on handmade retailer Etsy. “There’s definitely bootleg and unauthorized stuff sold on Etsy, too,” says a representative for a major artist. “But are you going to go after the person who makes a necklace? No, you don’t want to be that guy.”
The Swift-branded knock-off products on Amazon — clearly different than those sold on her official store — include pillows, socks, pantyhose and keychains. A 14-piece friendship bracelet set, sold for $12.98 from GOIPKO, lists several of her albums and “I ❤️ TS”; a “Tay Tay Cheerleader Costume” for women, priced at $32.99 from Mokkin, bears the initials “TS.” A knit hat with the Nirvana logo (but not the Nirvana name), sold by a China-based company, goes for $9.99, while a pair of purple “Best Gaga Ever” socks, from the Chinese store ZJXHPO, is $14.99.
Some of these products brazenly use the artists’ names and likenesses, while others are more ambiguous. Regarding a t-shirt with an “It’s Me Hi I’m the Birthday Girl It’s Me,” intellectual property attorney Michael N. Cohen says, “It invokes a Taylor Swift lyric, but it is modified, so is it transformative enough? Possibly.” A Swift representative could send a take-down notice, in which case Amazon could answer that question – or, in the case of a lawsuit, a jury could decide.
(Several companies listing these kinds of Swift products on Amazon did not respond to interview requests by email, although one seller responded “sorry” and another wrote, “Sorry. We are not interested in it.”)
Amazon declined interview requests, but a representative cited its intellectual property policy for sellers, which prohibits violating the rights of “brands or other rights owners” and advises consulting a lawyer. Amazon has algorithms that suss out unauthorized or illegal products posted by sellers, but they can take time to detect and take down, especially if they’re ambiguous, like a t-shirt image that somewhat resembles Taylor Swift containing words that somewhat recall lyrics from her songs. Since 2020, according to the company, Amazon has spent $1.2 billion and employed 15,000 people to combat counterfeit and fraud on the site, and “valid notices of infringements submitted by brands” have declined 30% despite overall sales growth at the company. Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit is the department responsible for removing “bad actor accounts,” according to the company’s website.
Retail apparel bootlegging — as opposed to the separate problem of unauthorized t-shirts sold in concert parking lots — has increased over the last 15 years, Jampol says. During that period, three-dimensional printers have become more sophisticated and enabled the print-on-demand industry. “One of the barriers to entry for doing apparel is, ‘I’ve got to have five designs and four colors each both for men and women, in extra-small, small, medium, large, extra-large,’ then have a place to store it,” he says. “Now, with print-on-demand, I can put out 5,000 designs in 182 colors, and when somebody orders an extra-small in pink, of this style, I just print it.”
The bootleg merch is prevalent on many retail sites, including “fake e-commerce storefronts,” as the Motörhead suit alleges, which counterfeiters have set up to match artists’ official websites. With reputable retailers like Amazon, artists can file takedown notices — but it helps, Cohen says, for artists to trademark their names in advance. “Whatever platform it is, they’ll do their own formal review and make a decision whether to take it down,” Cohen says. “That’s why filing is so critical. That proves there’s validity. Amazon and platforms like that want to see: ‘Do you have the registration number?’”
In the United States, solo artists and bands have “trademark rights” for their names and likenesses, so they can send cease-and-desist letters or file lawsuits against unauthorized merchandisers. The process is trickier in a different territory. “You can own rights in one country, but not in another country,” says Douglas Masters, an intellectual property attorney in Chicago. “It’s a big world.” And even for artists who are aggressive about pursuing international copyright infringers, “People are sometimes hard to find,” Masters adds.
That’s why Gene Simmons, bassist for KISS, contacts his management company roughly every other day to flag an infringer on the band’s trademarked merch. “Gene is online all the time and comes up with more of them than anybody,” says Doc McGhee, the band’s manager. “It certainly is a big problem. We go after them. We have a team of lawyers. It’s just stealing.”
Cindy James has been promoted to general manager of Virgin Music Group‘s operations in North America, the company announced on Tuesday (April 16). The former executive of the week — and regular entry on Billboard’s Indie Power Players lists — joined the UMG-owned indie music distributor and label services company in 2019 as head of […]
SAG-AFTRA, the union representing roughly 160,000 actors, dancers, singers, recording artists and other media professionals, and all three major music companies reached a tentative multiyear agreement last week that includes guardrails for the use of artificial intelligence technology across the industry.
A successor to the SAG-AFTRA National Code of Fair Practice for Sound Recordings, the new deal received unanimous approval from the guild’s executive committee and, if ratified by member vote, will cover the period beginning Jan. 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2026. Participating labels include Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, as well as Disney Music Group.
The AI guidelines require that the use of terms such as “artist,” “singer” and “royalty artist” only refer to actual humans, plus the deal calls for clear consent, minimum compensation and other stipulations prior to the release of a sound recording using a digital replication of a real artist’s voice.
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The tentative contract also includes increased minimums, health and retirement improvements, and an increase in the percentage of streaming revenue to be covered by contributions.
“This agreement ensures that our members are protected,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA national executive director. “SAG-AFTRA stands firm in the belief that while technology can enhance the creative process, the essence of music must always be rooted in genuine human expression and experience. We look forward to working alongside our industry partners to foster an environment where innovation serves to elevate, not diminish, the unique value of each artist’s contribution to our rich cultural tapestry.”
The Record Label Negotiating Committee said, “Together, we’ll chart a successful course forward, embracing new opportunities and facing our common challenges, strengthened by our shared values and commitment to human artistry.”
Gustavo Lopez has launched a new “full service” multimedia entertainment company, Globalatino Music Partners, Billboard can announce. The venture will offer label services, artist management, publishing, distribution and touring, according to a press release.
Globalatino launches with in-house new record label, ReLo-Co Music, in association with Alejandro Reglero (previously Saban Music Latin‘s executive vp/GM), GUAU Talent Connect, a division in the company that will specialize in brand partnerships, led by Augusto Mendoza, and Strat-Viz, which will oversee strategic marketing and content creation with Rodolfo Rodriguez at the head of that division.
Lopez has also entered partnerships with TuStreams and Warner Music Latina for distribution and marketing strategies for selected artists. And he acquired a “majority” stake in Cigol Music, the label home to Colombian hitmaker Blessd.
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“Over the years, I’ve been privileged to work with some of the most important artists in Latin music, enjoying tremendous success in diverse genres from reggaetón to música mexicana. Everything I’ve learned has now come together at Globalatino,” Lopez said in a statement. “Most recently working alongside entertainment visionary, Haim Saban, added to my lifelong commitment to artist development. At Globalatino we’re 100% dedicated to superserving our artists.”
The announcement comes three months after Virgin Music Group acquired Saban Music Latin’s catalog. For five years, Lopez served as the company’s CEO since Saban Music Group launched in 2019 by entertainment mogul Haim Saban, and later oversaw the creation of Saban Music Latin in 2022.
Prior to joining Saban, Lopez was the longtime GM and executive vp of Universal Music Latin, where he launched Latin urban label Machete Music, home to artists like Wisin & Yandel and Don Omar, and also ran Universal Music Latin Entertainment’s regional Mexican labels, Fonovisa and Disa. After leaving Universal in 2017, he launched indie music company Talento Uno, which was acquired by Saban.
About Globalatino, Lopez added, “We have the executive team, the expertise, the relationships, and the funding to help artists accomplish their dreams.”
Victoria Oakley is the new CEO of IFPI.Oakley will join the international labels trade association this June from global strategic communications and advocacy consultancy Portland, where she currently serves as CEO.
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The incoming chief executive has deep, international experience, having logged almost two decades in the British Diplomatic Service, with roles in London, Paris, Brussels, Washington D.C. and the Eastern Caribbean, where she was High Commissioner until 2016.
Later, she spent three years at Portland then joined Google as global public policy director. Oakley returned to Portland in 2022 in the role as CEO, leading a 300-strong team of strategic communications and public affairs professionals across London, Doha, Singapore, Nairobi, Paris, Berlin and Brussels.In her new leadership role, Oakley will coordinate with the Federation’s national group network as it continues its work in promoting and advocating for the value of recorded music and the rights of its 8,000 record company members, including the three major labels.
“I’m pleased that Vikki is joining the IFPI during this dynamic time for the music industry,” comments Sir Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO, Universal Music Group. “Vikki brings the right skills and experience to help the global industry tackle important issues and opportunities collaboratively and with a fresh vision. We look forward to working with her.”
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Oakley, adds Robert Kyncl, CEO, Warner Music Group, “is a great choice to help lead the global campaign for the rights of artists and those who back them, and I’m excited she’s bringing her expertise and experience to IFPI.”
Says Rob Stringer, chairman, Sony Music Group: “Her decades of expertise combined with strong relationships around the world, will help us ensure music is recognized for the value it deserves and artists are always put first.”Oakley succeeds Frances Moore, who retired in December 2023 after leading the trade body since 2010.
Music stocks suffered their biggest one-week decline in nearly a year as inflation fears gripped the markets. In the U.S., the annualized inflation rate rose to 3.5% in March from 3.2% in February, the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Wednesday. That drew concerns the U.S. Federal Reserve would alter its plan to cut interest rates in June. Combined with rising oil prices and weaker-than-expected earnings from banking giants JPMorganChase and Wells Fargo, there wasn’t much good news for investors.
Fourteen of the 20 companies in the Billboard Global Music Index lost value this week. The index fell 3.2% to 1,782.67, the largest one-week drop since it lost 4.2% for the week ended July 28, 2023. Still, the Billboard Global Music Index is up 16.2% year to date and has increased 43% in the last 12 months.
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Most major stock indexes lost ground this week. In the U.S., the S&P 500 dropped 1.6% to 5,123.41 and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5% to 16,175.09. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index declined 1.2% to 2,681.82. China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.6% to 3,019.47. The outlier was the U.K.’s FTSE 100, which improved 1.1% to 7,995.58.
Among music stocks, iHeartMedia was the biggest winner of the week after rising 6.3% to $2.18. The improvement came despite a lack of market-moving news or regulatory filing from the radio giant. In fact, the main reason iHeartMedia has been in the news lately has been less than flattering. In March, Forbes reported that iHeartMedia had paid ad revenue from Sen. Ted Cruz’s podcast, Verdict, to his political action committee (PAC). That led BP America to request that iHeartMedia not place its ads on podcasts that funnel ad revenue to PACs. Two campaign watchdogs, Campaign Legal Center and End Citizens United, allege that Cruz violated federal law and on Tuesday (April 9) formally asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the London-listed company that invests in music rights, improved 5.7% to 74 pence ($0.92). HSF has gained 7.2% since the company’s board of directors released a damning due diligence report on March 28. Conducted by Shot Tower Capital, the report claimed the fund’s investment manager, Hipgnosis Song Management, overstated revenue and misled investors about the control it had over investments in its portfolio. The board will release its conclusions to the due diligence report by April 26 and will seek shareholder approval for its proposals at a not-yet-announced extraordinary general meeting.
Sphere Entertainment dropped 10.7% to $41.80 this week. On Monday, after Seaport Global downgraded Sphere Entertainment to neutral from a buy rating on growth concerns, the company’s share price dropped 3.8% to $45.00. The stock dropped another 5.3% on Friday despite no news or regulatory filings. U2’s 40-show residency wrapped up on Mar. 2, and the band led Billboard’s Boxscore in February with a $56.5 million ross from 10 concerts. Rock band Phish will perform a four-show run at the Sphere in Las Vegas from April 18-21.
Believe shares dropped 9.8% to 14.88 euros ($15.88) after Warner Music Group announced on Sunday it would not bid on the Paris-listed company. Back on Mar. 7, WMG revealed its interest in acquiring Believe and stated it would pay “at least” 17 euros per share, an amount well above the 15.00 euros ($16.01) per share offer by a CEO-led consortium. Investors immediately bet WMG’s effort would prevail by bidding up Believe shares to nearly 17 euros. From Mar. 28 to April 2, Believe was trading as high as $16.92 and closed above 16.50 euros from Mar. 25 to April 5. With WMG out of the picture, the consortium’s initial offer of 15 euros per share is the new ceiling.
The index’s most valuable companies had relatively mild declines. Universal Music Group fell 2.0% to 27.04 euros ($28.85) and Spotify dropped 3.2% to $300.53. Live Nation lost 2.4% to $100.99. CTS Eventim fell 3.8% to 82.00 euros ($87.50). HYBE declined 4.9% to 213,000 won ($154.28). After deciding not to pursue Believe, Warner Music Group bucked the trend by rising 0.3% to $33.44.
Quarterly earnings reports will give stocks a chance to rebound in the coming weeks. Of the release dates announced thus far, Spotify is first out of the gate on April 23 followed by Believe on April 24, Deezer on April 29, SiriusXM on April 30, Universal Music Group on May 2 and Warner Music Group on May 9.
Round Hill Music LP said Friday that producer and former American Idol judge Randy Jackson and management executive John Greenberg have joined the company as advisors.
Round Hill hopes the addition of Jackson and Greenberg will help it connect with a broader community of artists and further its ability “to source and secure early access to premium music rights investment deals in a competitive environment for high quality assets,” according to a press release.
Founded by Josh Gruss in 2010, Round Hill Music is a privately held fund that manages a portfolio of song rights worth around $900 million, according to the company. Concord acquired Round Hill’s publicly traded business, Round Hill Music Royalty Fund, last September in a deal originally valued at $469 million.
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Gruss said Jackson and Greenberg’s partnership will create business opportunities by reinforcing the company’s relationships with artists and songwriters.
“As one of the largest independent music rights holders in the world, we have big ambitions to grow our exposure to high quality, iconic music that stands the test of time and to continue to nurture the creator community through our wider group, which includes record labels, neighboring rights specialists and sync experts,” Gruss said in a statement. “We are looking forward to working with Randy and John to accelerate those ambitions and to continue unlocking music’s incredible potential on behalf of all our artists, writers and investors.”
A longtime musician and former A&R rep at Columbia Records and MCA Records, Jackson was an executive producer on the MTV series America’s Best Dance Crew as well as one of the original judges on American Idol.
Throughout his muti-decade career, Jackson has collaborated with Smokey Robinson, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin and performed with stars like Mariah Carey, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, Keith Richards, Journey, Carlos Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir. According to the release, Jackson has earned more than 1,000 gold and platinum plaques, with over 200 million albums sold worldwide.
Greenberg is COO/founder of management company Shorebreak International. Since 1988, he has worked with artists including Steven Tyler, Duran Duran’s John Taylor, Mötley Crue’s John Corabi, Duff McKagan, Nickelback and Ratt.
As growth slows in large, developed markets, music companies are looking elsewhere for opportunities. Increasingly, companies are targeting superfans, the most fervent and high-spending of music consumers, to provide those revenue gains.
The Pareto Principle says that roughly 20% of customers provide 80% of a company’s revenue. Whatever the breakdown, music companies are expecting more from a small subset of big spenders. Concert promoter Live Nation wants premium offerings such as VIP boxes to increase to 30% to 35% of its amphitheater business from the current 9%, president/CEO Michael Rapino told investors during the company’s Feb. 22 earnings call. Earlier this year, the heads of Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group revealed their desire to offer new types of services and products for the most fervent of music fans.
Coming out of the pandemic, people — especially younger consumers — spent money “as a way to make up for lost time” and, later, to cope with stress, Intuit Credit Karma, a financial management platform, explained. Consulting firm McKinsey & Company calls this behavior “selective splurging.” According to a November 2023 global survey by McKinsey, 20% of all consumers planned to splurge on out-of-home entertainment such as concerts — less than restaurants (38%), apparel (34%) and travel (28%).
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More than two in five Gen Z consumers (42%) spent more on live concerts than before the pandemic, according to a September 2023 survey by Qualtrics on behalf of Intuit Credit Karma. That was well above Millennials (34%), Gen X (19%) and Baby Boomers (11%). Last year, music fans paid high prices to see the two biggest cultural events: tours by Taylor Swift and Beyonce. Fittingly, Swift’s The Eras Tour was sponsored by Capital One, and some fans signed up for their first credit card as a result.
A couple of years after pandemic restrictions ended, though, consumers have a spending hangover and seem less willing to reach deeper into their pockets. Ample data suggest that consumers are increasingly stressed from high prices — U.S. inflation rose to 3.5% in March from 3.2% in February — and the ending of pandemic-era forbearances that allowed people to put off payments on their mortgages and student loans.
Splurging has given way to focusing on the basics. Consumers intend to spend more than usual on essentials such as gasoline, groceries, produce and pet food, as well as health and fitness, in the next three months, according to a McKinsey survey in February. In contrast, consumers intend to spend less on discretionary items: entertainment, domestic flights, hotel and resort stays, home improvement and alcoholic beverages. Luxuries such as jewelry, furniture and home decorations have the biggest gap between spenders and savers.
Rising debt is one reason consumers are pulling back on spending. In the United States, the ratio of credit cards and auto loans becoming past due by 90 days or more exceeds pre-pandemic levels. Delinquency rates are especially bad for younger consumers who are most likely to spend money on concerts and entertainment. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the Gen Z delinquency transition rate — transitioning into delinquency — reached 11.86% compared to 8.53% in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the New York Federal Reserve. Millennials’ delinquency transition rate rose to 9.56% from 6.53% two years earlier. Gen X and Baby Boomers’ delinquencies are also trending up but faring better (7.01% and 4.78%, respectively).
For many young consumers who have taken on debt, 2024 will be a year to pull back. A third of Millennials and Gen Z say they have a shopping addiction, according to a survey by Qualtrics for Intuit Credit Karma conducted in February and March of this year. About three-quarters of Millennials and Gen Z surveyed by Qualtrics say they plan to change how they spend money. A full 20% of them said 2024 will be a “no buy year,” a recent trend where people swear off spending except to replace items, and 56% said they will have a “low buy year,” meaning they will reduce shopping significantly.
Credit card debt is nothing new, though, and some experts believe consumers can take it in stride. Although credit card balances increased in 2023, consumers “largely still have the wherewithal to repay their existing obligations,” according to credit monitoring service Experian. In fact, the average FICO credit score improved to 715 in 2023 from 714 in 2022 despite the average credit card balance increasing 10%. In February, credit ratings agency Fitch revised its forecast for U.S. real (adjusted for inflation) consumer spending to 1.3% from 0.6%, largely on the belief that consumers will draw down savings throughout the year.
High-priced concert tickets and experiences might be out of the question, but superfan spending is also more mundane. Artists routinely put out new albums with multiple CD and vinyl LP variants knowing that their most hardcore fans consider them to be collectibles (and purchase them to help their favorite artists top the charts). Swift’s 2022 album Midnights had 20 different versions across all physical formats. Those album sales accounted for 1.14 million of the 1.58 million units sold in its first week of release. At $20 or $30 apiece, supporting a favorite artist doesn’t require going into debt.
Music isn’t a necessity like food and shelter, but it’s proved to be both recession-proof and pandemic-proof. Regardless of the rises and falls in consumer sentiment, inflation rates and unemployment trends, people will spend money on music. But the broader trends around consumer spending may mean that the growth the music business hopes to reap from those superfans may not be as lucrative, at least for now, as they may have hoped.
Country music is having a major moment in Canada, and the CCMA Awards is getting one of the genre’s biggest stars. Thomas Rhett will host the Canadian Country Music Association’s annual award ceremony on Sept. 14, 2024 at Rogers Place in Edmonton. And the American star will be joined by a homegrown star in the making, Alberta singer and actor MacKenzie Porter.
This year’s awards take place during a big time in Canadian country, with major festivals popping up across the country and new bridges being made with Nashville.
In addition to topping the Billboard Country Airplay chart 20 times, Rhett also has 16 No. 1 hits on Canadian country radio, so he’s a natural choice to cross the border to host Canada’s biggest country music awards.
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“The way Canadian fans have embraced me throughout my career is something I never take for granted,” Rhett tells Billboard Canada. “Every time we come there, we are blown away by the energy they bring and the love they have for country music.”
Travelling between Canada and Nashville, Porter is also making a big splash on both sides of the border. With 900 million streams already, she’s got a new album, Nobody’s Born With a Broken Heart, coming out on April 26 on Big Loud Records.
“I personally think this year is going to be the best show yet,” she continues. “Canadian country music has never been better, and having the show in Alberta, home of country music, feels very fitting!”
CCMA president Amy Jeninga says they carefully selected the hosts “based on their significant contributions to the Canadian country music community,” with Rhett’s major Canadian fanbase playing “a crucial role in our country music ecosystem.” Plus, two of his band members are Canadian musicians, she notes.
Porter, meanwhile, is a great representative of Alberta’s country music scene, she says. She’s also a woman making waves in a genre that is typically overrepresented by male artists.
Nominations and programming have yet to be announced, but the CCMAs will get a lead-in from Country Music Week 2024, which kicks off in Edmonton on Wednesday, September 11.
The CCMAs will air on Saturday, September 14 at 8 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca and the CTV app. – Richard Trapunski
Canadian Songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr. Earns SOCAN Award for Dua Lipa Hit
Tobias Jesso Jr. made a small splash as a solo recording artist, including a spot on the 2015 Polaris Music Prize shortlist for his album Goon, but he’s spent close to the last decade focused on writing for others. He’s seen major international success, including winning the first ever Grammy for Songwriter of the Year.
Jesso Jr. now has a huge repertoire of hits, contributed to songs by Adele, Miley Cyrus, Harry Styles, XXXTENTACION and more. Last year, he sold his goldmine catalog to Hipgnosis Song Management.
Now, he’s getting some recognition in his home country again, specifically from Canadian performance rights and royalty-collecting organization SOCAN. On April 5 in L.A., Jesso received a SOCAN No. 1 Song Award, for co-writing Dua Lipa’s “Houdini.” This smash hit topped the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for 14 weeks, starting in Nov. 2023, and it has earned more than 380 million plays on Spotify, and more than 104 million views on YouTube. – David Farrell & Richard Trapunski
More Than 10% of the Most-Streamed Songs in Canada are by Canadian Artists
According to a new report, of the 1,000 most-streamed artists in Canada, 113 are Canadian. Laying a Foundation for Success, published by Music Canada — the association representing major music labels in Canada — takes a look at Canadian streaming data to determine whether Canadian artists are getting heard. Studying the 10,000 most popular artists in Canada in 2022, economist Will Page finds that 889 were Canadian. Of the 10,000 most popular songs, 1,013 were Canadian.
At the upper echelons of popularity, the trend holds: roughly 10% of the thousand most-streamed artists and songs were Canadian. Canadian artists like Tate McRae and Charlotte Cardin outranked popular American stars like Selena Gomez on that list. Other Canadians amongst the 1,000 most-streamed artists include country singer Josh Ross, Punjabi-Canadian artist Karan Aujla, pianist Alexandra Stréliski and singer Lauren Spencer Smith.
“In a world where fans can listen to any artist, from any country in the world, and with nearly every recorded song at their fingertips, listeners are choosing Canadian music,” says Music Canada CEO Patrick Rogers.
Of the 889 Canadian artists amongst the top 10,000, roughly 75% perform in English, while 20% perform in French. Page notes that the third most-popular language segment is Punjabi music, which is also the fastest-growing music language in the country, and accounts for 3% of the 889 musicians.
Recorded music revenues in Canada have doubled since 2014, when Spotify launched, and are now as high as they were before the launch of iTunes in 2004. Page notes that according to consultancy MIDIA, Canadian recorded music revenues could soon hit a billion dollars for the first time.
The government is preparing to implement Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, which became law last year, and Page’s report recommends some policy changes. One is the “Mandate, Don’t Dictate” approach, which would entail moderate government interventions such as requirements that Canadian artists be indexed highly on playlists, or that streaming services pay into the Canadian music industry in the same way as radio broadcasters.
Ultimately, for every one stream within Canada, Page writes, Canadian artists are getting roughly 10 abroad. Any government music strategy should focus on helping Canadian music thrive on the international stage, he says. – Rosie Long Decter
Last Week In Canada: Tegan and Sara Lead Campaign Against Anti-Trans Policies
It’s time for another spindle around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music.
Warner Music Group has big plans for the sonically rich markets of Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — and is putting longtime Warner Music India managing director Jay Mehta in charge of those efforts. The launch of Warner Music South Asia is the label’s endorsement of the vibrant traditions and significant potential of the music markets across the region, home to more than 400 million people, plus the dynamic diasporas around the globe supporting local artists. The new affiliate will operate out of Dubai and be headed by Mehta, who adds managing director of Warner Music South Asia to his business card, but will continue as MD in India and work closely with Alfonso Perez Soto, WMG’s president of emerging markets. Warner isn’t exactly starting from scratch in the region, having announced a partnership with Pakistani music production company Giraffe earlier this year, and acquiring a majority chunk of Sri Lankan digital music firm Divo in 2023. WMG and Giraffe’s first project is season 15 of the popular music performance series Coke Studio in Pakistan. “I’m so delighted to launch Warner Music in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and other SAARC territories,” said Mehta. “These are exciting markets with brilliant artists who historically haven’t had the opportunity of plugging into the global music industry. That’s all set to change.”
Currently based in Mumbai, Mehta has racked up the wins since launching Warner Music India in March 2020, juuust before the pandemic ground the globe to a halt. Within the first six months of WMI’s existence, the company executed a licensing deal with Mumbai-based label Tips Music and quickly closed a series of partnership deals to distribute increasingly popular Indian regional-language music and founded Maati, a label devoted to Indian folk music. In 2022, WMI signed an exclusive partnership with local label Jjust Music in an effort to boost its share of the Bollywood music market. Last year, WMI teamed with Warner Music Canada to launch 91 NORTH RECORDS to boost artists of South Asian heritage. And earlier this year, WMI expanded its partnership with Global Music Junction (GMJ), the music and entertainment subsidiary of JetSynthesys.
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“This is a major moment for Warner Music,” said Simon Robson, president of international, recorded music. “We’re now open for business in a series of countries that have rich musical traditions and strong global connections through their extensive diasporas. We’re already working on exciting projects in Pakistan and other territories and there’s much more to come.”
Meanwhile…
SESAC‘s music services division is getting built out with a new hire and two promotions. This week, the growing team welcomed Andy Bodkin as president of international, where he’ll center his focus on growing the services division — with a portfolio that includes HFA, AudioSalad and Audiam — on a global scale. Bodkin was previously group CEO at music publisher Out of the Ark, but for the bulk of his career (to the tune of 18 years) he served as an executive at Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI). Additionally, SESAC promoted Rose Cook to chief operating officer of music services, where she’ll work with the company’s entire portfolio, which also includes Mint and Rumblefish, to drive efficiencies in licensing, royalty collection and admin services. Previously, Cook served as the co-head of licensing at SESAC Performing Rights before her promotion to svp of operations of SESAC Music Group in 2022. She reports to SMG COO Malcolm Hawker. Finally, Monica Hertz is promoted to senior director of operations, where she’ll report to Cook and focus her efforts on the rollout of the company’s shared services platform. She joined SESAC in 2017.
Warner Chappell Music promoted Jenni Pfaff to executive vp of strategy, integration and operations. In her elevated role, Pfaff will continue to lead people strategy at the publisher, plus annual goal-setting initiatives and WCM’s new data-driven, songwriter-focused Business Intelligence division. A WCMer since 2019, Pfaff joined as people strategy leader before a promotion to senior vp. In 2021, she added head of global strategic integration and operations to her title. Prior to WCM, Pfaff operated her own HR firm (pfaff HR) and logged 17 years at PwC, Activision Blizzard, Northrop Grumman and other companies. The 2022 Billboard Women in Music honoree continues to report to CEO Guy Moot and COO Carianne Marshall. “Jenni has been on this journey with us from the beginning, helping transform how we operate as a global team so we can continue to do great work for our songwriters and their incredible songs,” said Moot and Marshall. “She is deeply committed to Warner Chappell and has spearheaded initiatives that allow us to be more collaborative. Technology, business, and data go hand-in-hand, and the work that we’re doing with Robert [Kyncl] and team will help shape the future of music publishing.”
BMI veteran Erin Crawford was promoted to assistant vp of affiliate customer service experience, putting her at the fore of the performance rights organization’s new customer service initiative that includes a call center and hotline (844-BMI-4255). The call center team should be full staffed by June and will include bilingual agents and expanded hours, the PRO said. Crawford joined BMI in 2020 as executive director of distribution & administration services, where she led teams responsible for writer and publisher affiliations and online services support. Prior to BMI, she clocked 18 years at The Nielsen Company, rising to svp and general manager of Nielsen Music — an important position managing relationships with Billboard, labels, publishers, promoters and other music companies.
French music conference and festival MaMA said co-founder Daniel Colling has decided to retire and will transfer ownership of the 15-year-old event to co-founder Fernando Ladeiro-Marques. Joining him for the 2024 edition, being held in Paris Oct. 16-18, will be Emmanuel Legrand as the coordinator of MaMA conference, Emily Gonneau as curator, and Flavien Appavou and Elise Yacoub as coordinators. “We will continue to honour the legacy of MaMA as a key industry gathering,” said Ladeiro-Marques. “We also want it to be the leading forum to explore the future of our industry and the place where we will invent tomorrow’s music business. In addition, MaMA festival will continue to feature up-and-coming artists at a time when they need, more than ever before, windows of exposure.”
BOARD SHORTS: Round Hill Music added former American Idol judge Randy Jackson and management executive John Greenberg as advisors. In the roles, Jackson and Greenberg will support Round Hill’s executive team in deal sourcing and artist relations … AI Fund managing director Andrew Ng replaced former MTV CEO Judy McGrath on Amazon‘s board of directors … The National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) in Nashville elected Brian Sexton and Keri Floyd Kelly to its board of directors. They’ll both serve three-year terms.
RoEx, the tech startup behind AI-powered mixing platform Automix, hired Jason Reed as head of growth and operations. Reed’ll focus on growing RoEx’s audio production tools, plus building B2B partnerships around the company’s audio engine API, Tonn. Reed arrives from Roundhouse Trust, where he was senior product owner. His past positions include head of technology at Domino, global head of marketing at FUGA and head of digital at Ministry of Sound Recordings. Reed is based in London and reports to RoEx chief David Ronan.
ICYMI:
Silvia Montello
CAA appointed nine managing directors and changed up its agency board membership … Shakeup at UK indie music trade body AIM as CEO Silvia Montello abruptly resigned. COO Gee Davy has stepped in as interim chief and also the new role of chief policy officer … and the Recording Academy promoted Adam Roth to evp of global partnerships & business development.
Last Week’s Turntable: Warner Chappell In Sync With Zync Veteran
