Business News
Page: 63
Singer/songwriter Lisa Loeb will keynote the Guild of Music Supervisors’ 10th annual State of Music in Media Conference, which will take place on Saturday, Aug. 17 at the West LA College campus in Culver City, Calif. People can also attend virtually, via a live stream on Zoom. The all-day conference encompasses the use of music in film, TV, video games, advertising and trailers.
Thirty years ago this month, Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories became the first artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 before being personally signed to a record label. She achieved the feat with her song “Stay (I Miss You),” which was heard in the film Reality Bites. It topped the chart for the first three weeks of August 1994.
Other speakers include director Doug Liman and music supervisors Julianne Jordan, Amanda Krieg Thomas, John Houlihan, Carolyn Owens, Steven Gizicki, Trygge Toven, Joel C. High, Thomas Golubić, Catherine Grieves and Burt Blackarach. In addition, Julia Michels, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Recording Academy, and Qiana Conley Akinro, senior executive director of the L.A. chapter, will speak.
Trending on Billboard
Programming highlights include:
Opening remarks from GMS president Lindsay Wolfington and GMS vp Heather Guibert
Celebrating the 2024 Primetime Emmy nominees for outstanding music supervision
AI: Challenges and Changes to the Industry and New Opportunities for Creatives
A conversation with music supervisor Julianne Jordan & director Doug Liman
Live listening session with music supervisors
Art Meets Commerce: What Makes Trailer Music Supervision Different
FALLOUT: From Game to Streaming Series
From Coordinator to Supervisor: Navigating the Leap
GMS is offering a one-on-one networking session for aspiring music supervisors to meet GMS members working in the field of music supervision. This opportunity is open to aspiring music supervisors only. Conference attendance and pre-event sign-up are required.
GMS’ first-ever music supervisor listening session will feature music supervisors giving live feedback on five songs selected from Friend of the Guild (“FOG”) submissions. Participants can learn how top music supervisors in TV, film, video games, ads and trailers respond to tracks when considering them for placement.
A conference ticket purchase comes with a complimentary “Friend of the Guild” subscription, granting access to future events and networking opportunities. To learn more and buy tickets, visit the GMS Media Conference site.
Radio stocks struggled this week as companies’ second-quarter earnings revealed additional revenue losses.
SiriusXM shares fell 15.6% after the company’s second-quarter earnings on Thursday (Aug. 1) showed a loss of 173,000 satellite radio subscribers and 41,000 Pandora subscribers. Revenue fell 3% to $2.18 billion, although net profit improved 2% to $316 million. In the first quarter, SiriusXM lost 594,000 subscribers, although revenue improved 0.8% to $2.16 billion.
SiriusXM is trying to thread the needle as it expands its product line and gives consumers more options. The new $9.99-per-month streaming service is intended to appeal to a broader audience than potential satellite radio subscribers. At the same time, the company is introducing new pricing tiers for satellite radio, including a $9.99 music-only subscription that can expand to news, talk and sports for additional fees. The trick is not cannibalizing its core, higher-priced satellite offering. “The early results in our testing have been encouraging,” CEO Jennifer Witz said during Thursday’s earnings call. “It shows that we’re getting consumers into the right packages for them.”
Shares of radio broadcaster Cumulus Media fell 21% to $1.62 and dropped as far as $1.29 on Friday (Aug. 2) — a 52-week low — after the company’s second-quarter earnings showed that revenue fell 2.5% and net loss increased to $27.7 million from $1.1 million a year earlier. iHeartMedia, which doesn’t report earnings until Thursday (Aug. 8), appeared to be a casualty of Cumulus Media’s results as its shares fell 12.9% to $1.49.
Trending on Billboard
Collectively, radio companies have had the worst stock performance of all music companies this year. Year to date, Cumulus Media is down 69.5%, iHeartMedia has fallen 44.2% and SiriusXM is off 42.6%. Only JYP Entertainment, which has fallen 44.3% year to date, has suffered a similar drop.
The Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI), a measure of the market capitalizations of 20 publicly traded music companies, fell 1.1% to 1,739.18. Even though 13 of the 20 stocks lost ground — five of them suffering double-digit declines — gains by some of the index’s most valuable companies nearly offset the losses. HYBE improved 5.3% to 180,800 won ($139.01). Spotify gained 2.8% to $331.02. And Universal Music Group (UMG) rose 0.5% to 21.44 euros ($23.41).
Music stocks have had a case of the summer doldrums after soaring in the winter and spring. The BGMI has fallen for four consecutive weeks and stands 5.9% below its all-time high of 1,847.64 set on May 17. On Friday, the index reached its lowest point since April 19.
Music companies’ losses were compounded by sharp declines in U.S. stock markets on Friday after news that the unemployment rate rose in July stoked fears the economy could enter a recession. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 3.4% this week and stood in “correction” territory, at 10.1% below its all-time high set on July 11. Amazon fell 8.0% after missing revenue expectations and providing investors with a disappointing forecast. Intel fell 31.5% after announcing broad layoffs, reporting a decline in quarterly revenue and issuing weak guidance.
The S&P 500 dropped 2.1% to 5,346.56. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 gained 2.3% to 8,474.71. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index dropped 2.0% to 2,676.19. China’s Shanghai Composite Index improved 0.5% to 2,905.34.
The week’s greatest gainer was K-pop company JYP Entertainment, which rose 6% to 56,400 won ($41.53). JYP was added to the BGMI this week after Hipgnosis Songs Fund was removed from the London Stock Exchange once its acquisition by Blackstone was completed. Three other K-pop companies were among the week’s few gainers: HYBE improved 5.3%, YG Entertainment rose 2.1% and and SM Entertainment increased 1.0%.
Reservoir Media dropped 14.4% to $7.37 after releasing its quarterly earnings on Wednesday (July 31). Tencent Music Entertainment, which will report earnings on Aug. 13, fell 10.5% to $12.62. Warner Music Group (WMG) fell 5.3% to $28.26. In the wake of UMG’s latest earnings results, which showed a slowdown in subscription revenue, J.P. Morgan dropped its price target on shares of WMG — which will report earnings on Aug. 7 — to $41.00 from $42.00.
The music business is seeing the results of doing more with less.
The slew of earnings reports over the past two weeks have revealed that companies achieved better margins and greater profitability — even in cases with lower revenue or disappointing growth in some areas. And nearly all these companies share one important thing in common that boosted their latest earnings results: layoffs.
Universal Music Group’s share price fell 24% the day after its second-quarter earnings showed recorded music subscription growth had slowed to 6.9%, down from 12.5% in the prior-year period. Investors are interested in music companies because streaming has transformed the industry, bringing growth in the wake of falling CD and download sales and opening new markets around the world. So, when the industry’s most attractive revenue stream stumbles, investors are going to take notice.
But despite the hiccup that wreaked havoc on its share price, many of UMG’s financial metrics showed the company is headed in the right direction. Revenue grew a hearty 9.6%; adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 11.3%; and adjusted earnings per share rose to 0.44 euros ($0.47), up from 0.42 euros ($0.45) a year earlier. Setting aside the main reason investors want to own UMG shares — the global music subscription business — UMG’s earnings had a lot of positives, some of which undoubtedly had to do with the layoffs that occurred in February. According to the company’s 2023 investor presentation, that round of job cuts is expected to save 75 million euros ($81 million) in 2024 alone.
In other earnings news, Spotify — which cut roughly a quarter of its global workforce in three rounds of layoffs in 2023 — had an incredible turnaround in the second quarter, posting an operating income of 266 million euros ($286 million) — a 513 million-euro ($552 million) improvement from the second quarter of 2023. Despite the much smaller staff, the streaming giant’s revenue grew 19.8% to 3.81 billion euros ($4.1 billion) while its gross margin rose to 29.2% from 24.1%. Spotify’s share price jumped 12% after the release and had almost increased another 2% through Thursday (Aug. 1).
Trending on Billboard
Spotify’s latest layoffs in December, which affected 17% of its staff, attracted criticism —“Spotify is screwed,” Wired proclaimed — but they made a large and immediate impact. In the second quarter, total operating expenses dropped 16.5% as every component had a double-digit decline (general and administrative expenses were down 23%, sales and marketing fell 16.3%, and research and development expenses dropped 16.5%). When Spotify announced the staff cuts, CEO Daniel Ek admitted the scope of the layoffs would feel “surprisingly large” but was steadfast in the need to become “relentlessly resourceful.” At the time, he said, “We still have too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work rather than contributing to opportunities with real impact.”
Recent staff cuts also appear to have benefitted SiriusXM, which laid off 8% of its workforce in 2023 and another 3% of its headcount in February. Though the satellite radio giant’s share price fell 6.4% on Thursday after the company announced it lost 173,000 satellite radio subscribers and 41,000 Pandora subscribers in the second quarter, net profit grew 1.9% to $316 million even as revenue fell 3% to $2.18 billion. Thanks to its cost-cutting efforts, general and administrative expenses dropped 31% and engineering, design and development costs fell 14.5%.
Not all companies reporting earnings over the last two weeks had to lay off workers to improve their margins. French music streamer Deezer, citing improved cost control and margin improvement through more favorable terms with record labels, improved its first-half adjusted EBITDA by 8 million euros ($8.7 million). The company also raised its target for full-year adjusted EBITDA by 5 million euros ($5.4 million).
Reservoir Media, which reported earnings on Wednesday (July 31), similarly improved operational efficiency without layoffs. The company’s share price fell by 8.8% in the two days after it announced quarterly recorded music revenue had dropped 7%, but the company’s publishing revenue improved 15% overall revenue grew 8% and adjusted EBITDA soared 25%. While investors found reason for concern, CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi struck an optimistic note on Wednesday’s earnings call. “We’re off to a good start in fiscal 2025 and remain on track to again hit our annual targets,” she said.
In addition to cost-cutting, streaming companies are also enjoying the benefits of price increases. Not only did Spotify raise its subscriber count by 26 million in the previous 12 months, but price increases pushed average revenue per user (ARPU) up 8.2%, or 0.35 euros ($0.38), per month. Even though Deezer didn’t gain subscribers over the previous year, its ARPU rose 6% for direct subscribers and 3.5% for subscribers gained through partnerships due to price increases it instituted last year.
Of course, music companies have their share of challenges that cost-cutting can’t solve. Streamers can’t raise prices too frequently and are dealing with ongoing sluggishness in ad-supported streaming. Record labels need to re-set expectations for their subscription businesses and continue to see sluggish ad-supported streaming revenue. And music publishers are getting a pay cut from Spotify’s decision to treat its premium service like a bundle in the U.S. Considering all this, their decisions to cut costs and focus on operational efficiency couldn’t have come at a better time.
A true champion for positive change in music will be honored at Billboard Canada Women in Music in Toronto on Sept. 7, 2024.
Jessie Reyez will accept the Trailblazer Award, which is given to a female artist who acts as a music industry pioneer by using her platform to spotlight unheard voices and break ground for future generations of performers.
The Canadian singer straddles the worlds of hip-hop, R&B and pop and has proven to be a big star both on and off stage. She’s hit the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Canadian Hot 100 multiple times, while also appearing on a number of other charts in genres including Latin, R&B and dance. She’s collaborated and toured with artists from Billie Eilish to Eminem to Big Sean to Sam Smith. She’s been a hitmaker behind the scenes, too, penning songs for artists including Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa.
On and offstage, Reyez has used her platform to speak up against systemic inequality — from lack of diversity on the staff of major labels to immigration issues to LGBTSQ+ rights.
Reyez was previously honored with the Impact Award at Billboard Women in Music in 2020, accepting during the virtual ceremony while speaking about the ways she’s had to break through barriers as a woman in music.
Trending on Billboard
“I’ve always said that being born a woman on this earth is like being born walking uphill,” she said. “There are so many burdens and bags that we carry and manage to do so with grace.”
Previous winners of the Trailblazer Award include Phoebe Bridgers, Kesha and Janelle Monae. Reyez will accept the award at the first edition of Billboard Women in Music in Canada.
The ceremony will also include guest of honor Alanis Morissette, who will win the Icon Award. The star-studded event will additionally celebrate previously announced honourees Allison Russell, LU Kala, The Beaches and more yet-to-be-announced.
For more on Billboard Canada Women in Music and to buy tickets for the September 7 event, head here. – Richard Trapunski
SiR’s Concert is Cancelled in Toronto, Fuelling Speculation about Drake’s Involvement
Another last-minute concert cancellation at History in Toronto is causing online speculation related to Drake‘s feud with Kendrick Lamar.
Los Angeles R&B singer SiR was set to perform at the venue on July 30 but announced on X (formerly Twitter) that the show has been canceled. The singer stated that the venue canceled the event even though, he says, the show was sold out. “Not sure why,” he tweeted.
ScHoolboy Q reacted with laughter to the news; the rapper’s July show at History was canceled earlier this month with no reason given, and at the time he took to the same platform to imply it was because of the feud between Lamar and Drake. History is a collaboration between Drake and Live Nation.
“CANADIAN POLICE DONT WANT NOBODY FROM TDE PERFORMING,” ScHoolboy wrote after his show’s cancellation. A spokesperson from the Toronto Police Service said it had no part in the decision to cancel the concert.
ScHoolboy Q and Lamar are former labelmates on Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), which Lamar left last year, as well as former members of the group Black Hippy. SiR is also on the label and has collaborated with Lamar.
The SiR cancellation follows another Drake-related incident at History on Monday night (July 29). DJ Scheme, opening for Ski Mask The Slump God, dropped Lamar’s Drake diss track “Not Like Us” at the venue and shared a clip of the crowd singing along at full volume.
ScHoolboy Q, meanwhile, made a not-so-cryptic post on X shortly after, which simply read: “HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH 🔵.” His followers interpreted it as a reaction to the “Not Like Us” needle drop. – Rosie Long Decter
Céline Dion Sees Global Spike in Streams After Soaring Olympics Comeback
It’s all coming back to her now: Listeners are streaming Céline Dion in big numbers following a triumphant comeback performance.
The French Canadian superstar performed from the Eiffel Tower on July 26 as part of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. Dion sang French icon Edith Piaf‘s “L’Hymne à l’amour,” making an emotional and highly-anticipated return to the stage amidst a battle with Stiff Person Syndrome.
Viewers tuned in across the globe to see Dion’s performance, and they clearly want more. Her global Spotify listenership has jumped 36% since the performance, with a 64% jump in France.
Dion isn’t the only artist whose catalogue is benefitting from the performance. The original recording of “L’Hymne à l’amour” by Piaf saw a 317% jump in Spotify streams in the day after the opening ceremony.
The big bump in listeners indicates that the public is ready and waiting for Dion’s return. Though she hasn’t confirmed a follow-up performance, there have been rumours of a potential Las Vegas show on the horizon.
The performance also followed the June release of a documentary chronicling Dion’s experiences with Stiff Person Syndrome, I Am: Céline Dion.
She shared a message on Instagram after the performance for the athletes in Paris: “stay focused, keep going, my heart is with you!” After everything she’s been through, her heart goes on. – RLD
It’s time for another spin around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music. Also be sure to check out our weekly interview series spotlighting a single executive and a regularly updated gallery honoring many of the industry figures we’ve lost throughout the year.
Wasserman hired Steve Murray as executive vp of mergers & acquisitions and strategy, effective July 15. He joins the company from Providence Equity Partners, where he served as a principal on the investment team. At Providence, he collaborated with companies and organizations including Warner Music, the NFL and Major League Soccer and helped lead the firm’s strategic investment into Wasserman in November 2022. He was also a key player in Wasserman’s acquisitions of CSM Sport & Entertainment and Brillstein Entertainment Partners, both last year.
Trending on Billboard
Independent live music company Mammoth unveiled its new touring division, which will be led by Rob Owens and Angela Brown. Owens, who is based in Mammoth’s new touring office in Nashville, was named president of global touring at Mammoth in April 2023; Brown, who previously held several roles at Live Nation, joined the company last September as president of global tour marketing. Along with the executive announcements, Mammoth revealed it’s set to produce JT‘s City Cinderella Tour and Jamaican dancehall artist Buju Banton‘s U.S. tour alongside AG Entertainment Touring.
Rob Stratton was promoted to vp of visual & media rights at Sony Music Publishing UK. In the role, he will be tasked with leading the publisher’s visual & media efforts in the U.K., maintaining relationships with broadcasters and media production companies, and delivering opportunities for the company’s partners. He will continue working with Cathy Merenda and the U.S. visual & media rights team to expand the business worldwide. He has been with the company since 2014 and was previously director of visual & media rights.
U.K. record executives Nick Burgess and Jack Melhuish launched Artist Theory, a new independent label, in collaboration with U.K. indie label and publisher B-Unique. The label’s roster boasts U.K. rocker Sam Ryder along with emerging artists H.LLS (an electronic/R&B/hip-hop collective) and Emily Jeffri (Gothic pop singer). Both executives hail from Parlophone, where Burgess was co-president and Melhuish was GM/head of marketing.
Big Loud Records promoted Jess Anderson to senior director of media, effective immediately. Anderson has worked with the Big Loud Roster since late 2018. She came in-house with the label in 2021 and helped to create the label’s internal publicity roster in 2022 as director of media relations. The Big Loud roster includes Morgan Wallen, HARDY, ERNEST, Stephen Wilson, Jr., Charles Wesley Godwin, Lauren Watkins and Kashus Culpepper. Anderson’s prior career stops include Sweet Talk Publicity, The Press House and Big Machine Label Group. – Jessica Nicholson
Linlin Chen, the group vp of Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME), among other roles, will resign all of her positions at the Chinese company for personal reasons on Sept. 30. “On behalf of the Company, we would like to extend our gratitude to Ms. Chen for her dedicated service at TME,” said Cussian Pang, executive chairman of TME, in a statement. “We appreciate her continuous hard work and commitment, which greatly contributed to the success of Kugou Music, one of China’s leading music streaming platforms. We respect her decision and wish her all the best in all her future endeavors.”
Artist management company, music publisher and record label Blue Raincoat Music named Roman Tagoe director of streaming for Chrysalis Records. He will be based in the company’s London office and report to senior vp of marketing James Meadows. In the role, Tagoe will be responsible for driving success on streaming platforms for the company’s frontline and catalog artists. He was previously at BMG, where he served as director of streaming for global catalog recordings.
BOARD SHORTS: The California Copyright Conference announced its 2024-25 officers and board of directors. The new officers are president Rene Merideth (Exploration), vp Carolyn Soyard (Disney Music Group), treasurer Alexandra Guzman (SESAC), secretary Sarah Brockman (Bardic Inspiration Music Services) and assistant secretary Jean Montiel (peermusic). Re-elected board members include Reggie Calloway (Sound Royalties), Debra Delshad (creative music strategy and licensing consultant), Cheryl Dickerson (music industry consultant) and Paula Savastano (Seeker Music Group). Newly-elected board members include Tara Austin (Austintatious Tunes), Rhonda Bedikian (Heavy Harmony Music), Janelle Hawkes (independent publishing administrator), Brandon Jarrett (TV/film composer/music producer/songwriter) and Wayne Josel (ASCAP). Serving their second board of director terms are Kristina Benson (Sweet On Top) and Jonathan Lane (Clearly Music Services); first alternate is James Jacoby (A Bun Dance Production) and second alternate is Sherry Orson (Star Vibe Group).
Abby O’Neill was named head of cultural programming & strategy at Summit Series, an organization that hosts invite-only events for entrepreneurs, artists, philanthropists and more, including Summit At Sea and the forthcoming Subbmit Baja. O’Neill previously served as an NPR executive producer and strategist, curating and producing more than 100 Tiny Desk Concerts and helping realize a 3,000% viewership increase for the series, among other successes. Through her own company, Key Bridge Entertainment, she co-created the free dance music festival Rock the Park DC in Washington, D.C.
Ralph Kink joined German collecting society GEMA as head of digital transformation, effective Sept. 1. In his new role, Kink will spearhead GEMA’s technological development and serve on the company’s executive board. He previously worked at Microsoft for 25 years and is also the co-founder/CTO of digital.fwd, a management consultancy that specializes in digital transformation and artificial intelligence.
Publicist Nicole Govel launched a new company, Goldfinch Marketing, which will offer PR, influencer marketing and music video promotion services to clients. Govel previously spent eight years as a publicist at Trendsetter Media and Marketing.
Last Week’s Turntable: BMG Europe Exec Exits
As the 2024 presidential election heats up ahead of Nov. 5, Sony Music is throwing its hat in the ring with a campaign to increase voter turnout. Called Your Voice, Your Power, Your Vote, the non-partisan initiative is meant to educate artists, songwriters, industry professionals and communities across the country about voter registration. Its website […]
Believe turned in strong double-digit revenue growth in the first half of 2024, helped by its 2023 acquisition of Sentric Music Group but hobbled slightly by weak ad-supported streaming revenues. Revenue grew 14.1% to 474.1 million euros ($512.7) and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, deprecation and amortization (EBITDA) improved 29.3% to 31.3 million euros ($33.8 million), the company announced Thursday (Aug. 1).
“Despite persistent market headwinds in some of our key territories, Believe continued to generate solid profitable growth during the semester,” CEO Denis Ladegaillerie said in a statement. “We pursued our strategic roadmap to build the best artist development company in the music industry, while finalizing the restructuring of our capital structure providing us with greater financial flexibility and partners who can accelerate our profitable growth story.”
The Paris-based company lowered its expectations for full-year revenue, however. Because Believe will lose the year-over-year growth benefits of streaming price increases and is “cautious” about ad-supported streaming, the company lowered its guidance for organic revenue growth to 12% from 18%. That said, it increased its guidance for full-year adjusted EBITDA margin to greater than 6.5% from the previous 6.5% figure.
Trending on Billboard
Thursday’s earnings release was Believe’s first since a consortium including Ladegaillerie acquired nearly all of the company’s shares through a tender offer that ended June 21. The consortium, which includes funds managed by TCV and EQT X, now owns 96.02% of share capital and 94.87% of voting rights. Believe continues to have a small number of minority shareholders and its stock still trades on the Euronext Paris exchange, but due to the small float, the company will release only mid-year and full-year earnings results and no longer release quarterly results.
First-half revenue grew 17.9% to 78.4 million euros ($84.8 million) in France, Believe’s home and largest market, where it claimed to have 40% of the top local singles and 30% of the top local albums during the period. Revenue dropped 1.2% to 53.5 million euros ($57.9 million) in Germany, its second-largest market. In Europe excluding France and Germany, revenue jumped 24.7% to 121.9 million euros ($131.8 million).
The Americas grew 21.8% to 73.9 million euros ($79.9 million), helped in the second quarter by the reallocation of most of Sentric Music Group’s revenues to the U.S. Believe acquired Sentric, a Liverpool-based music publishing company, in 2023 from Utopia Music. Asia/Oceana/Africa grew just 3.7% to 116.3 million euros ($125.8 million); while revenue was “slightly up” in India, it fell in some Southeast Asian markets that are heavily based on ad-supported streaming.
Believe’s Premium Solutions division, which includes its publishing, label and artist services businesses, grew revenue 13.5% to 440.9 million euros ($476.8 million) in the first half of the year. Most of that improvement came from organic growth, while Sentric accounted for 2.3 percentage points of growth. Revenue at the Automated Solutions segment, which includes digital distributor TuneCore, increased 23.4% to 33.2 million euros ($35.9 million).
The upcoming elections in the United States in November will be profoundly important, with consequences for the economy, foreign policy, technology and perhaps even democracy itself. From a music industry perspective, though, there just isn’t all that much at stake. After two decades of change, the industry has found a new business model in the U.S., in the form of paid subscription streaming, and there’s only so much a new president could do to either improve that or screw it up. Most of the industry’s policy priorities involve either legislation (which any president would almost certainly sign) or in-the-weeds rulemaking procedures.
You certainly don’t get this sense from artists and executives, most of whom support Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president — and generally tend to vote Democrat. This probably comes from their personal politics — Harris doesn’t have an extensive track record on intellectual property policy or other issues important to the music business, although she was seen shopping for vinyl and appears to have excellent taste. (Make America analog again!) For all the disdain they get from media executives, Republican presidents have often been better for it, since they tend to reduce taxes, regulation and barriers to mergers. Same goes for legislators. Most music industry executives might not care for the politics of Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), but she’s certainly helped their business.
Trending on Billboard
Which candidate would be better for any specific business isn’t entirely clear because, at a time when the world is growing more complicated, U.S. politicians seem to offer fewer specifics on complicated issues. Both Harris and former president Donald Trump seem to be running more on who they are than on what they plan to do. (Based on Trump’s comments at the National Association of Black Journalists event in Chicago on July 31, he seems to want to run on who Harris is, which says far more about who he is, and not in a good way.) Some of this seems inevitable — Trump likes to change his mind and Harris only entered the race after President Joe Biden dropped out of it on July 21. It might just reflect an increasingly tribalized electorate.
The music industry’s biggest issues have remained bipartisan, though, and they seem to occupy a rare demilitarized zone between parties in which politicians who don’t normally agree on much come together. The quintessential example is copyright, which often unites Republicans who favor property rights and Democrats who want to support the arts. The most complicated and important part of the 2018 Music Modernization Act was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), who may not agree on much else. (In 2018, they shared their “Summertime Heat” playlist with Billboard.) This year, the NO FAKES Act brought together Blackburn and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), among others.
The industry’s traditional opponent on strong copyright is Silicon Valley platforms, which had a lot of power under former president Barack Obama. (Months ago, I saw Obama talk about the dangers of online misinformation without mentioning that he did little to regulate the platforms it’s on.) Biden, who has been a strong supporter of copyright, has been more skeptical of Big Tech. Now venture capitalists and technology companies, who tend to vote Democrat but favor libertarian politics, are courting both parties. Reid Hoffman and a group of 100 venture capitalists have announced their support for Harris, while Trump’s choice for Vice President, J. D. Vance, sometimes seems to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of arch-libertarian Peter Thiel. The next president will inevitably be asked to deregulate artificial intelligence at the expense of the rightsholders who own the works it will be trained on — the only question is who it will be. Investors will also push to legitimize cryptocurrency — or at least reduce the legal barriers to pretending that it’s an investment instead of a high-end pyramid scheme.
The other big issue these days is antitrust law, which the Biden-appointed Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan is trying to strengthen. The immediate issue is the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment, but more aggressive antitrust enforcement would also make it harder for the major labels to buy catalogs and companies. Although constraining the majors could make it easier for smaller companies to compete, it could also reduce the number of potential buyers they might attract. And although Republicans have traditionally wanted to weaken antitrust law, some populists now see it as a tool to reduce the power of platforms like Google.
The next president’s ability to help or hurt the music business may come down to putting copyright provisions in trade treaties, which doesn’t really resonate with the public. AI initiatives could matter, too. More AI legislation will almost certainly follow the NO FAKES Act, but that debate mostly sets different businesses against one another. (The NMPA recently asked the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to adjust copyright law, but that’s not going to happen so soon.) It’s harder than ever to pass federal legislation, and the president can only do so much to help.
The music business will also try to get wins on smaller issues — whether it’s legal to train an AI on copyrighted content and how much involvement of AI makes a work ineligible for copyright. These are the kind of subjects that require position papers rather than strong rhetoric. But we may not see those until 2025.
Last week, HYBE — the Korean label and music company behind BTS, among others — announced that Jason Jaesung Lee would become its new CEO, replacing Jiwon Park, as part of what it dubbed its “HYBE 2.0” strategy. Today (Aug. 1), the company unveiled more specifics as to what that will start to look like.
HYBE says the strategy kicked off at the top of the year, and will see the company lean into its superfandom platform, Weverse, around the world, while also partnering with other companies globally “to adapt to the fast-evolving market landscape,” the company said in a press release.
The priorities the company laid out will reorganize the company — which had previously been structured as Label, Solution and Platform — into a broader Music, Platform and “Tech-driven future growth initiatives” framework. As part of that, the company laid out four new initiatives and several executive-level appointments with new leaders atop its reformed division.
Trending on Billboard
The first is the formation of HYBE Music Group APAC, which will encompass the company’s labels in Korea and Japan, which will focus on doubling down on the company’s strengths and strategies in that region and exporting them around the globe. The current president of BIGHIT Music, Young Jae Shin, who has helped oversee the success of BTS and Tomorrow X Together, will now take on the role of president of HYBE APAC and lead the Korean and Japanese labels’ global growth.
The second is a doubling-down on what the company calls its “multi-home, multi-genre” strategy in the U.S., Japan and Latin America. That will mean a new label service launched under HYBE America — which is led by Scooter Braun — that will bring in a management element to its current label operations, in a bid to “bring the K-pop methodology to the American pop scene.” As part of that, HYBE America says it signed a new U.S.-based group, KATSEYE, through its continued partnership with Geffen Records. The company also said that its HYBE Latin America division — whose CEO Jonghyun “JH” Kah recently spoke to Billboard about their plans — will ramp up beginning in 2025, while HYBE Japan will continue to roll out new artists as well under newly-appointed chairman Youngmin Kim, who until now had served as general manager of SM Entertainment.
The third is the launch of a subscription membership tier for superfan platform Weverse, which will go live in the fourth quarter of 2024 and be available to all artists who use the platform. That will include ad-free videos, digital membership cards and a private Weverse DM feature, while the main Weverse platform will begin incorporating ads. Weverse president Joon Choi spoke to Billboard two weeks ago (July 19) about the platform’s plans moving forward, as well as the onboarding of Ariana Grande onto the platform, joining many of the Korean artists already in the HYBE stable. (Grande, who cut ties with Braun and HYBE last year, resumed working with them in June.)
Finally, HYBE is planning to “merge content with technology,” which it says will “ensure mid to long-term growth” for the company. That is where HYBE’s investments in gaming, AI, audio and voice technology and integrated online/offline experiences will live moving forward.
“HYBE 2.0 focuses on fostering our future growth businesses centered on music, platform and technology,” newly-announced CEO Lee said in a statement. “HYBE will continue to excel in the music industry, solidify its position as the leading player in the superfan business, and secure long-term growth drivers through tech-driven future growth initiatives.”
Earlier this month, an alarming stat sent a shudder through the U.K. music industry. When the Official Singles Charts announced the biggest songs of the year so far in the country, only four of the top 20 were by British artists: Artemas (“I Like The Way You Kiss Me”), Cassö (“Prada” featuring Raye and D-Block Europe), Sophie Ellis-Bextor (“Murder On The Dance Floor”) and Natasha Bedingfield (“Unwritten”), the latter two enjoying a boost from film syncs in Saltburn and Anyone But You, respectively.
It was a chilling omen nonetheless. Where are the breakout stars from the U.K., and how will they get onto the international stage?
Trending on Billboard
2024 has proved a particularly tough one for U.K. artists: no single from a British artist has hit No. 1 on the charts. The last was by Wham! for the seasonal hit “Last Christmas;” before that, it was the Beatles with the AI-assisted single “Now and Then.” In 2022, the top 10 songs in the U.K. were all made by homegrown artists like Ed Sheeran, Sam Fender and Kate Bush. Now, questions are being asked about the success of U.K. artists on a global scale — particularly pop — and why the landscape is not particularly rosy.
The U.K. appears to be in an era of importing music. Alongside stalwarts like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, new names like Noah Kahan, Benson Boone, Teddy Swims, Tate McRae and Shaboozey have flourished in a way that local talent has not. Annabella Coldrick, CEO of the Music Managers Forum, says that strong performances on the U.K. Charts can be key milestones for acts as they head to international markets. “If we’re not even dominating the charts in our own market,” Coldrick says, “then who follows?”
So how can the U.K.’s emerging artists keep pace? Competing with the resources and spending that the major labels can unlock in the U.S .market is an uphill battle, but music journalist Alim Kheraj suggests it runs deeper than that: “The U.K. [industry] has been so focused on hip-hop and singer-songwriters for a while now, so perhaps that’s why there’s been fewer pop stars transferring to the global stage.” There’s been international success for Artemas and Myles Smith, whose single “Stargazing” blazed onto the Hot 100 earlier this year, and other British artists like dance act Fred Again… and rapper Central Cee, but few in the more traditional pop sphere.
Coldrick says that we could see a change in the majors’ involvement with supporting new talent. “Maybe there’s a world in which the catalog labels become entirely separate from investment in new music,” she says. “That might be a good thing as it’s a different kind of investment business.” Following the announcement that resources at several labels at Universal Music would be merged, there are fears that non-priority artists will fall even further down the chain given their return on investment compared to catalog hits.
There are a myriad of issues that touring U.K. musicians face in 2024. Production costs and visa fees have risen substantially and the after-effects of Brexit have meant that touring EU countries is less profitable. “We’ve got very little government investment and a hostile environment for touring,” Coldrick says. “Artists and managers will do anything to make things work as they’re innovative problem solvers, but that’s a huge burden for them.”
Coldrick also notes that the U.K. is lagging behind other markets’ approach to exporting music. She celebrates the success of regional music scenes, particularly in Latin American countries and Asia, but says that lack of a “joined-up” export program is holding back U.K. artists. Those schemes can help provide funds to cover tour and visa costs and provide practical advice.
In 2022, a report by UK Music said that the value of exporting British talent — led by Harry Styles and Glass Animals — generated £4 billion to the economy. The Music Export Growth Scheme, Coldrick notes, is relatively slight compared to initiatives by Australia and the Netherlands. “We’ve been putting barriers up,” she says. “We’ve rested on our laurels a little bit and always relied on our great heritage and history.”
Kheraj suggests that there needs to be a recalibration of what we consider a “breakout artist.”’” He notes that the forthcoming new album from breakout act Sabrina Carpenter will be her sixth and follows success in the Disney stable, as well as a recent support slot on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Similarly, buzzy new act Chappell Roan first signed with Atlantic in 2015 and released music consistently until her 2023 debut album. Charli XCX’s first megahits — “Boom Clap” and Iggy Azalea team-up “Fancy” — were released in 2014; a decade later, she’s a key endorsement for Kamala Harris in the upcoming U.S. presidential election and in the midst of a Brat Summer.
“Someone like Olivia Rodrigo was a star and had a hit right out the gate, but that is so rare these days for an artist to launch with that level of commercial success,” Kheraj says. “We should be looking at people who’ve been doing it for a while longer as it does take time.”
There is no shortage of talent. Earlier this month Griff, who first released music on Warner Music in 2019, shared her debut LP Vertigo and had the best-selling opening week for a debut album by a British female since Raye’s 2021 debut; in October she will support Carpenter on a run of U.S. tour dates. Kheraj points to the early success of Jade Thirlwall’s debut solo single “Angel of My Dreams” on the U.K. Singles Charts as a bright spot. “She gets all the cultural touch points, is a fan of that world and has already operated on a global stage,” he says of the Little Mix member. “I think we could see her cross over to ‘Main Pop Girl.’”
Other names have made solid starts in their careers domestically and overseas: Holly Humberstone, Olivia Dean, Maisie Peters, Cat Burns and FLO to name a few. With malleable genres disrupting the pure “pop” tag, indie artists like Rachel Chinouriri, Wet Leg and The Last Dinner Party could all scale up rapidly on the international stage.
Perhaps 2024 will act as something of a recalibration for success in the pop world and beyond. There’s no denying that the U.K. has the right talent to succeed, it’s now a question of how to make the world hear it.