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Avant Gardner revealed the new look for the Brooklyn Mirage today, releasing new renderings for the marquee dance venue that doubles as the inner courtyard for the 80,000-sq.-ft. live music compound in East Williamsburg. Closed in November to begin renovations, CEO Josh Wyatt says the new Brooklyn Mirage will keep its open sky outdoor aesthetic while expanding its dance floor from a 4,500-person capacity to 6,250 when it reopens May 1.
Wyatt, who has two decades of experience in nightlife, including management at the members-only social club NeueHouse, describes the bold new look of Brooklyn Mirage as “operatic grandeur” created as an “open air sanctuary” where “world-class artists and audiences unite” across a multilayered tapestry of light, sound and kinetic energy. Created by Avant Gardner’s in-house design and production team, in partnership with design studios Hard Feelings and Studio Greenbank, Brooklyn Mirage’s dance floor, elevated seating tiers and artist end stage all connect in a horseshoe-style configuration.
“It’s a huge dance floor, really, the largest in New York City,” Wyatt tells Billboard “And then when you’re looking at the overall structure, it’s three stories high and reveals itself as you traverse the structure through different sight lines and experiences. That’s something that the Mirage has always excelled at; providing these different moments from different perspectives within the venue.”
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The massive structure, which climbs up to 65 feet and its highest point, is built almost entirely from pre-manufactured and CNC-cut timber, making it one of the largest timber structures in the U.S. The 30k resolution wraparound LED wall features the first fully kinetic shutter system in live music, curtaining the length of the venue and giving artists full control over the venue’s comprehensive performance features. Brooklyn Mirage’s sound system is powered by L-Acoustics and includes more than 100 loud speakers and subwoofers strategically configuered for maximum sound balance and acoustic coverage. Brooklyn Mirage’s 90-foot stage is designed to accomodate modern touring shows, whether it be a global headliner DJ or a ten-piece rock group, with more than 20,000 tons of rigging capacity and seamless load-in and load-out.
Wyatt said his team has also made key upgrades to safety with new perimeter lighting, clear venue signage, and well lit and monitored rideshare drop-off zones. His team also invested in upgrading cell service at the venue to improve guest navigation and connectivity. Wyatt said the renovations were done with sustainability in mind, noting the facilities extensive use of pre-fabricated timber.
“Wood is a heck of a lot easier to engineer than other materials,” Wyatt said. “We have a commitment to sustainability and adaptive reuse and wanted to upcycle the wood components here. We felt that it would be a lot more friendly and like lower carbon footprint to be able to build it with predominantly with wood. Obviously, there are some steel elements but for building quickly and building efficiently, wood is more effective for engineering and for sustainability.”
More than 100 shows are confirmed to follow Brooklyn Mirages May 1 & 2 reopening with Sara Landry and upcoming shows from Cityfox (May 3), Cloonee (May 10), Empire of the Sun (May 21), two nights of Chainsmokers (May 22 & 23) and two nights of Excision (May 24-25).
For tickets and the latest event updates, visit Avant-Gardner.com.
The second annual Music Sustainability Summit has announced the speakers and agenda for the event that’s set to take place next month in Los Angeles. Topics to be discussed during the day-long gathering include: Live Music Emissions in the U.K. and U.S. Behind the Tracks: Music Production, Delivery, and Consumption Beyond Backlash: The High Stakes […]
Heavy metal legends Megadeth signed a deal with Frontiers Label Group’s new imprint, BLKIIBLK, to release the band’s forthcoming album globally. The deal was struck via frontman Dave Mustaine‘s Tradecraft imprint.
Global avant-pop star Sevdaliza signed a global deal with Create Music Group, which will release her upcoming music via its indie label, Broke, co-founded and led by Andre Benz and Brandon De Oliveira. The imprint put out Sevdaliza’s latest single, “Maria Magdalena,” on Friday (March 7). The first release under the deal was Sevdaliza and Karol G’s “No Me Cansare,” which came out in October and has more than 70 million streams globally, according to a press release.
Kristin Chenoweth signed with UTA for representation in all areas. Best known for originating the role of Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked and for starring in numerous films and TV shows, the Emmy- and Tony-winning singer and actress is set to debut in the forthcoming Broadway musical The Queen of Versailles in the 2025-26 season.
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Guitarist and songwriter Don Felder, best known for his former role as lead guitarist of the Eagles, signed with Frontiers Music Srl, which will release his debut solo album later this year. Felder is managed by Charlie Brusco at Red Light.
Seattle-formed alternative rock band Minus the Bear, which broke up in 2018 before reuniting, signed with Jordyn Reese at Do Better for Artists for management. The band’s label is Suicide Squeeze Records.
Mexican-Dominican songwriter Ambar Lucid signed with Nice Life Recording Company. The label released Lucid’s new song “There Goes My Baby” on Friday (March 7).
Country Latin artist Sammy Arriaga partnered with Chris Ruediger‘s Walk Off Entertainment for the release of his upcoming music, including new single “Left My Heart in Texas,” out Friday (March 14). The deal was struck via Arriaga’s own label, Dead Rose Records.
Boutique music publisher Maison Arts launched a full-service record label, Maison Records, with a roster that includes Swedish multi-instrumentalist Arc De Soleil, writer/producers-turned-artists Social House, Cuban electronic duo Pauza, London-based electronic duo Roi Turbo, DJ Devault, and U.K.-based Afrobeats artist Not3s. Maison Records’ executive team includes Maya Michaelian as head of marketing and A&Rs Livia Piomelli and Arielle Tindel. The Orchard will provide global distribution for the label.
Curb Records signed singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matthews to its roster. Matthews first found recognition as a lead vocalist and writer for Elevation Worship. He co-wrote and performed on several of the band’s songs, including “Here as in Heaven,” “Resurrecting” and “Echo,” and the group’s Here as In Heaven album. – Jessica Nicholson
Christian hip-hop duo West Indies signed with Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins‘ Alienz Alive label. The duo’s self-titled debut project was released on Feb. 28.
Americana artist Connor Daly signed with Burning Ground Entertainment for management. Daly released his debut album, Colors Fade, in July. Daly, who counts Jason Isbell, Zach Bryan and Ed Sheeran as inspirations, recently released a new single, “Curtains Never Close.” Burning Ground Entertainment also represents artists including Mic Drop, The Pretty Wild, and Tayiha. – Jessica Nicholson
The landscape for top music executives remains overwhelmingly white and male, according to a new report by USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, which notes that representation at the highest levels of the music industry have remained minimal despite declarations of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in by major music companies in 2020 — with many of them performing worse today than when data was last collected in 2021.
On Wednesday (March 12), Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative released their second Inclusion in the Music Business report — in partnership with Believe and Tunecore — that focuses on the gender and racial/ethnic identity of music executives, with data pulled from a survey of 2,793 executives across 106 music companies.
In one key finding, 86.8% of top executives (i.e. CEOs and presidents) at a smaller subset of 37 major and independent music companies were men, while 92.1% were white. All three non-white executives, two of whom were women of color, ran independent companies.
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“Much has been made of the ‘Year of the Woman’ in music, highlighting the work of artists like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Chappell Roan or Sabrina Carpenter,” the report reads. “While the music stage may be perceived as increasingly open to women artists, the executive ranks have maintained the status quo. Women fill fewer than 20% of top leadership positions and are still rarely part of senior leadership teams at top companies.”
“In comparison to 2021, there was no increase in the percentage of senior executives who were women, people of color, or women of color in these roles — in fact, the percentage of underrepresented top executives decreased,” the report adds.
In focusing on just six major music companies (Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Spotify, iHeartMedia and SiriusXM), the report discovered that just a third of all senior management executives at those companies were women, while 16.7% were from an underrepresented racial/ethnic group. In total, there were just eight women of color working in those roles, amounting to 10.3%.
In a broader analysis of senior leaders across the 106 companies — boiled down to 77 companies when taking into account subsidiaries — men held 84.4% of CEO/president roles while women held just 15.6%. The majority of those top executives (82.2%) were white, while just 17.8% were from underrepresented groups. Women of color held just 4.4% of these top roles.
According to the report, among all companies surveyed, the presence of women executives falls significantly as the level of responsibility increases. Across the executive hierarchy categories of chief/president, executive vp/senior vp/GM and vp/head, women are most likely to hold positions at the vp/head level at 43.9%. This percentage drops to 38.1% of executive vp/senior vp/GM roles, while the percentage falls further, to 25.6%, at the chief/president position.
A similar pattern is found for underrepresented executives, who make up 25.9% of vp/head roles but only 19.7% and 21% of executive vp/senior vp/GM and chief/president roles, respectively. Only 10% of all executives in these categories were women of color.
The report suggests that the lack of female representation in higher roles could be due to two primary consequences of gendered leadership beliefs. “The first is that [women] may not be projected into leadership positions because they are not perceived to have the traditionally masculine traits associated with leadership,” the report reads. “The second is that when women do behave in ways that violate their gender role, perhaps by exhibiting leader-like behavior, they are punished. Thus women may be excluded from promotions for reasons that are not based on their actual performance but on gender role expectations that still play a role in how they are evaluated.”
Dr. Smith and her team (which includes report authors Dr. Katherine Pieper, Zoe Moore and Sam Wheeler) also broke the findings down by five sectors: music groups, record labels, publishing, streaming and music distribution.
The music distribution sector has the highest percentage of women executives (47.8%), which is significantly greater than the other four company types, none of which reached 40%. Women fill 39.4% of executive positions at record labels, 38.3% at music groups, 37.6% in publishing and 37.2% at streaming companies.
Alternatively, record labels are a leader in underrepresented executives, who make up 30.1% of executive roles at labels. That percentage still lags behind proportional representation with the U.S. population (at 41.6% underrepresented, according to U.S. Census data) but is better than music groups (25.1%), music distribution (23.1%), streaming (17.9%) and publishing companies (16.3%). “Compared to the 2021 analysis, the current landscape shows a significant decline in the representation of underrepresented executives within the streaming sector,” the report reads. “There were no meaningful changes for the other industry categories.”
A closer look at women of color in executive roles indicates that record labels (13.4%) were significantly more likely than streaming (7.5%) and publishing (6.9%) companies to be inclusive of underrepresented women in leadership. Music groups (11.8%) and music distribution companies (9.9%) held a middle position.
“The lack of underrepresented executives in key leadership roles is particularly disappointing because in recent years, finding ways to promote talented people of color has been a priority for the industry,” the report states. “Efforts to address ongoing gaps have included the launch of industry-wide coalitions, task forces, and company-specific plans. Despite this, the underlying biases that thwart hiring and promotion have clearly not been addressed. To see more underrepresented leaders in the music industry, valuing the abilities, insights, and leadership traits that people of color bring to these roles is essential.”
For women of color, the hurdles to reach the top echelons of the music industry remain the highest. Among the smaller subset of 37 music companies, a mere 5.3% of the highest-ranked executives and 10.3% of senior management teams are composed of women of color.
“The lack of women of color in leadership roles stands in contrast to the strong showing of women of color as artists and songwriters over the past several years,” the report states. “Clearly the music industry values women of color — but not the ways that women of color lead.”
The report offers three actionable opportunities for change. First, it recommends using specific and measurable criteria in the hiring, evaluation and promotion process. Second is to create pathways to promotion that account for the different experiences needed to lead well while ensuring that performance metrics are met. The third is to pursue solutions that are sector-driven.
“The music industry has faced a difficult season with layoffs across multiple companies,” the report states. “Additionally, the wider cultural moment is dismissive or even hostile to so-called DEI initiatives, creating wariness or even abandonment of principles and activities designed to cultivate and foster talent. Despite these challenges, the music business need not forego adopting strategies that will allow for the most qualified employees to rise to positions of greater responsibility and leadership, no matter their identity.”
Check out the full report, including additional information on solutions, here.
Multimedia company REVOLT is staking its claim in the music distribution arena with the launch of 440 Artists. Described as more than a conventional distribution platform, 440 Artists pledges to “redefine independence for the next generation of artists,” says REVOLT. And it will do so by providing artists with an array of resources including global distribution, creative freedom and full ownership of their work plus a 90/10 majority share of their royalties.
440 Artists will also provide exclusive access to REVOLT’s media network: linear and digital TV programming, a full-scale marketing agency, high-impact live events and state-of-the-art production studios. Beyond providing distribution to over 250 DSPs, 440’s offerings range from real-time analytics and release support to opportunities for sync deals, brand partnerships and live performances.
In explaining the reason behind establishing 440 Artists, REVOLT CEO Detavio Samuels tells Billboard, “The independent music game is crowded, but the system is still broken. Artists have more ways to distribute their music than ever, but distribution alone doesn’t build careers. Getting on DSPs is just step one — breaking through takes real visibility, opportunity and strategy.”
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Akinwole Garrett, REVOLT’s vp of business development, adds, “With the recent shift towards artists wanting to remain independent and forgo label deals, we saw a great opportunity for REVOLT to expand its impact. The natural next step was to marry our deep-rooted connection to hip-hop with a platform that truly empowers independent artists — giving them the visibility, industry access and financial opportunities they deserve.”
Detavio Samuels
Courtesy of REVOLT
Cena Zarin, head of music programming & talent relations for REVOLT Media & TV, and Mike Brown, senior administrative coordinator to REVOLT’s CEO and CBO, also played instrumental roles in developing and shaping 440 Artists. “Without their leadership and vision,” says Garrett, “440 Artists wouldn’t exist.”
The launch of 440 Artists will be officially celebrated at REVOLT House tomorrow (March 13) during SXSW 2025. Being held at Vulcan Gas Company in Austin, REVOLT House will feature performances from rising artists such as LaRussell, 310babii, Zeddy Will, K Carbon, Lebra Jolie, Lex Bratcher, Luke Bar$ and WhoKilledKenny. Also on tap: a live showcase of the REVOLT Podcast Network and interactive fan activations.
Samuels and Garrett share further insight below about 440 Artists, whose moniker was inspired by the audio frequency 440 Hz — the universal tuning frequency in music. For additional information about 440 Artists, visit the website.
What else prompted the decision to expand into distribution?
Samuels: We created 440 Artists not just to distribute music, but to plug artists into the full power of REVOLT’s ecosystem. Other platforms stop at distribution. We take it further. No other distribution service is backed by a global media brand with the ability to push artists through a multiplatform, multi-format ecosystem, showcase them on major stages and connect them with brands investing in culture.
Garrett: What started as a move to uplift hip-hop artists has now expanded into a much broader ecosystem — one that supports multiple categories and sub-genres, ensuring that independent talent across the board can grow, break through and succeed on their own terms. Despite the industry’s many players, we bring a unique approach and exclusive opportunities to artists that they can’t find under one roof. As the largest Black-owned media business in the country, with a fully staffed sales team, we offer countless opportunities to integrate 440’s artists into national brand campaigns. Moreover, beyond music videos and performances, we will create additional content opportunities — including podcasts, scripted and unscripted film and television projects, and digital content— to expand an artist’s presence across the media and entertainment landscape.
Akinwole Garrett
Courtesy of REVOLT
What’s the criteria for being selected to join 440 Artists?
Garrett: We seek artists who are talented, driven, and recognize the unique value that REVOLT and 440 bring to the table. Beyond an artist’s streaming performance, physical sales, and other metrics, we prioritize those with a loyal and engaged audience — regardless of size — who have a compelling persona that we believe 440 can elevate to the next level.
Last June, REVOLT became an employee-owned company. How does 440 Artists fit into your overall business model?
Garrett: REVOLT’s employees will play an active role in the success of 440. As majority owners, they will serve as A&Rs within their own networks, engaging with independent artists and making recommendations for those who could be a great fit for the 440 platform. 440 is also a core component of REVOLT’s broader creator strategy and platform. As the creator economy continues to expand and diversify, REVOLT has already established its presence across multiple verticals: working with YouTube creators through the YouTube Creator Network, podcasters via the REVOLT Podcast Network and digital publishers through the REVOLT Publisher Network. 440 Artists serves as the fourth pillar of this ecosystem, collectively forming the REVOLT Creator Network (RCN).
Samuels: 440 Artists embodies what REVOLT stands for: empowering creators and shifting ownership back to the culture. But this wasn’t my idea. 440 is 100% employee-driven. A group of employees saw a gap in the industry, created the vision, designed it and built it from the ground up. Now they get to see their idea come to life in the real world. It wasn’t on my vision board, but it was on theirs. And that’s exactly why we’re doing it.
Hipgnosis, the catalog company with rights to songs by artists including the Red Hot Chili Peppers that became the face of music-as-an-asset-class for Wall Street investors, is being renamed Recognition Music Group, the company said on Wednesday (March 12).
The new name covers what was previously three separate companies that each had Hipgnosis in the name: Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a publicly traded music royalty investment fund formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange; Hipgnosis Songs Assets, a privately-held royalty fund backed by Blackstone; and Hipgnosis Song Management, the investment manager previously run by founder Merck Mercuriadis that worked to generate a return on the song rights held in the catalog funds.
Mercuriadis did not respond to a request for comment.
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Since Blackstone acquired Hipgnosis’s public fund for $1.47 billion and Mercuriadis stepped down from his role as chair of the investment manager last year, the company decided it was time to shed the old name, CEO Ben Katovsky tells Billboard.
Recognition’s portfolio of publishing and master recording rights to some 45,000 songs include stakes in megahits like Shakira‘s “Whenever, Whereever,” The B-52s’ “Love Shack,” Fleetwood Mac‘s “Go Your Own Way” and Diana Ross‘ “I’m coming out.” A video made by the company to promote its new name to its roughly 40 employees weaves together lyrics from these and other songs in its portfolio to send a message that despite their history as separate entities, the Hipgnosis companies are meant to “get together,” even if one almost went its “own way” during Blackstone’s billion-dollar bidding war with Concord. Nearly a year after it consolidated ownership, Blackstone and Katovsky “want the world to know” this is a new company.
“It’s impossible not to have those songs resonate in your mind,” Katovsky says from Recognition’s London offices. He tells Billboard that the new name refers to “a combination of how easy it is to recognize those songs day to day and also to recognize the talent of the artists and songwriters and musicians who made those songs.”
Qasim Abbas, Blackstone’s head of tactical opportunities international, the division of the global financial fund that owns Recognition, said in a statement that last year showed “strong investor conviction in this asset class.”
“The company is now set to build on its position as a leading independent investor in music rights; owning and managing an incredible portfolio of songs and recordings,” Abbas added.
Hipgnosis was known for acquiring dozens of catalogs a year between 2018 and 2021, earning it a reputation of contributing to a run-up in the market for music royalties. In contrast, Recognition intends to be a “selective buyer” of music rights, Katovsky says.
“Our ambition is to continue to grow the portfolio, and we already have scale as a business,” Katovsky says. “The scale allows us to invest … but it also means we’re not under any pressure to deploy capital.”
Recognition’s portfolio remains heavily weighted to publishing rights, which comprise roughly 80% of its assets; the remainder are mostly master recording rights. Blackstone still owns Hipgnosis Songs Group, the subsidiary that has housed Big Deal Music’s administration business since Hipgnosis acquired the independent publisher in 2020. The company has said the division is under strategic review, and Recognition is now looking to partner with publishers and music companies for the administration of its assets.
“Recognition Music will be a very collaborative player in this space in ways that it was not historically,” Katovsky says. “We want to work with other partners in this industry to do that.”
Concord is an advanced talks to acquire music distributor Stem, according to multiple sources close to the talks.
Los Angeles-based Stem is a 10-year-old digital distributor that gives independent artists ownership of their works and retains a distribution fee. Nashville-based Concord has vast music publishing and recorded music catalogs that include the compositions of Rodgers & Hammerstein, classical music publishing company Boosey & Hawkes, and the catalog of Round Hill Music, which it purchased in 2023 for $469 million.
Financial terms are unknown, but a report at Music Business Worldwide claims the deal could reach $50 million. The Hollywood Reporter cites sources as saying that figure “is wildly inaccurate” and that negotiations could result in a partial sale.
Stem would help Concord in its ambition to develop its frontline business. While Concord’s annual revenue is split roughly 50-50 between its publishing and recorded music divisions, it has notched more publishing hits, such as Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” which Concord owns a piece of through Tyler Johnson’s co-writing credit. In September, Concord merged its Concord Records and Fantasy Records into a single label, naming Margi Cheske and Mark Williams as co-presidents.
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Concord’s frontline record label business includes Rounder Records, Concord Jazz, Fearless Records, Concord Theatrical Recordings and the Kidz Bop franchise. Concord also has joint ventures in Loma Vista Recordings with Tom Whalley; Easy Eye Sound with Dan Auerbach; and PULSE Records with PULSE Music Group. Launched in 2023, PULSE Records saw major success with Tommy Richman’s 2024 hit “Million Dollar Baby.” Billboard estimates the song generated $4.99 million from on-demand audio streams and digital song sales, based on Luminate data.
Stem, which raised $40 million in three fundraising rounds from 2017 to 2022, has been looking for a strategic investor since at least last year to give it access to more funding for artist advances after losing a series of stars to major labels. Competition for artists seeking distribution deals had picked up enough that Stem “lost numerous deals historically as it wasn’t able to be competitive with advances,” according to a Stem pitch deck Billboard obtained in 2024.
In 2023, Stem secured a $250 million credit facility from Victory Park Capital to expand its advance check product, which has funded projects by Brent Faiyaz and Justine Skye. That line of credit was “restrictive,” a source with knowledge of the company tells Billboard, because it was doled out on a deal-by-deal basis, requiring each artist’s project to recoup its own advance. Lewis says a better option is to borrow against the whole company’s balance sheet so that if one artist’s project flops, the loan can be repaid by a successful one.
“Music is a hit-driven business, and you need to have capital that understands that and is willing to allow you to take the risk across multiple projects, knowing that the overall portfolio will perform,” this person says.
It was for that reason that Stem was looking for equity investors rather than debt. Outside investors, many from the venture capital world, already own a majority of Stem’s equity. Stem’s decision to provide artists with advances came at a time when interest rates were lower than they are today, and one industry source speculates that rising interest rates were a pressing matter for Stem. Concord would likely be able to provide Stem with a lower cost of capital, this source tells Billboard. Concord has raised more than $3 billion from three asset-backed securities led by Apollo Global Management.
Warner Music Group (WMG) has also been in the market for a distribution company, having passed on an opportunity to acquire TuneCore owner Believe in 2024. But speaking at a Morgan Stanley conference on Monday (March 11), WMG CEO Robert Kyncl suggested the company could build rather than buy a distributor at the going rates. “I’ve looked at all distribution companies over the last 18 months … and what I can tell you is that we’re not willing to grow this at all costs,” Kyncl said.
The Abbey Road Institute is set to launch its newest campus in Los Angeles this summer, it was announced Tuesday (March 11). The state-of-the-art facility will be led by Grammy-winning engineer, mixer, producer and musician Rafa Sardina.
Designed to provide students with a unique professional experience, the West Coast campus will feature the institute’s renowned curriculum along with a faculty of Los Angeles-based producers, engineers and musicians, including Alan Meyerson, Barry Rudolph, John Boylan and Vanessa Garde.
“Abbey Road Institute Los Angeles is the culmination of a long-held dream,” said Sardina — who has worked with Stevie Wonder, Rosalia, Alejandro Sanz, Dr. Dre, Camila Cabello, Lady Gaga and more — in a statement. “I want to share the invaluable professional experiences of my closest musical colleagues and myself with outstanding new generations of mixers, producers, and other music and music business professionals. I can’t wait to welcome our first students and witness the beginning of their exciting career journeys.”
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Luca Barassi, CEO of Abbey Road Institute London, added: “We are thrilled to be working with Rafa and his team as we continue expanding our educational footprint in the U.S. Rafa has a strong affinity with how we teach, and an ambition to pass on his expertise to the next generation. Establishing our second U.S. campus in Los Angeles — a creative, dynamic, and globally influential city — will provide students with an immersive experience at the heart of a thriving international music scene.”
The program offers intensive and immersive education in a small, focused-learning environment, emphasizing hands-on, apprenticeship-style training to equip graduates with the skills necessary to thrive in the music industry. Graduates will earn a diploma in music production and sound engineering. Additional diplomas in audio post-production for film and TV & music business will be offered in the future.
“We are incredibly proud of the success of Abbey Road Institute graduates,” Universal Music Group COO and Abbey Road board member David Sharpe added. “Some of them have earned multiple Grammy and Billboard awards, along with numerous Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations. Bringing Abbey Road Institute’s world-class education to Los Angeles will provide aspiring producers and engineers with the training they need to make a strong entrance into the music industry.”
The campus’ exact inauguration date and location will be announced soon.
Live Nation, Sphere Entertainment Co. and MSG Entertainment stocks fell this week as markets were hurt by fears about the impacts of U.S. tariffs, ongoing inflation and government layoffs.
Live Nation, which reported record full-year results on Feb. 20, dropped 11.0% to $127.51, erasing the stock’s entire year-to-date gain. Sphere Entertainment Co. dropped 18.8% to $35.45 following the company’s quarterly earnings on Monday (March 3). MSG Entertainment slipped 7.7% to $31.86.
U.S. stocks had their worst week in months. The Dow slipped 2.1%, the S&P 500 dropped 3.1% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 3.5%. In the U.K., the FTSE 100 dipped 1.5%.
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On Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that the U.S. economy would go through an adjustment period with less government spending. “The market and the economy have just become hooked,” he said. “We’ve become addicted to this government spending, and there’s going to be a detox period.”
Doubts about live music’s ability to sustain growth in the current economic climate were captured in a CFRA analyst’s note. “Live entertainment and exorbitant ticket prices have raised investor concerns whether record demand will recede with a rising household cost of living and lower consumer confidence,” analyst Kenneth Leon wrote in a March 5 note to investors.
Nevertheless, Leon maintained its $135 price target and upgraded Live Nation shares to “hold” from “sell.” The company, he added, “is a market leader in tickets and continues to fund large capital expenditures to expand its own venues.”
Sphere Entertainment Co. shares fell 13.6% on Monday (March 3), the day the company released quarterly earnings, and slipped another 6% through Friday (March 7). Revenue fell 2% to $308.3 million from the prior-year period, although revenue for the Sphere venue was up 1%. At the company’s MSG Networks division, revenue dropped 5% and its $34.2 million operating profit turned into a $35 million operating loss.
Numerous analysts made downward revisions to their Sphere models after the earnings release. Benchmark dropped its price target to $35 from $36. JP Morgan cut its price target to $54 from $57. And Seaport cut its earnings-per-share estimate for the current quarter to -$2.03 from -$1.66.
Other companies in the live entertainment space also declined. MSG Entertainment fell 7.7%, Vivid Seats dropped 3.9%, Eventbrite dipped 2.1% and German concert promoter CTS Eventim lost 0.6%. Many other companies that depend on consumer discretionary spending also fell this week, including Expedia Group (down 6.9%), Hyatt Hotels (down 3.7%) and cruise operator Carnival Corporation (down 13.7%).
The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) dropped for the third consecutive week, falling 6.3% to 2,449.61. Although the index is up 15.3% year to date, it has fallen 11.1% in the last three weeks. Most of the index’s most valuable companies were among the week’s winners. Other than Live Nation, none of the 13 stocks that lost ground are among the index’s most valuable companies — with one major exception.
Spotify, the BGMI’s largest single component, dropped 12.6% to $531.71, putting the stock 18.5% below its all-time high set on Feb. 13. With a market capitalization of roughly $105 billion, Spotify is large enough to influence the fortunes of an index that contains 19 other stocks. Despite having a few off weeks, however, Spotify is the best-performing music stock of the last year and has gained 14.0% year to date.
Universal Music Group (UMG) shares rose 6.8% on Friday following the company’s fourth-quarter earnings release on Thursday (March 6), though itended the week up just 3.3%. Warner Music Group appeared to benefit from investors’ enthusiasm about UMG’s earnings as its shares rose 2.0% to $34.39.
iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman caused his company’s stock to spike 23% on Thursday after an SEC filing revealed the executive purchased 200,000 shares. Investors noted the CEO’s optimism in his company’s future, and the stock ended a downward slide to finish the week up 3.4% to $1.83.
The week’s biggest gainer, Chinese music streaming company Tencent Music Entertainment (TME), rose 9.2% to $13.31. TME benefitted from a surge in Chinese stocks as comments made during the country’s parliamentary meetings this week fueled optimism that the government will provide stimulus for Chinese technology companies. The company will release fourth-quarter earnings on March 18.
Cumulus Media was the week’s biggest loser after dropping 27.8% to $0.52. The company revealed on Friday that it received a warning from the Nasdaq stock exchange that it faces a de-listing for failing to meet the minimum shareholders’ equity threshold of $10 million.
On Feb. 2, group chats across the music industry lit up when Chappell Roan used the Grammys stage to implore record labels to cover healthcare costs for their artists. Perhaps few chats were more active than the one between employees at Backline, the mental health nonprofit serving music professionals.
“[Our group chat] was on fire as soon as she started talking… this is a conversation that we have all the time,” says Hilary Gleason, Backline’s executive director. “So to see it platformed in that way really resonated with us and encouraged us. We were all just blown away that she chose to use that moment in that way, not having any idea that a week later, we would be where we were.”
Where they are is in a privileged position. On Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 10) — after Roan hit back at a Hollywood Reporter op-ed by a former A&R executive who criticized her speech by daring him to match her $25,000 donation to help “struggling dropped artists” — Roan and Backline jointly announced the We Got You! campaign, launched with $25,000 donations from Roan, Charli XCX and Noah Kahan (who had previously partnered with Backline to provide mental healthcare for all 78 band and crew members on his We’ll Be Here Forever Tour). Billed as “a fund to support artists’ mental health,” the campaign has resulted in an influx of donations to the nonprofit, including matching $25,000 donations from Sabrina Carpenter, Live Nation, AEG, the Wasserman Foundation, Guy Oseary, Sumerian Records and the Hinterland Festival, among others. Since launch, the campaign has netted the organization $353,000 and, perhaps more importantly, raised its public profile overnight.
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“Our biggest challenge has always been getting the word out,” says Gleason. “So this moment that happened around Chappell at the Grammys has really given us that exposure and opportunity to really connect with people who’ve never heard about us and could utilize these kinds of resources.”
Launched in October 2019 by more than 50 music industry professionals following the suicides of several prominent musicians, Backline provides a case management program that offers one-on-one support for music workers who need help navigating the often-knotty mental health care space. The organization helps link these workers with therapists and 170 partner organizations — including MusiCares, the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund and the Black Mental Health Alliance — that together form a clinical referral network boasting 1,150 providers across all 50 states, over 85 percent of whom have experience working with music professionals or have worked in the industry themselves. Backline also hosts annual clinical training for providers; sends out free touring care packages that include wellness products and mental health resources for professionals on the road; hosts weekly industry support groups; and offers free or heavily discounted wellness resources from partners that offer services including yoga, breath work, meditation and nutrition.
When Gleason learned that Roan had chosen to support Backline from a list of options the artist’s team had presented her with, she was flattered but uncertain that it was the right fit, given that Roan’s speech had focused on overall healthcare, not just mental health.
“I actually pitched a few of our partner organizations in that moment, saying, you know, this could be a really great moment for some of these other organizations who have a broader focus,” says Gleason. She was surprised, then, when Roan’s team came back to her and insisted Backline was the choice. In hindsight, Gleason sees the wisdom in Roan choosing to partner with Backline, which notably boasts Joshua Knight and Matt Runner — co-founder and agent, respectively, at Roan’s agency Wasserman – on its board of directors.
“I think the throughline of the work that we’re doing in mental health is a foundational piece of the larger conversation around access to health care,” says Gleason. “If you’re struggling with your mental health, it can be really hard to sign up for insurance, get your finances in order, go see a doctor, go see a dentist. Any of those pieces can feel really overwhelming if you don’t have the mental health foundation in place. And so we see this as the first step of accessing healthcare in a greater capacity.”
Since the influx of donations came through — including from many of Roan’s fans — the picture for Backline has changed. As Gleason puts it, the organization’s strategic plan for 2025 is now being looked at “with a bit bigger lens.” While she says they “want to stick to our core programs,” the extra money will “allow us to make some moves more quickly,” including upgrading the organization’s case management system this year. It will also allow Backline to expand its marketing efforts “farther into the music industry,” she says: “We really want to hit every corner, make sure that whether you’re in a tour bus, in a studio, in an office, you know that this is a resource that exists for you.”
Since the launch of We Got You!, Gleason says Backline has received an encouraging swell of support from music companies, noting that they’ve seen more corporate donations in one month than they did all of last year. While receiving support from individuals is important, she agrees that companies must shoulder the responsibility of caring for their artists and staff.
“Last year, we did 1.4 percent of our total raise from corporations, and that’s really where we want to see the change — for [companies] to invest in this and take care of their employees and their artists and be a part of this positive moment,” Gleason says. “It’s easy enough to email your whole staff and say, ‘Here’s all of Backline’s resources.’ It’s harder to say, ‘And we’ve made a donation, and we’ve earmarked that donation for your care.’ But we’re starting to see that kind of thing happen more and more, and we’re hoping that this moment really gets people thinking about what their plan is. And I think more artists are going to be looking for that as they are signing with labels and agencies and management companies.”
Of course, receiving the public support of Roan and other stars is the kind of marketing money can’t buy, and that added visibility, in addition to the flood of donations, has led to a spike in interest from music professionals looking for help. Gleason says Backline has had 205 submissions to case management in 2025, more than twice as many as it had at the same time last year (87) — an increase she attributes to both the Los Angeles wildfires (a Backline social post offering free therapy to those affected by the fires was shared by celebrities including Justin Timberlake and Common) and the We Got You! campaign. Notably, Backline has seen more producers, promoters and back-of-house professionals coming through its case management system — artists have historically made up 40 percent of cases — including an increase in music workers who hail from states including Texas, Maryland and Missouri, Roan’s home state. One of those cases, in particular, has stuck with Gleason.
“One of the submissions [was] from a young artist in Missouri, and that’s exactly what [Roan] was speaking to, and the work that we’re trying to do day in and day out,” she says. “So for [that artist] to learn about the resource, utilize the resource — I can’t think of a more perfect circle.”