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Few events can stitch together the various webs of American culture like the Super Bowl, and the numbers this year bear that out: With 123.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, the Big Game last Sunday (Feb. 11) was the most-watched broadcast since the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. And that means a lot of eyeballs for a lot of high-profile advertisement slots, which were priced accordingly: Commercials for the event this year went for as much as $7 million for a 30-second ad, according to the Wall Street Journal.
That makes working on such ads a high-stakes game, not to mention one that’s highly coveted in the world of music supervision and production. This year, boutique music and sound design company Barking Owl Sound landed seven such spots, doing sound design, mixing and production for ads with Booking.com (with Tina Fey) and Etsy; music arrangement and production for Budweiser’s spot; sound design, mix, production and original music for Starry’s ad with Ice Spice (No. 10 on Billboard‘s list of best commercials from the event); mixing and production for Paramount+’s Champions League ad; sound design and production for Kia’s commercial; and original music and production for Homes.com’s Mascot ad. And that high-profile work for the firm earns Barking Owl Sound co-founder/executive creative director Kelly Bayett the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
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Here, Bayett discusses the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the sound production of a Super Bowl ad; how she helped build Barking Owl and its creative team as well as its new music library, along with the opportunities it entails for them; and what’s next for the company. “With seven spots this year, it really solidifies our position in the industry moving forward and opens us up to new opportunities,” Bayett says. “We can accept the challenge and our team can excel with a number of projects under the highest amount of pressure. Moving forward, we are strong as ever and ready for anything.”
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This week, Barking Owl worked on the music for seven Super Bowl advertisements, including for Etsy, Budweiser, Kia and more. What key decisions did you make to help make that happen?
In our industry, getting Super Bowl ads is definitely relationship-dependent. An agency and client will rarely go to a vendor they don’t know and trust for a piece with millions of dollars on the line. Our key decisions are actually based on building the long term and not what feels fast and easy. [It’s about] focusing on growing relationships that last and consistently keeping the work you are doing fresh and interesting.
Can you tell me about how the company got started and your philosophy around what you do and what work you choose to get involved with, particularly as it pertains to these spots?
I was a single mom and I and my then-boyfriend, now husband, decided to start a music and sound design company in our home. Fourteen years later, we have added mix, brand partnerships, gorgeous studios in L.A. and New York as well as a global team of composers and writers. Our philosophy was to create a company that focused on creative and felt like home. We care about the craft of sound. If you look at any piece of work we have done for the Super Bowl, or anything on our reel, you will see that we don’t just grab sounds out of the library. We create them for each moment and we have been really fortunate to attract clients who value and appreciate the process.
What is the typical process for how you guys work on a commercial like these?
We will get a brief from the agency, and from there, it’s go time. We get on a call and talk about the process, creative directives, and then we start to create and build. It’s important to us to have the agency involved in the collaboration so that there are no surprises on either side. We keep it fun and light, we have amazing executive producers in New York and L.A. in Ashley Benton and KC Dossett who keep everyone on task. It’s the only time of year where every job is racing to the same finish line, so it takes incredible scheduling and organization.
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Your work on these was a mix of sound design, mixing, production, arrangement and original music. How do you approach each of those roles differently?
We have different teams of specialists for each role. Original music can be the trickiest a lot of the time because we are creating themes, tones and movement with an incredibly fast timeline. You are working with personal taste, and when it comes to thoughts about music, there is no right or wrong, it’s all about feeling. Sometimes, you just don’t like something because it doesn’t move you, and that can be challenging. We have to become detectives and figure out what isn’t hitting emotionally or tonally. Sometimes the whole team is on board with the exception of one holdout, and even though majority rules, I feel like we have failed if everyone has not left happy.
Arrangements are really about timing and vision of the track. Sound design is one of the most fun pieces, and also the piece that if we do it exactly right with hours of foley recording and sound manipulation, it will feel like we have done nothing at all. Mixing is the glue that keeps all of it together, giving space for the dialogue, VO, music and sound design. A great mix is dynamic, a bad mix is overly compressed and you lose the craft of each element you have so diligently created. Having our work destroyed by lazy mixers inspired the creation of our mix department.
Music production work like this is a competitive space, dealing with both huge companies and smaller houses. How do you guys compete within that environment, and stand out against your competitors?
It’s an incredibly competitive environment and it only gets more competitive as new companies are popping up each day. I have never really been one to look around and see what others are doing. I am solely focused on our mission, our purpose and what work we are putting out there. How are we showing up each day? Is it good enough? We are also a female-founded company with female creative leads, which is highly unusual. I came up in a space that was so insanely male, we wanted to bring a different perspective and change the landscape with female composers, mixers and sound designers. Everyone matters and everyone is supported here. When people feel supported they are free to create better and more inventive work. We created a structure where we all work as a team and there is no internal competition. That is a huge difference as well. Our employee retention is incredibly high and we all know each other so well, it’s truly like family.
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You’re also building out your own music library. What will that allow you to do, and how can that allow you to grow in the future?
I am so insanely excited about this. We have this amazing library of about 15,000 original tracks from years of demos created for commercials that never sold. The quality we expect from composers and the years of crafting and scoring have resulted in an incredibly varied, diverse library of tracks that are of the highest creative level. We didn’t exactly know what to do with them or how to set up a library, but we knew that we could offer something unique to the industry, as well as broadening our reach to TV and film. Last year, we brought in a partner, Kirkland Lynch, who leads these types of strategic initiatives as CEO. Kirkland brings experience from years with Sony Music, Universal Music Group, Stevie Wonder and YouTube Music. He has been a great addition to the team bringing an understanding and knowledge we really needed.
What does success look like from your point of view for a commercial like these? And with seven spots at this year’s game, what does that allow you guys to do moving forward?
We aren’t in charge of the overall idea, so the success for us is to see if we have executed the idea in the best way possible. Sound design properly in the space, the music scored and arranged in a way that tells the story and makes you feel something, mixes where each sound element complements the other — that is success. With seven spots this year, it really solidifies our position in the industry moving forward and opens us up to new opportunities. We can accept the challenge and our team can excel with a number of projects under the highest amount of pressure. Moving forward, we are strong as ever and ready for anything.
On this week’s Billboard Canadian Hot 100, the late Punjabi music sensation Sidhu Moose Wala debuts in the top 10, with posthumous single “Drippy.”
The hard-hitting track finds Moose Wala and Canadian rapper AR Paisley trading verses — the former in Punjabi, the latter in English — over an ominous trap beat from producer MXRCI. “Stop playing these games / cause out in these streets s–t could get pricey,” raps Paisley, “could cost you your life / so don’t take that lightly.”
The song arrives nearly two years after Moose Wala’s 2022 murder in Mansa, India. The artist moved to Brampton in 2016 and quickly rose to prominence in the Punjabi rap scene, eventually starting his own label and moving back to India, where he became involved in politics. His shocking death came right before a planned eight-date Canadian tour, during which he was booked to play Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum.
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Moose Wala has previously had 13 charting songs on the Canadian Hot 100, with several landing after his death — but has never cracked the top 10 before. As Punjabi music becomes a major force in Canada, he leaves behind a significant legacy, evident in the strong support for singles like “Drippy.” His influence also shows in artists like Paisley, who’s signed to 91 North, the joint label between Warner Music Canada and Warner Music India to promote South Asian music worldwide. – Rosie Long Decter
Canadian Indie Rock Band Hollerado Reunite as Tokyo Police Club Break Up
It’s been five years since Canadian indie group Hollerado called it quits. But they’re getting the band back together in order to send-off fellow indie rockers Tokyo Police Club, who are playing their final shows this November. Hollerado will open for Tokyo Police Club at two of their four dates at Toronto’s History.
The shows mark a full circle moment for both bands, who came up around the same time in the late 2000s Canadian indie scene. Tokyo Police Club opened for Hollerado at their final shows in 2019. “When they told us that it was their turn to hang up the skates, and asked if we would come out of retirement to join em,” the band wrote on Instagram, “of course we said YES.”
Hollerado had a gold record with 2010’s “Juliette,” off the Ottawa band’s debut album Record in a Bag. The band also hit No. 42 on Billboard‘s Canada Rock chart in 2019 with “One Last Time.” Since breaking up, members have focused on other projects and ventures, like popular label Royal Mountain Records, helmed by the band’s frontman Menno Versteeg.
Now, they’ll be joining their friends in Tokyo Police Club one last time, to give the Newmarket, Ontario band a proper goodbye. Tokyo Police Club were one of the biggest breakouts of Canada’s indie rock wave in the 2000s, playing Coachella and Letterman. The success of their 2006 EP A Lesson in Crime helped inspire guitar bands across the country. In 2010, they spoke with Billboard about the sessions for their sophomore album, Champ.
Guitar music has gone through a whole cycle of falling out of style and coming back in since 2010, its forms evolving and expanding along the way. If Tokyo Police Club hasn’t had as big a profile in recent years, there’s clearly still a lot of love for the band: three out of four of their farewell shows have already sold out. The last one, on Nov. 26, still has a few available here. – Rosie Long Decter
Canadian Music Appointments and Signings
Quebec City-based country singer and songwriter Alison Daniels has signed on with 604 Records with her debut “Who, What, Where, When, Why?” released Feb. 9 via Warner Music Canada.
Victoria-based musician Michael Kaeshammer has just announced the release date for his new album and a new worldwide deal with Seven.One Starwatch/Sony Music Germany. He recently wrapped up what is described as SRO tours in China and Germany and heads back to Germany in May for a theatre tour. He recently signed a touring deal with German event promoter MMP/Starwatch. Meanwhile, Kaeshammer’s Kitchen, his television show fusing music with cooking, has been renewed for its second season, airing on Yes and CHEK stations.
Secret City Records has named Magali Ould as GM. A former independent publicist, she joined in 2011 and has held various positions with the Montreal-based music company since. In naming her to the role, president/CEO Justin West stated: “Secret City’s tremendous growth, as well as the accelerated pace of the changing market, both bring new challenges and opportunities and drive the need for additional management infrastructure to ensure the relevant parts of the organization continue to function at the highest level. The General Manager role addresses that need and will help unlock our potential for future growth and expansion.”
Quebec rapper Lost has been named as a participant in YouTube’s FIFTY DEEP Music Class of 2024, a grants program that champions and provides support for Black artists, songwriters and producers in the hip-hop arena. The class is comprised of 27 global artists, songwriters, and producers from the U.S., Brazil, Sub-Saharan Africa, Canada and beyond. Read more about FIFTY DEEP here. – David Farrell & Kerry Doole
Last Week In Canada: This Unsung Canadian Cleaned Up at the Grammys
It’s time for another quick spindle around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music. When you’re done with that, get a readout of the most powerful people in the music biz with the latest Power 100 list.
Time marches on at Furnace Record Pressing as the Metallica-backed vinyl manufacturing plant welcomes Ali Miller as new CEO beginning March 1. Miller, who has rocked the COO role since 2018, will take over the top job from FRP’s founder and minority owner Eric Astor, who transitions to a strategic advisor at the plant he founded in 1996. He’ll remain a trusted member of the board. Miller’s rise makes her the first female CEO of a domestic pressing plant. The CEO switch arrives nearly a year after Metallica and their investment arm Black Squirrel Partners purchased a majority stake in the Northern Virginia facility — already the band’s trusted vinyl presser for over a decade. At the time, Miller affirmed her company’s commitment to quality over quantity in comments to Billboard, explaining, “We’d rather throw out some bad records than make as many as we can.”
“Since the day Ali joined Furnace, I knew she possessed the exceptional talent, dedication, and passion to thrive in this industry,” Astor said of Miller, who has over 16 years at Furnace. “She has been instrumental in shaping Furnace into the respected force it is today. I am confident that with Ali at the helm, Furnace will continue to deliver the highest quality vinyl records and remain a trusted partner to artists and labels for years to come.”
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Michael Kushner
Jimmy Fontaine
Just shy of his 25th anniversary at Atlantic Records, veteran legal executive Michael Kushner is shifting over to parent company Warner Music Group to be the label giant’s new senior vp, deputy general counsel of business and legal affairs. The promotion is right on the heels of Kushner being honored with the 2024 Entertainment Law Initiative (ELI) Service Award, given each year to an attorney who has shown their stripes in supporting the music community through service. The NYC-based Kushner reports to evp & general counsel Paul Robinson,” who called the respected exec “one of the sharpest legal minds in the business.” Kush, as he’s called, launched his music biz career at PolyGram Records in 1987. Stints at Philips Media, Crave Records (the Mariah Carey/Sony Music joint) and Sony Wonder followed over the next 10 years before a gig as head of business & legal affairs at Island Def Jam to close out the 20th century. In 2001, he joined Atlantic under the title he’s kept the entire time: evp, business & legal affairs and general counsel.
“It’s been a pleasure and an honor to count Kush as a trusted partner and close friend for the past 25 years,” said Atlantic Music Group chairman & CEO Julie Greenwald. “He’s guided countless deals, modernized our contracts, mentored our amazing BA department, and been there for me, Craig, and our Atlantic team morning, noon, and night. Artists and managers love him, because he not only has a brilliant business brain, but a creative brain that allows him to see their point of view. Atlantic wouldn’t be the company it is today without him, and it’s fantastic to see him graduate to this brand-new role.”
Meanwhile …
Messina Touring Group upped three to vice president. Lauren Cairerises rises from director of finance to vp of finance, Keena Cheatham from promoter rep to vp of touring, and LeeAnn Rotondo from director of ticketing to vp of ticketing. Cheatham joined MTG in 2013 as a promoter rep on Taylor Swift’s Red Tour and has gone on to have a hand in over half of the company’s roster. Caire and Rotondo both joined up in 2015 as senior accountant and ticket manager, respectively. Caire is coming off a busy 2023, managing the finances for blockbuster tours by Swift, Ed Sheeran and George Strait, and more. Under Rotondo’s leadership, MTG’s formerly fragmented ticketing strategy has become more centralized and streamlined. “It thrills me to see our MTG team grow – these individuals are just another example of the incredible MTG team,” said CEO Louis Messina. You can reach Caire lauren@messinatouring.com, Cheatham keena@messinatouring.com and Rotondo leeann@messinatouring.com.
Credit: Neil Patel
RCA Records promoted label veteran Kunal “KJ” Jadav to senior vp of A&R and marketing, effective immediately. The Atlanta-based exec reports directly to RCA president Mark Pitts. Jadav got his start at RCA in 2015 in the promotions department, but as the label puts it, “an incredible prowess for discovering and developing talent” eventually delivered him to A&R, where since 2017 he has scouted, signed and developed hip-hop acts including Young Nudy, BabyDrill and Kenny Mason. KJ is also credited with managing “Gassed Up” MC Nebu Kiniza and producer Coupe, who has worked with Young Nudy, 21 Savage and others.
Radio host, executive and music supervisor Jason Bentley is the new president of licensing and soundtracks at Thrive Music. In his new role, Bentley will pursue business development opportunities for sync services across the film, TV, advertising and video game spaces. He’ll also team up with Virgin Music Group, Thrive’s distributor, to acquire and boost soundtrack properties with insightful music solutions. Bentley previously served as music director at KCRW, where he did double duty as music director and host of “Morning Becomes Eclectic” for more than a decade. In the record business, he has worked in A&R at both Island and Maverick, and as a supe for film, he produced the soundtrack for a little thing called The Matrix, and served as consultant on the latest Top Gun flick. “Thrive is on the frontlines of dance music culture, and I’m thrilled to join Ricardo [Vinas, founder] and the Thrive team as they continue to build a global force in dance music,” Bentley said.
Decorated music business manager Bruce Kolbrenner has joined Adeptus Advisors as the managing partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Kolbrenner, formerly of Prager Metis, brings along a team of three to Adeptus: business managers Tyler Kizu and Ghilhaine Georges Montoya, and royalty specialist Troy Schreck. Kolbrenner’s over four decades of experience includes his work advising artists of all stripes and offering testimony at high-profile entertainment cases, plus a memorable stint as the accountant for the historic Moscow Music Peace Festival in 1989. He is a regular fixture in Billboard’s annual lists of top business managers. “We are thrilled to welcome Bruce Kolbrenner and his outstanding team,” said Howard Krant, CEO of Adeptus Advisors. “Bruce’s extraordinary talent for nurturing emerging artists aligns seamlessly with our vision for creating unparalleled personal service to our clients.”
Transgressive Records hired former Atlantic Records exec Jack Hedges to fill the newly created position of general manager of North America, effective immediately. In the role, Hedges will oversee the UK label’s expansion across the pond, including signing and developing new acts and widening the playing field for their existing roster artists. Hedges comes bearing gifts in the form of Canvasback Music, the boutique imprint he ran under Atlantic that’ll now live within Transgressive. “With his impeccable taste, a reputation for being universally revered by artists and colleagues alike, not to mention a glorious penchant for underground music, Jack is most definitely the right person to guide Transgressive Records and its roster through to new heights in the world’s biggest music territory,” said Transgressive directors Toby L, Tim Dellow and Lilas Bourboulon.
Operation Song, a non-profit that teams veterans, active-duty military and their families with professional songwriters to share their stories through song, has announced the appointment of Army veteran Jon Foti as CEO. In the newly-created role, Foti will oversee fundraising development and the expansion of partnerships within the music industry and veterans organizations. Foti is also currently leading the non-profit’s search for new office space in Nashville, Tennessee, to accommodate the organization’s growth. Operation Song’s Board of Directors includes leaders in Nashville’s music, healthcare, and technology sectors. In addition to board president Bob Leonard, the board is comprised of Dennis Buchanan, Kevin M. Doherty, Joe Forte, Danielle Lauber, songwriter Cindy Morgan, Debbie Respess, Jeff Rice, Jason Rose, Andy Sale, ASCAP’s Mike Sistad, and radio personality Storme Warren. –Jessica Nicholson
Oak View Group promoted Katee LaPoff to chief technology officer and Josh Pell to president of premium experiences and global strategy. In her new role, LaPoff will lead OVG’s tech team and continue reporting to Steve Collins, president of global venue development, Ade Patton, CFO, and Chris Granger, the president of OVG360. Over the last three years, she has served as svp of project management and technology — focusing on venue technology. Prior to OVG, LaPoff spent 10 years as svp of technology at Madison Square Garden Companies. In his elevated role, Pell will oversee the company’s e-commerce platform and continue to manage OVG’s hospitality and food/beverage design initiatives. He’ll continue to report to Steve Collins as well as to Francesca Bodie, COO.
All in the Family: Billboard president Mike Van welcomed a lengthy string of promotions this week. They include Edward Stepankovsky (regional vice president of brand partnerships), Andrea Guevara-Gresh (senior account manager), Kristen Wisneski (account manager), Gary Trust (managing director, charts & data operations), Alex Vitoulis (director, charts & data production), Ciara Zimring (McVey) (director of strategy and production), Emily Fuentes (senior manager content and production), Stefanie Tanaka (senior manager content and strategy), Meghan Mahar (branded producer and social manager), Lyndsey Havens (deputy editor), Kristin Robinson (senior writer), Rebecca Milzoff (executive editor, magazine), Griselda Flores (senior editor), Hannah Johnson (staff writer), Danielle Pascual (social media manager), Rania Aniftos (associate editor) and Josh Glicksman (associate editor).
Spirit Music Group promoted Tamar Wax to vice president of film & TV music, creative. Previously a senior director, Wax is based out of Los Angeles and reports to svp of creative services Amy Hartman. Since joining SMG in 2019, Wax’s handiwork has helped place several songs by Spirit artists in movie and TV trailers, most notably a remix of Daddy Yankee’s classic hit “Gasolina” in the Fast X spot. Prior to joining Spirit, Wax served as vp of creative at Vibrant Ground Music. “Tamar has proven herself to be an exceptional creative sync licensing executive, having landed multiple high-profile sync licenses for our Spirit Music Group roster across trailers, promo campaigns, TV shows and films,” said Hartman. “We couldn’t be happier to acknowledge her dedication to our songwriters and our music supervisor community with this well-deserved promotion.”
NASHVILLE NOTES: The Academy of Country Music hired Ben Carter as vp of live events and production; Matt Brum-Taylor as director of digital marketing; Lexi Cothran as senior manager of communications and strategic initiatives; Kendra Williams is the new coordinator of finance; Brooke Boyd is assistant, ACM Lifting Lives; and Heather Howard was hired as an assistant in the marketing department … The organization also announced that Raj Kapoor is returning as executive producer of this year’s ACM Awards .. Vroom vroom, Big Machine’s Scott Borchetta will now oversee operations for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, an annual NTT IndyCar Series race held in Nashville.
REFORM Alliance debuted Wallace “Wallo267” Peeples to lead the criminal justice reform organization’s marketing efforts as chief marketing officer. REFORM was formed by Meek Mill, Jay-Z and Fanatics chief Michael Rubin in wake of the #FreeMeek movement and since 2019 has helped pass 18 pieces of bipartisan legislation across 11 states as it strives to get people out of the justice system and into wellness and work. “Wallo267 is a son of Philadelphia, the city where REFORM Alliance was born,” said REFORM CEO Robert Rooks. “Through hard experience, he developed a life philosophy rooted in accountability, second chances, and never giving up. Today, he carries that message of hope to his millions of social media followers.”
Rothenberg, Mohr & Binder LLP, a bi-coastal music and entertainment law firm, promoted Lisa Lester to partner with the firm. Since 2020, Lester’s work at RM&B has included representing Top Dawg Entertainment, Marshmello and Big Time Rush, among other clients. The Los Angeles-based partner also works with a wide slate of producers and songwriters, including Rob Kinelski, Noah Goldstein, BUNT. And others. Founding partners Paul Rothenberg, Jeremy Mohr and Josh Binder said “Lisa’s dedication to clients and work on behalf of the firm is second to none – and this promotion is well deserved. Her prior years of experience across the industry and high level work here at the firm since 2020 have given her unique insight and expertise that few others share.”
The Oriel Company promoted Nina Lee to vp of communications at the Carleen Donovan/Chloë Walsh/Jen Appel-founded PR agency. Lee joined The Oriel in June 2021 and has already executed media campaigns for a roster that includes Maxwell, Daniel Caesar, UMI, Hannibal Buress, No ID, d4vd, James Fauntleroy, Sickamore, and Betty Who, as well as corprorate clients including Amazon Music, Live Nation and 88rising. She is based in The Oriel Company’s New York office.
There’s a new player in artist management with the launch of What’s Good Projects. The Nashville company is a partnership between industry veterans Ryan Kroon and Jacob Knight, who between them have 20 years of experience managing the day-to-day careers of artists including ERNEST, Sam Hunt, Maddie and Tae, Tyler Farr and Mason Ramsey, among others. Kroon got his start at HOMESTEAD/RedLight Management and later joined Sony Music Nashville and then Project 615. Knight began his career at CAA before joining 377/RedLight and most recently KPEntertainment. WGP’s inaugural client roster includes Troy Cartwright, Clayton Mullen, Palmer Anthony, Austin Burke and Ollie Joseph. “Jacob and I moved to Nashville around the same time to pursue careers in this industry and have had an immense mutual respect for one another,” Kroon explains. “We’ve chatted over the years about partnering up, so with the continued growth of What’s Good over the last year, the time seemed right.”
Raphael Saadiq’s music production company, My Kind of Music/My Kind of Movies, tapped Yancey Richardson to oversee music supervision for the firm’s film and TV projects, including the upcoming film Freaky Tales. Richardson is an 18-year veteran at Atlantic Records, where he rose to director of marketing promotion, and he started his own productions company, Toler Heights Music.
Round Room Live, producer and promoter of family shows like Blippi, Sesame Street Live! and the national tour of Shrek the Musical, has hired Dale Shaughnessy as vp of marketing. In her new position, Shaughnessy will be responsible for driving revenue and marketing opportunities, including on the corporate side, and overseeing global touring projects and user-building initiatives. Shaughnessy joins the company following more than 15 years of professional experience in the field at a range of industry leaders like Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, Live Nation and Feld Entertainment.
ICYMI:
Cumulus Media marked May 31 as the last day for vp of country Charlie Cook, a member of the Country Radio Hall of Fame … Hooray for ex-SoundCloud exec Jessica Rivera (pictured), who joined Issa Rae’s HOORAE as president of its Radio division … and Sony Music Publishing hired Anghami veteran Dounia Chaaban to lead its new office in Dubai.
Last Week’s Turntable: Merlin Swarms Its Data Team With New Hires
Primary Wave Music has finalized a deal with the Village People to control the rights to the group’s master recording and publishing assets as well as the rights to their name and likeness. In what is described as a “partnership” with the surviving family of Village People co-founder Henri Belolo — Jonathan and Anthony Belolo — Primary Wave will now look after “Y.M.C.A.,” “Macho Man” and other hits from the group.
Founded in 1977, Village People was started by producer Jacques Morali and his partner Belolo who were working with singer and Broadway actor Victor Willis to provide background vocals for a different musical project. Then Morali told Willis, “I had a dream you sang lead vocals on an album I produced and it went very, very big.” Following his gut, Willis sang four tracks for Morali and Belolo (“San Francisco [You’ve Got Me]” “In Hollywood [Everyone’s a Star],” “Fire Island,” and “Village People”). Quickly, the Village People project became a sensation with their songs climbing to the top of the charts, and Willis, Morali, Belolo formed it as an official group, adding in the rag tag team of Felipe Rose, Alex Briley, Mark Mussler, David Forrest, Lee Mouton and Peter Whitehead to fill out its ranks.
Later, they added Randy Jones, Glenn Hughes and David Hodo to the ensemble after placing an ad in a trade paper that read: “Macho Types Wanted for World-Famous Disco Group.” Donning stereotypical “macho” costumes — like construction work, biker, cowboy and more — group went on to pen defining hits and become a symbol of the Disco era. To this day, the group continues, now comprised of Willis, Angel Morales, James Kwong, Chad Freeman, James Lee, and James J.J. Lippold.
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“As we were picking up the mantle following our father’s passing in 2019, we soon realized that – to achieve his dreams of bringing the Village People ideal into the 21st century the right way is a very bold endeavor,” say the Belolos in a joint statement. “Our partnership with the amazing team at Primary Wave now brings us the backup and expertise that will ensure we can rise to the task together. With multiple projects in development, the future looks bright as ever for the Village People!”
“The Village People have brought so much joy to listeners around the world for decades,” says Lexi Todd, vp of business and legal affairs at Primary Wave Music. “With disco-inspired music all over the contemporary charts, now is the perfect time to launch our new partnership. We look forward to working alongside Jonathan and Anthony to reinvigorate the Village People brand.”
As Billboard publishes its 136th volume throughout 2024, stay in the know on the magazine’s print schedule for the year, along with each issue’s corresponding theme. This is an updating post, so be sure to check back for any changes.
Issue Date: Jan. 27, 2024Theme: The Billboard Power 100
Issue Date: Feb. 10, 2024Theme: Sports
Issue Date: March 2, 2024Theme: Women in Music
Issue Date: March 9, 2024Theme: SXSW
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Issue Date: March 30, 2024Theme: Environment*This issue will include Top Music Lawyers
Issue Date: April 20, 2024*This issue will include International Power Players
Issue Date: May 11, 2024Theme: Country Power Players
Issue Date: June 1, 2024Theme: Branding*This issue will include 40 Under 40
Issue Date: June 8, 2024Theme: Indie*This issue will include Indie Power Players
Issue Date: June 22, 2024Theme: Pride/Black Music Month
Issue Date: July 13, 2024Theme: Jazz
Issue Date: Aug. 3, 2024Theme: R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players
Issue Date: Aug. 24, 2024Theme: Fall Music Preview
Issue Date: Sept. 21, 2024Theme: Latin Music Week
Issue Date: Oct. 5, 2024 (Double Issue)Theme: Grammy Preview/Producers
Issue Date: Oct. 26, 2024Theme: Touring*This issue will include Top Music Business Schools
Issue Date: Nov. 16, 2024Theme: BBMAs*This issue will include Top Music Business Managers
Issue Date: Dec. 7, 2024Theme: No. 1’s and Year in Music
Issue Date: Dec. 14, 2024Theme: Grammy Voter Guide
Two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Rod Stewart has sold his genre-bending song catalog of hits, deep cuts and more to Irving Azoff‘s Iconic Artists Group. Styled as a “wide-ranging cross-media” partnership, the deal with IAG includes the raspy singer-songwriter’s rights to his sound recordings and his interest in his publishing, as well as certain name, image and likeness rights, Billboard has confirmed.
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The company, which Azoff co-founded in January 2020, declined to offer financial particulars of its deal with Stewart, who joins an elite roster of IAG acts that includes The Beach Boys, Cher, Linda Ronstadt, Joe Cocker, Dan Fogelberg, Nat “King” Cole, Dean Martin and CSN bandmates David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash.
Concurrently, Iconic announced on Thursday (Feb. 15) that it has raised $1 billion as part of an investment from HPS Investment Partners — which it said will enable them to acquire and manage even more legendary assets.
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IAG’s arrangement with Stewart encompasses his entire career, beginning with his standout vocal contributions on Jeff Beck’s first two albums — Truth and Beck-Ola — and then the rollicking-and-randy output of the legendary Faces, his band with fellow Jeff Beck Group alum Ronnie Wood. That combo, filled out by Kenney Jones and the late-greats Ian McLagan and Ronnie Lane, produced several early 1970s gems co-written by Stewart, including “Miss Judy’s Farm” “Bad ‘n’ Ruin” and their only proper hit in the U.S., “Stay With Me” (No. 17, Hot 100).
Stewart’s solo career began in earnest during a brief window between his time in the JBG and Faces, but he truly broke through with album No. 3, 1971’s Every Picture Tells a Story, which topped the Billboard 200 and produced breakthrough hits “Maggie May” (co-written with Martin Quittenton) and a cover of “(Find a) Reason to Believe.” Throughout the decade he bagged an album’s worth of greatest hits, including “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright),” which spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, as well as “You Wear It Well,” “Hot Legs,” “You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)” and his foray into disco, “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” Plus, it was during the 70s that he established himself as an able interpreter of other people’s songs, like “The First Cut Is the Deepest” (Cat Stevens) and “Twistin’ the Night Away” (Sam Cooke ).
The 1980s saw Stewart turn to more soft rock stylings and he scored a string of top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including “Passion,” “Tonight I’m Yours (Don’t Hurt Me)” “Infatuation,” “Forever Young” and one of his biggest tracks of the decade, a cover of Tom Waits’ “Downtown Train.” The next decade produced adult contemporary hits like “Rhythm of My Heart,” off his top-10 album Vagabond Heart, and the juggernaut that was his multi-platinum Unplugged…and Seated, which capped at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and included his wedding reception-ready version of Van Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately.” For much of the 2000s, Stewart has released a series of highly popular Great American Songbook albums and other genre-specific collections, including ones for rock and soul. Later this month, he’ll release his 32nd studio album, Swing Fever, a salute to the big band era. The rest of the year will find him on the road and wrapping up his Las Vegas residency.
The partnership with IAG arrives less than a year after Stewart backed out of a potential catalog sale to Hipgnosis following lengthy negotiations. He said at the time that “this catalog represents my life’s work. And it’s become abundantly clear after much time and due diligence that this was not the right company to manage my song catalog, career or legacy.” (Hipgnosis went on to have a bumpy 2023 that has spilled over into this year.)
Yet now Stewart has reason to believe the “time is right” and that “I feel fortunate to have found partners in Irving and his team at Iconic that I can entrust with my life’s work and future musical legacy.”
Azoff added, “We are thrilled to welcome one of the most celebrated singer-songwriters of our time, Rod Stewart, to the Iconic family. Our new partnership with HPS provides us with the resources and flexibility to make blockbuster signings like this one and to continue the success of our legendary artists and their legacies.”
Iconic’s financial advisors during the process was Artisan and Moelis, while Kendrick & Baron acted as the company’s legal advisors. Jackoway Tyerman represented Stewart. HPS Investment Partners enlisted Lisbeth R. Barron and the team at Barron International Group, LLC as financial advisor, and Latham & Watkins as legal advisor.
While Travis Scott performed a three-song medley at the Grammys earlier this month, the teams of some of the producers and songwriters who helped make his hit album Utopia were fuming — they didn’t yet have the signed paperwork that would get them paid for their work on the project.
At the time, at least four of the producers and writers involved with the album still didn’t have producer agreements or publishing splits finalized, according to four sources close to the project, meaning they cannot get fully compensated for their work. Some of Utopia‘s contributors do have their agreements completed: Ted Anastasiou, a rep for Scott, said in a statement that “the vast majority of payments for contributors on this album have been paid and that any outstanding payments are near complete.”
Artist managers and entertainment attorneys say it is increasingly common for acts to put out an album first and figure out all the clearances later. (Utopia came out more than six months ago, on July 28, 2023, and went on to become one of the biggest releases of the year.) “The amount of paperwork potentially required for clearing a single track has become so excessive that I think some music industry executives may have become desensitized to the importance of having everything in place before release,” says entertainment attorney Gandhar Savur.
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Although artists often enjoy revenue streams outside of recorded music — notably touring and merchandise — the same is not true for most songwriters and producers. Writers are usually financially dependent on publishing royalties from the songs they work on. Producers typically depend on a mix of master royalties (often just an advance unless an album recoups its budget, which is rare) and publishing royalties (but only if they contributed songwriting).
This means all but the most famous writers and producers are already in a precarious financial situation. On top of that, massively successful artists are often slow to finalize the deals that dictate what percentage of royalties writers and producers are owed, and what fee is thrown to producers. As the months tick by, collaborators’ frustration grows.
Anastasiou, Scott’s rep, said in his statement that “the challenge with contributor payments on albums with multiple participants on each track is that negotiations and issues frequently occur before and after an album’s release, as terms need to be agreed and are all interdependent. This becomes further complicated when some participants, like those quoted in the story, are relatively unknown and their minor contributions only came to our attention afterward.”
Anastasiou continued, “these challenges are not unique to Travis or any specific artist. Attributing any blame to Travis or his team for this common issue is both wrong and short-sighted, especially when Travis’ team has been more than proactive every step of the way and are hard at work to finalize the last few remaining payments.”
The Utopia contributors who spoke to Billboard about their experience would almost certainly dispute that they are “relatively unknown.” But as Anastasiou noted, the collaborative nature of much contemporary pop music does mean that there are mountains of paperwork and negotiations for an artist’s team to complete around each album release.
“Back in the day, a band could release a record and basically have a producer agreement, maybe a mixer agreement and a few session musicians, and possibly not much else,” Savur explains. “These days, commercial pop tracks can have multiple producers, outside people contributing beats or music beds, samples and interpolations, one or two featured artists or side artists who each need their own agreements and also waivers from their record labels, and sometimes a dozen or more co-writers who are all signed to different publishing companies.”
“I don’t know any attorney’s office that represents producers and songwriters that’s not completely underwater at the moment, scrambling to get all the deals done,” adds Dan Petel, founder of This Is Noise MGMT, another writer-producer management company. He says the problem is compounded by artists releasing music more frequently in order to keep their fan bases engaged.
To make things even more complicated: Artists’ teams are usually responsible for all the clearances on their albums, but the money paid to the producers will usually come from a label. For producers, “the lack of a direct contractual relationship [with the label] yields an uncomfortable disconnect between who creates the music and who pays for it,” says Matt Buser, an entertainment attorney.
And once an album is released, artists often hit the road, meaning their attention — and their team’s attention — is focused elsewhere. Still, “the labels insist that the producer agreements be finalized and signed by both parties [producers and artist] for the producers to be paid their fees in full,” explains Maytav Koter, founder of Good Company MGMT, which works with songwriters and producers. But one of those parties might be bouncing from town to town on tour.
Most writers and producers have little recourse to ensure clearances get done in a timely fashion. “I’ve not gotten a cohesive response as to what the f— is going on,” says a source close to a person involved with making Utopia who is still waiting on paperwork. “Why is it so hard to ask people to do good business?” asks a member of another frustrated Utopia producer’s team.
Savur says that extensive back-and-forths over email are routine for post-release clearances. The only other option is to try to take down the track or sue the artist who put it out — without a signed producer agreement in place, for example, that artist has released that producer’s work without permission. Writers and producers hardly ever take this route, though. They most likely want to stay in the good graces of the artists they work with — especially if they are stars — and suits are costly and time-consuming.
That means all that’s left for collaborators is following up with the artist’s team week after week, and making personal appeals. As one source whose client is waiting on finalized Utopia paperwork puts it, “don’t you want to make the people who write your hit songs happy?”
Last year, Kanye West started looking for a distribution deal to release a new album. When Vultures 1, a full-length collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign, finally came out on Saturday, it was through FUGA — a business-to-business tech and distribution platform for labels — according to information available in YouTube’s content management system.
FUGA was not pleased, according to a company spokesperson. “Late last year, FUGA was presented with the opportunity to release Vultures 1,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Billboard. “Exercising our judgment in the ordinary course of business, we declined to do so.”
The spokesperson continued, “on Friday, February 9, 2024, a long-standing FUGA client delivered the album Vultures 1 through the platform’s automated processes, violating our service agreement. Therefore, FUGA is actively working with its DSP partners and the client to remove Vultures 1 from our systems.”
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A rep for West did not respond to a request for comment.
When West began hunting for a new distributor, some potential partners passed on the chance to work with him due to the rapper’s antisemitic comments. Others’ interest diminished when they found out that streaming services might not support the album.
The lead single from Vultures 1, “Vultures,” was distributed by Label Engine, a company owned by Create Music Group, according to information in YouTube’s CMS. The follow-up, “Talking/Once Again,” was also delivered last week by Label Engine. The album was subsequently delivered by FUGA.
FUGA’s plan to remove Vultures 1 from its platform is just the latest hiccup for the album. Its release was repeatedly delayed. After it came out, on Wednesday, the track “Good (Don’t Die)” was removed from Spotify after a complaint from Donna Summer’s estate.
“Kanye West… asked permission to use Donna Summer’s song I Feel Love, he was denied… he changed the words, had someone re sing it or used AI but it’s I Feel Love… copyright infringement!!!” the estate wrote in an Instagram Story on the official Donna Summer account on Saturday.
Veteran music industry executive Jessica Rivera has joined multimedia company HOORAE — owned by actress, producer and entrepreneur Issa Rae — as president of its Raedio division. In her new post at Raedio, which is approaching its fifth anniversary, Rivera will supervise the “audio everywhere” division’s various operations including its record label, publishing, music supervision, […]
With SZA’s album SOS leading the way and the market enjoying more growth in streaming royalties, Sony Music’s revenue grew 16.0% to 422.1 billion yen ($2.85 billion at the period’s average exchange rate) in its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, the company announced Wednesday (Feb. 14).
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Other top releases for the quarter were Travis Scott’s Utopia, Rod Wave’s Nostalgia, Doja Cat’s Scarlet, Blink-182’s One More Time…, Tate McRae’s Think Later, Harry Styles’ Harry’s House and Fuerza Regida’s Pa Las Baby’s Y Belikeada. A couple holiday classics were amongst Sony’s top albums in the Christmas quarter: Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas and Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector.
Streaming fueled growth in both the recorded music and music publishing segments of the business. Paid subscriptions were a major factor in the first full quarter after Spotify raised prices in roughly 50 markets, including the U.S., in July. Favorable foreign exchange rates accounted for about 24% of the quarter’s 58.4 billion yen ($394.9 million) revenue increase.
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Its double-digit revenue growth was comparable on a percentage basis to other music companies that have released earnings. In the same quarter, Warner Music Group’s revenue grew 17.5% to $1.75 billion and Reservoir Media revenue improved 19% to $35.5 million. Spotify, the largest single source for music royalties globally, grew revenue by 16% to 3.67 billion euros ($4.05 billion).
Sony Music’s margins improved across the board, too. Operating income improved 20.8% to 76.1 billion yen ($514.4 million) and adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization jumped 25.3% to 98.5 billion yen ($666.2 million). Adjusted OIBDA margin improved nearly two percentage points to 23.3% from 21.6% in the prior-year quarter.
The strong quarter led Sony Music to raise its full-year forecasts for the third consecutive quarter. On Wednesday, the company raised the forecasts for both revenue and adjusted OIBDA by 10 billion yen ($68 million) — revenue from 1.56 trillion yen ($10.37 billion at the current exchange rate) to 1.57 trillion yen ($10.43 billion) and adjusted OIBDA from 350 billion yen ($2.33 billion) to 360 million yen ($2.39 billion). When the company released its fiscal second quarter earnings in November, it increased its revenue guidance by 5% to 70 billion yen ($485 million) and adjusted OIBDA by 4%, or 15 billion yen ($104 million). In August, it raised its revenue forecast by 6%.
Both music divisions each posted solid year-over-year gains in the quarter. Recorded music revenues jumped 19.9% to 286.5 billion yen ($1.94 billion). Streaming revenue rose 17.2% to 186.5 billion yen ($1.26 billion) and accounted for about 58% of the segment’s improvement. Physical revenue gained just 1.5% to 31.5 billion yen ($213.2 million). The “other” category — including merchandise, live performances and licensing revenue from synch, public performance and broadcast — jumped 45.9% to 59.7 billion yen ($403.9 million).
Music publishing revenue rose 16.1% to 86.1 billion yen ($582 million). Streaming revenue climbed 22.4% to 50.9 billion yen ($343.9 million) and accounted for 78% of the segment’s year-over-year gain. Publishing’s “other” category grew 8% to 35.2 billion yen ($238.1 million).
Visual media and platform revenue declined 5.1% to 45 billion yen ($304.4 million). The segment includes mobile gaming, software for PCs and game consoles, and software development contracts.
Financial metrics for Sony Music’s fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, 2023:
Revenue of 422.1 billion yen ($2.85 billion), up 16.0% year over year.
Adjusted operating income of 98.5 billion yen ($666.2 million), up 25.3% year over year.
Recorded music of 286.5 billion yen ($1.94 million), up 19.9% year over year.
Music publishing revenue of 86.1 billion yen ($582 million), up 16.1% year over year.
Visual media and platform revenue of 45 billion yen ($304.4 million), down 5.1% year over year.