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LONDON — Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favor of passing a special resolution that authorizes the payment of up to 20 million pounds ($25 million) to prospective bidders seeking to acquire the fund’s assets.
The special resolution was approved by 99.9% of the fund’s shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting held in London on Wednesday (Feb. 7), according to a regulatory filing.
It gives Hipgnosis Songs Fund‘s (HSF) board of directors the power to pay a fee capped at £20 million to any prospective bidder or bidders making a “bona fide” offer or offers to acquire one or more of the company’s subsidiaries which own music assets, and/or some of the fund’s music rights on favorable terms. The fee is meant to reduce the risk of making an offer for Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s music catalogs by providing “significant protection” against their due diligence and acquisition costs.
In a statement, Robert Naylor, chairman of Hipgnosis Songs Fund, thanked shareholders “for their continuing support” and said the company’s board “remains focused” on its strategic review, “under which it is looking at all options to deliver shareholder value.”
The London-listed fund, which owns full or partial rights to the song catalogs of artists ranging from Justin Bieber, Neil Young, Bruno Mars, Jimmy Iovine, 50 Cent, Shakira, Blondie, Justin Timberlake, Lindsey Buckingham and many more, hopes that the enticement of a large fee will help draw potential bidders.
In October, shareholders voted against the music royalties fund’s proposed $440 million deal to sell 29 catalogues to Hipgnosis Songs Capital – a partnership between investment giant Blackstone and the fund’s investment adviser Hipgnosis Song Management – citing the lack of an “up-to-date” valuation.
October’s annual meeting of shareholders also saw a majority of investors vote against a resolution “to continue running the fund in its current form” — a so-called “continuation vote” — commencing a six-month countdown for the board to come up with a plan “for the reconstruction, reorganisation, or winding-up of the company.”
That led to the installation of a new executive board with Naylor replacing Andrew Sutch as chairman in November.
Last year wrapped with Hipgnosis lowering the value of its music portfolio following what Naylor described to investors as a strained relationship with its investment advisor, the Merck Mercuriadis-led Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM), over the catalog’s worth.
This year has so far begun on an equally rocky footing with the fund’s board of directors calling into question HSM’s ability to field competitive bids for its assets.
A major sticking point is the investment advisor’s call option, which gives it the right to purchase the company’s portfolio if its contract with the fund is terminated with less than 12 months’ notice, among other scenarios. The fund’s board contends that Hipgnosis Song Management’s call option harms its ability to receive competitive bids.
Last week, Mercuriadis announced that he will be stepping down as chief executive officer of Hipgnosis Song Management to take up a newly created chairman role with Ben Katovsky replacing him as CEO.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s share price was roughly flat at 65 British pence ($0.84) following Wednesday’s extraordinary general meeting.
The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) has selected its leadership for the coming year.
Lee Thomas Miller has been selected to serve as president, while Jenn Schott will serve as vp of the organization. Outgoing president Steve Bogard, who previously served as NSAI president from 2006-2012 and was elected to the role again in 2017, is the longest-running president in NSAI’s history. Bogard chose not to seek another leadership term, though he will continue serving on NSAI’s board of directors.
The results of the general election also include new board member Trannie Anderson joining for a first term, while 10 current board members were re-elected to two-year terms: Steve Bogard, Chris DeStefano, J.T. Harding, Byron Hill, Josh Kear, Jamie Moore, Jon Nite, Liz Rose, Jenn Schott and Emily Shackelton. Meanwhile, Roger Brown was re-appointed to a one-year term as legislative chair, while Rhett Akins and Caitlyn Smith were re-appointed to the organization’s “artist writer” board positions for one-year terms and Brett James was re-appointed to a one-year term in the industry liaison role.
The new additions join existing board members Miller, Kelly Archer, Sarah Buxton, David Hodges, Jessie Jo Dillon, Tim Nichols, Josh Osborne, Rivers Rutherford, Anthony L. Smith, Troy Verges and Parker Welling, whose terms expire in 2025.
“Steve Bogard led NSAI through complicated trials where we sought higher streaming rates, the Music Modernization Act, and many challenges as we sought to improve compensation for American Songwriters,” said NSAI executive director Bart Herbison in a statement. “Every songwriter in the United States owes him a handshake and thank you for his work and the thousands of hours he sacrificed. We are also glad to welcome Lee Thomas Miller who has served as President previously and is a proven, effective advocate. And Jenn Schott who will serve as NSAI Vice-President after years of experience on our board and Executive Committee.”
NSAI Board elections happen in two phases: voting by the NSAI professional songwriter membership and appointments by the NSAI board of directors. The board terms begin each year at the April meeting.
Queen is finally getting close to selling its catalog, according to sources — and may even already be in an exclusive period with an undisclosed suitor.
The music assets include recorded music, publishing and ancillary income streams, according to sources, who suggest Queen is seeking a $1.2 billion payday. Those ancillary revenue streams include revenue from the 2018 smash film Bohemian Rhapsody, merchandise and other licensing opportunities. The deal may also include royalties from the North America master recordings catalog, which Queen sold to the Disney-owned Hollywood Records at some unknown point since the label began licensing the band’s recordings in the early 1990s.
In the past, Hollywood has maintained that when it acquired Queen’s master recordings it was for life of copyright, which could mean the label has the band’s later albums in the U.S. for a total of 35 years, given that U.S. copyright law allows creators to terminate and reclaim their copyright after that term.
There have been numerous media reports about Queen seeking a record $1 billion catalog sale since the band started shopping it in May 2023 — the first of which by Music Business Worldwide. While many of those stories suggested that Queen was in discussions with Universal Music Group and that Disney, Hollywood’s owner, was also approached, sources say that the band’s music assets were shopped to only a few select suitors because the band members wanted to be comfortable in entrusting stewardship of its catalog. Moreover, because of the price the band is seeking, sources suggest that some of the potential strategic buyers may have partnered with financial institutions to make an offer.
Sources say that each band member — Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon and the estate of the late Freddie Mercury — has his own lawyer involved to collectively shop the deal. Billboard reached out to lawyers who are or were officers for the band’s company, Queen Productions Ltd., as well as Hollywood Records and UMG, all of whom either declined a request for comment or didn’t respond.
The Queen catalog includes iconic hit songs such as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Killer Queen,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Radio Ga Ga,” “Somebody to Love,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “You’re My Best Friend, “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” Since 1991, the Queen catalog has generated nearly 38 million album consumption units in the U.S.; and has nearly 41.7 billion in global on-demand streams, according to Luminate.
Since late 2018, Queen’s sales and streaming activity has been turbocharged by the Bohemian Rhapsody theatrical film that came out that year.
For perspective, from 1991 to the end of 2017, Queen’s U.S. sales and streaming activity totaled 25.9 million album consumption units, according to Luminate. And in the three years leading up to the Bohemian Rhapsody film’s release, Queen’s annual catalog album consumption averaged about 752,000 units. But then in 2018, with the film’s release that November, the band’s album consumption unit count jumped to 2.074 million. In 2019, its catalog activity exploded to nearly 3.58 million units.
At the end of 2023, Queen’s U.S. album consumption sales activity to date since 1991 totals nearly 37.7 million units, an increase of 45.5% from the 25.9 million in 2017.
According to financial reports from Queen’s shared company, Queen Productions Limited, filed with the United Kingdom’s Companies House agency, the band reported a net profit of 18 million pounds on nearly 41 million pounds in revenue for the year ended Sept. 30, 2022. The company also reported 32.4 million pounds in gross profit and 22.16 million pounds after expenses but before taxes. For the prior fiscal year, the company reported 13.6 million pounds in net profit on revenues of 39.2 million pounds.
Music assets usually trade based on financial models built around an average of the catalog’s performance for the most recent three years. They trade on what’s known as net label share — gross profit after cost of goods but before marketing costs. Or, in the case of publishing, net publishers share — gross profit after paying out royalties.
However, the Bohemian Rhapsody film produced incredible financial rewards, throwing off the kinds of averages commonly used to price these deals. When investors look at music catalogs, they try to eliminate what they consider one-time activity bonanzas like a new boxset coming out; or in the case of Queen, setting aside the sales and streaming activity in the immediate aftermath of the film.
By the time the Queen music assets came to market in May 2023, interested suitors were likely scrutinizing the catalog’s activity from 2020 to 2022, when the band’s music averaged nearly 1.53 million album consumption units a year. That’s more than double the 752,000 album consumption units that the band averaged in the three years before to the film’s release. After discounting 2018 and 2019 as an anomaly, Queen’s camp, however, is likely arguing that the movie has brought Queen to a bigger audience and that success will be sustained. But suitors considering the Queen acquisition nevertheless might be worried that some of that activity might still be from the film’s afterglow. And if so, how much decay might still occur before sales and streaming activity level off and become predictable?
Overall, in 2019 — the year the band’s financials were most impacted by the film — Queen reported 72.8 million pounds in revenue and, after cost of sales, a gross profit of 58.8 million pounds. In the three years prior to the movie being released, from 2016 through 2018, the Queen catalog averaged 17.6 million pounds — due to an atypically low 2016 when revenue was only 12.34 million pounds — while gross profit averaged 13.5 million pounds. From 2020 through 2022, the catalog averaged revenues of 40.7 million pounds, and gross profits of 22.2 million pounds.
It’s likely that the Queen financials don’t include all Queen revenue, as well. For example, while it may include music publishing royalties paid to the band’s publishing company, it likely doesn’t include the individual payouts from global collection societies that are paid directly to writers. With that under consideration, Billboard estimates Queen’s publishing revenue likely totals about $17 million annually, based on the 2020–2022 three years average.
For masters, Billboard estimates — also based on a three-year average — annual global revenue of about $48 million for the Queen catalog. Of that, about $16 million is from North America — where sources say the band receives artist royalties. For the remaining $32 million outside North America, Queen owns its catalog. Figuring Queen takes a quarter of the revenue from North America, and three-quarters elsewhere, the band would earn roughly $28 million annually off recorded music.
In all, that’s about $45 million that Queen earns from recorded and publishing annually, based on estimates.
Sources say Queen’s annual royalties in the deal total about $50 million, which likely also includes royalties from Bohemian Rhapsody DVD and Blu-Ray sales, band merchandise and Queen theatrical productions in the U.K.
Valuing Queen’s publishing catalog at a 25-times multiple would come to about $420 million. The masters and other income streams at a 20 times multiple would bring that valuation to $660 million. And then, adding in other tertiary income streams and then likeness and image rights could get it to $1 billion valuation.
Queen is seeking more than that, though. And the steep $1.2 billion price tag sources suggest could be one of the reasons why the catalog has been in play for so long. Now, though, it seems a deal may finally be close.
Luminate continues in its mission to unify data with the acquisition of Quansic, a specialist music data company with a focus on artist identification services.
Announced today (Feb. 6), the arrangement is another step in Luminate’s efforts to unify data for the entertainment industry, by tapping Quansic’s expertise in the harmonization of metadata across record labels, streaming platforms, song publishers, and artist services within the music ecosystem.
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Based in France, Quansic maintains the world’s largest artist identification database which includes over 2.5 million ISNIs (artist identifiers) and 200 million asset identifiers.
Terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
With immediate effect, Quansic’s team will join Luminate, remaining under founder and chief scientist FX Nuttall, who now reports to Luminate CEO Rob Jonas.
“Quansic has earned the trust of many key leaders in the music data space, which is no surprise given the quality of the product and service FX and his team have built,” explains Jonas in a statement. “We warmly welcome them into the Luminate family and look forward to collaborating and taking our music data offerings to the next level, especially as we close the gap between the disparate data that labels and publishers have historically relied on to drive their businesses forward.”
In future, Quansic’s clients will have the option to access Luminate’s industry-leading streaming and sales data, and Quansic’s data will be incorporated into Luminate’s new data platform, which was announced last year and will be launched in several phases over the coming months, serving clients in the music industry and beyond.
“Combining our unique data quality with Luminate’s scale, capabilities and influence is essential for advancing our vision to unify data within the music industry,” adds Nuttall. “We are eager to scale that work with Luminate and look forward to bringing unprecedented value to the music industry.”
Luminate is an independently operated company owned by PME TopCo, a PMC subsidiary and joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge. Billboard is an independently operated company owned by PME Holdings, a subsidiary of PME TopCo.
Oscar-nominated actor Kate Hudson has signed with Virgin Music Group for her recorded music debut. The first single under the deal, “Talk About Love” — co-written by Hudson with Linda Perry and Danny Fujikawa — was released on Tuesday (Jan. 30). Hudson is managed by Jason Owen and Jake Basen at Sandbox Entertainment Group.
33 & West Talent Agency is expanding its music roster. In a signing spree, the company has announced the addition of rapper Dharius, rap group La Santa Grifa and hip-hop artist Charles Ans. According to the company, the addition of the three Mexican acts “reinforces the agency’s existing Latin music roster and further signifies 33 & West’s commitment to diversity, aligning with the growing influence and the overdue recognition of Latin artists in the United States.” – Griselda Flores
Zerb has signed with UTA for global representation outside his native Brazil. The DJ is managed by Gabriel Tofoli at Salt N Pepper Management and signed to Th3rd Brain Records with distribution by FUGA.
ADA UK has signed emerging U.K. rapper Nemzzz to an album deal. The company has also signed a deal with Dutch EDM DJ Chuckie and his Voltage label. Nemzzz is booked by Craig D’Souza at WME. Chuckie is represented by managers Sergio Bienati and Kevin Harris at Club Class as well as booking agents Simon Halliwell and Aaron Cook at Active Talent Agency (Europe and Asia); Charlie Irwin at Spin Artist Agency (United States); and Sophie van Deventer at Storm Agency (Benelux).
German American indie-pop artist Noah “NoMBe” McBeth has signed a global record deal with Position Music. His first single with the company, “Space for Two,” is slated for release on Friday (Feb. 9). NoMBe is managed by Eric Vogel and James Hadid at JET Management and booked by Alex Becket and Mike Mori at CAA. He is also signed to Position for publishing.
Nettwerk has signed L.A.-based indie-pop artist renforshort and L.A.-based singer-songwriter Rose Betts. Renforshort’s first release on the label will be “serpentine” and Betts’ will be “War,” with both tracks set to drop on Friday (Feb. 9). Renforshort is represented by Riley Kirkwood at CAMP Management and agents Zac Bluestone and Tom Windish at Wasserman. Betts is represented by Jeremy Skaller, Jared Cotter and Madison Bickel at The Heavy Group and agents David Zedick, Alana Gitt and Akhil Hegde at UTA.
Phil Vassar has signed with agents Nick Meinema and Travis James at Action Entertainment Collaborative for global booking representation. Vassar is kicking off his 2024 tour on Feb. 29 in Savery, Wyo. He is managed by Amy Millslagle; his label is American Soul.
Baton Rouge, La.-based singer-songwriter Odie Leigh has signed with Mom + Pop, which released her new song, “No Doubt,” on Jan. 25. Leigh is represented by manager Eric Jones at Homestead Artists and booked by Wasserman’s Yitzi Peetluk and Lindsay McDowell in North America, and by the agency’s Rob Challice and Laura Flynn in the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Athens, Ga.-based indie rock band Futurebirds has signed a global recording deal with Dualtone Records, a MNRK Music Group company. A new album is slated for release later this year. The band is represented by Dawson Morris at GT Music Group and Jon Prine at Wasserman.
Nashville-based management company Big Al Management, led by founder/CEO Alex Evelyn, has signed CMT Next Women of Country alum Camille Parker to its roster. Parker recently released her debut EP and was featured on Apple TV’s original series My Kind of Country. – Jessica Nicholson
Page 1 Management has signed Nashville-based songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Evan Cline and L.A.-based artist/songwriter/producer Sayak Das to its roster; both will be represented by Nina Musolino out of Nashville. Das is slated to release new music this year.
Country singer-songwriter Auburn McCormick has signed with the newly launched, Nashville-based label Rose & Thorn Records, founded by Connor Rankin and co-founded by Jared Scott.
Corporate finance veteran Michael Grau joins Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp in a dual-capacity, with duties for overseeing the live entertainment specialist’s financial matters.
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Effective from Feb. 12, Grau joins the business as executive VP, finance, then, following a transition period, adds responsibilities of CFO from April 1.
In this role, Grau will work closely with MSG Entertainment’s executive management team to support the long-term direction of the company, reporting to MSG Entertainment’s executive chairman and CEO James L. Dolan.
Also, he will provide strategic financial insight on all facets of the business, and deal with financial planning and analysis, controllership, treasury, investor relations, tax, and procurement functions.
Grau joins MSG Entertainment from Altice USA, the publicly-traded cable communications company, where he served as CFO. He took that role in 2019 following a nearly 20-year career at Cablevision Systems Corporation, which was acquired by Altice in 2016.
“We are pleased to welcome Michael to MSG Entertainment in this important role,” comments Dolan. “Michael was previously a key member of our finance team at Cablevision, and he brings significant financial and operating experience to this role, which will prove valuable as we continue to advance the company’s key initiatives.”
“MSG Entertainment is a leader in live entertainment, and I am honored by the opportunity to leverage my experience in this role,” adds Grau. “I look forward to working with the company’s management team, and the entire finance department, to help ensure we continue to deliver excellence across our financial operations and drive business priorities.”
MSG Entertainment’s portfolio includes New York’s Madison Square Garden, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, Beacon Theatre, and The Chicago Theatre, and the original production, the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes.
The group last year finalized a spin-off that separated the pure-play live music business from MSG Entertainment’s state-of-the-art venue in Las Vegas, sports television network and hospitality businesses.
After negotiating a new contract with film and TV producers for the last 10 days, the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), the 70,000-member union that represents musicians in orchestras and on-air performances, has “not resolved our core issues” and will continue negotiations later this month, according to a statement put out Monday (Feb. 5) by Tino Gagliardi, the union’s international president and chief negotiator.
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“The time is now,” Gagliardi tells Billboard over Zoom. “The business model has changed, and the way we are compensated needs to reflect that.”
Echoing the Hollywood writers and actors unions, which went on strike for months in 2023 before resolving their contracts with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP), the AFM identified its top issues as higher compensation, improved streaming residual payments, better healthcare and protections against artificial intelligence (AI). To the latter issue, Gagliardi said in Monday’s statement that AI protections are necessary “so our sound and/or image cannot be captured or used without consent, credit, and compensation.”
Gagliardi adds to Billboard: “I’m going to continue to fight and we’re going to continue our argument for fair treatment for musicians until we actually come to a deal. Am I confident we’re going to get one? I’m never confident. It’s up to them to show me that they’re willing to make a deal.”
AMPTP reps did not respond to requests for comment.
Members of the Writers Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and other Hollywood unions have been supporting the AFM since contract negotiations began with a Jan. 22 rally at the offices of the AMPTP in Sherman Oaks, Calif.
The writers and actors unions’ 2023 agreements with the AMPTP make Gagliardi hopeful for a timely AFM deal. “The solidarity in the entertainment guilds is very solid this time around,” he says, “unlike some of the issues we’ve had in the past.”
At the January rally, Teamsters Local 399 secretary-treasurer Lindsay Dougherty told a crowd of union supporters: “We learned a hard, long lesson last year that we had to be together since day one. That’s going to be the difference going into this fight for the musicians, is that we’re all together in this industry.”
Negotiations will resume Feb. 21 and Feb. 22, according to Gagliardi.
“Rap beef is so washed and tired. Exhausting. Embarrassing. Just f—ing over all corny as f—.”
The rapper Coi Leray made this pronouncement in a since-deleted tweet on Jan. 26. She was responding to an Eminem verse in a new Lyrical Lemonade song titled “Doomsday Pt. 2,” but the spat — and Leray’s suggestion that beef was a waste of energy — was quickly forgotten.
That’s because, that same day, Megan Thee Stallion released “Hiss,” a withering track that hurls vitriol at blogs, exes, shit-talkers, copycats, “Z-list hoes,” and more. Nicki Minaj is not named in the song, but she took offense to a line, and has spent her subsequent days letting the world know in interviews and on social media. She also attacked Megan Thee Stallion in a venomous new song called “Big Foot.”
All of this has been great for the commercial reception of “Hiss,” which launched at No. 1 on the Hot 100, far higher than Megan Thee Stallion’s last single, “Cobra” (No. 32). On-demand audio streams of “Cobra” started at around 1.7 million the day of release and then slid to a plateau around 1.1 to 1.2 million, according to Luminate. “Hiss” started out higher — earning 3.2 million on-demand audio streams opening day — and then began to make a similar slide, falling to 2.3 million plays by Sunday, a drop of around 27%. However, when Minaj released “Big Foot” Sunday at midnight, streams of “Hiss” shot back up — hitting 3.8 million on Monday, a jump of more than 60% — and they stayed strong for the rest of the week.
That’s all worth real money. Billboard estimates that “Hiss” earned around $121,000 in royalties from those on-demand audio streams — about $33,000 of which came from that “Big Foot” bump. (Megan Thee Stallion recently signed a distribution deal with Warner Music Group.) “Big Foot,” meanwhile, has earned more than $44,000 in recorded music royalties from its audio streams, Billboard estimates. (These figures don’t take into account other sources of streams or sales, which were especially significant for Megan Thee Stallion.)
In an industry where the competition for attention is fiercer than ever, the combination of controversy and celebrity remains the closest thing to a surefire winner. “When you’re in a very crowded marketplace with however many songs coming out on streaming services every day, you have to figure out an angle to cut through the noise,” says Eddie Blackmon, a longtime A&R. “Obviously this is cutting through the noise.”
“Beef always helps music, because it just brings attention,” adds another rap executive who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “In the clickbait world that we’re in, that gets the headlines, that’s what people talk about, that gets the barbershops going. People react to negativity more than they do positivity.”
Megan Thee Stallion has already proved adept at using celebrity and controversy to galvanize headlines and streaming, of course. When she released “WAP” with Cardi B in 2020, conservatives objected to the sexually explicit lyrics, turning the single into a culture-war-flashpoint — and a No. 1 hit. (When the two rappers released “Bongos” in 2023, it failed to incense right-wing commentators, debuted at No. 14, and quickly faded from view.) Lil Nas X achieved a similar feat with “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” transforming conservative outrage over the track’s video into a tail-wind that propelled him to No. 1.
These days, culture war controversy may be the most effective rocket fuel for hits. For two other examples that helped mint No. 1’s in 2023, see Oliver Anthony Music’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” and Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town.”
Hip-hop feuds are another strain of controversy with their own long history, fodder for many an internet list: MC Shan vs. KRS-One; Lil’ Kim vs. Foxy Brown; Jay-Z vs. Nas; 50 Cent vs. Ja Rule; Meek Mill vs. Drake; Minaj vs. Remy Ma, and many, many, many more.
Sha Money XL produced 50 Cent’s “Wanksta,” a hooky Ja Rule diss that came out in 2002. “That was 50’s first break-through record,” Sha Money XL says. “DJs went crazy with it.”
A dispute between artists “is definitely going to raise your attention,” the producer and longtime record executive adds. “The bad thing is there can be fights, shoot-outs, that come with it.”
Listeners love to take sides in abstract debates — which rapper is more talented, or more of a sellout — especially in an era where zealous fan armies vie for primacy online, but there can be dangerous real-world consequences. “With beefs there can be a bravado there; guys want to hurt each other or defend their ego,” says Ray Daniels, a veteran hip-hop executive and host of The GAUDS Show.
In the case of Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj, Daniels continues, “no one is saying, ‘tool up and get security up.’ So to me, it’s a great thing that they’re using their platforms to shine lights on each other, whether that’s good light or bad light. Both songs are streaming; it’s obviously working.” (Though while streams of “Hiss” rebounded and stayed high, “Big Foot” enjoyed a big debut — 4.1 million on-demand audio streams — then fell off quickly, logging 1.1 million plays in the last day of the track week, according to Luminate.)
If sales can be a side effect of some spats, they can also be the main event, the whole purpose of the fracas. 50 Cent and Kanye West battled over who would sell more units in 2007, as did Minaj and Travis Scott in 2018. (At the time, Minaj memorably ridiculed Scott as “this Auto-Tune man coming up here selling f—ing sweaters.”)
Squabbles over sales also help drive sales, of course — it’s not a coincidence that West’s Graduation earned the biggest opening week of his career at that point. “Some skeptical hip-hop fans believe that most of these feuds are merely cheap marketing stunts meant to help sell records,” The New York Times noted at the time. “This feud was unabashedly a marketing stunt, with record sales not the hidden agenda but the main point.”
“We know there are real beefs and then there are manufactured beefs,” acknowledges Blackmon, who started his career working at West’s G.O.O.D. Music label. “But they all help build awareness of the songs that are being released. It’s all marketing at the end of the day. If it takes on a life of its own, the companies and teams around it figure out how to fan the flame.”
That fanning process can happen more quickly in the social media era. “Social media makes little things bigger, magnifies the tension and the opinions,” Sha Money XL notes.
Many of the prominent music- and culture-focused accounts on X, Instagram, and TikTok are entrepreneurial, meaning they accept money for posts. “People spend tens of thousands of dollars across Instagram, blogs, and X culture accounts,” says one digital marketer who is not working with either Megan Thee Stallion or Minaj. “Narrative-based campaigns are everything. You’re getting the internet to see the parts of the story you want them to see; if you wanted to hurt somebody, for example, you seed out their low first-week numbers [when they release an album], knowing that everybody’s just gonna roast them.”
“Black Twitter has had a field day right now with this whole feud” between Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion, the digital marketer adds. His advice: “Keep fueling it.”
“You want to continue the conversation,” a second digital marketer uninvolved with either rapper agrees. If a rivalry is developing, he continues, artist’s teams can go to culture-focused accounts and pay $50 or $100 for posts asking something as simple as, “who’s harder?” “It’s much easier to push a narrative on X, especially if you’re a large artist,” the digital marketer says. “You’re going to get impressions just by using the name.”
Both Megan Thee Stallion and Minaj seem keenly aware that their clash has the potential to drive clicks. Even as Minaj insults Megan Thee Stallion in “Big Foot,” she claims that she’s doing her rival a favor: “It’s the most attention you’ve ever gotten.” Meanwhile, “Hiss” targets anyone “usin’ my name for likes.” “All this free promo,” Megan raps. “I’m turnin’ a profit.”
K-pop is having amazing charts and sales success and selling out large venues around the world, but the South Korean companies behind those artists are off to a terrible start in 2024.
Through Friday (Feb. 2), four K-pop stocks — HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment — have fallen an average of 17% year to date. HYBE, home to BTS and its members’ various solo projects, has had the best performance with a 12% decline, while JYP Entertainment is the worst of the group with a 24.1% loss. Elsewhere, YG Entertainment has lost 14.7% and SM Entertainment is down 17.4%. Korean stocks in general have gotten off to a much better start: Through Feb. 2, the KOSPI composite index of Korean companies increased 5.5%.
Investors may feel K-pop’s finances are less than reliable after news broke this week that Kakao Corp. is auditing SM Entertainment’s financial practices following its acquisition of a 40% equity stake in 2023, according to reports out of South Korea. Kakao’s audio committee is investigating “the appropriateness of investment decisions made by SM management without holding prior consultations with Kakao,” a Kakao official told The Korea Times. For the time being, Kakao is only auditing SM Entertainment’s books, not overhauling its management or considering selling its shares. Amidst heavy media coverage in Korea, Kakao went as far as to issue a statement on Monday (Jan. 29) to dispel rumors it will sell its stake in SM.
Spotify, on the other hand, is soaring ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings report on Tuesday (Feb. 6). The music streaming giant gained 3.8% to $222.31 this week, bringing its year-to-date gain to 18.4%. Spotify shares rose 1.6% on Friday after news broke the company had signed a new distribution deal with popular podcaster Joe Rogan. Spotify will sell ads for and distribute The Joe Rogan Experience on several multiple podcast platforms, according to the Wall Street Journal. So, unlike the previous deal, Rogan’s show will not be exclusive to Spotify and will be available on YouTube and elsewhere.
Although Rogan is no longer exclusive to Spotify, the deal could be extremely lucrative. An upfront minimum guarantee and ad revenue share could be worth up to $250 million, according to the report. While Rogan has proved to be enduringly popular, Spotify kept its relationship with the comedian while maintaining distance from its previous strategy of high-priced, exclusive content deals. Call Her Daddy is no longer exclusive to Spotify, Barack and Michelle Obama departed for Amazon’s Audible, and the former royals, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, were not renewed.
Investors’ enthusiasm for Spotify hasn’t spilled over to other music streaming companies, however. Abu Dhabi-based music streamer Anghami fell 10.1% to $0.98 this week, bringing its year-to-date decline to 5.8%. Three other music streaming companies also posted losses: France’s Deezer fell 2.3%, U.S.-based LiveOne sank 5.3% and China’s Cloud Music dropped 6.2%. Tencent Music Entertainment, China’s largest music streaming company, rose 0.4%.
The Billboard Global Music Index fell 0.4% to 1,588.68 this week as 13 of the 20 stocks posted losses and only seven stocks finished the week in positive territory. Stocks were broadly up in the United States: the Nasdaq composite gained 1.1% to 15,628.95 and the S&P 500 improved 1.4% to 4,958.61. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.3%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index gained 5.5%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index sank 6.1% to 2,730.15.
German concert promoter CTS Eventim was the greatest gainer this week with a 4.1% gain. Two other live entertainment companies, Sphere Entertainment Co. and MSG Entertainment, ended the week up 2.8% and 0.7%, respectively.
Among the week’s biggest losers was Hipgnosis Songs Fund, which fell 7.5% to 0.653 pounds per share. Hipgnosis fell 2.5% on Friday after news broke that Merck Mercuriadis is stepping down as CEO of the fund’s investment advisor, Hipgnosis Song Management, and will become chairman. President/COO Ben Katovsky will take over the CEO role.
What a difference a year makes. Last year’s Entertainment Law Initiative (ELI) Grammy Week Event was held during a recording business boom when AI was still an issue on the horizon and TikTok seemed like a surefire way to break new artists. This year’s event, held Friday (Feb. 2), took place amid a boom shadowed by clouds of uncertainty, including a difficult environment for new artists, a restructuring of Universal Music Group’s labels and what looks like the start of a battle with TikTok.
The winner of this year’s ELI writing contest, law school student Olivia Fortunato, wrote about the idea of a federal post-mortem right of publicity — a subject that was barely on the radar of most lawyers a year ago. The keynote speaker, Capitol Music Group chair/CEO Michelle Jubelirer, seemed to hint that her time running the label might be nearing an end. And the Entertainment Law Initiative Service Award Honoree, Atlantic executive vp of business & legal affairs/general counsel Michael Kushner, mentioned how much the industry has changed since the CD era in a way that could be taken as a sign of more changes to come.
Jubelirer’s speech got a good deal of attention, coming as it did a day after Universal Music Group (UMG) announced a restructuring of its labels that would put Republic chairman/CEO Monte Lipman in charge of the company’s East Coast labels and Interscope chairman/CEO John Janick in charge of its West Coast ones. That raises some questions about the future of Capitol Music Group that Jubelirer’s speech didn’t answer, but she dropped a hint. (A PR representative for Capitol declined to comment.)
Jubelirer said that her mantra was a question: “Am I changing the record company more than it’s changing me?” Standing at the event, “I am engaged in that very evaluation,” she said. “Asking myself that very question. And, for the first time in a very long time, I’m not so sure of the answer.”
Most of her speech was more upbeat: She spoke of growing up in Altoona, Penn., as a fan of Guns N ‘ Roses; how she went from a job in mergers and acquisitions law to Sony to the music law firm now known as King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano; and her time at Capitol Music Group, where she worked with Katy Perry, Paul McCartney and, most recently, Ice Spice. She also praised several mentors and friends, including Universal Music Publishing Group CEO Jody Gerson, and took a moment to point out her mom, “the silver vixen over there.”
Atlantic Music Group chairperson/CEO Julie Greenwald presented the ELI Service Award to Kushner, who has worked closely with her and Atlantic chairman/CEO Craig Kallman. Kushner came to Atlantic after stints at Universal, Sony and PolyGram, where he started around the same time as Sony Music Entertainment executive vp of business affairs/general counsel Julie Swidler. After Greenwald spoke, Kushner received the customary video tribute, filled with praise both serious and silly.
Kushner then spoke about the importance of mentorship and the changes he has seen in the music business, where the only constant seems to be change itself.