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This year, Billboard Canada will introduce the first Canadian edition of Power Players. The list will celebrate individuals pivotal in advancing Canadian music and boosting artists who are making a global impact.
Billboard Canada’s Power Players celebration will take place on Sunday, June 2, 2024, with an event held on the opening night of the long-running music festival and industry conference, Canadian Music Week (CMW).
CMW founder Neill Dixon says he noticed a void within the music industry and was looking for a method to spotlight key industry professionals. In its 42-year history, CMW has established itself as the central hub for industry professionals from Canada and across the globe. The introduction of Billboard Canada‘s Power Players list is set to provide a significant boost, propelling these industry voices to new heights.
“[It’s] a recognition long overdue for Canada,” says Dixon.
Canada’s music industry is in a pivotal moment of transformation. Following the breakout success of artists like Drake, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes over the last decade and a half, a new generation of emerging artists is making its mark on the world stage.
In 2023, Tate McRae established herself as a global star, hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 and Billboard‘s Global 200. Punjabi-Canadian artists like Karan Aujla and AP Dhillon made major waves across the world and signalled the global potential of Canada’s cross-cultural music scene. Meanwhile, with Canadian Content regulations and the Broadcasting Act under review for the first time in a generation, the industry is being reshaped and rethought before our eyes.
The Power Players list will be peer-nominated and selected by the Billboard Canada team. Nominations are set to open in February. – Richard Trapunski
Luminate 2023 Year-End Report Reveals Canadians Love Old Music, Afrobeats and Country
In 2023, Canadian total album consumption was up, while album sales — including physical and digital — declined slightly, according to the Luminate Year-End Music Report released this week.
While Luminate usually releases a separate Canadian report, this year the country’s data is included with the full global report.
In Canada, catalog sales are strong. Luminate compared growth in catalog consumption versus current release consumption, and found that in Canada, catalog represented 73.1% of music consumption while current releases represented only 26.9%. Catalog consumption also grew more than current release consumption last year, at 17.4% versus 9.1%.
Canada came in ninth place on Luminate’s list of the top 10 countries by streaming volume, with 145.3 billion streams. Canada doesn’t appear on the top 10 countries by streaming growth list, however, where India took the number one spot. Canada is also one of five countries outside the United States where hip-hop and R&B perform the best on streaming.
In Canada, Afrobeats had a big year thanks to Rema and Selena Gomez‘s “Calm Down,” (which finished second on Luminate’s list of top 10 songs of 2023 in Canada by audio- and video-on-demand streams) but Latin music has struggled to break through in the same way as it has in the United States, with 2023 heavy-hitters Peso Pluma and Karol G failing to land on Canada’s year-end charts. Country is very popular, though: Morgan Wallen is on Canada’s top 10 albums of 2023 by total equivalent album units, finishing at No. 1 with One Thing at a Time and at No. 4 with Dangerous: The Double Album. Further down the list is Luke Combs’ Gettin’ Old at No. 9.
Find all of the Luminate year-end lists and data insights, both for Canada and the United States, here. – Rosie Long Decter
Rêve Finds Some “Contemporary Love” on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100
This week marks the first Billboard Canadian Hot 100 since the holidays, and with the drop-off of seasonal songs, there’s lots of room for shakeups on the charts. The opening has certainly benefitted Montreal dance-pop artist Rêve, who has a new entry on the charts this week: Her new song, “Contemporary Love,” lands at No. 77.
This isn’t Rêve’s first Canadian Hot 100 appearance; her single “Whitney” finished at No. 68 on 2023’s year-end Canadian Hot 100 and cracked the top 10 on Billboard‘s Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart in the United States. A previous single, “CTRL + ALT + DEL,” peaked at No. 38 on the Canadian Hot 100 and was certified platinum. In 2023, Rêve released her full-length debut, Saturn Return, and was featured in Billboard‘s Dance Artist of the Month series. She also picked up a Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist.
“Contemporary Love,” a cut off Saturn Return, was released along with a music video in July. The track is now picking up steam following Rêve’s guest judge appearance on Canada’s Drag Race at the end of 2023, where she gave pointers to the competitors on a girl group challenge. The energetic dance-pop track, featuring very ’80s synth bass and drum fills as well as a rapid-fire chorus, has an intensity that could propel it even further up the chart.
Also making moves on the Canadian Hot 100 this week is Tate McRae, who returns to No. 1 with “greedy” following a holiday hiatus. The Calgary pop star is also blowing up in the United States, having just claimed the No. 3 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, behind Jack Harlow‘s “Lovin On Me” and Taylor Swift‘s “Cruel Summer.” Might she have enough momentum to take the No. 1 spot in the coming weeks?
Notably, McRae currently has two other songs on the Canadian Hot 100: “exes” at No. 19 and “run for the hills,” which hit a new peak at No. 34. Both are also charting on the U.S. Hot 100. – Rosie Long Decter
Leading indie distributor DistroKid has named COO Phil Bauer as its new president, the company announced Thursday (Jan. 11), where he will lead day to day operations. As part of the new leadership structure, founder and CEO Philip Kaplan is transitioning into the role of chairman moving forward. Bauer has served as COO of the […]
It’s time for another quick spin around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music.
Deezer appointed veteran tech and media executive Ivana Kirkbride as chief commercial officer, with an eye on boosting commercial partnerships and fueling further global expansion at the Paris-based streaming service. Kirkbride recently co-founded Creators.org, a non-profit advancing creator rights, and since June 2023 had been an advisor at Emirates Capital, with a focus on tech. Prior to that she was director of product marketing at Meta and a decade ago was a lead strategist for original programming and acquisitions at YouTube. Based in Deezer’s Paris headquarters, Kirkbride will report to the company’s CEO, Stéphane Rougeot.
“Ivana has an excellent track record in leadership roles across business development, sales and product innovation in tech and media, which makes her a fantastic addition to Deezer,” said Rougeot. “We are aiming for significant growth and Ivana is exactly the right person to take the lead as we expand our partnership business.”
Elliot A. Resnik joined Raines Feldman Littrell LLP (Raines) as partner in the firm’s entertainment and media group. Resnick, a regular honoree in Billboard‘s list of top music lawyers, was most recently partner and chair of entertainment at Masur Griffitts Avidor, where his clients included Run The Jewels, Killer Mike, National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), Yotto and more. That roster, which also includes producers Dave Sardy and Keith Harris, Giant Step Marketing and Convicts Agency, comes with him to Raines. Earlier in his career, Resnik spent more than a decade at Herbsman, Hafer, Weber & Frisch, where he rose to senior counsel, and in the early oughts he was an in-house attorney at TVT Records. Elliot will be based in Raines’ New York office. “I’ve known Elliot since he was a feisty newly-minted lawyer just entering the music business and watched him and his client base grow throughout the course of his career,” said Andy Tavel, chair of media & entertainment. “He has now become an innovative and collaborative lawyer, negotiating cutting-edge deals at the highest levels.”
Atlantic Records went and promoted three vp-level execs. Jason Davis, who oversees media campaigns for Jack Harlow, Ed Sheeran, Lil Uzi Vert and others, and oh-by-the-way has been at the label for 14 years, was promoted to senior vp of media engagement and strategy. Ring-a-ding, Brittany Bell got a bump to vp of media relations and will continue handling media rollouts for a roster that includes Roddy Ricch, Don Toliver and Bruno Mars. Finally, Jordan Chalmers is promoted to vp of custom activations and emerging technology, which means he’ll work with outside creators, tech partners and platforms on developing cool marketing efforts for Atlantic acts. To date, Chalmers has worked on bespoke campaigns for A Boogie wit da Hoodie and Lil Uzi Vert, among others.
Arista Records brought in a couple industry pros to amp up its New York office. Sharon Timure, a 20-year veteran of Island Records, will oversee all marketing efforts at the label as — you guessed it — head or marketing. During her Island time, she worked across multiple marketing spaces and focused on building the careers of superstars like The Killers, Demi Lovato and up-and-comers Bon Jovi. Over in the publicity department, Kelsey Hession joined from Glassnote Records to be Arista’s new publicity lead. Prior to G-note, where she worked with Phoenix, CHVRCHES and the like, she put in time at Live Nation, SONGS Music Publishing and Hiltzik Strategies. Both report to president and CEO David Massey and general manager Veronica Sanjines. “Sharon brings an incredible prowess to developing artists with a progressive marketing strategy and Kelsey’s forward-thinking approach to media will be a driving force to build buzz around our roster,” glowed Massey.
Warner Music India promoted Sujal Parekh to general manager of operations in the emerging market. It’s a big move for Parekh, who joined WMI as finance director in February 2021. In his new role, he’ll co-pilot the business with managing director Jay Mehta and work to drive growth across digital operations, artist management, publishing, live events and strategic M&As, among other duties. Prior to joining team WMG, Parekh spent 10 years at Bigtree Entertainment’s BookMyShow, where he rose to associate vp of finance. “We believe in empowering our team by offering greater responsibilities and nurturing leaders within the organisation,” said Mehta. “This marks a pivotal moment as Sujal’s leadership will help guide many aspects of our business. His expertise will be vital as we strategically expand our local operations and empower our artists and partners to leverage Warner Music’s global resources to deliver unparalleled success.”
Endurance Music Group promoted Lauren Funk to the newly-created role of vp of publishing. Funk joined EMG in 2021 and has been instrumental in signing/retaining writers including Jordan Schmidt, Scooter Carusoe and Jake Rose. Funk will continue to manage the company’s relationships with its roster of hitmakers including Matt Stell and songwriter-producers Seth Alley and Paul Sikes, as well as identifying and signing new talent. –Jessica Nicholson
Gibson Brands put a ring on it with Luke Ericson, the iconic instrument maker’s interim chief operating officer since last May. As permanent COO, Ericson will continue his efforts to reorganize the business around manufacturing, planning and enterprise solutions to shape Gibson’s global strategy. Ericson joined the Les Paul maker from equity firm KKR, where he was an operating partner. Prior to KKR, he did some turnaround consulting — helping business recover from cash flow problems — at AlixPartners and around his native Australia. He reports to Cesar Gueikian, president and CEO of Gibson, who says “Luke’s overall experience as an operations expert, successfully serving in multiple leadership roles, uniquely positions him to drive operational excellence for Gibson. I have full confidence in Luke’s ability to lead our office of the COO, and Gibson, into the future.”
Indie distributor TuneCore named Akhila Shankar as the company’s new head of South Asia markets. The Mumbai-based executive will work to grow and manage TuneCore’s roster in the region, plus eye partnership opportunities and deliver innovative marketing campaigns for the company and its artists. Shankar arrives from Luminary, where she served as director of international. Earlier in here career she spent more than seven years at music streamer JioSaavn, rising to director of brand, communications and marketing. She will report to Tash Shah, TuneCore’s vp of international, as well as Vivek Raina, a regional managing director at TuneCore parent Believe. Shankar’s appointment follows the departure of former head of TuneCore, South Asia, Heena Kriplani.
ICYMI:
Jack Sussman is stepping down as evp of specials, music, live events and alternative programming for CBS Entertainment. While, Mackenzie Mitchell has been upped to vp of specials and Mitch Graham is now evp of alternative … Columbia promoted Joe Gallo (pictured) to general manager … Beatport bumped Matt Gralen to president and Helen Sartory to CRO … former Bosstone-ian Nate Albert was appointed president of Giant Music … and Utopia Music has hired its third CEO in a year and brought in a new COO.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences promoted Teni Melidonian to chief Oscars officer. In this newly created position, Melidonian will lead strategy, talent relations, special events and production teams for all awards programs and events throughout Oscars season. She’ll collaborate with the Oscars producers and show host; the Oscars’ broadcast partner, Disney/ABC; and Academy leadership, and oversee the teams involved in developing and executing the Oscars. Melidonian was most recently executive vp of Oscars Strategy. She began her Academy career in 2005 as a publicist, advancing to head communications and publicity and overseeing brand strategy and marketing before moving over to lead the Oscars Strategy team. She’ll continue to report directly to Academy CEO Bill Kramer. In addition, MaryJane Partlow has been upped to evp of awards production and special events. Partlow will report to Melidonian. Partlow joined the Academy in 2013 and most recently held the position of senior vp of awards production and special events. –Paul Grein
London-based live music agency One Fiinix Live hired rock-steady Bex Wedlake as its newest agent, effective immediately. Wedlake, who’s based in the US but will work alongside the UK crew, brings a roster that includes Black Stone Cherry, GWAR, Halestorm, Tiny Dancing Parts, Dance Gavin Dance, The Subways and who can forget Hoobastank. “Not only does she bring with her an incredible wealth of experience and a fantastic roster that aligns perfectly with our aspirations, but Bex has time and again spotted and developed new talent with a remarkable hit rate,” said One Fiinix Live founder and CEO Jon Ollier, who personally books the company’s biggest client, Ed Sheeran. Reach her at bex.wedlake@onefiinix.com.
Board Shorts: Sylvia Coleman resigned as independent non-executive director of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, effective immediately. HSFL chairman Robert Naylor thanked Coleman, who was appointed in 2019, for helping as the board “has transitioned and reshaped itself” … The Copyright Alliance announced Richard James Burgess, president and CEO of A2IM, and Shannon Sorensen, senior vp of legal & business affairs at NMPA, as its newest at-large board members. Both will be serving two-year terms … Eight new patrons have joined Music Venue Trust, the UK charity backing grassroots music venues. They include singer/songwriters Jamie Webster, Hamish Hawk and Hannah White, DJ Jeff Automatic, bands Reverend and the Makers, Noah & The Loners and CHROMA, and Minister for Creative Industries John Whittingdale … PRS Foundation‘s board chair Nitin Sawhney will vacate that spot to become the UK music charity’s first patron, a role that will see him “work tirelessly in supporting talent development, management and promotion” … Speaking of patrons, Patreon hired Block veteran Paige Fitzgerald as the creator subscription platform’s new chief operating officer.
MSG Entertainment promoted Jessica Tuttle from senior to executive vp of productions. In this elevated role, Tuttle will continue to oversee operations for the legendary — and highly lucrative — Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes, which had its highest revenue run ever in 2022. She joined MSGE back in 2010 and has held roles in various sides of the business, including ticketing and touring of family productions. Tuttle will continue to report to James Dolan, executive chairman and CEO. “Throughout her tenure at MSG Entertainment, Jessica has been instrumental in growing our productions business by focusing on revenue-driving strategies, strategic partnerships, and brand growth,” said Dolan. “I am confident she will continue to develop new opportunities for the Rockettes and Christmas Spectacular brands in this expanded role.”
Brooklyn arts and media institution BRIC appointed Saidah Blount as executive director of its flagship live event program, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!. The annual performing arts series, which lives at the Lena Horne Bandshell in the Olmsted-and-Vaux designed Prospect Park, turns 46 this year. Blount and co. will focus up on bridging BCC! Into the digital space. She was previously global marketing director at Sonos, where she helped develop the audio tech company’s music service, Sonos Radio.
Fair Trade Services promoted two executives: Darren Elrod has been elevated to president, while James Rueger has been upped to chief creative officer. Both will report to FTS founder and CEO Jeff Moseley. Elrod joined FTS three years ago as COO, and previously served as COO at Provident Music Group. Rueger joined FTS in 2005 as an A&R manager, rising to his most recent role of svp of A&R before being named CCO. –JN
Music Will, a New Jersey-based non-profit that “equips educators to teach, students to learn, and lives to be transformed through music education,” appointed Mike Wasserman to chief executive officer, effective Jan. 16. In his new role, Wasserman will prioritize widening the organization’s already considerable reach — its teachers currently serve over 500,000 students in more than 600 cities throughout the U.S. He’s coming to Music Will from the Constructive Dialog Institue, where he serves as vp for growth and development. “In every conversation I’ve had with members of the Music Will community, that same passion for music feels so present,” says Wasserman. “It’s energizing and inspiring.”
Genesis Garcia joined music PR agency Orienteer as a publicist. She brings Teezo Touchdown to an Orienteer roster that includes 100 Gecs, BADBADNOTGOOD, Clams Casino, Dave, Earl Sweatshirt, King Krule, Hudson Mohawke and dozens more. Garcia arrives from RCA, where as associate director of publicity she was pivotal in the careers of Teezo, Steve Lacy and Victoria Monet, a seven-time nominee at the upcoming Grammy Awards, including best new artist and record of the year. Prior to RCA, Garcia worked in artist relations and A&R during a four-year stint at Def Jam Recordings.
Josh Posner is AMIBA Consulting‘s new vp and head of music and brand development. Formerly head of biz dev at Proof Holdings, Posner is better known in music circles as founder of JP Bookings, which has booked live shows featuring Diplo, Big Sean, Alesso and others. “Amiba specializes in providing brands access to talent – representing music artists, actors, creators, and more,” Posner noted in a LinkedIn post announcing his new gig. “What interested me most about the company is their groundbreaking work brokering deals between talent and startups, while working directly with talent to create new brands and businesses from their IP.”
Full-service entertainment agency EastCoast Entertainment promoted Kaitlin Sweeney to managing partner. She joined ECE as an agent in 2014 and assumed the role of manager of their Philadelphia location in 2017. “We are elated to add Kaitlin to our ownership team,” said ECE president John Wolfslayer. “Her passion, leadership and commitment to our artists, clients and employees exemplifies our vision and goals as a company.”
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office appointed Sharon Israel as chief policy officer and director for international affairs. In her role, Israel will lead U.S. delegations to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), head the USPTO’s Office of Policy and International Affairs (OPIA) and play a vital role in U.S. copyright diplomacy in countries around the globe. “RIAA is enthusiastic about the Office’s continued trajectory under Ms. Israel’s leadership and we are very much looking forward to partnering on creative community priorities such as safeguarding copyright protection in the context of AI, including in the US pursuant to the recent Executive Order, as well as in multilateral work in the G7, OECD and other forums,” says RIAA Chairman & CEO Mitch Glazier. “We are equally eager to work together with the OPIA Director to push back against highly-concerning text-and-data-mining exceptions to copyright overseas, including in Japan and Singapore.”
Last Week’s Turntable: DICE Pays Piper to Handle Communications
LONDON — Less than three months after installing a new CEO, Utopia Music has once again reshuffled its executive ranks, appointing Michael Stebler to lead the Swiss-based company. Stebler, who represents the majority shareholder group behind Utopia Music, succeeds Alain Couttolenc, who has been in the top post since October.
Couttolenc switches to deputy CEO and chief commercial officer, while Drew Hill, who runs Utopia’s U.K.-based physical distribution businesses Utopia Distribution Services and Proper Music Group, has also been named deputy CEO in addition to his ongoing role as chief of distribution.
Pedro Lima, a former Swiss-based executive at global data and analytics company NielsenIQ, joins the firm as chief operating officer.
All appointments are effective immediately and were communicated to Utopia staff in an internal memo sent by the board of directors on Thursday (Jan. 11).
Michael Stebler
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Speaking exclusively to Billboard, Stebler says his extensive experience in the banking and financial industry will bring stability to the troubled firm and help steer it towards growth.
“We believe that the combination of Utopia’s strategy, our network and our financial support will bring the company to the next level,” he says.
Stebler’s appointment as CEO is his first executive post with Utopia, although he has held close ties with the company for several years through his role as managing director of Investment Advisors Zug AG, which operates on behalf of the majority shareholder group. Like Utopia Music, Investment Advisors Zug AG is headquartered in the scenic Swiss town of Zug, located close to Zurich.
Financial details around the size of investment or identities of investors are confidential says Stebler, but he does confirm that the investor group he heads recently increased its shareholding through a successful Series C funding round. Billboard understands that the investor group led by Strebler covered between 40-60% of the first tranche. A second tranche of C-round funding is underway.
The funds will be used to drive commercial growth, enhance product development and strengthen the company’s balance sheet, says the newly appointed CEO, who steps down from his role with Investment Advisors with immediate effect to focus on Utopia..
“We decided to invest further money into the company and we want to have control in the execution,” says Stebler, adding that “intense due diligence” was carried out by the group before increasing their investment.
“What we saw is a really strong backbone, a strong product and service offering, and great USP with the distribution business in the U.K.,” he says. “Otherwise we would have never made a further commitment and gone into a management position.”
FROM RAPID GROWTH TO SNAP DOWNSIZING
Utopia’s latest structural reorganization comes on the back of a highly turbulent few years for the tech company, which delivers financial services for labels, publishers and distributors and first made waves in the music industry by embarking on a frenetic buying spree of 15 companies between 2020 and 2022, including Lyric Financial, a Nashville-based provider of royalty-backed cash advances; and Proper Music Group, the United Kingdom’s leading independent physical music distributor.
Utopia’s period of rapid hyper-growth was followed by a just-as-quick downsizing, beginning with the axing of around 230 jobs in late 2022. More layoffs followed soon after, along with multiple executive departures, office closures, legal action over a stalled acquisition deal, late payments to staff, and the offloading of three of its businesses — Absolute Label Services, U.S.-based music database platform ROSTR and U.K.-based publisher Sentric.
As a result of those divestments and cost-cutting measures, the firm’s global workforce has been trimmed from approximately 1,200 staff to around 440.
“Today, we are in a much better position,” says Utopia co-founder and executive chairman Mattias Hjelmstedt. He says yearly cash burn has been reduced by 84 million Euros as a result of the changes and calls the new injection of C-round funding into the business “paramount” to getting Utopia on a stable footing.
Going forward, Hjelmstedt and Stebler say there are currently no plans to sell any of Utopia’s remaining businesses or to make further staff layoffs, but say that the firm will continue to evolve and finetune its offering to clients across the music industry.
“We believe that we are able to grow with our [current] head count and achieve profitability by mid or end of 2025,” says Stebler. “From an investor perspective, we prefer to invest more in substantial growth instead of cutting costs.”
One way that Utopia will look to do that is by rolling out its advance finance service, which provides music labels and clients with cash advances, to international markets, including the U.S., Continental Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
The company’s executive team is also looking to grow its core tech offering to clients across the music business. Those product services include cross-platform analytics, an AI-powered recommendation engine targeted at DSPs and streaming services, and Utopia’s royalty processing and payments system, TrackNClaim, which tracks music consumption on digital platforms and helps identify conflicts and unclaimed mechanical royalties.
THE PATH TO PROFITABILITY
Utopia’s other core businesses include its two U.K.-based physical music distribution entities: Proper Music Group, which provides distribution services for over 5,800 indie labels and service companies, and Utopia Distribution Services (formerly Cinram Novum), whose clients include Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and [PIAS].
According to its most recent accounts, Proper Music Group recorded revenue of £30.1 million ($38 million) for the nine-month period ending Dec. 31, down from £42 million ($53 million) in the prior 12-month accounting period, and a £1.9 million ($2.4 million) net loss in 2022. The company said lower sales and increased operating costs were behind the disappointing figures, while accounts for Utopia Distribution Services are yet to be filed in the U.K.
Deputy CEO Drew Hill, a long serving veteran of the U.K. physical distribution industry, says Proper is on track to return to profitability in 2024 as a result of significant investments Utopia has made in the sector.
They include last year’s opening of the U.K.’s biggest distribution warehouse for physical music and home entertainment — a 25,000-square meter facility in the town of Bicester with handling capacity of up to 250,000 units per day — as part of a £100 million ($125 million) long-term deal with international logistics company DP World.
“With the new facility we’ve been able to show all of our labels and clients just what Utopia can do,” says Hill. “From here, we can concentrate on selling Utopia’s services and products to our existing client base, which was always the plan, and use Proper and Utopia Distribution Services as funnel to those people. We’ve shown what we can do, built some amazing relationships. Now people are going to see what the true Utopia product is.”
At present, Proper and UDS generate the bulk of Utopia’s revenue but Strebler is confident that the structure is in place to help grow the firm’s other income streams so that it moves closer towards a 50/50 split between physical distribution and tech/financial services.
He declines to discuss revenues, but confirms Utopia’s two biggest markets are the U.K. and U.S. (Last year, Hjelmstedt told Billboard the firm generates over €100 million [$110 million] in global revenue a year, but this was prior to it offloading Sentric and Absolute.) The company says it nis focused on strengthening its balance sheet and is currently working through its outstanding debt and tax obligations.
“We have never been about disrupting or taking over the industry,” says Hjelmstedt. “It’s always been about helping the industry be better and grow. And the more that we have been able to talk to the different parts of the industry, and the more that they are now trusting us to solve those problems, the more likely we are to succeed with that mission.”
Billboard is partnering with Session Studio on its January SongDrop contest, which will be judged by ABBA‘s Björn Ulvaeus — with help from staffers from the magazine. Session Studio, which was founded by Ulvaeus, producer Max Martin and songwriter Niclas Molinder, makes a software platform that songwriters, producers and musicians can use to collaborate, distribute and claim credit for their contributions to recordings so they can collect royalties.
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The contest will run until Feb. 6, with the goal of identifying new talent. Ulvaeus will make the final decision on the winner, who’ll receive $1,000, a yearlong ProTools Ultimate Subscription, and a one-year membership to Billboard Pro, the definitive news source of information on the music industry, with more than 250 charts, a daily briefing and special reports. Two runners-up will also receive one-year memberships to Billboard Pro. The winners will also be announced on the Billboard website.
“I haven’t competed in a song contest since Eurovision in 1974, but I can still remember the excitement – and I guess it went pretty well,” said Ulvaeus, who 50 years ago famously won international exposure for his band at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Session Studio runs the SongDrop contest every month, in partnership with another company in the music business each time. The idea is to expose new songwriting talent to industry professionals, as well as music fans.
“At a time when so much about the music business is changing, it all still starts with the song,” says Billboard editorial director Hannah Karp. “With more distractions than ever competing for listeners’ attention, it’s more vital than ever to identify new songwriting talent that can cut through the noise. We hope this SongDrop contest will surface some of tomorrow’s hitmakers.”
Session Studio was founded to make it easier for streaming services to accurately identify the creators and rightsholders of compositions by offering them a way to register for credit as they work. The free app also allows users to assign songwriting credits so they can be tracked online. It has been recognized by various rightsholders and music services, including Universal Music Group, Spotify, TuneCore, SoundCloud, PPL, ASCAP and BMI.
Songwriters who are 18 and up may enter compositions that they have written themselves or with collaborators, including with AI tools. Click here for a complete list of rules.
Google has laid off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, voice assistance and engineering teams as part of cost-cutting measures.
The cuts come as Google looks towards “responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead,” the company said in a statement.
“Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally,” it said.
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Google earlier said it was eliminating a few hundred roles, with most of the impact on its augmented reality hardware team.
The cuts follow pledges by executives of Google and its parent company Alphabet to reduce costs. A year ago, Google said it would lay off 12,000 employees or around 6% of its workforce.
In a post on X — previously known as Twitter — the Alphabet Workers Union described the job cuts as “another round of needless layoffs.”
“Our members and teammates work hard every day to build great products for our users, and the company cannot continue to fire our coworkers while making billions every quarter,” the union wrote. “We won’t stop fighting until our jobs are safe!”
Google is not the only technology company cutting back. In the past year, Meta — the parent company of Facebook — has slashed more than 20,000 jobs to reassure investors. Meta’s stock price gained about 178% in 2023.
Spotify said in December that it was axing 17% of its global workforce, the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs in 2023 as it moved to slash costs and improve its profitability.
Earlier this week, Amazon laid off hundreds of employees in its Prime Video and studios units. It also will lay off about 500 employees who work on its livestreaming platform Twitch.
Amazon has cut thousands of jobs after a hiring surge during the pandemic. In March, Amazon announced that it planned to lay off 9,000 employees, on top of 18,000 employees it said that it would lay off in January 2023.
Google is currently locked in a fierce rivalry with Microsoft as both firms strive to lead in the artificial intelligence domain.
Microsoft has stepped up its artificial intelligence offerings to rival Google’s. In September, Microsoft introduced a Copilot feature that incorporates artificial intelligence into products like search engine Bing, browser Edge as well as Windows for its corporate customers.
Beatport is launching the new year with a pair of key promotions. The company’s CFO Matt Gralen will now also serve as president, while Helen Sartory will serve as chief revenue officer for all of the company’s revenue drivers, including the electronic music digital download store Beatport and the open format music download platform Beatsource, along with Plugin Boutique, Loopcloud, LabelRadar and Beatport Amp.
Both Gralen and Sartory will continue reporting to Beatport CEO Robb McDaniels, with Gralen and McDaniels to collaborate on company-wide strategy and Sartory overseeing the next phase of The Beatport Group’s growth strategy. Both are based in the company’s London office.
The company reports that Beatport’s annual revenue has more than tripled since McDaniels took over as CEO in 2017. A representative for Beatport tells Billboard that the company’s annual revenue for 2023 was “well over” $100 million. In 2022, the digital service claimed to have sold 25,519,770 song downloads — making up nearly 12% of all tracks downloaded globally.
“Matt and Helen have proven themselves as trusted leaders through building out our product portfolio, supporting our diverse team and culture, and delivering profitable growth,” said McDaniels in a statement. “We believe that, just as streaming revolutionized the music industry in the previous decade, a significant shift to more engaged and interactive experiences is coming. DJs are the originators of this movement and all types of creators and fans are joining. I am pleased to have Matt and Helen take on expanded roles as we continue to invest in this future.”
Before starting at Beatport, Gralen served as executive vp of corporate development at UnitedMasters, a distribution platform for independent artists. He also previously held positions at Mass Appeal, Raine Group and Goldman Sachs.
“Our team at Beatport cares deeply about the future of music for creators and fans, and we believe that strong businesses can help drive positive change,” added Gralen. “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity ahead and the team I work alongside. We all look forward to delivering for Beatport’s global community.”
Sartory has been with Beatport for a year and a half, and most recently served as senior vp of creator services. She previously held positions at The Rattle, Greenhill & Co. and Lazard.
“The last year and a half at Beatport has been incredibly rewarding,” Sartory said. “We’ve built innovative tools and technology for artists, producers and labels, and have increased incremental revenue opportunities along the way. I am looking forward to working with the entire Beatport team in this expanded role to continue to transform our business.”
After 25 years, Jack Sussman is stepping down as executive vp of specials, music, live events and alternative programming for CBS Entertainment. Sussman, who will leave following the Feb. 4 Grammy Awards, will return to producing, including serving as executive producer of two tentpole CBS specials, the Tony Awards and the Kennedy Center Honors.
Mackenzie Mitchell has been upped to vp of specials, while Mitch Graham will continue to run unscripted as executive vp of alternative, which he has overseen since 2020. Graham will report to Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, while Mitchell will report to Reisenbach and Bruce Gillmer, president, of music, music talent, programming and events for CBS parent Paramount and chief content officer of music of Paramount +.
“This is a storied department and I know both Mackenzie and Mitch will lead the team with distinction, transparency and positivity,” Reisenbach said in a staff memo obtained by Billboard. “They both launched careers and rose through the ranks at CBS while establishing deep roots in the TV community with limitless passion and creativity for making quality popular television.”
Sussman joined CBS in 1998 following roles at MTV, VH1, CNN and NBC and oversaw a wide variety of specials and yearly awards shows at the network. “I love live television,” he told Billboard in a 2017 profile. “You get one chance at it, and everybody’s got to be going in the same direction, because you are walking a tightrope.”
In an internal email, Sussman wrote to his colleagues, “I’m returning to my roots. I get to close out my career how I started in this business — producing. Working with talented artists and other creative producers has always been the best part of the job and now I will get to do that full time.” In addition to working on the Tonys and Kennedy Center Honors, Sussman says he will be “developing and producing outside passion projects for various platforms and live events along with the pro social and charitable organizations I have connected with throughout my career. A perfect next chapter as I look to slow down a little.”
Sussman has worked on more than 100 specials at CBS and with such artists as Garth Brooks, Bruno Mars, Celine Dion, Adele and Michael Jackson. “I’m so grateful to all the artists, managers, producers, record labels and production teams I’ve worked with along the way,” he wrote. “I had the good fortune early in my run at CBS of being mentored (and yelled at on occasion) by the giants who started the live television event business. I learned so much from them, and only hope I have been able to pass along some of that historical wisdom to this next generation.”
Both Graham and Mitchell have long tenures at CBS. Mitchell began at CBS in 2014 as a temporary assistant and had risen to vp while working on such annual shows as the Grammy Awards, Kennedy Center Honors and Tony Awards, as well as such specials as Garth & Trisha Live! and Adele: One Night Only. Graham started in the publicity department in 1999 and transitioned to the alternative department in 2013. He has worked on such shows as Amazing Race and Survivor. He has overseen the unscripted division since 2020.
“So proud to have watched these individuals and the collective team grow,” wrote Sussman in his memo to CBS staffers. “Mitch Graham is the best Alternative executive in town and Mackenzie Mitchell has grown into an outstanding executive overseeing our music and specials. You will not find two finer humans. The team is in great hands moving forward. They are simply the best, and a big reason this decision is both easier and harder.”
Sussman most recently oversaw CBS’ New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash. The Dec. 31 show averaged 8.31 million viewers, more than doubling its primetime audience in 2022. This made it CBS’s most-watched original entertainment special since the Grammy Awards in February 2023. CBS also scored a ratings win with Jan. 7’s Golden Globes, which averaged 9.47 million viewers in its first year on the network, according to Nielsen.
By almost every metric, the music business in 2023 has been defined by Taylor Swift and Morgan Wallen. Collectively, they have led the Billboard 200 and the Hot 100 for 23 of the 52 weeks of the year, with Swift topping Billboard’s year-end Top Artists chart and Wallen ruling both the year-end Billboard 200 Albums and Hot 100 Songs charts with One Thing at a Time and “Last Night,” respectively.
Combined, the two recording artists have an astounding 2.49% in overall U.S. album consumption unit market share, according to Luminate. (Year-to-year percentages are based on data from Dec. 29, 2022, through Dec. 28, 2023.) Their domination underscores a year of explosive growth for country — of the two rerecorded albums Swift released in 2023, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) qualified in the genre — which is up 21.8% year over year. That’s almost double the 12.6% year-to-year growth of recorded music overall for the same period and nearly five times the 4.8% increase the genre had from 2021 to 2022.
Country music accounted for 8.40% of the recorded-music market in 2023, up from 7.76% the year prior — and Swift and Wallen weren’t the only acts fueling those gains. Hit albums by Zach Bryan, Luke Combs and Bailey Zimmerman helped country’s current market share — defined as releases that arrived within the past 18 months — surge from 7.97% to 10.37% year over year, a 30% gain. And while that’s only good enough for third place when the genres are ranked by current market share, No. 1 hip-hop and No. 2 pop both fell year over year: the former from 26.72 % to 22.32%, the latter from 13.07% to 11.13%.
Country’s growth almost outstripped Latin music’s strides. Which isn’t to say Latin had a down year — the genre grew 21.9% year over year, the third-highest mark in the industry, largely due to the mainstream success of such new acts as Peso Pluma and Eslabon Armado, and its volume growth (13.5 million units year over year) bested that of pop (11.6 million). In 2021, Latin’s share of the overall industry was 6.33%; in 2023 that number has jumped to 6.86%, and its 37.8 billion on-demand streams for current releases is the third-highest among genres.
R&B/Hip-Hop Slips Again
R&B/hip-hop remains firmly entrenched as the No. 1 U.S. genre with 25.27% of the market, largely because of its outsize percentage of on-demand streams. (The genre accounts for more than one in four streams.) But some metrics indicate that hip-hop’s dominance — it commanded nearly 30% of the overall market in 2020 — may be waning.
The genre’s market share has dipped every year since that 2020 peak, as has its share of on-demand streams, which stood at 30.11% in 2021 and is now at 26.63%. Current consumption of R&B/hip-hop has also slipped 7.4% from 2022 to 2023 and is down in every format for the same period — including the genre’s strong suit, streams, which dropped 7.0% to 93.2 billion. Despite No. 1 Billboard 200 releases from Travis Scott, Drake and Rod Wave, among others, hip-hop albums have continued to lose share since the midyear headlines that the genre had not produced any full-length chart-toppers. That said, its 93.2 billion current streams is more than double the 38.8 billion racked up by 2023’s second-place genre, pop, which sustained overall growth this year. And while R&B/hip-hop’s overall growth, at 5.9%, was 10th among genres, it finished third on that metric in overall volume, adding 15.6 million equivalent album units over last year, behind only rock and country.
Tipping The Sales Scales
While overall album sales have seesawed over the last few years, they have shown growth this year — up 5.2% after a down 2022. Driving sales once again is rock, which has a monumentally large share of the market: 41.47% of all album sales and 43.36% of physical sales. Those numbers are larger than the next four genres — R&B/hip-hop, pop, country and World music, in that order — combined and largely stem from immense catalog sales. Rock sales account for 47.50% of the entire catalog category — defined as music older than 18 months — a 4.0% year-over-year increase. Rock catalog album sales totaled 30.8 million units in 2023, more than the combined sales — current and catalog — of the next two genres, pop and R&B/hip-hop.
Latin music’s album sales growth is the inverse of rock. With just 0.57% of overall album sales in 2023, the genre ranks 14th out of the 15 core genres tracked by Luminate — lower than blues, jazz, classical and holiday/seasonal. Only new age placed below it.
Like hip-hop, Latin’s huge overall growth comes mostly from on-demand audio streams, but also a big chunk of the on-demand video streaming market, 10.0%, which is larger than its 6.86% overall market share. Pop is the only other genre on this chart where its market share of on-demand video streams exceeds its overall percentage by that much: 17.35% to 12.33%.
World Music’s Gains
Latin is just one genre of non-English-language music that occupies more and more of the mainstream U.S. music market. The umbrella genre of World music, which includes K-pop and Afrobeats, among other styles, has grown massively. In 2019, World music accounted for 1.69% of the overall industry; in 2023, that’s up to 2.73%, a 35.3% jump. That growth is most evident when looking at album sales. World music captured 6.93% of the market this year, with physical sales totaling 7.96% of that figure. The bulk of those sales is attributable to K-pop, which surged 88.8% year over year. Afrobeats also had a big impact on the genre, particularly in on-demand streaming, where it was up 54.3% year over year.
Titanic Taylor
Swift’s dominance of music and popular culture this year has been well documented. But how big is she in genre terms? With 18.89 million in album consumption units so far this year, her industry market share is 1.79%. If Swift was her own genre, she’d rank at No. 9 based on the data used here — just a few thousand units shy of Christian/gospel’s 1.76% market share and ahead of children music’s 1.11%. In 2023, Taylor Swift is bigger than jazz.
Merlin, the global digital licensing agency for the independent music industry, has unveiled its new board – one that doesn’t feature co-founders Martin Mills and Michel Lambot.
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The new board comprises leaders from the indie sector in 12 different countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania, and includes six new faces.
Exclusively revealed by Billboard today (Jan. 10), Merlin welcomes new board members Golda Bitterli, VP of sales, Revelator (Israel); Jeffrey Chiang, director of global business, Fluxus (South Korea); Fer Isella, founder and CEO, limbo music (Spain); Irina Lipczyk-Kolakovska, digital distribution lead, e-muzyka (Poland); Simon Wheeler, director of global commercial strategy, Beggars (U.K.); and Megan Jasper, CEO, Sub Pop (U.S.).
They join returning Merlin board members Pascal Bittard, founder and CEO, IDOL (France); Marie Clausen, managing director North America, Ninja Tune (U.S.); Tom Deakin, head of EMEA, AudioSalad (U.K.); Chris Maund, COO, Mushroom Music (Australia); Carlos Mills, founder, Mills Records (Brazil); Louis Posen, president & executive director, Hopeless Records (U.S.); Michael Ugwu, CEO, Freeme Digital (Nigeria); Darius Van Arman, co-CEO, Secretly (U.S.); Horst Weidenmueller, CEO & Owner, !K7 (Germany); and Justin West, president & CEO, Secret City (Canada).
Van Arman is reappointed as chairperson for a second term, having first joined the board in 2015, and playing an “instrumental” role in guiding the organization’s strategic direction, reads a statement.
Additionally, Jennifer Newman Sharpe, general counsel, Exceleration, and Dorothee Imhoff, CCO, FUGA, are appointed board advisors this year.
Merlin’s board is elected from and by its membership, which represents tens of thousands of independent record labels, distributors, and rightsholders, including K7!, Because Music, Beggars Group, Better Noise, CD Baby and Downtown Music (including FUGA), Exceleration, and many others.
In the upcoming year, explains Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota in a statement to Billboard, the organization “is committed to fostering meaningful, sustainable and value-driven member growth.”
Its mission, “to support labels and distributors who invest in artists and their unique cultural contributions. By associating with members who invest in high-quality music around the world, Merlin aims to strengthen its network, while offering unparalleled access and benefits to our members, and enriching the global music landscape.”
Sirota and Merlin also pay tribute to outgoing board members Martin Mills (Beggars), Merlin co-founder, board member and former chairperson, and Michel Lambot ([PIAS]), Merlin co-founder and board member, two giants of the independent music community whose “long-standing leadership” helped members “around the world own their independence.”
Also, Sirota points to the completion last year of the initial build of a Data Warehouse, which should enable Merlin to make “significant strides in data, analytics, and insights to further advance our mission and our members.” In 2024, “we will now start to provide actionable insights derived from our collective data,” he adds. Part of that plan includes expanding Merlin’s data and insights team, which in time should “deliver insights that help our members make informed decisions and foster growth.”