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Just one day after announcing a delay in publishing interim financial results for the six months ended Sept. 30, Hipgnosis Songs Fund has announced the appointment of a new auditor.
In a press release on Wednesday (Dec. 20), the Merck Mercuriadis-led company said it had appointed KPMG Channel Islands Limited as its new auditor, “with immediate effect for the financial year ended” Mar. 31, 2024. KPMG succeeds PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the role.
The release notes that the appointment of KPMG will be subject to approval by the company’s shareholders at a general meeting “to be convened in due course.”
“The previous auditor, PwC CI, has deposited with the Company a statement confirming that there are no matters to be brought to the attention of the Company’s members or creditors,” the release adds.
On Tuesday, Hipgnosis Songs Fund said it would delay publishing its financial results over concerns about its valuation, explaining that the valuation it received from an independent firm was “materially higher than the valuation implied by proposed and recent transactions in the sector.” These transactions include the proposed $417.5 million sale of 29 catalogs to Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Capital — a price reflecting a 24.3% discount from a valuation dated March 31 — and last week’s sale of 20,000 “non-core songs” to an undisclosed buyer for $23.1 million, which the company said reflects a 14.2% discount on the songs’ valuation as of early fall.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund now expects to announce its financial results on New Year’s Eve, according to the regulatory filing.
Hipgnosis is composed of three companies: Hipgnosis Song Management, Hipgnosis Songs Capital and Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the latter of which has been the subject of controversy for months. On Oct. 16, the London-listed trust revealed that it would not pay its investors a dividend due to new, lower revenue projections. On Oct. 26, more than 80% of the fund’s investors demanded structural changes to the music rights company, voting in favor of the board drawing up “proposals for the reconstruction, reorganization or winding-up of the company to shareholders for their approval within six months.”
Last month, it was also announced that the fund will not declare dividends before the fiscal year, which begins in April, to ensure it has enough on its ledger to pay contractually mandated catalog bonuses.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund owns full or partial rights to the song catalogs of artists including Justin Bieber, Neil Young, Bruno Mars, Jimmy Iovine, 50 Cent, Shakira, Blondie, Justin Timberlake and Lindsey Buckingham.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund ended the day up 1.43% on the London Stock Exchange following the announcement of the new auditor.
Gavin DeGraw has signed with Sony Music Nashville on the heels of his latest EP, A Classic Christmas. DeGraw, who was previously on Sony’s RCA Records, is managed by Haley McElmore and JT Pratt at Otter Creek Entertainment.
ADA Worldwide‘s Latin division has signed a global distribution agreement with Mexican music star Alicia Villarreal and her label, Camixes Entertainment. The deal marks Villarreal’s return to releasing music after a seven-year hiatus. Her first independent single, “Ojo Por Ojo,” was released last month, while a new album is expected out next year. Villarreal is booked and managed by Apodaca Group.
Rock artist Two Feet has launched an independent record label, 477 Records, and signed emerging talent including Bec Lauder, Toby Mai and Elvis Drew. The label will also release Two Feet’s upcoming music, including the new single “Kill Anyone” feat. Ari Abdul. Two Feet is booked by Jay Moss and Steph Aristakesian at Wasserman and managed by G.D. Dess; Lauder is represented by NEXT Management.
19 Recordings and BMG signed Haven Madison, a top 8 finalist on Season 21 of American Idol who performed original songs including “Fifteen” and “Still Need You” on the series. Madison, who independently released the EP All the Things I Didn’t Say in 2022, is managed by Third Wave Music Group.
Cricket Productionz, the company of music producer Alvaro “Cricket” Venegas (Peso Pluma), has signed a global distribution and artist partnership deal with Warner Music Latina. Under the deal, Cricket will release a debut album for his artist project in 2024.
TR/ST, the electronic pop project of Robert Alfons, has signed with Dais Records, which released his latest single, “Robrash,” on Dec. 13. An EP release is planned for next year. TR/ST is managed by Shabnam Mohammad at 724 and Gary Walker at Monotone, with booking by Chris Danis and Avery McTaggart at TBA for North America and Matt Copely in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. TR/ST previously had a label deal with Grouch.
Red Bull Records has signed South London R&B singer-songwriter James Vickery, who most recently released the EP Sheet Music in March. Vickery is managed by Alex Lewis at Lemon Music.
Singer-songwriter and Texas native Laci Kaye Booth has signed with Geffen Records and also aligned with Red Light Management for management and WME for booking. – Jessica Nicholson
Korn member Brian “Head” Welch launched a new label, XOVR Records (pronounced Crossover Records), alongside his longtime personal manager, David W. Williams. The label’s first signing is the rock band Spoken featuring Welch’s Love and Death bandmate JR Bareis. The group will release its tenth album, Reflection, via XOVR on Mar. 15. Spoken is managed and booked by Williams.
Australian post-punk band HighSchool has signed to [PIAS], which released the group’s latest single, “August 19,” on Dec. 5. HighSchool is managed by Rich Walker at 4AD and Matt Brown at Stay Loose, with booking by Andy Cook at CAA.
Kanine Records signed New York quintet Punchlove, which released the single “Dead Lands” via the label on Dec. 6.
Professional rodeo cowboy-turned-country artist Gunnar Latham has signed with Bob Doyle & Associates for management. Latham is booked by Chad Kudelka at CAA; he currently has no label.
Danish-Japanese artist Ida Kudo has signed with Pasadena Records, which will release her new EP, Proud, on Apr. 19 via a joint venture with Denmark’s Nordic Music Society. Her latest single, “The Power That Is Woman,” is out now.
Brooklyn-based alt-country songwriter Emily Frembgen signed to Don Giovanni Records, which recently released her single “Fentanyl.” The label will release Frembgen’s debut album next year.
Absolutely Kosher Records has signed Memphis duo Nonconnah, marking the first signing since the label’s relaunch this fall following a 12-year absence. New music is coming from the duo next year.
SCP Merchandising, an Illinois-based merch company used by artists including Mitski, Father John Misty and Carly Rae Jepsen, has shut down, according to a member of SCP leadership still on-site after the company laid off its staff over the weekend.
Based on accounts from multiple former SCP employees on LinkedIn, the company’s employees were abruptly laid off on Sunday evening (Dec. 17). The source tells Billboard that the company will most likely file for bankruptcy and that there is no process yet for clients to retrieve their merchandise, but that those with outstanding balances will not be able to do so until they pay those off with SCP or a potential bankruptcy trustee. They add that priority will be given to clients who have no balance due as well as those who are arranging for payment of unpaid bills.
The source notes that the company plans to send out an email Tuesday (Dec. 19) to clients who do not owe money to figure out pickup or shipping arrangements for their inventory; clients with outstanding balances must first make a payment and then reach out to SCP once that’s been done in order to coordinate receiving their stock. The source says those who still owe “should know that they are in debt to SCP” as the company has been sending past-due statements.
The source adds that after Thursday (Dec. 21), retrieving inventory may be slower for clients as SCP only has bank approval for payroll through that day, “and even so we don’t have enough for the entire job.” They continue: “After that, a court-approved trustee will replace company employees and that’s only one person and I’m not sure what their take on inventory will be. There’s a few different paths it could go. It’s just all very speculative.”
Meanwhile, artists’ online stores that ran through SCP have been taken down entirely, including Mitski, Father John Misty, Alec Benjamin, Dashboard Confessional, Louis the Child and Chappell Roan. One source in artist management says they haven’t heard from anyone at SCP yet and are trying to figure out how to collect their remaining merchandise. According to that source, they initially began working with SCP because the rates were significantly cheaper than their competitors: The company took 15% of net sales compared to around 20% of gross that, the source says, many others take.
Launched in 2013 by owner Stephen Hopkins, SCP bills itself on its website as a “full-service creative collaborator” for artists and brands. Other current and former artist clients include Billie Eilish, Freddie Gibbs, Tanya Tucker, Manchester Ochestra and Wiz Khalifa; the record label Loma Vista Recordings; and the festival Bittersweet Daze.
According to Hopkins’ LinkedIn profile, he also serves as co-founder/CEO of Web3 company Dropolis and co-founded 3E Love, a company that makes clothing for people with disabilities.
Additional reporting by Colin Stutz.
One of Ibiza‘s most fabled clubbing institutions is under new ownership.
As was rumored this past summer, Pacha Group — which includes the Ibiza flagship club, two hotel island hotel properties and clubs in Barcelona and Munich — has been acquired by FIVE Holdings, the Dubai-based hospitality and real estate group. FIVE encompasses a namesake hotel brand with two locations in Dubai and a property in Zurich, with a third Dubai property currently under construction.
FIVE Hospitality and The Pacha Group CEO Aloki Batra tells Billboard that FIVE’s acquisition of The Pacha Group is worth approximately $330 million, and that conversations regarding the sale started nearly two and a half years ago at an event in Mykonos.
The Pacha Group was previously owned by the private equity firm Trilantic Capital Partners, which acquired the brand in 2017. A representative from Trilantic declined to comment on the sale.
Batra says that as part of the transfer of ownership, Pacha Ibiza will see some light changes, including improvements to the lighting system, slightly expanded VIP areas, enhanced production elements and improvements to the club’s “digital footprint” including systems to track attendance through NFT wristbands.
“If [you’ve] been to been to five or six shows, the next time you show up, we should know that. Now it’s just blind,” says Batra. “[We plan to] increase the quality of experience by getting to know our fans a lot better and then [determining] how we can engage with them and make them feel special.” Batra adds that there’s been a “full continuity” of staff at the club amid the change in ownership.
Batra says FIVE is also looking at ways to revive the club’s longstanding record label, Pacha Recordings with pre-recorded DJ sets delivered to fans globally on DSPs.
“[We’re] definitely looking at that that very seriously,” Batra says. “We have this rich legacy and need to take it ahead for the digital age and the customer of today. I think that’s a huge opportunity for us, and it’s great for the fans, because we intend to bring your favorite club closer to you.”
While programming at the club will remain largely the same — including Solomun’s iconic Sunday night residency — Batra says the plan is to also make offerings “a bit more reggaeton-ey” for the 2024 season. “There’s a lot of demand for it and we’re looking to address that demand,” he says, noting that Maluma and J Balvin have previously performed at Pacha Ibiza. “We want to be well represented in the reggaeton world… We think there’s definitely a trend in that direction.”
The acquisition marks FIVE’s first properties in Ibiza, with the deal also encompassing the resorts El Hotel Pacha Ibiza and Destino Pacha Ibiza. Located approximately 15 minutes north of the club, this latter property will see a series of what Batra calls “significant upgrades” and officially become a FIVE branded property in 2025.
He says that while the Ibiza market is highly competitive, visitors to the island now often come more and stay longer, creating opportunities for property owners. He adds that the same demographic that visits FIVE resorts in Dubai are also likely to travel to Ibiza.
Pacha Ibiza opened in 1973 and, 50 years later, hosts some of the biggest DJs in the world. Batra emphasize that while other clubs in the market offer “a show with a big DJ set” Pacha is still focused on throwing “a party with the DJ right at the center.”
To wit, FIVE will maintain Pacha’s ” bohemian artistic direction…[The plan is] not more pyrotechnics as far as we’re concerned,” says Batra. “We’re more about the party, the atmosphere and enhancing that experience [and not having] people pull out their mobile phones for the entirety of the set.”
“We’re buying into a real legacy,” Batra adds. “It’s one of the greatest entertainment brands out of Europe at the forefront of dance music and culture. The relationship between the success of Ibiza and the success of Pacha is very intertwined; I think it’s almost a definitive story of Ibiza… So it’s very exciting to have an opportunity to be part of this great story and navigate it into a blissful future.”
Hipgnosis Songs Fund has announced a last-second delay in publishing interim results for the six months ended Sept. 30, citing concerns over its valuation following a series of hiccups for the Merck Mercuriadis-led company.
The 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, was scheduled to publish it financial results on Tuesday (Dec. 19) but now expects to announce on New Year’s Eve, according to a regulatory filing.
In explaining the delay, the Hipgnosis board said the valuation it received from an independent firm was “materially higher than the valuation implied by proposed and recent transactions in the sector,” namely two deals involving itself: a proposed $417.5 million sale of 29 catalogs to Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Capital, a price reflecting a 24.3% discount from a valuation dated March 31, and last week’s sale of 20,000 “non-core songs” to an undisclosed buyer for $23.1 million, which it said reflects a 14.2% discount on the songs’ valuation as of early fall.
Due to the disparity between the independent valuation and the “implied” one tied to recent trends and proposed sales, the board sought advice from its in-house investment advisor, Hipgnosis Song Management Limited, which delivered a “heavily caveated” opinion that led to the board’s concerns as to the valuation of HSF listed in the interim results scheduled to be disclosed today.
Hipgnosis is comprised of three companies: Hipgnosis Song Management, Hipgnosis Songs Capital and Hipgnosis Songs Fund. The latter of the three has been mired in controversy in recent months after it was announced that the London-listed trust would not pay its investors a dividend because of new, lower projections for revenue. On Oct. 26, investors of the fund overwhelmingly demanded structural changes to the music rights company, with more than 80% of Hipgnosis investors voting in favor of the board drawing up “proposals for the reconstruction, reorganization or winding-up of the company to shareholders for their approval within six months.”
Last month the company announced that the fund will not declare dividends before the new fiscal year, which begins next April, in order to ensure it has enough on its balance sheet to pay contractually-mandated catalog bonuses.
Investors are still processing the news, with the company’s stock only slightly down, roughly 2%, in mid-day trading on the London Stock Exchange.
When Frances Moore started in the Brussels office of The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in 1994 as regional director for Europe, the trade organization represented six major labels that made most of their money selling CDs – and mostly in Europe and the U.S. When she retires at the end of this year, she will leave a business with three majors that’s truly global and focused on streaming. In between, Moore scored some of the key policy wins that made that happen, especially since ascending to the top job in 2010. She also transformed IFPI into a global force and served longer as CEO than any of her predecessors.
Moore started just as the major labels and other media companies began pushing for laws to protect digital content – an effort that ultimately resulted in the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the U.S., and the 2001 Copyright and Information Society Directive in the European Union. One of her major achievements was IFPI’s passage of the 2019 copyright directive that addressed some of its shortcomings by tightening up some of the safe harbor rules that created a “value gap” between what rightsholders made from licensed services like Spotify and what they got from user-upload-fueled services like YouTube. In between, she led IFPI efforts to extend the term of copyright protection for recordings in Europe and establish a public performance right for recordings in China, plus strengthened IFPI’s operations in markets that barely existed when she started at the organization three decades ago.
You announced in July that you would retire at the end of the year, but some executives can’t quite picture that – you have a reputation for working extremely hard. What are your plans?
I can’t really picture me retiring, either! Come the first of January, I’ll tell you the answer. I’ll take a rest at the beginning and see what happens afterwards.
You’re leaving an organization that’s much more international than the one you joined in 1994.
When I joined, the two big markets were Europe and the U.S., and the bulk of the industry’s revenues came from those two places – the other territories were much smaller. But IFPI was always an international organization: There was already an office in Hong Kong and two small offices in China, so it was more a question of how you brought everyone together.
You started in Brussels and played a major role in building up the organization there.
There was a Brussels representation [when I started] but they didn’t really have U.S. [style] lobbying and that’s what I brought to build a campaign for the [2001] copyright directive. Back in the ‘90s, Europe had a lot to learn about lobbying. I remember suggesting to one of the major national groups that they bring in a lobbyist and they were shocked. It was as if I had suggested bringing in a lady of the night. Lobbying wasn’t seen then as a clean profession.
You started at IFPI right before the first copyright directive and one of your big accomplishments as CEO was to get the 2019 copyright directive passed. That was supposed to address some of the issues with the first one, but the implementation of it in different EU countries has varied. How do you see that?
For the first copyright directive, we built something at the European level that we never had before – we had 32 organizations working together from books, film, music, you name it. In implementing the WIPO treaty, we had a good, strong directive that let companies go online with confidence. When it came to the second one, the issue was what we called ‘the value gap’ [the difference between what it cost companies to license content and how little some of them were paying to use it]. Companies were doing deals with one hand tied behind their back. That was a hard campaign to fight, not because of the arguments – people could see that – but because we had huge opponents. Now some of these companies we work with and they’re a part of the success of the music industry. But as far as EU Parliament, they said this was the hardest-fought campaign they ever had to deal with. Luckily, they came through in the end.
In theory, you got what you needed. But the directive was implemented quite poorly in some countries, especially Germany.
There are 27 countries and there’s one that hasn’t implemented it yet – Poland. But Donald Tusk [who became Polish Prime Minister on December 13], will make sure it’s implemented. In most countries, it has been done faithfully. In Germany and in Belgium, we had problems and we’re taking it to court. But it was a signal more than anything else. To some degree, once it was adopted, the tech companies realized that they had to do what it was asking for.
What do you consider your biggest accomplishment?
I think my biggest accomplishment was putting together an A-level team. I don’t like the cult of personality – everything we do, we do as a team.
Your job is like herding cats – there are the national recording business organizations and the major labels – now small, medium, and large. It’s a very tough act to follow.
The job isn’t to be an expert in legal policy – the job is to hold the ball tight and keep running forward. There’s a global search [for a successor] and I think we’ll be able to announce the person shortly, and I wish that person all the best. The most important thing is that the companies speak with one voice – then everything else becomes easier.
Frances Moore and Taylor Swift
Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
You’ve had support on policy issues over the years from some very famous artists. Did you ever get starstruck?
I’m a Scottish rationalist – I don’t do starstruck. We have this program, Friends of Music, when artists come to the Parliament and they perform, and it moves you. I remember Jamie Cullum was performing in Strausberg [Germany] and at one point he stopped playing on the keys of his piano and just strummed on the wood. It was pure music. I don’t get starstruck but I get impressed beyond belief with talent.
You are leaving an organization that’s much more diverse than the one you joined in 1994. For example, you have women regional directors in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Latin America. Was that a priority for you?
That was the state of the world [in 1994] – it wasn’t just the recording industry. In my case, there was never a point of saying I’m going to recruit a woman – you can only put together an A-level team if you choose the best candidates. We have six regional teams, and three are led by men and three are led by women. That’s balanced but not deliberately balanced – it just worked out that way.
What’s going to be the most important priority for your successor?
AI, because if you don’t get it right, it could decimate the industry. That’s the big one. There are some technology companies saying that there are text and data mining exceptions and we fit in there, so we don’t have to respect copyright. Wrong.
Every time Taylor Swift shows up in Kansas City, people eat more donuts.
Last July, Donutology’s two stores in the city made 20,000 donuts in a single weekend after marketing “Tayl-gating” 30-packs, including Lavender Glazes and Caramel Is a Cat bismarcks, to meet the demand of 74,000 Swifties at two Arrowhead Stadium concerts. The stores hastily hired former employees for around-the-clock frying and assigned their marketing director, Abby Meyer, to help in the packaging department. “It hasn’t really died since then,” Meyer says.
Unlike other U.S. cities on last summer’s Eras tour, Kansas City’s Swiftie boom continues, thanks to the singer’s high-profile presence in the city this fall with her boyfriend, Travis Kelce of the NFL’s Chiefs. And Donutology isn’t the only one cashing in on the buzz: Local businesses such as clothing shops Westside Storey and Made In KC and restaurants Piropos and Prime Social have significantly boosted their sales, social-media views and website traffic over the past few months.
“We can’t attach a number to it,” says Tim Cowden, president/CEO of the Kansas City Area Development Council. “It’s an incredible opportunity that she is providing our region.”
According to the city’s Economic Development Council, Eras tickets across the United States sold at an average price of $1,200, so the Kansas City shows generated $88.8 million in revenue. Additionally, Swifties bought $1,300 to $1,500 worth of meals, merch and other goods throughout the tour, and for Kansas City, that amounted to an overall financial impact of $185 million to $200 million. Then, after Swift’s widely viewed appearance last Sunday in a vintage Chiefs sweatshirt during the team’s game against the Green Bay Packers, Westside Storey, which sold her the item, landed an unprecedented 100 online orders in the two or three days after the game, according to the store’s owner, Chris Harrington.
“It’s quite insane,” says Harrington. “It’s just driven traffic like we’ve never had before. We’re waiting to see when it ends.”
Piropos, the Argentine restaurant where Swift and Kelce had a Kansas City dinner date in late October, reports a similarly massive word-of-mouth reaction. “We didn’t put up any sign. People just called us,” says Cristina Worden, the restaurant’s owner. “We got more reservations, we have more commentary. It’s been great for every business.”
The Eras-related sales spike in Kansas City took Keith Bradley, co-owner of the 11-store gift-and-apparel chain Made In KC, by surprise. Ticketholders streamed into town, buying apparel, jewelry, candles and hats, and the stores scrambled to adapt by launching Swift-themed drinks and friendship bracelets. Nearly three months later, when Swift attended her first Chiefs game, “it felt like that was a new wave,” Bradley says, adding that his shops’ most popular holiday-season products are “anything Taylor and Travis,” such as candles and T-shirts.
The Swift-Kelce romance is a feel-good, fast-moving story and a “buzzworthy partnership,” as Katie Essing, a University of Missouri assistant teaching professor of marketing, describes it — which allows brands to attach themselves for exposure without fearing backlash or consequences. After Swift publicly ate chicken fingers with ketchup and what appeared to be ranch dressing at a Chiefs game in late September, KFC referred to Swift on social media as its “Ranch Queen” and Heinz launched a new flavor called Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch. “Brands having anything to do with ranch could jump on social media,” Essing says. “And that’s what we see happening with the brands in the Kansas City area with this relationship.”
The Eras Tour was so huge — grossing $900 million plus, with 63,000 ticket sales per show, or 3.3 million overall, according to Billboard estimates — that officials and businesses in host cities had to be asleep to not take advantage of the marketing opportunities. Tampa named Swift “honorary mayor”; Las Vegas lit up its Gateway Arches in colors representing all of her albums; and Seattle’s Japonessa Sushi Cocini racked up $10,000 in sales of “Reputation” sushi rolls and cocktails packed with glitter. But only Kansas City has extended its Swiftie effect beyond Eras.
Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas says the NFL Draft in April, which reportedly drew 312,000 attendees and generated $164.3 million, led to “flack” from some local businesses. (Owners complained about street closures, excessive traffic and high parking costs that kept regular customers away.) “Taylor Swift was the opposite — for almost no municipal investment, we’re getting a heck of an investment,” he tells Billboard. “Any mayor would love to have Taylor Swift just start randomly coming to their city. This is great for our economy. It’s great for our culture. It’s great for letting people know we have this dynamic city. Life kind of sucks, so it’s nice to just see two happy people enjoying life.”
SiriusXM’s announcement that it planned to merge its stock with Liberty SiriusXM Group, a tracking stock of Liberty Media, helped the SiriusXM share price climb 16.4% to $5.40 this week after it lagged for much of 2023. Friday’s high mark of $5.78 nearly brought the stock back to where it ended 2022, at $5.84 per share.
The deal, which requires regulatory approval and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2024, “will create value for all stockholders by eliminating the tracking stock structure, enhancing liquidity and allowing former LSXM stockholders to participate directly in the ongoing performance of SiriusXM,” said Greg Maffei, Liberty Media president/CEO, in a statement released Tuesday (Dec. 12).
Elsewhere, Live Nation climbed 9.2% to $93.00 this week thanks in part to an investor note by Morgan Stanley analysts that raised the price target to $110 from $100. Analysts pointed to a “secular shift” in consumer spending on experiences, the company’s increased disclosure about its Venue Nation business and a “highly unlikely” chance the Department of Justice will break up the company following its antitrust probe. Morgan Stanley’s $110 price target implies the stock, which is up 33.4% year to date, has 18% upside after Friday’s close.
Those big gains from SiriusXM and Live Nation, as well as a 4.1% gain from Universal Music Group, one of the index’s most valuable components, helped the Billboard Global Music Index increase 2.2% this week to a record 1,522.78. Nine of the index’s 20 stocks finished the week in positive territory, 10 stocks lost ground and one was unchanged.
Other indexes soared this week after the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates unchanged on Wednesday (Dec. 13) and indicated it would cut interest rates three times in 2024. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite set a record closing price of 14,813.92 on Friday, marking a 2.8% gain for the week. The S&P 500 is still 2% away from its high mark after finishing the week up 2.5% to 4,719.19. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 7,576.36. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index gained 1.8% to 2,563.56.
The Billboard Global Music Index’s second-largest increase came from Reservoir Media, which gained 15% to $6.82. The stock’s $6.89 closing price on Thursday was its highest since $7.06 on Feb. 16 and is 31.4% above its 52-week low of $5.19 set on Aug. 10. Chinese music streamer Tencent Music Entertainment gained 8.0% to $8.88.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund gained 4.9% to 0.701 pounds ($0.89) after the company announced on Monday (Dec. 11) the sale of 20,000 non-core music assets for $23.1 million. The proceeds will be used to pay down its revolving credit facility. On Friday, the company also announced the appointment of Christopher Mills as an independent non-executive director effective immediately. Mills, who has a reputation as an activist investor, is CEO/investment manager of North Atlantic Smaller Companies Investment Trust and founded Harwood Capital Management in 2011. Following the news, Hipgnosis Songs Fund shares rose 2.3% on Friday.
Music streaming company Anghami dropped 30.4% to $0.94, bringing its three-week decline to 66.5%. Other than Anghami, however, no other stock finished the week with a loss greater than 5%. iHeartMedia fell 4.9% to $2.52 and MSG Entertainment dropped 3.2% to $31.16.
Peso Pluma‘s Double P Records has signed a global distribution agreement with The Orchard, the company announced on Friday (Dec. 15).
The Mexican star, in partnership with his manager George Prajin, launched the imprint in April after his extraordinary rise to the global charts following the smash hit “Ella Baila Sola” with Eslabon Armado. Double P Records is subdivision of Prajin Parlay Records, Prajin’s West Coast-based indie label that signed Peso in 2022, which already had The Orchard as its distribution partner.
“Peso’s vision was to create a label home to develop new talent with bespoke, collaborative, and transparent plans that meet artists where they are and help propel them forward, which aligns completely with The Orchard’s ethos,” Jason Pascal, executive vp of global artist & label partnerships at The Orchard, who negotiated the deal said in a statement. “With this new global distribution partnership, artists signed to Double P will have access to tools that empower them to build global networks of their own.”
“Jason and The Orchard have been instrumental from the start,” added Prajin. “We make an amazing team, and I am excited to continue the relationship as we continue to take Música Mexicana global.”
Peso serves as Double P Records’ CEO and head of A&R with a roster that includes Mexican music acts Jasiel Nuñez, Tito Laija (Peso’s cousin and one of his co-writers), Los Dareyes De La Sierra and Raúl Vega. “I’m super happy to be able to help my friends because that’s how I see them. I don’t see them as my artists,” Peso previously told Billboard about launching his imprint. “More than anything, I want them to know that if I could do it, so can they. I’m on this journey with them; we’re paddling together. I tell them, ‘Learn from whatever is happening in my career. Take notes because I’m still growing just as you are.’”
Peso, 24, who this year alone entered 22 songs on the Hot 100, played a significant role in leading the genre’s seismic growth in the United States and beyond. His album Génesis made history when it debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, the highest ranking for a Mexican music album on the tally. The set is up for best música mexicana album at the Grammys in February.
Peso Pluma will continue to release music through Double P/Prajin Parlay.
Each week we’ll be sharing the most important news from the north with Canada’s top music industry stories, supplied by our colleagues at Billboard Canada.
For more Canadian music coverage visit ca.billboard.com.
PARTYNEXTDOOR’s Decade-Old Track Tops Canada’s TikTok Year-End
Every year, TikTok takes a look back at the songs and creators that made a mark on the year. At times, it feels like an alternate dimension.
The most popular TikTok song in Canada this year belonged to PARTYNEXTDOOR – no doubt a major hip-hop and R&B artist. However, the version of the Canadian star’s 2014 song “Her Way” that tops the list is not the original, but a sped-up version attached to a dance challenge.
“The song’s accelerated tempo seemed to resonate perfectly with the fast-paced, dynamic nature of TikTok,” says Kat Kernaghan, Head of TikTok Music Canada. “It’s not just about consuming the music; it’s about actively participating in the creative process.”
Many of the biggest songs on the social media platform were the ones that people interacted, memed and played with the most. That can resurrect an older song, like Justin Bieber’s “Beauty and a Beat,” which was released over a decade ago in 2012.
Here’s the full list of most popular songs on TikTok in Canada this year:
When it comes to the most popular artists on TikTok in Canada this year, it’s an interesting mixed bag. Tate McRae is on the list after a year that saw her transcend social media onto the stage of SNL and the cover of Billboard. Artists like Lauren Spencer Smith, Alexander Stewart and Faouzia made intimate and emotional music that people related to so much they had to use the sound. Others, like Tiagz, blurred the lines between “creator” and “artist,” making content designed to go viral first, then chart later.
Find the full list here.
Why Changes Could Be Coming to Montreal’s Music and Noise Laws
Montreal venue owners have been making noise about existential threats to their businesses. Now, the City of Montreal says a new nightlife policy will make changes to how noise is regulated in the city.
On Nov. 20, Sergio Da Silva incited a conversation about noise complaints when he posted a screenshot of a message recently received by Turbo Haüs, a long-running rock venue he co-owns located in Montreal’s Quartier des Spectacles entertainment district.
In French, the message informs Turbo Haüs that they may be subject to a fine of up to 12,000 Canadian dollars ($8,950) because noise from the venue was audible in a nearby residential region.
Turbo Haüs is far from the only venue affected by noise complaints in Montreal.
Prominent venue The Diving Bell Social Club, is currently preparing to close down this month, in part due to complaints the venue says they’ve received from a neighbouring landlord.
Responding to questions about noise complaints, Julien Deschênes — a political aid for the City of Montreal — tells Billboard Canada that a new nightlife policy is currently under development at the city, and should be ready for city council approval in January. The policy, Deschênes says, will seek to implement the “agent of change” principle, which puts the burden on new buildings that go up near commercial establishments to adapt to the existing noise in the area and not vice versa.
Deschênes says that the specific framework is not yet finalized, but that the policy will aim for implementation in the Ville-Marie borough, home to Turbo Haüs, as well as Plateau-Mont-Royal, where The Diving Bell is located.
Montreal has a reputation for supporting arts and culture — launching the careers of Canadian stars like Kaytranada and Grimes just in the last decade — but as rents rise, new developments go up, and the city landscape changes, artists and cultural workers are raising concern about the future of the city’s venues. READ MORE
SOCAN Foundation Announces Winners for 2023 Black Canadian Music Awards & Young Canadian Songwriters Awards
The SOCAN Foundation has announced the five winners of its fourth annual Black Canadian Music Awards, a group of rising talents in Canada’s music industry. Toronto hip-hop artist DVBLM; R&B singers Liza, Savannah Ré, and Myles Castello; and genre-hopping NAIIM take home $10,000 each as this year’s winners, with support from Sirius XM.
The awards, which were announced on Dec. 12, seek to recognize Black creators from all over the country. They’re determined by a jury of Black artists and industry experts from a pool of applicants.Honourable mentions for this year’s awards went to Eleanor, Tona, Kirk Diamond & FINN, Mah Moud and Ryan Ofei.
The SOCAN Foundation also just announced winners for another awards program: the Young Canadian Songwriters Awards.
The winners include seventeen-year-old Sofia Kay, who recently helped K-POP group Tomorrow x Together hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, co-writing their single, “Sugar Rush Ride.”
The winners of that award are:
Andelina Habel-Thurton for “Le grand retour de l’insomnie”
Brighid Fry (a.k.a. Housewife) for “Matilda”
Elizabeth Royall,for “Numb”
Fin McDowell for “People I Barely Knew”
Sofia Kay, for “Fuu”
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