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BMG reported record high revenues of 905 million euros ($998 million) in 2023 as catalog acquisitions and growth in its publishing division from hit songs and albums by Bebe Rexha, the Rolling Stones and Lewis Capaldi contributed to 5.7% in organic revenue growth.
Operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) adjusted — BMG’s preferred metric for profit — was flat at 194 million euros ($214 million, based on the foreign exchange rate as of Dec. 31, 2023) compared to last year’s 195 million euros ($208 million, based on the year-end foreign exchange rate), as the German-owned music company incorporates a slew of changes introduced by new chief executive Thomas Coesfeld. Coesfeld said his strategy is improving revenue and operating EBITDA going forward, two metrics the company said have risen by roughly a third from 2021 to 2023.
“Many of these changes are having an immediate impact,” Coesfeld said in a letter to staff viewed by Billboard. “In the first two months of 2024 we have already seen a strong double-digit increase in revenue and an increase in EBITDA versus prior year.”
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Since Coesfeld took the helm in mid-2023, BMG announced a plan to take over digital sales of its artists’ music, a new physical distribution deal with UMG and increased investments in technology for a new client-facing mobile app, improved data analytics and speedier processing of royalties.
Catalog acquisitions have been a key component of Coesfeld’s contributions since he became BMG’s chief financial officer in 2021. Backed by the deep pockets of its parent company, the European media conglomerate Bertelsmann, BMG continued its steady pace of buying in 2023 with 30 catalog acquisitions, including those by The Hollies, Jet, Dope Lemon, Martin Solveig and Paul Simon’s music interests in Simon & Garfunkel’s recordings.
Major hits for the publishing division in 2023 included “I’m Good (Blue),” co-written by Bebe Rexha, and “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2,” by BMG songwriter Mura Masa and performed by Pink Pantheress and Ice Spice, and the release of Hackney Diamonds by the Rolling Stones and Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent by Capaldi.
Country music was a big driver for BMG’s label business in 2023 thanks to Jason Aldean‘s “Try That In A Small Town,” which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart during the first week of August, and three country chart-topping hits from Jelly Roll, including “Save Me,” recorded with Lainey Wilson, another of BMG’s country stars.
Here are some of BMG’s 2023 highlights:
Operating EBITDA adjusted remained stable at 194 million euros ($214 million) from the previous year of 195 million euros ($208 million).
From 2021 to 2023, revenue has risen by more than 36% and operating EBITDA adjusted has risen by more than 34%.
EBITDA margin was 21.4 percent compared to the previous year of 22.5%.
BMG made 30 catalog acquisitions in 2023.
The annual Music Biz Conference will move from its current Nashville home to Atlanta in 2025.
Specific dates and venues for Music Biz 2025 will be announced later. The conference will continue in its usual May timeframe.
Music Biz, which attracts more than 2,300 music business professionals each year, has been held in Music City for nearly a decade, and returns this year, from May 13-16.
“We’ve had a wonderful 10 years in Nashville. We love Nashville,” Music Business Association president Portia Sabin tells Billboard. “It’s been such a great place for us to grow and we are so appreciative and are very much looking forward to this year’s conference in Nashville.”
The move was inspired by the September 2022 launch of the Music Biz Roadshow program, which has traveled to cities including Atlanta, Dallas and Miami.
“With the Music Biz Roadshow, we bring our members to different cities across the U.S. for free educational programs for artists and musicians,” Sabin says. “We got inspired by doing that because there are so many great music cities out there in the U.S.”
Atlanta felt like a natural evolution for Music Biz. “When we first brought the conference to Nashville, it was a smaller version of what it is now. We feel like Atlanta has that growth potential,” Sabin adds, noting that music industry professionals from more than 30 countries attend Music Biz each year. “Atlanta has that great international hub airport, which will make it easier for people from abroad to get to [the conference]. We are excited to showcase another great American music city.”
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In 2013, the organization formerly known as the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) rebranded as the Music Business Association. Following a four-year stint in Los Angeles from 2011-2014, the Music Biz conference has been in Nashville since 2015. The Music Business Association headquarters continues to be located in Nashville.
Beginning in 2025, the Music Biz event will revert to the way it was scheduled in its NARM days when the conference frequently moved to a new city.
“We will be on probably a two-year schedule, staying in a town for two years before going to another town,” Sabin says, noting the conference could potentially be hosted in cities such as Miami and San Diego in the coming years.
“And I’m sure we will be back in Nashville at some point,” Sabin adds. ‘Nashville’s a fabulous city and we are so grateful to have been here for 10 years. We’re looking forward to this year’s conference in Nashville. Atlanta has so much going on in terms of the music industry there, and I think it has somewhat been overlooked in general. It’s a great spot to have the conference and have this important group of people showing up to do business there.”
Recorded music revenue in the United States grew 7.7% in 2023 over the prior year, reaching a high-water mark of $17.1 billion at retail, according to the RIAA. Within that headline number, $14.4 billion — or 84% — was driven by streaming, a figure that was also up 8% over 2022.
It’s the eighth straight year of revenue growth for the U.S. business, and the rounded 8% growth over last year’s $15.9 billion represents an uptick from 2022, when the business grew 6.1% over the prior year. And while the headline figure marks the third straight year that the business has set a record for revenue — previously set in 1999, when revenue hit $14.6 billion prior to Napster taking hold — when adjusted for inflation, it still falls far below that 1999 figure, which would be $26.9 billion at current rates.
Still, the U.S. business has been growing steadily over the past several years, and streaming has settled into being a fairly consistent piece of the revenue pie: This marks the fourth straight year that overall streaming accounted for between 83% and 84% of revenue, showing that streaming and the overall revenue picture are growing in lockstep. Within the streaming category, paid subscription streaming accounted for $11.2 billion, or 78% of all streaming revenue, up 9% over the $10.2 billion it accounted for last year; and the average number of full-tier U.S. subscriptions grew 5.7% to 96.8 million, up from 91.6 million last year.
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However, limited-tier subscription revenue — the bucket into which Amazon Prime, Pandora Plus, fitness services and other paid subscriptions that don’t include access to full, on-demand catalogs falls — dropped 4% to $1.0 billion. Meanwhile, ad-supported streaming service revenue grew 2%, to $1.9 billion, up from $1.8 billion in 2022; and digital and customized radio revenue, which includes services like SiriusXM and SoundExchange distributions, picked up 8% year over year, to $1.3 billion. Synch revenue grew by a similar rate, up 7.4% to $411 million.
In terms of sales, digital downloads continued their slide, with revenue down 12.2% year-over-year to $434.1 million, now representing just 3% of the overall industry. On the flipside, physical sales once again surged, up 10.5% to $1.91 billion (from $1.73 billion last year). That was largely driven by vinyl sales growth, which was up 10.3% year over year to $1.35 billion in revenue — an increase from $1.22 billion in 2022, as units jumped to 43.2 million from 40.5 million. CD sales revenue also grew by double-digit percentages, increasing 11.3% to $537.1 million from a $482.6 million mark in 2022, even as the number of CDs sold fell. The format saw 37 million sales in 2023, down from 37.7 million the year prior, suggesting a rise in average price per unit year over year.
Overall, the percentage breakdown between digital revenue and physical revenue — 89% to 11% — remained essentially the same as it has since 2018, only fluctuating 1% one way or the other in the intervening years. At wholesale, overall revenue grew by 7%, up to $11 billion from last year’s $10.3 billion, marking the second straight year that metric crossed the $10 billion plateau.
For the fifth consecutive year, Australia’s recorded music industry posted growth in 2023 – all thanks to streaming and Aussies’ love of wax.
According to wholesale data published by ARIA, the nation’s record market lifted by 10.9% to A$676 million ($442 million), powered by subscriptions to music streaming brands.
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That rate of growth for Australia, a top 10 market, the IFPI confirms in its newly-published Global Music Report, is in line with international trends.
Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, and the full slate of subscription platforms now generate 69% of the industry’s total value, or $467.6 million ($305 million), up by 13.9% year-on-year, reports ARIA, the labels trade association.
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Also reporting gains for 2023 is the space for ad-supported streaming models, up 15.3% jump to $68.3 million ($44 million).
All digital products combined, including downloads and video streams, account for a sum upwards of A$616.1 million ($403 million), a 12% year-on-year lift. In other words, more than 90 cents in the record industry’s dollar is generated by digital.
Vinyl albums are an ongoing sweet spot, posting gains of 14.1% to A$42.1 million ($27 million), a sum more than twice that of the dwindling market for CD albums (A$17 million or $11 million, down 16%), for decades the record industry’s diesel engine. The rate of growth for vinyl, however, appears to be slowing.
An overall strong market report is masking a problem that Australia’s music community is trying desperately to crack — how to break more homegrown in Australia and abroad?
Where the IFPI’s GMR is flush with case studies on the success of Afrobeats, Latin music, K-pop, and blockbuster acts from North America and the U.K., acts from the land Down Under aren’t stealing the limelight.
“While Australia remains the 10th largest music market in the world – and Aussies clearly love music,” comments ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd, “it remains harder than ever for our local artists to reach these audiences.”
ARIA’s end-of-year charts “paint a clear picture of this,” notes Herd, with only four Australian albums impacting the top 100 for 2023, led by INXS‘ hits collection The Very Best (at No. 58), and three singles, none of which were released during the reporting period. The best-placed Australian artist on the year-end singles tally was The Kid Laroi with his 2021 Justin Bieber collaboration, “Stay.”
“Achieving cut-through becomes increasingly difficult for artists as the growth rate of subscription and ad supported streaming models continues to increase year on year,” notes Herd, “while nearly all other growth rates have eased compared to 2022.”
The Albanese federal government listened to the industry’s dilemmas, and, in 2023, activated Creative Australia, the centerpiece of the federal National Cultural Policy, Revive, which its architects hope will turn Australia into a music powerhouse.
Among the government’s promises is the launch of Music Australia, a reimagined national music development agency that would support and invest in the development of Australian contemporary music, and now led by founding director Millie Millgate. The Music Australia Council, effectively the Music Australia board, includes legendary concert promoter Michael Chugg and Future Classics founder and CEO Nathan McLay.
The government’s National Cultural Policy is an ambitious year-long action plan, structured around five interconnected pillars and underpinned by a commitment for new, additional investment totaling A$286 million (US$202 million) — record levels of arts funding. Music Australia alone is funded to the tune of A$69 million ($44 million) over four years.
“We are fortunate that compared to other major global markets, our growth rates paint a favorable picture for the future of music in Australia,” adds Herd. “Music is valuable, it is popular and it is growing. We look forward to working with the industry and government to ensure that message is heard and that value is increasingly used to support our incredible local talent.”
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Believe‘s board of directors on Monday (Mar. 25) asked Warner Music Group (WMG) to submit a formal bid for the French music company after stating that French financial regulators found an offer by a group that includes Believe CEO Denis Ladegaillerie violated certain securities rules. WMG said earlier this month that it approached Believe in […]
Music stocks’ performance this week was a microcosm of the entertainment industry this decade, with streaming companies making up the top four performers while legacy broadcasting stocks finished at the bottom of the heap.
Chinese music streaming company Tencent Music Entertainment rose 6.0% to $10.95 following the company’s encouraging full-year earnings results on Tuesday (Mar. 19). Although total revenue declined 2.1%, the online music part of the business is booming. Subscription revenue from QQ Music, Kuwo Music and Kugou Music increased 39.1% to $1.7 billion while the number of subscribers grew by 18.2 million to 106.7 million. Tencent Music shares reached a 52-week high of $11.80 on Thursday (Mar. 21) but dropped 4% on Friday (Mar. 22) following news that Zhenyu Xie, president/chief technology officer, tendered his resignation. Xie will be replaced on the board of directors by CFO Shirley Hu.
Spotify gained 3.9% to $264.95, bringing its year-to-date improvement to 41.0%. On Tuesday, the streaming company released its fourth annual Loud & Clear report, a breakdown of the prior year’s royalty payouts. In 2023, the number of artists who received at least $10,000 from Spotify increased 16% to 66,000 — 2.7 times more than the number who received that much in 2017. The number of artists who earned $1 million or more from Spotify rose 18% to 1,250.
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Two smaller companies posted even larger gains. Anghami shares rocketed 56.8% to $1.74 this week and reached as high as $2.20 after a regulatory filing revealed that Saudi media company MBC Group had amassed nearly a 14% stake in the Abu Dhabi-based music streamer. The investment helped give Anghami some breathing room after the Nasdaq warned in October that the stock faced delisting for closing under $1 for the prior 30 days. Anghami closed below $1 from Feb. 1 to Mar. 7 but has closed above $1 since Mar. 15.
LiveOne jumped 10.9% to $2.04 after announcing on Monday (Mar. 18) that it expects record quarterly revenue with the help of increased Tesla sales, 30 new podcasts and more than $2 million in monthly recurring revenue from clients in its B2B streaming business. Additionally, the company revealed that it repurchased $250,000 worth of stock in the previous 30 days and extinguished $3 million of payables of PodcastOne, the podcast company it spun off in September 2023.
Streaming companies’ gains helped the Billboard Global Music Index rise 1.3% to a record 1,719.66 this week, breaking a two-week skid and topping the previous record of 1,715.81 set the week ended Mar. 1. The 20-company index had an even number of winners and losers.
Major indexes rose to new heights after the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated the central bank still expected three interest rate cuts in 2024 despite a recent increase in inflation. In the United States, the Nasdaq composite rose 2.9% to 16,428.82, a new closing high, and reached an intraday high on Thursday. The S&P 500 finished the week up 2.3% to 5,234.18, even after falling 0.1% on Friday. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 gained 2.6% to 7,930.92. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 3.1% to 2,748.56. China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2% to 3,048.03.
Broadcasters were at the opposite end of the spectrum. The index’s biggest decliner was iHeartMedia, which fell 7.7% to $1.91. After a sluggish year for national advertising, iHeartMedia executives have predicted 2024 will be “a recovery year” and first-quarter revenue decline will be less severe than previous quarters. Maybe so, but investors have dropped its stock 28.5% year to date.
Two other radio companies were among the bottom four stocks. Cumulus Media shares fell 6.6% to $3.41 and are down 35.9% in the first 12 weeks of the year. Cumulus’ revenue was down 11.4% in 2023, and CEO Mary Berner warned investors in February that “choppy” ad demand limited its ability to forecast in 2024.
SiriusXM, which is optimistic about its redesigned streaming app, dropped 4.2% to $3.88 and has fallen 29.1% this year. Liberty Media, which owns 84% of SiriusXM’s outstanding shares, plans to merge the SiriusXM stock with the Liberty SiriusXM track stock later this year.
Nine sites that were selling fraudulent streams have been taken offline, according to IFPI and Music Canada.
IFPI, the worldwide recording industry association, and Music Canada, a trade group that represents major Canadian labels, filed a legal complaint with the Canadian Competition Bureau against the sites, accusing them of selling false plays and streams to manipulate streaming service data. The nine connected sites, the most popular of which used the domain name MRINSTA.com, have since gone offline (though you can still see them via the Wayback Machine).
“Streaming manipulation has no place in music,” stated Lauri Rechardt, the IFPI’s chief legal officer. “Perpetrators and enablers of streaming manipulation cannot be allowed to continue to divert revenue away from the artists who create the music.”
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As streaming has grown in popularity, so have efforts to game services’ royalty models. Vancouver-based fraud detection software company Beatdapp estimates that as many as 10% of music streams are fake. Fake streams are often generated through streaming farms, which use bots to automatically stream particular songs and boost their stats.
Canada recorded 145.3 billion streams in 2023. – Rosie Long Decter
Warner Music Canada’s Head of A&R Leaves to Start New Management Company, SWING
It was only January of this year that Victoria, B.C. pop-funk artist Diamond Cafe announced his signing to Warner Music Canada. Now, George Kalivas, the man who signed him, is breaking off on his own to manage him — and building a whole new company around the singer.
SWING is launching as a Toronto-based management company with Diamond Cafe as its first artist, though Kalivas says the eventual plan is to “evolve into a full-service record label in no time.”
Kalivas started in marketing at Warner Canada seven years ago, handling domestic artists signed to the label and international releases signed to subsidiaries like Atlantic and 300. But he had “one foot in A&R,” he says, which became official two years ago when Kristen Burke became label president.
His first signing was Crash Adams, a Canadian pop duo known for viral TikTok trends. After the joint launch of 91 North Records by Warner Canada and Warner India, Kalivas helped sign the label’s second artist, AR Paisley. A long-simmering Canadian rapper, Paisley hit the top 10 of the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 this year with “Drippy,” a posthumous collaboration with the late Punjabi-Canadian superstar Sidhu Moose Wala.
But it was Diamond Cafe who made him realize the time was right to strike off on his own, Kalivas says. “I haven’t seen a triple threat artist like him — writer, performer and producer — in 15 years,” he says. “He’s next level.”
As publishing and song catalogues become a major money-maker in the music industry, artists like Diamond Cafe who can work both in front of and behind the scenes are getting scouted heavily. For SWING, it’s enough to structure a whole new company around. – Richard Trapunski
Texas Songwriter Livingston Debuts on the Canadian Hot 100 With ‘Shadow’
Texas singer-songwriter Livingston is making a splash on the Canadian charts this week.
The 21-year-old has landed on the Canadian Hot 100 for the first time, with his single “Shadow” debuting at No. 100. The ominous tarck, which finds Livingston warning about the dangers we pose to ourselves, shows off his belt and falsetto over keyboard stabs and jittery percussion. “Shadow” is also performing well on the iTunes charts and has gathered over a million YouTube views since its Mar. 7 release.
Livingston’s new album, A Hometown Odyssey, also found a spot on the Canadian Albums chart this week, debuting at No. 92. Livingston first gained popularity as a teenager on TikTok during the pandemic and signed shortly thereafter with Elektra records. His website states that he “reclaimed his independence” from his major label deal a year ago; Hometown Odyssey is independently released.
Independence seems to suit Livingston well. Though he isn’t charting on the U.S. Hot 100 or Billboard 200 yet, sometimes rising American artists — like Benson Boone — perform better in Canada before gaining steam in the United States. – Rosie Long Decter
It’s time for another spin around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music.
Singer-songwriter Tyler Hubbard (known for his work as part of Florida Georgia Line as well as solo hits including “5 Foot 9”) launched the music publishing company Haylo Music. It will be run by general manager Josh Saxe, formerly of J C Saxe Creative Consulting. Saxe will work with Hubbard to facilitate the daily songwriting strategy of the company’s publishing and creative services roster. A Belmont University graduate, Saxe launched his career as an associate director of A&R at Round Hill Music and rose to a senior director role. In 2019, he joined Endurance Music Group, managing a songwriter roster that included Matt Stell, Paul Sikes and Seth Alley. – Jessica Nicholson
Tencent Music Entertainment announced that Zhenyu Xie, the company’s president/chief technology officer, among other roles, is resigning from his executive positions as well as his role as a member of the board of directors. A press release states the resignation is “for personal reasons” and will be effective Mar. 31; Xie will continue serving as a consultant to the company. Additionally, the board has appointed Tencent Music CFO Min Hu (a.k.a. Shirley Hu) as a director of the company, effective Mar. 31. – Chris Eggertsen
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UMG Nashville hired Jake Gear as vp of A&R. Gear brings more than a decade of experience as a publisher, producer and writer manager to the role. The Belmont University graduate began his career in CMT’s music and licensing department before heading to publishing posts at Magic Mustang Music, Sea Gayle Music and BMG. He later launched the creative publishing venture Hang Your Hat Music with Concord Music and Songwriter Hall of Famer Hillary Lindsey. Gear has also acted as a writer manager for Lindsey and produced albums by Flatland Cavalry, Hailey Whitters and others. – Jessica Nicholson
Gonzalo Rangel stepped into a new role at WK Records as vp of A&R and marketing. The Puerto Rican executive — who has been managing breakout acts including Mexican regional-pop star Ramón Vega and Puerto Rican alt-pop singer Robi since 2017 — will now be responsible for “leading the label’s artistic discovery and development, in addition to overseeing all marketing efforts for its frontline roster,” the WK team tells Billboard. “I am glad to be able to form part of The WK team as the label continues into its fourth year. I look forward to contributing my expertise and leading the new generation of music here at WK Records,” says Rangel. His accomplishments include contributions to the 2022 hit song “Pantysito” by Alejo, Feid and Robi as well as facilitating collaborations for Vega with industry heavyweights such as Carin León, Jasiel Nuñez and mariacheño superstar Christian Nodal. Rangel’s prowess was further evidenced when he secured Vega as an opening act for CNCO‘s farewell tour leg in Mexico and nurtured the development of emerging Puerto Rican producer OG Flamez. Rangel will be reporting to Horacio Rodriguez, CEO of WK Records. – Isabela Raygoza
Stem added two new staff members, welcoming Nima Khalilian as head of international, artist & label strategy and Didi Purcell in an artist & label partnerships role. Khalilian joins Stem from Interscope, where he spent six years as the senior director of international marketing. Purcell joins from SoundOn, TikTok’s music distribution and artist services platform, where she worked as part of the artist & label partnerships team. Prior to SoundOn, Purcell oversaw pop & dance/electronic playlisting at Interscope. – Jessica Nicholson
The TBA Agency, which represents artists including Courtney Barnett, CHVRCHES and Mora, revealed several promotions and hires in New York and Los Angeles. New York-based Katie Nowak was promoted to vp of marketing and partnerships, while L.A.-based Corynne Fernandez transitioned from marketing and partnerships coordinator to director of marketing and artist development. Additionally, Ashley Torres was promoted to marketing and partnerships coordinator. TBA is also teaming with creative services consultancy The Department, founded by Jack Pitney and Kosta Elchev, to foster creative opportunities for the roster. Elsewhere, Nina Moss joined TBA as a marketing assistant. Agents Marshall Betts, Avery McTaggart, Amy Davidman, Ryan Craven and Devin Landau launched the agency in 2020. – Jessica Nicholson
Sarah Scales was named senior director of digital at Activist Artists Management. In the new role, she will be tasked with creating and executing digital marketing strategies for artists on the Activist roster, including Weyes Blood, The Pretty Reckless, Empire of the Sun and The Lumineers. She is based in the firm’s Nashville office. Prior to boarding Activist, Scales spent six years developing and implementing promotional campaigns for global brands and artists at Marbaloo Marketing and Q Management Group. – Chris Eggertsen
Guitar Center named Kristin Shane executive vp/chief merchandising and marketing officer. Reporting to CEO Gabe Dalporto, Shane will oversee the integration of the company’s marketing and merchandising functions to enhance the customer experience. She will also be responsible for product, promotions, visual merchandising, omni-channel experience and activations. Shane comes to Guitar Center from PetSmart, where she was senior vp/chief merchandising officer. – Chris Eggertsen
Aiden Cullen and Alex Gruszynski launched NOVA, a curated creative freelance network and marketplace designed to connect creatives with job opportunities across multiple mediums. NOVA soft-launched as a private Instagram account last year and has since filled approximately 7,500 jobs, according to the company, which says creative executives from companies including Apple, Capitol Records, Interscope Records and Spotify are “followers” of the platform. The NOVA app allows creatives to display their portfolios, grow their networks, display contact information for their representatives and more. Clients can do things like filter and search the platform’s directory of creatives, post jobs, manage applications, and create and organize talent lists that they can refer to when the time comes to fill future roles. – Chris Eggertsen
Róisín Warner was named head of marketing at Blackstar Agency. She was most recently a senior marketing manager at Believe and previously held roles at Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. The company’s former head of marketing, Breyner Baptista, is stepping into a new role on the board of the agency as non-executive director of A&R. – Chris Eggertsen
Last Week’s Turntable: WMG Vet Takes Temp CEO Role at Deezer
A group of companies representing Spotify, Deezer, Epic Games and others, applauded the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit filed against Apple on Thursday (March 21), calling it a “strong stand against Apple’s stranglehold” on mobile apps.
“[Apple] stifles competition and hurts American consumers and developers alike,” Rick VanMeter, executive director for The Coalition for App Fairness (CAF), said in a statement. “As this case unfolds in the coming years more must be done now to end the anticompetitive practices of all mobile app gatekeepers.”
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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In its sweeping lawsuit filed in New Jersey federal court on Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department alleged that Apple violated antitrust laws by undermining apps and products that could compete with Apple or that could make customers less reliant on its iPhone systems, such as its digital wallet.
The U.S. case follows similar legal actions brought against Apple in the European Union, the United Kingdom and Asia, and it addresses some of the Apple policies that Spotify founder/CEO Daniel Ek has railed against for years.
“There’s global consensus that Apple’s abuses of its monopoly power have stifled innovation and threaten the digital economy,” Avery Gardiner, a lawyer and competition policy advocate for Spotify, wrote on X. “The DOJ case makes it clear that Apple harms the developers and creators who are hard at work to build the very best products and services for consumers.”
Both CAF and Gardiner acknowledged the DOJ’s case will take time to have any impact, and they urged Congress to pass The Open App Markets Act, a bill Ek has lobbied for since it was introduced in August 2021.
The Open App Markets Act would bar Apple, Google and other app stores with more than 50 million users from forcing app developers to use their payment systems as a condition of distribution. It would also block app store owners from punishing app developers if they extend deals to customers or offer their app for lower prices elsewhere.
Ek has argued that Apple and others act as anti-competitive gatekeepers because the terms required for inclusion in their app stores prevent Spotify and others from telling consumers about potentially cheaper bundle options, like Spotify’s duo and family plans. Currently, Spotify has to send customers to its website to sign up for those plans.
The Justice Department’s case also seeks for Apple to loosen restrictions on its messaging tools and to add features to the Apple wallet. Gardiner and CAF praised the case for what they described as an attempt to level the playing field.
“Competition is the foundation of innovation, and [this case] represents the latest step in the fight for a fair and competitive internet,” Gardiner wrote.
As the Grand Ole Opry approaches its 100th anniversary, vp/executive producer Dan Rogers will take on expanded duties in his new role as senior vp/executive producer of the esteemed institution.
The 26-year Opry veteran will continue to oversee all aspects of the more than 225 shows at the Opry each year. “I really do take it as a pat on the back for what our entire team has been able to accomplish and what we’re in the middle of,” the self-effacing executive tells Billboard of his promotion, which is effective immediately “But there’s still so much I want to be a part of with the Opry before it’s my time to let somebody else take the reins.”
When Rogers took the reins as vp/executive producer in 2019, he couldn’t have imagined the challenges ahead. “The COVID pandemic hit seven or eight months into me being in this position. I was really thankful that I wasn’t new to the Opry when that hit,” says Rogers, who started at the Opry as an intern in 1998 and has held positions in artist relations, communication, marketing, production and tours.
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“We just assumed the flood of 2010 would be the most devastating thing and the most challenging time in our careers,” Rogers says, referencing the historic flood that devastated Nashville as the Cumberland River rose over its banks and filled the Grand Ole Opry House with 10 feet of water. “But it was truly the uncertainty and just the sadness of COVID that made it so difficult for us.”
Nevertheless, the Grand Ole Opry continued, and artists performed 29 Saturday nights without a live audience during the COVID pandemic, never missing a performance. Fans all over the world continued to enjoy the nearly 100-year-old show as they tuned in to the Opry Live broadcast and livestream.
Under Rogers’ leadership, the Opry welcomes a wide range of performers — both newcomers and established superstars, as well as acts who fall outside of country. For example, “American Pie” singer Don McLean made his Opry debut Mar. 9.
“Mr. Rogers, or Opry Dan, as we still lovingly call him, is so effective simply because he absolutely loves the Opry and everyone connected with it. It is his passion, and it shows,” says Jeannie Seely, a 58-year member of the Opry, who was Rogers first assignment as an intern, when he was charged with taking her and her dog, Shadpoke, to the welcome center to greet fans. “Dan is the perfect choice for this important position. He understands the broad spectrum of the Opry. He has the pulse of what’s happening in the music industry today and how it pertains to the Opry. At the same time, because of his lifelong love for this institution, he knows the history and the legendary artists who have created it. His mix of the two provides a show that can only be found at the Grand Ole Opry. The future of this country music treasure is safe in his hands.”
Trisha Yearwood, who celebrated her 25th anniversary as an Opry member on Mar. 13, agrees. “Dan has always understood the family that the Opry is, and he does everything with a smile. He even brings homemade apple pie backstage! I’m so happy to see him move up in our Opry family.”
Since Rogers took the helm as executive producer in 2019, 15 artists have been inducted as Grand Ole Opry members, and T. Graham Brown and Scotty McCreery will be inducted this spring. Last year set a record for Opry debuts, as 131 artists performed on the famed stage for the first time. During the past two years, there have been more than 200 debuts. “If you made me pick a favorite debut, it would probably be Leslie Jordan because that man brought so much love into this Opry House when he walked in,” Rogers recalls of the late actor/singer. “He had so much respect for this place and was determined to have the night of his life from the minute he walked in.”
During his tenure, the Xenia, Ill., native has executive produced Dolly Parton’s 50th Opry anniversary special, Grand Ole Opry: 95 Years of Great Country Music and Christmas at the Opry, which all aired on NBC; as well as the Opry’s 5,000th Saturday night broadcast on Oct. 30, 2022, and the 50th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry House, which took place the weekend of Mar. 16.
“We went into the night, and I said to our programming staff, ‘One thing we should try to accomplish tonight is all of us should take time to enjoy the show, have fun and tell these artists we love them because this feels like a monumental show,’” he says of the 50th anniversary of the Opry House moving to its current building in 1974. “I loved just standing on the side of the stage and watching people from Bill Anderson, who has been here and served the Opry longer than any member in history, to relatively new Opry members all just enjoying being here and feeling like they were at home.”
Rogers’ duties include serving as executive producer for the weekly Opry Live broadcast and live-stream. He will add new executive producer roles on upcoming international and domestic broadcasts, especially those related to the Grand Ole Opry’s 100th year on the air in 2025.
There’s palpable excitement in Rogers’ voice when he talks about celebrating the Opry’s 100th anniversary. “Our goal would be to do up to 240 Opry performances next year, the network television specials and a couple of monumental shows, probably outside of Nashville,” he says. “We’re taking the Opry to some unexpected places in addition to really having a show almost any time a Nashvillian wants to come see us or anyone is coming from around the world. If you spend two nights in Nashville, [we’re] pretty sure at least one of those nights we’ll be staging the Grand Ole Opry for you.”
Though the Grand Ole Opry’s actual centennial is in November 2025, the festivities will begin long before. “We’ll begin celebrating about this time next year and will continue basically as long as people will let us,” Rogers says with a laugh. “There are so many artists we want to showcase and partners we want to partner with, it really will take several months for us to accomplish all that we want to accomplish, but we also want to give people plenty of opportunities to come see us if you are a spring traveler or summer traveler, fall, winter or what have you.”
Rogers says there are plans for special exhibits and specific tours celebrating the Opry’s 100th, which he expects will draw more than 250,000 visitors. “You will also know that it’s a really, really special year when you walk through either on a tour or as an artist walking through on a show night,” he says.
There are also plans for shows that will honor Grand Ole Opry legends who have died such as Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl.
Rogers quarterbacks a staff that includes the Opry’s programming and artist relations team’s associate producers Nicole Judd and Gina Keltner, as well as artist relations and programming strategy director Jordan Pettit.
After all these years, Rogers says he still gets a thrill on show nights. “My favorite thing is walking to the side of the stage and watching the curtain go up and seeing 4,400 people out there and knowing for some of them it’s a bucket list moment,” he says. “There’s probably some little kid from southern Illinois who had never dreamed that they would be where I am and there are probably lots of Trisha Yearwoods, Lainey Wilsons and John Pardis out there, just taking it all in and thinking, ‘I’m going to be on that stage someday.’”