Business
Page: 104
SESAC Music Group has acquired media software and services company HAAWK, which specializes in copyright management and the monetization of indie music, film, television and video catalogs. HAAWK (Helping All Assets With Knowledge) offers full-service admin of YouTube’s Content ID system and Facebook’s Rights manager platforms, including Instagram. HAAWK will also operate alongside Audio Salad […]
There’s no disputing that concert tickets are more expensive than ever, with prices rising faster in the last three years than any previous period. Most of the major players in the concert business have recognized the rapid double-digit increase since the end of the pandemic, but few agree on what’s causing prices to spike or whether the increase represents a real problem.
“It’s like going to Disneyland on a really packed day and wondering, ‘How can so many people afford to be here right now?’” says Jed Weitzman, a ticket-pricing expert who specializes in the concert business. “Part of you wonders how a family of four can afford to be there, and yet, clearly, there’s no shortage of people willing to pay to get in.”
This year, the median ticket price to see one of the top 40 highest-grossing tours of 2024 — playing arenas and stadiums — will cost fans $151, according to data compiled by Billboard Boxscore. Three years from now, in 2027, the average cost of such a tour ticket is on track to hit $200 due to steady year-over-year increases to see in-demand top-tier acts like U2, The Weeknd, Sabrina Carpenter and Billy Joel.
Trending on Billboard
Prior to the pandemic, the price of admission to a top 40 concert had increased 3% to 4% a year, according to Billboard Boxscore. That number more than doubled when touring resumed, increasing an average 9.9% annually. A recent study from Torsten Sløk, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, concluded that tickets were increasing at about 11% a year.
Billboard
The reason for the price increase is less straightforward. Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter, attributes the escalation largely to the inflationary costs of global business in 2024. It also contends that tickets to see superstar talent, whether it be Oasis, Beyoncé or Bruce Springsteen, have long been underpriced by image-conscious artists who don’t want their fans to accuse them of price-gouging.
The problem with this argument, say officials with the U.S. Department of Justice who have filed a historic antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation, is that it ignores the structural advantages the megapromoter enjoys against nearly all of its competitors. Prices are rising, the government claims, because Live Nation can outbid its rivals by overpaying for touring talent and making up its losses in the concert promotion sector through its affiliated businesses: venue ownership, Ticketmaster and sponsorships.
The government argues that by overpaying for talent, Live Nation is also passing on these increased costs to consumers through higher prices. The problem with this theory, many concert experts argue, is that it oversimplifies the economics of touring and lets the government off the hook for its failure to enforce the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, which was signed into law in 2016 to thwart mass ticketbuying by scalpers using bots.
That failure to rein in the illegal use of software and hacking tools — which lead to huge markups on the secondary market — these experts contend, has created a pricing crisis that has made accessing tickets to popular tours at face value practically impossible. In a piece on StubHub’s postponed initial public offering earlier this year, longtime music analyst Chris Castle alleged that the wholesale use of bots to acquire and sell concert tickets “is not a theoretical antitrust case,” but one “dealing with real-time massive consumer fraud” that’s “perpetuated and funded by the public financial markets.”
WME agent Kirk Sommer, whose artist clients include Bruno Mars, The Killers, Adele and Hozier, says he’s cognizant of what other artists are charging for tickets, but fans tend to evaluate concerts on a case-by-case basis and are less concerned about pricing trends.
“I’m never focused on creating one price for a tour that is going to satisfy an artist’s fans,” Sommer explains. “The goal is always to create a wide range of opportunities that fans from all income levels can buy into. It’s important there is something for everyone.”
This has been a season of milestones at the colleges and universities preparing young people for careers in the music business.
At New York University (NYU), the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music marked its 20th anniversary in April — on the very day one of its most successful alums, Maggie Rogers, announced her first arena tour.
Middle Tennessee State University’s Department of Recording Industry granted its first degree 50 years ago and has since graduated 7,500 “industry-ready alumni,” declares the school’s anniversary announcement. “MTSU is truly a unique place where students are nurtured, inspired and challenged,” says Beverly Keel, dean of the university’s College of Media and Entertainment.
Other schools are writing new chapters in the story of music business education, often with the support of industry benefactors.
Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business is planning a major expansion on Nashville’s Music Row with a significant donation from the Mike Curb Family Foundation. Occidental College has launched the John Branca Institute for Music with a gift from the renowned music attorney, who is an alum of the liberal arts college in Los Angeles’ Eagle Rock neighborhood. At Syracuse University in New York, the Bandier Program for Recording and Entertainment Industries — endowed by music publishing veteran Martin Bandier — is adding a master’s program.
Trending on Billboard
At a time when diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have come under attack, Howard University in Washington, D.C., has pushed back — with a program endowed by Warner Music Group and the Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund. At one of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, Howard’s program offers students a unique certification: Social Justice in the Music Industry for Leaders.
Billboard chooses its top music business schools based on industry recommendations, alumni information provided by honorees from our multiple power lists, information requested from each school and nearly a decade of reporting on these programs. While online education programs have proliferated, our choices are campus-based and bestow bachelor’s or associate degrees.
The schools here are not ranked; they are listed alphabetically. “Rankings have created an unhealthy obsession with selectivity,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a 2023 speech. He noted the U.S. Department of Education “hosts a free online tool called the College Scorecard to help students and families make more informed decisions. The scorecard provides data on college costs, graduation rates, employment, student debt and more.”
Recognizing the significant financial challenge of higher education, Billboard has prioritized the selection of more affordable public colleges and universities. And this list is geographically diverse. Beyond music industry capitals, tomorrow’s executives study at Auburn University in Alabama, Baldwin Wallace University outside Cleveland, Delta State University in Mississippi and the State University of New York in Oneonta, N.Y.
At the 20th-anniversary party for the program he endowed at NYU, Clive Davis, chief creative officer for Sony Music Entertainment, may well have been speaking for all who enroll in the schools profiled here when he said, “What is my fond hope for the future? I hope students continue to find success and really emerge as the leaders in the 21st-century music business.”
Abbey Road InstituteLondon
In the decade since it was established as a music production school by Abbey Road Studios and the studio’s owner, Universal Music Group, the institute has created affiliated programs across Europe and in the United States, Australia and South Africa. The institute’s specialist music production program provides hands-on practical training in all areas of music production, engineering and music-making. Its courses are designed in collaboration with the industry to offer a fast-paced and intensive education that reflects the realities of the business. Its alums have earned multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy Award nominations. According to the school, over 90% of the graduates of the program in London secure industry-related jobs within six months of graduation.
Event: Among the numerous engineers and producers who have been guest speakers at the institute is Phill Brown, a veteran of sessions with Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Traffic, Cat Stevens and Bob Marley.
American University (Business & Entertainment Program)Washington, D.C.
Housed in American University’s Kogod School of Business, this business and entertainment program offers core classes in marketing, accounting and finance alongside specialized courses taught by entertainment industry veterans. Students of Linda Bloss-Baum, formerly of Warner Music Group and currently at SoundExchange, attend South by Southwest each March, and this year, they helped promote a National Independent Venue Association showcase. The program recently welcomed adjunct professor David Hughes, former chief technology officer at RIAA, and has now incorporated artificial intelligence into all of its classes. Beyond benefiting from the school’s location in the nation’s capital, students can join annual trips to Los Angeles, Nashville and New York, where stops have included CAA, Sony Music Entertainment, WME and UTA.
Courses: The business and entertainment program is launching two new classes: one that explores issues regarding name, image and likeness rights in the age of AI and Entertainment Accounting, which will be taught by industry veteran Steven Ambers, formerly vp of corporate development at SOCAN.
Auburn University (Music Studies Program)Auburn, Ala.
One of the state’s flagship public universities, Auburn is constructing a 4,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art recording studio situated within the music studies complex at Goodwin Hall on the campus. That building also houses two performing spaces. Auburn’s music department has become the second-fastest-growing department within its College of Liberal Arts. Following the introduction in recent years of majors in commercial music and composition and technology, the university last year created a new music business minor. Students in the program have interned at companies including Sony Music, Universal Music Group and CAA and worked backstage on tour with James Taylor. Sony Nashville CEO Randy Goodman was a recent speaker at the Music Business Association, a student organization.Alums Derek Crownover, a partner at Loeb & Loeb; Jennifer Bohler of Alliance Artist and Media Relations; and saxophonist Khari Allen Lee, who is a professor of practice at the university.
Sony Nashville CEO Randy Goodman with Oakley Holmes,
an Auburn University graduate and member of the school’s Auburn Music Industry Network who is now the label’s digital marketing and artist development coordinator.
Sony Nashville
Baldwin Wallace UniversityBerea, Ohio
Located 15 miles from downtown Cleveland, the city that proudly calls itself the birthplace of rock’n’roll, Baldwin Wallace has helped prepare students for successful careers in the business for more than three decades, offering a bachelor of arts in music industry. Named as an educational affiliate of the Grammy Museum in 2021, the school is the alma mater of Music Asset Management founder and CEO Mary Jo Mennella and Live Nation Midwest region vp of regional marketing Katie Rose and a frequent stop for industry executives including recent speaker Rick Fagan, tour manager for Disturbed. Students also benefit from a large roster of internship partners ranging from Blossom Music Center to Beachland Ballroom & Tavern to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Event: In spring 2024, students in the Music Industry II course traveled to New York to meet with industry professionals from BMI, The Bowery Presents, Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall and Carl Fischer Music.
Belmont University (Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business)Nashville
In April, Belmont University received a $58 million gift from the foundation of music executive and philanthropist Mike Curb for the expansion of its program that bears his name. The largest gift in the school’s history will support the renovation of existing buildings and construction of a state-of-the-art facility on Nashville’s Music Row. Offering bachelor’s degrees in music business and business administration, Belmont provides students direct access to Nashville’s thriving music scene as well as “Belmont USA” semesters in Los Angeles, New York or Atlanta. Organizations like the Showcase Series let students work with vendors to produce six arena shows throughout the year. Notable classes include Intro to the Creator Economy — taught by Andrew Graham, CAA’s head of digital corporate advisory and partnerships, and CAA agent Chris Wittine — which melds social, video and monetization.
Event: In April, the inaugural Belmont at the Opry convened songwriters and performers including alums Trisha Yearwood, Brad Paisley, Ashley Gorley and Hillary Lindsey.
Berklee College of MusicBoston
Alongside its long-standing bachelor of music business program that focuses on management, marketing and entrepreneurship, Berklee now offers a bachelor of arts program in music industry leadership and innovation, designed for nonmusicians with an interest in music, business and technology. Both offer ample guest speakers, industry partnerships, on-campus events and networking opportunities. In partnership with SALXCO/XO Records, students in the Trends and Special Topics course prepare a customized branding and social media campaign for a recording artist. The Berklee Popular Music Institute’s flagship BPMI live program offers a yearlong experience in which students scout, develop and tour with emerging artists. The school’s music business summer program, open to students ages 15 to 19, is a five-day experience designed to teach aspiring artists, managers and entrepreneurs how to launch a successful career in the music industry.
Event: This year, the Music Business/Management department hosted its 30th annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture Series, featuring TuneCore CEO Andreea Gleeson.
Berklee College of MusicValencia, Spain
Students who want a global view of the industry join with peers from more than 20 countries for Berklee’s one-year master of arts in global entertainment and music business program in Valencia. The program offers three concentrations — live entertainment, entrepreneurship and record industry — and students also work on real-life projects including the on-campus record label Disrupción Records, with the Rototom Music Festival or with companies including Chartmetric, Warner Music Group, Warm and Audiense. Courses include Emerging Technologies and New Creative Frontiers, which covers tech from AI to metaverse communities, and Music Publishing and Music Supervision. The Berklee Global Career Summit, held annually in January, is a four-day boot camp focused on professional development and career paths through keynotes, panels, workshops and mentoring sessions.
Alums: EMPIRE marketing director Alán Hensley, TikTok agency solutions lead Aman Wadhwa and Warner Chappell Music A&R manager Andres Arenas.
BIMM University (BIMM Music Institute)London
BIMM Music Institute is a division of BIMM University, a group of colleges given full university status by Britain’s Department for Education in 2022. The university offers courses in music, film, performing arts and gaming at the bachelor’s and master’s levels. It has a 40-year history of offering students a hands-on education in state-of-the-art facilities and a wide network of industry connections. BIMM Music Institute now operates in London, Brighton, Bristol, Manchester and Birmingham, England, as well as Dublin and Berlin. It offers bachelor’s degrees in the music business; music marketing, media and communications; and event management.
Events: Speakers have included Glastonbury Festival co-founder Michael Eavis, Chic’s Nile Rodgers, members of the band IDLES (who are also alums) and British rapper Stormzy.
The BRIT SchoolCroydon, England
Co-founded in 1991 by the British government and the British Record Industry Trust (the charitable division of U.K. labels trade group BPI, which presents the BRIT Awards), The BRIT School offers a tuition-free education for students ages 14 to 19 for careers in performance and creative arts and related industries. It has specialist teachers in live sound, production, recording, music technology and business. The school has two working venues on-site and also houses the Sir George Martin Recording Studio, plus audiovisual hubs with professional standard equipment and the YouTube Music Studio for live broadcast and radio. Speakers have included Sony Music Entertainment U.K. chairman Jason Iley and Billy Bragg, who came to celebrate 40 years since the release of his Life’s a Riot album and discuss his career with the students.
Alums: Adele, RAYE, Amy Winehouse and Loyle Carner.
California Institute of the Arts (The Herb Alpert School of Music)Santa Clarita, Calif.
Every student at CalArts’ Herb Alpert School of Music engages in some aspect of creating music, even those who intend to pursue nonperforming roles. The school, which is rooted in experimentation and diverse approaches to arts and culture, believes this depth of exploration equips students to be more informed about their work after graduation. On campus, students benefit from teachers and mentors with a breadth of knowledge and passions. Simon Reynolds, a faculty member in the Experimental Pop program and author of Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984, among other titles, teaches the new Writing About Music course that examines critical writing about popular music. Laurel Halo — a composer, producer, live musician and DJ — joined the faculty in fall 2022.
Course: AI Sonic Explorations features hands-on workshops exploring the critical, speculative and practical ways of applying AI to working with sound and musical composition.
California State University, NorthridgeLos Angeles
Cal State Northridge offers classes including copyright law, recording contract formation and negotiation, and marketing, as well as a two-semester course that covers copyright, publishing, licensing and music industry contracts. To ensure students have the skills they need for careers in the industry, the school also emphasizes experiential education, from its student-run record label to its robust internship requirement and deep connections with Los Angeles-based industry professionals, who often visit the campus for panel discussions, guest lectures and mentoring. A recent screening of the documentary Immediate Family, about the hit-making L.A. studio musicians Leland Sklar, Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Waddy Wachtel, was followed by a Q&A with director Denny Tedesco, who also directed the documentary The Wrecking Crew.
Alums: Mike Elizondo, Grammy-winning songwriter, producer and instrumentalist; artist Andy Grammer; and Andy Summers, guitarist for The Police.
Delta State University (Delta Music Institute)Cleveland, Miss.
Graduates of Delta State’s Delta Music Institute who earn a bachelor of science degree in entertainment industry studies enter the music business with a range of skills in entrepreneurship and audio engineering technology. The program’s small size enables more personal instruction and one-to-one connections, and students benefit from the institute’s breadth of industry partnerships. It’s an education partner of the Grammy Museum Mississippi, an Avid Learning partner offering Pro Tools certification, a Dolby Institute academic partner and a Grammy U affiliate. It frequently hosts music industry experts, including recent guests Robert Ellis Orrall, founder of Infinity Cat Records; Charles Newman, co-founder of Mother West Records; and Matt-Ross Spang, recording engineer and studio owner.
Alums: Ike Illoegbu, owner of Brooklyn-based i2 Mastering Studios, and Zack Woodard, program coordinator at Grammy Museum Mississippi.
Drexel University (Westphal College of Media Arts and Design)Philadelphia
Program-specific classes begin freshman year at Drexel’s Westphal College, where students take on courses ranging from 50 Years of Hip Hop to Women in the Music Industry to classes focused on marketing and promotion, entrepreneurship, media promotion, live music and more. The quick immersion provides a foundation for the school’s co-op program, through which all students spend six months working in the field. The program also publishes a zine featuring student-conducted interviews with Drexel alums working in the music industry, sponsors a collegiate chapter of Women in Music and houses FLUX, a student-run organization that produces live-music events on campus.
Event: A group of Drexel students visited the Universal Music Group offices in New York and heard from executives including Jordan Moran, director of audience growth and marketing at Universal Music Enterprises, and Sarah Tully, manager of commercial strategy and partnerships at Island Records.
Full Sail UniversityWinter Park, Fla.
Artists including Elvis Costello and Aoife O’Donovan and executives such as Sony Music Latin vp of A&R Alejandro Jiménez and MOXIE Nashville founder Vannesia Darby have recently spoken at Full Sail, whose music business program hosts frequent full-day workshops on industry-related topics like branding, AI, social media, live events and career paths. Many times, these sessions also include guests representing a diverse range of industry disciplines. The recent Hip Hop Music Industry Panel brought Goodie Mob’s T-Mo, GYMINI and Vinny Idol to the school. Students gain hands-on experience through the program’s Artist Development initiative, where they assist working artists in areas including social media support, marketing content creation, music video development and promotion.
Course: In Music Supervision, students learn how to serve as a creative liaison between the music industry and the visual-media industries, including film, TV, gaming and advertising.
Hofstra UniversityHempstead, N.Y.
Enrollment in Hofstra’s music business program increased by more than 300% from 2017 to 2023, and its offerings have expanded accordingly. A new series of six-week courses — taught by executives including Atlantic Records senior vp of international marketing Danielle Geiger and Thirty Tigers vp of A&R Lee Dannay — focuses on four different topics per semester. Students in the Promotion in the Music Industry course create a marketing plan for an artist and present it to a jury of industry professionals. Students also participate in internships at Live Nation, ASCAP, SoundCloud and Wasserman, to name a few, and benefit from more than 50 speakers who visit campus annually, such as recent guest Rich Holtzman, AEG Presents senior vp of marketing and artist development.
Event: In March, Hofstra hosted a Mental Health in the Music Industry panel featuring Geiger, Sound Mind Live executive director Chris Bullard and Rock Star Advocate founder Suz Paulinski.
Howard University (Warner Music/Blavatnik Center for Music Business)Washington, D.C.
Unique in its curriculum designed to foster innovation, positive change and social justice, Howard’s music business program offers industry support, mentorship, career development opportunities and global reach. It was endowed in 2021 with a $4.9 million gift from Warner Music Group and the Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund and provides students with wide access to industry professionals and resources. Students graduate with a Chartmetric Data Analytics certification and the first-ever Social Justice in the Music Industry for Leaders certification. The program has hosted over 55 executive and artist speakers this past year. Its reach extends to Ghana, where a partnership with the local government facilitates artist exchanges and industry mixers. Partners including CAA, Wasserman, RIAA and The Tom Joyner Foundation offer internships and job placement opportunities.
Event: The program’s director, Jasmine Young, received the 2024 Howard Forward Award and the Changemaker Award for cultivating positive and effective change schoolwide. She also spoke at the inaugural West Africa Music & Arts Festival in Accra, Ghana.
Jasmine Young is director of the Warner Music/Blavatnik Center for Music Business at Howard University.
Justin Knight
Kennesaw State University (Joel A. Katz Music and Entertainment Business Program)Kennesaw, Ga.
Endowed by — and taking its name from — leading entertainment lawyer Katz, the program at Kennesaw State offers a 24-credit certificate program and an 18-credit undergraduate minor for those seeking careers in the entertainment business. Experiential offerings abound. For more than a decade, Katz MEBUS students have worked with Sixthman to create marketing plans for the company’s music festivals and aid its work with Norwegian Cruises. A partnership with Dolby enables students to train in the latest technologies, and the program’s annual trip to London features meetings with executives at Sony Music Entertainment, Abbey Road Studios, Universal Music Group, Dolby, Royal Albert Hall and others. Each year, MEBUS students also develop digital marketing strategies inside the Sony Entertainment boardroom to help launch emerging artists.
Faculty: Bryan Calhoun — head of digital strategy for Blueprint Group/Maverick who has developed digital initiatives for Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, T.I. and The Roots — is serving as executive-in-residence at the program.
Liverpool Institute for the Performing ArtsLiverpool, England
Co-founded in 1996 by Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty (who retired as principal/CEO in 2021 and was succeeded by Sean McNamara), LIPA’s student body comprises musicians, dancers, engineers, producers, technicians, designers and filmmakers, all honing their talents in world-class facilities. Those planning nonperforming careers can follow a music industry management track taught by faculty with experience in performing, producing, managing and record-label ownership. The curriculum begins in its first year by teaching essential management skills before students begin specializing. In their second year, they can work on a three-week, student-run music festival, 2ube Extra, staged in The Paul McCartney Auditorium. Their third year brings a three-month placement at leading companies including Warner Music and Live Nation, which often leads to full-time employment.
Event: In May, Björn Ulvaeus — composer, songwriter, musician, producer and founding member of ABBA — visited LIPA for a Q&A with students.
Long Island University (Roc Nation School of Music, Sports & Entertainment)Brooklyn
Launched in fall 2021, the Roc Nation School of Music, Sports & Entertainment at LIU will graduate its first full class in spring 2025. Students in each of its three music majors take foundational business courses, and the curriculum is available to those studying in the applied music or music, technology, entrepreneurship and production majors. It has already become a magnet for leading creatives, legal experts, A&R executives and digital and brand experts, and speakers at the school have included Megan Thee Stallion, Fat Joe, Rapsody, Sony Music Publishing CEO Jon Platt, Roc Nation vice chairman Jay Brown and Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez. The school has also hosted the EmpowHERment Summit to amplify the role of women across the music industry and partnered with MetaMoon Festival to host an inaugural summit focused on Asian representation in live music and touring.
Course: The school partners with JPMorgan Chase on the Game-Changing Finance course that teaches aspiring executives how to understand contract terms, spend thoughtfully, save responsibly and borrow wisely to navigate their financial futures.
Jon Platt, chairman/CEO of Sony Music Publishing, is among the top executives who have met with students at the Roc Nation School of Music, Sports & Entertainment at Long Island University.
Nadav Kander
Los Angeles College of MusicPasadena, Calif.
Los Angeles College of Music launched a master’s program in March 2023, which augments its 12-quarter bachelor of music degree and six-quarter associate of arts degree. Committed to offering students hands-on experience and networking opportunities, the school hosts over 120 industry guests, panelists and master-class speakers each academic year. In addition, the LACM program hosts quarterly field trips to companies including Warner Chappell, Spotify and Disney, where students meet with industry executives and grow their networks, and the school partners with Grammy U, Ableton and audio company AIAIAI. Its student-run, faculty-advised 370 Music Group comprises 370 Artists, which provides artist marketing, development and distribution services in partnership with distributor Vydia, and 370 Songs, which curates original student material for synch and licensing opportunities.
Event: A partnership with DISCO — an industry resource for file storage, sharing and presentations — enables students to have their music heard by music supervisors, publishers and more.
Los Angeles Film School (The Los Angeles Recording School)Los Angeles
Students explore the entire record-making journey at The Los Angeles Recording School, a division of Los Angeles Film School, which is located in the heart of Hollywood and equipped with professional recording studios for a real-world work environment. The school offers an array of degrees, including an associate of science in audio production and music production and a bachelor of science in audio production, entertainment business, music production and media communications. It also hosts an active speaker roster: Universal Music Group vp of sound and picture Roey Hershkovitz spoke with students in June. All students receive a TechKit that includes a MacBook loaded with software including Avid Pro Tools, Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, an Auralia/Musition bundle and a MIDI keyboard.
Alums: Hannah Lux Davis, an award-winning music video director known for her work with Ariana Grande, Halsey, Demi Lovato, Nicki Minaj and Kacey Musgraves.
Loyola University (College of Music and Media)New Orleans
The New Orleans music scene is the backdrop for Loyola’s industry studies program, housed in its College of Music and Media. In 2024, the university sponsored one of the largest stages at New Orleans’ French Quarter Festival, which hired students as interns at more than 25 stages during the four-day event. The program offers an extensive curriculum, including the Record Label Operations course, and ample opportunities for experiential learning across the country and abroad. Students travel to industry conferences such as NAMM, Americana Fest, South by Southwest and Music Biz. This past summer, a new two-week, three-credit course brought students to London for classroom instruction at Regents University and field trips to U.K. entertainment companies.
Course: Digital Strategies is a new course that delves into the use of predictive modeling through trending data in the industry and teaches students how to access the technological tools of tomorrow and use them to build creative careers.
Middle Tennessee State University (College of Media and Entertainment)Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Last year marked the 50th anniversary of MTSU’s Department of Recording Industry, which, as part of the school’s College of Media and Entertainment, operates alongside complementary disciplines including film, animation, TV, live-event broadcast, photography and digital media. The department offers undergraduate degrees focused on music business, audio production and commercial songwriting, two graduate degrees and an interdisciplinary degree. The school’s proximity to the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival enables students to produce over 30 hours of concert livestreams from the fest on Hulu. Last year, students worked at the Grammy Awards, the Country Music Association Awards and South by Southwest, among other events, and provided live sound, video and lighting for Khalid’s on-campus performance. Experiences in audio production, music business and commercial songwriting are part of a robust internship program.
Event: Kerry Gordy, the son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, visited the campus to speak about Motown’s impact, working in fields including copyright recapture and finding a distinct career path.
Monmouth UniversityWest Long Branch, N.J.
The home of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, Monmouth’s industry program combines coursework from the university’s business school with its music and music business curriculum in an interdisciplinary model that prepares students for a range of opportunities. Students work curating exhibits, in merchandising and in behind-the-scenes roles at the Archives, while the campus record label, Blue Hawk Records, enables them to take on roles as A&R representatives, managers, producers and artists. One of four collegiate chapter affiliates of Women in Music, the program also partners with major music organizations, tech companies, agencies and a state-of-the-art recording complex in nearby Asbury Park, N.J.
Event: In April, Jackson Browne, John Mellencamp, Mavis Staples and Dion DiMucci were honored at the second American Music Honors Awards, produced at Monmouth by the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music. All honorees were present, as were Springsteen and Darlene Love. A film of the event will be shown on campus Nov. 1.
From left: Bruce Springsteen, Mavis Staples, Darlene Love, Dion, John Mellencamp and Jackson Browne onstage at the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music Honors in April at the Pollack Theatre at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J.
Danny Clinch
New York University (Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development)New York
Led by Larry Miller, who was honored as the music business educator of the year by the Music Business Association, the music business curriculum at NYU Steinhardt offers undergraduate and graduate degrees that are integrated with the university’s Stern School of Business. Courses are taught by faculty and leading industry practitioners including RIAA CEO Mitch Glazier and National Music Publishers’ Association CEO David Israelite, and recent guest speakers include songwriter-producer Benny Blanco and Shira Perlmutter, director of the U.S. Copyright Office. Students take classes on the business of recorded music, music publishing, live performance, management, publicity and fan engagement at the main campus in New York and satellite sites in Nashville, Los Angeles, Paris, Prague and Shanghai. Starting in 2025, NYU will offer a bachelor of science degree in music business, with the first year of study being held in London. Artist and producer Joe Henry is this year’s NYU-Americana Music Foundation artist-in-residence Nov. 11 to 13. Latin Grammy winner Ella Bric will visit in the spring.
Course: Howie Singer and Bill Rosenblatt, co-authors of the book Key Changes: The Ten Times Technology Transformed the Music Industry, teach Data Analysis in the Music Industry.
From left, Larry Miller, clinical professor and director of the music business program at NYU Steinhardt, with RIAA chairman/CEO Mitch Glazier; Judy Tint, music attorney and clinical associate professor at the school; and NMPA president/CEO David Israelite. Glazier and Israelite also teach in the Steinhardt program.
Courtesy of NYU Steinhardt
New York University (Tisch School of the Arts, Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music)New York
The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts marked its 20th anniversary this year educating students pursuing music business careers alongside musical creatives. Seeking to prepare students to lead across a range of industry fields, the institute recently added marketing and management executive Naima Cochrane — who has worked for Bad Boy, Arista Records, Columbia and Epic Records — to its faculty. Pure Tone Records founder Pete Ganbarg and Big Beat Records GM Gina Tucci were among executives who met with students at the school’s Atlantic Records Songwriting Camp and Warner Chappell Music songwriting rooms in Warner Music Group’s New York headquarters. The weeklong camp featured collaborative writing sessions by CDI alums and students and daily guest lectures, discussions and Q&As with WMG executives.
Alum: Maggie Rogers, a Grammy-nominated artist and founder of Debay Sounds, graduated with degrees in music production and English.
Northeastern University (College of Arts, Media and Design)Boston
In recent months, Drew Simmons, Noah Kahan’s manager and Northeastern alum; Andrea Espinoza, assistant tour manager for Olivia Rodrigo; and Sam Alpert, senior vp of marketing at Wasserman Music, all came to campus to talk with students on track to receive their bachelor of science in music with concentration in music industry. The program is designed for those interested in every facet of the industry, with a focus on entrepreneurial thought leadership and ethical change. On campus, the school offers a breadth of classes ranging from Actionable Analytics in the Music Industry to Copyright in the Creative Industries to Making a Festival. Off campus, it provides students with a host of experiential learning opportunities.
Event: The university’s cooperative education program offers the opportunity to make valuable industry connections, broaden perspectives and acquire skills and knowledge outside the comfort zone of the classroom.
Occidental College (The John Branca Institute for Music)Los Angeles
At Occidental, the John Branca Institute for Music launched in July — endowed with a $5 million gift from the alum and leading music attorney whose clients have included the estate of Michael Jackson and some 30 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees. The Mike Curb Foundation has gifted another $500,000 to the institute. Devoted to the study of the industry and popular music, the institute features formal cooperation with other educational entities including Los Angeles City College and Harvard University and music companies such as Warner Music Group (whose former CEO, Stephen Cooper, is an alum). The college also has recruited a tenure-track assistant professor of Popular Music and Music Production: musician, multimedia artist and scholar Ramona Gonzalez. Occidental’s music program will remain anchored in the school’s liberal arts focus, ensuring students develop critical thinking skills.
Course: A class titled Copyright, Originality, and Theft in American Popular Music examines how ideas about musical copyright, originality, authenticity and appropriation have evolved over the history of the American popular music industry.
Music attorney John Branca has endowed the newly launched John Branca Institute for Music at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
John Lamparski/Getty Images
Oklahoma State University (The Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music)Stillwater, Okla.
Hit songwriter, producer and former Arista Records Nashville president Tim Dubois is an OSU graduate (and this year was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame). The school’s bachelor of science in music industry program was established in 2017, and in 2021, the Greenwood School of Music opened facilities adjacent to the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, which provides learning and cultural experiences for music majors. A $50 million programming endowment has enabled a New York Philharmonic residency to take place in Stillwater. Students have access to four studios, including the multimillion-dollar Dick & Malinda Berry Fischer Recording Studio, as well as the student-run music company Poke U. They can also start an MBA program their senior year in conjunction with the Spears School of Business and earn their master’s degree with only one additional postgrad year.
Faculty: Music engineer-producer Luke Tallon (Killers of the Flower Moon) recently joined the faculty.
Rhodes College (Mike Curb Institute for Music)Memphis
Endowed by the Mike Curb Family Foundation in 2006, the Mike Curb Institute for Music at Rhodes College offers a music- and entertainment-based education that enables graduates to learn not only how to work in the industry, but how to think broadly about the world. Rhodes offers two certificates in music industry studies — one in content production and one in arts entrepreneurship. Classes are continually evolving, like the new course Songwriting in Memphis, in which students examine songwriting from multiple perspectives. The program is also home to student-produced zine Dredge and student-produced podcast Beyond Beale. The Curb Community Fellows Program provides funding for students to work directly with local professionals and organizations such as Goner Records, Royal Studios and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.
Event: In partnership with the college’s endowed Springfield Music Lecture Series, the Curb Institute hosted Grammy-winning songwriter Jason Isbell for a conversation in February.
Rowan University (College of Performing Arts)Glassboro, N.J.
Rowan University’s music industry program, housed in its College of Performing Arts, offers a dynamic curriculum and a flexible bachelor of science degree with concentrations in technology (production/recording studio) and business (marketing/management) so students can tailor their studies to their specific interests. Each concentration includes credits from the College of Business. In addition to its annual career fair, which attracts top industry employers such as Live Nation, Rowan maintains strong partnerships with area community colleges, ensuring transfer students find an accessible pathway to their careers. Among its alums: SiriusXM host Erin Constantine, Sony Music Entertainment senior label analyst Ricardo Oropeza and Universal Music Group assistant manager of e-commerce Gabriella Bruckner.
Faculty: Michael McArthur, the program’s professor of practice, is vp of A&R at 300 Entertainment/Warner Music Group and was named to Billboard’s 2023 R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players list.
State University of New York, OneontaOneonta, N.Y.
All music industry majors at SUNY Oneonta complete a curriculum that features five core courses, including a seminar that explores contemporary issues in the music industry; a career preparation class focused on music, media and entertainment opportunities; and a course that examines legal issues in music, media and entertainment, with focuses on intellectual property law, contract law and ethics. Students also participate in activities, including The Music Industry Club — which produces concerts, seminars and presentations and runs record label Red Dragon Records — and campus radio station WONY (90.9) Oneonta. The school offers a regular series of alumni presentations, and a Backpacks to Briefcases series of networking field trips to New York to meet with alums working at music, media and entertainment firms.
Event: Last year, alum Jenn Federici, a leader in tour management, marketing and live events logistics and compliance who has held positions at Goldstar Management, Momentum Worldwide and Interscope Records, returned to campus to speak to the music industry concert production class.
Syracuse University (Bandier Program for Recording and Entertainment Industries)Syracuse, N.Y.
Enrollment in the Bandier undergraduate program is capped at 30 students annually, ensuring individualized attention to those developing the professional and human skills required to succeed in the music business. The curriculum enables students to study for a semester in Los Angeles or New York, as well as one semester abroad; the program also takes an annual trip to emerging music industry markets. Previous trips have included visits to Beijing, Singapore and Seoul. The program — endowed by music publishing executive Martin Bandier — is launching a graduate program, which will begin accepting students in summer 2025. It’s also creating an advisory board of industry experts — all Bandier or Syracuse graduates.
Course: Students in the Business of Live Music & Experiential Brand Activations course work with local promoter Eric Binion of After Dark Presents to present a show, from booking talent and branding to social media and promotion to sales and settlement.
Laufey and Bill Werde, director of the Bandier Program for Recording and Entertainment Industries at Syracuse University, at the launch of the school’s new music business master’s program. A Bandier alum, Laufey has endowed a $100,000 scholarship for the program.
Arnold Turner
Temple University (Klein College of Media and Communication)Philadelphia
Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication offers an interdisciplinary bachelor of arts in audio and live entertainment. The program combines courses in the communication, music, business and event management schools. Class topics range from artist management and event operations to publishing, hip-hop media and culture, and more. At the university’s campus in the heart of Philadelphia, groundbreaking is planned for a new Klein College building that will house a reconstruction of the iconic Sigma Sound Studio 1, where Philly soul acts like The O’Jays once cut hits. The student-run label Bell Tower Music works with student radio, TV and other ventures, and the school’s deep industry relationships have fostered internships and jobs at Interscope Records, Kobalt, Primary Wave, Red Light Management, SoundExchange, Warner Music and more.
Event: Grammy- and Academy Award-nominated songwriter Stephan Moccio, who has collaborated with The Weeknd, Miley Cyrus and Céline Dion, recently came to campus to talk with students.
Tennessee State University (Commercial Music Program)Nashville
TSU is both a public university and one of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities; for those seeking music business careers, it distinguishes itself with its location in the heart of Nashville. It also boasts faculty who come from and remain active in the industry. TSU’s program is up to speed on current industry trends and best practices. Its small faculty-to-student ratio also enhances the learning experience, as do frequent site visits, guest speakers — Sweetwater senior director of recruitment Jordan Applegate recently visited campus — industry-related events and internships. Sydney Verge, operations coordinator at the Recording Academy, is an alum.
Course: Students enrolled in Music Business and Law study intellectual property, contracts and various sources of revenue flow including publishing, touring, performing rights organizations and merchandising.
University of California Los Angeles (Herb Alpert School of Music)Los Angeles
The new music industry bachelor of arts program builds on the success of the Herb Alpert School of Music’s popular undergraduate minor. According to statistics compiled by the university, more than one-quarter of the nation’s music industry job postings are in California, making UCLA ideally located for those pursuing a music business career. The music industry major is also designed to attract and support incoming transfer students from California community colleges, which creates affordability and access. Students benefit from the program’s immersion in the L.A. music industry and from a continually expanding roster of guest speakers — including Nabil Ayers, president of Beggars Group and host of the Identified podcast, and Tiffany Red, Grammy-winning songwriter and founder of The 100 Percenters — and adjunct professors.
Faculty: Kathryn Frazier, founder of public relations firm Biz 3, whose clients include The Weeknd, J. Cole, Lil Baby and Lauryn Hill, recently joined the faculty and teaches the course Finding Your Voice.
From left: CAA’s Rob Light, Black Music Action Coalition co-founder Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, Biz 3’s Kathryn Frazier and Aqil Davidson attend BMAC’s pre-gala dinner in Los Angeles. Frazier teaches at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music.
Johnny Nunez/WireImage
University of Colorado Denver (College of Arts & Media)Denver
CU Denver, as the public university is known, prepares students for success in the music business and to move the industry forward, both locally and globally. Students in the Music Cities class last year engaged online with industry leaders in international markets including Australia, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom, as well as with leading professionals in U.S. markets including Nashville, Los Angeles, Austin and Seattle. Many of the business faculty have substantial industry experience and use their relationships to open opportunities for jobs and internships. The College of Arts & Media is the home of one of the first student chapters of Nashville Songwriters Association International, further strengthening opportunities for networking.
Course: Music Business in the Digital Age studies current trends, practices and business models, with an eye on their implications for the future, covering topics including AI, data analysis, privacy and technology surrounding live-music ticketing.
University of Miami (Frost School of Music)Miami
With a wide range of courses and proximity to the Latin offices of many major music companies, University of Miami’s Frost School offers a bachelor of arts in music industry for nonmusicians and a bachelor of music in music industry for performers. Its faculty are highly experienced industry professionals who are active in the field, and courses — including Music Publishing, where students learn about the A&R process and how publishing agreements are structured — continually evolve to keep pace with the industry. The program also offers a variety of student-run enterprises including ’Cane Records, Cat 5 Music and Frost Sounds, as well as a campus radio station, concert production organization, numerous Frost concert halls, the student Music Industry Association and an active Grammy U community.
Faculty: Olga Cardona, a 16-year veteran of Universal Music Publishing Group, brings with her three decades of experience in the Latin music business, with expertise in performing rights and publishing.
University of North Texas (College of Music)Denton, Texas
UNT’s College of Music, located on the northern edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, boasts the country’s largest public university music program. It offers degrees from the bachelor to doctoral levels and is home to the world’s first jazz studies degree program, now in its 77th year. The school continually adds faculty and courses to the curriculum, offered fully online or in a hybrid format, with options ranging from music leadership to performing arts management to touring. The school’s MBA in music business, launched just three years ago, supports student goals within music technology and entrepreneurship. In 2021, the Yamaha Institution of Excellence program included the UNT College of Music in its inaugural list of 10 distinguished colleges and universities recognizing extraordinary commitment to innovation in the study of music.
Event: Julian Peterson, associate director at Gearbox Software and a composer, audio programmer, sound designer and researcher, recently stopped by to talk with students.
University of Rochester (Eastman School of Music)Rochester, N.Y.
Students at University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music benefit from the ability to combine a master of arts in music leadership with other disciplines including an MBA from the university’s Simon Business School. The curriculum emphasizes developing arts administration and leadership skills and requires real-world experiences through a capstone project. Eastman also offers commercial industry experience through the Beal Institute for Film Music and Contemporary Media — founded by alum and five-time Emmy-winning composer Jeff Beal — where students compose and produce music, perform and conduct in studio orchestras and can collaborate on cross-disciplinary projects in tandem with the Rochester Institute of Technology’s film, animation and video game-developing schools. Those interested in electronic/dance music currents can practice their craft in the school’s Electroacoustic Music Studios.
Event: Former Boston Symphony Orchestra CEO Mark Volpe offered workshops, presentations and individual advising with students last spring and was the 2023 commencement speaker.
University of Southern California (Thornton School of Music)Los Angeles
For nonperformers who want to understand the complexities of the music business, USC Thornton offers an expansive curriculum, well-respected faculty — including new adjunct professors Jane Davidson, an entertainment law and litigation attorney, and Joe Poindexter, chief communications officer/executive vp of digital at Pulse Music Group — and close ties with the L.A. music community. Students can earn either a bachelor of science or master of science degree in music industry, and they benefit from an abundance of networking, internship and job opportunities, leveraging their relationships with fellow students, faculty and guest speakers. Among recent guests on campus: Nederlander senior vp of marketing Jamie Loeb; Marty Hom, a tour director/manager who has worked with Beyoncé and Olivia Rodrigo; and Virgin Music Group president Jacqueline Saturn.
Alum: Justin Lubliner developed a marketing and PR company while at USC Thornton that evolved into his artist development company, The Darkroom. His second signing was Billie Eilish.
William Paterson UniversityWayne, N.J.
Internships are the backbone of the music and entertainment industries major and minor programs at William Paterson University. The school bolsters its forward-looking curriculum with workshops on topics including résumé-building and creating LinkedIn profiles, as well as professionalism seminars — all geared toward success in the real world. William Paterson’s alumni include Joelle Filippi, senior label analyst at Columbia Records; Shannon D’Amore, manager of booking at Prudential Center and White Eagle Hall; and Stephanie Grimes, senior manager of copyright at Downtown Music Publishing and, previously, at Songtrust. The program also hosts numerous industry insiders each year, including Symphonic Distribution chief creative officer Randall Foster, who recently stopped by to share wisdom.
Course: Students in the Entrepreneurship in the Music & Entertainment Industry class envision a new company — and then create a business plan for it.
This story appears in the Oct. 26, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Universal Music Group has entered a strategic partnership with AI music company KLAY. To date, KLAY has not yet released any of its products, but the AI start-up is said to be developing what it calls a “Large Music Model,” dubbed “KLayMM” which will “help humans create new music with the help of AI,” says […]
As earnings season prepares to get underway, K-pop companies were among the week’s rare winners as music stocks broke a six-week winning streak.
YG Entertainment surged 6.1% this week as the company appears to have scored a hit with “APT” by ROSÉ, a member of the girl group BLACKPINK, featuring Bruno Mars. The track got off to a blistering start this week, topping Spotify’s global and U.S. daily streaming charts and earning 13.3 million streams in the U.S. in its first four days of release. SM Entertainment, home to NCT 127 and RIIZE, rose 4.1%, while HYBE, with a roster including Seventeen and Tomorrow X Together, improved 2.1%. JYP Entertainment, the agency behind Stray Kids and ITZY, improved 1.4%.
Stock prices are likely to see movement in the coming weeks as companies release their results for the quarter ended Sept. 30. The first music companies out of the gate are Reservoir Media (Oct. 30), SiriusXM (Oct. 31), Universal Music Group (Oct. 31) and Cumulus Media (Nov. 1). Other companies that have announced earnings release dates include Sony Corp. (Nov. 8), Tencent Music Entertainment (Nov. 12), Live Nation (Nov. 12) and Spotify (Nov. 12).
Trending on Billboard
The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) fell 0.6% to 1,974.72 in the week ended Oct. 25 after breaking 2,000 for the first time the prior week and posting gains the previous five weeks. In the week ended Oct. 18, the BGMI reached 2,001.28, more than doubling in value since the index launched in February 2022. After the recent decline, the index’s year-to-date gain stood at 29.7%, ahead of both the Nasdaq composite (up 23.4%) and S&P 500 (up 21.8%).
Stock markets were mixed this week. In the U.S., the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 18,518.61 while the Nasdaq composite fell 1.0% to 5,808.12 despite Tesla’s 22% gain after the electric vehicle maker beat earnings expectations and upgraded its growth outlook. In the U.K., the FTSE 100 dropped 1.6% to 8,248.84. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index dipped 0.4% to 2,583.27. China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.2% to 3,299.70.
Outside of South Korean companies, one of the biggest movers of the week was Live Nation. Ahead of the company’s Nov. 12 earnings release, numerous analysts increased their price targets on the concert promoter’s stock this week: Redburn Atlantic (to $126 from $118), Jefferies (to $132 from $113), JP Morgan (to $137 from $118) and Goldman Sachs (to $132 from $128). Given that the third quarter is historically Live Nation’s strongest period and the company has set all-time records in previous quarters, Q3 results are likely to boast more all-time highs.
Spotify was one of the index’s few stocks to post a weekly gain — albeit with just a 0.1% increase. Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Spotify on Wednesday to $430 from $400. Analysts see much upside for Spotify. Global subscription penetration (excluding China) “remains relatively low” at 15%, Goldman analysts explained in a Tuesday (Oct. 22) investor note, and Spotify has the ability to further raise prices. Additionally, they wrote, Spotify’s growing audiobook business proved the company can generate more revenue from its subscribers than was possible when it offered just music.
Most music stocks had modest, single-digit declines this week. Warner Music Group fell 0.1% to $32.38, Universal Music Group dropped 1.9% to 23.61 euros, Tencent Music Entertainment declined 3.2% to $11.50, Reservoir Media dipped 3.4% to $8.55, iHeartMedia was down 4.3% to $1.80, and both Sphere Entertainment Co. and SiriusXM were off 4.4%.
LiveOne was the week’s biggest loser after falling 10.6% to $0.58. The music streamer has fallen 38% since its Oct. 1 announcement that Tesla will no longer subsidize the LiveOne-powered streaming service in new vehicles. Radio broadcaster Cumulus Media dropped 9.4% to $1.16, bringing its year-to-date decline to 78.2%.
Created with Datawrapper
Created with Datawrapper
Created with Datawrapper
Lil Durk ordered his OTF associates to murder rapper Quando Rondo in a failed 2022 shooting, according to criminal charges unsealed by federal prosecutors on Friday (Oct. 25) — and he was allegedly planning to take a private jet to Italy when he was arrested.
The Chicago rapper (real name Durk Devontay Banks) was arrested Thursday evening on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, hours after several of his Only the Family associates were indicted on similar charges over their alleged involvement in the attempted killing of Rondo (Tyquian Bowman).
In a new complaint unsealed on Friday, prosecutors laid out their case against Durk (referred to as BANKS in the complaint) — accusing OTF of being not just a rap collective, but also a “hybrid organization” that also functions as a criminal gang that has carried out violent acts “at the direction of BANKS.”
Prosecutors say one of those acts was the 2022 attempted killing of Rondo, allegedly carried out in retaliation for the 2020 killing of rapper King Von (Dayvon Bennett), a close friend of Durk’s.
“BANKS put a monetary bounty out for an individual with whom BANKS was feuding named T.B.,” referring to Rondo by his initials. “BANKS ordered T.B.’s murder and that the hitmen used BANKS and OTF-related finances to carry out the murder.”
An attorney for Lil Durk did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday.
The charges came a day after Los Angeles federal prosecutors unsealed murder-for-hire and murder-for-hire conspiracy charges against several alleged OTF members — Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson and Asa Houston – as well as two other alleged Chicago gang members named Keith Jones and David Brian Lindsey.
In both the new charges and the earlier indictment, prosecutors claim that the five men were behind the 2022 shooting. But in the new filings, they directly allege that Durk ordered the killing, saying it was retaliation for a 2020 Atlanta shooting in which a Rondo associate allegedly shot and killed Von.
“At the time of the murder, T.B. had a public feud with BANKS,” prosecutors write. “The feud stemmed from a Nov. 6, 2020, murder, where an associate of T.B. shot and killed an OTF rapper named Dayvon Bennett aka ‘King Von.’ Bennett was a member of OTF and BANKS’ close friend.”
The new filings also claim that Durk was planning to flee the country when he was arrested.
Prosecutors say that following the OTF arrests, they received notification that Durk had booked commercial flights to both Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and to Switzerland — flights that he never boarded. The FBI then allegedly learned that he had booked passage on a private jet to Italy, and Durk was arrested when he neared the departing airport for that flight.
King Von, a rising rapper in Chicago’s drill scene and a childhood friend of Durk, was shot and killed outside an Atlanta nightclub on Nov. 6, 2020, after an argument between two groups turned into a fight in the parking lot. A 22-year-old man named Timothy Leeks, reportedly an associate of Rondo, was arrested days later, but the case was eventually dropped.
Two years later, on Aug. 19, 2022, Rondo and associate Lul Pab (Saviay’a Robinson) were ambushed by gunmen while sitting in their car at a Los Angeles gas station. Rondo emerged unscathed, but Robinson later died at the hospital.
According to Thursday’s indictment, that killing was allegedly carried out by OTF members Grant, Wilson and Houston, as well as by Jones and Lindsey, who prosecutors say were “members of other gangs in Chicago.” They allege the group “used two vehicles to track, stalk and attempt to kill T.B. by gunfire — including with a fully automatic firearm — resulting in the death of S.R.”
In Friday’s complaint, prosecutors say the group carried out the attack on orders from Durk in retaliation for the earlier King Von slaying. They cite a text allegedly sent by Durk to another co-conspirator: “Don’t book no flights under no names involved wit me.”
According to prosecutors, the group used “a credit card associated with OTF” to buy plane tickets to fly to Los Angeles and rent a hotel room. Using two cars, including one with fake license plates, the group then tracked Rondo’s SUV through the city until they reached the gas station.
“Jones and Lindsey, and Co-Conspirator 2 used the firearms procured by defendant Grant — including the fully automatic firearm — to shoot at T.B.’s car, striking and killing S.R., who was standing next to T.B.’s car while T.B. was inside,” prosecutors write.
After fleeing the scene, prosecutors say the group later reconvened at a restaurant, where they hashed out payments for the crime. Later in the day, they allegedly used the same OTF-linked credit card to purchase plane tickets and fly back to Chicago.
The old saying that any publicity is good publicity isn’t always true in the music business. And this year, Sean “Diddy” Combs is proving that listeners and corporations alike have limits.
Near the end of 2023, Combs was enjoying the momentum of the September release of The Love Album: Off the Grid, which spent seven weeks on the Billboard 200 albums chart and peaked at No. 19 on the Sept. 30 chart week. Meanwhile, album single “Another One of Me” by Diddy, French Montana & The Weeknd featuring 21 Savage peaked at No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100.
However, those numbers would start dropping quickly. In November, the Bad Boy Records founder was the subject of three separate lawsuits by an ex-girlfriend, Cassie, and two other people with various allegations of sexual and physical assault. While his weekly streams and radio plays — composed of various solo recordings under names including Diddy, Puff Daddy and P. Diddy — could be expected to experience some decay as the weeks passed after the album’s launch, the controversies arguably accelerated Combs’ downturn with listeners.
Trending on Billboard
When Combs stepped down as chairman of digital media company Revolt a week later, his streams fell 22%, while his radio spins fell 36%. Two weeks after that — when brands severed ties with Combs’ e-commerce company, Empower Global, and Hulu scrapped plans for a reality show involving Combs — his radio plays fell another 55%.
That’s not to say that being in the news always hurts an artist’s streaming numbers. After Combs was arrested on Sept. 16 after being indicted for allegedly running a federal sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, U.S. on-demand streams of Combs’ music jumped 37% in the week ended Oct. 3. That Combs’ music benefitted from negative publicity isn’t a surprise — heavy media coverage, whether due to a death or a high-profile lawsuit, tends to influence what listeners seek out on streaming platforms. But the post-arrest bump was short-lived. Three weeks after Combs entered the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, his streaming numbers had fallen to pre-indictment levels.
Diddy
Billboard
Radio is a different story. While many listeners continued to stream Combs’ music, radio programmers, who risk losing advertisers by playing controversial artists, quickly abandoned Combs. In the first quarter of 2023, well before any public signs of impropriety, Combs’ music was getting played on U.S. radio anywhere from 800 to 1,000 times per week. But the March 25 FBI raids on Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami coincided with a 27% drop in weekly radio spins. By the time a video of Combs assaulting Cassie in the hallway of a hotel surfaced at CNN in May, weekly spins of Combs’ songs were down to 352 — 94% below where they were when Cassie filed her lawsuit seven months earlier. By June, his weekly radio plays had dropped below 200.
Radio’s interest in Combs’ music reached a nadir soon after. The week after his arrest on Sept. 16, Combs’ weekly radio spins were down 25%, and radio programmers have largely refrained from playing his music ever since.
Combs’ experience at the hands of music streamers and radio stations echoes that of R&B singer R. Kelly a few years earlier. Long hounded by allegations of sexual abuse, Kelly managed to avoid accountability until the Washington Post ran a story titled “Star Treatment” that detailed how the music industry overlooked his deeds. In the wake of the article, Spotify and other streaming platforms decided in May 2018 to deemphasize Kelly’s tracks in algorithms and editorial playlists, and his average weekly U.S. on-demand streams dropped 10%. Radio programmers had an even bigger impact: Kelly’s weekly U.S. radio plays dropped 29% following the article’s publication.
Kelly’s arrest in February 2019 didn’t lead to an immediate drop in his streaming numbers; throughout 2019, his weekly on-demand streams consistently hovered around 15 million to 16 million. But radio programmers began abandoning him; by the time Kelly was arrested and charged by the state of Illinois in February, his weekly radio plays had already bottomed out at just over 100, down from about 2,000 a year earlier.
Over the next few years, streams of such songs as “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Ignition” would gradually and consistently decline. In 2020, Kelly’s tracks were doing roughly 9 million to 10 million streams per week. The next year, weekly streams fell to roughly 8 million, then 7 million.
Following a guilty verdict in September 2021, Kelly was given a 30-year prison sentence in June 2022. Like with Combs’ September 2024 arrest, media coverage of his sentence resulted in a small, single-digit gain in weekly streams, but the numbers showed a clear damage to his reputation. A week after the verdict, Kelly’s U.S. on-demand streams stood at 8.8 million per week — down 40% since the Washington Post article ran in 2018.
R. Kelly’s music seems to have reached a plateau, however, and interest in his catalog on streaming platforms has remained steady since his sentencing. Over two years later, Kelly’s weekly on-demand streams remain unchanged at roughly 9 million per week, though radio remains disinterested in playing his songs. This suggests that Diddy’s music could perform better online than at radio as his saga plays out.
10/25/2024
The mogul purchased the pop star’s six-album catalog for upwards of $300 million in 2019.
10/25/2024
Crypto.com Arena hosted the first game of the 2024-2025 NBA season on Tuesday night (Oct. 22), which saw the arena’s tenants, the Los Angeles Lakers, take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. The evening notably featured the first appearance of a father-son duo (LeBron James and son Bronny James) in NBA history — while the 25-year-old arena also showed off its new, nine-figure renovations.
A quarter of a century is a long time for any entertainment arena to remain culturally relevant, but Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center) has completed its third round of multi-million-dollar renovations to keep up with technological advancements and a new era in fan enjoyment.
During the Oct. 22 game, the arena — at the center of the entertainment campus L.A. Live — unveiled its new outdoor space, refreshed food and beverage offerings and state-of-the-art technology designed to reduce wait times throughout the facility. The arena’s first outdoor space, the City View Terrace, offers concert and game attendees the option of enjoying food and drinks with downtown Los Angeles as the backdrop while still being able to view the game or concert taking place inside. The terrace features several food and beverage stops and is open to all ticket holders.
Trending on Billboard
For floor- or ice-seat ticketholders, the arena revamped its exclusive Chairman’s Club to become the Delta SKY360° Club. On Wednesday (Oct. 23), Crypto.com Arena senior vp of guest services and security Danielle Snyder took media on a tour of the reimagined space, which includes a private bar in a lounge setting that is only accessible to premium seat holders and friends and family of the team or act playing. For the first time in its history, Crypto.com Arena will also now offer VIP tours to the general public, allowing guests to access behind-the-scenes areas such as the Delta SKY360° Club.
Danielle Snyder, Crypto.com Arena Senior Vice President of Guest Services and Security
Courtesy of Crypto.com Arena
This season, founding partner Coca-Cola is also continuing to expand its presence with the newly unveiled Coke Studio, a 3,300-square-foot music-driven studio and event space at Crypto.com Arena that will host concerts, artist appearances, podcast recordings and more. Coca-Cola is supporting the arena’s sustainability initiatives, including the r.Cup program, which replaces single-use cups with reusable ones to help further the arena’s commitment to reducing waste. As part of this program, Coca-Cola products, along with other non-alcoholic beverages, will be served in r.Cup’s reusable vessels.
The arena’s new food offerings include chef and TV host David Chang’s spicy fried chicken concept fuku and chef and restaurateur Ludo Lefebvre’s two new concession stands: Mediterranean-focused Ludobab and Trois Familia, a fusion of Lefebvre’s French background with local Mexican cuisine. Elsewhere, Fresh Brothers will become the arena’s official pizza partner with a new concession stand (replacing Blaze Pizza), while Big Mozz is the arena’s newest official mozzarella stick partner.
Courtesy of Crypto.com Arena
A standout of the new offerings includes the first Doritos restaurant, Doritos After Dark. Located at the arena’s main Star Plaza entrance, Doritos After Dark serves up late-night favorites elevated with the flavor and crunch of Doritos for appetizers and entrees. Special items include Doritos Spicy Sweet Chili Ramen-Rito (a Dorito and ramen-filled burrito) and Doritos Nacho Cheese Crunchtastic Vanilla Cone (an ice cream cone with a chocolate shell covered in cheesy chips). On Nov. 15, for one night only, Doritos After Dark will step out of the arena and into a one-of-a-kind Doritos Night Market pop-up in a free, immersive, neon-filled atmosphere open to all from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at L.A. Live’s Peacock Place.
Courtesy of Crypto.com Arena
New technology has also been installed at the arena. This includes Evolv, a leader in AI-based security technology, which is enhancing fan safety with the rollout of its Evolv Express screening system at all entrances. This cutting-edge technology allows fans to move through security checkpoints more quickly and efficiently, differentiating between potential threats and most everyday metal items such as cell phones and keys. By streamlining entry, Evolv is designed to help fans spend less time waiting in line and more time enjoying the event.
Once inside, fans can also skip lines with Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, which has been installed at multiple locations inside the arena, along with the brand-new Exo self-checkout at the Team LA Store, which also underwent a remodel. Now, all items at the Team LA Store include RFID technology, which allows fans to drop all their merchandise into a scanner that rings up everything instantaneously. The technology is currently only available at sporting events, as tour merchandise is not yet streamlined with RFID technology.
Crypto.com Arena is set to host programming tied to some of the biggest and highest-profile sporting events over the next decade. Among other events, it has been selected to host the 2025 Grammy Awards (the 22nd time the arena has hosted music’s biggest night), the 2027 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Regional, and the men’s and women’s gymnastics competitions for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
A new Spanish-language version of Brenda Lee‘s holiday hit “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” was released Friday (Oct. 25), using “responsibly-trained” artificial intelligence to make the translation. A perennial hit for 66 years and counting, “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” is the biggest song to have been translated into a new language using AI.
Released via MCA Nashville/Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), “Noche Buena y Navidad” was revamped by four-time Latin Grammy award-winning producer Auero Baqueiro. Baqueiro first translated the lyrics from English to Spanish, trying to match the same phonetics and rhyming structure that made sense for Spanish while maintaining the original lyrical themes from the original English version. Then, he enlisted Chile-born, L.A.-based vocalist Leyla Hoyle to sing the vocals in Spanish in a way that would capture Lee’s unique voice patterns, including intricacies like phrasing, tone, and breaths.
Baquiero ultimately kept the original music and background vocals and, once Hoyle recorded the raw Spanish vocals, used AI to map Lee’s voice over Hoyle’s performance. The translation was made possible using SoundLabs AI’s MicDrop technology, a “responsibly-trained” AI audio plugin that allows users to swap their voices out with another voice or instrument.
Trending on Billboard
The new AI-powered translation arrives just in time for the holiday season. Despite being released back in 1958, Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is more popular than ever. Last year, her song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time and stayed in the top spot for three straight weeks.
Lee is not the first artist to use AI to translate her work. In May 2023, HYBE debuted a new K-pop artist, MIDNATT, who used AI to release his first single in six different languages. In November 2023, indie-pop artist Lauv released an AI translation of his single “Love U Like That” in Korean as a nod to his strong fanbase in that country. Similarly to “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” a bilingual human songwriter, Kevin Woo, translated the “Love U Like That” lyrics to Korean. After Woo sang through the song, Lauv’s voice was planted on top of his vocals using the AI voice platform Hooky.
Finally, country icon Randy Travis made headlines in May 2024 by using AI voice technology to record a new single, “Where That Came From,” after his vocal abilities were greatly diminished in a near-fatal stroke a decade before.
The Spanish-language version of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is the first release from Universal Music Group (UMG) and SoundLabs’ partnership, which was announced in June 2024. The AI company was founded by software developer and electronic artist BT and is said to be “responsibly” trained. The partnership is part of UMG’s “responsible AI initiative,” as laid out by the company’s CEO/chairman Lucian Grainge, which involves “forg[ing] groundbreaking private-sector partnerships with AI technology companies.”
“I am so blown away by this new Spanish version of ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,’ which was created with the help of AI,” said Lee in a statement. “Throughout my career, I performed and recorded many songs in different languages, but I never recorded ‘Rockin’’ in Spanish, which I would have loved to do. To have this out now is pretty incredible, and I’m happy to introduce the song to fans in a new way.”
“We are thrilled to work with Brenda Lee to making ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ the first classic song translated responsibly into another language with the power of AI, added UMe president/CEO Bruce Resnikoff. “We are also very excited about the possibilities of this emerging technology and look forward to harnessing its capabilities to introduce new material created by and approved by our artists.”
“The minute you hear Brenda Lee’s iconic voice on ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ you know it’s the official start of Christmas,” said UMG Nashville chair/CEO Cindy Mabe. “The global hit has touched people all over the world and kept this young 13-year-old spirit of Christmas captured in a time capsule. We are all so excited for this new Spanish version created with the help of AI from that legendary voice and approved by Brenda Lee herself to help celebrate this enduring, timeless classic.”