Business
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Warner Music Group shares rose 6.6% to $31.47 this week, narrowing the stock’s year-to-date loss to 12.1%. Other gainers in the record label and music publisher space were HYBE, up 1.8% to 200,500 won ($144.95), and Universal Music Group, up 1.4% to 28.63 euros ($30.67).
Streaming companies had the best week, however. Led by LiveOne’s 6.4% gain, music streaming stocks had an average gain of 0.3% — versus an average 0.3% decline for record labels and publishers. Elsewhere, Tencent Music Entertainment gained 5.2% to $14.80 and Spotify added 1.6% to $313.02. The three companies also boast three of the top four year-to-date performances: Live One is up 30.0%, Tencent Music is up 64.3% and Spotify is up 66.6%. The fourth company in that equation is Hipgnosis Songs Fund, which is up 41.4% due to its upcoming acquisition by Blackstone.
Despite overall strength among streaming companies, three of them posted losses. Cloud Music fell 2.4% to 103.00 HKD ($13.19), lowering its year-to-date gain to 14.8%. Anghami lost 2.8% to $1.03, putting the stock’s year-to-date loss at 1.0%. And Deezer stumbled 6.1% to 1.86 euros ($1.99), bringing its year-to-date loss to 12.7%.
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The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index rose 1.1% to 1,820.01, bringing its year-to-date gain to 18.7% and its 52-week improvement to 36.5%. Although the index mustered a small gain, 11 of its 20 stocks lost value compared to seven gainers and two that were unchanged.
While overall music stocks managed only a small increase, the Nasdaq composite rose 3.2% to 17,688.88 and enjoyed its fifth-straight closing record on Friday (June 14). Th eS&P 500 improved 1.6% to 5,431.60. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index gained 1.3% to 2,758.42. On the losing side, China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.6% to 3,032.63 and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 fell 1.2% to 8,146.86.
The Billboard Global Music Index is outperforming these major indexes in 2024, however. Through June 14, the Nasdaq is up 17.8% and the S&P 500 is up 13.9%. Indexes in other countries have managed smaller gains. The FTSE is up 5.3%, the KOSPI composite index is up 3.9% and the Shanghai Composite Index is up 1.9%.
LiveOne shares improved 6.4% to $1.82 after the company announced it had surpassed 3.8 million total members, a 25% year-over-year increase, while Tesla memberships rose to 1.8 million, up 32% year-over-year (nearly all new Tesla vehicles sold in the United States come with a paid membership to LiveOne’s Slacker Radio). “Our goal is to forge meaningful alliances with companies that share our passion for innovation, bespoke programming, and delivering exceptional customer value,” Brad Konkol, head of Slacker Radio, said in a statement.
Live Nation shares fell 2.0% to $88.75 as the company continued to lose ground in the wake of the Department of Justice’s lawsuit seeking to break up the company’s concert promotion and ticketing businesses. CFRA Research lowered its Live Nation price target to $98 from $105 on Wednesday (June 12). Although its earnings-per-share estimates were unchanged, CFRA opted for a more conservative valuation multiple to reflect “business risk from the DOJ and live entertainment moving to the slower part of the year starting in October,” analyst Kenneth Leon wrote.
The Billboard Global Music Index’s biggest loss of the week came from Cumulus Media, which fell 18.1% to $1.94. The Atlanta-based radio company’s shares are down 63.5% year to date. Fellow radio company iHeartMedia dropped 3.2% to $1.21 this week, bringing its year-to-date loss to 54.7%.
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.”
As streaming has grown in popularity, so have efforts to game platforms’ 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.
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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 act 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 artist.
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 that made Kalivas realize the time was right to strike off on his own “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 catalogs 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 being 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,” which debuted at No. 100. The ominous single, 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 1 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. Billboard 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
Sam Holdsworth, former editor-in-chief and publisher of Billboard, died May 18 at 72 of a heart attack.
Holdsworth, who was also co-founder of Musician magazine, was part of a consortium that bought Billboard Publications Inc. (BPI) in 1984 from the Littleford family in a move that led him to become Billboard’s publisher.
The consortium was helmed by investor Boston Ventures and an internal BPI management group fronted by Holdsworth and Jerry Hobbs in a move that was seen as a non-disruptive way to keep BPI — which included Billboard, Musician and Amusement Business, among other titles — intact. Hobbs, who had served as executive vp of BPI and Billboard’s publisher, became president/CEO of the new entity, while Holdsworth became publisher of Billboard and then publisher/editor-in-chief. BPI had purchased Musician in 1981, which brought Holdsworth into the company.
“As publisher, Sam had a wonderful calming influence on all around him in an otherwise stressful publishing environment. I’ll always appreciate the faith he showed in me and his willingness to delegate crucial tasks to his trusted management team,” Ken Schlager, who served as managing editor under Holdsworth, tells Billboard.
“He and Jerry Hobbs brought Billboard into a new era,” says Adam White, who was Billboard‘s editor-in-chief when Holdsworth became publisher, before leaving in 1985 and then coming back as international editor in 1989. “For that alone, he should be remembered.”
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Holdsworth and his childhood friend, Gordon Baird, founded Musician magazine in 1976. “He was the brains and taste and I was the mouth and energy…Our early days as a magazine for school music programs were so rocky, until Sam proposed a left sharp turn after our first year to jazz and rock,” Baird wrote in a piece published Monday (June 10) in The Gloucester (Maine) Times. The two had met in Gloucester 70 years earlier as tots, as their mothers were best friends.
With its new direction, Musician quickly became a must-read for music aficionados and artists alike and was able to attract top-notch music journalists who appreciated the trust Holdsworth gave them to steer their own pieces. “Sam was able to cajole them in to writing major pieces at a fraction of the price [that Rolling Stone paid writers],” Baird continued. “The photogs followed. Musician took off. Readers came to us, record company publicists came to us, Paul McCartney came to us, Springsteen, Michael Jackson, George Harrison, Bono, Clapton and Steely Dan came to us to be interviewed. Sam’s formula was the music first and the lifestyle a distant second.”
When BPI approached Holdsworth and Baird to buy Musician, “Sam was totally visionary and bargained for half the purchase price in Billboard stock,” Baird added.
“At that time, I was responsible for the growth and development of Billboard and its numerous ancillary products,” Hobbs says. “After a lunch in NYC, we quickly decided the fit would be a good one and in early 1981 our partnership began when Billboard Publications acquired [Musician]. Little did we anticipate our relationship would be so fruitful, exciting and long-lasting. Moreover, that it’d evolve into a lifelong personal friendship.”
Hobbs had found the perfect partner to help realize his goal of acquiring and expanding BPI to include not only music properties but also those devoted to film and theater as well as art and design. “During my first year working with Sam, his talents, personality and entrepreneurial spirit became apparent,” Hobbs says. “I realized I’d need a partner to help orchestrate a deal, raise the funds and execute on a plan we would develop to take the business forward.”
Hobbs and Holdsworth’s plan changed how Billboard moved forward with a model that still works today. “We were keen to develop data to complement and expand the information we would gather for our publications and the audiences we served,” Hobbs says. “In effect, we would utilize Billboard as the model for our new venture. Unlike most other B2B publishers then who were mainly dependent on advertisers for their revenue, we wanted to create and own products and services that our audiences would be willing to pay for to receive.”
In 1994, Dutch publisher VNU acquired the American titles, at which point Holdsworth left Billboard and moved with his family to New Mexico. He later became part of an investment group led by JP Morgan Partners. One of their acquisitions was Ryko Corporation, which included the Rykodisc label; Holdsworth oversaw the company until Warner Music Group bought it in 2006. “He was very good at looking beyond the past and around the corner,” says Baird, who talked to Holdsworth hours before he died. “He was also good at being the in right place at the right time for some of those label buyouts and sales, some of them came to him.”
Holdsworth continued to work with investments, as well as paint and write, from his farm in Silver City, N. Mex. He was working on the farm when his heart attack occurred. At the time of his death, he was managing director of Sword, Rowe and Company, a New Jersey-based investment banking and M&A firm, according to his LinkedIn profile.
As Hobbs says, Holdsworth was a rare blend of both creative and business acumen and had a discerning eye. “‘Sam was, indeed, a Renaissance man. He exhibited an alluring blend of the mandatory characteristics: authenticity, creativity, curiosity and resilience, the sine qua non elements that draw people in,” Hobbs says. “And he never confused the most with the best.”
Survivors include Holdsworth’s wife, Betsy, and his three children.
Just days after a company established to release solo music by band members of K-pop group EXO declared “war” against the stars’ longtime label and management agency SM Entertainment over a contract dispute, the K-pop giant has filed a lawsuit against the trio. As reported by the Korea JoongAng Daily, SM filed a civil suit […]
Lil Uzi Vert is facing a lawsuit that claims they owe a music touring company more than $500,000 in unpaid bills, including for procuring more than two dozen adult dancers that the rapper demanded appear on stage at last year’s Rolling Loud festival in Miami.
In a complaint filed Thursday (June 13) in Georgia federal court, attorneys for M99 Studios say the company successfully worked with Lil Uzi Vert (Symere Bysil Woods) for years, often serving as a “fixer for all things” and keeping tours running despite “unrealistic” requests.
But M99 claims that the rapper and their company (Uzivert LLC) have failed to pay their bills for four concerts last year, including Rolling Loud in Miami and Roots Picnic in Lil Uzi’s native Philadelphia. “Despite its numerous requests for payment of the outstanding invoices, at no point have Uzivert and/or Artist compensated M99 for the services it provided,” the complaint reads.
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The costs incurred by M99 covered “unrealistic production requests just hours before the scheduled performances,” the company’s lawyers claim. That included finding “a bounce house, wooded crosses, and mannequins” for one show, and hiring 30 adult dancers to appear at Rolling Loud.
“M99 managed to fulfill this request, along with countless other last-minute demands all at significant time, effort and expense,” the company says.
For years, the lawsuit claims that Lil Uzi Vert “relied heavily on M99” for all “creative ideas, production, and staffing for all tours, shows and performances.” The lawsuit says the rapper would often fall behind on billing, and that M99 would often have to cover up for their financial shortcomings.
“While Artist’s account would work from time-to-time, his credit card would frequently be declined while on tour, making it impossible for M99 to ensure the safety and well-being of the crew without covering the expenses itself,” the company wrote.
M99 says it finally cut ties after an Australian tour, saying the company “decided not to bill for the Australian services in hopes of parting ways amicably.” But the earlier debts over the four American concerts were never paid, the lawsuit claims, despite repeated promises from the rapper’s longtime manager, Amina Diop.
“M99 respectfully requests that this Honorable Court enter judgment in its favor and against Uzivert and/or Artist in an amount to be determined at trial, but no less than $533,499,” the company’s lawyers wrote.
A rep for Lil Uzi Vert did not immediately return a request for comment from Billboard.
In February 2021, Spotify announced its high-quality audio offering, called HiFi, and released a promotional video featuring Billie Eilish and her brother/producer, Finneas, waxing about the benefits of listening to recordings in their natural state rather than the compressed files that became standard in the digital era. “The streaming war is going Hi-Fi,” Billboard proclaimed a few months later.
But it was a false start. Spotify’s HiFi didn’t materialize, and the company officially announced its delay in January 2022. There were rumblings about HiFi in June 2023, but the rumors amounted to nothing. Instead, Spotify pushed ahead with building an all-in-one audio platform by building its podcast business and launching an audiobook offering.
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Now, HiFi appears to be back on track. This month, news broke that Spotify will finally launch a high-definition audio tier later this year. Still called HiFi, Spotify will offer the tier for an extra $5 per month for individual plans ($16.99 compared to $11.99, which bakes in an expected $1 increase from the current $10.99), according to a Bloomberg report. The HiFi tier for family plans is reported to be $19.99, $3 more than the current $16.99.
Waiting three years could come with some advantages. First, there’s a large addressable market that wants high-quality audio. A 2023 MusicWatch survey found that 85 million Americans aged 13 and over agreed that obtaining the highest sound quality is important and that they would be willing to pay more to get it, according to MusicWatch’s Russ Crupnick. That’s a big uptick from 2020 when a previous MusicWatch survey found that it found that 69.2 million people aged 13 to 65 were open to paying more for studio-quality sound. Most of that change represents greater interest in high-quality audio, as population growth has been “only about 1% per year,” says Crupnick.
“Once people realize that audio quality is available and they hear it, it is hard to go back,” says Qobuz managing director Dan Mackta. “The challenge is just getting people to actually hear it.”
There are two types of premium audio streaming: 16-bit, known as “lossless” or “CD-quality,” and 24-bit, which is commonly referred to as “high-resolution.” Both Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited offer CD-quality and higher definition tiers that go up to 24-bit/192 kHz. Qobuz streams 24-bit audio up to 192 kHz. Spotify streams up to 256 kbps for subscribers — far below CD quality of 1,411 kbps— and 128 kbps for ad-supported users.
Early high-definition entrants like Qobuz, Tidal, Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple Music have done much of the dirty work educating consumers about audio quality. Amazon Music, which debuted high-definition audio in 2019, saw strong demand and engagement, Amazon Music vp Steve Boom told Billboard in 2021. Apple Music rolled out lossless audio and Spatial Audio in June 2021. More than 90% of Apple Music listeners have engaged with Spatial Audio, the company said in January, adding that plays of music available in the format have more than tripled in the previous two years.
The streaming market has matured over the last three years. Spotify currently has 59 million more subscribers than it did at the end of 2021, giving it a larger base from which to upsell a premium audio tier. Consumers have also warmed to the notion of paying more for a music subscription. Spotify’s first large-scale price increase in July 2023 was followed by an additional increase in May in the United Kingdom and Australia, and the United States will follow later this year — all without a material amount of subscriber churn, company executives have said.
Spotify will have to convince its subscribers that high-quality audio is worth a premium, however. Amazon Music Unlimited originally charged a premium for high-definition audio but later made it a standard feature for the lower-priced, standard subscriber plan. Likewise, Apple Music offers lossless audio and Spatial Audio at no extra cost. To counter its competitors’ pricing strategies, Spotify could make HiFi a bundle of premium features. In 2022, Spotify reportedly surveyed consumers about their willingness to pay for a premium tier that offers high-definition audio, additional playlist and library features, limited-ad Spotify playlists, and other add-ons.
But Spotify HiFi could also encourage its competitors to follow suit by further raising prices. Mackta says Qobuz intends to raise prices at some point in the future. In fact, Qobuz lowered prices in 2019 — a standard plan is currently $12.99 per month — in response to larger services like Apple Music and Amazon Music making high-definition audio a standard feature. “In general,” he says, “music is too cheap.”
Barclays has suspended its sponsorship of Live Nation’s U.K. festivals following protests from artists over the bank’s links to defense companies supplying arms to Israel as well as fossil fuel firms.
Country singer CMAT, folk group Lankum and rock bands Pest Control, Zulu, Scowl, Speed and Ithaca are among the acts who have either pulled out of or threatened to boycott Live Nation-promoted summer events, including July’s Latitude festival and the three-day Download festival, which starts Friday (June 14) in Donington Park, Leicestershire.
In a statement on Friday, a spokesperson for Live Nation U.K. said, “Following discussion with artists, we have agreed with Barclays that they will step back from sponsorship of our festivals.”
Confirming the news, a spokesperson for Barclays told Billboard that the London-headquartered bank “was asked and has agreed to suspend participation in the remaining Live Nation festivals in 2024.”
“Barclays customers who hold tickets to these festivals are not affected and their tickets remain valid,” the spokesperson continued. “The protestors’ agenda is to have Barclays debank defence companies which is a sector we remain committed to as an essential part of keeping this country and our allies safe.”
Referencing recent outbreaks of vandalism at a number of U.K. Barclays bank branches, where protestors threw paint and smashed windows, the spokesperson said the “only thing that this small group of activists will achieve is to weaken essential support for cultural events enjoyed by millions. It is time that leaders across politics, business, academia and the arts stand united against this.”
Barclays is one of the biggest sponsors of music festivals in the United Kingdom and signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Live Nation last year. Over the past two decades, the company says it has invested £112 million ($142 million) in supporting British music and the country’s arts sector.
Pressure from pro-Palestinian groups on music festivals and arts organizations to cut ties with sponsors with perceived links to Israel has been building since the start of the conflict in Gaza. Last month, more than 150 artists withdrew from Brighton’s Great Escape Festival over the independent event’s ties to Barclays.
Defending its position, Barclays has previously stated that it provides “vital financial services to U.S., U.K. and European public companies that supply defence products to NATO and its allies” but does not directly invest in these companies.
The news that the international bank, which has also drawn heavy criticism from environmental campaigners for bankrolling fossil fuel firms, was pulling out of sponsoring Live Nation’s U.K. festivals was welcomed by campaign group Bands Boycott Barclays.
“As musicians, we were horrified that our music festivals were partnered with Barclays, who are complicit in the genocide in Gaza through investment, loans and underwriting of arms companies supplying the Israeli military,” posted the campaign group on Instagram.
“Hundreds of artists have taken action this summer to make it clear that this is morally reprehensible, and we are glad we have been heard,” the group added.
Posting on X, Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello, who is due to play Download this weekend, said that “the fact that the festival has listened to its musicians and cut ties with Barclays Bank is a testament to the power of artists taking collective action for human rights.”
“I’ve been pushing hard for this behind the scenes,” added Morello, “and I salute all the artists like Zulu, Scowl and Speed who have taken a stand to help make this historic withdrawal happen.”
A Latin music executive accused of doing business with a concert promoter linked to Mexican drug cartels is now asking a federal judge to dismiss the charges, arguing that the indictment is unfairly vague and the sign of an eventual “sucker punch” by prosecutors.
Angel Del Villar, the CEO of Los Angeles-based Del Records, was charged in 2022 with violating a federal law that bars U.S. residents from doing business with known drug traffickers. Prosecutors say he repeatedly arranged concerts with a Guadalajara-based promoter who has ties to Mexican cartels.
But in a motion filed Thursday, Del Villar’s attorneys say the indictment failed to clearly state what aspects of that federal law he allegedly violated, leaving him unable to properly prepare a defense.
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“The purpose of an indictment is to protect individuals from government ambush,” writes Del Villar’s attorney. “A person whose liberty is at stake is entitled to know with certainty what offenses they are alleged to have committed [and] against what theories they must be prepared to contend.”
“The indictment here thwarts those goals,” Del Villar’s lawyers say. “Neither Del Villar nor his codefendants, upon reading it, can be sure from which direction the government’s attack will come — a sure setup for a sucker punch.”
Del Villar is represented by Drew Findling, a well-known criminal defense attorney for music industry figures. The Atlanta lawyer with has previously represented Gucci Mane, YFN Lucci and members of Migos in criminal cases; last year, he successfully defended Cardi B over a microphone-throwing incident in Las Vegas.
Founded by Del Villar in 2008, Del Records has grown into a top record company for Regional Mexican music. The label is home to música mexicana supergroup Eslabon Armado, whose global hit, “Ella Baila Sola” with Peso Pluma, became one of the biggest songs of 2023, as well as Lenin Ramirez and other chart-topping artists.
But in June 2022, Del Villar, 41, and chief financial officer Luca Scalisi, 56, and Del Records itself were all charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. Passed in 1999, the law allows the U.S. to impose targeted sanctions on foreign individuals involved in the illegal drug trade and ban U.S. residents from doing business with them.
In Del Villar’s case, prosecutors claim that he repeatedly worked with Jesus Perez Alvear, a Mexican concert promoter who runs a company called Gallistica Diamente (Ticket Premier). The U.S. Treasury Department added Perez to the sanctions list in 2018, claiming he and Gallistica had helped cartels “exploit the Mexican music industry to launder drug proceeds and glorify their criminal activities.”
Prosecutors claim Del Villar and Scalisi used Perez to arrange four Mexican concerts for an undisclosed Del Records artist, then accepted nearly $200,000 in payments from him, all while clearly aware that Perez had been sanctioned. Charging documents cite a never-sent Del Records press release acknowledging that status, as well as private messages in which Scalisi noted that Perez was “under homeland security watch” and Del Villar was directly told that Perez was “a sanctioned US person.”
Two and a half years later – after the case was pushed back numerous times – both Del Villar and Scalisi are now pushing to dismiss the charges.
In his filing on Thursday, Del Villar’s attorneys argue that the indictment is not clear about which aspect of the Kingpin Act he was accused of violating. Is it a provision banning transactions related to a significant drug trafficker, or another one prohibiting transactions that seek to evade the law itself? Findling says prosecutors “do not specify.”
“It would be one thing had the indictment plainly set out the precise elements of [those separate provisions],” Del Villar’s attorney writes. “It would even be acceptable had the indictment set out facts that would make clear which provision was at issue. But it does neither.”
A response from prosecutors is due next month. If the case is not dismissed, a trial is tentatively scheduled for October.
Cash Money Records founders/CEOs and hip-hop icons Bryan “Birdman” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams will be the 2024 honorees at YouTube Music’s second Leaders and Legends gala. The invitation-only event will take place in Los Angeles on June 27. Developing a roster that included pioneering hitmakers such as Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Mannie Fresh […]
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. Don’t forget to dig into this year’s Indie Power Players list. We also have a weekly interview series spotlighting a single executive and a regularly updated gallery honoring many of the industry figures we’ve lost throughout the year.
Sphere Entertainment has turned to Hollywood studio veteran Carolyn Blackwood as its new head of Sphere Studios, which develops and produces the “multi-sensory entertainment experiences” for concerts, corporate events and more at the next-generation spherical wonder. At Sphere, Blackwood will lead a team of creative, production and other various wizards responsible for those immersive experiences, plus work closely with MSG Ventures on developing the production technologies needed to create them. Blackwood has more than 25 years of studio experience, and was most recently chief operating officer at Warner Bros. Pictures. Prior to WB, she spent 20-plus years at New Line Cinema, where she rose to president and chief content officer. Between those two studios, she was integrally involved with some of the biggest films of the last quarter-century, including The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Barbie and The Conjuring franchise.
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“Throughout my career, I have focused on creative and business innovation in the entertainment industry, as well as the pursuit of production excellence, and this is a tremendous opportunity to be part of the cutting-edge work at Sphere,” said Blackwood. Sphere’s newly elevated president and COO Jennifer Koester added that she believe’s Blackwood’s “expertise bringing high-profile entertainment projects to life will be an asset as we continue to build on, and grow, the Studios’ capabilities.”
The creative team at Sphere also includes chief creative officer Ned McNeilage, who joined earlier this year. Since opening last year with a successful run of U2 shows, the Las Vegas megavenue has been in a jam-y mood with a four concert mini-residency by Phish and an in-progress 24-date residency by Dead & Company. An eight-date run by Eagles is scheduled for the fall.
Meanwhile…
Universal Music India and South Asia promoted Viral Jani to chief revenue officer. Jani joined UMGISA in 2023 as head of digital, strategy & transformation, having previously held senior positions at Times Network, GroupM and Twitter, among others. The promotion follows the May elevation of Sanujeet Bhujabal from evp of content to managing director of the Mumbai-based label division. “[The promotions of Bhujabal and Jani] reflects the company’s commitment to growth and development of one of Universal Music Group’s most important emerging markets,” noted Adam Granite, CEO, Universal Music Group AMEA. “Together they will work closely, alongside Chairman & CEO Devraj Sanyal and myself, to deliver our mission of creating the best music-based entertainment company in the region.”
Warner Chappell Music promoted A&R exec Jessi Vaughn Stevenson to vp, A&R and digital. Stevenson will continue reporting to Ben Vaughn, president/CEO WCM Nashville, as she strategizes opportunities for songwriters. During her career, Stevenson has worked with songwriters including Jessi Alexander, Rhett Akins, Parker McCollum, Hailey Whitters, Morgan Wallen and Randy Montana. “Jessi has always shown commitment to songwriters, helping them with their craft and careers,” said Vaughn. “She is always thinking of new ways to support songwriters and is a wonderful team player. We’re happy to announce her promotion.” –Jessica Nicholson
APM Music elevated creative executive Adam Weitz from senior director to vp of TV and film sync. Weitz has spent the bulk of his 16-year sync licensing career — roughly 11-and-a-half years — at APM, a production music joint venture between Universal Music Publishing Group and Sony Music Publishing. During that time he and his TV/Film team has banked large-scale licensing deals with Hollywood studios, streaming platforms and others, and locked in placements with hundreds of films and shows, including recent wins in Oppenheimer, Succession, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Ted Lasso and more. He also spearheads APM’s sample clearance business, which has collaborated with Drake, Beck, The Black Keys and others. Weitz reports to chief revenue officer Chad Elbert and president Adam Taylor, who remarked, “His deep industry connections and unique blend of creative and licensing expertise have established him as one of the very best in the industry.” Prior to joining APM in 2013, the Los Angeles-based exec spent nearly five years in leadership at sync licensing house Visions from the Roof. Under the pseudonym Phofo, Weitz composed music for several animated shows including Sushi Pack, Care Bears and Club Penguin, and he co-produced the first studio LP by MC Paul Barman. Reach him at aweitz@apmmusic.com.
BOARD SHORTS: Furnace Record Pressing founder and former CEO Eric Astor was elected to the Vinyl Record Manufacturing Association‘s board of directors. VRMA works to advance the record manufacturing sector — in which Astor has been deeply invested since FRP’s 1996 founding. He recently transitioned to an advisor role at the Metallica-backed Virginia plant, with Ali Miller taking over as CEO in March … OpenAI (ChatGPT) appointed Paul M. Nakasone, the former head of the National Security Agency (NSA), to its board of directors.
BMG appointed Alexandra Behrens as senior vp of global people excellence, a most excellent way of saying she’ll oversee HR services and operations across the company. Behrens is sliding over from Bertelsmann sister company Gruner + Jahr (G+J), where she led the people management & services team during a 15-year run at the print publishing giant. “Alexandra’s leadership will be instrumental in driving our global HR initiatives and fostering a culture of excellence across all of our locations,” said BMG CHRO Nikola Holle-Spiegel, to whom she’ll report. BMG recently announced a fine-tuning of its frontline recordings business under Jon Loba.
Digital Media Association (DiMA) promoted Sally Rose Larson to senior vp of government and external affairs. Prior to joining DiMA in 2019 as the audio streaming trade group’s vp of government relations, the Georgia native served as legislative director and later deputy chief of staff to Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), and was chief copyright advisor to House Judiciary Committee GOPers.
Reed Smith welcomed Jackson Abbeduto as counsel in its global entertainment and media industry group. Based in the lauded law firm‘s Century City, Calif. office, Abbeduto arrives following a year as counsel at Granderson Des Rochers. Prior to that, he spent nearly a decade at Universal Music Publishing Group and three years at YouTube as an executive. “Music is very important to our overall practice strategy, and considering our partner Gregor Pryor is the leading digital music lawyer in Europe, Jackson will have all the resources necessary to help us be on the forefront of advising clients in the US on all cutting-edge digital issues,” said Stephen Sessa, the co-chair of Reed Smith’s global entertainment and media industry group.
RADIO, RADIO: Cumulus Media promoted Kriston Aitken to chief human resources officer, taking over for a retiring Todd McCarty, who held the role for nine years. The HR veteran joined Cumulus in 2016 and was elevated to vp of Human Resources two years ago … Jose George and Olivia Morley joined advertising consulting firm Madison and Wall as senior analysts, according to Radio Ink … Samantha Melbourneweaver is joining NPR as managing editor/digital audience growth & engagement. She was previously the assistant managing editor of audience at the Los Angeles Times.
CAA promoted 15 employees, including Shayna Ehrlich to music marketing executive in the agency’s music touring department. She joined the firm in March 2019 as a music and comedy tour marketing assistant and later shed the laughs part of her workload. Prior to joining CAA, the NYC-based Ehrlich was in media strategy at iHeartMedia. THR has more details on the moves.
Hollywood-based publicist and former TV programmer Kiki Ayers launched My Best Kid Life, a new “daily guide on how parents and kids can live their best life” that will focus on wellness, nutrition, co-parenting and more, plus feature exclusive interviews with celebs discussing parenthood. Unique to MBKL is that all images used for the company are in the style of comic book, cartoon or anime. Pryor to this new venture, Ayers ran her PR firm Ayers Publicity and worked as an entertainment reporter. Earlier in her career, Ayers was a music programming manager at REVOLT and was in production at both MTV2 and The Jerry Springer Show.
ICYMI:
Richard Burgess
A2IM president and CEO Richard James Burgess telegraphed his exit from the indie label trade group … UTA hired ex-Ingrooves chief Bob Roback as COO … Downtown named Molly Neuman as president of its CD Baby arm … Jennifer Koester was promoted to president and COO of Sphere Entertainment … UnitedMasters hired Def Jam vet LaTrice Burnette as evp and head of music … and COLTURE‘s Ty Baisden was named executive of the year in Billboard‘s Indie Power Players list.
Last Week’s Turntable: TikTok Lawyers Up