Business
Page: 121
On a recent trip to New York, I spoke on a panel discussing the state of the global music industry. During the Q&A, someone asked, “When will the day come that Taylor Swift isn’t the biggest artist in the world?”
Answer: She already isn’t.
Now, maybe it’s a matter of perspective. From a Western vantage point, it’s a valid question. Given Swift’s ubiquitous media coverage, it’s hard to imagine a day when she isn’t at the top of our industry. In the past year alone, she has broken records, won awards, and inspired fans. But her achievements are only one slice of the global picture.
The music industry is increasingly interconnected, with content moving across markets and access to that content expanding in ways many do not see. With that comes the opportunity to reach massive populations from emerging markets, whose focus rests on domestic artists and local language content. I think a future where the next big global star arises from somewhere other than the U.S. is barreling towards us, and they won’t be singing in English.
Trending on Billboard
My confidence here is informed by my home, the United Arab Emirates, which sits at the intersection of Asia, Africa, and Europe, and has a population representing over 200 nationalities. I am deeply embedded in this region and its music industry, and I have firsthand exposure to music’s evolution in these markets, watching the increasing dominance of local language music and recognizing how it is reshaping pop culture. That change is happening quickly across listenership, subscription growth, access to music and more.
Evaluating a superstar from the West against a superstar from the East is not an apples-to-apples comparison. There is important context missing from the raw numbers, particularly in available streaming metrics, which fail to fully represent the consumption in the East or the potential for monetization in the years to come.
The multinational streaming platforms have thoroughly established themselves as the leaders in monetization. For example, Spotify has carved out a reputation as the market leader with over 602 million monthly active users globally, 236 million of which are paying. However, those multinational platforms are relatively new to the MENA region and other emerging markets and are still building a user base. In contrast, domestic streaming platforms in the wider region have had longer to build a strong user base (e.g., India’s Gaana boasts 200 million monthly active users), but their monetization hasn’t caught up yet.
However, if we look at the sheer market size, the opportunity in emerging markets is undeniable. The populations of the U.S. (330 million) and the U.K. (67 million) are dwarfed when compared to India (1.4 billion), MENA (489 million people), Pakistan (243 million), or Nigeria (227 million). Music consumption in some of these markets is already outpacing the West (in rate of growth) and will soon surpass the West (in volume).
The data is there. Emerging markets have been the major driver of global subscription growth since 2021, and Goldman Sachs’s 2024 Music in the Air reports their contribution is expected to reach 70% by 2030. In Luminate’s 2023 report they highlighted that India’s streaming volume increased by nearly half a trillion streams year-over-year vs. 184 billion for the U.S. At that rate, particularly as the U.S. reaches a point of saturation, we could see India surpass the U.S. in consumption this year.
You might think that the increased availability and monetization of streaming platforms in emerging markets would translate to the Taylor Swifts of the West reaching even more listeners. The truth is those listeners increasingly care more about their own domestic stars and regional music culture than what the West exports to them.
YouTube launched globally in 2005 and has long been the established service for streaming and discovering music, thereby more adequately reflecting music listening preferences in the region. If we look specifically at Swift, there is no denying she is massively popular on the platform. On YouTube’s Global Music Charts for April 19-25 (the week her latest album dropped), she sat squarely at #1. However, eight of the Top 10 songs that week were actually non-English releases by artists from around the world. How many of you know the Bhojpuri hit “Maroon Color Sadiya” (which was #3 that same week)? Expand that to the Top 40, and only eight songs are in English. This is only on YouTube; consider the impact of additional domestic streaming platforms, which are even more skewed toward local language artists in each market.
Local language matters; the era of pop music being defined as “Anglo-American” is over. Looking at streams per day in India in 2023, Statista found Hindi represented over 40% versus English’s 25% share. What’s more, vernacular language and regional music, which made up the remaining 34%, was notably the fastest-growing genre from 2020 to 2023. In its 2023 report, Luminate highlighted how the share of English language music declined by 12% globally since 2021, while the share of Hindi music has essentially doubled. Even in the U.S., the share of English language content is down 3.8% since 2021.
The global diaspora which is consuming Arabic, Hindi, and other global languages is in the West too, augmenting the shift I’m describing. The meteoric transformation of K-pop into a global phenomenon is a particularly strong example of this expansion, thanks to groups like BTS, BLACKPINK and Stray Kids. In addition to its huge following in Korea, the genre has swept the West, with Korean being the 3rd biggest language by consumption in the U.S. in 2023, according to Luminate.
So, is Taylor Swift really the biggest artist in the world? Given the change I’ve described in streaming adoption across emerging markets, the importance of domestic platforms, and the sheer fact that on a country-by-country level domestic acts reign, the answer is no. Last time I checked, India, Pakistan, the Middle East, China and most of Africa have their own superstars — and they represent most of the populated world. There’s no telling how high those local artists will climb before their stars eclipse the likes of Swift in ways that become much more obvious to the rest of us.
Spek is the founder/CEO of PopArabia & ESMAA and the executive vp of international & emerging markets at Reservoir. He was recently named to Billboard’s International Power Players 2024 list, having previously appeared on the list in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Irish rock band The Script signed a global deal with BMG. Managed by Simon Moran and Martin Hall at Hall or Nothing, the group now consists of Danny O’Donoghue and Glen Power following the death of their bandmate Mark Sheehan last year. According to a press release, the band’s global streaming tally stands at 10 billion.
Stockholm, Sweden-based, Venezuelan-born singer-songwriter Omar Rudberg signed to Elektra Records and released his major label debut single, “Red Light,” on May 17. Rudberg was previously in the Scandinavian boy band FO&O before going solo. He’s also known for starring in the Netflix series Young Royals.
TMWRK signed three artists to its management roster: ††† (Crosses), Wavves and Noeline Hofman. The company’s founder, Andrew McInnes, manages ††† (Crosses) alongside Ben Matusow, who also manages Wavves. Hofman, an Americana artist, is managed by senior vp of management Paddy Scace and executive vp/partner Nick Palmacci.
Trending on Billboard
Singer-songwriter Cameron Whitcomb (“The Devil I’ve Seen”) signed with Atlantic Records, which released his latest single, “Rocking Chair,” on May 17. Whitcomb is managed by Todd Dunsmore and John Caton at Fifthline and booked by Matt Runner and Jonathan Insogna at Wasserman.
MNRK Heavy signed Colorado-based hardcore group Fox Lake to its roster for the release of the band’s upcoming album. The group is managed and booked by Travis Porter at Forthright Booking.
“Hard house” producer and DJ Ben Keen, a.k.a. BK, signed to Hannah Laing‘s doof, which released his latest single, “No Fool,” on May 17. BK is managed by Lee Haslam at LGRP and booked by Josh Haygarth at Active Talent Agency.
North Carolina-based country singer Wesko signed to Warner Records/Underscore Works Recordings, which released his debut EP, Lost Boys, on Friday (May 24). He’s managed by Charly Salvatore and Becca Campbell at underscore works.
Mahogany, the music brand and record label behind the Mahogany Sessions video channel, launched digital distribution and artist service platform Mahogany Songs, with Dom Wallace aboard as label & marketing manager. The first signing for the new entity is singer-songwriter Áine Deane. Mahogany Songs will release Deane’s new EP, tales of a twenty something, later this year.
Boston-based indie rock-funk band Bermuda Search Party signed to Nettwerk, which released the group’s new song, “Asking 4 A Friend,” on May 17. The band is managed by Zoe Salvucci at Seven Hills Management and booked by Kameron Salek at Bandit Booking.
BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville signed duo Ryan and Rory. The band, which includes Nashville native Ryan Follesé and North Carolina native Rory John Zak, released its single “Pour Decisions” on Friday (May 24). Ryan and Rory’s self-titled debut EP will release July 26. – Jessica Nicholson
Car Thing, likened by at least one admirer as the Zune of the 2020s, will cease to exist later this year following an announcement by Spotify late last week that the little device that couldn’t will stop working on Dec. 9. It’s not a suspension of technical support or software updates, but rather the simply designed in-car audio player will be remotely deactivated and that users should be prepared to discard it.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“The goal of our Car Thing exploration in the U.S. was to learn more about how people listen in the car,” said a Spotify spokesperson when asked about Car Thing’s death sentence. “In July 2022, we announced we’d stop further production and now it’s time to say goodbye to the devices entirely. Users will have until December 9, 2024 until all Car Thing devices will be deactivated.”
Trending on Billboard
Spotify broke the news to Car Thingheads in an email on May 23, writing that the company was “switching gears” and that “while this chapter is closing, we’re working new, innovative ways to enhance your drives in the future.” A day later, the company sent a followup email explaining that “this was not a decision we made lightly and we want to ensure that you have the right place to reach out if you have any questions.”
Slowcore in a slowcar.
The soon-to-be-obsolete devices have a 4-inch touch screen, a large rubbery spin dial and several buttons. In terms of size, Car Thing is 5-inches wide, 3-inches high and less than an inch thin. It is light (three ounces) and mounts to a dashboard, air vent or a CD player, and stays put in said mounts using magnets. Adding to the confusion surrounding its very existence, the Thing still needs to be connected to your car stereo using bluetooth or wires, and requires a dedicated power source and your smartphone (via WiFi) in order to access Spotify’s millions of tracks and podcasts. Users of the gadget control what’s playing via the touch screen, the dial or Spotify’s increasingly smart “Hey Spotify” voice control mode, which has become particularly popular among buckled-up kids wanting to take over the playlist.
The audio streaming giant began tinkering with a voice-controlled hardware device in 2019 as a way to test in-car listening habits and also to fill a need for Spotify devotees with older cars — or slightly less-smart or attractive interfaces — to enjoy their favorite music and podcasts while driving. Car Things began rolling out to select U.S. premium subscribers in April 2021 before going wide in February 2022 at a price point of $89.99. But a few months later, Spotify slammed the breaks on Car Thing production, saying in an earnings call that they “frankly haven’t seen the volume at the higher prices that would make the current product financially viable.”
Unsurprisingly, the company has not disclosed sales figures.
On its support website, Spotify said its decision to discontinue Car Thing was “part of our ongoing efforts to streamline our product offerings” and that “we understand it may be disappointing, but this decision allows us to focus on developing new features and enhancements that will ultimately provide a better experience to all Spotify users.” The company suggests resetting your Car Thing to factory settings before disposing of it at your nearest electronic waste recycling center. Spotify added that it has no plans to develop a new car device and won’t be offering a trade-in benefit.
As the subscription streaming music model raises public performance royalties, the big collective management organizations are seeing their best years ever. On May 28, just hours after the Swedish CMO STIM announced a 14.2% increase in revenue, the UK CMP PRS for Music announced that in 2023 it took in £1.08 billion ($1.34 billion based on the 2023 average pound-to-dollar conversion rate), breaking the billion-pound barrier with a 12% increase. It also paid out a record £943.6 million ($1.17 billion).
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
PRS also brought its cost to income ratio down to 9.2%, a particular focus for CEO Andrea Czapary Martin, who wants to keep it below 10%. Last year it was 9.3%.
Over the last decade, PRS has more than doubled its revenue, which went up by 111% since 2014. That’s an astonishing run for the organization, which turns 100 this year. Its membership also grew by 10,000, an unprecedented rise.
Trending on Billboard
“Our remarkable performance in 2023 is a testament to the team’s hard work behind the scenes of the music industry,” Martin said. “We’re not just surpassing financial milestones at the lowest cost-to-income ratio amongst our peers; we’re orchestrating a significant shift in the music business.
Like some of its counterparts, PRS received the most revenue from online licensing — £366.5 million ($455.5), up 8.5%; the distribution was £360.3 million ($447.8 million), up 23.2. Next came international, which generated £339.3 million ($421.7 million), up 25.9%. Public performance royalties, traditionally the core of a PRO, accounted for £251.7 million ($312.8 million), up 10%.
Although it’s hard to compare CMOs directly, PRS has had some strong years, and its cost to income ratio is enviable. For much of the last decade, it was above 10%. Over the last two years, it has been below that, partly because it can share some costs with the ICE joint venture it runs with GEMA and STIM.
STIM, the Swedish collective management organization (CMO) turned 100 last fall — and its results for 2023 are giving it another reason to celebrate. The organization took in a record-high 3.095 billion Swedish Krona (SEK) ($291.9 million, based on a 2023 average krona-dollar conversion rate), up 14.2% from the previous year, the CMO announced May […]
Warner Music Group’s revived Record Store Crawl returned to New York City last weekend after a five-year absence, complete with a bus full of music and vinyl fans — including Billboard’s Retail Track — that kicked things off at Tower Records’ Tower Labs space in Brooklyn with a rocking performance from 300 Entertainment recording artists Quarters of Change.
The crawl’s bus, transporting about 40 music fans, went on to visit Academy Records in Brooklyn, Audio-Technica showroom in lower Manhattan, Generation Records in the West Village; and finally, Rough Trade Records up in Rockefeller Center, all on Saturday (May 18).
Upcoming crawls are scheduled in Seattle on June 14; Austin on July 20; Nashville on Aug. 10; Chicago on Sept. 28; and Los Angeles on Oct. 19. Tickets for each crawl costs $77.45. Just like the New York Crawl, those cities will likely feature an artist performance and so far, Joe P has been lined up for the ones in Seattle and Austin; Knox for the one in Nashville; Deux Visages for Chicago; and Alicia Creti for Los Angeles.
Trending on Billboard
What’s more, vinyl and music lovers can visit the Record Store Crawl website to vote for which U.S. city will be the winner of a crawl slated for Sept. 7. All the crawls are sponsored in partnership with Audio-Technica and HeadCount. When fans vote on the WMG Record Store Crawl website for which city should receive the September crawl, the site asks if the voter is registered to vote in U.S. elections. If they aren’t, or are simply unsure, a link takes them to the headcount.org website where they can either check their status or register to vote.
The last time WMG had a Record Store Crawl was a year prior to the COVID-19 shutdown. Before the pandemic, the then-named WEA (now named WMX) held 40 Crawls in cities across the United States from 2016 through 2019, according to WMX senior director of retail & platform marketing (RPM) Gina Williams. In NYC, they were mainly held on Record Store Day. However, nowadays record stores have plenty going on that day, Williams said, so WMG’s team chose other days to bring a traffic boost to stores.
While the Record Store Day Crawl was happening in New York, WMX’s RPM team was hosting some 165 early listening events for Twenty One Pilots‘ new album, Clancy, out now on Fueled By Ramen. According to a statement issued by the company, “thousands of fans nationwide packed into their local record stores to hear the album early, connect with fellow fans and experience what independent record stores are all about: community and love of music. Moreover, in the prior year, 2023, the RPM Team hosted 972 listening party indie store activations in 2023 for 12 releases. The RPM Team and Atlantic Records were nominated for a 2024 Music Biz Bizzy for our Barbie, The Album listening events.”
In New York, Record Store Crawl fans lined up at noon outside Tower’s performance space in Williamsburg to get a bag of swag from the Warner family of labels. Retail Track’s bag contained the Keith Sweat Make It Last Forever limited-edition black ice vinyl album and a “Brother” 45 from Needtobreathe, plus stickers and other tchotchkes; as well as a raffle ticket, which would come in very handy on the bus ride between stops on the crawl.
Inside Tower, the crawlers were treated to a high-energy seven-song set from Quarters of Change, who performed tracks from its debut album, Into the Rift, and its just released follow-up, Portraits.
Quarters of Change perform at Tower Records’ Tower Labs space in Brooklyn on May 18.
Rita Vega
After the band’s set, the tour loaded onto the bus and headed to the next stop: Academy Records Annex in Greenpoint, where Retail Track scored a few singles: O.V. Wright’s “Precious Precious” on Hi Records; Arthur Prysock’s “I Wantcha Baby,” on Hy Weiss’ Old Town Records; and Shirley Brown’s “Woman To Woman” on Truth Records.
After that, the bus headed to Manhattan via the Williamsburg Bridge and the mother of all traffic jams, moving literally an inch at a time. That led to plenty of opportunities for WMX’s RPM senior manager Ross Srodo to show off his emcee prowess, while WMX RPM creative manager Eden Mili supplied pithy embellishments in her role as ace ticket number reader as the duo raffled off plenty of Record Store Day exclusives and other limited edition and/or deluxe vinyl records — all from the Warner Music family of labels, naturally. During that ride, Han Mu, one of the crawlers, said he heard about the Record Store Crawl through an Instagram post. He also hailed the crawl’s pricing, saying, “it is totally worth it.”
In Manhattan, the first stop was at Audio-Technica House, the audio equipment brand’s collaboration space in SoHo, where crawlers were treated to Banshee Winery wines and a music trivia game with the winner taking home a turntable. The rest of the crawlers got an Audio-Technica record cleaning kit.
Up next, a quick ride to Generation Records, where crawlers had the pleasure of flipping through the stacks while dining on Williamsburg Pizza. Retail Track hit the downstairs used records bargain bin and scored 10 vinyl albums, including ones by The Association, Dakota Staton, Gene Pitney, Jimmy Ruffin, Joan Armatrading and Renaissance — the latter on Warner Bros. Records.
The Record Store Crawl itself wasn’t the only attraction, as Hannah Tebo bought a ticket especially to see the performance by Quarters of Change, as did Ellen Cainsford, who flew in from Austin because she said she wanted to “see the band in a special venue for an intimate performance.” Besides her, two others traveled in from North Carolina for the Record Store Crawl, while two more music fans came from Philadelphia, WMX RPM manager Mel Hoch reported to Retail Track.
Finally, the day culminated at Rough Trade where Retail Track scored Quarters of Change’s Portrait LP. “It was great to have a busload of eager record fans of all ages pop in and take over our store briefly,” store manager George Flanagan tells Billboard. “It was a very good day already and then the music fans from the bus provided a nice spike. We sold a lot of music.”
Much like last month’s Record Store Day, Retail Track once again heard the siren call of (this time) a cold Budweiser, which was easily scored around the corner from Rough Trade at the Pig & Whistle pub. After all, Retail Track needed something to wash down the wine taste from back at Audio-Technica House.
Retail Trackback: Taylor Helps, But Olivia & Others Also Bring Big Sales to RSD 2024
When the United Kingdom votes on July 4 to elect its next government, business leaders around the world will be closely monitoring the outcome to see what it means for them. For the music industry, the upcoming general election — announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday (May 22) — could also lead to major change depending on who wins.
According to the latest opinion polls, the Labour Party is more than 20 points ahead of the ruling Conservative Party, which has been in power for 14 years. Unless Sunak achieves an extraordinary turnaround in the next six weeks, Labour leader Keir Starmer is widely expected to be the next resident of Number 10 Downing Street, most likely with a big majority of Parliamentary seats.
Should that happen, Starmer has said he plans to make a number of reforms that will impact the world’s third-largest recorded music market, touring and regulation of the tech industry, all of which will reverberate beyond the United Kingdom’s borders.
Trending on Billboard
Tougher Rules for Ticket Resale Platforms and Prospect of Future Arena Tickets Tax
In March, Starmer announced that a future Labour government will cap the resale prices of concert tickets and introduce tougher regulations for secondary ticketing platforms such as Viagogo, which has already been subject to numerous investigations and inquiries in the United Kingdom.
The Labour policy would limit the number of tickets individual resellers could sell on resale platforms and give the U.K. competition watchdog greater powers to take “swift” action against services and scalpers who break the rules, Starmer said.
Any change at Number 10 could also have big implications for the global touring business. Earlier this month, a Parliamentary committee called for a new voluntary levy to be added to arena and stadium tickets sold in the United Kingdom to support struggling grassroots music venues.
To stem the tide of small venue closures, the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee said the voluntary levy should be introduced “no later” than September. If progress is not made, the government should set up a statutory levy, advised the committee, which also called for a cut in sales tax (VAT) on tickets for grassroots music shows.
Whichever political party wins on July 4, it will be expected to respond to the CMS committee report on the grassroots music sector. As for the committees themselves, they all cease to exist after Parliament is dissolved on May 30, although a new bunch will be formed after the election made up of a cross-party selection of MPs. They can pick new topics or industries to investigate — or can choose to build upon the work of their predecessors, meaning Parliamentary interest in the music business is unlikely to go away.
Given the huge contribution the U.K. music industry makes to the country’s economy — £6.7 billion ($8.2 billion) in music sales, concerts, recording studios, touring and music tourism in 2022, according to trade organization UK Music — government leaders will be keen to be seen doing all they can to protect the sector.
Regulating AI and Big Tech
Following the general election, the hot issue of regulating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to be near the top of the legislative agenda and will continue to be a source of heavy lobbying from the tech and music industries.
The current Conservative government has spent the past several years consulting on the topic but has yet to deliver any firm plans and has generally pursued a light touch “pro-innovation” approach to the regulation of AI.
In 2023, the government quietly shelved a proposal by The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) for a new text and data mining (TDM) exception that would have allowed AI developers to freely use copyright-protected works for commercial purposes (albeit with certain restrictions) following fierce criticism from the music industry.
Since then, there have been repeated calls from music trade groups like labels trade body BPI for the government to follow the European Union’s lead and defend creators, musicians and rights holders from the potential risks of generative AI models.
Earlier this month, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Music called for a comprehensive “pro-creative industries” AI bill that protects the music business from the “threats” posed by the technology. Among its recommendations were banning AI developers from using copyright-protected music for training purposes without consent, as well as the requirement for tech companies to clearly label all AI-generated content.
If Sunak retains power, music executives will be keen to see him urgently press ahead with U.K.-specific legislation around AI and ensure the United Kingdom doesn’t fall behind other countries and markets in regulating the sector.
Labour’s position on AI, as outlined by Starmer last summer, is that they will bring in stronger regulations than the Conservatives, although details are thin on the ground and the party’s stance does appear to have softened in recent months as it attempts to court business leaders and tech executives by presenting itself as a “pro-innovation” government-in-waiting. Labour had been working on an AI strategy document ahead of the general election announcement, which it was expected to launch this month.
Addressing Artists’ and Songwriters’ Discontent Over Streaming Terms
Over the past four years, the United Kingdom has led the way in addressing artist discontent over low payments from music streaming. Since 2020, when the pandemic-enforced shutdown of the live industry brought the issue to the fore, there have been numerous Parliament-led inquiries into the record business, including a review of the major labels’ market dominance by the U.K. competition watchdog.
In December 2021, a bill was debated in Parliament that would have required record companies to pay musicians and songwriters a bigger cut of streaming revenue. It was defeated at the first stage, but the prospect of government intervention in the U.K. music business has seen record companies beef up their public policy teams and divert a huge amount of time and resources into dealing with the various probes.
The heightened scrutiny of the music industry has yet to result in any law changes, but it has increased pressure on labels to improve artist terms and contracts. A government-led working group focusing on creator remuneration recently launched (which insiders say is likely to continue post-election) and the noise around low streaming royalties for many artists is unlikely to die down anytime soon.
Last month, the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee published a report calling for government ministers to “do more to make sure music makers are paid fairly” and to press ahead with a package of sweeping copyright reforms. The committee’s recommendations included overhauling the revenue split between recording and publishing rights from music streaming, currently set at around 55% for recording and 15% for publishing, to better reward songwriters.
“It’s vital that any incoming administration ensures we deliver on recommendations made by the Culture Select Committee to reset the streaming market and support grassroots live touring,” says Annabella Coldrick, chief executive of the U.K. Music Managers Forum (MMF).
“More broadly, we need a government that values British music, puts it at the forefront of U.K. growth policy, and backs it with a credible music strategy to maximize our industry’s potential both domestically and internationally,” Coldrick adds.
Whether that responsibility falls to Sunak or Starmer will be determined by the British public on July 4. If Labour does win the general election, there’s a chance that two high-profile figures from the music world could join them in government. Dave Rowntree, the drummer for Blur, is running as the Labour candidate for the Conservative-held Mid Sussex seat, while Tom Gray, co-founder of indie rock band Gomez and chair of songwriters and composers body the Ivors Academy, is the party’s chosen candidate for the Brighton Pavilion constituency.
When Sabrina Carpenter signed with the Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) in October 2023, she was coming off the critical and commercial success of her 2022 Island Records debut Emails I Can’t Send, a project that established her as a formidable pop hitmaker with a distinct voice and a captivating appeal. But since that album’s release, her career has launched into the stratosphere, with a string of singles — “Nonsense” off the original Emails; “Feather,” which was released on the deluxe of Emails in August 2023; and, most recently, April 2024’s “Espresso” — that have each reached higher on the charts than the last, building her into a mainstream dynamo with song-of-the-summer hitmaking potential.
It’s been “Espresso,” however, that has truly captured the zeitgeist. The song zoomed onto the Billboard Hot 100 with a No. 7 debut, eventually reaching No. 4, but has done even better globally, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart — where it spends its second week this week, establishing it as a bona fide international hit. And through the work of her label at Island and her publishing company UMPG, that’s marked the highest chart placement of Carpenter’s career — and help earned UMPG co-head of U.S. A&R and head of UMPG’s global creative group David Gray the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
Trending on Billboard
Here, Gray discusses the work UMPG has done with Carpenter in the six months since bringing her into the pubco, what sets her apart as a songwriter and the company’s global outlook. “She has always had a vision for herself as an artist and songwriter,” Gray says. “It’s rewarding to see her succeed at a global level and get all of the credit she deserves.”
This week, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” spends its second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart and its fifth week in the top 10 of the Hot 100. What key decision did you make to help make that happen?
Overall at UMPG, we work to support our songwriters’ ideas and decisions in any way we can, whether putting together strategic writing sessions or working to secure great synch opportunities globally.
Sabrina signed with UMPG last October. What were your first conversations like with her about her music and where she wanted to go?
Sabrina talked about how the Emails I Can’t Send album was a step up from where she was before and she was ready to take it up to the next level from there. She has always had a vision for herself as an artist and songwriter. It’s rewarding to see her succeed at a global level and get all of the credit she deserves.
What sets Sabrina apart from other pop stars as a songwriter, and how have you helped to emphasize that?
Sabrina has such a unique and brilliant songwriting voice, both lyrically and melodically. All the years of doing sessions, working hard, taking songwriting very seriously and perfecting her craft has made her not only the artist in the writing session… but she is also an A-list-level songwriter talent-wise.
For the past two years you’ve headed up UMPG’s global creative group. How has that changed how you work with songwriters, and in what ways does it help your global reach?
At UMPG, we have always recognized that there are amazing writing opportunities for songwriters outside of their own territories. The number and quality of these writing opportunities has accelerated in the last few years. The communication between territories that the Global Creative Group provides is essential to making sure our writers get the best of these opportunities.
How are you preparing to deal with AI in the publishing world?
It’s still nascent in the broader creative community, but we know AI offers opportunities and risks. We embrace AI, just as we have other technology innovations in the past, but only AI technology that is ethical and artist-centric — in other words, only if it supports songwriters and protects their rights.
When Amanda Rovitz met Megan Boni at a college study abroad program in Sydney, Australia in 2018, she says she “always had this feeling” that Boni had star power.
“She’s just always been the funniest person I know,” says Rovitz. “I thought she would definitely emerge in entertainment somehow, not as a musician or singer, but as someone in comedy.”
Fast forward five years, and Boni, who is self-admittedly not a musician, has a label deal with Capitol/Polydor/Virgin Germany, and Rovitz, who became a music manager at 1916 Enterprises post-grad, is the one who helped her put it all together.
It’s all thanks to Boni’s video, poking fun at cliched “song of the summer” TikToks, that made her 2024’s most unexpected viral signing. While Boni admits she was “just having fun” with making the video, known as “Man In Finance,” her signing is also indicative of how major labels are evolving to meet the current demands — and breakneck pace — of user-generated music creation.
Trending on Billboard
“Did I just write the song of the summer?,” she says to the camera in her viral video, which has been viewed 28.6M times since it was posted on April 30. “I’m looking for a man in finance, trust fund, 6’5”, blue eyes,” she says in a rhythmic vocal fry.
@girl_on_couch
Can someone make this into an actual song plz just for funzies
♬ original sound – Girl On Couch
Boni, who posts under the handle @Girl_On_Couch, says she made the clip in just a few minutes. “Since COVID, TikTok has been a hobby for me,” Boni says. “I just thought it would be funny to make a video making fun of those single girls who are always complaining about being single, but yet they want an impossible laundry list of things in a boyfriend, and by the way, that’s myself included.”
It’s the sound that launched a thousand remixes. Producers including David Guetta, Alesso, Loud Luxury and Billen Ted immediately jumped on the sound, making it the top line to a number of different TikTok tracks. Now, with the help of Capitol/Polydor/Virgin Germany, Boni is licensing her TikTok vocal to the producers for official releases, the first of which was released May 17 as “Man In Finance (G6 Trust Fund)” with Billen Ted. In it, the producer duo splices together Boni’s vocal, original drums and a sample of “Like a G6” by Far East Movement.
Rovitz says that even before producers started remixing Boni’s audio, she texted her friend saying the video could really turn into something. Soon, she was proven right: The remixes became inescapable on TikTok, furthering Boni’s initial virality to even greater heights. Almost immediately, several major labels came calling, and Boni asked Rovitz to help her navigate the conversations. “I didn’t really know where to begin,” Boni says.
“Within four days, Amanda and Todd [Rubeinstein, music attorney] had me on calls with labels,” says Boni. “Two days after that we were talking with UTA,” who now acts as her agent as a creator/comedian. Boni says she went from being a totally DIY creator on TikTok to having a full-fledged team in about a week.
Zach Elgort, vp of marketing at Capitol, says it was a “perfect storm” to sign Boni. “It’s kind of a marketing dream,” he says. Unlike most songs, which start as completed masters and are then posted online in the hopes of gaining organic interest with listeners, this was the inverse. “It was an organic trend [already], which you always hope for. Now, it’s about pushing the actual song we released to DSPs and pitching it to our partners.”
This success is seemingly more akin to a TikTok “teasing” strategy, where an artist posts an unreleased song to gauge interest from fans first before committing to the release. But the difference with the “Man In Finance” phenomenon is that Boni made the video without the intention of making it into a real, release-worthy song. Still, Elgort says the official Billen Ted version has already been met with “exciting playlisting support” from streamers — it’s been added to Spotify’s New Music Friday and Teen Beats, among others — given that they could already measure listeners’ appetite from the original social media videos.
“Man In Finance” might have been made as a joke, but it serves as a clear indication of how people are creating and consuming music today, where some of the most culturally relevant songs are first (or only) available on socials. “This project shows an evolution of how social media meets music,” says Elgort.
The Kendrick Lamar and Drake feud, which played out simultaneously with the “Man In Finance” trend, acts as another example of how much music creation and consumption on social media has changed. All of the songs were dropped first on social media, with only a few making it to Spotify and Apple Music.
As MIDiA Research’s Tatiana Cirisano argues in a recent analysis, it’s a sign of the “continued shift in cultural value from streaming to social, which is bifurcating the music industry into two parallel consumer words: LISTEN, where streaming plays the role [of passive consumption]… and PLAY, where social platforms have a grip on culture.”
Moving forward, Elgort and the team at Capitol, along with Polydor and Virgin, are planning to license out Boni’s vocal to more producers who have been making remixes, anointing a few as official, DSP-worthy versions of “Man In Finance.” The plan fits perfectly with the current label strategy of releasing multiple versions of the same song to DSPs. It also shows how quickly and flexibly the majors are now working to sign viral songs and artists.
“Now, it’s really about figuring out a way to get SEO and search to tie back to the official release of the song… and as more official versions eventually get released to streaming partners, they’ll all be packaged together and help the greater visibility,” says Elgort.
Boni, whose label deal is only a licensing agreement for this one vocal, says she has no intention of writing more songs but is going to have fun with it while she can. “I won’t make more music unless it’s a parody… but I am definitely behind this song,” she says. She adds that she’s interested in appearing at producers’ shows, brand collaborations and more — anything to push the song she says changed her life “overnight” by allowing her to kick start her career as a creator and comedian, build her team and provide enough stability to quit her 9-5.
“I put in my two weeks last Thursday,” she says. “I’m really excited for what’s next.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing yet another sexual abuse lawsuit, this time filed by a woman who claims that he drugged and sexually assaulted her 30 years ago while she was a college student in New York City.
In a complaint filed Thursday in Manhattan court, April Lampros alleges that the rapper subjected her to “an aggressive, coercive, and abusive relationship based on sex,” including four instances of sexual assault.
In one such allegation, she says Combs forced her to take ecstasy and have sex with his former girlfriend Kim Porter. Though she “vocally opposed” the idea, she said she feared that Combs “blacklist her in the industry.”
“Ms. Lampros knew that she had to comply because she had witnessed what happens when someone defies Mr. Combs,” her lawyers write. “She had also been threatened and victimized by Mr. Combs and did not want to cause a problem because she feared him.”
Thursday’s lawsuit also names Sony Music Entertainment as a defendant, claiming the company “enabled” Combs’ conduct. She claims that she worked for Sony’s Arista Records when at least one of the attacks occurred, and that Sony “knew or should have known that Combs was not fit to be in a position of authority.”
Representatives for both Combs and Sony did not immediately return requests for comment.
Lampros is the seventh alleged victim to file a lawsuit accusing Combs of sexual abuse over the past six months, including one filed just days ago by a model named Crystal McKinney who claims the hip-hop mogul forced her to perform oral sex on him following a Men’s Fashion Week event in 2003. The rapper is also reportedly facing a federal criminal investigation over abuse accusations.
In previous statements, Combs has strongly denied any wrongdoing. But after a video surfaced last week showing Combs attacking one of those accusers – then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura – he said he took “full responsibility” for that incident and was “truly sorry.”
In her complaint, Lampros claims that she met Combs in 1994 while she was a college student at New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology. After she told him about her “dreams of working in the fashion industry,” Lampros says Combs promised to mentor her and help her find work in the industry.
But she says the relationship quickly turned sexual, including “four terrifying sexual encounters” and threats of physical violence. One such incident occurred after a night out in 1995, when she claims that she began to feel unwell after taking just “a few sips of one drink.”
“Ms. Lampros pleaded with Mr. Combs to stop, and he ignored her,” her attorneys write. “Ms. Lampros could not process why this was occurring and felt a loss of control. Ms. Lampros was being raped by Mr. Combs, and she soon passed out.”
Thoughout the relationship, Lampros claims that Combs exercised power over her due to his fame and influence: “She felt that if she disobeyed him, he would take away her dreams of pursuing a career in his world.”
Lampros also claims that Combs surreptitiously filmed one of their sexual encounters and then shared the video with others. She says she learned of the tape in 2023, when an unnamed man told her boyfriend that “he should reconsider dating her because he personally saw a video of her and Sean Combs having sex.”
The lawsuit alleges that all of the defendants violated New York City’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law. The case also includes counts of civil battery, sexual assault and negligent infliction of emotional distress against Combs.
Read the entire complaint here: