Business
Page: 122
When Warner Records signed Zach Bryan in 2021, it didn’t initially seem a particularly momentous move. But the Oklahoma rock/country singer has since become one of the biggest stars — country or otherwise — to emerge in recent years, selling out arenas and scoring No. 1 albums on both the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts. And in hindsight, his signing signaled a watershed moment.
Bryan wasn’t the first country-leaning act signed by a major coastal label, but his massive success has proven that an act no longer necessarily needs the usual Nashville methods, including country radio, to break through. “The marketplace has provided an avenue for these artists who are working outside the traditional system of the Nashville-driven machine,” says Tom Corson, Warner Records’ co-chair and COO.
Three years later, the reverberations continue as Nashville labels face increasing competition from their coastal counterparts while country streaming numbers continue to soar. With the trend showing no sign of abating, Nashville record companies are also dealing with how Los Angeles and New York-based labels are driving up signing costs.
Trending on Billboard
The result is the breakdown of previously recognized genre lines and a plethora of opportunities for new acts. It has also left Nashville labels re-examining how business has been done for dozens of years and re-thinking some established practices.
As one Nashville label executive tells Billboard, “I can’t figure out if this is an existential crisis or not.”
THE BEFORE TIMES
Prior to the pandemic, Nashville labels generally had a lane to themselves when it came to signing country artists, with their relationships at country radio giving them almost exclusive access within the genre. But once COVID hit and touring slammed to a halt, labels became laser-focused on data and analytics as the only available metrics to gauge an act’s success. “There was no such thing as seeing artists play live, having them come into the office,” says Ben Kline, who last week stepped down as co-chair/co-president of Warner Music Nashville after a decade with the company. “All the indicators were on hold except for one: the digital numbers that people saw.”
And the numbers were good: The country audience was surging due to the mainstream success of acts like Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs. New York and Los Angeles labels began signing country-leaning acts with strong streaming numbers and high TikTok engagement rate, including Warren Zeiders (Warner Records), Koe Wetzel (Columbia), BRELAND (Atlantic), and, more recently, Dasha (Warner Records) and Wyatt Flores (Island).
“It’s the Russian oligarchs coming in and buying half of London,” says one Nashville executive.
“Any time something explodes, everyone’s going to say, “Let’s go invest,’” says another Nashville executive. “It’s like there’s oil down there — let’s start drilling.”
It was more than numbers; it was also that acts like Bryan are “moving culture,” says Warner Records co-chairman/ CEO Aaron Bay-Schuck, who adds there was also a healthy dose of common sense involved. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that country has been a genre that’s been on its way to having a moment for a couple of years now.”
As country soared — consumption rose 20% in 2023 over 2022 in the U.S. and is up another 5.9% this year, according to Luminate — hip-hop’s share of the market began to wane and coastal labels needed new music that could replace that revenue, making expanding into country all the more appealing. “It makes sense if you are running a record label; you’re constantly looking at how to grow your business and market share particularly for [publicly traded] Universal and Warner Music Group,” says a Nashville executive.
This isn’t the first time country music has exploded: In 1980, the movie Urban Cowboy caused a major craze and when “hat acts” like Garth Brooks, Clint Black and Alan Jackson arrived in late ‘80s and early ‘90s, country soared in popularity. But this time is different because there are fewer gatekeepers.
“In those days, there would be curiosity from the coastal labels, but it was such a tight community and country radio played such a gatekeeper role, the barriers to entry were higher,” says Jon Loba, BMG president of frontline recordings for North America, who continues to oversee the Nashville division. “Now, when to an extent you can go around those, it makes it easier for the coasts to run in.”
However, Ian Cripps, senior vp of A&R at Atlantic, home to country artists including BRELAND, Sam Barber and Mason Ramsey, as well as the successful country-dominated Twisters soundtrack, says the coastal labels’ creep into country isn’t that calculated. “I don’t think there was a conscious decision made that we need to target more signings in the country space,” he says. “It’s just there’s a lot of great artists in country music right now, a lot of great storytellers and our job is to find the best songs, best artists.”
TIES THAT BIND
The deals come in many forms and are driven by different goals. Country’s global outreach is growing and some artists sign with a coastal label because they feel the label has a greater international footprint than a country one. Luminate surveyed a 12-week period covering June through early September for the past four years and found that on-demand audio streaming of country music outside the U.S. has been steadily rising each year, from 22.5% in 2020 to 30.4% in 2024. (The 2024 numbers include Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion.)
After Megan Moroney released viral hit “Tennessee Orange” independently in 2022, pop and country labels began sniffing around. The international streaming numbers on the song made Moroney’s co-manager Juli Griffith decide that the rising star should partner with both a country and a pop label, selecting Sony Nashville and Columbia Records.
“I love our Nashville label, but I felt like we needed a bigger reach, and I still do,” Griffith says. “We work with both sides daily.” Columbia handles streaming for Moroney, including country playlisting with DSPs, and the international push, while Sony Nashville oversees country radio promotion and several other functions.
Griffith says it’s “not easy” to make sure nothing falls between the cracks and advises that any artist signed to two labels “has friends inside those teams [who will] warn you of any pitfall before it happens.”
“No doubt there were bumps in the road bringing these two companies together, but in the end, we figured it out and we’re having really good success with it,” says Sony Music Nashville chairman/CEO Randy Goodman.
Similarly, Bailey Zimmerman signed to Warner Music Nashville, but because of Elektra’s experience in the digital space and internationally, the sister labels partnered to develop the budding superstar.
Warner Music Nashville and Warner Records also linked to sign country sibling act The Castellows together. Since then, Warner Music Nashville, which previously reported to outgoing Warner Music Group CEO of recorded music Max Lousada, has shifted under Warner Records, and now reports through Corson and Bay-Schuck. On Sept. 24, Warner Music Nashville announced that Kline would be leaving with Elektra’s Gregg Nadel coming in as co-chair/co president alongside Cris Lacy.
One of the savviest labels in partnering with Nashville imprints is New York-based Republic Records (and its Mercury imprint). Republic paired with Big Loud four years ago to distribute Morgan Wallen, Lily Rose and Dylan Gossett, and earlier this year, Mercury/Republic expanded the deal to distribute all of Big Loud’s roster. Additionally, Miranda Lambert switched from Sony Music Nashville to Republic, with country radio promotion and marketing efforts handled by Big Loud. Republic has also partnered with BMG Nashville for Jelly Roll’s next album, out Oct. 11.
Other times, coastal labels sign the act solely, then hire a Nashville counterpart to approach country radio. Columbia signed Wetzel in 2020, but it wasn’t until earlier this year that it partnered with RECORDS Nashville to take him to country radio for the first time with this summer’s “High Road.”
Bay-Schuck suggests that often Nashville labels weren’t initially chasing some artists the coastal labels have signed because they didn’t fit into the traditional mainstream country mold, though Nashville labels are now opening up their rosters to a broader range of acts. “Warren [Zeiders] was an artist that we signed directly [in part] because the way he was moving felt like a pop or rap artist — his activity online, the frequency with which he posted, the frequency with which he was teasing music — that was behavior not really seen at that point by traditional country artists,” he says.
Zeiders, whose “Pretty Little Poison” topped Billboard’s Country Airplay chart earlier this year, says he deliberately didn’t sign with a Nashville label in 2022. “I want[ed] to be bigger than just what country music is,” he says.
Still, he says signing outside of an established country label “put a certain target on my back in the early process because there was so much, ‘Why didn’t you sign in Nashville? What’s wrong with Nashville?’ That kind of conversation. Now it’s become so much more of a normal process.” He also praises how Warner Records and Warner Music Nashville have worked together, especially with the Nashville label working his music to country radio. He now feels he is “just as much of a priority in Nashville as other Nashville-signed Warner artists.”
SHOW ME THE MONEY
Coastal labels are driving up the cost of label deals, often offering more than $1 million to sign an act, while Nashville labels still tend to offer south of that with a few exceptions, sources say.
When coastal labels see “any traction by any artists on TikTok or Instagram or anything, they’re throwing out ridiculous numbers to them,” says one manager who has acts signed to both coastal and Nashville labels.
“It’s convenient [for an artist] to say, ‘Oh I really like their digital team’; the reality is, if a check is five times bigger, the other stuff tends not to matter as much,” says a Nashville executive. “The prices have gone up without question. It makes the margin for error even more thin. The coastal labels have certainly changed the economics.”
Nashville A&R budgets are smaller than coastal label budgets, “and that is one reason [Nashville labels] are scared,” says a coastal executive. “Those coastal labels that are now buying their way into this genre are overpaying for deals. Country artists’ deals are now becoming as pricey as pop artists and rappers and that is making it difficult for Nashville labels.”
A Nashville label exec says given the success country acts are having, country labels are increasingly able to convince their bosses to occasionally match a coastal label offer. “At the end of the day, my boss is going to say you’ve got a certain amount of money in your net talent budget. Do you want to spend it all on this one act?” (As perhaps a taste of the coastal labels’ medicine, most of the country labels have started rock imprints, though none have yet yielded the kind of success the coastal labels have experienced with their country acts).
Now, coastal labels are putting boots on the ground in Nashville.
In June, Warner hired Kelly Bolton as vp of A&R as its first full time hire in Nashville. Bolton, who was senior vp of A&R for Tape Room Music, won’t be the last, predicts Bay-Schuck, who opened Interscope’s Nashville office in 2014 when he was president of A&R there. Additionally, Republic has reportedly hired former Warner Music Nashville and Spotify executive Mary Catherine Kinney, with potential other hires in the rumor mill. Capitol is also working with Shaina Botwin as a consultant in Nashville.
CHANGING TIMES
With no real competition for years other than among themselves, Nashville labels had perhaps grown set in their ways and a little slow to embrace change, while outsiders viewed the Music City labels as provincial.
“We’ve always had to fight to get people’s attention,” Goodman says. “Maybe it’s our cross to bear, but I think people have certain perceptions of Nashville labels holding on to certain ways of marketing or developing projects that are not even considered significant in other genres, so maybe part of it is we allowed this to happen because we weren’t being as progressive or aggressive as we needed to be.”
“Whether it was in the transition to CDs, the transition to iTunes, the transition to streaming or otherwise, we tend to be a couple years behind,” Kline says. “In the space of data and digital, we had a little bit of catching up to do and the increased competition forced that timeline to get sped up even more so. The smart labels in town have invested in those very areas. I don’t think anyone in Nashville is naive to what differentiation the coastal labels sell versus what we sell. It’s incumbent upon us each to determine how we counter that.”
To put it bluntly, “You’ve had it your way for a long time and now people are trying to eat your lunch, so go to a different place for lunch,” Corson says of Nashville labels. “There’s so much good music out there. Figure it out. Get your hustle on. We’ve all had to do it. If you stand still, you’re behind.” He adds that Nashville labels have stepped up their game. “Just because we had a head start in what we needed to do from an A&R perspective with data, social media and virality, the bicoastal labels were ahead of a lot of practices in Nashville, and they’re caught up now,” he says.
Throughout the growth spurt, the Nashville music business remains a tight-knit, insular community that prides itself on operating by its own rules, where a publisher puts a song on hold for an artist sometimes for months just with a handshake, songwriters are put on pedestals and labels spend years developing acts. (Nashville’s called a “10-year town” for the time it takes from arrival to breakthrough for an artist.) For decades, those tenets drew artists and songwriters to Nashville looking for a sense of community.
“My biggest fear is losing that,” Loba says. “We are a lifestyle, culture and community. It’s the fear of many of us that we end up in a pop-type disposable cycle, because ultimately that’s not good for anyone.”
Though some Nashville executives cynically believe that the coastal labels will lose interest in signing country artists when the current country bubble bursts, both Bay-Schuck and Goodman say that ultimately the coastal labels’ involvement is a healthy thing for however long it lasts.
“I think rather than anybody feeling threatened about somebody encroaching on their territory, this is an opportunity to make a really special genre and amazingly special crop of artists be appreciated and consumed in a way that they never have before,” Bay-Schuck says. “I don’t know what the negative is about country music becoming more ubiquitous than it ever has before.”
“The bottom line is it’s about this music that we make here and, thank God, the world is now paying attention to it,” Goodman says. “What [Nashville] should be doing is saying, ‘This is an amazing, historical, beautiful moment. How do we embrace it as best we can?’”
Additional reporting by Jessica Nicholson.
Abso Lutely Productions, the company behind the Eric and Tim Awesome Show, Good Job!, Moonbase 8, The Eric Andre Show and numerous stand-up comedy specials, unveiled its Abso Lutely Records label on Sept. 30, with the release of stand-up comic and musician Tim Platt’s debut album Teeth Like Beak. The label intends to capitalize on the current popularity of stand-up comedy specials through audio recordings that will be released on vinyl (among other formats), and producer and Abso Lutely partner Dave Kneebone says, give comic artists more creative control and the opportunity to own their work.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“Abso Lutely Productions has always thrived on giving the ultimate creative control directly to the artists and helping to shepherd their vision to their audience. Trust the idea – it’s at the core of what we do,” Kneebone says. “We created Abso Lutely Records so that we can help push performances and performers that we love, but who might not quickly find an audience on their own.
Trending on Billboard
Although the label won’t limit its releases to musical comedy, Kneebone says Platt — who has written songs for Sesame Street and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — is the ideal choice for Abso Lutely’s first album, in part, because vinyl will be a key component of its business plan. Teeth Like Beak, which was recorded at Brooklyn’s Union Hall in February, is a mix of songs, character work, one-liners and confessional stories.
Abso Lutely has produced projects for Netflix, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, HBO, and Showtime, and worked with such break-out talents as Andre, Nathan Fielder and Hannah Einbinder, as well as comedy veterans Scott Aukerman, Bob Odenkirk, David Cross and Andy Daly. It’s more recent stand-up special productions include Einbinder’s Everything Must Go, John Early’s Now More Than Ever and Brent Weinbach’s Popular Culture. In 2023, Abso Lutely — — which was formed in 2007 to produce the surreal sketch comedy show, Adult Swim‘s Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! — partnered with the comic improv institution, the Upright Citizens Brigade, which minted such contemporary comics and actors as Amy Poehler, Aubrey Plaza, Donald Glover, Kate McKinnon and Nick Kroll.
Kneebone spoke to Billboard about his love of comedy albums and vinyl, Abso Lutely’s business strategy, which includes giving comics more control of their work, and the growing role of social media in breaking talent, among other subjects.
I’ve got to ask you — is Kneebone your actual surname?
It is. It’s an old Cornish name — English miners from way back.
I cursed it all the time growing up. What a dumbass name. But as you age and you grow into it, especially in this business, it doesn’t hurt to have a somewhat distinct name attached to you.
Why start a record label at this period in time?
It’s something that we — particularly Tim Heidecker, who is a musician and a comedian — have been talking about for a long time. But it was never our core competency. We didn’t know how to run a label. As time went on and we started spending more time shooting standup specials — it’s a big moment right now for standup specials — we were like, why not us? Hannah Einbinder, who just did her special for Max, was keen on getting a record made of the special. I was like, that’s a great idea. I went home that night and thought, there’s no reason that we can’t give that outlet to these folks that we’re working with.
I grew up listening to comedy records: Bob Newhart and Steve Martin and Bill Cosby and Bob and Doug McKenzie’s Great White North record. It’s a great experience and a great gift to give yourself. It’s theater of the mind. I’d rather sit home with a beer and listen to it on a record than be in a club sometimes. We were like, why not do this and give a chance to the folks who are not Hannah Einbinder and John Mulaney and Nikki Glaser? Our stock and trade at Abso Lutely Productions is finding off-the-radar comedic voices. Here’s a way to help amplify that. And it doesn’t cost as much as making a television series.
Will you be digital only?
No. Digital is so easy that obviously it’s digital first. But part of the love that I have for comedy records is the record — the artwork, the liner notes, the physical. I love going through record stores, and I think the renaissance vinyl records are having is fantastic. We want to be a part of that, and we have more options than ever because of buddies of ours who have custom vinyl pressing houses. Why not make something beautiful to begin with? Something great to listen to and also great to hold in your hands.
Listening to a great comedy album is the equivalent of hearing a great album or song. Every time you hear it after that, you’re able to say, “I was at this place, doing this, feeling this when I heard it.”
It’s a core memory. You create the picture of the bit in your mind, whether it’s Bill Cosby or Bob Newhart or Steve Martin. I have very vivid memories of the way my eight-year-old brain conceived of this joke. I still see it. You don’t get that from watching [stand-up] specials. The only restriction is — I love silent, physical comedy, but that doesn’t translate well.
You’re not going to do a Billy the Mime album.
Actually, that would be a great joke. I’d love to do that. Here’s the world’s greatest mime.
In choosing Tim Platt, who does a lot of musical comedy, for the first album, is that going to be a theme of your label?
Not necessarily, although I’m drawn to that. When Tim Platt and I started talking about us releasing his record it was a natural fit for that reason because he’s so talented musically as well.There’s something about Tim Platt that is evocative of Steve Martin early on. Martin jumped so seamlessly and deftly between bizarre, high-concept joke structures and then playing an alluring melody that turned into a joke. Tim does such a nice job of navigating between those two things that it felt like yeah, this wants to be a record. But we’re not going to be exclusive to musical comedy.
Given that an absurdist threat runs through the comedy of your partners and Tim Platt, will your label offer a lot of that?
That’s my taste and Tim Heidecker’s and Eric Wareheim’s taste — something that’s surprising and weird and fresh. That’s always been the guiding light for our company. Let’s find something we haven’t heard before. Somebody saying something in a way we haven’t seen before.
Comedy that you must hear and cannot be explained.
Without question. That’s usually, to me, the hallmark of something that’s special and good.
What terms are you negotiating with the comics who release albums on Abso Lutely? Do they keep their masters?
This is still a work in progress, but our guiding principle is — and one of the things that spurred us to do this — is that the artists should own their work. We’re not doing this as a charity. We’ll split it with them, but so many of the deals that get made these days are, hey young guy, I know you’ve been touring this hour that you’ve been working on for five years. Come here to this giant mega streamer service and here’s your little sum of money. You can brag about it and send the links to people, but there’s no long tail of revenue. It’s good advertising, but the work that you crafted for so long, kiss it goodbye. It’s heartbreak.
I was surprised to hear how little a Netflix plays for name comics to shoot specials for them.
Obviously, this is universal. The economics aren’t what they used to be. And it gets to a point where, especially if you’re younger or not a mainstream comic, where the upside is not that far up anymore. So, why not go craft the record with the artwork that you want, with the sound that you want, with the material that you want and get it out to an audience and directly participate from dollar one in the benefit of this thing?
We’re doing the same thing with shooting specials here. We’ve done it under a partnership with [Upright Citizens Brigade]. We’re like, “We can make good specials without them costing a million dollars. And the focus is artist-first. Let’s do it for a lower budget and share the control and ownership directly with the artist in a more substantive and genuine way. We’ll make a record of it. We’ll get it on SiriusXM, we’ll create merch.” Being able to provide multiple streams of revenue to these comics is something that we can do now. This technology didn’t exist for us 20 years ago, but this is something that we can do now and we can do it damn near as good as anyone else.
Who’s going to distribute your records?
We’ve talked to a few people. Right now, we’re doing it ourselves, but when we’re up on our feet a little bit more we’ll extend the conversation and try to find a partner.
Social media has become an important tool for comics to grow fan bases. What is more important today – touring as a standup comedian or social media?
I think they have to go hand-in-hand now. You have to learn to use them together. But I also know comedians who choose to ignore social media because they don’t want to burn good material. Everybody is going to see it, and then they come to the club with preconceived notions, and you have to do that bit again. It’s a double-edged sword.
Can you reveal any future releases?
We have a couple more. I can’t give you any details because we haven’t closed the paperwork, but they’re great, weird comedians who I love and who are familiar in the comedy world. Those and at least one more this year or early next year. Then next year I would like to do a full slate — our anticipation is that we would like to do half a dozen at least a year.
Will there be a video component to the Tim Platt record?
Not from Abso Lutely. He filmed the show that as part of the recording at Union Hall that we are releasing, but this is only a record release for us. That said, many of the upcoming projects we have there will be a dual component, where we will make a special and we will do the record version of that special as a tandem piece for that project.
What are the biggest challenges or headwinds that the comedy business is facing in the coming five years?
In the current media landscape — film, television and records — there is not so much of that middle level of tastemaker on the buyer side that there used to be. People with enough rope to hang themselves creatively to say, “I’m willing to try this. This might not be for me but there’s something in it. Let’s make a pilot.” Or, “I’m not sure what this is but let’s check it out. Let’s do a season of this show because that’s how it finds its legs.” That process is going extinct in a lot of ways — and it’s the biggest challenge that I face, as someone whose job it is to try to get an idea, a comedy bit or a joke or a piece of talent in front of a buyer.
It’s so interesting because there are more and more streaming platforms that need content. Is it just a fear of risk?
Yeah, to a large extent it is risk aversion, because the competition is so fierce. You don’t want to be out there taking funky swings at crazy little projects while your competitor over here is making huge big-name projects — big bankable IP. If you fail in your endeavor, then lights out. Which is unfortunate, because with comedy, the best s–t is made when people are like, “I don’t know what this is but let’s try it.”
That’s what Mike Lazzo — who we owe so much of our professional success to — was great at: taking risks. He was the head of Adult Swim, and a lot of that [programming] was born from, “Well, let’s give it a shot. Let’s build a boat as we’re sailing it.” It sounds like bad business advice, but it’s good for comedy.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a landmark bill aimed at establishing first-in-the-nation safety measures for large artificial intelligence models Sunday.
The decision is a major blow to efforts attempting to rein in the homegrown industry that is rapidly evolving with little oversight. The bill would have established some of the first regulations on large-scale AI models in the nation and paved the way for AI safety regulations across the country, supporters said.
Earlier this month, the Democratic governor told an audience at Dreamforce, an annual conference hosted by software giant Salesforce, that California must lead in regulating AI in the face of federal inaction but that the proposal “can have a chilling effect on the industry.”
Trending on Billboard
The proposal, which drew fierce opposition from startups, tech giants and several Democratic House members, could have hurt the homegrown industry by establishing rigid requirements, Newsom said.
“While well-intentioned, SB 1047 does not take into account whether an AI system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data,” Newsom said in a statement. “Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions — so long as a large system deploys it. I do not believe this is the best approach to protecting the public from real threats posed by the technology.”
Newsom on Sunday instead announced that the state will partner with several industry experts, including AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, to develop guardrails around powerful AI models. Li opposed the AI safety proposal.
The measure, aimed at reducing potential risks created by AI, would have required companies to test their models and publicly disclose their safety protocols to prevent the models from being manipulated to, for example, wipe out the state’s electric grid or help build chemical weapons. Experts say those scenarios could be possible in the future as the industry continues to rapidly advance. It also would have provided whistleblower protections to workers.
The bill’s author, Democratic state Sen. Scott Weiner, called the veto “a setback for everyone who believes in oversight of massive corporations that are making critical decisions that affect the safety and the welfare of the public and the future of the planet.”
“The companies developing advanced AI systems acknowledge that the risks these models present to the public are real and rapidly increasing. While the large AI labs have made admirable commitments to monitor and mitigate these risks, the truth is that voluntary commitments from industry are not enforceable and rarely work out well for the public,” Wiener said in a statement Sunday afternoon.
Wiener said the debate around the bill has dramatically advanced the issue of AI safety, and that he would continue pressing that point.
The legislation is among a host of bills passed by the Legislature this year to regulate AI, fight deepfakes and protect workers. State lawmakers said California must take actions this year, citing hard lessons they learned from failing to rein in social media companies when they might have had a chance.
Proponents of the measure, including Elon Musk and Anthropic, said the proposal could have injected some levels of transparency and accountability around large-scale AI models, as developers and experts say they still don’t have a full understanding of how AI models behave and why.
The bill targeted systems that require a high level of computing power and more than $100 million to build. No current AI models have hit that threshold, but some experts said that could change within the next year.
“This is because of the massive investment scale-up within the industry,” said Daniel Kokotajlo, a former OpenAI researcher who resigned in April over what he saw as the company’s disregard for AI risks. “This is a crazy amount of power to have any private company control unaccountably, and it’s also incredibly risky.”
The United States is already behind Europe in regulating AI to limit risks. The California proposal wasn’t as comprehensive as regulations in Europe, but it would have been a good first step to set guardrails around the rapidly growing technology that is raising concerns about job loss, misinformation, invasions of privacy and automation bias, supporters said.
A number of leading AI companies last year voluntarily agreed to follow safeguards set by the White House, such as testing and sharing information about their models. The California bill would have mandated AI developers to follow requirements similar to those commitments, said the measure’s supporters.
But critics, including former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, argued that the bill would “kill California tech” and stifle innovation. It would have discouraged AI developers from investing in large models or sharing open-source software, they said.
Newsom’s decision to veto the bill marks another win in California for big tech companies and AI developers, many of whom spent the past year lobbying alongside the California Chamber of Commerce to sway the governor and lawmakers from advancing AI regulations.
Two other sweeping AI proposals, which also faced mounting opposition from the tech industry and others, died ahead of a legislative deadline last month. The bills would have required AI developers to label AI-generated content and ban discrimination from AI tools used to make employment decisions.
The governor said earlier this summer he wanted to protect California’s status as a global leader in AI, noting that 32 of the world’s top 50 AI companies are located in the state.
He has promoted California as an early adopter as the state could soon deploy generative AI tools to address highway congestion, provide tax guidance and streamline homelessness programs. The state also announced last month a voluntary partnership with AI giant Nvidia to help train students, college faculty, developers and data scientists. California is also considering new rules against AI discrimination in hiring practices.
Earlier this month, Newsom signed some of the toughest laws in the country to crack down on election deepfakes and measures to protect Hollywood workers from unauthorized AI use.
But even with Newsom’s veto, the California safety proposal is inspiring lawmakers in other states to take up similar measures, said Tatiana Rice, deputy director of the Future of Privacy Forum, a nonprofit that works with lawmakers on technology and privacy proposals.
“They are going to potentially either copy it or do something similar next legislative session,” Rice said. “So it’s not going away.”
A trailblazer in fan communication, Dear U has officially begun the expansion of its messaging platform, Bubble, into the Western market with J Balvin and Peso Pluma.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Billboard can exclusively share that starting Sept. 30, the Latin music powerhouses will be the “first of many artists outside of Asia” to engage with fans through Dear U’s newly launched U.S. version of the platform. The duo joins a large number of K-pop artists using the Bubble platform (also known as “the bubble”) to share private messages, voice notes, video content, and behind-the-scenes moments with subscribers including chart-toppin acts like Stray Kids, (G)I-DLE, BLACKPINK‘s Jisoo and Lisa, as well as a handful of Korean actors, athletes and content creators.
Since launching its artist-to-fan messaging service in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic era of social distancing, Dear U’s various Bubble apps have become a top marketing and social tool in the K-pop and Asian entertainment industries, currently connecting more than 600 artists to communicate directly with some of their most dedicated fans. With the company reporting over 73 percent of its two million paid subscribers living outside of Korea, introducing these two chart-toppers mark a significant shift to expand its offerings to the Western landscape successfully.
Trending on Billboard
“While the entertainment market continues growing, the service industry leveraging fandoms has not received as much attention,” Chong-oh An, the CEO of Dear U, tells Billboard. “In Korea, where fandom culture is fully established, Dear U has built a business model to harness this culture. Our aim is to introduce a fresh perspective to the global entertainment landscape and bring new excitement to fans around the world.”
While platforms like HYBE’s Weverse launched services like Weverse DM as a paid messaging service in 2023, Bubble was first to market in 2020 in launching the service for a slate of artists under the SM Entertainment roster. Dear U’s major shareholders are SM Entertainment (home to groups and Bubble users like NCT, aespa and Lucas) and JYP Entertainment (J.Y. Park, TWICE and ITZY), with the companies also featuring some of their international acts like SM’s China-focused boy band WayV and JYP’s Japan-based girl group NiziU partaking in the platform.
With a combined 13 No. 1s on the Hot Latin Songs chart, 50 Billboard Hot 100 entries between them, as well as highly dedicated fan engagement across their social media accounts, J Balvin and Peso Pluma are seen as ideal partners for Dear U’s next phase with Bubble.
“For me, it has always been important to be connected to my fans, La Familia,” says current Billboard cover star, J Balvin, in a statement. “I love reading comments and conversations so it’s exciting to communicate with fans no matter what their first language might be. This is why the Bubble is the perfect platform to keep in touch.”
“Peso Pluma wouldn’t exist without our dedicated fans who have supported us since the very beginning,” the 25-year-old Mexican rapper-singer adds. “Even though we don’t speak the same language, our music is crossing borders and I’m always excited to find new ways, such as through this partnership with Bubble, to connect with them.”
Teasing that Bubble’s services will “continue expanding into different genres across Western markets with major superstars,” the international, U.S. app can be downloaded here or for Android here. Fans can subscribe to an artist’s Bubble platform, which costs $4.99 per month per artist. Read on for more insight into Bubble’s big moment from Dear U’s CEO Chong-oh An.
Billboard: Congratulations on the latest news about the expansion and new offerings with Dear U. What does this moment signify for the company?
Chong-oh An: This moment signifies Dear U’s global expansion to the Western market. While the entertainment market continues growing, the service industry leveraging fandoms has not received as much attention. In Korea, where fandom culture is fully established, Dear U has built a business model to harness this culture. Our aim is to introduce a fresh perspective to the global entertainment landscape and bring new excitement to fans around the world.
Why were J Balvin and Peso Pluma the right partners to kick off the expansion?
Both of these artists are extremely popular, beloved, and influential. But they also bring unique cultural significance and strong fan engagement to the table. J Balvin and Peso Pluma frequently interact with their followers on social media, creating a sense of community and loyalty that aligns perfectly with Dear U’s mission to enhance artist-fan communication.
J Balvin and Peso Pluma are huge names in the Latin market and community. Was there a specific reason you wanted to team with Latin artists after primarily focusing on Asian and K-pop talent?
Our goal is to help connect artists with their loyal fans around the world, regardless of genre or market. Latin music has truly gone global over the past few years, and we are providing a platform to connect these passionate fanbases. J Balvin’s contributions to the global reggaeton movement and Peso Pluma’s fresh influence in regional Mexican music will help the platform cater to not only a large number of fans, but also a wide array of music tastes, languages, and cultural backgrounds. They will help us break barriers with fan connection.
Dear U’s story is interesting because it launched Bubble in 2020 when the digital conversation was so prevalent, yet the company continues to expand today. What did the pandemic teach you?
The pandemic required us to create innovative ways to connect artists and fans that we’ve continued to use today. Because artists have fans across the world and can’t always be physically present to engage with them, we’re proud to help bridge that gap and create connection.
In your opinion, what’s a very special or highly engaging moment an artist can have on their Bubble compared to traditional social media platforms?
Artists see their bubble subscribers as true superfans. With bubble, they can share intimate moments – from behind-the-scenes photos, selfies, and audio messages to polls about dinner or outfit choices. Even during [professional] breaks, artists can maintain this closeness by sharing personal snapshots, like photos from family trips. More than public social media, this exclusive content fosters a more personal and intimate connection, allowing fans to feel included in their favorite artist’s life.
Until YouTube and performing rights organization SESAC reach an agreement on renewal terms of their expiring contract, consumers might find many of their favorite songs unplayable on the video streaming service.
Some (but not all) songs by artists including Adele, Mariah Carey, Bob Dylan, Green Day, Kendrick Lamar, Nirvana and R.E.M. were among those unavailable on YouTube over the weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
At press time Sunday night (Sept. 29), Billboard can confirm hits like Adele’s “Hello” and “Someone Like You,” and R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion,” as just a few examples of music videos that remain unplayable on YouTube while its licensing deal with SESAC remains unsettled. When the page loads, an error message appears in place of a music video preview. The message reads, “Video unavailable. This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country.”
In a statement sent to Billboard, a YouTube spokesperson wrote, “We have held good faith negotiations with SESAC to renew our existing deal. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach an equitable agreement before its expiration. We take copyright very seriously and as a result, content represented by SESAC is no longer available on YouTube in the US. We are in active conversations with SESAC and are hoping to reach a new deal as soon as possible.”
Trending on Billboard
Billboard reached out to SESAC but did not receive a response on Sunday.
SESAC, which licenses the public performance of more than 1.5 million songs, collects royalties and helps protect copyrights on behalf of thousands of songwriters and publishers in the U.S.
As THR points out, YouTube customer service has been addressing users’ frustrations in responses on X (formerly Twitter). On the TeamYouTube account, replies to complaints have read, “Our music license agreement with SESAC has expired without an agreement on renewal conditions despite our best efforts. For this reason, we have blocked content on YouTube in the US known to be associated with SESAC – as in line with copyright law … We understand this is a difficult situation and our teams continue to work on reaching a renewal agreement.”
The music streaming service Spotify was down temporarily on Sunday (Sept. 29), leaving thousands of listeners without access to tunes and podcasts earlier in the day. More than 40,000 people reported outages with the music platform on downdetector.com, a website that allows users to report problems with popular apps and services. The highest amount of […]
Two Chinese music streaming companies, Cloud Music and Tencent Music Entertainment, led all music stocks in a second consecutive record-setting week.
Cloud Music surged 31.5% to 121.50 HKD ($15.63) and Tencent Music Entertainment jumped 24.6% to $12.27, benefitted from a surge in Chinese stocks this week. Cloud Music set a new 52-week high of 123.40 HKD ($15.88) on Friday and brought its year-to-date gain to 35.4%. Before the current upswing, Tencent Music had lost more than half its value since hitting its 52-week high of $15.77 on May 16. Now, Tencent Music’s year-to-date gain stands at 36.2%.
Chinese stocks had their best week since 2008 as investors reacted to the country’s stimulus plan announced Tuesday. Among the components of the plan is a provision to allow banks to lend to companies to repurchase their shares and allowing major shareholders to buy larger stakes in companies. As a result, the Shanghai Composite Index, which measures all stocks traded on the Shanghai exchange, shot up 12.8% this week.
Trending on Billboard
Led by China’s two largest music streaming companies, the Billboard Global Music Index, a float-adjusted index of 20 music business stocks, rose 4.4% to a record 1,956.63 in the week ended Sept. 27. The BGMI has gained 12.2% in the last three weeks and reached a new record high for the second consecutive week. The index had 14 stocks in positive territory and just six of the 20 stocks in the red.
Music stocks easily outperformed most major indexes. In the United States, the Nasdaq composite gained 1.0% to 18,119.59 and the S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 5,738.17. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 was up 1.1% to 8,320.76. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 2.2% to 2,649.78.
K-pop stocks also had an outstanding week. The four leading South Korean music companies, which have all shed significant value in 2024, posted an average gain of 14.4%. YG Entertainment rose 18.3%, SM Entertainment jumped 16.9%, JYP Entertainment improved 14.2% and HYBE climbed 8.1%.
Spotify, the BMGI’s most valuable component, rose 1.1% to $369.13. During the week, Spotify shares rose as high as $389.96—a new all-time high—but fell $20 by the end of Friday. Universal Music Group, the BGMI’s second-most valuable component, gained 4.9% to 23.86 euros ($26.66). On Friday, Kepler Cheuvreux upgraded UMG to “hold” from “reduce” and lowered its price target to 23.50 euros ($26.25) from 27.00 euros ($30.16).
SiriusXM was one of the week’s few losers, dropping 2.2% to $24.39. Morgan Stanley on Tuesday told investors that SiriusXM faces the risk of “further multiple compression” due to a limited outlook for subscriber and revenue growth. In other words, if SiriusXM was valued at, say, 15 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), its growth prospects might merit a lower multiple.
Music streaming company LiveOne had the week’s biggest decline of 23.2%. Radio broadcaster Cumulus Media fell 8.6% and French music streamer Deezer dropped 8.0%.
Billboard
Billboard
Billboard
As part of its relaunch, nonprofit organization More In Music is announcing its new advisory board for 2024-2025. Dedicated to making the music industry accessible to aspiring professionals through education and mentorship, the organization is also planning its first More In Music Conference for 2025. The board is comprised of three groups: legacy, bridge and […]
HYBE has reopened an investigation against Min Hee-jin, the former CEO of its subsidiary label ADOR, with whom the K-pop conglomerate has been in a monthslong legal battle regarding her position at the company.
On Sept. 24, HYBE confirmed to Billboard that ADOR launched an investigation into whether Min improperly interfered in the company’s initial investigation into a sexual harassment claim and violated confidentiality obligations. ADOR also began a re-investigation of an ADOR VP involved in the situation. HYBE declined to comment on how long the investigations have been underway or when they plan to share their findings. Min and a representative tell Billboard she was never formally informed of the investigation through external or internal company means.
Min is pushing back on HYBE’s handling of the case, which was initiated by its sub-label ADOR, which houses NewJeans, calling the company’s internal investigations biased due to an alleged conflict of interest with the executive who replaced her as label CEO overseeing the case.
Sources tell Billboard that the investigation involves allegations that Min had covered up an incident involving a male VP at ADOR, where a female employee reported feeling harassed and bullied during a work-related dinner.
The controversy dates back to February 2024, when the ADOR VP allegedly pressured a female employee to attend a dinner with a client, claiming it would be beneficial to have a young woman present, according to an internal report shared with Billboard. During the dinner, the VP left abruptly, leaving the employee alone with a client, creating an uncomfortable situation that the report says “seemed orchestrated.” The employee reported the incident to HYBE’s internal compliance system, citing sexual harassment and workplace bullying. While an internal HR investigation was conducted, it ultimately recommended only a stern warning for the VP, as harassment claims could not be definitively proven, with the case dismissed.
Min Hee-jin’s role in the aftermath of this complaint is what has come under scrutiny. According to the report, Min doubted the credibility of the employee’s complaint and organized an all-hands meeting with both the complainant and the accused, violating the company’s standard HR procedures. An audit of the situation added that Min had coached the VP on how to respond to the allegations.
When the Korean tabloid site Dispatch first reported the incident, Min responded to the claims with a media statement and shared information about the employee on her social media, including the employee’s salary. HYBE has said that the employee filed lawsuits for defamation and privacy violations, but a representative for Min tells Billboard she, as well as the VP, are only facing a defamation suit. The rep adds that the VP has also sued the employee for defamation and claimed damages, which had not been previously shared with the media.
At the time, Min stated that the issues stemmed from poor work performance and that the employee left the company after a salary cut. Min tells Billboard the salary information she revealed through an Instagram Story post did not identify the individual and says it was HYBE, not herself, who publicly disclosed the private parties’ identities in media statements throughout their dispute.
In a phone interview last week, Min questioned the legitimacy of HYBE’s ongoing investigations and directly addressed the appointment of Ju Young Kim, ADOR’s new CEO, who replaced her and led the initial investigation that dismissed the harassment claim. During her time as ADOR’s CEO, Min claims she was not in a position to “conceal” sexual harassment cases nor in charge of such decisions.
“The one who actually made a final decision after reviewing all the statements, all the evidence and reporting, is Kim Ju Young, who is currently the CEO of ADOR,” Min says. “She made those final decisions by herself within HR of HYBE, but then later on, she brought up this issue again and accused me with different charges to try to re-open an investigation.”
Min adds, “I have been telling HYBE, ‘If you want to do an investigation or re-investigation, you need to make it formal and official by not having any investigating done by those involved in previous cases. They could hire a third party to investigate, but instead, they’re going into another internal investigation by the same person who actually made the final decision.”
The final results of the audit are expected in the coming days.
HYBE declined to comment on whether the company has spoken with or plans to speak with NewJeans directly, but Billboard learned that the NewJeans members and their parents met ADOR’s current CEO Ju Young Kim on Sept. 24 to solidify each side’s position.
Despite the ongoing investigation, ADOR shared its decision on Sept. 25 to allow Min back to the subsidiary as an internal director and producer for NewJeans, but would not honor the request to reinstate her as its CEO.
“The board has resolved to convene an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to reappoint Min Hee-jin as an internal director,” ADOR said in an official statement (per The Korea Herald). “However, the board cannot accept the request for her reinstatement as CEO at this time. Min Hee-jin’s role and authority as the producer for NewJeans are fully guaranteed, and further discussions on specific terms will take place in the future.”
Min Hee-jin issued a press statement in Korea rejecting the proposal and requesting again to be reinstated as CEO.
Indicted hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been hit with yet another civil lawsuit, claiming that he repeatedly drugged and sexually assaulted an unnamed model over a four year period.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in New York state court, the accuser – identified only as a Florida model under the pseudonym Jane Doe – says that Combs abused her on multiple occasions from 2020 to earlier this year, often after giving her drugs and using other coercive tactics.
The allegations from the woman – at least the twelfth victim to accuse Combs of sexual abuse of over the last year – echo claims made by federal prosecutors in a sweeping indictment unsealed last week, which detailed elaborate, drug-fueled “freak off” performances involving numerous victims.
“Combs would make her ‘perform a show’ for him and would ply her with alcohol and substances until she passed out,” her lawyers write. “Throughout the four years, defendant Combs would consistently pressure Jane Doe adding other men and women into the bedroom despite Jane Doe being clear that she did not want others involved.”
The accuser says Combs and others used “coercive and harassing language” to force her to agree to his demands, including making “threatening jokes” to her that caused her to “fear for her safety if she did not comply.” She says he and others even tracked her location and monitored her conversations.
At one point in 2022, the accuser says she became pregnant shortly after a sexual encounter with Combs. After she shared the news with Combs, her lawyers say one of his associates “harassed Jane Doe by repeatedly calling her and telling Jane Doe to have an abortion.” She says she later suffered a miscarriage.
Combs, also known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, was once one of the most powerful men in the music industry. But over the past year, he has faced a flood of civil abuse lawsuits, starting with a high-profile case filed late last year by his former longtime girlfriend Cassie Ventura. That case quickly settled, but it was later corroborated by a widely shared video of Combs assaulting her at a hotel, and it was followed by numerous other cases with similar allegations.
Then last week, federal prosecutors unveiled a sweeping indictment, accusing Combs of operating a criminal enterprise centered on a “pervasive pattern of abuse toward women.”
“For decades, Sean Combs … abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct,” reads the indictment, which was obtained by Billboard. “To do so, Combs relied on the employees, resources and the influence of his multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled.”
Even after the criminal charges, new civil cases have continued to be filed. Earlier this week, a woman named Thalia Graves filed a case claiming that Combs and another man another man “viciously raped” her New York City studio in 2001 – and that they filmed the encounter.
Combs is currently behind bars after a federal judge refused to grant him bail, ruling that he would pose a flight risk and might seek to intimidate witnesses and victims if released. The criminal case is pending, with a trial likely still months away.