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TelevisaUnivision has named Daniel Alegre as its new CEO starting Thursday (Sept. 19). The decision is part of the board of directors’ strategic succession planning. Alegre takes over for Wade Davis, who will become vice chairman of the board of directors and remain on the executive committee.
“On behalf of the board, I’m excited to welcome Daniel to TelevisaUnivision as we embark on the next phase of our strategic journey focused on further integration and optimization,” TelevisaUnivision’s executive chairman, Alfonso de Angoitia, said in a press release. “It’s been a very dynamic media environment, and we are grateful for what Wade has accomplished in the turnaround of Univision and the subsequent transformative merger between Univision and Televisa’s content business to create TelevisaUnivision.”
“The media landscape is undergoing a profound transformation and TelevisaUnivision is strategically poised to seize new opportunities while staying deeply connected to the communities we serve,” Alegre said in a release. “The U.S. and Mexico represent the most valuable and populous Spanish-language markets in the world, a demographic that is becoming more prominent both regionally and globally.”
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Originally from Mexico, the new network leader possesses operational-focused leadership experience within the Hispanic community and across the U.S., Mexico and Latin America. With over three decades working in media, entertainment and technology, Alegre was most recently CEO of Yuga Labs, a web3 company. He previously served as president and COO of Activision Blizzard.
“Building on TelevisaUnivision’s solid foundation, global content pipeline, ongoing investments in cutting-edge technologies, and unmatched reach, we are uniquely positioned to continue serving this vital audience,” Alegre continued. “Wade and the entire TelevisaUnivision team have created a strong multi-platform media business with world-class quality and breadth of entertainment, news and sports programming.”
Davis added, “We could not have picked a better successor than Daniel, who brings an incredible track record of operational and strategic execution. He is the ideal executive to take TelevisaUnivision into its next phase of growth. The Company’s future is bright, and I look forward to supporting Daniel and the TelevisaUnivision team in my role as vice chairman of the board.”
During Davis’ Univision tenure, the company completed a $4.8 billion merger with Group Televisa in 2022, forming TelevisaUnivision as it is known today. The broadcaster has made significant investments in streaming and traditional TV, with its ViX streaming platform approaching profitability. It also runs 35 radio stations across the U.S.
Atlantic Records announced more staff layoffs on Thursday (Sept. 19) as the process of remaking the company continues.
“I want to acknowledge the hard work, passion, and creativity of everyone across Atlantic, 300, and Elektra,” CEO Robert Kyncl said in a staff memo obtained by Billboard. “In particular, I want to thank the people who will be leaving us. You’ve made an indelible mark on this company and the careers of the extraordinary artists you’ve championed. Words never cut it in these situations but we’re forever grateful for all your contributions and achievements over the years.”
These cuts follow the announcement in August of a significant executive restructuring: 10K Projects founder Elliot Grainge will take over as CEO of Atlantic Music Group, starting October 1. As part of his promotion, 10K will move under the Atlantic Music Group umbrella — joining Atlantic Records, Elektra and 300 — while veteran executive and longtime Atlantic leader Julie Greenwald will be heading for the exit. Kyncl’s memo promised that the company will “be unveiling a new dynamic structure for the label group” next week.
The memo did not say how many Atlantic employees were being let go. Sources expect the layoffs to be significant and to affect multiple departments.
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Kyncl has been busy retooling WMG since he took over at the start of 2023. That metamorphosis has come hand in hand with layoffs; Atlantic’s latest cuts are the fourth round in the extended Warner Music Group family in roughly 18 months.
The company laid off 4% of staff, or about 270 people, including several at Atlantic, in March 2023. “To take advantage of the opportunities ahead of us, we need to make some hard choices in order to evolve,” Kyncl wrote in a memo to staff at the time. In February of this year, WMG laid out plans to cut another 10% of staff, primarily from the company’s media properties — like Uproxx and HipHopDX, which it acquired in August 2018 — as well some in corporate and support roles.
The same month, Atlantic initiated an additional round of layoffs, albeit much smaller in scope, cutting roughly two dozen employees in the radio and video departments. “As hard as it is to say goodbye to our friends and valued colleagues, it is critical that we keep retooling the company and add new resources and skill sets to our business units,” Greenwald wrote in an email at the time.
Greenwald is now on her way out. So is WMG CEO of Recorded Music Max Lousada; his role is not being replaced. Similarly, 300 Entertainment co-founder and current chairman/CEO of 300 Elektra Entertainment Kevin Liles is also exiting the company without replacement. Other executives are also expected to depart as part of this restructuring, sources say.
This is just part of the change sweeping the company as Kyncl seeks a “flatter structure.” Warner Records will now also oversee Warner Music Nashville moving forward, and the heads of global catalog, marketing, ADA (distribution) and WMX (the fan and merch division) will all report directly to Kyncl.
All three major label groups have gone through changes this year. In February, the Universal Music Group reorganized its label divisions into a loose East Coast-West Coast structure, aligning Republic, Island, Def Jam and Mercury under Republic Recording Company chairman/CEO Monte Lipman and Interscope, Geffen and Capitol under Interscope Capitol Labels Group chairman/CEO John Janick, moves that came with some significant layoffs. Sony Music also underwent layoffs this year, though not to the same extent as the other two companies, sources have said.
Read Kyncl’s full memo below:
Hi everyone,
Since we announced Julie would be stepping down, we’ve been thoughtfully working on how to evolve Atlantic Music Group for the future. Next week, we will be unveiling a new dynamic structure for the label group. Elliot begins as CEO of AMG on October 1.
As part of this reorganization, we will unfortunately be saying goodbye to talented people. I know you have been waiting to hear the plan, and rather than carry out changes piecemeal, we decided to make these difficult choices in one go.
Today will be a tough day, and by 9pm ET you will have heard if your job is affected. Your leaders and the People team will provide you with all the important details. We are committed to helping those impacted through this with the utmost respect, and supporting them with a runway during the transition.
I want to acknowledge the hard work, passion, and creativity of everyone across Atlantic, 300, and Elektra. In particular, I want to thank the people who will be leaving us. You’ve made an indelible mark on this company and the careers of the extraordinary artists you’ve championed. Words never cut it in these situations but we’re forever grateful for all your contributions and achievements over the years. We wish you the very best and know that you will continue to do great things in your next chapters.
WMG is transforming swiftly this year, in a fast-paced, fiercely competitive industry. As always, delivering outstanding results for artists and songwriters is our highest priority in all our choices.
As I mentioned, you will hear more about our plan for AMG next week, with Elliot making an announcement about the leadership team. In the meantime, we have so much incredible music in the market, and some outstanding projects on the way. Your continued support of teammates is amazing, and your run-through-walls focus on the music is extraordinary.
Thank you and take care,
Robert
Decades after Nelly released his chart-topping breakout Country Grammar, he’s facing a new lawsuit over the album from his St. Lunatics groupmates – who claim that the star cut them out of the credits and the royalty payments.
In a complaint filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, attorneys for the St. Lunatics allege that Nelly (Cornell Haynes) repeatedly “manipulated” them into falsely thinking they’d be paid for their work on the 2000 album, which spent five weeks atop the Billboard 200.
“Every time plaintiffs confronted defendant Haynes [he] would assure them as ‘friends’ he would never prevent them from receiving the financial success they were entitled to,” the lawsuit reads. “Unfortunately, plaintiffs, reasonably believing that their friend and former band member would never steal credit for writing the original compositions, did not initially pursue any legal remedies.”
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The case was filed by St. Lunatics members Ali (Ali Jones), Murphy Lee (Tohri Harper), Kyjuan (Robert Kyjuan) and City Spud (Lavell Webb). Slo Down (Corey Edwards), another former member of the group, is not named as a plaintiff.
A spokesperson for Nelly did not immediately return a request for comment.
A group of high school friends from St. Louis, the St. Lunatics rose to prominence in the late 1990s with “Gimme What U Got”, and their debut album Free City – released a year after Country Grammar – was a hit of its own, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard 200.
The various members of the group are repeatedly listed as co-writers in the public credits for numerous songs on Country Grammar, most notably with City Spud credited as a co-writer and co-performer on the single “Ride Wit Me,” which spent 29 weeks on the Hot 100.
In the new lawsuit, the group members say they were involved with more songs than they were credited for, including “Steal the Show,” “Thicky Thick Girl,” “Batter Up,” and “Wrap Sumden.” The most notable is the title track “Country Grammar,” which reached No. 7 on the singles chart; in public databases, the song only credits Nelly and producer Jason Epperson.
The groupmates say that during and after the Country Grammar recording session, Nelly “privately and publicly acknowledged that plaintiffs were the lyric writers” and “promised to ensure that plaintiffs received writing and publishing credit.” But decades later, in 2020, the St. Lunatics members say they “discovered that defendant Haynes had been lying to them the entire time.”
“Despite repeatedly promising plaintiffs that they would receive full recognition and credit… it eventually became clear that defendant Haynes had no intention of providing the plaintiffs with any such credit or recognition,” the group’s attorneys write.
When the group members realized Nelly had “failed to provide proper credit and publishing income,” they say they hired an attorney who reached out to Universal Music Publishing Group. The letter was relayed to Nelly’s attorneys, who they say “expressly repudiated” their claims to credit in 2021.
“Plaintiffs had no alternative but to commence legal proceedings against Defendants,” the lawsuit reads.
The case could face an important procedural hurdle. Although copyright infringement lawsuits can be filed decades after an infringing song is released, disputes over copyright ownership face a stricter three-year statute of limitations.
The current lawsuit is styled as an infringement case, with the St. Lunatics alleging that Nelly has unfairly used their songs without permission. But the first argument from Nelly’s attorneys will likely be that the case is really a dispute over ownership – and thus was filed years too late.
An attorney for the plaintiffs did not immediately return a request for comment.
Mellomanic, formerly known as We Are Giant, has closed a $6 million funding round, raising its total capital to $13.8 million. Backed by investors including Sterling Partners and other industry veterans, this funding will support the platform‘s expansion and enhancing its music experience offerings for artists and fans. Known for exclusive listening parties and digital events, Mellomanic provides a community-centric space for artists and superfans to connect. With over 400,000 monthly active users — a 13,000% increase since January — the platform has attracted partnerships with major labels such as Atlantic Records, Def Jam, Sony Music Nashville and Virgin Music Group. Its genre-focused “Collectives” — think “We Are Hip Hop,” “We Are Pop” and “We Are Country” — feature listening parties, live streams, and virtual festivals, with artists like Kameron Marlowe, JXDN, Jordy and Big Sean already participating. Mellomanic allows artists to monetize their work and access unique fan data to make informed career decisions. The platform secures music licenses for live streams, ensuring streams count toward traditional metrics tracked by SoundExchange and PROs.
“We’ve learned so much about music communities and fan behaviors this past year, and wanted our name to reflect that. ‘Mellomanic’ pays homage to the melomaniacs, all types of superfans, embodying the spectrum of emotions that exist within different genres of music and their listeners,” said CEO Andy Apple. “It’s been exciting to watch artists and labels leverage our immersive listening parties to release music in exciting, innovative ways, and it’s been special to see superfan communities engage in these live digital experiences that truly range from mellow to manic. Ultimately our goal is to continue providing impactful spaces for fans and artists to come together and celebrate special moments, empowering them to forge enduring relationships while building sustainable communities.”
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Sony Music Entertainment and Crux Global formed a strategic partnership to elevate Ghana’s music industry by offering support to artists at various stages of their careers. The collaboration provides three tiers of assistance: distribution for independent artists through The Orchard, comprehensive full-service support under Sony Music Africa for select artists, and a catalog music tier aimed at preserving the work of renowned Ghanaian musicians on digital platforms. The partnership will be headquartered in Accra, Ghana, which will serve as the hub for artist development, distribution and catalog management. Sean Watson, managing director of Sony Music Africa, will lead the initiative, supported by Christel Kayibi and Jean-Sebastien Permal.
Sony Music Entertainment Vietnam partnered with Great Entertainment, a leading Vietnamese music label, to acquire distribution and marketing rights for its catalog and frontline releases. This collaboration aims to boost the international presence of Great Entertainment’s top-charting artists, including B Ray, Quân A.P, Masew, Khanh ICM, and Khoi Vu. Several releases are scheduled as part of this partnership: Masew, known for hits like “Thiêu Thân” and “Túy âm,” will release a new album in October 2024. Quân A.P, famous for “Bông hoa đẹp nhất” and “You Are My Crush,” will drop new singles in early 2025, while rapper B Ray will also be releasing music soon. Sony Music Vietnam’s roster features popular local stars like Đức Phúc and Hoàng Thùy Linh. “This partnership marks a significant milestone for Sony Music Entertainment Vietnam as we continue to support and elevate the incredible talent emerging from Vietnam’s vibrant music scene,” said Angela Pong, GM of SMEV.
Universal Music Group and Tuned Global expanded their partnership through a global licensing agreement, granting Tuned Global clients access to UMG’s vast catalog of recorded music. This enables clients to use music from top artists in their projects, with integrated technological and licensing support provided by Tuned Global, a leading B2B music and streaming technology provider. The platform’s technology will also allow users to target specific repertoires, and will enable UMG sound recordings to be licensed and delivered securely, followed by timely and accurate usage reports and royalty payments. Tuned Global already hosts UMG’s repertoire on a cloud-based infrastructure, delivering music to clients and DSPs worldwide, further strengthening UMG’s global presence across various sectors. “This new way of working will help to enable ideas to be enhanced by UMG repertoire all over the world,” said James Healy, UMG’s svp of digital strategy and business development.
Indie label Dirty Hit extended its UK physical distribution partnership with Universal Music UK for another three years. This collaboration, which began in 2010, has helped drive the success of several major artists, including The 1975, Beabadoobee, Wolf Alice, Bleachers, Japanese House and Pale Waves, among others. The partnership has led to numerous UK No. 1s, including Beabadoobee’s debut This Is How Tomorrow Moves and all five of The 1975’s studio album releases. “As an independent label, we are always cautious of comprising our artist integrity,” said . “However, working with Warren [Querns at UMUK] and his incredible team has proven to be a fantastic partnership that has helped deliver impressive results time and time again.”
Audiomack, a major music streaming service with a strong presence across Africa, partnered with royalty tracking platform Mogul. This collaboration enables Audiomack’s 30 million-plus monthly users to track their royalties alongside other revenue streams through Mogul’s platform. The partnership aims to bolster transparency and accuracy in royalty distribution, especially for independent artists. The companies said Mogul has already tracked $100 million in royalties, helping artists recover an additional $150 million, since launching earlier this year. “The Audiomack team shares deeply in our vision of financial transparency and through this integration we look forward to helping artists on their platform build longstanding careers in music,” said Mogul CEO Jeff Ponchick.
Creative content company Toikido formed a global partnership with Magic Star, the kids and family division of Sony’s The Orchard, to distribute its music worldwide. Magic Star will serve as Toikido’s official global music distribution partner, using The Orchard’s vast network to share Toikido’s catalogue, which includes soundtracks, original songs, and dynamic audio content, with international audiences. Magic Star will offer Toikido comprehensive services, such as music engagement strategies, video production, brand partnerships and global marketing campaigns. CEO Darran Garnham sees this partnership as a major milestone, highlighting Toikido’s pride in its creative achievements and excitement for future growth with Magic Star’s support.
Music marketing platform SongTools partnered with Sonicbids, the artist development and booking platform recently acquired by Advance Music Technologies. This pairing gives SongTools customers access to Sonicbids’ enhanced artist services, marking the first of many future collaborations for SongTools, which recently raised $3 million to expand internationally and develop more wrist-centric tools. Sonicbids artists will also benefit from exclusive access to SongTools’ one-click Playlisting and advertising services, which are becoming essential for independent musicians. SongTools CEO Danny Garcia sees this collaboration as furthering their commitment to empowering artists with the marketing resources they need to succeed in the competitive music industry, adding “we can’t wait to see how artists make the most of this new opportunity.”
Salt, a digital rights and royalties solutions provider, has secured a multi-million-pound grant from Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation. This funding will accelerate Salt’s development of AI-powered tools to better support music creators and rightsholders. The grant will help Salt improve operational efficiencies and strengthen its leadership in rights management solutions. In collaboration with Queen Mary University’s Centre for Digital Music, Salt aims to leverage AI and digital music expertise to push the boundaries of innovation in the sector. “With Salt’s pioneering AI work and the added horsepower from this funding, our partnership with Queen Mary University becomes a game changer so badly needed in the labyrinthine system that exists today,” said Dave Stewart, Salt investor and Eurythmics co-founder. “We’re poised to continue redefining the music industry landscape, empowering creators and protecting their rights with unmatched innovation.”
The Federal Trade Commission is being urged to investigate technology companies that create tools for ticket scalpers that violate existing laws and drive up the price of concert tickets.
The warning and call to action comes by way of a letter signed by National Independent Talent Organizations president Jack Randall and executive director Nathaniel Marro, taking aim at the World Ticket Summit. Held in Nashville earlier this month, the annual conference is organized by the National Association of Ticket Brokers, the country’s largest member organization for professional ticket resellers and individuals who list and resell tickets on sites like StubHub and SeatGeek.
At this year’s summit, members of NITO – which represent independent talent agencies and management companies including Arrival Artists, High Road Touring, Paladin Artists, Q Prime, Red Light Management and TKO – “observed a sold-out exhibition hall filled with vendors selling and marketing products designed to bypass security measures for ticket purchases, in direct violation of the BOTS Act,” a Sept. 9 letter to Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan reads.
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That technology includes web browser extensions that set up multiple tabs masking a user’s IP address, proxy services that allow users to be logged in to multiple ticketing accounts from one location and virtual credit card services that bypass geographical restrictions on ticket sales, which are often put in place by event organizers to ensure fair access for local fans.
According to the letter, the use of this type of technology to procure concert tickets is a violation of the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act of 2016 which prohibits scalpers from using technology that circumvents “a security measure, access control system, or other technological measure used to enforce ticket purchasing limits for events with over 200 attendees.”
Put more simply, most ticketing companies place a cap on how many tickets a fan can buy for a concert and the use of automated bots, proxy servers, VPNs and phantom credit cards to exceed purchase limits is a violation of the BOTS Act.
“The presence of these vendors at a conference specifically for ticket brokers strongly suggests that a substantial portion of attendees either currently use these services or are likely to do so in the near future,” the letter reads. “This widespread availability and apparent demand for tools that can circumvent ticket purchasing limits indicates that many, if not most, scalpers are operating in violation of the federal BOTS Act.”
The NATB’s executive director Gary Adler issued a lengthy statement in response to NITO’s letter, writing “The vast majority of technology exhibitors at the conference were inventory management systems that help ticket companies organize their tickets, offer them for resale, and help with pricing.”
“There are many friction points in ticketing,” Adler continued “and high-tech ways that players in the system try to monopolize every dollar spent on ticketing and to prevent the resale of tickets. For more than half of events there are lower cost options on the secondary market and some in the primary market don’t like seeing their previously sold tickets being offered for resale at deep discounts. Artists, venues, and primary ticketers abuse technology every day to create fake scarcity and deceive consumers into paying higher prices when really, they are secretly holding back tickets to slowly drip more on sale over time to cheat and fool the fan. This is most likely an illegal deceptive marketing and advertising practice, driven by artists, venues, and primary ticketing companies, that the FTC should immediately investigate.”
Adler notes that the NATB “advocated for the passage of the BOTS Act in 2016 as we fully support the banning of bots. There is no place in the system for illegal bot use. We stand for doing resale the right way and passing strong laws to protect fans and competition across the ticketing industry. If any exhibitors were offering technology that violates the BOTS Act, we want to know as they will not be welcomed back.”
Since its passage in 2017, the BOTs Act has only been enforced one time, in 2021, when three New York-based ticket brokers were charged with violating the law. The government’s enforcement of the BOTS Act has been an “abysmal failure” writes songwriter and music industry analyst Chris Castle, noting that StubHub’s scheduled IPO this fall was a tell-tale sign that the BOTS Act was “under-enforced.”
“Let’s face it – if there were no bots and no boiler room operations, StubHub probably wouldn’t have much of a business,” Castle wrote. Lawmakers including Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have introduced legislation like the Mitigating Automated Internet Networks for (MAIN) Event Ticketing Act of 2023 which would force ticketing companies to be more proactive about reporting BOT usage, but those efforts have largely stalled in Congress.
NITO’s letter includes eight recommendations for rights holders and the FTC, calling for the regulator to subpoena the customer lists of “companies offering services that fall into the categories likely to facilitate BOTS Act violations” as well as increased enforcement actions, prioritizing “investigations into large-scale ticket reselling operations, focusing on those using multiple technologies to circumvent purchasing limits.”
By implementing these recommendations, the letter explains, “rights holders and the FTC can take significant steps towards curbing BOTS Act violations and ensuring fairer access to event tickets for consumers.”
In a bid to further grow its operation and expand its international footprint, Bresh — the brand behind the Fiesta Bresh parties — has partnered with New York based investment firm Carroll Street Capital.
The two companies will launch Bresh Global, an international media and branded live events platform. Carroll Street will provide an infusion of cash as well as strategic access and support to continue growing the Bresh brand, whose global presence has multiplied in the past two years. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Bresh’s leadership will remain in place, with Tomás Allande as CEO, Alejandro “Bröder” Saporiti as artistic director, and founder Jaime James involved in all operations.
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Eduardo García Fernández, co-founder and managing partner of Carroll Street Capital will now also be chairman of Bresh global.
Bresh Global will establish its headquarters in Miami, with additional offices in Los Angeles. The company currently has offices in Buenos Aires and Madrid.
“Our mission at Bresh Global is to create human connections through entertainment and collective experiences,” said Jaime James in a press release. “In a world increasingly dominated by digital interactions, live events have the unique power to bring people together and transcend cultures. With this expansion, we aim to bring moments of joy to new audiences on a global scale.”
“We are excited about the opportunity to elevate Bresh to new heights,” added Eduardo García Fernández. “This partnership brings additional resources to Bresh to accelerate its growth and introduce new verticals and formats worldwide.”
Bresh, whose slogan is “The most beautiful party in the world,” is an entertainment company known for parties targeted at Gen Zs around the world and built on the concept of inclusivity rather than exclusivity. Bresh tickets are eminently affordable — in Miami, the cheapest ticket is $25 — and there is no doorman denying entry based on gender or looks. Instead of hiring celebrity DJs for its parties, all Fiesta Bresh DJs are Bresh-trained. Perhaps because of its inclusivity DNA, the parties have become magnets for Latin celebrities, including the likes of Lionel Messi, Emilia and Tini, Rauw Alejandro and Bizarrap, who have all been spotted at Bresh parties.
Bresh, which began hosting parties in Argentina, has expanded its operations to over 20 countries, and now puts together some 500 annual events, including in the U.S. and Spain.
Sources say Bresh and Carroll have been in conversations for the past two years and share the vision that “happiness and connections are essential, regardless of who you are or where you live.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs was once again refused bail Wednesday (Sept. 18) in his sex abuse case, after a federal judge ruled that the indicted rapper and music executive would pose a flight risk and might intimidate witnesses if released, the AP reports.
At a hearing in Manhattan federal court, Combs’ lawyers renewed their request to let him await trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges under house arrest at his Miami mansion, once again offering to pay a $50 million bond and submit to other strict requirements.
But just like a magistrate judge had ruled a day earlier, Judge Andrew L. Carter said Tuesday that Diddy must instead wait for the trial in a Brooklyn federal prison, citing concerns that the once-powerful executive could pose a danger to others or obstruct the government’s case.
Combs, also known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, was once one of the most powerful men in the music industry. But on Tuesday he was indicted by federal prosecutors over accusations of sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson and bribery. If convicted on all the charges, he potentially faces a sentence of life in prison.
In Tuesday’s indictment, prosecutors accused Combs of running a sprawling criminal operation aimed at satisfying his need for “sexual gratification.” The charges detailed “freak offs” in which Combs and others would allegedly ply victims with drugs and then coerce them into having sex with male sex workers, as well as alleged acts of violence and intimidation to keep victims silent.
“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,” prosecutors wrote in the indictment. “To do so, Combs relied on the employees, resources and the influence of his multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled.”
At his initial arraignment on Tuesday, Combs’ lawyers made their arguments to Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky, who ultimately denied Diddy’s request for bail. She cited, among other things, her “very significant concerns” about Combs’ substance abuse and “what appears to be anger issues,” according to the Associated Press.
A day later, the rapper’s lawyers exercised their right to renew their request for bail to Judge Carter, the full federal district judge who will be overseeing the case and the eventual jury trial.
Ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, Combs’ lawyers filed an updated “package” of bail restrictions that they said would mitigate any concerns raised by prosecutors. In addition to the $50 million bond and house arrest, they promised to submit to GPS monitoring, travel restrictions, weekly drug testing and constant monitoring of visitors. Given the nature of the allegations, they also offered to “restrict female visitors to Mr. Combs’ residence except for family, or mothers of his children.”
But the judge was once again swayed by prosecutors, who repeated their warnings that Combs was a “serial abuser” who had a history of both violence and witness intimidation, raising the prospect that he might attempt to obstruct the case against him.
Universal Music Group and Spotify are in “advanced talks” over a high-priced, superfan tier of the streaming service that offers a better user experience than the standard subscription plan. The status of the negotiations were revealed by UMG CFO Boyd Muir on Tuesday during the company’s Capital Markets Day presentation in London. That a Spotify […]
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Madison Square Garden executive James Dolan of pressuring a masseuse into unwanted sex while his band toured with the Eagles, though elements of the case will likely continue in state court.
Kellye Croft sued Dolan earlier this year, claiming he repeatedly coerced her into “unlawful and unwelcome sex acts” during the 2013 tour. The lawsuit also included assault allegations against disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein, claiming Dolan facilitated the incident with the convicted rapist.
But in a ruling Tuesday, Judge Percy Anderson permanently dismissed Croft’s only federal allegation — a claim that Dolan had violated federal sex trafficking laws. The judge said Croft had failed to meet the basic requirements to sue under the statute.
The case also includes separate state-law accusations, including claims of sexual battery and aiding and abetting of sexual assault against Dolan and a claim of sexual assault against Weinstein. But without any federal claims remaining, Anderson ruled Tuesday that he no longer had jurisdiction to hear the case.
The decision means that the current case in federal court is over, but that Croft can re-file her other allegations in New York state court. In a statement Wednesday, her attorneys vowed to do so, saying that their “fight for Ms. Croft is just beginning.”
“We respectfully disagree with the district court’s decision, which we believe incorrectly interprets the federal sex trafficking law and undermines critically important protections for sex trafficking survivors,” said Kevin Mintzer and Meredith Firetog of the law firm Wigdor, adding that they would appeal that decision. “We will also continue to pursue Ms. Croft’s sexual battery claims against James Dolan and Harvey Weinstein, which remain unaffected by the decision.”
In his own statement, a spokesperson for Dolan said, “We are very pleased with the dismissal of the lawsuit, which was a malicious attempt to assert horrific allegations by an attorney who subverts the legal system for personal gain.”
Croft sued in January, claiming she had been hired to serve as a massage therapist for Glenn Frey during the 2013 tour, on which Dolan’s band (JD & The Straight Shot) opened for Eagles. She says she thought the job was the “opportunity of a lifetime,” but that she quickly realized the real reason she was there: “Dolan was extremely assertive, and pressured Ms. Croft into unwanted sexual intercourse.”
Dolan, whose company also owns Manhattan’s Radio City Music Hall, the Las Vegas Sphere and other prominent music venues, has strongly denied the allegations, calling Croft an “opportunist” who is “looking for a quick payday.”
One key legal allegation in the lawsuit was that Dolan and others violated a federal sex trafficking statute — namely, by fraudulently transporting her across state lines for purposes of providing forced sexual favors to Dolan. That claim was dismissed by Anderson earlier this year, but he then gave Croft one last chance to update her case with a viable argument.
In his ruling Tuesday, he said she had failed to do so. The federal sex trafficking law requires a “commercial sex act,” and the judge said that Croft had failed to allege that her sexual relationship with Dolan was the direct result of his promises of career advancement.
“Plaintiff [claims she] received promises from Dolan that she would be invited on the Eagles’ European tour and could potentially receive work as a massage therapist for tours at Madison Square Garden,” the judge wrote. “While the [lawsuit] alleges that plaintiff may have hoped to obtain a future career benefit from her relationship, it fails to directly allege that she went to Dolan’s room and continued to engage in a sexual relationship with him in order to receive the alleged promised benefits.”
On Sept. 4, the public learned of the first-ever U.S. criminal case addressing streaming fraud. In the indictment, federal prosecutors claim that a North Carolina-based musician named Michael “Mike” Smith stole $10 million dollars from streaming services by using bots to artificially inflate the streaming numbers for hundreds of thousands of mostly AI-generated songs. A day later, Billboard reported a link between Smith and the popular generative AI music company Boomy; Boomy’s CEO Alex Mitchell and Smith were listed on hundreds of tracks as co-writers.
(The AI company and its CEO that supplied songs to Smith were not charged with any crime and were left unnamed in the indictment. Mitchell replied to Billboard’s request for comment, saying, “We were shocked by the details in the recently filed indictment of Michael Smith, which we are reviewing. Michael Smith consistently represented himself as legitimate.”)
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This case marks the end of generative AI music’s honeymoon phase (or “hype” phase) with the music industry establishment. Though there have always been naysayers about AI in the music business, the industry’s top leaders have been largely optimistic about it, provided AI tools were used ethically and responsibly. “If we strike the right balance, I believe AI will amplify human imagination and enrich musical creativity in extraordinary new ways,” said Lucian Grainge, Universal Music Group’s chairman/CEO, in a statement about UMG’s partnership with YouTube for its AI Music Incubator. “You have to embrace technology [like AI], because it’s not like you can put technology in a bottle,” WMG CEO Robert Kyncl said during an onstage interview at the Code Conference last September.
Each major music label group has established its own partnerships to get in on the AI gold rush since late 2022. UMG coupled with YouTube for an AI incubator program and SoundLabs for “responsible” AI plug-ins. Sony Music started collaborating with Vermillio for an AI remix project around David Gilmour and The Orb’s latest album. Warner Music Group’s ADA struck a deal with Boomy, which was previously distributing its tracks with Downtown, and invested in dynamic music company Lifescore.
Artists and producers jumped in, too — from Lauv’s collaboration with Hooky to create an AI-assisted Korean-language translation of his newest single to 3LAU’s investment in Suno. Songwriters reportedly used AI voices on pitch records. Artists like Drake and Timbaland used unauthorized AI voices to resurrect stars like Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. in songs they posted to social media. Metro Boomin sampled an AI song from Udio to create his viral “BBL Drizzy” remix. (Drake later sampled “BBL Drizzy” himself in his feature on the song “U My Everything” by Sexyy Red.) The estate of “La Vie En Rose” singer Edith Piaf, in partnership with WMG, developed an animated documentary of her life, using AI voices and images. The list goes on.
While these industry leaders haven’t spoken publicly about the overall state of AI music in a few months, I can’t imagine their tone is now as sunny as it once was, given the events of the summer. It all started with Sony Music releasing a statement that warned over 700 AI companies to not scrape the label group’s copyrighted data in May. Then Billboard broke the news that the majors were filing a sweeping copyright infringement lawsuit against Suno and Udio in June. In July, WMG issued a similar warning to AI companies as Sony had. In August, Billboard reported that AI music adoption has been much slower than was anticipated, the NO FAKES Act was introduced to the Senate, and Donald Trump deepfaked a false Taylor Swift endorsement of his presidential run on Truth Social — an event that Swift herself referenced as a driving factor in her social media post endorsing Kamala Harris for president.
And finally, the AI music streaming fraud case dropped. It proved what many had feared: AI music flooding onto streaming services is diverting significant sums of royalties away from human artists, while also making streaming fraud harder to detect. I imagine Grainge is particularly interested in this case, given that its findings support his recent crusade to change the way streaming services pay out royalties to benefit “professional artists” over hobbyists, white noise makers and AI content generators.
When I posted my follow up reporting on LinkedIn, Declan McGlynn, director of communications for Voice-Swap, an “ethical” AI voice company, summed up people’s feelings well in his comment: “Can yall stop stealing shit for like, five seconds[?] Makes it so much harder for the rest of us.”
One AI music executive told me that the majors have said that they would use a “carrot and stick” approach to this growing field, providing opportunities to the good guys and meting out punishment for the bad guys. Some of those carrots were handed out early while the hype was still fresh around AI because music companies wanted to appear innovative — and because they were desperate to prove to shareholders and artists that they learned from the mistakes of Napster, iTunes, early YouTube and TikTok. Now that they’ve made their point and the initial shock of these models has worn off, the majors have started using those sticks.
This summer, then, has represented a serious vibe shift, to borrow New York magazine’s memeable term. All this recent bad press for generative AI music, including the reports about slow adoption, seems destined to result in far fewer new partnerships announced between generative AI music companies and the music business establishment, at least for the time being. Investment could be harder to come by, too. Some players who benefitted from early hype but never amassed an audience or formed a strong business will start to fall.
This doesn’t mean that generative AI music-related companies won’t find their place in the industry eventually — some certainly will. This is just a common phase in the life cycle of new tech. Investors will probably increasingly turn their attention to other AI music companies, those largely not of the generative variety, that promise to solve the problems created by generative AI music. Metadata management and attribution, fingerprinting, AI music detection, music discovery — it’s a lot less sexy than a consumer-facing product making songs at the click of a button, but it’s a lot safer, and is solving real problems in practical ways.
There’s still time to continue to set the guardrails for generative AI music before it is adopted en masse. The music business has already started working toward protecting artists’ names, images, likenesses and voices and has fought back against unauthorized AI training on their copyrights. Now it’s time for the streaming services to join in and finally set some rules for how AI generated music is treated on its platforms.
This story was published as part of Billboard’s new music technology newsletter ‘Machine Learnings.’ Sign up for ‘Machine Learnings,’ and Billboard’s other newsletters, here.
If you have any tips about the AI music streaming fraud case, Billboard is continuing to report on it. Please reach out to krobinson@billboard.com.