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Welcome to a jacked edition of Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music. While you’re catching up on a busy week of moves-and-shakes, check out Billboard’s fresh list of top R&B and Hip-Hop executives leading the genres forward, plus our weekly interview series spotlighting a single executive, our helpful calendar of notable events across the biz, and a regularly updated gallery honoring many of the industry figures we’ve lost throughout the year.
Industry veteran Jamie Younger joined The Core Records as the Nashville-based label’s new vp of artist development, effective immediately. Younger is coming off a 12-year tenure at Warner Music Nashville, where she created marketing strategies to help boost the careers of Bailey Zimmerman, Gabby Barrett, Zac Brown Band and Ashley McBryde, among others. “Younger’s ability to navigate the evolving music landscape has consistently resulted in history-making projects,” said Core co-founders Chief Zaruk and Simon Tikhman. “We are excited to have such a visionary joining our team.” Prior to WMN, Younger held roles at Thirty Tigers and American Songwriter. Younger has also served on the Recording Academy Nashville Chapter’s MusiCares Fundraising Committee and has mentored through GrammyU.
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Warner Chappell Music made key updates to its European A&R team with two promotions in the Nordics and a major appointment in Germany. In the Nordics, Marion Skogseth has been promoted to A&R manager, while Leslie Tay steps into the role of senior A&R manager. Meanwhile, in Germany, Jost Kaiser has rejoined the company as head of A&R dance. Skogseth will report to Petter Walther Walthinsen, the head of A&R in Norway, and Tay will beeline to Lars Karlsson, managing director of WCM Scandinavia. Kaiser will report to Natascha Augustin, the MD of WCM Germany, and Shani Gonzales, head of international A&R. Tay, based in Sweden, joined WCM in 2022 and has played a crucial role in signing top talent like Bolaget and MONZA. Skogseth, based in Norway, has been with the WCM A&R team since 2021 (after interning a year), helping to secure deals with artists like Moyka and SKAAR. Berliner Kaiser previously worked with WCM from 2020 to 2022 and now returns — following a sojourn at Stefan Dabruck Management as senior creative & repertoire manager — to strengthen the dance music division. WCM’s co-chairs, Guy Moot and Carianne Marshall, had nothing but good things to say: “Marion and Leslie are brilliant members of the team, and we are really happy to have Jost returning to us. We’re delighted to be strengthening our A&R teams in such an exciting time for music across Europe and for us as a company at Warner Chappell Music.”
The Mechanical Licensing Collective unveiled significant leadership changes to bolster its outreach, education, member services and internal operations. Ellen Truley was elevated to chief marketing and external affairs officer, overseeing the org’s advertising, marketing and communications efforts, while also coordinating its educational activities, industry partnerships, government relations and all other external affairs. Lindsey Major is now chief member experience officer, responsible for designing, implementing and coordinating the MLC’s suite of tools that help members to register works, claim their shares of previously registered works, submit proposed matches of their works to unmatched usage and more. Andrew Mitchell‘s new title at the MLC is chief analytics and automation officer, a role that will see him continue leading the org’s matching efforts as well as designing strategies to harness MLC’s data and bolster fraud prevention. Joya Carmichael, who has led every royalty distribution since the first one in April 2021, has been elevated to chief administration officer. She’ll continue leading the team while also managing other key internal processes. Finally, Rick Marshall can add general counsel to his business cards. In this new role, Marshall will lead The MLC’s in-house legal team and coordinate all of the organization’s legal matters, including its interactions with the U.S. Copyright Office. Since its inception, the MLC has distributed over $2 billion in royalties to its 45,000 members, achieving a 90% match rate for royalties processed.
High Rise PR welcomed Lily Golightly to the crew. Golightly was most recently senior vp of publicity at Universal’s Verve Label Group, where she crafted press campaigns and worked closely with Jon Batiste, Samara Joy and other artists across VLG’s storied labels (including Decca, Impulse! And Deutsche Grammophon). Prior to Verve, she spent seven years at 300 Entertainment, handling campaigns for Megan Thee Stallion, Young Thug and Gunna. She also founded No Big Deal PR, where she developed emerging talent, and earlier in her career was head of press at Wind-up Records. High Rise PR’s roster includes major acts like Billie Eilish, Finneas, Cage The Elephant, Duran Duran, Travis Scott, Bryan Ferry, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Tove Lo and Yungblud. “I have admired Lily’s work for close to a decade now,” remarked High Rise founder Alexandra Baker. “She’s thoughtful, strategic, and is highly respected in our field. Her experience in, knowledge of, and relationships in pop, rock, indie and rap are next to none, as is her understanding and passion within the business and corporate world.”
The Recording Academy appointed Taymoor Marmarchi as executive director for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Marmarchi will spearhead efforts to broaden the Academy’s presence and its support of music creators across the region. He will work to forge strategic partnerships and oversee event and content production and talent relations, and implement long-term strategies to advance the Academy’s global mission expansion. In June, the Academy announced its plans to extend its efforts to support music creators on an international scale. Prior to joining the Academy, Marmarchi amassed more than 25 years of experience across music, film, television, live events, content production, communications, marketing, government relations and national projects. He launched his career as executive director of Quincy Jones’ Global Gumbo Group in Dubai. –Paul Grein
Universal Music Sweden selected Mattias Caliste to lead the newly launched Def Jam Recordings Sweden. The label’s opening roster includes Asme x Sarettii, Sebastian Stakset and Zikai. His team will include Hamid Jamshidi and Hermon Alemseghed, plus UMG’s regional and global network. Caliste is a former member of Swedish hip-hop group Fjärde Världen (Fourth World) and was most recently in charge of Virgin Music Sweden, where he worked with artists including 23 and Asme. “Def Jam raised me!” Caliste said. “I grew up on artists like Public Enemy, EPMD, LL Cool J, Redman & Method Man, Warren G and many others who all released some of their most outstanding albums under Def Jam. The label has a legacy that is incredibly important for hip hop as both a genre and a subculture.” The label said to stay tuned for announcements on new signings and other projects.
Josh Deane, Shannon Corsi and Josh Tangney are the newest members of the Position Music A&R team. They’ll support Position Music’s existing roster while expanding it with new talent. Deane boasts a decade of label A&R experience, dating back to his A&R coordinator days at Atlantic before putting in four years as director — and then senior director — at Interscope. Prior to joining Position earlier this year he served as vp of A&R at Live Nation. Corsi, meanwhile, spent the past five years building up Facet, the Warner Chappell-backed publishing company of hit songwriter Justin Tranter, where she oversaw a roster including Skyler Stonestreet and Russ Chell. Tangney’s bonafides include a lengthy stretch as day-to-day manager of Andy Grammar while at Small Giant Management + Records. He is also credited with helping grow Rachel Platten’s career and is a CMT and CCMA-nominated songwriter who has collaborated with numerous Grammy Award-winning artists. Deane, Corsi and Tangney will all report to Position Music’s partner and head of A&R Mark Chipello, who described the trio as “talented and dynamic creative executives who will play significant roles in our next phase of growth.”
Audoo, a music tech company that provides data allowing artists, songwriters and PROs to see in real-time where their music is played, appointed three senior music executives as board advisors: Steve Clark, COO of Round Hill Music; Isabel Garvey, COO of Warner Music UK; and Sean O’Malley, CEO and founder of Regard Music. They join existing advisors Cliff Fluet and Alistair Macdonald to provide strategic guidance alongside music executives Chris Herbert and chair Nigel Elderton. Clark’s experience at Round Hill Music brings valuable expertise in copyright and royalties. Garvey, known for her leadership in digital transformation, previously launched Europe’s first music tech incubator, Abbey Road Red. O’Malley, a co-founder of Global Music Rights alongside Irving Azoff and Randy Grimmett, has deep experience in royalty collection, distribution and publishing. “The combined experience of Steve, Isabel and Sean brings a powerful wealth of knowledge across labels, publishers, rightsholders and creators – to have such revered executives join our existing world-class group of board members and advisors demonstrates the strength of belief in the business as we continue to build and refine the Audoo offering,” said Audio founder and CEO Ryan Edwards.
The Royalty Network appointed Daniel Abowd as its new president and general counsel. In his role, Abowd will collaborate closely with chief executive Frank Liwall to uphold the company’s ethos of being an independent, culturally-focused publishing firm. He will also provide in-house legal counsel, ensuring the company navigates the complexities of today’s music publishing landscape. This is Abowd’s second go-round at The Royalty Network following an eight-year run beginning in 2013 that saw him rise to vp before leaving in 2021. In the ensuing years he clerked in federal courts and most recently practiced law as litigator at Quinn Emanuel. “Danny understands our company’s mission and the importance that plays in the protection, collection, and further utilization of our catalog, with the quality and care that we strive to achieve,” said Liwall. “He personifies the exact balance required to be President.”
Shane Tarleton, former Sony and Warner Music Nashville executive vp of artist development, joined Morris Higham Management, management home to artists including WMN artist Kenny Chesney and Sony Music’s Old Dominion. Though no title has yet been revealed, Tarleton’s role will include creative and content as management firms oversee more of these needs for their rosters. “It’s the Wild West out there and having Shane’s expertise both in management and label services is invaluable,” said Clint Higham, president of MHM. –Jessica Nicholson
BOARD SHORTS: The National Independent Talent Organization, which represents more than 150 independent U.S. management companies and booking agencies, announced its new board of directors. Former member Stormy Shepherd (Leave Home Booking) is back on the board and is joined by newly elected members Amy Butterer (outer/most), David Gottlieb (Death Or Glory) and Maria Matias (Maria Matias Music). Returning for another two-year term are Tom Chauncey (Partisan Arts), Wayne Forte (Entourage Talent Associates), Jon Grau (This Is Management), Fielding Logan (Q Prime), Paul Lohr (New Frontier Touring) and Jack Randall (The Kurland Agency) … NPR elected four new member directors: Debbie Hiott (KUT News, Austin), Maria O’Mara (KUER, Salt Lake City), Tina Pamintuan (St. Louis Public Radio) and Shawn Turner (WKAR, East Lansing) will serve three-year terms.
Brilliant Corners Artist Management, the San Francisco-based agency representing acts like Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service, Perfume Genius and more, is launching a new producer management division led by manager Nicole Ficenec. Ficenec, who previously worked at Chrysalis Music and THREEE before launching her own producer management business at NYC’s Electric Lady Studios, will head the division from Brilliant Corners’ newly opened Los Angeles office. Ficenec’s client roster includes Jonathan Rado (Foxygen, The Killers, Weyes Blood), Paul Butler (The Teskey Brothers, The Bees), Noah Georgeson (Devendra Banhart, Johanna Newsom) and Dave Cerminara (Father John Misty, Phosphorescent). Her division will also absorb existing BCAM creatives including Dan “The Automator” Nakamura (Gorillaz, Deltron 3030), Chaz Bear (Toro Y Moi) and Benjamin Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service).
The International Music Publishers Forum appointed Nicole Schulze as its first secretary general. This newly created role responds to the significant growth IMPF has experienced in recent years. Schulze, a seasoned public policy professional with nearly 20 years of experience, previously served as IP policy lead for Europe at Meta and has worked extensively within the creative industries. In her new position, Schulze will report directly to the president of IMPF’s board of directors, Annette Barrett, who emphasized the importance of this role in supporting IMPF’s expanding membership. Former IMPF advisor Ger Hatton will also join the Board as a Senior Advisor.
Apple Music‘s director of editorial operations & audio production Michael Bryan was promoted to global head of country music, where he will also be supporting Apple Music’s Christian and Gospel teams. Bryan joined Apple Music in 2020. He previously worked as a talent agent/artist development lead at CAA, and was iHeartMedia’s senior vp of programming from 2012-2016. –J.N.
The Oriel Company welcomed Grace Jones as vp and Kaeleah Isaac as manager to the PR agency’s growing team. Both will be based in the Los Angeles office. Since its founding three years ago by veteran music publicists Carleen Donovan, Chloë Walsh and Jen Appel, The Oriel has expanded with offices in New York, LA and Nashville, representing a wide range of clients across music, film, television, fashion, and more. Jones, originally from Australia, has two decades of experience in the music industry, most recently at Grandstand Media, handling PR for artists like Courtney Barnett, MUNA and others. Isaac joins from JONESWORKS, having worked on press campaigns for artists like Lainey Wilson and The Chainsmokers. The Oriel’s co-founders praised both new hires, noting Jones’ leadership and Isaac’s rising star status in the PR world.
Breakaway Music Festival, the annual multi-city event featuring a healthy dose of EDM, hip-hop and pop, hired former Sony vp of corporate development Adam Wright as CFO/managing partner and Gap alum Kay Brown as head of content. The festival also elevated Jarrod Fucci from GM to festival president. This year’s BMF tour has three more dates left: Sept. 27-28 in Charlotte, Oct. 11-12 in Nashville and Oct. 25-26 in San Francisco.
Amuse expanded its suite of services to include in-house sync for self-releasing and independent artists, appointing Daniel Copleston as head of synchronisation. The London-based exec was most recently head of synchronization at [PIAS], where he managed placements across TV, films, video games and ads. Prior to that, he held senior roles at Cooking Vinyl Records and Wipe Out Music Publishing. “The growth of our licensed catalog shows that people are resonating with these tracks, and our vast access to demographics and streaming data creates great synergies for sync opportunities,” said Sean Staranka, head of artist marketing. “Daniel’s experience and eagerness to spearhead our move into sync services will bring great value to Amuse’s roster.”
Outback Presents promoted Emily Scerri from director of touring to vp of entertainment strategy, where she will continue to expand the company’s special events and music initiatives. The Australia native began her career working in the box office for music festivals including CMC Rocks, and later assisted with operations/artist liaison for Bondi Beachfest and The Big Pineapple Music Festival, before relocating to Los Angeles and working roles at Dick Clark Productions and AEG Presents before joining Outback Presents. –J.N.
Select Management Group, a top management firm for next-gen digital creators, promoted Caroline Nardilla to partner. Nardilla joined the company in 2015 and has led its New York office since 2022, and will now expand her leadership across the firm while continuing to drive growth on the East Coast.
ICYMI:
Maximilian Kolb
BMG expats Dominique Casimir, Maximilian Kolb and Justus Haerder formed a new rights company called umn (pronounced “human”) … A newly combined Concord Records and Fantasy Records will be headed by co-presidents Margi Cheske and Mark Williams … and go on, meet the four women leading behind the scenes across the male artist-dominated world of regional Mexican music.
Last Week’s Turntable: Erika Savage Joins King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano
The results of the Greater Nashville 2024 Music Census were disclosed today during a press conference in downtown Nashville with many creatives and industry members voicing concerns surrounding the cost of living, low pay rates, opportunities for younger artists, and gender and racial disparities.
The census was produced by Sound Music Cities and surveyed the Greater Nashville region, which includes the 14 counties in and around Nashville. The census, held from March 1 – April 1, drew 4,256 respondents, with music creatives making up 61% of respondents, industry members making up 31% and venue/presenters making up 7% of respondents. In terms of musical genres, 28% of respondents work in country music, with other genres including American Roots (16%), rock (12%), pop (8%) and alternative (5%). Respondents from other genres including gospel/contemporary Christian, rap and R&B were less than 5% per genre. Industry category respondents primarily work as agents/business services (20%), marketing (14%), production support (13%) and music publishing (10%).
Respondents in the creative category noted that their primary concerns are “cost of living” (48%), followed by “pay rates not increasing” (38%) and “lack of music work” (26%). Creative respondents also noted that they spend an average of $13,559 annually on music-related expenses for a total of $58 million, with 52% of that money being spent locally.
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The majority of respondents noted that they have never received financial assistance (76%) and are most eager for tax incentives/relief. The census also noted that Davidson County respondents also struggle more with rent or mortgage (30%) versus respondents from other counties (20%). Davidson County respondents are also less likely to own their own home (59%) than respondents from other counties (75%). Additionally, 83% of respondents indicated they were concerned with low pay, while 65% found lack of benefits such as health insurance and retirement a challenge.
The census noted a need for greater representation of Black, African-American, Hispanic and other minority groups in local and independent music scenes. The census’s results showed that Nashville’s music ecosystem is made of primarily white/European persons (85%), which is higher than this segment in Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area’s general population (71%). Black, African and African-American representation is at 6%, lower than the Nashville MSA general population (14%). Hispanic representation in the Nashville music ecosystem is at 4%.
Men made up 61% of the Nashville music ecosystem across all census respondents, while women made up 37%. One percent of respondents preferred not to reveal their gender, while another one percent use a different term than male or female. Among industry members, women led at 55% of respondents, with men at 44%. The creative sector revealed the most stark disparity, with men at 71% and women at 26%.
The average household income for respondents is $93,000 annually, while respondents note that income direct from music-related work is, on average, $52,000 per year, per respondent.
Local performances and touring are the major sources of income for creative professionals at 27% and 20%, respectively. Recordings and studio work also offer supplemental income, with 27% of respondents earning some income from recordings and 25% from studio work. A little over a third of respondents noted they earn very little income from songwriting, while 23% reported that they earn some income from songwriting.
The nearly 300 venue/presenters respondents offered an average of 172 events per year, collectively offering over 26,000 annually. Most are live music venues (31%) or independent promoters (15%). Aid for independent venues was also identified as a key need, including increasing the number of local independent venues that book artists and providing financial/policy support for independent venues to purchase real estate (68% of live music venues rent their spaces) and avoid displacement due to rising property values, such as models used in Toronto and Sacramento.
In terms of efforts that would help creatives continue to stay in the Nashville area, 41% say that tax incentives/relief would be helpful, followed by 37% of respondents saying creative/music-friendly policies such as parking and loading zone policies would be helpful.
Also, work is needed to increase the pipeline for new talent and diverse genres. Increasing opportunities for talent ages 18-24, developing mentorship programs and platforms for younger artists, and increasing performance spaces/opportunities for various musical genres, as well as addressing gender imbalances within the independent music ecosystem, especially for creatives, and enhancing representation of Black, African-American, Hispanic and other minority groups in local and independent music scenes were all cited as much-needed solutions to attract new talent.
Among the other music-friendly cities in the Sound Music Cities cohort are Dallas, Chicago, Minneapolis, New Orleans and Chattanooga, Tenn.
For the full census results, visit greaternashvillemusiccensus.org.
New legislation to protect concert goers from terror attacks at U.K. music venues has been presented in Parliament, following years of campaigning by the mother of Martyn Hett, one of the 22 victims of 2017’s Manchester Arena bombing outside an Ariana Grande concert.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, better known as Martyn’s Law, received its first reading in Parliament on Thursday (Sept. 12).
The legislation requires all venues with a capacity of more than 200 to take “appropriate action” to protect concert-goers from harm by having a number of measures in place, including mandatory safety training for staff and plans in place to prevent and protect against terror attacks.
For venues with capacities of more than 800 people, operators are required to draw up comprehensive public protection procedures that set out plans for evacuating people from the premises and moving them to a place where there is a reduced risk of physical harm.
These procedures will need to be regularly updated and assessed by U.K. regulator the Security Industry Authority (SIA), the law states. Large venues will also need to take appropriate steps to reduce their vulnerability to terror attacks by having CCTV monitoring the building and the immediate vicinity, or the hiring of security staff.
In addition, venue operators will be legally required to limit the disclosure of information about their premises that may be “useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.”
Failure to comply with the regulations or a venue providing false information to the SIA can result in fines of up to £18 million ($23.5 million) or 5% of the operator’s annual global revenue, whichever is greater. The maximum fine for a small music venue that holds between 200 and 800 people is capped at £10,000 ($13,000).
The government says the bill’s proportionate and tiered approach, which is linked to the size of the venue and scale of the activity taking place, will ensure that “undue burdens are not placed on small businesses.”
An impact assessment carried out by the Home Office estimates the cost of implementing the new security requirements to be around £300 ($390) per year for small venues and around £5,000 ($6,500) per year for buildings with a capacity of more than 800.
The long-proposed bill was drawn up in response to the suicide bomb attack outside an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in 2017 in which 22 people died and more than 800 people were injured, many of them children.
A public inquiry into the tragedy found that failings by the British security service MI5, local emergency services, Greater Manchester Police and security teams working at the SMG-operated venue meant that multiple opportunities to prevent or minimize the “devastating impact of the attack” were missed.
Figen Murray, the mother of victim Martyn Hett, has led the campaign for tougher security regulations to be put in place for music venues. Earlier this year, she walked 200 miles from Manchester to Downing Street, London, to push for the law to come into force.
“Today means we are one step closer to making public spaces safer for everyone,” Murray said in a statement.
Now that the bill has had its first reading in the House of Commons, it will be debated by MPs, who may propose amendments. It will then proceed to the House of Lords for approval before receiving Royal Ascent and becoming law. The government said that businesses will be given detailed guidance to understand their new obligations and time to implement any changes required.
“This legislation will strengthen public safety, help protect staff and the public from terrorism and ensure we learn the lessons from the terrible Manchester Arena attack and the inquiry that followed,” said the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, in a statement.
Responding to the bill’s progress, Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, praised Figen Murray for her “unwavering dedication” in honor of her son, but said it was crucial that the “balance between heightened security and practical implementation” is carefully considered by MPs.
“Key concerns include the operational impact, skillset required of venue operators and the financial implications of enforcing these new safety protocols,” Kill said. “While the objectives of Martyn’s Law are commendable, it is essential that the legislation is designed with feasibility and fairness in mind.”
BMI is taking SiriusXM to court after the two sides failed to reach a deal on royalty rates during more than two years of negotiations, arguing that the satcaster is “no longer a startup” and must pay more to songwriters.
In a petition filed in court today, BMI asked a Manhattan federal judge to uphold a higher royalty rate it has asked SiriusXM to pay – citing increased revenue for the radio giant and a shift toward more lucrative digital streaming.
“SiriusXM’s financial performance, and its expansion of its digital offerings, make clear it is no longer a startup in a nascent industry,” lawyers for the rights group wrote. “Yet, despite achieving its secure and successful position, Sirius has continued to pay songwriters — who create the music essential to SiriusXM’s business — at rates that are below those negotiated decades ago when satellite radio was an infant industry with an uncertain future.”
A spokeswoman for SiriusXM declined to comment on BMI’s case.
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BMI is a so-called performance rights organization that collects copyright royalties owed to publishers and songwriters when their songs are performed publicly, offering blanket licenses that allow for the use of more than 22 million tracks. When BMI cannot agree with a licensee like SiriusXM, either side can ask a federal judge to decide the dispute and set a reasonable rate.
In doing so on Thursday, BMI pointed to what it sees as key shifts in SiriusXM’s business model since the two last negotiated a licensing deal in 2018 – namely, an increasing reliance on internet streaming rather than old-school satellite radio.
“As a result of these changes, SiriusXM’s business has shifted and is becoming more akin to a music streaming service than a traditional satellite radio or broadcast radio,” BMI’s attorneys wrote. “Digital music services pay higher rates to BMI than satellite radio, and the new SiriusXM rate should reflect this expansion of digital performances.”
The specific terms of the royalty rate that BMI is seeking from SiriusXM were not disclosed in court filings because BMI said it was “competitively sensitive.” The new rate would cover the period from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2026.
In a statement announcing the case on Thursday, BMI said that songwriters “should not have to accept an outdated rate that significantly undervalues their music.”
“After attempting to negotiate with SiriusXM in good faith for more than two years, we were compelled to file this action given their insistence on underpaying the creators of the music that drives the majority of their business,” BMI president Mike O’Neill wrote. “We will continue to fight for fair and appropriate rates when we believe the music created by our songwriters and composers is being significantly undervalued.”
The filing of the new case was celebrated Thursday by the National Music Publishers’ Association, with president and CEO David Israelite saying the group was “extremely pleased” with BMI’s decision to “demand what’s fair.”
“Companies like SiriusXM have massive profit margins fueled by music creators,” Israelite said in a statement. “We fully support BMI in their fight for the value of songs.”
BMI isn’t the only rights group in a dispute with SiriusXM over its shift toward streaming. In a lawsuit last year, SoundExchange accused the company of using bookmaking trickery – namely, manipulating how it bundles its satellite and streaming offerings – as part of a scheme to “grossly underpay” royalties by more than $150 million. SiriusXM later fired back, denying the lawsuit’s “misguided allegations.” That case remains pending.
Go read BMI’s full petition against SiriusXM here:
When Alejandro Fernández takes the stage Sept. 14-15 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, it will mark his record 22nd year performing at one of the hottest music events in Sin City. But the event he has been playing for more than two decades isn’t a recurring casino or club residency — it’s Fiestas Patrias, the ever-growing weekend of programming celebrating El Grito de Dolores (when Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s call to arms ignited the Mexican War of Independence in 1810) and Mexican Independence Day, which are officially celebrated Sept. 15 and 16, respectively.
“Twenty-four years ago, I began what has become a tradition of celebrating Fiestas Patrias with the Latino community in Las Vegas,” the Mexican superstar tells Billboard. “I am proud to say it is now the biggest Mexican Independence Day celebration outside of Mexico and one of the most important single days of live Mexican music anywhere in the world.”
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Fiestas Patrias are celebrated throughout the United States and Mexico in big and small ways — but Las Vegas’ version has become the single biggest Fiestas Patrias weekend for live Mexican music anywhere, with thousands of visitors from around the globe, though mainly from Mexico. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority calls it “one of the largest sources of international visitation” for the city.
This year’s bookings include returning acts, such as Luis Miguel, Los Bukis (who currently have a residency at Dolby Live), Gloria Trevi, Banda MS, Grupo Firme and Emmanuel, and newcomers like Peso Pluma, Fuerza Regida, Ana Bárbara and Carín León, performing at venues throughout the city. And as in previous years, not all of them are Mexican: Urbano stars Nicky Jam and Arcángel, for example, will join Luis R Conriquez and Codiciado at the third annual Rumbazo festival, taking place at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center Sept. 13-14 in partnership with Billboard.
But despite what it has become today, Las Vegas’ Fiestas Patrias origins weren’t particularly musical.
“In reality, it wasn’t born as a musical event but as a sporting event, when those big fights began, the great Mexican boxers,” says veteran tour promoter Henry Cárdenas, referring to the September 1992 match where Mexican Julio César Chávez famously beat Puerto Rican Héctor “Macho” Camacho for the WBC super lightweight belt. “Then they brought [musical] talent to join the party.”
This year, the boxing tradition continues with Mexican legend Canelo Álvarez putting his super middleweight titles on the line as he takes on Puerto Rican Edward Berlanga at the T-Mobile Arena on Sept. 14. But today music, not sports, is the driving force behind Las Vegas’ Fiestas Patrias celebration.
WBC Super Lightweight Champion Julio César Chávez (R) lands a right on challenger Héctor “Macho” Camacho in the first round of their September 12, 1992, fight in Las Vegas, NV.
CARLOS SCHIEBECK/AFP/Getty Images
For Luis Medina, executive producer/CEO of Uno Productions and a former manager of Julio Iglesias, the city’s Fiestas Patrias tradition dates back even further, to the late ’80s, when the Spanish star began coming to Vegas twice a year to perform a series of shows at Caesars Palace.
“Julio was perhaps primarily the one who opened Las Vegas to Latinos,” Medina says. “Then came [Mexicans] José José, Juan Gabriel, Vicente Fernández, those classics. And that process began.”
Little by little, he recalls, Las Vegas became a Latin artistic hotspot — and the city’s hospitality industry took note. “Many hotels were surprised that they were being left behind because all these movements were happening, and they were still studying us with a magnifying glass,” Medina says. “They thought it was only with Luis Miguel or Julio Iglesias or Vicente Fernández” that audiences would show up.
Eventually, the demand led not only the biggest hotels to book Mexican and Latin talent but also smaller venues and nightclubs. “This effervescence was created as a result of all these processes, and Las Vegas began to grow,” Medina says. “Today, the millions of dollars that drive our business is impressive and allows Las Vegas to live off the Latin market in the month of September.”
Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans travel from south of the border to celebrate their independence in Vegas; even a decade ago, more than 300,000 Mexicans came by air alone for the 2013 festivities, according to a Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority report. And, Cárdenas adds, most of them have good purchasing power. “When you are coming to Las Vegas to celebrate from Mexico, there are other additional costs — the hotel, the tickets, the food, the good life, the partying. And that patron has distinguished himself because he is high class, and he comes prepared to celebrate … and attend at least three or four events that weekend,” he says.
“The people, culture and traditions of Mexico have made a significant impact on the city both on and off the Strip,” says Molly Castano, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority president of public relations and communications, adding that “the celebrations that take place in honor of Fiestas Patrias are proof of that impact and connection.”
As for Alejandro Fernández, his Fiestas Patrias Vegas bookings have only grown: In 2022, his show went from one to two sold-out nights at the 17,000-capacity MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“He was the first artist that we worked with that wanted to create his special weekend in Las Vegas, and there’s nothing more mexicano than La Familia Fernández,” says Emily Simonitsch, senior vp of West Coast booking at Live Nation. “I think it’s impactful because he does the traditional celebration halfway through the show, celebrating the tradition of El Grito and Independencia with the flag and the bells and the dancers. So that’s what created it. That’s what El Grito is about.”
“This is a demonstration of the cultural influence and economic power of the Latino community in the U.S.,” Fernández adds. “I look forward to continuing the tradition for many years to come, representing my pride and love for Mexico, our people and our music.”
This story appears in Billboard‘s Rumbazo special issue, dated Sept. 14, 2024.
As the electronic music world continues to grapple with how to get producers credit when their tracks are played by other, usually more famous, DJs, a new campaign is attempting to fix the issue on social media.
Launching today (Sept. 12) and backed by the Association For Electronic Music (AFEM), the Respect the Creators campaign is aiming to get lesser known DJs credit on social media by having DJs, promoters and other platforms.
The campaign offers simple instructions, asking DJs that when they “post a video of a gig or a mix and the music isn’t yours, tag the artists, and list the full names of the tracks in the most visible part of your post.” Online platforms are asked to “include track lists for all sets, visible directly below the video or audio,” while promoters are asked to credit the music featured in all their promotional materials for events when posting to Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok and other social media platforms.
The campaign advises that social media is crucial to music discovery, with the proper music attribution having the possibility of highlighting lesser known artists and helping them thrive. In a speech at the annual dance conference IMS Ibiza this past May, Dutch artist Frank Nitzinsky noted research that’s informed this campaign, which shows that on average, only 3% of a DJ’s set is music that they have produced themselves, while up to 90% of DJ performance content shared on Instagram does not credit the music being played in the video.
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In a statement, AFEM COO Finlay Johnson says that while the campaign “may seem like a straightforward initiative, encouraging people to share and credit new music addresses significant challenges in the discoverability of emerging artists. It also serves as a reminder for individuals to consider their metadata, which can directly enhance income through royalty collection. While white label and dubplate culture should be celebrated, the use of generic ‘original audio’ tags on social media does little to support artists. We encourage everyone to acknowledge and promote the team behind a record’s production and release.”
Respect the Creators is supported by AFEM, along with a number of organizations including Dutch collecting society Buma/Stemra, along with several venues and artists like Richie Hawtin.
“I thought supporting the community and the musicians who make the musical structure that our scene (and DJs) stand on was simply common decency (and sense),” Hawtin says in a statement. “So why do we see so many social media posts from DJs, promoters and festivals that completely fail to tag the music being played in the clips? It’s disrespectful and only takes further advantage of the musicians who are already struggling for recognition and a fair share of the economic pie of our ‘beautiful’ culture.”
The campaign follows the recent closure of Aslice, a platform with which DJs could donate a portion of their set fee to the artists whose music they played during the performance. The proper crediting and royalty payouts for artists in the electronic scene is a pernicious issue, as DJ sets are often made up of hundreds of songs by a wide variety of artists, many of whom never get credit for the use of their work.
Hawtin recently expressed his displeasure with the closure on social media, saying that “Aslice was working, and the only problem was that not enough DJs, especially the successful ones, agreed to sign up and share back into the music eco-system that they have built their careers on. Aslice did not fail, the famous, most followed DJ’s of our scene failed us all.”
Former BMG executives Dominique Casimir, Maximilian Kolb and Justus Haerder have formed a new rights company, umn — pronounced “human” — that will be based in Berlin. The new company today announced a forthcoming project from German pop star Max Giesinger, whose new album Menschen comes out Sept. 13. But the company will operate […]
A federal judge says Madison Square Garden owner James Dolan must sit for a deposition over the infamous 2017 ejection of ex-NBA player Charles Oakley from the Manhattan arena, ruling that the CEO “had a courtside seat” for the incident.
MSG had argued that Dolan has little relevant info for the remaining issues in the long-running lawsuit, in which Oakley is accusing the company of assault and battery. MSG’s lawyers suggested that the bid for a deposition was just one more effort to “harass” Dolan amid a “rancorous” lawsuit.
But in a ruling Tuesday, Judge Richard Sullivan rejected those arguments and ordered Dolan to be deposed – saying that the executive had “a courtside seat to the action here” and “likely possesses relevant knowledge that cannot be obtained from other witnesses.”
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“At the most basic level, Dolan was an eyewitness to the removal of Oakley and can provide personal observations as to Oakley’s behavior that evening and the force used to remove him,” the judge wrote.
In a statement Thursday, an MSG spokesperson told Billboard: “This is just another example of how the legal maneuverings of Charles Oakley and his lawyers continue to waste the time and resources of everyone involved.” In his own statement, Oakley’s attorney Valdi Licul said: “We are pleased the court rejected Mr. Dolan’s efforts to avoid giving sworn testimony about Mr. Oakley’s removal from MSG. We look forward to questioning him under oath.”
Oakley, a beloved former New York Knick with a contentious relationship with Dolan, was removed from the Garden on Feb. 8, 2017 after an altercation with security guards. Accounts of the incident varied widely; Oakley claimed he had done nothing wrong, but MSG said he had engaged in “abusive behavior” before he was kicked out.
Dolan is the majority owner/CEO of Madison Square Garden Entertainment, a live music giant that operates the famed NYC arena in addition to Manhattan’s Radio City Music Hall, the Las Vegas Sphere and other prominent venues. He is also the majority owner of Madison Square Garden Sports Corp., which owns the Knicks.
Months after the incident, Oakley sued both Dolan and MSG, alleging a wide range of legal wrongdoing. Since then, the case has been on a seven-year journey up and down the federal court system.
Sullivan initially tossed the lawsuit in 2020, but a federal appeals court later overturned the ruling and revived the case. After litigation resumed, the same judge later tossed it again, pointing to video evidence showing Oakley had “unilaterally escalated the confrontation, leading to his eventual forcible removal.” But last year, an appeals court overturned parts of that ruling, too.
The current iteration of the lawsuit targets only MSG, not Dolan personally, and only includes claims of assault and battery, which are centered on whether the company’s employees used unreasonable force to remove him from the arena.
With Oakley’s lawyers demanding a deposition to help prove those claims, MSG argued that Dolan was a so-called apex witness – the kind of top-level executive that judges rarely pull into court cases unless they’re directly involved in the alleged wrongdoing.
But in his decision on Tuesday, Judge Sullivan said that Dolan was a “far cry from the prototypical apex witness,” since Oakley claims that Dolan personally spoke with a security guard prior to the incident and later signaled for them to remove Oakley from the arena.
“Dolan is one of only two people who can attest to the contents of that conversation,” the judge wrote. “Only Dolan can explain whether he signaled the guard and, if so, what his signal was intended to convey.”
Sullivan didn’t give Oakley’s attorneys everything they wanted. They were also seeking a court order that would allow them to dig through four years of Dolan’s emails, but the judge gave them only access to emails from a three-week span immediately after the incident.
“Oakley has not articulated how Dolan’s emails from years after the incident are likely to yield evidence concerning whether the MSG defendants used reasonable force when removing Oakley from MSG on the night in question,” the judge wrote. “Such extensive discovery would be disproportional to the needs of this case.”
No date for a deposition has yet been scheduled in court records, and Dolan’s attorneys could seek the challenge Tuesday’s ruling before he actually sits down with Oakley’s attorneys.
The House Judiciary Committee has sent a letter to the Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, requesting an examination of “concerns” and “emerging issues” related to performing rights organizations (PROs).
In the letter, signed by the committee’s chairmen Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Darrell Issa as well as member Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, two particular areas of concern are addressed: the “proliferation” of new PROs and the lack of transparency about the distribution of general licensing revenue.
The letter, obtained by Billboard, notes the latter issue is of particular importance to independent artists and smaller publishers. “It is difficult to assess how efficiently PROs are distributing general licensing revenue based on publicly available data,” the letter reads. “For example, it is difficult to determine how accurately lesser known and independent artists as well as smaller publishers are being compensated compared to widely popular artists and major publishers.”
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Concerns around transparency at the PROs are not new. The National Music Publishers’ Association, the trade organization representing music publishers, has spoken publicly about it, as have a number of individual songwriters and publishers over the years. These concerns grew last year after BMI, one of the largest PROs in the country, switched its business model from non-profit to for-profit and was acquired by private equity firm New Mountain Capital.
At the end of BMI’s fiscal year 2022, Billboard reported that “for the first time ever, it hardly contains any financial information.”
“I believe that you have a fundamental right to know what it costs you to use a particular collection society now I will tell you that ASCAP gives you a pretty close look at what it costs not exactly, but they give you a pretty close ballpark,” said NMPA CEO and president David Israelite at an Association of Independent Music Publishers’ Meeting in February. “BMI at the end of the last fiscal year we didn’t get that information.”
The letter states that it “request[s] that the Office examine how the various PROs currently gather information from live music venues, music services, and other general licensees about public performance; the level of information currently provided by PROs to the public; whether any gaps or discrepancies occur in royalty distribution; what technological and business practices exist or could be developed to improve the current system; the extent to which the current distribution practices are the result of existing legal and regulatory constraints; and potential recommendations for policymakers.”
The “proliferation” of PROs is a newer concern. Around the world, most countries typically have one PRO for local writers and publishers to join. In the U.S., it works differently. For over a hundred years, ASCAP and BMI have been the primary choices for a songwriter or publisher looking to collect performance royalties in the United States, but there is also the option to go with SESAC instead, a smaller but still important player in the U.S. PRO landscape, which has been around for almost as long.
Since its founding in 2013, Global Music Rights (GMR), a for-profit PRO founded by industry veteran Irving Azoff, has become a heavyweight in the space as well. GMR business model is to focus on a smaller roster of only the top tier of songwriters and then charging a premium to the bars, venues, shops and theaters that wanted to play them. Because their roster includes major artists including Bruce Springsteen, Billie Eilish, Drake, and more, the GMR blanket license became immediately important for licensees to have, no matter the cost.
In 2017, a fifth U.S.-based PRO emerged. AllTrack was founded by media investor and former SESAC-board member Hayden Bower and is designed to focus on indie creators with a tech-forward approach. This year, AllTrack became the fourth U.S. PRO to be accepted by the International Confederation of Socities of Authors and Composers (CISAC), along with ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.
“Licensees [like bars, restaurants and small businesses] have reported receiving demands for royalties from new entities claiming to represent songwriters… Licensees are concerned that the proliferation of PROs represents an ever-present danger of infringement allegations and potential litigation risk from new and unknown sources,” the letter states.
“We request that the USCO examine the increased costs and burdens imposed on licensees for paying an ever-increasing number of PROs, factors that may be contributing to the proliferation of new PROs, and recommendations on how to improve clarity and certainty for licensees,” it continues.
Perlmutter and the Copyright Office cannot make any specific changes to the way PROs work today, but often letters like this are sent in hopes that it will draw attention to particular issues or become the predicate for a hearing or draft bill.
Regional Mexican music continues to surf a wave of unprecedented global popularity and expansion, with names like Peso Pluma, Luis R Conriquez, Edén Muñoz, Fuerza Regida and Grupo Frontera crowning Billboard’s global and U.S. charts.
Yet women in the genre are almost nowhere to be found. Just one female artist-led song appeared among the 50 on Billboard’s year-end Regional Mexican Airplay Songs chart: Yuridia and Angela Aguilar’s “Qué Agonía.” And among the regional Mexican acts dominating the Hot Latin Songs chart, only one female name comes up: pop singer Kenia Os as a guest on Peso Pluma’s “Tommy & Pamela.”
Behind the scenes, it’s a different story entirely. In what had long been a world of male dominance in the C-suite of música mexicana, women are now powerhouses. María Inés Sánchez, formerly head of marketing for regional Mexican indie label Afinarte, is now the West Coast vp for Sony Music U.S. Ana Luisa Gómez, who has worked with Alicia Villarreal and Sergio Vega, among others, now manages superstar Muñoz. Rosela Zavala manages Ana Bárbara, and Adriana Martínez manages rising trio Yahritza y Su Esencia.
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And they’re just a few among a growing group of women that also includes Ana Martínez (leading Fonovisa/Disa’s U.S. division), Delia Orjuela (head of creative for música mexicana at Warner Chappell) and managers for some of the most visible artists on the charts, like Ivan Cornejo, Xavi and Eslabon Armado.
Billboard gathered four of these executives for a candid conversation about how they’ve managed to make their marks in a complex genre they readily admit is “full of men” — and the unique skill set that it has taken.
“I’ve always said that I’m one person at home, and another when I leave my house and I become that other person that everyone says, ‘Oh, she’s super angry, super hysterical,’ ” Gómez says with a smile. “Yeah. I’m super all that because if I wasn’t, I think I wouldn’t have made it.”
Spanish singer-songwriter Natalia Jimenez (left) and Gómez
Courtesy of Ana Luisa Gómez
How did you get your start in the world of regional Mexican music?
Ana Luisa Gómez: I graduated from the University of Monterrey [in Mexico] in communications and started working in television, where I spent 14 years producing entertainment and musical programs. Fifteen years ago, I left that and started managing Sergio Vega, “El Shaka,” may he rest in peace. [Vega was murdered in 2010.] Then I started my advertising agency, offering a 360 model of booking, promotion, radio, television. Later I decided to focus more on management, and I’ve been with Edén Muñoz for three years.
María Inés Sánchez: I also started years ago at PolyGram, Sony, Universal, Machete, always in marketing, and when I moved to Los Angeles I started doing public relations. Later, [my client] Chiquis Rivera recommended me to run PR for DEL Records [in 2016], and that’s how I started in the Mexican music genre. I worked with Régulo Caro, Gerardo Ortiz, Ulices Chaidez, Los Plebes del Rancho [de Ariel Camacho].
Rosela Zavala: Like María Inés, I got my start through Chiquis. I came from the pop world, working with Paulina Rubio and later with Gloria Trevi. And from Gloria I went to Chiquis and landed in a completely different world, the regional Mexican music world. I co-managed Chiquis, and Ana Bárbara is the first artist I fully manage.
Adriana Martínez: I’ve only been doing this for two years. The role of manager fell on me. My brothers, Yahritza y Su Esencia, began to be recognized, and since they always turn to me, I had to get a lawyer and all that. When I said, “OK, now you can fly alone,” they said, “No, please don’t leave us.” The truth is I started in this with zero experience.
What has been the most difficult thing about being a manager?
Martínez: Being siblings, and then transitioning into manager mode. At first, the guys didn’t take me very seriously when I said, “We need to do this.” The seriousness of things was there, but it was easier for them to procrastinate because I was the one in charge and I was their sister.
Gómez: The most challenging thing for me is working with men. They’re all men. There are no women, at least not in the teams I have worked on, starting with Sergio Vega. It’s not easy for men to accept that someone is telling them what to do and how, although it’s not a mandate. But I understand. It’s machismo. So the most challenging thing is to deal with that and develop a strong character.
Zavala: I have found it difficult to get Ana’s music heard on the radio. We bring songs and they say, “Oh, the traditional mariachi isn’t playing now. It’s grupero.” So Ana says, “Let’s do grupero,” and they say, “Ah, grupero sounds old.” In Mexico we get played much more, but in the U.S., with so many men on that chart, it’s difficult to get in. Also, in the beginning with Ana, I wrote to a couple of concert promoters that I knew, and they weren’t interested in her tour. A few years later, those same people wanted to work with her. I love making that happen. But I always looked for the people who told me they believed in her, let’s do it. And there are many people, even men, who told me, “Yes, we will give it our all.”
Ana Bárbara (left) and Zavala
Courtesy of Rosela Zavala
Do you remember the first time you had to lay down the law to be taken seriously?
Gómez: With Sergio Vega, of course. I met him through Oscar Flores, a super-renowned concert promoter, and we clicked. But Sergio was a man without reins. He did what he wanted, how he wanted. He was a great talent looking for the right direction, but he didn’t know how to do it. When I said left, he said right. And one day, after an event in Sonora [Mexico], where everything I told him not to do, he did, I grabbed my suitcase, knocked on his hotel room door and told him, “That’s it. I don’t have to deal with you or your people or your party.” I took my bags and flew home to Monterrey. After five days, he came to see me and said: “I am in your hands. What do we do?” And from there, we became family.
Do you think of one moment in your career as particularly defining? María Inés, I remember meeting you when you were a junior publicist, and then seeing you become a powerful executive at the Afinarte label…
Sánchez: That’s where I started, from ground zero. When I began working at Afinarte, they didn’t have a company email, for example. The first year, they uploaded the music to TuneCore and I made the pitches to the platforms. They didn’t have a distributor. I came from working at multinationals, which of course are highly organized and have departments for everything. Here we had to assemble everything, and I was the only woman: The bosses, the musicians, even the photographers were men. So it was a challenge, but I thank them because not many companies would have given me that much autonomy.
Zavala: Working with Paulina was like getting a master’s degree. [Initially], I was the president of her fan club, and she gave me the opportunity to be her personal assistant. Then I finished my “master’s degree” with Gloria. I spent eight years with her. I saw her struggle at the beginning with her shows, and then saw her grow to play arenas. She gave me that opportunity to grow and learn more and do day-to-day management. It was scary at the beginning. When you go from being a fan to being an assistant, you are no longer the friend. Everything becomes much more serious.
Martínez: I graduated [with a degree] in psychology. I worked as an outreach coordinator [for a health provider], and I already had my life planned. [When I started working with my brothers], the most important thing was to make sure that the values that our parents had taught us — keeping our feet on the ground, not forgetting where we came from, manners — were maintained. But there have also been times where I’ve said, “This is as far as it goes; I’m their sister, but if they don’t have respect for me as their manager, then that’s it.” After that, things calmed down and thank God, we are all moving together. But sometimes you have to have those talks or pack your bags and leave. All these battles have made us realize that family is important but also the respect we have as business partners is important.
Yahritza y Su Esencia with their sister and manager Martínez (second from left).
Jesse Sandoval
Aside from the difficulty of being taken seriously, what is most challenging for you on a day-to-day basis?
Martínez: We work with a major label [Columbia] and an indie label [Lumbre Music]. It’s good to have the macro view and the micro view, but our work doesn’t end there. It’s always been super important for us to have that relationship with the fans, to reach a point where they know the artist as people. And we didn’t receive much support in that respect. We said, “If we show people who we are and where we come from, our hearts will connect,” and sometimes big companies don’t understand that.
Gómez: Above all, the people that surround the artist but aren’t part of the music industry and love to mess things up. Going back to something that María Inés said, the daily challenge to be validated.
Are there certain advantages you do have as women in this business?
Martínez: I think we have that emotional balance, and we can see that in our empathy. The balance we give our artists with that empathy is super important, and it helps them know that they can trust us and that we are here to play any role.
Gómez: I am neither Edén’s mother, grandmother nor cousin, but you have to be all of that for him. Understand if he’s had a bad day, if his child is sick that day. A man also understands, but I think that a man has less sensitivity than us, he doesn’t have that sixth sense we have where as soon as I see him, I know what’s up. I think that as a woman you can dig in a little bit further than a man would dare to.
Zavala: The sensitivity we have with them and putting ourselves in their shoes. Even if you’re having a bad day, you still have to get onstage, sing. So the ability to support them from behind, be a cheerleader and look them in the eyes and giving them that support they need at that moment is very important. Because although you’re not family, you become family.
From left: Sony Music Latin president Alex Gallardo, Mexican singer-songwriter Ramón Vega and Sánchez at Sony Music Latin’s 2023 Música Mexicana Celebration in Los Angeles.
JC Olivera/Getty Images
What advice would you give to anyone starting out in the music business?
Gómez: You have to be passionate. If you go for the money or for the “I’m the manager,” bye. The money will come. It’s about fighting to place the artist at the level [they are] and being clean and honest. And don’t be a fan. It’s one thing to admire your artist, but don’t fall into fandom. You won’t be able to help them.
Sánchez: Don’t give up and be patient. And be empathetic. Be attentive. Be a little more human and don’t look at artists as a money machine. And speak up. Before, I stayed back and swallowed a lot of things. You have to raise your voice in the moment. Go for it. If you don’t agree with something, say so.
Zavala: Don’t take things personally. I was 22 when I started. I was so very young. Now that I’m older, I think back to how sensitive I was. Because it’s not about you. You grow thick skin. And, I’d say, speak up. Present your ideas, articulate them and land them as they should be.
Martínez: Be patient. Love, passion for your work, is what will lead you to do a good job with your artist. And most of all, don’t throw in the towel so soon. And ask. I would always hold back. I would talk down to myself. Ask for help, ask questions. I always thought that they were going to see me as “How could you not know that?” But all questions are good.
This story appears in Billboard‘s Rumbazo special issue, dated Sept. 14, 2024.