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Led by SZA’s SOS, Travis Scott’s UTOPIA and growth in paid subscription streaming services, Sony Music revenue grew 16.9% to 1.59 trillion yen ($11.05 billion) in its fiscal year ended March 31, its parent company, Sony Corp., reported Tuesday, May 14.
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Sony Music’s revenue topped guidance of 1.56-1.57 trillion yen given in Sony Corp’s previous quarterly earnings in February. Its adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (AOIBDA) of 368.7 billion yen ($2.55 billion) also topped guidance of 350-360 billion yen.
The yen-denominated revenue figures were boosted by foreign exchange rates. Of Sony Music’s revenue gain, about 32%, or 76.5 billion yen ($529 million), came from foreign exchange. Both recorded music and music publishing divisions enjoyed higher revenue from streaming services and paid subscriptions — Spotify’s price increase in July 2023, and continued subscriber growth at all platforms, also provided a boost to recent earnings by Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group.
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Recorded music revenue of 1.07 trillion yen ($7.39 billion) was up 20.4% from the prior year. While physical revenue dropped 7.4% to 101.3 billion yen ($701.7 million), streaming jumped 18.5% to 709.5 billion yen ($4.91 billion) and accounted for 66.5% of recorded music revenue, down from 67.7% in fiscal 2022. The “other” category, which includes merchandise, rose 59.8% to 221.4 billion yen ($1.53 billion).
Other top releases for the fiscal year were Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, Miley Cyrus’s Endless Summer Vacation, Luke Combs’ Gettin’ Old, Peso Pluma’s Genesis, Doja Cat’s Scarlet, Rod Wave’s Nostalgia and Beyoncé’s Renaissance.
Music publishing full-year revenue rose 18.1% to 326.7 billion yen ($2.26 billion). Streaming revenue improved 21.1% to 185 billion yen ($1.28 billion) and accounted for 56.6% of publishing revenue, up from 55.2% in fiscal 2022.
Visual media and platform revenue declined 0.4% to 202.1 billion yen ($1.4 billion). Within the segment, gaming revenue fell 9.5% to 98.2 billion yen ($680 million).
Stray Kids’ “Social Path (feat. LiSA)” was the top music release for Sony Music Entertainment Japan for the full fiscal year. Other top releases in Japan were King Gnu’s The Greatest Unknown, SixTONES’ The Vibes and two releases by Nogizaka46: Monopoly and Ohitorisama Tengoku.
For the second straight quarter, Sony Music’s operating income of 301.7 billion yen was the largest of any Sony Corp. business and accounted for about a quarter of the parent company’s total operating income. Although Games & Network Services’ revenue of 4.26 trillion yen ($29.55 billion) was more than 2.5 times Sony Music’s revenue, it had operating income of 290.2 billion yen ($2 billion) – about 4% lower than Sony Music’s operating income.
Even though Sony Corp.’s full-year revenue grew about 13% on a constant currency basis, the company is wary of uncertain business conditions and volatility. As such, Sony Music’s parent company is putting a greater focus on earnings, efficiency and business profitability.
During the earnings call, Sony Corp.’s management discussed the company’s “mid-range plan” that includes a partial spin-off off its financial services division in Oct. 2025 and increasing focus on growth in its three entertainment segments — music, film and games and network services — and its imaging and sensing solutions business. The parent company aims to achieve an annual growth rate of 10% or more in these business segments.
“In the music segment, we continue to aim to grow faster than the market by strengthening our efforts in emerging markets, increasing monetization opportunities for our music catalog, and incorporating adjacent businesses such as merchandising,” said Hiroki Totoki, president, COO and CFO.
Looking ahead to the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, Sony Music expects 4% increases in both revenue and operating income.
Sony Music’s fiscal fourth quarter revenue climbed 23.5% to 422.2 billion yen ($2.85 billion). Recorded music revenue in the quarter rose 29.4% to 288 billion yen ($1.94 billion) due to 23.9% growth in streaming revenue and a 91.9% improvement in the “other” category. Music publishing revenue grew 25.5% to 82.9 billion yen ($558.6 billion). Visual media and platform revenue dropped 3.8% to 51.4 billion yen ($346.6 million) due to a 22.2% decline in gaming revenue.
Both SOS and UTOPIA were also Sony Music’s top two albums in the fiscal fourth quarter as well as the full year. Other top albums in the quarter were 21 Savage’s American Dream, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, Bad Bunny’s nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana, Peso Pluma’s Genesis, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, Tate McRae’s Think Later, Justin Timberlake’s Everything I Thought It Was and Harry Styles’ Harry’s House.
When Tunji Balogun took over Def Jam in January 2022 after a career working with stars such as Kendrick Lamar at Interscope; Khalid, Bryson Tiller, H.E.R. and Wizkid at RCA; and Normani at his own Keep Cool imprint, he says he found a label with “a lot of question marks. There was a lot of instability. It seemed like there were a lot of different perspectives.”
In the five years prior to Balogun’s tenure, Def Jam had been in a state of near-continual upheaval. After Steve Bartels exited as CEO in 2018, Eminem manager and Shady Records co-founder Paul Rosenberg took the job but lasted only two years. Jeffrey Harleston, executive vp of business affairs/general counsel of the label’s parent company, Universal Music Group (UMG), ran Def Jam on an interim basis — which coincided with the pandemic — until Balogun was hired. By that time, nearly a decade had passed since someone with an A&R background had led the company.
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Not surprisingly, Balogun inherited a label in serious need of reinvention. “It felt like there was an overreliance on the existing roster and not as much of a focus on what comes next,” the A&R veteran and former rapper says. “The current roster was strong, especially at that time. You still had Kanye [West], and [Justin] Bieber was releasing a lot of music; Jhené [Aiko] had a big album. But the reality is, you always need that next wave of artists that’s going to continue turning the page, and I put the focus on that from day one.”
Balogun quickly set to work reshaping the roster, signing Muni Long, Coco Jones and Armani White while expanding into dancehall with Masicka and into Afrobeats with Adekunle Gold and Odumodublvck, in partnership with Native Records. Some of it has paid off: Muni Long and Jones were nominated for best new artist at the Grammy Awards in 2023 and 2024, respectively, and each won for best R&B performance in subsequent years, a first for any label in that category.
The plaque commemorating Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” going two-times platinum reminds Balogun “of one of the most unique and impactful records I’ve been lucky enough to play a small part in bringing to the world.”
DeSean McClinton-Holland
But the path forward, which Balogun says includes “being deliberate about giving our artists resources and nurturing them,” has had its setbacks. Def Jam’s market share has declined for the past three years — a downturn that began before Balogun arrived — and sat at 0.65% at the end of 2023, according to Luminate. And the label that once released culture-shaping music by LL COOL J, Public Enemy, Jay-Z, West and Rihanna had no chart-topping albums.
There was more upheaval as a result of the restructuring and layoffs at UMG in the first few months of the year, which led to Balogun reporting to Republic co-founder/CEO Monte Lipman and Def Jam’s urban promotions and public relations staff moving into the new Republic Corps shared-services division. “It was difficult for us, just as I’m sure it was difficult for any other label to have to go through” layoffs, he says, adding, “I actually think we are more focused and more aligned and more set up for success now.”
Despite these changes, Balogun’s reset is gaining momentum and market share is on the upswing. After Muni Long’s “Hrs & Hrs” reached No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022, her latest single, “Made for Me,” reached No. 20 on the March 9 chart and became her second No. 1 hit on R&B/ Hip-Hop Airplay, where it has reigned for five weeks. That will lead into her forthcoming debut album, part of a slate of releases this year from Jones, Aiko, Vince Staples, Big Sean, Alessia Cara, Wale, LL COOL J and Chuck D, among others.
As Def Jam celebrates 40 years of history, Balogun says the label is driving forward once again. “I want to get to a place where we’re not defined by nostalgia; where nostalgia is just a part of the magic,” he says. “I do think we’re heading there. But it’s a heavy task.”
Balogun says the boombox is “a reminder of my musical roots and the magical era when Def Jam began to change the world.”
DeSean McClinton-Holland
Def Jam is 40 years old. What does that mean to you?
Def Jam, to me, has always stood for forward-thinking, cutting-edge Black music. And I’m careful to say “Black music” and not just “Black artists” because if you have something special like a Beastie Boys or eventually a [Justin] Bieber, it belongs on the label as well. It was the first label that felt like [it had] a point of view. If you plot the course of the label over time, there has always been risk-taking signings that reflect where music is going. The goal is to continue that tradition and bring it into the future. My entire career, most of my successes have been a little bit left of center: riskier signings, artists that have their own point of view.
When you accepted the role, what was your strategy, and how did it change once you got to Def Jam?
My plan was to look under the hood, meet every single artist and employee and have genuine, one-on-one conversations with them. I found that there was a lot of instability. There wasn’t a focus on the new, which is everything I saw when I worked with Jimmy Iovine, John Janick, Peter Edge.
Did the label need a cultural reinvention?
Yes. I am a walking reset button for Def Jam. That’s not to disrespect anyone who was here before me. It was more about bringing [the label] into my world and the way that I move. I try to be a reflection of what’s happening in the creative community. That’s always going to be my superpower: I’m tapped in with the producers and the artists. Def Jam has always been the culture’s label, the most down-to-earth label, that feels like a reflection of the people. I want to reestablish those values.
How do you balance that with the need for hits?
I want more hits, but to get to that point, you need to plant multiple seeds and allow them to flourish. You can’t just put [a song] on MTV and the radio and it’s over. There needs to be 100 discovery points, a digital story, an [in real life] story, an artist proposition, a song that’s special, and all those things need to align in one moment. When I started, I told Lucian [Grainge] that I’m a long-term guy and I’m willing to wait for the moment. I’m not pressed to chase numbers, chase the algorithm, chase the hot new thing of the week. I’m going to wait until I find something really special that makes my skin tingle, and then I’m going to go for it.
“My small but mighty jewelry collection”: his wedding band and his half of matching Cartier rings that he and his wife wear. His mother gave him the chain with the charm and matching ring when Balogun was in Nigeria “reconnecting with my roots. She literally took the chain off her neck and put it around mine.” A few months later, she “hooked me up to complete the look” with the ring. He wears it on his left pinky and the Cartier on his right.
DeSean McClinton-Holland
How has the UMG restructure affected you and Def Jam?
The biggest changes are in radio promotion, where now we work with Republic’s rhythm and pop staffs. We retained our urban team, which now services the whole group. Since this is Def Jam, the vast majority of these records are going to start in that urban radio space, so it actually, so far, has been really seamless. The other major change is in the publicity space, where we now share resources with the Republic Corps team. From the inside looking out, it has been pretty smooth, and there hasn’t really been much of a drastic change. We’re very much continuing on that path that we’ve been on since I got here.
What’s an example of how the new structure has worked?
A great example of the synergy has been the work that we’ve done with Muni Long’s “Made For Me” record, which our team got started. We got it to No. 1 at R&B and urban radio right as the transition was happening, and then we seamlessly passed the baton to [Republic’s] Gary Spangler and his team, and they got it to No. 1 at rhythm and now they’re building at [adult top 40] and top 40 radio. The creative and the energy and the ideas are still coming from Def Jam, but once we reach certain thresholds, we collaborate with the larger team. That song is still going from strength to strength. It’ll end up as one of the biggest R&B songs of the year, and it’ll set up Muni’s album. It feels like we have more tools in terms of artist development, and now we can approach things from different angles, depending on what the most effective strategy is.
One of the consequences of planting seeds, as you put it, is that Def Jam’s market share has been dropping. Are you worried you’re not going to have the time and space to watch these seeds grow?
No. It doesn’t change the conversation I had with Lucian at the beginning. That’s something that everyone that I deal with understands. I’m also not a dictator who thinks he knows everything. I’m willing to learn and grow, and for me, this [restructuring] is another opportunity to grow. There are things that I’m excited to work on with some of the other labels now that there’s a possibility of doing things together. I’m already moving like that.
Def Jam scored best new artist Grammy nominees in each of the past two years. What does that signify for you?
We are making progress. But every single person who I’ve spoken to who has gone through this [experience] has said it’s probably going to take three, probably four or five years. We’re at the beginning of year three. My biggest fear was, “Am I going to be able to go in there and break new acts?” Now I know we’re able to do it. Every time I’ve bet on myself, I’ve found success. I’m confident in that, and I’m confident in my team and in our artists. We’re already on an incline, so I don’t see how that stops.
How do you want the next 40 years of Def Jam’s artists to define the label?
I want Def Jam to be the destination for the next generation of global Black music. That is my mission statement. In many ways, it reflects what the label has always been, but it brings in all the new scenes and sounds and strains of music — everything from U.K. R&B, to Nigerian drill, to amapiano from South Africa, to a really special country act from Missouri, the next incredible lyricist from New York or the next really special female MC from Atlanta. All these different worlds and sounds need to exist within this label. I truly believe that we are the only major label that’s synonymous with pushing Black music forward.
This story originally appeared in the May 11, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Spotify is changing the way it pays songwriters and publishers in the United States — leading to an estimated $150 million cut to U.S. mechanical royalty payments — and the music business is speaking out.
By adding audiobooks into Spotify’s premium, duo and family tiers, Spotify now claims it qualifies to pay a discounted “bundle” rate to songwriters for premium streams given that it now has to pay licensing for both books and music from the same subscription price tag — which will only be a dollar higher than when music was the only offering.
Spotify argues that adding audiobooks reclassifies the service from a “standalone portable subscription” to a “bundled subscription offering,” according to the royalty rate formula provided in Phonorecords IV. The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), both of which represented the music business in Phono IV proceedings, disagree with Spotify’s reading of the settlement, with the NMPA calling it “a cynical and potentially unlawful move” that is a “perversion of the settlement we agreed upon in 2022.”
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Last week, Billboard calculated that this change will lead to an estimated $150 million cut in U.S. mechanical royalties from premium, duo and family plans for the first 12 months the bundle rate is in effect, compared to what songwriters would have earned if the three subscription tiers were never bundled. The change affects payments starting in March 2024, so it will not impact Spotify’s premium, duo or family payouts for the first two months of 2024. Specifically, the estimate refers to losses for the first 12 months after the premium, family and duo tiers are qualified as a bundle, not calendar year 2024.
As Spotify grows, the music business fears that the difference between what payments to songwriters and publishers would have been if premium continued to be counted as a regular standalone service versus what will be paid now that music and audiobooks have been bundled will continue to increase.
Spotify says it will soon offer a music-only subscription tier that will pay out in the same way Spotify premium used to, but there’s not yet a timeline for when this option will launch.
Back in March, Spotify released a statement about the change to the bundle rate, stating that the company is “on track to pay publishers and societies more in 2024 than in 2023. As our industry partners are aware, changes in our product portfolio mean that we are paying out in different ways based on terms agreed to by both streaming services and publishers. Multiple DSPs have long paid a lower rate for bundles versus a stand-alone music subscription, and our approach is consistent.”
Below is an updating list of music industry reactions to the news:
National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA)
“It appears Spotify has returned to attacking the very songwriters who make its business possible. Spotify’s attempt to radically reduce songwriter payments by reclassifying their music service as an audiobook bundle is a cynical, and potentially unlawful, move that ends our period of relative peace. We will not stand for their perversion of the settlement we agreed upon in 2022 and are looking at all options.”
Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP)
“Two weeks ago, we spoke out about the potential consequences for independent music publishers should Spotify go forward with its plan to bundle a previously free service, audiobooks, with music subscriptions. Now that an actual number has been put to the potential lost revenue for music publishers, a staggering estimate of $150 million per year, we feel the need to speak out again.
“It is a deeply cynical move for Spotify to attempt to circumvent the CRB settlement agreed to by the NMPA & NSAI and DiMA in 2022 via this bundling ‘loophole,’ and further insulting that the price of a Spotify subscription will actually increase for users while cutting revenue for the songwriters who keep their business alive. This is especially problematic for independent music publishers, as they and all publishers are legally prevented from negotiating protections against bad-faith tactics such as this, while labels are allowed to do so in a free market.
“At this point, we still do not know how Spotify plans to notify its subscribers of this change. The right thing to do is to default existing subscribers to music-only accounts, and then give them the option to add-on the audiobook service for an additional $9.99 per month — Spotify’s proposed standalone rate for audiobooks. This ensures a proper, non-devalued royalty rate for both music and audiobook publishers and rightsholders, who will otherwise both be negatively affected by bundling.
“The AIMP offers its unequivocal support to the NMPA as they fight this critical battle to prevent Spotify’s scheme from taking effect. We encourage all independent music publishers to join us in this stance and make their songwriters aware of this attack on their livelihood. We cannot allow bundling to become a precedent that can be used to deprive songwriters of their well-earned royalties.
“The AIMP has also been speaking with the Coalition of Concerned Creators and are happy to report that we are aligned on this issue. Please find their statement on this issue below.
“From the Coalition of Concerned Creators:
“All musicians, creator advocacy groups, unions and organizations, and other creator stakeholders — including authors and podcasters — must stand firm against Spotify’s recent policy shift. It is essential to advocate for equitable compensation for music creators, who are pivotal to the industry’s sustainability. Additionally, this is a clear pattern of behavior and we continue to be concerned about Spotify’s bridge into new audio formats, like audiobooks, and how this pattern of behavior will affect other creators, like authors, as well.”
Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI)
“Spotify, we are writing regarding Spotify’s decision to ‘bundle’ music with audiobooks, resulting in an estimated annual loss of as much as $150 million in mechanical royalty payments to American songwriters, composers and music publishers. This attempt at lowering royalty payments to an already beleaguered songwriter community is in the worst bad faith and a perversion of the Copyright Royalty Board settlement that the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), the National Music Publishers Assn. (NMPA) and the Digital Media Assn. (DiMA) agreed to in 2022. It counters every statement Spotify has ever made of claiming the company is friendly to creators.
“‘Bundling’ music with other offerings without a music-only option does not comport with our view of the intent of the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) in recent Phonorecord procedures in which the NSAI participated. Further, this move negates gains awarded to songwriters by the CRB. NSAI will not accept what we view as an attempt to manipulate the intent of the court through a ‘bundling’ gimmick. NSAI calls for Spotify to immediately reverse its course and offer separate music subscription choices at price points that will fairly remunerate songwriters.
“The American songwriter community is appalled that this is happening while Spotify is reporting record profits, and while founder Daniel Ek has recently cashed in a reported $180 million in stock options, including $118 million that practically coincided with the ‘bundling’ announcement which reduced Spotify’s yearly royalty obligation. The amount Ek cashed in conveniently mirrors the estimated amount that Spotify wants to leech off the back of songwriters who create the product on which streaming services are making billions.
“Reporting record profits while reducing songwriter royalties as the company founder cashed in millions in stocks proves a greedy, offensive and callous disregard for the songwriters on whose backs these revenues are generated.
“Signed unanimously by Nashville Songwriters Association International”
Executives of Tencent Music Entertainment Group said on Monday that higher than expected subscriber growth pushed its first quarter profits up 28% to RMB1.53 billion ($212 million). Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Through marketing promotions timed around the Chinese New Year holiday, TME was able to […]
Sphere Entertainment announced on Monday that it has acquired all of the remaining shares it did not previously own of Holoplot GmbH, a global leader in 3D audio technology based in Berlin. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Sphere first invested in Holoplot in 2018 when the […]
A judge in Utah has set a $100,000 bond for rapper NBA YoungBoy, who faces dozens of charges involving a fraudulent prescription operation he allegedly orchestrated.
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The 24-year-old rap artist, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, appeared Thursday (May 9) before Judge Spencer D. Walsh in a Cache County, Utah, court for the bond hearing, KUTV-TV reported.
Gaulden was arrested April 16 at his home in Huntsville, where he was on house arrest while awaiting trial on federal weapons charges. He faces 63 felonies and misdemeanors related to the fraudulent prescription operation, which included identity fraud, obtaining a prescription under false pretenses, forgery, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, and possession of a controlled substance.
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Three others linked to the case are accused of traveling to nearby pharmacies to pick up prescriptions for pills that had been filled on bogus orders from people pretending to be real doctors.
The defense informed Walsh that the state agreed to a $100,000 bond in exchange for his waiving a preliminary hearing, where the state would have to convince a judge that a crime was committed and that it was committed by the defendant. His arraignment was set for July 1 at which time he will enter a plea, the television station reported.
“You’ll be brought over from the Cache County Jail assuming you’re still incarcerated,” Walsh said.
On April 26, additional charges related to the prescription fraud case were filed against Gaulden in Weber County, including a second-degree felony count of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and two Class A misdemeanor counts of distributing a controlled substance. He was held without bond in that case.
Authorities said Gaulden will at some point be transferred back to federal custody in the U.S. Middle District Court of Louisiana where he faces a July 15 trial on a possession of a firearm charge in Baton Rouge. U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, who is presiding over the federal case, signed an order May 2 postponing the trial to a date yet to be determined as several pending motions in the case play out, court records show.
The weapons charge stems from a 2020 music video shoot. Baton Rouge police rounded up Gaulden and 15 others after swarming the video shoot and finding pistols and assault rifles hidden in the area, arrest reports indicate.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys office in Baton Rouge confirmed Thursday that when Gaulden is ultimately released from Utah state custody he’ll be detained by federal authorities, The Advocate reported.
Sean “Diddy” Combs on Friday (May 10) asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that he and two co-defendants raped a 17-year-old girl in a New York recording studio in 2003, saying it was a “false and hideous claim” that was filed too late under the law.
The legal move is the latest piece of pushback from the 54-year-old hip-hop mogul and his legal team after he was subjected to several similar lawsuits and a subsequent criminal sex-trafficking investigation.
“Mr. Combs and his companies categorically deny Plaintiff’s decades-old tale against them, which has caused incalculable damage to their reputations and business standing before any evidence has been presented,” says the filing, which also names Combs-owned corporations as defendants. “Plaintiff cannot allege what day or time of year the alleged incident occurred, but miraculously remembers other salacious details, despite her alleged incapacitated condition.”
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The lawsuit was filed in December and amended in March by the woman who now lives in Canada whose name wasn’t disclosed in the court filing. She said she was in 11th grade at a high school in a Detroit suburb in 2003, when Harve Pierre, then the president of Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment record label, flew her to New York on a private jet and took her to a recording studio, where she was given drugs and alcohol until she was incapable of consenting to sex. Then, the lawsuit said, Pierre, Combs and a man she didn’t know took turns raping her.
The lawsuit included photographs of the woman sitting on Combs’ lap that she said were taken on the night in question.
The defense filing asks that the case be “dismissed now, with prejudice” — meaning it cannot be refiled — “to protect the Combs Defendants from further reputational injury and before more party and judicial resources are squandered.”
At this early stage in the lawsuit, the arguments are procedural rather than on the facts of the case.
Some of the lawsuits filed against Combs involve decades-old allegations and are among the more than 3,700 legal claims filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily suspended certain legal deadlines to give sexual assault victims a last opportunity to sue over abuse that happened years or even decades ago.
The new deadlines established by that law expired, but the suit Combs filed the motion against Friday was brought under a different law, New York City’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law. That city law also allows accusers to file civil complaints involving sexual assault claims after the statute of limitations has run out.
But Combs’ motion argues that suit was filed too late, because the city law is preempted by the state law, whose provisions mean the lawsuit needed to be filed by August of 2021 to be timely.
“New York state law trumps New York City law, without exception,” the filing says.
The amended version of the lawsuit filed in March sought to address some of these issues, but Combs’ attorneys argue that it didn’t go far enough. The judge has ruled the woman will need to reveal her name if the lawsuit moves forward after this challenge.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused, unless they come forward publicly, as some of Combs’ accusers have done.
Friday’s defense filing also criticizes the suit for including “a bolded, legally irrelevant ‘trigger warning’ calculated to focus attention on its salacious and depraved allegations.”
The public airing of allegations against Combs began with a November lawsuit by the singer Cassie, his former protege and girlfriend, containing allegations of beatings, rape and other abuse between 2005 and 2018. The suit, filed by Douglas Wigdor, the same attorney who filed the suit being challenged Friday, was settled the day after it was filed. Combs denied the allegations through his lawyer before the settlement.
More lawsuits against Combs were filed in the following months. Then on March 25, Homeland Security Investigations served search warrants on his homes in Los Angeles and Miami in a sex-trafficking investigation. His lawyer called it “a gross use of military-level force.” The investigation is continuing. Combs has not been charged.
Last month, Combs filed a motion to dismiss a suit filed by Joi Dickerson, who said she was a 19-year-old college student when Combs drugged her and sexually assaulted her.
Wigdor did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new filing. He said in a statement in December that the “depravity of these abhorrent acts has, not surprisingly, scarred our client for life.”
Live Nation was the top-performing music stock and one of four stocks in positive territory this week. The concert promoter gained 2.5% to $97.02 while three other concert promotion stocks — Sphere Entertainment Co., Madison Square Garden Entertainment and CTS Eventim — each lost ground.
The Billboard Global Music Index fell 1.9% to 1,788.83 as 16 of its 20 stocks finished the week in negative territory. Music streaming companies Deezer and Anghami were two of the week’s other big winners with gains of 1.0% and 0.9%, respectively. Still, the index has risen 16.6% year to date and 12 of the 20 stocks have posted gains in 2024.
Another notable gainer this week was Believe, which closed Friday at 15.04 euros ($16.21), up 0.3% from the prior week. A closing price of 15.04 euros is above the 15.00 euros offer price by consortium of investors that aims to take Believe private. Some minority shareholders may remain, however, because the consortium, which has lined up 71.92% of share equity, will not implement a squeeze-out and force shareholders representing the remaining 28.08% of share capital to sell.
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iHeartMedia shares declined 42.7% to $1.30, leaving the radio broadcaster with a market capitalization of just $194 million. Its shares fell 36.1% on Thursday following its first-quarter earnings release and dropped another 5.8% on Friday.
As streaming has surged in popularity and economic importance, radio companies have struggled to reinvent themselves. In 2021, iHeartMedia shares surpassed $28 after the advertising market recovered from a COVID-19 pandemic-related collapse. But in the subsequent three years, its shares have lost nearly all their value as sluggish radio advertising has overshadowed iHeartMedia’s budding podcast business.
The index didn’t fall further than 1.9% because many of its most valuable companies suffered only minor losses this week. Spotify, the largest contributor to the float-adjusted index, dropped only 0.5% while HYBE, one of the index’s more valuable components, fell just 1.5%.
Those small losses, and Live Nation’s 2.5% gain, helped offset larger losses by some other valuable components of the index. Universal Music Group fell 3.1% to 28.01 euros ($30.22) and Warner Music Group dropped 7.3% to $31.64 following its fiscal second quarter earnings release on Thursday. Evercore and Morgan Stanley both dropped their price targets by $2 on WMG’s stock on Friday. Guggenheim maintain its WMG price target.
While music stocks had a rough week, stocks were broadly up around the world. In the United States, the S&P 500 gained 1.9% to 5,222.68 and the Nasdaq composite improved 1.1% to 16,340.87. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 rose 2.7% to 8,433.76. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index gained 1.9% to 2,727.63. China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.6% to 3,154.55.
AEG Presents, a global leader in live music and events, announced Friday (May 10) that Brent Fedrizzi, who currently serves as co-president and COO of AEG Presents’ Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest regions, has been named president, North American regional offices.
Fedrizzi’s promotion follows Rick Mueller’s exit from the company, which the former AEG Presents president for North America announced earlier this week.
Fedrizzi, who will continue to be based out of Denver, is set to guide the company’s 100 U.S. venues – including the 50 owned and operated clubs and theaters in the AEG Presents portfolio – in all aspects of talent buying and promotion, as well as overseeing its 12 regional offices. He will report to AEG Presents chairman and CEO Jay Marciano and will join the company’s executive committee.
“I’ve known Brent for close to 30 years and have worked with him almost as long, so it’s especially gratifying to make this announcement,” said Marciano in a release. “He has a vision, a drive, and an insight into our business that’s been forged over his many years promoting events in every type of venue across the western United States. As co-president of our Rocky Mountain region, his feel for the business is a key reason AEG Presents is the dominant promoter in the market and the Denver office is one of our top performers. Simply put, he’s the right person for the job.”
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“When Jay and I first spoke about this opportunity, I jumped at the chance to work more closely with him, the regional team, and the company as a whole,” Fedrizzi said. “I’m excited for the challenge ahead, and I can’t wait to dive in; there’s never been a more exhilarating time in live events. I’m grateful for the trust Jay has put in me to guide the business into the future; the ability to do so with the people and the company I love is icing on the cake.”
A Colorado native, Fedrizzi began his career in 1991 at the Fey Concert Company in Denver, booking artists at various venues across the Rockies and the Southwest. In 1998, he joined forces with Chuck Morris and Don Strasburg to launch Bill Graham Presents/Chuck Morris Presents in the market. Through a series of acquisitions including SFX and Clear Channel Entertainment, that company would eventually become Live Nation in 2005. Fedrizzi remained there for nine years before leaving with Morris and Strasburg to join AEG Live as COO of the Rocky Mountain region. They quickly established themselves as the dominant force in one of the most competitive and active live music markets in the country and now promote more than 1,100 events annually at a variety of venues including Mission Ballroom, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre and Ball Arena, among many others.
In addition to his work at AEG Presents, Fedrizzi is a board member and four-time president of the North American Concert Promoters Association, a four-time Academy of Country Music award nominee, and a nominee for International Entertainment Buyers Association’s promoter of the year. He currently serves as chairman of the board for Visit Denver and sits on the board of the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.
Few Millennials can boast of having seen the late Jerry Garcia live in concert and yet no generation of jam band fans have benefited from the success and fellowship of bands like The Grateful Dead than those born after Garcia’s death in 1995.
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“Today we live in a golden age for the jam scene,” said veteran music industry executive, producer and artist manager Jonathan Shank, host of The Jam, a new podcast from Osiris Media exploring the bands, the fans and the jams that make up one of the live music’s most enduring musical legacies.
From Phish and Dead and Company’s successful run of shows at The Sphere in Las Vegas, to the emergence of jam superstar artists like Billy Strings, Goose and even EDM pioneers Odesza as mainstream festival headliners, the music born from artists like the Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers Band, the Meters and Dr. John is more accessible than ever.
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Billboard recently caught up with Shank to discuss his long history in the jam scene and hear about his new Osiris Media podcast, which launched in March with interviews from legendary bassist and producer Randy Jackson as well as Relix magazine editor and jam scene scholar Dean Budnick.
Why did you decide to jump into podcasting?
I was inspired by Dan Steinberg and Luke Pierce’s Promoter 101 podcast and the idea of elevating people’s stories in the industry. I wanted to find some untold stories with artists that I love and create a platform to tell those stories in a very organic, free form way, and maybe find a few nuggets that people haven’t heard before.
Besides naming your company after a Grateful Dead album, what are your bona fides in the jam scene?
I’ve managed a few jam bands; first Particle in 2001 and then the Disco Biscuits for quite a little while, who are our guests on the podcast. And then around 2004, I started managing (Grateful Dead percussionist) Mickey Hart, who I met through Irving Azoff and went on to manage Mickey and Bill Kreutzmann in the Rhythm Devils and then later Global Drum Project and the Mickey Hart Band for several years. I love Billy Strings and Goose and I’ve seen The Grateful Dead with Jerry Garcia over 50 times. I still put the Grateful Dead as the benchmark for all live music that I’ve ever experienced.
Where do you see the fingerprints of what the Grateful Dead built in today’s music industry?
The Grateful Dead’s approach to direct to fan marketing through fan club ticketing and community around their live experience is a blueprint for what artists like Beyonce and Taylor Swift are doing today and how they’re connecting with their fans via social media. The Dead were the first to engage fans in a newsletter. They were the first to establish a tape trading practice, which now has really developed into Setlist.net where people go and find sets from different shows. So much of how we think about the connection between artist and fans originates with the Dead.
What does the rise of artists like Billy Strings and Goose say about the longevity of today’s jam band scene?
I think we’re in a new golden era of jam and a lot of that really has to do with the emergence of those two artists — Billy Strings and Goose. They are true headliners that can navigate the mainstream and headline major festivals, like Lollapalooza, that are not just jam centric. They’re the ones who will continue the jam scene into future decades.
Let’s talk about some of the guests you’ve had so far, starting with George Porter from the Meters. What does it say about the jam scene that a New Orleans funk band is part of The Jam podcast?
It’s a great example, actually, of how the jam scene encompasses bluegrass, funk, R& B, and jazz into this large gumbo of influences and different styles of music. George Porter Jr. is somebody who has collaborated with Dr. John, with Robert Palmer and with some of the greatest New Orleans musicians of all time. But he also has collaborated with Widespread Panic and The Grateful Dead. George really has embodied that spirit and does his own Grateful Dead covers now on his set with a cover of “Eyes of the World.”
How do you find guests for your podcast?
I’ve known Robby Krieger since the nineties. I’ve known Randy Jackson for over 10 years. He’s been a great mentor to me. You know, Billy Cobham I worked with in Jazz is Dead. Bill Payne and I have mutual friends. I want to give the people that I’ve crossed paths with over the years a forum to thank them for the part they played in my career path and for inspiring so many others in the music industry.
Who is helping you produce The Jam?
I have great partners on this project. We record the podcast inside the Sony studios and then Osiris handles all of the marketing, editing and distribution. It’s an incredible team. Osiris has a great collection of artists and podcasts that super serve the jam audience. My goal is to feature great artists and some industry folks that have stories to tell and and also some tastemakers and people that you don’t hear from very often and help. I feel very blessed to be highlighting these stories and having conversations with some of the greats in this business.