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Music investment enterprise Firebird acquired a stake in JET Management, the Los Angeles-based company that boasts a roster including Justice, Madeon, LP Giobbi and Suki Waterhouse.
Launched in 2023 by founders Nathan Hubbard and Nat Zilkha, Firebird is a multi-sector music company that includes labels and publishing, with an emphasis on management and label services.
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In 2023, Zilkha told Billboard that he and his partners are building Firebird to respond to a changing industry in which artists are moving away from label structures to partner with companies that can provide label services and artist development, as well as help them tap into additional income streams, such as publishing, merchandising, branding and live events.
“Firebird partners with artists and their teams to build longer lasting, higher impact, and more profitable careers,” Hubbard said in a statement on the new partnership. “JET is on the cutting edge of building the brands of the most respected artists that influence culture. Tyler, John and their team have an impressive track record of partnering with artists of all types to ignite both their fan bases and businesses in harmony.”
“The music industry is evolving rapidly, and power is continuing to shift towards artists and their teams. Firebird’s artist-first ethos and ambitions around empowering the core team is what drew us in at the start, but the people are what kept us around,” added JET Management co-founder John Scholz. “This is a great group of sharp industry veterans walking the same path as us that we couldn’t be happier to lock arms with.”
“Firebird’s strengths complement JET’s vision seamlessly,” adds JET co-founder Tyler Goldberg. “This partnership allows us to streamline operations, broaden our reach, and ultimately deliver greater value to our clients.”
JET clients including Waterhouse, Justice, Neil Frances and Blond:ish are all slated play both weekends of Coachella later this month.
Thus far, Firebird has acquired stakes in companies including Coran Capshaw’s Red Light Management, which represents roughly 400 artists including Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Brandi Carlile and Chris Stapleton; Mick Management, which specializes in independent singer-songwriters such as Maggie Rogers and Hamilton Leithauser; Transgressive Records; and U.K.-based electronic label Defected Records.
“We are maintaining separate brands of the companies that we invest in,” Zilkha told Billboard last year. “We allow their creative process to remain very independent from us; but we’re giving those companies an ecosystem that helps them create opportunities for themselves and the artists that they work with.”
Firebird says it generates $2 billion in gross revenue annually across its businesses and with its collective of artistists reaching a global audience of more than a billion fans.
The Recording Academy has promoted Adam Roth to executive vp of global partnerships & business development. Roth will be responsible for growing the Recording Academy’s global footprint through the negotiation and development of integrated partnership programs with both globally recognized brands and local on-the-ground sponsors. Roth previously served as svp of partnerships & business development […]
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: Mary J. Blige’s 1992 “Real Love” draws a new copyright case over an oft-sampled funk song with a long history in both hip hop and music law; Madonna strikes back against angry fans who sued over delayed concerts; Morgan Wallen is charged with multiple felonies after allegedly throwing a chair from the roof of a Nashville bar; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Sampling Saga
If you’ve listened to any significant amount of rap music over the past 30 years, you’ve probably heard “Impeach the President” by the Honey Drippers — a legendary piece of hip-hop source material with a drum track that’s been sampled or interpolated literally hundreds of times, including by Run-DMC, Biggie, Tupac, Dr. Dre and many others.
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And, allegedly, by Mary J. Blige.
In a lawsuit filed last week, Tuff City Records claimed that Blige’s 1992 classic “Real Love,” which spent 31 weeks on the Hot 100 in 1992, featured an unlicensed sample from “Impeach.” The case claims that Universal Music Publishing has “repeatedly refused” to pay for the underlying composition, even though UMG Recordings has already agreed to a deal covering the master.
The new lawsuit is the latest chapter in a story dating back several decades, starting with a seminal 1991 case over an LL Cool J song that also featured “Impeach” – a legal battle that would ultimately prove to be the beginning of fundamental changes to how the music industry and the courts treated sampling.
Other top stories this week…
MADONNA CONCERT CLASH – The Material Girl fired back at a class action lawsuit filed by New York City fans who are angry that her concerts started later than scheduled, asking for the case to be dismissed. Madonna’s attorneys argued that needing to “wake up early the next day for work” is not the kind of “cognizable injury” someone can sue over, and that “no Madonna fan” has a “reasonable expectation” that her shows will start on time.
LAST NIGHT (ALLEGEDLY) – Morgan Wallen was arrested in Nashville and charged with three felony counts of reckless endangerment over accusations that he threw a chair off the six-story roof of a popular bar on the city’s bustling Broadway street, allegedly narrowly missing several police officers. He was later released on bond, and his lawyer told Billboard he was “cooperating fully with authorities.”
RAMONES MOVIE LAWSUIT – Joey Ramone‘s brother (Mickey Leigh) responded to a lawsuit filed by Johnny Ramone’s widow (Linda Cummings-Ramone) over a planned Netflix movie about the pioneering punk band, calling the case “baseless and flimsy” and arguing that she actually signed off on such a project years ago.
AI COPYRIGHT DISCLOSURE BILL – Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced new legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would require AI companies to disclose which copyrighted works were used to train their models, or face a financial penalty. The measure would not directly require payment to artists, but would certainly make it easier for copyright owners to file infringement cases against AI companies demanding such compensation.
NEW DIDDY ABUSE CASE – Sean “Diddy” Combs was hit with yet another sexual abuse case, this time centering on allegations that his son Christian “King” Combs assaulted a staffer on a luxury yacht in the Caribbean. The case, one of many against Diddy over the past six months, claimed that he “encouraged an environment of debauchery” that enabled his son’s behavior.
ACCUSER’S LAWYER CRITICIZED – Tyrone Blackburn, an attorney who has filed two of the pending sexual abuse cases against Combs, could be facing potential discipline himself. In a scathing ruling last week, a federal judge in an unrelated lawsuit referred him to the court’s grievance committee over his “pattern of behavior” in which he allegedly “improperly files cases in federal court to garner media attention, embarrass defendants with salacious allegations, and pressure defendants to settle quickly.”
ROD WAVE ARRESTED OVER SHOOTING – The rapper was arrested on gun charges in Florida over alleged connections to a shooting last month at a sports bar in St. Petersburg. At a press conference after the arrest, police claimed that the alleged assailants used a getaway car registered to Wave and fled to a house he had rented, where they later discovered two assault rifles and other evidence.
MORE BIZARRE DONDA CLAIMS – Kanye West was hit with another lawsuit filed by a former employee at his Donda Academy, this time accusing him of discriminating against Black staffers. Like the several previous cases from former staffers, the case included bizarre allegations about conditions inside the school – including that West told students to “shave their heads” and that he “intended to put a jail at the school” where students could be “locked in cages.”
Argentinian music sensation Paulo Londra has inked a deal with WME for worldwide representation, the company tells Billboard.
Since exploding onto the scene in 2019, the 25-year-old singer/rapper has been a dominant force in the Latin American music scene and is widely considered one of the pioneers of Argentina’s burgeoning trap movement.
Born Paulo Ezequiel Londra, he began his musical journey as a battle rapper in Buenos Aires’ El Quinto Escalón. Soon after, he released popular singles like “Relax” and “Condenado para el Millón” in 2017.
However, it was his 2019 debut album, Homerun, that catapulted Londra to international recognition. The album debuted and peaked at No. 12 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart and at No. 10 on Latin Rhythm Albums, with its hit single, “Adan y Eva,” landing in Spotify’s Global Top 10. Its music video currently boasts over 1.2 billion views on YouTube.
In 2022, the Córdoba-born artist released his second album, Back to the Game, under Warner Music Latina. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart and boasts collaborations with artists such as Ed Sheeran, Travis Barker, Timbaland, Feid and Duki.
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Adding another feather to his cap, Londra performed the official Latin remix for “The World is Yours To Take,” a song off the 2022 FIFA World Cup soundtrack, alongside Lil Baby and Tears for Free.
Most recently, Londra signed with indie powerhouse label Dale Play Records — home to producer Bizarrap, rapper Duki and urban/pop act Nicki Nicole — and is currently working on new music.
Additionally, plans are underway for Londra to embark on a global tour. He continues to be managed by Ignacio Amato and Cruz Pereyra Lucena from Buena Productora.
Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced new legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday (April 9) which, if passed, would require AI companies to disclose which copyrighted works were used to train their models, or face a financial penalty. Called the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act, the new bill would apply to both new models and retroactively to previously released and used generative AI systems.
The bill requires that a full list of copyrighted works in an AI model’s training data set be filed with the Copyright Office no later than 30 days before the model becomes available to consumers. This would also be required when the training data set for an existing model is altered in a significant manner. Financial penalties for non-compliance would be determined on a case-by-case basis by the Copyright Office, based on factors like the company’s history of noncompliance and the company’s size.
Generative AI models are trained on up to trillions of existing works. In some cases, data sets, which can include anything from film scripts to news articles to music, are licensed from copyright owners, but often these models will scrape the internet for large swaths of content, some of which is copyrighted, without the consent or knowledge of the author. Many of the world’s largest AI companies have publicly defended this practice, calling it “fair use,” but many of those working in creative industries take the position that this is a form of widespread copyright infringement.
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The debate has sparked a number of lawsuits between copyright owners and AI companies. In October, Universal Music Group, ABKCO, Concord Music Group, and other music publishers filed a lawsuit against AI giant Anthropic for “unlawfully” exploiting their copyrighted song lyrics to train AI models.
“In the process of building and operating AI models, Anthropic unlawfully copies and disseminates vast amounts of copyrighted works,” wrote lawyers for the music companies at the time. “Publishers embrace innovation and recognize the great promise of AI when used ethically and responsibly. But Anthropic violates these principles on a systematic and widespread basis.”
While many in the music business are also calling for compensation and the ability to opt in or out of being used in a data set, this bill focuses only on requiring transparency with copyrighted training data. Still, it has garnered support from many music industry groups, including the Recorded Industry Association of America (RIAA), National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), ASCAP, Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC), and Human Artistry Campaign.
It is also supported by other creative industry groups, including the Professional Photographers of America, SAG-AFTRA, Writers Guild of America, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and more.
“AI has the disruptive potential of changing our economy, our political system, and our day-to-day lives,” said Rep. Schiff in a statement. “We must balance the immense potential of AI with the crucial need for ethical guidelines and protections. My Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act is a pivotal step in this direction. It champions innovation while safeguarding the rights and contributions of creators, ensuring they are aware when their work contributes to AI training datasets. This is about respecting creativity in the age of AI and marrying technological progress with fairness.”
A number of rights groups also weighed in on the introduction of the bill.
“Any effective regulatory regime for AI must start with one of the most fundamental building blocks of effective enforcement of creators’ rights — comprehensive and transparent record keeping,” adds RIAA chief legal officer Ken Doroshow. “RIAA applauds Congressman Schiff for leading on this urgent and foundational issue.”
“We commend Congressman Schiff for his leadership on the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act,” NMPA president/CEO David Israelite said. “AI only works because it mines the work of millions of creators every day and it is essential that AI companies reveal exactly what works are training their data. This is a critical first step towards ensuring that AI companies fully license and that songwriters are fully compensated for the work being used to fuel these platforms.”
“Without transparency around the use of copyrighted works in training artificial intelligence, creators will never be fairly compensated and AI tech companies will continue stealing from songwriters,” ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews said. “This bill is an important step toward ensuring that the law puts humans first, and we thank Congressman Schiff for his leadership.”
“Protecting the work of music creators is essential, and this all begins with transparency and tracking the use of copyrighted materials in generative AI,” Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) co-chair Willie “Prophet” Stiggers said. “BMAC hopes Rep. Schiff’s Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act helps garner support for this mission and that author and creator rights continue to be protected and preserved.”
“Congressman Schiff’s proposal is a big step forward towards responsible AI that partners with artists and creators instead of exploiting them,” Human Artistry Campaign senior advisor Dr. Moiya McTier said. “AI companies should stop hiding the ball when they copy creative works into AI systems and embrace clear rules of the road for recordkeeping that create a level and transparent playing field for the development and licensing of genuinely innovative applications and tools.”
Spotify has launched a new AI playlist feature for premium users in the United Kingdom and Australia, the company revealed in a blog post on Sunday (April 7). The new feature, which is still in beta, allows Spotify users in those markets to turn any concept into a playlist by using prompts like “an indie […]
When Ariana Grande released her latest album eternal sunshine, one of its most beloved tracks, “the boy is mine,” became an instant dance trend on TikTok. At any other moment, a viral trend around a major pop star’s new song would seem obvious, even normal. But amidst the licensing feud between TikTok and Grande’s record label Universal Music Group, it’s a surprise to find the song on TikTok at all.
Grande’s music is not alone in sticking around on the app far past the expiration of UMG’s last license, which lapsed at the end of January. Thanks to clever tactics by fans, artists and their teams, some notable UMG-affiliated songs have been able to effectively skirt the company’s TikTok boycott. While it helps promote these songs individually, trying to get around the ban also has a knock-on effect for songwriters — and supplies UMG hits to TikTok without the app paying a cent.
An Olivia Rodrigo fan under the username LouLiv recently uploaded Rodrigo’s new single “so american” to TikTok as an “original sound,” and Rodrigo herself used the sound in a few recent TikToks, helping boost the song’s visibility. Grande’s fans have also been creating various versions of “the boy is mine” on TikTok, which has helped spread the song on the app, as well as other tracks from eternal sunshine.
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These original sounds often manipulate the official recording, changing the speed, pitch and/or title of the song to help them slip past TikTok’s detection technology, which is used to automatically catch songs, like UMG’s, that are not licensed to be on the app. A source close to the matter says that TikTok’s detection technology combs for metadata provided by UMG and UMPG and then removes the content. But the remaining original sounds that don’t get automatically wiped from TikTok are so widespread that it can sometimes feel like UMG never left the app at all.
The songs are not hard to find, either. The most popular sound for Rodrigo’s “so american,” for example, is straightforwardly titled “so american” and already has 33,400 videos created with the song to date. The most-used original audio for “the boy is mine” was recently removed after weeks on TikTok, a sign that UMG is issuing takedowns for some original sounds using their catalog. But multiple other original audios for the song remain, including “the boy is mine” by star and “the boy is mine sped up” by satvrn, amounting to over 100,000 videos made to original sounds of the song on TikTok and counting.
For songwriters, there are negative consequences. In two separate text and email chains reviewed by Billboard, non-UMG recording artists that have worked on recent or upcoming releases with UMPG songwriters have asked the track’s songwriters to withhold information about who wrote the song at the time of a track’s release to try to skirt the UMG TikTok ban — and the songwriters have agreed.
Though the two sources who provided correspondence to Billboard wished to remain anonymous to protect their clients, Lucas Keller, founder/CEO of Milk & Honey and manager to a number of songwriters and producers, confirmed that this is happening to songwriters. “Sometimes there’s a song coming out and there’s four writers, and one of them is UMPG, and someone steps forward and says, ‘Hey, can you not get in the way of this one? Can we register this in like three months?’” Keller says. “Then the song can be used on TikTok. It’s an interesting dark corner of the business that’s emerged.”
It is common for tracks to be released without submitting the proper publishing “splits,” meaning the names of the writers and what the percentage of ownership each holds, given these negotiations can be lengthy and sometimes contentious. But in the cases Keller and the other two sources discussed with Billboard, the songs’ publishing splits were ready to go and could have been submitted on time. The only reason they weren’t was to allow the artist to promote it on TikTok.
Michelle Lewis, co-founder and CEO of Songwriters of North America (SONA), says these asks by artists put songwriters in a bad position. “Songwriters are the least equipped to negotiate, the lowest on the food chain in these discussions,” Lewis says. She worries songwriters don’t feel like they have the ability to push back on these asks if they want to. Meanwhile, leaving out this key information could threaten the songwriters’ ability to get paid royalties from streaming services on time if the parties hold out longer than a few months.
Lewis, Keller and three artist managers who wished to remain anonymous, all tell Billboard that some artists are also “thinking twice” about inviting UMPG writers to sessions. “I have also heard about Universal writers not being invited to camps,” Lewis says; while it’s unclear how often this is occurring, Keller says it “is absolutely happening.” Adds Lewis, “It’s so uncool. If you’re not including Universal writers, you’re basically crossing the picket line. You’re weakening [UMG’s position].”
A UMPG spokesperson declined to comment on its songwriters facing these specific effects from the TikTok feud, but pointed to its letter to songwriters on Feb. 29, which read in part, “We understand the disruption is difficult for some of you and your careers, and we are sensitive to how this may affect you.”
Some official recordings with UMPG writers, like “Texas Hold Em” by Beyonce, who is affiliated with Sony’s Columbia Records, still remain on TikTok for unknown reasons. That song, which is currently ranked at No. 5 on Billboard’s TikTok Viral 50, was co-written by UMPG’s Raphael Saadiq, as were other songs on Beyonce’s new album Cowboy Carter that remain on the platform.
“Texas Hold Em” and some other tracks by Beyonce have a large number of songwriters — which is one major reason why publishing information is often submitted late — so it is possible that TikTok hasn’t removed the track because it doesn’t have verification that it is in any way affiliated with UMPG. Strangely, however, this track was taken down from TikTok briefly and then reappeared days later. When asked why “Texas Hold Em” was available on TikTok despite its clear ties to UMPG, neither TikTok nor UMPG responded to Billboard’s requests for comment.
Regardless of how these songs avoided an automatic removal from TikTok, UMG could have requested that these popular tracks and original sounds be taken down by now. Rights holders are able to manually request takedowns of content on TikTok that they believe infringe on their copyrights, like the original sounds for Grande and Rodrigo and songs like “Texas Hold Em,” and TikTok is required to remove them to remain in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
But tracking down all infringing content and requesting takedowns, especially for a catalog of millions like UMG’s, is known to be a tedious task. As UMG put it in its original letter to artists and songwriters, it is “monumentally cumbersome” and “the digital equivalent of ‘Whack-A-Mole.’” Michael Nash, the company’s executive vp of digital strategy, also added on an earnings call on Feb. 28 that the company had sent requests to “effectuate muting of millions of videos every day.” However, it is possible to get infringing tracks removed if that is the rights holders’ wish.
“This is not a united front,” Lewis says. “It feels indicative of our industry overall. We can never get along, and the individual creator is the one who gets hurt… It’s totally not fair for songwriters, but this is all beneath the top line concern, which is that TikTok completely underpays, undervalues songwriters. That’s number one. They’re the ones who started this.”
Billboard is bringing back its peer-voted Country Power Players’ Choice Award for 2024, asking music industry members from all sectors to honor the executive they believe had the most impact across the Country music genre in the past year. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Voting is […]
Billboard is bringing back its peer-voted Country Power Players’ Choice Award for 2024, asking music industry members from all sectors to honor the executive they believe had the most impact across the Country music genre in the past year. Voting is open to all Billboard Pro members, both existing and new, with one vote per […]
Every passing day, a new statistic emerges that would make any aspiring artist, producer, or songwriter feel foolish for trying to fund their dreams.
Over 100,000 songs get ingested to Spotify daily, but the vast majority of them fail to surpass the 1,000-play mark. Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group reported record profits in 2023, but those numbers are largely driven by a small number of star artists. A 2017 study showed that out of 7,000 bands tracked, only 21 managed to headline a venue with a capacity exceeding 3,000. Limited opportunity and long odds face artists who don’t have significant industry backing.
Content saturation makes it harder to stand out, inspiring strategic conservatism from major labels, who, driven by data, fear financial risk and tend to invest in artists who demonstrate substantial market appeal.
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What are musicians — and, frankly, writers, visual artists, filmmakers, or any creators — in need of resources to do when corporations appear more risk-averse than ever?
Why do we need a grant system for individual artists?
While art is often considered a luxury rather than a public good, it has been shown to provide both cultural enrichment and economic stimulus.
In 2023, Americans for the Arts found that the nonprofit arts and culture industry provided 2.6 million jobs, generated $29.1 billion in tax revenue, and provided $101 billion in personal income to U.S. residents. These numbers include the individuals who benefit from public arts funding to become working artists, who tour, show their work at museums, and fill movie theaters.
America’s nonprofit and for-profit arts sectors work together to promote cultural growth as much as they stimulate economic activity locally and nationally.
Public funding for the arts has remained relatively steady in absolute terms. However, inflation-adjusted spending on the arts by local governments has declined consistently throughout the 2000s. Local arts agencies now receive 27% less in funding than they did in 2001.
Other countries have shown a better system can exist.
For 37 years, Canada’s FACTOR grant program has supported Canadian recording artists in meaningful ways.
FACTOR covers costs that traditionally require the debt financing of a label deal: recording, music videos, and tour funding chief among them.
Notable FACTOR recipients launched into successful careers include Jessie Reyez, Grimes, Charlotte Cardin, BADBADNOTGOOD and TOBi. Drake’s vaunted company October’s Very Own has also received a variety of grants from Canadian governmental sources — including funding for the 2014 OVO Fest.
In Sweden, robust arts education in public schools combined with an internationally-minded grant system contribute to the small nation’s outsized influence on popular music abroad, particularly in the United States where Max Martin’s Swedish pop sensibilities have dominated Billboard charts since Bill Clinton was in office.
While in America, artists can gain access to grants through institutions like the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation or the Henry Luce Foundation, or via state institutions, there is no unified federal mechanism for arts funding akin to FACTOR or the Swedish Arts Grant Committee. The National Endowment for the Arts has an impressive grantmaking operation but does not give direct grants to individual artists.
Introducing the CREATE Art Act.
We need a better system.
In 2024, we are working to bring the CREATE Art Act to the American public. Created by Congressman Maxwell Frost, a drummer and musician himself and the first Gen-Z person ever elected to the United States Congress, the CREATE Art Act proposes a novel grant system for individual artists of all disciplines.
CREATE grants go beyond international models in the way they target emerging artists, those creators who may not yet have the good fortune of making a living off of their art or wish to avoid potentially injurious record and publishing deals. Recipients must show net earnings of less than $50,000 in the previous five years and not more than $400,000 in the previous 20 years from their art. The art produced must be relevant to the community and accessible to the public. The grants include:
Progress Grant – Up to $2,000 to support a year of artist activities.
Project Grant – Up to $100,000 per project that can be used over two years.
Live Performance Grant – Up to $35,000 for live performances.
Development Fund – Up to $10,000 to pay the living and working expenses of artists
while they research, write, or cultivate stories or projects.
The purpose of the program is twofold.
First, and simply, more artists with funding means more art. The greater the creative output of our nation, the greater the diversity of voices with the potential to gain an audience, shift perspectives, inspire future generations, and tell new American stories.
Second, more artists creating means more economic activity in a sector experiencing an algae bloom of creators and consumers.
The current media landscape cuts a more jagged figure than ever. No monoliths. No starmakers. No obvious paths to success.
In a time of such noise and fragmentation, artists find it as hard as ever to fund their dreams and more difficult than before to cut through the clutter.
The CREATE Art Act would plant a foot on the right path forward, opening up possibilities for generations of American artists to come.
The first member of Generation Z to be elected to Congress, Maxwell Alejandro Frost is proud to represent the people of Central Florida (FL-10) in the United States House of Representatives. As a young Member of Congress and Afro-Latino, Congressman Frost brings a fresh, progressive perspective to an institution formerly out of reach for young, working Black and Latino Americans.
Jon Tanners is a manager, writer, and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles. He manages Grammy-winning, multi-platinum producers Dahi, Michael Uzowuru, and Take A Daytrip and is also co-founder of CreateSafe.