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LONDON – Jason Iley, the long-serving chairman/CEO of Sony Music U.K. and Ireland, has been announced as this year’s recipient of the U.K.’s Music Industry Trusts Award (MITS) in recognition of his contribution to the British record business.
Iley, who was named head of Sony Music U.K. in 2014 following a brief stint as president of Roc Nation Records in New York City, will receive the award on Nov. 4 at a gala ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. The event will benefit U.K. charities the BRIT Trust, which is a key founder of The BRIT School, and music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins.
In a statement, Iley said he was honored to be recognized by the MITS award committee and paid credit to “the talented artists I have been lucky enough to work with throughout my career.”
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MITS Award committee co-chair Toby Leighton-Pope said Iley’s “influence on the music industry is exceptional.” Co-chair Dan Chalmers said the widely respected executive has long deserved the MITS Award.
“As the longest-standing chair of Sony Music U.K., he has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest British acts of all time. His innovative leadership and steadfast commitment, his incredible work with the BRIT Awards, and overall passion for this industry make him a truly deserving honouree,” said Chalmers.
Previous recipients of the annual MITS award include Lucian Grainge, Ahmet Ertegun, Simon Cowell, Glastonbury festival founder Michael Eavis, Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Annie Lennox, Roger Daltrey, Rob Stringer, Emma Banks and broadcaster and DJ Pete Tong.
Last year’s MITS award was given to Lucy Dickins, global head of contemporary music and touring at William Morris Endeavor (WME) and agent to Adele, Mumford & Sons and Olivia Rodrigo.
Over three decades in the record business, Iley has served in senior roles at Polydor, Island Records and Mercury Records, where he was president from 2005 to 2013 and worked closely with U2, Jay-Z, Elton John, Rihanna, Paul McCartney, Kanye West and Mariah Carey, among others.
In 2013, Iley took over as president of New York-based Roc Nation before returning to the U.K. and Sony Music, the label where he started his career in 1994, the following year.
Since then, Iley has led the U.K. arm of Sony Music to sustained chart success and oversaw the company’s acquisition of leading independent electronic music label Ministry of Sound Records in 2016, as well as last year’s relaunch of Epic Records U.K. (the imprint where Iley started his music career) as a front-line label.
In 2023, Sony Music-signed or affiliated artists topped the U.K. Official Singles chart for a combined 28 weeks, including Miley Cyrus’ 10 weeks at No. 1 with “Flowers” — the top song in the United Kingdom last year with 198 million streams, according to the Official Charts Company.
Other artists on the company’s roster include homegrown acts Calvin Harris, Paloma Faith, Mark Ronson, George Ezra, Robbie Williams and Central Cee, as well as internationally signed artists Beyoncé, Adele, Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus, SZA, Pink and Foo Fighters.
Sony Music U.K. initiatives pioneered under Iley’s leadership include a female-focused A&R Academy and a childcare support scheme aimed at increasing the proportion of women in senior roles. In addition, all senior executives at the company have been trained in managing mental health issues.
In 2020, Iley was awarded an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his contributions to music and charity — an honor that he called a career highlight “beyond any expectation I could have had.”
After debuting this past February, the Music Sustainability Summit has announced the date for its second conference in Los Angeles. Focused on creating solutions to the climate crisis within the music industry, the Summit will happen on Monday, February 5. Like this year’s event, the Summit will happen the day after the Grammy awards. A […]
Two days after the announcement that Anyma will be the first electronic music act to play Sphere in Las Vegas, the artist and venue have added two additional shows to the run.
In addition to the previously announced December 31 show, Anyma will now also play Sphere on December 29-30. Ticket prices for the new events will be the same as the NYE show, with the general on sale starting July 23 and a presale happening on July 22.
The expansion of this Sphere run is being credited to “overwhelming demand” by the show’s promoter, Live Nation. Given that the concert’s production elements are custom made for the tech forward venue, more dates also likely increases ROI for involved parties.
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Anyma, whose sound is focused on melodic techno, is made up of Italian producer Matteo Milleri, who is also one half of the electronic duo Tale of Us. The Sphere performance will find Anyma bringing his Genesys show to Las Vegas, marking the final times this show will be performed. The performance is officially titled Afterlife Presents Anyma: The End of Genesys and will feature yet to be announced special guests.
Named for Anyma’s 2023 debut album, Genesys and its 2024 followup Genesys II, the Genesys show has been performed for tens of thousands of people at venues in Asia, Europe, South America and beyond. The albums, like the corresponding visual performance, explore themes of technology, nature, humanity and coexistence. Afterlife is the label founded by Tale Of Us in 2016. Both Tale Of Us and Anyma have gained global renown for their visuals-focused production, which explores topics like evolution and consciousness.
Featuring lineups lead by Tale Of US, both Afterlife showcases at the Los Angeles State Historic Park last October were sold out. Last summer, Afterlife partnered with Interscope Records for a deal under which Interscope will distribute all Afterlife releases, including all past and future recordings.
While Las Vegas is a longstanding U.S. electronic music hub, since opening in September of 2023, Sphere has not, until now, featured the genre, instead focusing on rock with venue openers U2, along with jam bands via residencies from Phish and Dead & Company. Classic rock will also move into the venue this fall with a residency from the Eagles.
In May, Sphere’s parent company, Sphere Entertainment Co, reported that the venue generated revenue of $170.4 million in its fiscal third quarter ending March 31. Opened to much fanfare last September, the venue cost $2.3 billion to build.
In several different ways, the modern era of the U.S. recorded music business can date its origins to the year 2015. That was the year that Apple Music and TIDAL debuted in the United States; the year that streaming finally matured, taking up the baton as the dominant revenue stream among all formats in the country; and the year that, after more than a decade of decline, the business finally began to see its first shoots of growth, kicking off an upward trend that has still, 10 years later, not abated.
This week, Luminate released its annual midyear report on the U.S. business, providing a relatively convenient bookend to the first 10 years of what can reasonably be referred to as the official streaming era. The midyear charts threw up a few surprises (the enduring success of Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” led to it becoming the most-streamed song of 2024 so far) and some more obvious conclusions (Taylor Swift, of course, dominated the album charts with The Tortured Poets Department).
But it also revealed several milestones and achievements that have not happened in the past 10 years of the Luminate (and, prior to it, MRC Data and Nielsen) reports. So with the caveat that it’s still just the midway mark, and release dates and other factors weigh more heavily in smaller sample sizes, here are five stats that demonstrate that the first half of 2024 has been the most unusual year of the past decade.
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The Sheer Scale of Taylor’s Dominance
Swift’s Tortured Poets Department easily outstripped every other album at the midyear mark, having spent 12 of the 26 weeks of the year so far atop the Billboard 200. But at the midyear mark, its dominance could also be referred to as historic compared to the past 10 years. At 4.66 million equivalent album units, TTPD has outstripped the No. 2 album, Morgan Wallen’s One Thing At a Time, by more than double — and nearly triple — the latter’s 1.776 million, with a total that’s 2.62 times higher than Wallen’s album (which, to be fair, was released in March 2023).
That’s the first time in the past decade that the No. 1 album’s first-half total doubled, much less more than doubled, the No. 2 album. The differential between the two, 2.884 million units, is over 1.5 million more than the disparity between any other top two albums over the time period, with 2023 being the only other year the disparity topped 1 million units. (Last year, Wallen’s One Thing At a Time came in at 3.312 million units, 1.33 million more than SZA’s SOS.) The closest race of the past 10 years? That’d be in 2017 when Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. edged out Ed Sheeran’s divide by just 23,000 units at the midway mark.
The No. 1 Song Didn’t Reach No. 1 on the Hot 100
Boone’s “Beautiful Things” was an early breakout story this year, as the singer seemed to explode out of nowhere with the biggest hit of his career so far. The song got off to a flying start, debuting at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January — and then spent all but two weeks in the top 10 of the chart, landing at No. 1 for the most-streamed song of the year so far on Luminate’s mid-year tally.
The only quirk? “Beautiful Things” peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100, never quite reaching No. 1. Given that, it may seem odd that it finished No. 1 in streams at the midyear point, though that can be explained by its sustained dominance in the top 10 and its early-year debut, which gave it the full six months to rack up all those streams. What is odd, however, is that it’s the only song in the past decade that landed at No. 1 at the midyear mark and also never reached the top of the Hot 100. In fact, every other year since 2015, the top song halfway through the year had spent at least five weeks in the top slot — ranging from the Encanto cast’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” in 2022 (five weeks) to Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk!” in 2015, which hit 14 weeks. (Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” No. 1 at the halfway mark in 2019, ultimately spent 19 weeks at No. 1, though it was only halfway through that run at the midyear point.)
Midyear No. 1 Songs by On-Demand Streams (Weeks at No. 1)2023: Miley Cyrus, “Flowers” (8 weeks)2022: Encanto Cast, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” (5 weeks)2021: Olivia Rodrigo, “Drivers License” (8 weeks)2020: Roddy Ricch, “The Box” (11 weeks)2019: Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” (19 weeks)2018: Drake, “God’s Plan” (11 weeks)2017: Ed Sheeran, “Shape Of You” (12 weeks)2016: Rihanna feat. Drake, “Work” (9 weeks)2015: Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk!” (14 weeks)
Warner Records Lands Top 3 Songs
About those top-streamed songs? Boone’s was No. 1, followed by Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves with “I Remember Everything” and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” at Nos. 2 and 3. All of those songs were released by Warner Records, giving the label a trifecta. No other label has had the top three songs at the midyear mark in the past decade, giving Warner sole possession of the feat in this era.
A few labels have come close, however: in 2022, Atlantic Records had the top song (“We Don’t Talk About Bruno”), the No. 4 song (Kodak Black’s “Super Gremlin”) and had one of its stars, Jack Harlow, on the No. 2 song (Lil Nas X and Harlow’s “Industry Baby”, which was released on X’s label Columbia). In 2018, Republic Records had three of the top four, with one of its artists, Drake, on the No. 3 song: Blocboy JB feat. Drake, “Look Alive.” However, “Look Alive” came out on Drake’s label OVO Sound, which was distributed by Warner at the time. In 2016, Def Jam had Nos. 2 and 3 (Desiigner’s “Panda” and Justin Bieber’s “Sorry,” respectively) and a distribution deal with Roc Nation, which put out the No. 1 song, Rihanna’s “Work” featuring Drake — though Def Jam didn’t technically release it.
Republic Records Lands Top 3 Albums
Not to be outdone, the top of the midyear albums chart also threw up a trifecta for a label: Republic Records, which released Swift and Wallen’s albums (the latter in partnership with Big Loud), as well as the No. 3 album, Noah Kahan’s Stick Season (in partnership with Mercury). Somewhat surprisingly, given Republic’s recent dominance in the market share standings as well as the overall dominance of Wallen and Swift in recent years, this is the first time Republic has taken the top three slots at the midyear mark — and, over the past decade, the only time any label has held down the top three at this point in the year.
The only time another label came close was, unsurprisingly, Republic. In 2023, the label had four of the top five albums of the year at the midway mark, but it was thwarted from claiming the top three by SZA’s SOS, which was released by Top Dawg/RCA.
Just Five Albums in the Top 10 Came Out Within the Past 12 Months
The top 10 albums chart by equivalent units served up plenty of familiar titles this year: Swift, Wallen, Kahan, SZA and Bryan, as well as albums from Beyoncé (Cowboy Carter, No. 4) and Future & Metro Boomin (We Don’t Trust You, No. 6). But incredibly, only five of the top 10 were released within the past 12 months: Swift’s TTPD, Beyoncé’s Carter and Future & Metro’s Trust, all of which came out in 2024. Bryan’s self-titled album, which finished at No. 8, was released last August, while Swift’s No. 9-ranking 1989 (Taylor’s Version), a re-recording of an album that came out in 2014, was released last October. That’s the fewest number of titles in the top 10 of any midyear consumption chart in the past 10 years to have been released within the prior 12 months (dating back to the midyear mark of the year before), with no other year going back to 2015 serving up fewer than six.
In fact, that number has been steadily dropping for a half-decade now: Since 2019, when nine of the top 10 were released within the prior 12 months, there have been nine (2020), seven (2021), seven (2022) and six (2023) in the top 10. (In 2017, all 10 fit the criteria.) The streaming era has done many things for the music business, but one thing it has done more than any other is to expose people’s listening habits rather than buying habits. And the consumption numbers of current (releases within the past 18 months) vs. catalog (releases older than 18 months) have borne out the by-now long-established trend that catalog rules consumption: This year, Luminate calculated that catalog listening accounted for 72.8% of listening share, a figure that remained the same as it was at the midway point in 2023.
But the sheer staying power of some of these top 10 albums is what’s most impressive. Wallen’s One Thing At a Time is over a year old by now; but his 2021 album, Dangerous: The Double Album, is still at No. 7. SZA’s SOS, No. 2 at the midyear mark last year, came in at No. 5. Kahan’s Stick Season originally came out in October 2022. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is a collection of songs that, in their original form, date back a decade. And at No. 10, Swift’s Lover is approaching its fifth anniversary in August.
Will the charts remain so static in the future? Is it a product of the maturation of the streaming age? Or is it just that these albums are simply so dominant that they elbowed out all others? It’s something to keep an eye on.
When he’s not obsessed with the double-bass patterns in “A Skull Full of Maggots” and “Hammer Smashed Face,” Cannibal Corpse‘s Paul Mazurkiewicz Jr. contemplates coffee. “Always thought, in the back of my mind, ‘It’d be cool to have a Cannibal Corpse coffee,’” he says. So when Mike Tonsetic, a founder of Concept Cafes, reached out to the death-metal drummer on Instagram and proposed the band-branded Brazilian blend Beheading & Brewing, Mazurkiewicz responded: “Sounds like what I was thinking about for years. Why not?”
Introduced on Halloween 2022 and emblazoned with album cover artist Vince Locke’s image of a disemboweled zombie drinking from a decapitated head, Cannibal Corpse coffee bags have been “selling really well” on tour and online, according to Mazurkiewicz. And it’s part of a new branding formula in heavy music: touring stars from GWAR (“espresso destructo”) to August Burns Red (“revival roast”) aligning themselves with gourmet blends, copious caffeine, black bags and scary artwork.
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“We thought it was going to be hell-raisers and beer drinkers shooting us down, and saying, ‘Coffee is stupid,’” says Tonsetic, whose Orlando-based company has also teamed with Ministry, Soulfly and Suicide Silence’s Chris Garza. “But metal fans in their 40s-plus, a lot of them are sober and not just drinking beer. They’re getting into other things, whether it’s coffee or tea.”
Rockers have teamed with coffee companies for years. Iggy Pop customized a blend with Portland’s Stumptown Coffee in 2019, and KISS (of course), Dropkick Murphys and members of Green Day have put out their own brands. While hard-rock bands have historically focused on branding bourbon and other alcohol products, in recent years, the estimated $458 billion coffee industry has come for metal, often through roasters with “death” in their names and skulls in their logos. “Like everything, after a couple happen, everyone starts doing it,” says Cory Brennan, founder of 5B Artist Management, whose clients Slipknot and Babymetal do not have their own blends. “The coffee-metal world is getting saturated, but there are some great ones.”
Metal-branded coffee deals vary. Several sources say they’re 50-50 revenue splits between artist and coffeemaker, but another source adds that expenses for a high-end brew can be as much as $12.50 per bag, so for a $20-25 price point, the coffeemaker might give a well-known band roughly $8, or $5 for a lesser-known artist. “If I do a collaboration, as long as I cover my costs, they get to have the profit,” says Carl Fricker, owner of 24-hour Brisbane, Australia, espresso house Death Before Decaf, which sells blends by rising metalcore stars August Burns Red and Sydney metal band Northlane. “A lot of the bands, as they’re getting on in years, they don’t go out and get smashed anymore. When they get into coffee, they get right into coffee.”
Cannibal Corpse Coffee
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“It does really well,” says August Burns Red guitarist Brent Rambler. “We’re big coffee drinkers. At worst, I’ll get some great coffee out of it.” Adds vocalist Keith Wampler, whose band The Convalescence sells its Brazilian hazelnut through Grindcore Coffee Co.: “If you make it gory and put some skulls on it, it’s a little cooler than your average bag of coffee you grab at the store.” (The word “death” can be fraught for coffee companies in the U.S.; when Death by Decaf attempted to expand here, by trying to extend its Australian business name with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, New York-based Death Wish Coffee Co. sued for infringement. Death by Decaf settled last December, and the owner says he spent $200,000 on legal fees.)
As for flavor, most metal stars leave aesthetic coffee details to the experts: “I’ve got three options that are pretty extreme in the caffeine count, and that seems to be a huge selling point for a lot of bands,” says Chad Petit, Grindcore’s owner.
But for Grindcore’s coffee bag with GWAR, displaying a cartoon of the band wielding a buzzsaw and giant hammer, the shock-metal veterans insisted on elaborate tastings and feedback. “This is a band that kills people on stage and cuts people’s heads off,” says GWAR co-manager Liam Pesce. “Obviously, they’re going to want the darkest roast and flavor imaginable.” Adds John Bambino, another GWAR co-manager: “I think there was mention of nutmeg in there.”
Young Thug’s sprawling Atlanta gang trial is once again in need of a new judge.
Just two days after Judge Ural Glanville was ordered removed from the Young Slime Life RICO case, his replacement on the trial bench – Judge Shakura L. Ingram – said Wednesday that she would also recuse herself.
In doing so, Ingram cited her connection with Akeiba Stanley, a Fulton County courthouse deputy who was arrested last year for allegedly attempting to smuggle in contraband to another YSL defendant with whom prosecutors claim Stanley was having an “inappropriate relationship.”
Wednesday’s recusal order said that Stanley had previously a deputy assigned to Ingram’s courtroom.
“Because this court’s former assigned deputy could be called as a witness in any future proceedings in this case, the court may be called upon to assess this deputy’s credibility, or rule on matters related to her criminal prosecution,” Ingram wrote. “This may undermine the public’s confidence in the impartiality of the proceedings.”
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The judge stressed that she was not actually biased toward Stanley, but that she must avoid any “appearance of impropriety” in the proceedings: “The clerk of this court is directed to reassign this criminal action to another judge.”
It was not immediately clear who would replace Ingram, or how her recusal would impact the YSL case, which has already been pending for more than two years. The trial, which started in January 2023 but has faced numerous delays and disruptions, was already expected to run well into 2025. All the while, Young Thug has sat in jail, repeatedly denied bond over concerns that he might intimidate witnesses.
Thug (Jeffery Williams) and dozens of others were indicted in May 2022 over allegations that his “YSL” was not really a record label called “Young Stoner Life” but rather a violent Atlanta gang called “Young Slime Life.” Citing Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law, prosecutors claim the group operated a criminal enterprise that committed murders, carjackings, armed robberies, drug dealing and other crimes over the course of a decade.
Glanville, the chief judge of Fulton County Superior Court, had been presiding over the massive case from the start. But a month ago, it was revealed that the judge had taken part in a secret “ex parte” meeting with prosecutors and a key witness. Attorneys for Thug and other defendants alleged that Glanville had aided prosecutors in coercing the witness to testify and that the meeting had violated their constitutional rights to a fair trial.
On Monday, Judge Rachel Krause ruled that Glanville should be removed from the case over those complaints. Though Krause defended her fellow jurist’s conduct and said she had “no doubt” that Glanville could still fairly handle the case, Krause ordered him to step aside for the sake of “preserving the public’s confidence in the judicial system.”
The ruling is likely to further delay the YSL trial, which already saw an unprecedented 10-month jury selection process. Prosecutors have been presenting witness testimony for months, but have listed hundreds of potential witnesses that they might call.
When a permanent new judge is put into place, he or she will likely face demands for a mistrial by defense attorneys over Glanville’s conduct, as well as renewed requests for Thug and the other defendants to be released on bond until a verdict is reached.
Independent music publisher Livelihood Music Company has added hitmakers Jacob “JKash” Kasher Hindlin (“Last Night” by Morgan Wallen, “Sugar” and “Memories” by Maroon 5) and Michael Pollack (“Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, “Memories” by Maroon 5, “Ghost” by Justin Bieber) onto their team as principals. As part of their roles, JKash and Pollack will serve as owners and will actively participate in the growing publisher. The company has also appointed a new president, Wendy Christiansen, who will handle the firm’s day-to-day operations.
Livelihood Music Company quietly began signing songwriters back in 2020, adding talents like Jack & Coke, Ryann, Kiddo AI Elof Loelv and more to its roster. Already, Livelihood signees have played a role in the creation of hits like “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims, “Calm Down” by Rema & Selena Gomez, and “You Broke Me First” by Tate McRae and have written with the likes of Maroon 5, Charlie Puth, Jason Derulo, Marshmello, Charli XCX, Thomas Rhett, The Chainsmokers, Ava Max, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Nick Jonas.
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Livelihood is helmed by founder/CEO Liz Newmark, a veteran attorney, and is supported on the A&R side by Nonstop Management, a songwriter/producer management company led by manager/executive Jamie Zeluck Hindlin. (JKash and Pollack are also managed by the Nonstop team).
“Stepping into the role of President at Livelihood was a natural fit for me,” says Christiansen. “I was drawn to the company’s unwavering commitment to hands-on development and its dedication to supporting songwriters at every stage of their careers. Joining forces with hit songwriters like JKash and Michael Pollack further solidified my belief in Livelihood’s mission to prioritize the songwriter’s journey.”
“I couldn’t be more excited to help build Livelihood into the next great independent music publishing company,” says Pollack. “Our leadership is uniquely comprised of both seasoned executives and active songwriter-producers, giving our clients the opportunity to both benefit from our services, and collaborate with and learn from experienced hit-makers. Of course, JKash has been and continues to be the best in the business at making, finding, and orchestrating hits. I’m so grateful to be a part of such an incredible team with an already remarkable roster.”
“I founded the company to establish a community of songwriters mentoring other songwriters,” says Newmark. “In addition to fostering creativity through this approach, we are committed to encouraging songwriters to gain an understanding of the business aspects that impact their careers.”
K-pop label JYP Entertainment is launching a Latin music division that will focused on developing artists for the Spanish language market, the company tells Billboard. The subsidiary’s first project is an audition show called L2K that will “discover, train and launch” the next global Latin girl group — essentially a Latin sequel to JYP’s audition […]
Snoop Dogg is facing a copyright lawsuit that claims the legendary rapper has refused to pay a veteran studio musician after using two of his backing tracks – a case that cites an earlier battle between Tracy Chapman and Nicki Minaj.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Los Angeles federal court, was lodged by Trevor Lawrence Jr., a well-known producer and drummer who has been credited on songs by Bruno Mars, Alicia Keys, Ed Sheeran, Mariah Carey and other top artists.
Lawrence claims that he created two backing tracks “on spec” and allowed Snoop (Calvin Broadus) to “experiment with the tracks in-studio,” but made clear that he would need to be paid an upfront fee and an ongoing royalties if the final songs were released commercially.
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Snoop allegedly did just that, using Lawrence’s material on his songs “Pop Pop” and “Get This Dick” from his 2022 album BODR. But Lawrence’s attorneys say no actual licensing deal was ever struck, and no money has ever been sent to their client.
“To date, defendants have refused to properly license the Lawrence tracks or compensate Lawrence for their use in the Broadus tracks,” Lawrence’s attorneys write in the lawsuit, which also named Death Row Records as a defendant.
The lawsuit offers a glimpse at industry practices surrounding the use of backing tracks – pre-recorded instrumental elements that artists can add to a final product. Lawrence says he often creates such tracks “of his own initiative” and then shops them around to prominent artists. But he says he does so with the understanding that “a proper license will and must be negotiated” before a song is commercially released.
Notably, the new case points to a high-profile legal battle in which singer Tracy Chapman accused rapper Nicki Minaj of illegally sampling one of her songs. In that case, a federal judge ruled in 2020 that artists like Minaj are free to “experiment” with materials in the studio to help foster “innovation within the music industry,” but violate copyrights if a song is released. Minaj eventually paid $450,000 to settle the case.
In the current case, Lawrence says that in 2020 he offered Snoop access to two backing tracks for use in the studio. Two years later, when a Snoop rep said the star wanted to use the tracks, Lawrence says he made his licensing requirements clear: a $10,000 flat fee producer advance and a 50% interest in the underlying musical composition. “The [Snoop] representative confirmed that these anticipated terms were acceptable,” the lawsuit says.
But when “Pop Pop” and “Get This Dick” were released a month later, Lawrence says he had never received a formal licensing offer – and has never been paid or credited in the two years since the songs were released. He also claims the songs were not only released on the album, but as NFTs (non-fungible tokens) that generated “tens of millions of dollars.”
“At no point in time did defendants … communicate to Lawrence any intention to exploit the Lawrence tracks in connection with a bundled offering such as [the NFT sale], nor did Lawrence authorize any such exploitation of his work, which was never within his prior contemplation,” his lawyers write.
A rep for Snoop Dogg did not immediately return a request for comment.
Reggaetón star Daddy Yankee sold some of his master recordings to Cinq Music and a financial partner around 2021, Billboard has learned, laying the groundwork for Cinq to reissue his 2004 breakout album, Barrio Fino, and five other LPs on vinyl later this year.
Cinq did not provide any details of the purchase to Billboard and no other information about the deal was available. The sale of some of Daddy Yankee’s master recordings was confirmed by multiple independent sources but went unreported at the time.
Sources tell Billboard that Daddy Yankee continues to retain ownership of his publishing catalog, which is administered worldwide by Sony Music Publishing. In the U.S., Spirit Music administers some of Daddy Yankee’s songs, including his hit breakout “Gasolina.”
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A major acquisition was hinted at years ago. In 2021, Jason Peterson, chairman/CEO of GoDigital Media Group, the parent company of Cinq Music, told Billboard the company had acquired “one of the largest and culturally significant” Latin music catalogs but did not specify the name of the artist.
Cinq Music and Daddy Yankee have worked together in different ways for many years, and in 2018, Cinq partnered with Janet Jackson for the release of her single “Made For Now,” which featured Daddy Yankee. Since 2017, Cinq Music, with Barry Daffurn as president, has raised $410 million to fund music acquisitions, including $250 million secured in February. Following the latest funding, the company said it had $300 million in assets under management spanning 80,000 recorded music and publishing copyrights.
Cinq Music is no longer silent about its involvement with Daddy Yankee’s catalog. On Monday, the company announced it will mark the 20th anniversary of the Barrio Fino and “Gasolina” with the release of a Bhangra remix of the track by Tesher on July 26. According to the press release, the remix will be featured on the covers of numerous playlists at music streaming platforms as well as Spotify-branded outdoor billboards in Mexico City.
Barrio Fino and two other albums, El Cangri.com (2002) and the compilation Los Homerun-es (2003), will be reissued on vinyl by Cinq Music on August 16. Three more albums are slated for vinyl reissues on Nov. 15: El Cartel: The Big Boss (2007), the Talento de Barrio soundtrack (2008) and Mundial (2010).
“Gasolina” reached No. 32 on the multi-genre Billboard 100 singles chart in 2005 and hit No. 10 on the U.S. Hot Rap Songs chart and No. 11 on the U.S. Rhythmic chart. Billboard cited the song’s “unforgettable hook” and “revolutionary” beat when it ranked it No. 22 on a 2020 list of the Top 50 Latin songs of all time.
Ironically, “Gasolina” never reached No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart, peaking at No. 17. Although the song was a breakthrough for Daddy Yankee and helped popularize reggaetón to a broader marketplace, its chart success was limited because few radio stations played reggaetón at the time.
Barrio Fino was the first reggaetón album to debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart (on July 31, 2004) and won a Latin Grammy in 2005 as Best Urban Music album. It would spend 24 weeks at No. 1 on Top Latin albums, and all told, an astounding 358 weeks on the chart. On the multi-genre Billboard 200, Barrio Fino peaked at No. 26 in 2005 and spent 54 weeks on the chart. To date, the album has sold 2.2 million equivalent album units in the U.S., according to Luminate.