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Believe’s share price jumped 19.2% to 14.78 euros ($15.93) this week following Monday’s news that a consortium including founder/CEO Denis Ladegaillerie plans to take the company private at 15.00 euros per share. The scant difference between the offer price and Friday’s closing price suggests investors believe Ladegaillerie, along with investment funds EQT and TCV, is likely to get the deal done.
“Believe has a significant opportunity ahead to consolidate the independent music market and create the first global major independent,” Ladegaillerie said in a statement. But the consortium, which has 71.9% of outstanding shares, has a good distance to go. After the group obtains a 75% stake through already agreed-upon transactions with some shareholders, it will acquire regulatory approvals and the opinion of an independent expert before making a tender offer for the remaining shares.
The Billboard Global Music Index rose 1.4% to a record 1,659.96 as 13 of the index’s 20 stocks finished the week in positive territory. That brought the index’s year-to-date gain to 8.2%. Over the last 52 weeks, the index is up 29.4%.
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Thanks to Believe’s double-digit gain and improvements from some large companies such as Live Nation, CTS Eventim and Spotify, the Billboard Global Music Index outperformed many other indexes around the world. In the US, the Nasdaq composite and the S&P 500 declined 1.3% and 0.4%, respectively. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 1.1% to 2,648.76. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 gained 1.8% to 7,711.71.
U.S. stocks had an off week, rocked by news on Tuesday (Feb. 13) that U.S. prices rose 0.3% in January. That led investors to flee from stocks for fear that the higher-than-expected inflation figures would cause the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high to cool the economy. Then on Thursday (Feb. 15), numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau showed that retail sales fell 0.8% in January, worse than the expected 0.3% decline and well below December’s 0.4% gain.
Spotify gained another 2.2% to $246.18, bringing its year-to-date gain to 31.0%. Live Nation shares improved 4.2% to $93.27 ahead of the company’s fourth-quarter earnings release on Feb. 22. Reservoir Media rose 8.6% to $6.96 a week after the company raised its guidance for full-year results and posted 19% revenue growth last quarter.
K-pop stocks have had a terrible start to 2024, though there was some improvement this week. SM Entertainment gained 9.7% to 80,100 won ($60.11), improving its year-to-date decline to 13%. HYBE, which is down 10.7% year-to-date, gained 4.3% to 208,500 won ($156.46). YG Entertainment rose 3.1% to 43,500 won ($32.64) but has fallen 14.5% in 2024. And JYP Entertainment managed a modest 0.7% gain, bringing its year-to-date deficit to 24.4%.
If rock and roll were dead, it would be bad news for the Marshall Group, the Swedish company that manufactures its namesake guitar amplifier. But the company behind the amp doesn’t think rock is anywhere close to expiring — and its most recent earnings result backs that up.
In fact, the Marshall Group doesn’t believe rock is confined to a music genre. “We think Marshall represents the rock and roll attitude,” says CEO Jeremy de Maillard. “We don’t think this is about the music genre, we think this is about attitude.”
Since last year, Marshall, which was founded in the United Kingdom, has been running out of a country better known for Spotify and pop music: Sweden. In 2023, Stockholm-based Zound Industries, a maker of headphones and wireless speakers, acquired Marshall Amplification and took the name The Marshall Group. The Marshall family retained a 24% stake in the company and family heirs Terry and Victoria Marshall each have a seat on the board of directors. Altor Funds came aboard in September as a minority investor.
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De Maillard calls it “a very complimentary acquisition” that retained “almost everyone” from both companies other than “a couple changes at the very top,” as the two companies’ management structures were integrated into one group. And Zound and Marshall had a history well before the acquisition: Zound had collaborated with Marshall for 14 years and put the Marshall brand on its headphones and speakers. “It’s kind of like we were dating, and now we’re married,” de Maillard adds.
The marriage appears to be off to a good start. Last year, the Marshall Group’s revenue increased 29% to 4 billion kroner ($380 million) and its adjusted operating profit improved 77% to 757 million kroner ($72 million), the company announced Thursday (Feb. 14). Pro-forma revenue — which includes Marshall Amplification and its subsidiaries for the full year — grew 18% year over year. Although the company is privately held, it releases select financial information to the public: “We believe that having the right rigor and financial reporting that is expected of a public company is good behavior and makes us a stronger company,” explains de Maillard.
A quarter of the Marshall Group’s sales come from headphones while 70% is derived from speakers and 5% come from amplifiers, according to de Maillard. The Marshall brand accounts for 98% of the Marshall Group’s revenue, with the remaining 2% coming from Urbanears and adidas headphones.
With the merger behind him, de Maillard’s plan is to invest in the Marshall brand and launch new products to increase its share of the $100 billion music technology market that currently stands at less than 1%. In the last six months, the Marshall Group has invested in Marshall’s U.K. manufacturing facility, which produces hand-made valve amps and houses a recording studio. This year, the Marshall Group will begin to offer its entire portfolio at a revamped Marshall website to build a stronger direct-to-consumer sales channel.
The company will continue to push its iconic hand-made valve amplifiers but will step up its strategy with its digital amplifiers and digital tools, says de Maillard. Digital amps have a variety of uses, he explains; the smaller amps are good for practicing and rehearsing in small spaces, for example, and don’t require the muscle or energy requirements of a larger valve amplifier. Last year, the Marshall Group launched the Studio JTM Amplifier and the Middleton, a portable speaker, while also debuting wireless noise-canceling headphones called the Motif II A.N.C. More products are set to launch in 2024, de Maillard says.
“It’s one of the most known and loved brands in that space that has over 60 years of incredible legacy,” says de Maillard. “We see our responsibility now as the Marshall Group to write the next chapter of that and to build the next 60 years.”
Few events can stitch together the various webs of American culture like the Super Bowl, and the numbers this year bear that out: With 123.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, the Big Game last Sunday (Feb. 11) was the most-watched broadcast since the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. And that means a lot of eyeballs for a lot of high-profile advertisement slots, which were priced accordingly: Commercials for the event this year went for as much as $7 million for a 30-second ad, according to the Wall Street Journal.
That makes working on such ads a high-stakes game, not to mention one that’s highly coveted in the world of music supervision and production. This year, boutique music and sound design company Barking Owl Sound landed seven such spots, doing sound design, mixing and production for ads with Booking.com (with Tina Fey) and Etsy; music arrangement and production for Budweiser’s spot; sound design, mix, production and original music for Starry’s ad with Ice Spice (No. 10 on Billboard‘s list of best commercials from the event); mixing and production for Paramount+’s Champions League ad; sound design and production for Kia’s commercial; and original music and production for Homes.com’s Mascot ad. And that high-profile work for the firm earns Barking Owl Sound co-founder/executive creative director Kelly Bayett the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
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Here, Bayett discusses the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the sound production of a Super Bowl ad; how she helped build Barking Owl and its creative team as well as its new music library, along with the opportunities it entails for them; and what’s next for the company. “With seven spots this year, it really solidifies our position in the industry moving forward and opens us up to new opportunities,” Bayett says. “We can accept the challenge and our team can excel with a number of projects under the highest amount of pressure. Moving forward, we are strong as ever and ready for anything.”
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This week, Barking Owl worked on the music for seven Super Bowl advertisements, including for Etsy, Budweiser, Kia and more. What key decisions did you make to help make that happen?
In our industry, getting Super Bowl ads is definitely relationship-dependent. An agency and client will rarely go to a vendor they don’t know and trust for a piece with millions of dollars on the line. Our key decisions are actually based on building the long term and not what feels fast and easy. [It’s about] focusing on growing relationships that last and consistently keeping the work you are doing fresh and interesting.
Can you tell me about how the company got started and your philosophy around what you do and what work you choose to get involved with, particularly as it pertains to these spots?
I was a single mom and I and my then-boyfriend, now husband, decided to start a music and sound design company in our home. Fourteen years later, we have added mix, brand partnerships, gorgeous studios in L.A. and New York as well as a global team of composers and writers. Our philosophy was to create a company that focused on creative and felt like home. We care about the craft of sound. If you look at any piece of work we have done for the Super Bowl, or anything on our reel, you will see that we don’t just grab sounds out of the library. We create them for each moment and we have been really fortunate to attract clients who value and appreciate the process.
What is the typical process for how you guys work on a commercial like these?
We will get a brief from the agency, and from there, it’s go time. We get on a call and talk about the process, creative directives, and then we start to create and build. It’s important to us to have the agency involved in the collaboration so that there are no surprises on either side. We keep it fun and light, we have amazing executive producers in New York and L.A. in Ashley Benton and KC Dossett who keep everyone on task. It’s the only time of year where every job is racing to the same finish line, so it takes incredible scheduling and organization.
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Your work on these was a mix of sound design, mixing, production, arrangement and original music. How do you approach each of those roles differently?
We have different teams of specialists for each role. Original music can be the trickiest a lot of the time because we are creating themes, tones and movement with an incredibly fast timeline. You are working with personal taste, and when it comes to thoughts about music, there is no right or wrong, it’s all about feeling. Sometimes, you just don’t like something because it doesn’t move you, and that can be challenging. We have to become detectives and figure out what isn’t hitting emotionally or tonally. Sometimes the whole team is on board with the exception of one holdout, and even though majority rules, I feel like we have failed if everyone has not left happy.
Arrangements are really about timing and vision of the track. Sound design is one of the most fun pieces, and also the piece that if we do it exactly right with hours of foley recording and sound manipulation, it will feel like we have done nothing at all. Mixing is the glue that keeps all of it together, giving space for the dialogue, VO, music and sound design. A great mix is dynamic, a bad mix is overly compressed and you lose the craft of each element you have so diligently created. Having our work destroyed by lazy mixers inspired the creation of our mix department.
Music production work like this is a competitive space, dealing with both huge companies and smaller houses. How do you guys compete within that environment, and stand out against your competitors?
It’s an incredibly competitive environment and it only gets more competitive as new companies are popping up each day. I have never really been one to look around and see what others are doing. I am solely focused on our mission, our purpose and what work we are putting out there. How are we showing up each day? Is it good enough? We are also a female-founded company with female creative leads, which is highly unusual. I came up in a space that was so insanely male, we wanted to bring a different perspective and change the landscape with female composers, mixers and sound designers. Everyone matters and everyone is supported here. When people feel supported they are free to create better and more inventive work. We created a structure where we all work as a team and there is no internal competition. That is a huge difference as well. Our employee retention is incredibly high and we all know each other so well, it’s truly like family.
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You’re also building out your own music library. What will that allow you to do, and how can that allow you to grow in the future?
I am so insanely excited about this. We have this amazing library of about 15,000 original tracks from years of demos created for commercials that never sold. The quality we expect from composers and the years of crafting and scoring have resulted in an incredibly varied, diverse library of tracks that are of the highest creative level. We didn’t exactly know what to do with them or how to set up a library, but we knew that we could offer something unique to the industry, as well as broadening our reach to TV and film. Last year, we brought in a partner, Kirkland Lynch, who leads these types of strategic initiatives as CEO. Kirkland brings experience from years with Sony Music, Universal Music Group, Stevie Wonder and YouTube Music. He has been a great addition to the team bringing an understanding and knowledge we really needed.
What does success look like from your point of view for a commercial like these? And with seven spots at this year’s game, what does that allow you guys to do moving forward?
We aren’t in charge of the overall idea, so the success for us is to see if we have executed the idea in the best way possible. Sound design properly in the space, the music scored and arranged in a way that tells the story and makes you feel something, mixes where each sound element complements the other — that is success. With seven spots this year, it really solidifies our position in the industry moving forward and opens us up to new opportunities. We can accept the challenge and our team can excel with a number of projects under the highest amount of pressure. Moving forward, we are strong as ever and ready for anything.
On this week’s Billboard Canadian Hot 100, the late Punjabi music sensation Sidhu Moose Wala debuts in the top 10, with posthumous single “Drippy.”
The hard-hitting track finds Moose Wala and Canadian rapper AR Paisley trading verses — the former in Punjabi, the latter in English — over an ominous trap beat from producer MXRCI. “Stop playing these games / cause out in these streets s–t could get pricey,” raps Paisley, “could cost you your life / so don’t take that lightly.”
The song arrives nearly two years after Moose Wala’s 2022 murder in Mansa, India. The artist moved to Brampton in 2016 and quickly rose to prominence in the Punjabi rap scene, eventually starting his own label and moving back to India, where he became involved in politics. His shocking death came right before a planned eight-date Canadian tour, during which he was booked to play Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum.
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Moose Wala has previously had 13 charting songs on the Canadian Hot 100, with several landing after his death — but has never cracked the top 10 before. As Punjabi music becomes a major force in Canada, he leaves behind a significant legacy, evident in the strong support for singles like “Drippy.” His influence also shows in artists like Paisley, who’s signed to 91 North, the joint label between Warner Music Canada and Warner Music India to promote South Asian music worldwide. – Rosie Long Decter
Canadian Indie Rock Band Hollerado Reunite as Tokyo Police Club Break Up
It’s been five years since Canadian indie group Hollerado called it quits. But they’re getting the band back together in order to send-off fellow indie rockers Tokyo Police Club, who are playing their final shows this November. Hollerado will open for Tokyo Police Club at two of their four dates at Toronto’s History.
The shows mark a full circle moment for both bands, who came up around the same time in the late 2000s Canadian indie scene. Tokyo Police Club opened for Hollerado at their final shows in 2019. “When they told us that it was their turn to hang up the skates, and asked if we would come out of retirement to join em,” the band wrote on Instagram, “of course we said YES.”
Hollerado had a gold record with 2010’s “Juliette,” off the Ottawa band’s debut album Record in a Bag. The band also hit No. 42 on Billboard‘s Canada Rock chart in 2019 with “One Last Time.” Since breaking up, members have focused on other projects and ventures, like popular label Royal Mountain Records, helmed by the band’s frontman Menno Versteeg.
Now, they’ll be joining their friends in Tokyo Police Club one last time, to give the Newmarket, Ontario band a proper goodbye. Tokyo Police Club were one of the biggest breakouts of Canada’s indie rock wave in the 2000s, playing Coachella and Letterman. The success of their 2006 EP A Lesson in Crime helped inspire guitar bands across the country. In 2010, they spoke with Billboard about the sessions for their sophomore album, Champ.
Guitar music has gone through a whole cycle of falling out of style and coming back in since 2010, its forms evolving and expanding along the way. If Tokyo Police Club hasn’t had as big a profile in recent years, there’s clearly still a lot of love for the band: three out of four of their farewell shows have already sold out. The last one, on Nov. 26, still has a few available here. – Rosie Long Decter
Canadian Music Appointments and Signings
Quebec City-based country singer and songwriter Alison Daniels has signed on with 604 Records with her debut “Who, What, Where, When, Why?” released Feb. 9 via Warner Music Canada.
Victoria-based musician Michael Kaeshammer has just announced the release date for his new album and a new worldwide deal with Seven.One Starwatch/Sony Music Germany. He recently wrapped up what is described as SRO tours in China and Germany and heads back to Germany in May for a theatre tour. He recently signed a touring deal with German event promoter MMP/Starwatch. Meanwhile, Kaeshammer’s Kitchen, his television show fusing music with cooking, has been renewed for its second season, airing on Yes and CHEK stations.
Secret City Records has named Magali Ould as GM. A former independent publicist, she joined in 2011 and has held various positions with the Montreal-based music company since. In naming her to the role, president/CEO Justin West stated: “Secret City’s tremendous growth, as well as the accelerated pace of the changing market, both bring new challenges and opportunities and drive the need for additional management infrastructure to ensure the relevant parts of the organization continue to function at the highest level. The General Manager role addresses that need and will help unlock our potential for future growth and expansion.”
Quebec rapper Lost has been named as a participant in YouTube’s FIFTY DEEP Music Class of 2024, a grants program that champions and provides support for Black artists, songwriters and producers in the hip-hop arena. The class is comprised of 27 global artists, songwriters, and producers from the U.S., Brazil, Sub-Saharan Africa, Canada and beyond. Read more about FIFTY DEEP here. – David Farrell & Kerry Doole
Last Week In Canada: This Unsung Canadian Cleaned Up at the Grammys
A federal judge has ordered Cam’ron to pay more than $50,000 to a photographer for using her photo – a shot of the Dipset rapper wearing a fuzzy pink coat and hat while holding a matching flip phone – on a slew of merchandise without permission.
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A year after Djamilla Cochran sued the rapper (real name Cameron Giles) and his company Dipset Couture for slapping her image on merch, Judge William Martini ruled Thursday that he had indeed committed copyright infringement. It was an easy win for Cochran, since Cam never responded to the lawsuit or offered any defenses.
In his ruling, the judge ordered Cam to pay $40,530 in so-called statutory damages — many times the $5,790 licensing fee that Getty Images would have charged him to use the image on commercial products if he had sought permission.
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“The court finds that a statutory damages award of seven times the licensing fee is sufficient to compensate plaintiff for the infringement of her copyright and to deter future infringements by punishing the defendants,” the judge said. He also ordered the rapper to repay the $10,691 that Cochran spent to bring the lawsuit – a common add-on penalty in copyright cases.
A rep for Cam’ron did not immediately return a request for comment.
Cochran’s image (featured above this story) captured Cam’ron at a New York fashion show in 2003, wearing a flashy shade of pink that would become a key part of his brand identity. In 2016, GQ magazine used the photo atop an article titled “Cam’ron Is Very Particular When It Comes to the Color Pink,” saying that the rapper had “defined himself with an iconic pink mink coat” at that fashion show.
In an April lawsuit filed in New Jersey federal court, Cochran claimed that Cam had featured the image on t-shirts, jewelry and a slew of other merchandise sold by his Dipset Couture — including shower curtains, pillows, swimsuits, socks and even a birthday cake.
The complaint came with numerous screenshots of Dipset Couture’s product listings and Cam’ron’s posts promoting them, and said Cam’ron had been alerted numerous times that he was using the image without a license.
“Getty Images notified defendants of their infringing activities by mail and email on multiple occasions,” Cochran’s lawyers wrote. “Despite those notifications, defendants continued to sell merchandise and continued to display the photograph on website and accounts.”
While it might sound unfair to a celebrity, the copyrights to a photo are almost always retained by the person who snapped it. Being featured in an image doesn’t grant someone a right to use it for free, and certainly not on commercial merchandise.
That’s not a new dilemma for stars. Over the last few years, Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Emily Ratajkowski, LeBron James, Katy Perry and others have all faced copyright cases after they re-used photos of themselves snapped by someone else.
It’s time for another quick spindle around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music. When you’re done with that, get a readout of the most powerful people in the music biz with the latest Power 100 list.
Time marches on at Furnace Record Pressing as the Metallica-backed vinyl manufacturing plant welcomes Ali Miller as new CEO beginning March 1. Miller, who has rocked the COO role since 2018, will take over the top job from FRP’s founder and minority owner Eric Astor, who transitions to a strategic advisor at the plant he founded in 1996. He’ll remain a trusted member of the board. Miller’s rise makes her the first female CEO of a domestic pressing plant. The CEO switch arrives nearly a year after Metallica and their investment arm Black Squirrel Partners purchased a majority stake in the Northern Virginia facility — already the band’s trusted vinyl presser for over a decade. At the time, Miller affirmed her company’s commitment to quality over quantity in comments to Billboard, explaining, “We’d rather throw out some bad records than make as many as we can.”
“Since the day Ali joined Furnace, I knew she possessed the exceptional talent, dedication, and passion to thrive in this industry,” Astor said of Miller, who has over 16 years at Furnace. “She has been instrumental in shaping Furnace into the respected force it is today. I am confident that with Ali at the helm, Furnace will continue to deliver the highest quality vinyl records and remain a trusted partner to artists and labels for years to come.”
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Michael Kushner
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Just shy of his 25th anniversary at Atlantic Records, veteran legal executive Michael Kushner is shifting over to parent company Warner Music Group to be the label giant’s new senior vp, deputy general counsel of business and legal affairs. The promotion is right on the heels of Kushner being honored with the 2024 Entertainment Law Initiative (ELI) Service Award, given each year to an attorney who has shown their stripes in supporting the music community through service. The NYC-based Kushner reports to evp & general counsel Paul Robinson,” who called the respected exec “one of the sharpest legal minds in the business.” Kush, as he’s called, launched his music biz career at PolyGram Records in 1987. Stints at Philips Media, Crave Records (the Mariah Carey/Sony Music joint) and Sony Wonder followed over the next 10 years before a gig as head of business & legal affairs at Island Def Jam to close out the 20th century. In 2001, he joined Atlantic under the title he’s kept the entire time: evp, business & legal affairs and general counsel.
“It’s been a pleasure and an honor to count Kush as a trusted partner and close friend for the past 25 years,” said Atlantic Music Group chairman & CEO Julie Greenwald. “He’s guided countless deals, modernized our contracts, mentored our amazing BA department, and been there for me, Craig, and our Atlantic team morning, noon, and night. Artists and managers love him, because he not only has a brilliant business brain, but a creative brain that allows him to see their point of view. Atlantic wouldn’t be the company it is today without him, and it’s fantastic to see him graduate to this brand-new role.”
Meanwhile …
Messina Touring Group upped three to vice president. Lauren Cairerises rises from director of finance to vp of finance, Keena Cheatham from promoter rep to vp of touring, and LeeAnn Rotondo from director of ticketing to vp of ticketing. Cheatham joined MTG in 2013 as a promoter rep on Taylor Swift’s Red Tour and has gone on to have a hand in over half of the company’s roster. Caire and Rotondo both joined up in 2015 as senior accountant and ticket manager, respectively. Caire is coming off a busy 2023, managing the finances for blockbuster tours by Swift, Ed Sheeran and George Strait, and more. Under Rotondo’s leadership, MTG’s formerly fragmented ticketing strategy has become more centralized and streamlined. “It thrills me to see our MTG team grow – these individuals are just another example of the incredible MTG team,” said CEO Louis Messina. You can reach Caire lauren@messinatouring.com, Cheatham keena@messinatouring.com and Rotondo leeann@messinatouring.com.
Credit: Neil Patel
RCA Records promoted label veteran Kunal “KJ” Jadav to senior vp of A&R and marketing, effective immediately. The Atlanta-based exec reports directly to RCA president Mark Pitts. Jadav got his start at RCA in 2015 in the promotions department, but as the label puts it, “an incredible prowess for discovering and developing talent” eventually delivered him to A&R, where since 2017 he has scouted, signed and developed hip-hop acts including Young Nudy, BabyDrill and Kenny Mason. KJ is also credited with managing “Gassed Up” MC Nebu Kiniza and producer Coupe, who has worked with Young Nudy, 21 Savage and others.
Radio host, executive and music supervisor Jason Bentley is the new president of licensing and soundtracks at Thrive Music. In his new role, Bentley will pursue business development opportunities for sync services across the film, TV, advertising and video game spaces. He’ll also team up with Virgin Music Group, Thrive’s distributor, to acquire and boost soundtrack properties with insightful music solutions. Bentley previously served as music director at KCRW, where he did double duty as music director and host of “Morning Becomes Eclectic” for more than a decade. In the record business, he has worked in A&R at both Island and Maverick, and as a supe for film, he produced the soundtrack for a little thing called The Matrix, and served as consultant on the latest Top Gun flick. “Thrive is on the frontlines of dance music culture, and I’m thrilled to join Ricardo [Vinas, founder] and the Thrive team as they continue to build a global force in dance music,” Bentley said.
Decorated music business manager Bruce Kolbrenner has joined Adeptus Advisors as the managing partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Kolbrenner, formerly of Prager Metis, brings along a team of three to Adeptus: business managers Tyler Kizu and Ghilhaine Georges Montoya, and royalty specialist Troy Schreck. Kolbrenner’s over four decades of experience includes his work advising artists of all stripes and offering testimony at high-profile entertainment cases, plus a memorable stint as the accountant for the historic Moscow Music Peace Festival in 1989. He is a regular fixture in Billboard’s annual lists of top business managers. “We are thrilled to welcome Bruce Kolbrenner and his outstanding team,” said Howard Krant, CEO of Adeptus Advisors. “Bruce’s extraordinary talent for nurturing emerging artists aligns seamlessly with our vision for creating unparalleled personal service to our clients.”
Transgressive Records hired former Atlantic Records exec Jack Hedges to fill the newly created position of general manager of North America, effective immediately. In the role, Hedges will oversee the UK label’s expansion across the pond, including signing and developing new acts and widening the playing field for their existing roster artists. Hedges comes bearing gifts in the form of Canvasback Music, the boutique imprint he ran under Atlantic that’ll now live within Transgressive. “With his impeccable taste, a reputation for being universally revered by artists and colleagues alike, not to mention a glorious penchant for underground music, Jack is most definitely the right person to guide Transgressive Records and its roster through to new heights in the world’s biggest music territory,” said Transgressive directors Toby L, Tim Dellow and Lilas Bourboulon.
Operation Song, a non-profit that teams veterans, active-duty military and their families with professional songwriters to share their stories through song, has announced the appointment of Army veteran Jon Foti as CEO. In the newly-created role, Foti will oversee fundraising development and the expansion of partnerships within the music industry and veterans organizations. Foti is also currently leading the non-profit’s search for new office space in Nashville, Tennessee, to accommodate the organization’s growth. Operation Song’s Board of Directors includes leaders in Nashville’s music, healthcare, and technology sectors. In addition to board president Bob Leonard, the board is comprised of Dennis Buchanan, Kevin M. Doherty, Joe Forte, Danielle Lauber, songwriter Cindy Morgan, Debbie Respess, Jeff Rice, Jason Rose, Andy Sale, ASCAP’s Mike Sistad, and radio personality Storme Warren. –Jessica Nicholson
Oak View Group promoted Katee LaPoff to chief technology officer and Josh Pell to president of premium experiences and global strategy. In her new role, LaPoff will lead OVG’s tech team and continue reporting to Steve Collins, president of global venue development, Ade Patton, CFO, and Chris Granger, the president of OVG360. Over the last three years, she has served as svp of project management and technology — focusing on venue technology. Prior to OVG, LaPoff spent 10 years as svp of technology at Madison Square Garden Companies. In his elevated role, Pell will oversee the company’s e-commerce platform and continue to manage OVG’s hospitality and food/beverage design initiatives. He’ll continue to report to Steve Collins as well as to Francesca Bodie, COO.
All in the Family: Billboard president Mike Van welcomed a lengthy string of promotions this week. They include Edward Stepankovsky (regional vice president of brand partnerships), Andrea Guevara-Gresh (senior account manager), Kristen Wisneski (account manager), Gary Trust (managing director, charts & data operations), Alex Vitoulis (director, charts & data production), Ciara Zimring (McVey) (director of strategy and production), Emily Fuentes (senior manager content and production), Stefanie Tanaka (senior manager content and strategy), Meghan Mahar (branded producer and social manager), Lyndsey Havens (deputy editor), Kristin Robinson (senior writer), Rebecca Milzoff (executive editor, magazine), Griselda Flores (senior editor), Hannah Johnson (staff writer), Danielle Pascual (social media manager), Rania Aniftos (associate editor) and Josh Glicksman (associate editor).
Spirit Music Group promoted Tamar Wax to vice president of film & TV music, creative. Previously a senior director, Wax is based out of Los Angeles and reports to svp of creative services Amy Hartman. Since joining SMG in 2019, Wax’s handiwork has helped place several songs by Spirit artists in movie and TV trailers, most notably a remix of Daddy Yankee’s classic hit “Gasolina” in the Fast X spot. Prior to joining Spirit, Wax served as vp of creative at Vibrant Ground Music. “Tamar has proven herself to be an exceptional creative sync licensing executive, having landed multiple high-profile sync licenses for our Spirit Music Group roster across trailers, promo campaigns, TV shows and films,” said Hartman. “We couldn’t be happier to acknowledge her dedication to our songwriters and our music supervisor community with this well-deserved promotion.”
NASHVILLE NOTES: The Academy of Country Music hired Ben Carter as vp of live events and production; Matt Brum-Taylor as director of digital marketing; Lexi Cothran as senior manager of communications and strategic initiatives; Kendra Williams is the new coordinator of finance; Brooke Boyd is assistant, ACM Lifting Lives; and Heather Howard was hired as an assistant in the marketing department … The organization also announced that Raj Kapoor is returning as executive producer of this year’s ACM Awards .. Vroom vroom, Big Machine’s Scott Borchetta will now oversee operations for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, an annual NTT IndyCar Series race held in Nashville.
REFORM Alliance debuted Wallace “Wallo267” Peeples to lead the criminal justice reform organization’s marketing efforts as chief marketing officer. REFORM was formed by Meek Mill, Jay-Z and Fanatics chief Michael Rubin in wake of the #FreeMeek movement and since 2019 has helped pass 18 pieces of bipartisan legislation across 11 states as it strives to get people out of the justice system and into wellness and work. “Wallo267 is a son of Philadelphia, the city where REFORM Alliance was born,” said REFORM CEO Robert Rooks. “Through hard experience, he developed a life philosophy rooted in accountability, second chances, and never giving up. Today, he carries that message of hope to his millions of social media followers.”
Rothenberg, Mohr & Binder LLP, a bi-coastal music and entertainment law firm, promoted Lisa Lester to partner with the firm. Since 2020, Lester’s work at RM&B has included representing Top Dawg Entertainment, Marshmello and Big Time Rush, among other clients. The Los Angeles-based partner also works with a wide slate of producers and songwriters, including Rob Kinelski, Noah Goldstein, BUNT. And others. Founding partners Paul Rothenberg, Jeremy Mohr and Josh Binder said “Lisa’s dedication to clients and work on behalf of the firm is second to none – and this promotion is well deserved. Her prior years of experience across the industry and high level work here at the firm since 2020 have given her unique insight and expertise that few others share.”
The Oriel Company promoted Nina Lee to vp of communications at the Carleen Donovan/Chloë Walsh/Jen Appel-founded PR agency. Lee joined The Oriel in June 2021 and has already executed media campaigns for a roster that includes Maxwell, Daniel Caesar, UMI, Hannibal Buress, No ID, d4vd, James Fauntleroy, Sickamore, and Betty Who, as well as corprorate clients including Amazon Music, Live Nation and 88rising. She is based in The Oriel Company’s New York office.
There’s a new player in artist management with the launch of What’s Good Projects. The Nashville company is a partnership between industry veterans Ryan Kroon and Jacob Knight, who between them have 20 years of experience managing the day-to-day careers of artists including ERNEST, Sam Hunt, Maddie and Tae, Tyler Farr and Mason Ramsey, among others. Kroon got his start at HOMESTEAD/RedLight Management and later joined Sony Music Nashville and then Project 615. Knight began his career at CAA before joining 377/RedLight and most recently KPEntertainment. WGP’s inaugural client roster includes Troy Cartwright, Clayton Mullen, Palmer Anthony, Austin Burke and Ollie Joseph. “Jacob and I moved to Nashville around the same time to pursue careers in this industry and have had an immense mutual respect for one another,” Kroon explains. “We’ve chatted over the years about partnering up, so with the continued growth of What’s Good over the last year, the time seemed right.”
Raphael Saadiq’s music production company, My Kind of Music/My Kind of Movies, tapped Yancey Richardson to oversee music supervision for the firm’s film and TV projects, including the upcoming film Freaky Tales. Richardson is an 18-year veteran at Atlantic Records, where he rose to director of marketing promotion, and he started his own productions company, Toler Heights Music.
Round Room Live, producer and promoter of family shows like Blippi, Sesame Street Live! and the national tour of Shrek the Musical, has hired Dale Shaughnessy as vp of marketing. In her new position, Shaughnessy will be responsible for driving revenue and marketing opportunities, including on the corporate side, and overseeing global touring projects and user-building initiatives. Shaughnessy joins the company following more than 15 years of professional experience in the field at a range of industry leaders like Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, Live Nation and Feld Entertainment.
ICYMI:
Cumulus Media marked May 31 as the last day for vp of country Charlie Cook, a member of the Country Radio Hall of Fame … Hooray for ex-SoundCloud exec Jessica Rivera (pictured), who joined Issa Rae’s HOORAE as president of its Radio division … and Sony Music Publishing hired Anghami veteran Dounia Chaaban to lead its new office in Dubai.
Last Week’s Turntable: Merlin Swarms Its Data Team With New Hires
Sony Music Entertainment is suing the producers of the 2022 biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, accusing them of failing to pay for the more than 20 Whitney tracks that appeared in the movie.
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In a lawsuit filed Thursday in New York federal court, Sony claims that Anthem Films, Black Label Media and others behind the movie signed deals for sync licenses to feature songs like “I Will Always Love You” in the movie – but that more than a year after the film was released, the label hasn’t been paid a dime.
“To date, Anthem has not paid the fees, or any portion of the fees, due under the agreements,” Sony’s lawyer, Christine Lepera of the firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, wrote in the complaint. As a result, the Sony says the use of the songs amounts to “willful and deliberate infringement” of its copyrights.
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Riding a wave of enthusiasm for musical biopics – 2018’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” earned more $900 million at the box office and Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 “Elvis” made $288 million – “I Wanna Dance” was released in December 2022 to middling reviews and an underwhelming return of $59.8 million gross.
According to Thursday’s lawsuit, Anthem and others signed a sync license agreement on Dec. 5, 2022 – less than ten days before the movie’s release – covering the use of Sony’s sound recordings of Houston’s songs, including “Greatest Love of All,” “I’m Every Woman” and the titular “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.”
“Unlike other types of films, musical biopics by their nature require use of the subject musician’s music, as it is nearly impossible to explain the importance of a musician’s creative genius or unique style and talent without the use of the musician’s music,” Sony wrote. “Aware of the need for authorization to use Plaintiffs’ sound recordings in order to produce a biopic about the life and music of Whitney Houston, and aware of the value of plaintiffs’ catalog, Anthem entered into a license agreement.”
But by August, Sony says it had not been paid anything. After notifying Anthem of the problem, the company allegedly told Sony that it was waiting on funds from a tax credit owed by the state of Massachusetts. But such a payment never came, Sony says.
“As a result of Anthem’s failure to pay the fees to SME, it is clear that there was no license or authorization to use the SME Recordings used in the Film,” the company’s attorneys wrote. “Nevertheless, the Film embodying the SME Recordings was, and continues to be, exhibited, distributed, and exploited.”
As defendants, the lawsuit names Anthem Films, a Boston-area film production company that allegedly produced the movie; NYBO Productions LLC, the entity that allegedly owns the copyright to the movie; Black Label Media, a Los Angeles film finance company; and WH Movie LLC, an entity allegedly created by Black Label to help finance the movie.
According to the lawsuit, the complex corporate structure behind “I Wanna Dance” potentially played into the lack of payment.
Though Sony says it notified Anthem that it was open to waiting for for the Massachusetts tax credit to be paid out, it demanded that such an agreement be formalized in writing. Anthem allegedly refused, saying that Black Label had “approval rights over Anthem’s and NYBO’s expenditures” and ultimately “ordered that Anthem neither pay SME out of the proceeds of the tax credit payment nor direct the relevant tax authority to credit SME the amount of the Fees.”
In technical legal terms, the lawsuit accused Anthem and NYBO of direct copyright infringement, while it accused Black Label and WH Movie of so-called vicarious copyright infringement – meaning they had some control over Anthem and profited from its alleged wrongdoing.
The defendants could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for Sony Music did not return a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Sony Music Nashville has launched a non-country imprint, First Flight Records, with singer-songwriters Darren Kiely and Ben Goldsmith. Though the company is only announcing the label now, it’s already experiencing success with pop/folk artist Kiely, whose song “Sunrise,” hit No. 1 on the Irish Homegrown chart.
Kiely’s No. 1 in Ireland “signifies what I want this to become in scope and scale,” Sony Nashville chairman/CEO Randy Goodman tells Billboard. “What I hope this will be for us is a significant global proposition as well.”
The genesis of the label started when SMN A&R manager Nathan Thomas was greatly impressed after seeing the 17 year-old Long Island native Goldsmith perform in Nashville. Goldsmith then came to the office and “He goes from guitar to piano, he sings his ass off. He’s writing songs that sound like they could be on Elton John’s Madman Across the Water but with a very current feel,” Goodman says. “It was one of those things where we don’t really know what to do with this, but we felt like it was important and we all wanted to be involved with it.”
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Then the A&R staff discovered Irish artist Kiely, who had moved to Nashville via New York, via a video online. As his music began to resonate in his native country and the U.S., Kiely , who was influenced by acts like The Lumineers and Mumford & Sons, signed with UTA and is now on a headlining U.S. club tour in support of his Lost EP. That set’s “Mom & Dad” has landed in the top 5 of the Irish Homegrown chart.
Though the first two signings are folk-tinged singer/songwriters, Taylor Lindsey, Sony Nashville’s senior vp of A&R, stresses that the remit for the label is simply to sign artists and authentic storytellers who are “not country…If it made sense and an artist walked in here who was a hip-hop artist or a true pop artist, we wouldn’t take those off the table.”
Releases will be tagged Free Flight/Sony Music Entertainment, not Free Flight/Sony Music Nashville, to reinforce that Free Flight is not a country label. “When people think of Sony Music Nashville, they think of country, obviously,” Lindsey says. “But these artists are not falling into our traditional country mold. From a global standpoint, we want people to not be confused and we also want to make sure that unsigned artists understand that we can have a home for them that isn’t affiliated with our traditional country strategy.”
Free Flight Records resurrects the name of an RCA Nashville-affiliated imprint started in the ‘70s, when acts like Charlie Daniels and Exile were having both pop and country success. “It was created for a similar purpose and that was to serve a movement of music outside of the purely country category,” Goodman says. The label only existed for a short time in the ‘70s and has been dormant since then, but the name still belonged to Sony. “We just thought that could be a really cool bit of connective tissue to what we’re doing right now,” Goodman says.
At a time when pop labels are signing country acts, such as Warner Records signing Zach Bryan or Columbia inking outlaw country artist Koe Wetzel, Goodman says the borders are gone. “We should be as genreless and as broad thinking as we possibly can because the new world order allows us to do so,” he says. “It’s a fun, creative thing for us, but it’s also a really good business model because we’re sitting right here in the community of this incredible songwriting city. Ben and Darren opened our eyes to what is actually happening in our backyard.”
Goldsmith released For the World Between My Ears on Sony Music Nashville in September but is already working on his new project for Free Flight. He’s in Los Angeles writing for the album now with such songwriting greats Dan Wilson and Rick Nowels.
Though terrestrial radio may come into play, the plan is to promote these artists primarily through digital strategies including streaming and social media. “If and when the time is right to work them at terrestrial radio, we will, but for us strategically, whether it’s [Sony Music Nashville] or Free Flight, that’s always kind of the last piece of the puzzle,” Goodman says, though he adds that when Goldsmith toured last year, they serviced his music to Triple A radio. “We thought this is probably a crowd where we should go ahead and create some awareness with Ben,” he says.
For now, Sony Nashville’s existing staff will handle Free Flight’s roster, though Lindsey says “as this progresses, we’ve already discussed the possibility of staffing up and what that could look like.” There is no “magic number” when it comes to how many acts Free Flight will sign,” she adds.
The goal is simply to sign and build acts unfettered by attaching labels. “I don’t want people to look at Free Flight and go, ‘Oh, that’s a rock imprint’ or ‘That’s a pop imprint,’” Goodman says. “At its core, it’s just about being as broad minded as we possibly can be.”
Primary Wave Music has finalized a deal with the Village People to control the rights to the group’s master recording and publishing assets as well as the rights to their name and likeness. In what is described as a “partnership” with the surviving family of Village People co-founder Henri Belolo — Jonathan and Anthony Belolo — Primary Wave will now look after “Y.M.C.A.,” “Macho Man” and other hits from the group.
Founded in 1977, Village People was started by producer Jacques Morali and his partner Belolo who were working with singer and Broadway actor Victor Willis to provide background vocals for a different musical project. Then Morali told Willis, “I had a dream you sang lead vocals on an album I produced and it went very, very big.” Following his gut, Willis sang four tracks for Morali and Belolo (“San Francisco [You’ve Got Me]” “In Hollywood [Everyone’s a Star],” “Fire Island,” and “Village People”). Quickly, the Village People project became a sensation with their songs climbing to the top of the charts, and Willis, Morali, Belolo formed it as an official group, adding in the rag tag team of Felipe Rose, Alex Briley, Mark Mussler, David Forrest, Lee Mouton and Peter Whitehead to fill out its ranks.
Later, they added Randy Jones, Glenn Hughes and David Hodo to the ensemble after placing an ad in a trade paper that read: “Macho Types Wanted for World-Famous Disco Group.” Donning stereotypical “macho” costumes — like construction work, biker, cowboy and more — group went on to pen defining hits and become a symbol of the Disco era. To this day, the group continues, now comprised of Willis, Angel Morales, James Kwong, Chad Freeman, James Lee, and James J.J. Lippold.
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“As we were picking up the mantle following our father’s passing in 2019, we soon realized that – to achieve his dreams of bringing the Village People ideal into the 21st century the right way is a very bold endeavor,” say the Belolos in a joint statement. “Our partnership with the amazing team at Primary Wave now brings us the backup and expertise that will ensure we can rise to the task together. With multiple projects in development, the future looks bright as ever for the Village People!”
“The Village People have brought so much joy to listeners around the world for decades,” says Lexi Todd, vp of business and legal affairs at Primary Wave Music. “With disco-inspired music all over the contemporary charts, now is the perfect time to launch our new partnership. We look forward to working alongside Jonathan and Anthony to reinvigorate the Village People brand.”
Six weeks after Audacy filed for bankruptcy, a corporate maneuver that sees Soros Fund Management emerge as the radio company’s primary shareholder.
Soros Fund Management takes its seat at the head of the table after acquiring a sizeable chunk of Audacy’s debt, roughly $414 million in total.
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The private investment management fund takes around 40% of Audacy’s total senior debt, source tells the New York Post, outsizing the stakes held by the likes of PGIM, Capital Commercial Finance, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Mockingbird Credit Opportunities Company, and Solus Alternative Asset Management.
Billboard reached out to Audacy but reps hadn’t responded at press time.
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Led by chairman George Soros, who founded the private investment management fund in 1970, Soros Fund Management has experience working with radio and media assets, including $80 million invested for Latino Media Networks by way of Lakestar Finance, notes Radio Ink, plus investments in Vice Media and Crooked Media.
Addressing the Soros development, Audacy noted, “The decision by our existing and new debtholders to become equity holders in Audacy represents a significant vote of confidence in our company and the future of the radio and audio business.”
Its statement continues, “We expect to emerge from our restructuring process with a strong capital structure and well-positioned to capitalize on our strategic transformation into a scaled leading multi-platform audio content and entertainment company. We intend to continue running our business, executing our strategy and delivering for our listeners and advertisers as we always do.”
The Soros investment comes amid a turbulent time for Audacy, which on Jan. 7 said it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to reduce debts.
The Philadelphia-based broadcasting giant, formerly named Entercom, said at the time that a deal with debt holders would reduce its debt load by about 80%, from $1.9 billion, acquired primarily from its 2017 merger with CBS Radio, down to $350 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
That agreement, first disclosed by The Wall Street Journal, would give Audacy’s debt holders equity in the reorganized company.
Audacy’s portfolio includes 230 radio stations, among them WCBS in New York, KROQ in Los Angeles, WFAN Sports Radio in New York and WBBM Newsradio in Chicago. Audacy’s podcasting brands include two studios, Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Studios, and Popcorn, an online marketplace for connecting creators and brands. Each month, the business claims to engage with over 170 million.
Trouble was brewing back in May 2023 when the business warned that a weak financial outlook could cause it to default on its debt.
Audacy has previously said it does not expect any operational impact due to the bankruptcy and restructuring.
A hearing to approve the Audacy restructuring plan is set for Feb. 20 in a Houston bankruptcy court.