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It’s time for another quick whirl around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music. Are you asking yourself “Hey, Wha’ Happened?!” amid this week’s overhaul at Capitol Music Group? Here’s a rundown. When you’re done processing that, get a readout of the most powerful people in the music biz with the latest Power 100 list.
Merlin, the global digital licensing agency for the independent music industry, has spent the last few months enhancing its finance, data analytics, software and member operations teams with numerous new hires and promotions.
Experienced financial controller Carol Zuma-Hall, formerly finance lead at Platoon and head of finance at The Orchard, joined Merlin to oversee its technical accounting and compliance related finance activities. Merlin’s new director of insights is Martin Vovk, following a dozen years at Sony Music. He’ll conduct in-depth data analysis and manage insights communications. Following a lengthy stint consulting for Merlin, Gary Watson made it official by taking the director of data operations role, where he’ll manage data flows and data visualization projects. Reporting to Watson will be Maria Lavric, who was appointed manager of data operations. She’ll handle non-financial trends data and other reporting. Matthew Price was right for the data engineer role and will develop what Merlin calls its “Data Lake,” which processes nearly 1 billion rows of data daily (FUN!!!). Joining the team as a paralegal is Emillia Walsh, who’ll scrutinize copyright infringement claims and just overall enhance the organization’s legal apparatus. Molly Kempen is the new royalty reporting coordinator, responsible for processing statements and keeping deadlines.
“The expansion of our multi disciplinary data analytics team this year is a testament to Merlin’s ongoing commitment to delivering value,” said Charlie Lexton, Merlin’s COO. “Each new Merliner brings a unique set of skills that are instrumental in our evolution. We are excited to see their contributions enhance our operations, improve our data capabilities, and further strengthen our relationships with Merlin’s global membership and digital partners.”
Data crunchers aside, Merlin also welcomed Simon Stride last year as a development manager, overseeing software projects from soup to nuts. Over at member operations, Alice Moss joined as senior manager, focusing on day-to-day support of Merlin’s members and working on ways to address operational issues between members and digital partners. Finally, Mariah Mu and ex-intern Ben Sperling have joined as coordinators on the member and partner success team. It should be noted that Mu is based in Bangkok and serves as the Merliner contact for members and partners in the entire Southeast Asia region.
“The integration of Alice, Mariah, and Ben into our Member & Partner Success team marks a significant enhancement in our capability to serve our members effectively,” said Jim Mahoney, svp of member & partner success. “Alice’s experience, coupled with Mariah’s knowledge of the digital and Southeast Asian marketplace and Ben’s keen approach to process improvement and communications, creates a dynamic synergy. This team embodies our commitment to excellence, ensuring that each member and partner experiences the full benefit of Merlin’s expansive network and resources.”
Meanwhile…
Warner Music Denmark promoted industry veteran Karen Vincent to general manager of the Copenhagen-based imprint. She reports to Mark Fry, president of Warner Music Nordics. In her capacity as marketing director, a role she’s held since 2017, Vincent has worked campaigns for regional artists including Christopher, Gobs and Nicklas Sahl, among others, and also has assisted in global releases from the likes of Bruno Mars and Dual Lipa. Prior to WMG, Vincent was senior product manager at Copenhagen Records while concurrently working as the global publicist for Danish rockers Volbeat. At the dawn of her music career, Vincent held gigs at Sony Music and EMI Music as well. “It’s great news that Karen has agreed to run Warner Music Denmark,” said Fry. “She’s been an indispensable part of the team, crafting incredible campaigns for local, regional and international artists, and I can’t wait to work with her as we continue to support the best Danish creative talent.”
Reactional Music, the maker of an interactive music engine for video games, hired Epic Games veteran Ben Lumsden as head of business development, Unreal. In his new role, Lumsden will oversee Reactional’s work developing partnerships across music, games and creator worlds, focusing on use cases built on the Unreal games engines developed by Epic Games. Speaking of… at Epic, he rose to senior business development lead in support of the company’s media and entertainment operation in Europe. Prior to Epic, he worked in virtual production on films and games such as District 9, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Godzilla, among others. He is also an accomplished composer for films. “Music and creativity needs great tech and creative minds to enable the new generation of music delivery, consumption and creation,” said Lumsden. “The consumer is more sophisticated, more creative and they spend more time in digital worlds. Music and audio has such an important role to play in the new era of gaming and creator worlds as consumption habits change to become part of these digital worlds.”
Noble Steed Music, the artist management company and label that boasts an “intuitive and patient approach to artist career development,” hired industry veteran Evan Levy as senior manager and content director. He arrives from Amazon Music, where he managed audio content for the last two years. Levy is tasked with building out the company’s content team, which will develop music-centric media, podcasts, social content and more. He’ll report to NBS founder Jason Spiewak. Prior to Amazon, Levy held key leadership positions at SiriusXM Pandora, CBS Radio, ABC News Radio and MTV Networks. “We are thrilled to welcome Evan to the Noble Steed Music family,” said Spiewak. “Evan’s expertise and creative vision will undoubtedly elevate our content and reinforce our commitment to delivering exceptional entertainment experiences to the masses.”
Curb Records‘ national director of promotion Mike Rogers is set to retire, effective March 1. Rogers, a 35-year radio promotion veteran, has been with Curb Records since 2002 and was previously part of the promotion team at CBS/Sony. Rogers shared: “[Curb Records chairman] Mike Curb’s belief in me these last 21 years was unparalleled. I was and always will be proudest of all we have accomplished in my time at Curb. You entrusted me to give your music its best shot and I hope I made you proud. To have actually learned from a legend will always be a crowning achievement in my career. Now, it’s time to ‘do some life’ with my wife, Laura, and our two daughters, all of whom sacrificed a ton as I lived out that road life as a radio promotion rep.” –Jessica Nicholson
UTA promoted 104 individuals across 25 departments, including music and comedy. In the interest of brevity, let’s stick to music, where the agency upped Grace Cunningham, St. John Faulkner, Sammy Gardiner, Anastasia Klochkivska, Taylor Krebs, Joe Marino, Matt Popper, Ashley Ramos, Katie Sexton, Evan Steinberg, Tyler Stimmel and Kingsley Williams to coordinator. UTA also promoted Tom Grainger, Alexis Lesko, Tom Matthews, Lolo McCluskey, Sheq Milli and Jamie Waldman to agent. The company stressed that a majority of those elevated to agent emerged from UTA’s Agent Training Program, adding that women constituted more than 50% of the promotions announced.
RADIO, RADIO: Warner Music Nashville bumped Andy Flick up to national director of radio, effective immediately. Flick, a longtime Sony pro who joined WMN in 2021 as regional manager, radio (North), will continue reporting to vp of radio Anna Cage. In the last three years, Flick has worked campaigns for Dan + Shay, Gabby Barrett and Zach Bryan, among many others … Happy retirement to NPR OG Linda Wertheimer … Canadian media conglomerate Bell Media is selling 45 of its 103 radio stations across the country because it lacks viability.
Lina Tebbs was named director of UK Production Music for Warner Chappell Music, reporting to UK managing director Shani Gonzales. She takes over for Kate Alderton, svp of operations and finance, who has been running the department for the last two years. In her new role, Tebbs will be tasked with scouting ways to service WCMs giant catalog to the film, TV, radio and advertising industries in the UK. She and her team will also work with other like-minded teams around the globe on cross-market opportunities. Tebbs arrives from Felt Music, where she was global head of business development and marketing. Prior to joining Felt in 2019, Tebbs held leadership roles at Audio Network and EMEA. “With Lina at the helm of our operations in the UK, the team will have a fresh outlook and exciting new ideas for how to build on our brand and further grow our roster and relationships,” said Gonzales.
Stem, the 9-year-old music distribution and payments platform, awarded four of its key leaders with promotions this week. Atop the table is Seth Faber, who was upped from svp of artist & label strategy to general manager of the company. In his elevated role, Faber will oversee artist marketing/development, commerce, international, customer success, content operations, brand marketing and product. Todd Perry is now vp of artist and label relations, hip-hop & R&B. Previously head of artist & label relations, hip-hop & R&B, Perry is credited with signing Veeze and for his work Jeezy’s latest album. Natalie Sellers, who joined Stem in 2018, is assuming the role of senior director of artist & label commerce & partnerships, where she’ll work to expand the company’s network of partners and create marketing and development opportunities. Finally, Lexi Roney was promoted to director of brand marketing following her time as marketing manager at Stem. As director, Roney will be responsible for leading and expanding all branding and partnership initiatives for Stem Distribution. The company said Faber and Perry will continue to report to president Kristin Graziani, while Sellers and Roney frame up to Faber.
CSW Publicity amped up its music division with the hiring of Heidi Anne-Noel as senior vp of music publicity. She’ll work alongside evp and founder Cara Woodnicki on all things music. Anne-Noel joins CSW from BMF, where as a vp she oversaw campaigns for clients including ONErpm, Awich, Abigail Barlow and others. Prior to BMF, she was at SiriusXM/Pandora and earlier at Capitol Records, where she worked closed with Katy Perry, Capital Cities, Sky Ferreira and others. Woodnicki comments, “Heidi is an incredible asset to any team and one of the best publicists I know, I’m beyond thrilled to be working alongside her again, this time at CSW.”
Derek Patten has returned to agency EastCoast Entertainment as director of artist services. Patten’s first spin at ECE was in 2018, when he helped lay the framework for the department he now leads. His background experience covers several professional areas including film (The Foot Fist Way) and live entertainment (Royal Caribbean Cruise Line). “We are delighted to have Derek with us again,” shares ECE’s President, John Wolfslayer. “His wealth of experience and unwavering dedication to the success of artists make him an invaluable asset to our team.”
Pophouse Entertainment, the creative production company co-founded by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, announced a slew of promotions and new hires. Linda Höljö has been named COO, Natalia Fontecha is head of capital raising and investor relations, Sophie McKibbin is head of business and legal affairs, while Ryan Amstad is head of new production development, and Jon Spalding commercial director. Over at Mamma Mia! The Party, the souped-up uber-immersive dinner theatre production in London, Sophie Arendt has been appointed managing director.
BOARD SHORTS: Worldwide Independent Network, a support group for independent music trade groups, welcomed five new members to its board: Dario Draštata (Dallas Records, Croatia), Fran Sandoval (IMICHILE, Chile) and Marty Ro (Sound Republica, South Korea) as directors, together with Alejandro Varela (S-Music, Argentina) and Sridhar Swaminathan (SIMCA, India) as observers. Zena White and Maria Amato were reappointed as Chair and Treasurer, respectively … Dewei Zheng resigned as a non-executive director of Chinese music platform Cloud Music (formerly NetEase Cloud Music), effective Feb. 15.
David J. Krystal, whose orchestration work can be heard in The Flash, IT, Shazam! and Hidden Figures, among others, recently launched his own company to support his work: David Krystal Music Service. In an announcement, Krystal’s company looks to “synthesize the rich tradition of classic Hollywood scoring and orchestration with the fast-paced and powerful blockbuster film scores of today” and pledges “meticulous attention to detail.”
ICYMI:
Capitol Music Group chief Michelle Jubelirer announced her abrupt exit this week … and a day later Tom March, then-president of Geffen, was named her successor. Lillia Parsa (pictured) was also brought in from UMPG as co-president of CMG … Warner Music chief Robert Kyncl telegraphed a 10% staff reduction … which resulted in the exit of Warner Chappell Australia’s longtime managing director … Ricardo Chamberlain was been named COO of Marc Anthoney’s Puntilla Music … The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) selected its leadership for the coming year … and Eliza Tew is director of brand partnerships/talent manager for Clay Busch’s new agency, SiX18 Media.
Last Week’s Turntable: Crypto.com Arena Is Secure
The fallout from Warner Music Group’s company-wide cull has already reached Australia, where the head of the domestic Warner Chappell company, Matthew Capper, is understood to be among the departures.
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Capper has led Warner Chappell Australia as managing director since 2010, and boasts more than 20 years’ service with the company.
A popular figure in the music publishing community, Capper joined Warner Chappell in 2003, initially as a copyright/royalty analyst, was promoted to general manager in 2004, and was named managing director in July 2010.
Prior to working at Warner Chappell, Capper cut his teeth as administration manager at Festival Music Publishing, a now-defunct Australian independent music publishing brand which was acquired by Mushroom Music in 2005.
Outside of his duties leading Warner Chappell’s affiliate from Melbourne, he is non-executive director of APRA and AMCOS, deputy chair of AMCOS, chair and non-executive director of publishers trade association AMPAL, and treasurer and non-executive director of ICMP, the global trade body representing the music publishing industry worldwide.
On his election to the board of APRA in 2007, he become the youngest-ever director of the authors’ rights society, aged 30 – a record that still stands.
Capper will finish up with Warner Chappell Australia on Feb. 29, 2024, sources say, tying in to sweeping changes announced earlier in the week by Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl.
In an internal memo to staff obtained by Billboard, Kyncl wrote that the company will be reducing headcount by 10%, or some 600 people, as part of a plan to free up $200 million in cost savings to reinvest into the business.
Those cost savings will be realized by the end of September 2025, Kyncl said in the memo; some of those laid off have already begun to be informed, while the “vast majority” will be notified “by the end of September 2024,” he writes.
“As we carry out our plan, it’s important to bear in mind why we’re making these difficult choices,” the memo continued. “We’re getting on the front foot to create a sustainable competitive advantage over the next decade. We’ll do so by increasing funding behind artists and songwriters, new skill sets, and tech, to help us deliver on our three strategic priorities,” which he says includes growing engagement with music, increasing the value of music and evolving how Warner’s teams work together.”
Just before news broke of those company-wide cuts, WMG announced that its quarterly revenue grew 17% for the period ended Dec. 31, 2023, up 11% in normalized revenue, to $1.75 billion — its highest quarterly result ever.
With a slate of new artists and a recently launched North American joint venture, SM Entertainment’s revenue reached 250 billion won ($189.5 million at the period’s average exchange rate) in the fourth quarter of 2023, down 3.4% year over year and 6.1% lower than the third quarter, the company announced Wednesday (Feb. 7). Operating profit dropped 51.7% to 10.9 billion won ($8.3 million) while the company posted a net loss of 19.7 billion won ($14.9 million) compared to a 1.9 billion won ($1.4 million) net profit in the prior-year period.
The company attributed a decline in revenue from its concert-related subsidiaries to smaller-sized concerts and a decline in its content-related subsidiaries to “slow business conditions.” SM Entertainment’s share price rose 0.2% to 73,000 won ($54.77) after the earnings release.
SM Entertainment sold 5.6 million albums in the fourth quarter, up 40% from the prior-year quarter; NCT 127’s album Fact Check sold 1.86 million units and aespa’s Drama EP sold 1.26 million units. As for concerts, NCT Wish performed 24 shows in nine cities in Japan ahead of its debut album’s release later this quarter. SHINee performed for 80,000 fans at four concerts in Japan. NCT 127 had six concerts in Seoul, Korea with a total attendance of 60,000.
For the full year, SM Entertainment released 64 albums that sold a record 20.1 million units, and its artists performed at 340 concerts around the world. RIIZE, the first boy band launched under the company’s new multi-production system — an organizational structure introduced in 2023 to break from the previous system that relied solely on founder and ousted chief producer Lee Soo-man — sold more than 1 million units of its debut album, Get a Guitar, which was released in September.
“The multi-production system, which is the core part of our SM 3.0 strategy, has been operating successfully since its introduction last year, and active musical activities are underway under the guidance of each production SM director,” CEO Jang Cheol Hyuk said during Wednesday’s earnings call. The system is meant to speed the introduction of new artists and material by providing other leaders with decision-making powers.
Looking ahead to 2024, SM Entertainment will launch four new artists: NCT Wish, virtual artist naevis, an unnamed girl group and a U.K.-based boy band. The company also plans to release global albums for major artists at least once a year and expand the scale of global concerts, Jang said.
In the first quarter, SM has EPs from NCT Dream, TEN, Taeyong and Wendy, while NCT 127 is performing 13 dates in Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Macau. The second quarter will see a new album from aespa and EPs from Red Velvet, RIIZE, SHINee, SUHO and WayV, as well as 15 concert dates for NCT Dream in Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia. Other artists including MINHO, TVXQ!, Super Junior-L.S.S., SHINee, TAEmin and aespa each have a handful of shows in the first or second quarter.
SM Entertainment also expects to see results from its North American partnership with Kakao Entertainment. The two companies are “working to establish and expand local partnerships for artists,” said Jang. He pointed to the joint venture’s strategic agreement with Moon & Back, a U.K.-based entertainment and TV production company, that will cast a five-member boy group in the United Kingdom and perform songs sourced from KMR, SM Entertainment’s new music publishing subsidiary.
On Wednesday around midnight, a new song showed up on RapCaviar, Spotify‘s premier hip-hop playlist: “All Falls Down,” Kanye West’s second hit single ever, which came out almost 20 years ago. While RapCaviar is mostly focused on new releases, it does occasionally feature throwbacks. Still, the addition felt notable, because a new release from West and Ty Dolla $ign is expected to arrive at midnight tonight and executives around the music industry are curious how streaming service gatekeepers will respond.
Will they support the renowned artist who now goes by Ye, despite the fact that his repeated antisemitism and conservative trolling has caused a widespread backlash, leading most of his prominent business partners to sever ties since 2022? Or will they just ignore the new album all together?
“It’s going to be complicated,” says one former Spotify employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “There’s going to be a difference of opinion within those places on how to handle it. Some people in leadership positions will want to be harsh on Kanye for the nasty antisemitic things he has said. There will also be another side, the hip-hop teams, who will say, ‘No, it’s Kanye, people say crazy shit all the time, plus he apologized. We don’t care. We’re playlisting because it’s Kanye.’”
A digital marketer who helps artists with streaming strategy was more skeptical. “Streaming services didn’t support ‘Vultures’ [Ye’s previous song], so I would be very shocked” if they support the rest of the album, he says. “Even though Ye did his apology, it felt like that came and went so fast.”
Reps for Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music did not respond to a request for comment.
Streaming services mostly avoid trying to wade into moral debates about artists’ character. One exception came when Spotify announced a new policy in 2018, writing on its blog that “in some circumstances, when an artist or creator does something that is especially harmful or hateful (for example, violence against children and sexual violence), it may affect the ways we work with or support that artist or creator.”
The backlash against this announcement was swift. Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, CEO of Top Dawg Entertainment, told Billboard, “I don’t think it’s right for artists to be censored.” Others felt similarly, and a few weeks later, Spotify said “we are moving away from implementing a policy around artist conduct.”
That said, two former employees say Spotify still occasionally flexes its muscles around playlisting. When Megan Thee Stallion was shot by Tory Lanez in 2020, “his songs weren’t getting in any playlists after that,” according to a former employee. (Lanez was found guilty in court in December 2022.)
But Ye is not on trial, and he also has more than 140 Hot 100 hits to date. Many of these are still in regular rotation: His catalog has earned more than 480 million on-demand streams already this year in the U.S., according to Luminate.
Even so, his newest song sank like a stone. When Ye and Ty Dolla $ign released “Vultures” in November, it failed to crack the Hot 100, and it has amassed only around 33 million Spotify streams, a flop by Ye’s high-flying standards. (He released a video for the track “Talking/Once Again” with Ty earlier this week, but it is not yet available on streaming services.)
Two sources familiar with Ye’s search for a distribution deal say several streaming services signaled to them that they were unlikely to support new music from the star due to widespread outrage over his antisemitic comments. “For an artist as big as Kanye to release a new track and receive no major editorial placements is quite an outlier,” notes Nicki Camberg, a data journalist at the company Chartmetric, which tracks data on playlisting, social media, and streaming for artists. (“Vultures” was released through Label Engine, a distribution company owned by Create Music Group, according to identification information in YouTube’s Content Management System.)
“Vultures” has fared slightly better on the airwaves than it has on streaming services. The song has received airplay from around 30 stations, according to Mediabase. Two stations in Ye’s hometown of Chicago played the song the day it came out, and they’ve played it far more than anyone else: 199 spins so far in 2024 from WGCI and 181 from WPWX. The station that played “Vultures” third most this year, KVEG in Las Vegas, has played it 50 times.
Aside from the iHeart-owned WGCI, it’s noticeable that the stations playing “Vultures” are mostly owned by smaller radio companies, not the behemoths like iHeart, Audacy and Sirius. The track has received 2,144 spins overall, with 6.187 million audience impressions.
In the mid-2010s, radio was eclipsed by streaming services as the most important driver of listening behavior. Now a similar thing has happened to streaming services: Young fans are increasingly likely to discover music on short-form video platforms like TikTok. (Though they can’t find Universal Music Group songs there at the moment.) As a result, executives told Billboard in 2022 that “Spotify and Apple editorial playlists don’t have as much punch” as they used to.
Even on an earnings call on Thursday (Feb. 8), Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl noted that “the data discovery and consumption trends” in music “are driven by the algorithms of the larger platforms and users sharing playlists with each other” — not playlists controlled by the various platforms. “The guys who do playlists had a lot of power four or five years ago,” says one longtime A&R. “Now their power is dwindling, because it doesn’t matter what they say. The kids choose at the end of the day.”
This could work to Ye’s advantage. If he’s able to luck into a viral moment, it won’t matter much whether he’s put on editorial playlists initially; listeners will find the music and play it, and the audience response will impact streaming services.
So far, “Vultures” hasn’t generated this kind of enthusiasm. “From a fan perspective, if it was going crazy and everyone was talking about it, that would push it,” the digital marketer says. “But I haven’t seen that anywhere.”
For the first time, Billboard is expanding its peer-voted Power Players’ Choice Award to cover music’s top lawyers, asking industry members from all sectors to honor the attorney they believe had the most impact across the business in the past year. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news […]
The recording and publishing catalogs of late country star Toby Keith continue to bring in a combined $9 million per year in streaming and sales activity, according to Billboard estimates.
Keith, who died Monday (Feb. 5) at age 62, had slowed his output considerably over the last decade, releasing just two proper studio albums over that period: 2015’s 35 MPH Town and 2021’s Peso in My Pocket. But a vast stable of past smashes over the past 30 years, including the multi-platinum albums Pull My Chain, Unleashed and Shock’n Y’all along with 20 No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, including “Who’s That Man,” “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” and “How Do You Like Me Now,” allowed his catalog to remain lucrative up to the present day.
Over the last three years, Keith’s catalog has averaged nearly 475,000 album consumption units per year in the United States, according to Luminate. That consists of an average of nearly 61,000 albums (CDs, LPs, downloads) per year, as well as 152,000 tracks and about 570 million on-demand streams.
While streaming has helped country music begin to gain an international audience, some artists in the genre are racking up fans outside the United States faster than others, and Keith’s audience remained largely a domestic one. As it is, Keith’s U.S. streaming accounts for about 83% of the 686 million streams his music averaged on a global basis annually over the last three years. Likewise, his U.S. song downloads make up 91% of his annual average of 167,000 downloads over the last three years.
Overall, Billboard estimates that Keith’s album sales and streaming activity generated about $5.3 million in revenue on average over each of the last three years for his recorded music catalog, while his publishing has brought in about $3.7 million per year. However, since Keith has a stake in close to 50% of his songs, and because he likely owned the albums he released since he started his Show Dog Nashville label in 2005, he likely gets the bulk of that revenue as his take-home pay. Before Show Dog, he released music on Universal Music Group-distributed labels including Mercury, A&M and Dreamworks Nashville.
Keith was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2021 but didn’t publicly reveal the news until the following year. He died less than two months after he performed his final shows: a trio of December concerts at Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas.
Worldwide Independent Network (WIN), the organization that brings together local independent music trade bodies across the globe, taps five new board members, while ratifying the reappointment of its chair and treasurer.
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Dario Draštata (Dallas Records, Croatia), Fran Sandoval (IMICHILE, Chile) and Marty Ro (Sound Republica, South Korea) are among the new directors named to the 20-strong WIN board, announced Thursday, Feb. 8. The other new faces are Alejandro Varela (S-Music, Argentina) and Sridhar Swaminathan (SIMCA, India), who are named as observers.
The trade association gives “warm thanks” to outgoing members Francesca Trainini (PMI, Italy), Jeffrey Chiang (Fluxus, South Korea) and Oliver Knust (IMICHILE, Chile).
Renewed each year, the board is comprised of independent music company and trade association representatives from around the world, appointed by WIN members on a geographical basis.
The organization rings in the changes this year by creating a new international structure based on five regional blocs: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Australasia, a move that reflects “diversity of languages, genres and cultures that make up its membership,” reads a statement.
Meanwhile, Zena White (Partisan Records, U.S.) and Maria Amato (AIR, Australia) are reappointed as chair and treasurer, respectively. Melbourne-based Amato, the CEO of the Australian Independent Record Labels Assn., in 2022 became WIN’s first female chair and the organization’s first from the southern hemisphere.
“I am grateful to be given the opportunity to continue as chair of WIN and my congratulations go to our five new board members,” comments White in a statement. “Our North Star is to strengthen the sector by having an independent music trade association in all countries where there is a commercial music business. The new regional bloc structure reflects our purpose to connect as many territories as we can. I am particularly proud of WIN’s work with groups in Latin America and Asia-Pacific on their specific agendas, as well as adding associations in India, Paraguay and Bulgaria to our membership.”
The organization launched in 2006 and became a trade association in 2016, serving as a global coordination and support body for the independent sector, and representing thousands of music companies and professionals worldwide. Its focus is on long-term development and sustainability.
Each year, WIN commissions and publishes the WINTEL market report that measures the economic and cultural impact of the independent music sector globally.
Next up, White and Noemí Planas, CEO of WIN, will join reps from member associations in other Latin American countries to visit Guadalajara, Mexico in late February and early March for the FIM GDL conference and to host an independent labels summit and WINHUB networking gathering.
WIN board for 2024:North America
Garry West (Compass Records, U.S.)
Gord Dimitrieff (Aporia Records, Canada)
Jason Peterson (GoDigital Media Group, U.S.)
Richard Burgess (A2IM, U.S.)
Zena White (Partisan Records, U.S.)
Observer: Tony Kiewel (Sub Pop, U.S.)
Latin America
Francisca Sandoval (IMICHILE, Chile)
Sandra Rodrigues (ABMI, Brazil)
Observer: Alejandro Varela (S-Music, Argentina)
Europe
Dario Draštata (Dallas Records, Croatia)
Gee Davy (AIM, UK)
Geert De Blaere (N.E.W.S., Belgium)
Jörg Heidemann (VUT, Germany)
Mark Kitcatt (Everlasting Records, Spain)
Observer: Helen Smith (IMPALA, Europe)
Asia
Marty Ro (Sound Republica, South Korea)
Takuya Yamazaki (IMCJ, Japan)
Observer: Sridhar Swaminathan (SIMCA, India)
Australasia
Maria Amato (AIR, Australia)
Observer: Dylan Pellett (IMNZ, New Zealand)
Vinyl Group now has a fourth pillar.
Following the completion of its acquisition of The Brag Media, the Sydney-based music and tech specialist doubles-down on its mission to build revenue and integrate its new asset.
As previously reported, the transaction is funded with a new investment by billionaire WiseTech Global founder and CEO Richard White, by way of an A$11 million ($7.5 million) placement and debt facility, uniting the only music specialist company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) with the market leader in premium youth content and events.
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“Our real mission or vision that we all have in the company is to empower and power all facets and parts of the music ecosystem,” Vinyl Group CEO Josh Simons tells Billboard.
When the group, previously known as Jaxsta, prior to a rebrand in early December, spotted an opportunity with The Brag Media, “we also knew that the company was going to evolve into more of a portfolio music company,” Simons continues.
Prior to the purchase, Vinyl Group’s portfolio was built on the three pillars of its music credits business Jaxsta; the leading music industry social-professional network and talent marketplace Vampr; and Vinyl.com, the online record store. The Brag Media, with its range of titles including Rolling Stone AU/NZ, Variety Australia, Tone Deaf and trade title The Music Network, is its fourth pillar.
Vinyl.com is a “very fast growing ecommerce platform, it speaks to the fan,” Simons continues, “but a huge part of connecting the dots here is connecting fans as creators, and media and events and everything that The Brag does, fills that gap.” When the opportunity came across the table, and “when we knew what direction they were boldly headed in, it made a lot of sense and got us excited very quickly.”
The amalgamation of both business presents “some really obvious low hanging synergies,” he explains, pointing to sales synergies between Vampr and The Brag Media as one example, “but broadly speaking, it plugged a hole in this broader flywheel of servicing all participants in the music ecosystem.”
People, product and process – “that’s really always my focus,” explains Simons.
The co-founder of Vampr, Simons was elevated from chief strategy officer to CEO in June 2023, succeeding Beth Appleton, who stepped down as CEO with immediate effect.
“Revenue, cost efficiency and profitability remain the top priorities for Jaxsta,” Simons commented at the time of his ascension, “and I look forward to building on the current momentum.”
The agenda remains the same.
“The headline KPI was four quarters of consecutive revenue growth and moving towards profitability,” Simons says. “Under my tenure, we’ve released three quarters of performance. And in each quarter, we’ve averaged 204%, quarter over quarter.” The Brag deal “turbo charges that”.
The completion of the acquisition was confirmed with a statement Feb. 1, when stock was trading at $0.063. At the close of trading today (Feb. 8), VNL stock was trading at $0.066, for a market cap of $41.73 million.
Prior to the deal going through, The Brag Media bolstered its executive team with a triumvirate of appointments. Dane Robertson returned to the company in the newly-created role as head of client and event partnerships in Australia and New Zealand, following a stretch at media firm Pedestrian Group. Also, Denise Barnes joined as client projects director following six-plus years with lifestyle site Man of Many, most recently as head of branded content, and Anan Salvarinas joined the team as senior creative strategist, following two-and-a-half years with LADbible Australia, including a recent run as senior creative (brand).
This year is an “important” one for the business “as we focus on integrating The Brag Media into Vinyl Group’s properties as well as continued strong growth of our technology products,” explains Simons in the Feb. 1 statement to the ASX. “We now have a very clear path to profitability.”
Warner Music Group (WMG) revenue reached a record $1.75 billion from October through December, the company announced Wednesday (Feb. 7). That’s up 17.5% from the prior-year quarter (up 15.9% at constant currency), as both the recorded music and publishing divisions posted their best-ever quarterly revenues.
With Spotify and other streaming services having raised prices in 2023, WMG’s digital revenue increased 16% and streaming revenue grew 16.6%. The company also posted gains in physical sales, licensing revenue and music publishing performance royalties, though the company saw declines in recorded music artist services and expanded rights revenue. Net income rose 55.6% to $193 million and operating income improved 33.6% to $354 million.
“These results reflect the impact of our chart-topping artists, hit-making songwriters, iconic catalog, and laser focus on execution by all our teams,” CEO Robert Kyncl said in a statement. “As we deliver our plan to accelerate our growth, we are becoming more efficient, increasing operating leverage, and freeing up more funds to invest in music and tech, which in turn will drive further sustainable growth.”
Moments after WMG released the quarter’s results — an earnings call will take place Thursday morning (Feb. 8) — news broke that the company will eliminate its staff by 10%, primarily through the sale of owned and operated media companies such as Uproxx and HipHopDX. The company will also eliminate its in-house ad sales function and plans to wind down its podcasting brand, The Interval, as well as social media publisher IMGN. The reductions will free up $200 million in cost savings that can be reinvested elsewhere, Kyncl wrote in a memo to staff obtained by Billboard.
WMG shares were up 6.4% to $36.19 in after-hours trading following the late afternoon release of earnings results and staff reductions.
Excluding three extraordinary items, WMG’s revenue growth was 12.1% (10.6% at constant currency). A previously disclosed licensing agreement extension for an artist’s catalog added $68 million of revenue and a digital licensing agreement renewal added $27 million to the quarter. The termination of a distribution agreement with BMG resulted in $13 million less revenue than the prior-year quarter.
Recorded music revenue improved 16.6% to $1.45 billion on the success of Zach Bryan, Bruno Mars, the Barbie soundtrack and Jack Harlow, whose track “Lovin on Me” first reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in December and recently spent its fourth non-consecutive week atop the chart dated Feb. 3. The segment’s digital revenue grew 13.1% to $908 million while physical revenue climbed 15.8% to $154 million. Licensing revenue jumped 84.5% to $179 million.
Music publishing revenue grew 21.6% (19.7% at constant currency) to $304 million thanks to a 32.2% improvement in streaming revenue and a 31.5% gain in digital revenue. Mechanical royalties — which are tied to downloads and physical purchases — rose 7.1% to $15 million. Publishing’s synch revenue was flat at $39 million as lower commercial licensing activity in the United States was offset by the timing of some legal settlements.
WMG’s margins improved nearly across the board in the quarter. Company-wide, the company’s operating margin rose 2.5 percentage points to 20.3% and its adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) margin rose 3.3 percentage points to 25.8% (and was flat excluding BMG’s termination, the license extension and digital license renewal). Recorded music’s adjusted OIBDA margin rose 4.4 percentage points to 28.5% and its operating margin improved 3.1 percentage points to 25.9%. The publishing division’s operating margin rose 1.1 percentage points to 20.7% while its adjusted OIBDA margin declined 0.5 percentage points to 28.3%, due primarily to the impact of exchange rates.
Warner Music Group announced Wednesday (Feb. 7) that its quarterly revenue grew 17% for the period ended Dec. 31, 2023, up 11% in normalized revenue, to $1.75 billion, its highest quarterly mark ever, ahead of its earnings call Thursday. At the same time, CEO Robert Kyncl announced in an internal memo to staff obtained by Billboard that the company will be reducing its workforce by 10%, or some 600 people, as part of a plan to free up $200 million in cost savings to reinvest into the company.
Much of that workforce reduction, Kyncl wrote, will come in the form of Warner’s owned and operated media properties — such as Uproxx and HipHopDX, which it acquired in August 2018 — as well as in corporate and support roles. “Earlier today, we began exiting our O&O media properties, as well as our in-house ad sales function,” Kyncl wrote. “These are dynamic platforms, but they operate outside our core responsibilities to our roster. We’re in an exclusive process for the potential sale of the news and entertainment websites Uproxx and HipHopDX, with more to say on that soon. After a thorough exploration of alternatives, we’ve decided to wind down the podcasting brand Interval Presents and social media publisher IMGN.”
Kyncl further added that Warner is making the move from “a position of strength,” noting that the company currently has five of the top 10 songs on the Hot 100, “and that’s the smart time to change, innovate and lead. Music is constantly morphing, so we need to morph with it.”
That $200 million in cost savings will be realized by the end of September 2025, Kyncl said in the memo; some of those laid off have already begun to be informed, while the “vast majority” will be notified “by the end of September 2024,” he writes.
“As we carry out our plan, it’s important to bear in mind why we’re making these difficult choices,” the memo continued. “We’re getting on the front foot to create a sustainable competitive advantage over the next decade. We’ll do so by increasing funding behind artists and songwriters, new skill sets, and tech, to help us deliver on our three strategic priorities,” which he says includes growing engagement with music, increasing the value of music and evolving how Warner’s teams work together.
Read Kyncl’s full note to staff below.
Hi everyone,
We just finished our first All Hands of 2024 from LA.
This is a pivotal moment in the evolution of this great company, so I wanted to make sure you heard about it directly from me. As I outlined in my note last month, 2024 is a year during which we will double down on our core business and move at an increased velocity to seize the incredible opportunities for music in the new world.
This week, our recording artists make up five of the top 10, and our songwriters have six of the Top 10, on the Billboard Hot 100. Today, we’re revealing our latest quarterly results: we grew 11% in normalized revenue. And with growing momentum in Recorded Music streaming and excellent results in Music Publishing, we hit our highest quarterly revenue ever. We’re in a position of strength, and that’s the smart time to change, innovate, and lead. Music is constantly morphing, so we need to morph with it.
Today, we’re announcing a plan to free up more funds to invest in music and accelerate our growth for the next decade. To do that, we have to make thoughtful choices about where we put our people, resources, and capital. So, as part of that plan, we’ll be realizing approximately $200 million in annualized cost savings by the end of September 2025. The majority of these savings will be reinvested, putting more money behind the music.
Our plan includes reducing our workforce by approximately 10%, or 600 people – the majority of which will relate to our Owned & Operated media properties, corporate and various support functions.
We’ve already begun to inform many of the impacted employees, and the vast majority will be notified by the end of September 2024. I recognize this is unsettling news. To the people who will be leaving us: you deserve a heartfelt thank you for your hard work and dedication. We’re fortunate that you’ve been part of the team. We’ll be moving as thoughtfully and respectfully as possible, so you have the critical information you need, and we’ll support you through this transition.
Earlier today, we began exiting our O&O media properties, as well as our in-house ad sales function. These are dynamic platforms, but they operate outside our core responsibilities to our roster. We’re in an exclusive process for the potential sale of the news & entertainment websites Uproxx and HipHopDX, with more to say on that soon. After a thorough exploration of alternatives, we’ve decided to wind down the podcasting brand Interval Presents and social media publisher IMGN. Maria and I continue to discuss the ongoing evolution of WMX, and how best to further improve our services to artists and labels, and she’ll update the team in the coming weeks.
As we carry out our plan, it’s important to bear in mind why we’re making these difficult choices. We’re getting on the front foot to create a sustainable competitive advantage over the next decade. We’ll do so by increasing funding behind artists and songwriters, new skill sets, and tech, to help us deliver on our three strategic priorities:
Grow the engagement with Music
Discovering and developing artists and songwriters is at the heart of everything we do. We’ll turbocharge our efforts and investments, with additional focus on high growth geographies and vibrant genres, as well as using our data and insights to help original talents cut through the increasing noise, and taking a holistic global approach to maximizing the potential of their catalogs.
Increase the value of Music
This is one of our industry’s largest and most complex opportunities and one that we’re working on diligently, whether it’s new DSP deal structures or building superfan experiences to help artists connect directly with their most passionate followers.
Evolve how we work together
In order to grow at an accelerated pace, we need to structure our organization so that we can grow efficiently and continue to invest more into music at the same time. That requires being intentional about where centralized shared functions make sense, versus where they are best fully dedicated. This will empower subject matter experts, while scaling our resources. We already made moves in this direction by centralizing our technology, finance and business development teams last year.
Above all, we’re positioning ourselves to be first, to be different, and to be exceptional. I – and the entire leadership team – will be keeping you updated as we make progress. In May, we’ll hold our next All Hands meeting, which we’ll devote to our best new music, as well as our most promising projects.
Thank you for your understanding, passion, and determination. We’re in an amazing industry, we’re partnered with many extraordinary artists and songwriters, and now is the time for us to pioneer the future.
Robert