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Create Music Group has acquired longstanding indie electronic label !K7. The acquisition comes two months after the death of !K7 founder Horst Weidenmueller at age 60.
The acquisition was in motion before Weidenmueller’s death, with a representative for the deal sharing a statement made by the founder before he died: “This transition is a deeply personal one for me, but I know that with Create Music Group, !K7 is in the right hands. Create Music Group shares our commitment to artists, labels, and creativity, and I am confident that this partnership will strengthen !K7’s legacy while opening new doors for the future. I want to thank our incredible team, partners, and artists for being part of this journey — what we have built together will continue to thrive and evolve for years to come.”
Founded in 1985, !K7 began releasing artist albums in 1996, putting forth music from across the wide electronic spectrum and beyond. The company now has offices in Berlin, London and New York, with its label group including the in-house labels !K7, AUS, 7K!, Soul Bank and Strut Records. Its longstanding influential DJ Kicks mix series is an influential and globally known platform for a wide range of DJs and producers.
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!K7 CEO Tom Nieuweboer says the partnership will allow the label “to scale our vision while staying true to our core values of independent artistry, innovation, and quality.”
This is the second high-profile acquisition Create has made in the electronic space this year, with the company announcing in March that it acquired the deadmau5 catalog, along with the catalog of the producer’s mau5trap records, for $55 million.
!K7 will be an asset to Create with its global brand recognition, ubiquity in and knowledge of the European music industry ecosystem, and its physical distribution network. Meanwhile, !K7’s artists and label partners will leverage Create’s in-house services spanning distribution, marketing and more.
“Horst was a special music entrepreneur who built !K7 over 40 years into a globally renowned brand,” said Create CFO William Smith in a statement. “Long before he passed, we spent many hours discussing ways that we could invest more into !K7 to help the business reach new heights, while also preserving the culture and principles that make the business so unique. We’re proud that Horst has trusted us with his legacy and the next chapter of !K7’s growth, and are excited to partner with Tom and the rest of the team in achieving this shared vision.”
“We are thrilled to welcome !K7 and its iconic DJ-Kicks series to the Create Music Group family,” added Create’s senior vp of global corporate development and M&A Eric Nguyen. “This acquisition not only deepens our footprint in electronic music but also reinforces our commitment to forward-thinking music across a wide spectrum of specialist genres represented by its globally respected imprint Strut Records. We’re proud to support the innovative spirit that defines the !K7 catalogue. We look forward to powering the next chapter for !K7, its exceptional roster of artists, and its visionary label partners around the world.”
Four years after DMX’s tragic 2021 death, a New York judge has ruled that his ex-wife can’t claim a 50 percent stake in the rapper’s music catalog and other intellectual property (IP) rights.
Tashera Simmons, who was married to the legendary rapper (Earl Simmons) for 16 years, sued his estate last year, claiming she was the rightful owner of half of his copyrights, trademarks and likeness rights. But in a ruling Monday (April 7), a New York judge said otherwise.
“The estate is the sole owner of all intellectual property rights [that] Earl Simmons acquired during his marriage to plaintiff, as well as any and all other trademarks and intellectual property rights that belonged to Earl Simmons at the time of his death,” Judge David F. Everett wrote.
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The dispute centers on the couple’s 2016 divorce agreement, which mentioned “intellectual property” but didn’t expressly state that Tashera was a co-owner of the copyrights and trademarks. Before his death, DMX insisted the deal only granted her royalty payments — an argument his estate has maintained in the years since his death.
In Monday’s decision, Judge Everett not only ruled that the divorce settlement “does not confer ownership,” but that Tashera had essentially waived the right to make that claim. The judge cited the fact that she had raised the issue in previous litigation and had then signed a settlement that made no mention of sharing ownership.
“Under the circumstances of this case, the court will not, in effect, reopen those proceedings to reinterpret the parties’ 2016 settlement agreement, particularly where the party best positioned to contest a contrary interpretation is now deceased,” the judge wrote.
DMX, one of the most influential stars in hip-hop history, was married to Tashera through his turn-of-the-century heyday, as he released Billboard Hot 100 hits like “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem,” “Party Up (Up In Here)” and “What These Bitches Want.” The pair, who share four children, filed for divorce in 2013 and finalized the split in 2016. After years of health issues, DMX died in April 2021 following a drug overdose and subsequent heart attack.
Tashera sued last year, claiming that the estate’s administrators (DMX’s ex-fiancée Desiree Lindstrom and his daughter by another woman, Sasha Simmons) were improperly disputing her ownership stake. She cited a handwritten excerpt from the divorce settlement, which said she would get half of IP rights, followed by: “which shall include, but not be limited to, royalties.”
But in Monday’s decision, Judge Everett said that language “does not unequivocally assign ownership of decedent’s copyrighted works or trademark and, indeed, makes no mention of ownership or title to such property.”
“Instead, plaintiff proffers an interpretation of the phrase ‘intellectual property rights’ to include ownership, but had that phrase meant ownership, then there would be no need to define those rights further in the subsequent clause, all tellingly limited to various categories of royalty payments.”
The judge did side with Tashera on one smaller issue by refusing to dismiss her accusations that DMX had breached the divorce agreement by failing to pay $214,000 in child support. That issue is factually disputed by both sides, the judge said, meaning dismissing it would be “premature.”
Neither side immediately returned a request for comment on Wednesday (April 9).
A trio of in-depth environmental impact reports are set to be presented for the first time each at next week’s Music Sustainability Summit in Los Angeles.
Representatives from MIT will be at the event to present their Live Music Emissions in the UK and US report, a comprehensive study of the live music industry’s carbon footprint.
The report aims to create a comprehensive assessment of the relationship between live music and climate change, identify primary areas where the industry and concert goers can make tangible improvements to reduce emissions and provide analysis of the latest developments in green technology and sustainable practices. This study has been co-funded and supported by Warner Music Group, Live Nation and Coldplay.
Additionally, Madeline Weir, director of impact at REVERB will present the longstanding organization’s Concert Travel Study, which highlights concert travel — one of the largest sources of live music-related emissions — and shows how the broad music community can address it through collective action. This report is based on insights from more than 35,000 fans at over 400 shows and offers practical, scalable solutions to create more sustainable concerts.
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Finally, representatives from sustainability programs at Columbia University will present a report analyzing current practices, surveying the regulatory landscape and identifying challenges and opportunities related to implementing sustainability practices in venues. An accompanying toolkit will offer tips on how venues can integrate sustainability into their business operations. This report was done in partnership with the Music Sustainability Alliance, with support from OVG and AEG.
The second annual Music Sustainability Summit happens on April 15 at Solotech Studios in Los Angeles. The day-long gathering will offer a robust schedule featuring talks, panel discussions, networking opportunities, performances and more. See the complete program here.
Passes for the Summit are available here. Billboard is the official media sponsor of the event.
“Providing a platform for our partners to present their research at MSS25 is about turning knowledge into momentum,” says Amy Morrison, CEO and Co-founder of the Music Sustainability Alliance. “Whether it’s fan travel, venue operations, or the emissions footprint of live music, these studies help identify where the biggest challenges and the greatest opportunities exist. At MSA, we’re here to ensure the industry has the tools and insights it needs to lead on climate.”
The NO FAKES Act was reintroduced to the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate on Wednesday (April 9) with the help of country legend Randy Travis, his wife Mary Travis and Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl.
The reintroduction of the bill, designed to protect artists against unauthorized AI deepfake impersonations, was part of the Recording Academy’s annual GRAMMYs on the Hill initiative, in which the organization visits D.C. to meet with elected officials and advocate for a variety of music-related causes. On Wednesday, the GRAMMYs on the Hill Awards celebrated Travis, along with U.S. Representatives Linda Sánchez (D-CA) and Ron Estes (R-KS), for their dedication and advocacy for the rights of music creators.
Introduced by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Representatives María Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27), Madeleine Dean (D-PA-4) Nathaniel Moran (R-TX-1), Becca Balint (D-VT-At Large), the NO FAKES Act has also found new supporters in an unlikely place: the tech industry. The bill is now supported by tech giants like YouTube, OpenAI, IBM and Adobe, showing a rare moment of solidarity between artists and big tech in the AI age.
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The NO FAKES Act was first introduced as a draft bill in 2023, and formally introduced to the Senate in the summer of 2024. If passed, the legislation would create federal intellectual property protections for the so-called right of publicity for the first time, which adds restrictions to how someone’s name, image, likeness and voice can be used without consent. Currently, these rights are only protected at the state level, leading to a patchwork of varying laws around the nation.
Unlike some of the patchy state publicity rights laws, the federal right that the NO FAKES Act would create would not expire at death and could be controlled by a person’s heirs for 70 years after their passing. There are, however, specific carve outs for replicas used in news, parody, historical works and criticism to ensure the First Amendment right to free speech remains protected.
Over the last few years, as AI voice models have continued to develop, many artists have often found themselves on the receiving end of AI deepfakes. In 2023, the AI music craze kicked off with the so-called “fake Drake” song “Heart On My Sleeve” which featured the unauthorized AI voices of Drake and the Weeknd. Last year, Taylor Swift, for example, was the subject of a number of sexually-explicit AI deepfakes of her body; the late Tupac Shakur‘s voice was deepfaked by fellow rapper Drake in his Kendrick Lamar diss track “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which was posted, and then deleted, on social media.
Even President Donald Trump participated in the deepfake trend, posting an unauthorized AI image of Swift allegedly endorsing him during his campaign to return to the White House.
“Recently, I was made aware that [an] AI [image] of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation,” Swift wrote in an Instagram post soon after. “It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.”
Overall, the bill has seen widespread support among the entertainment industry establishment. According to a press release about the bill’s reintroduction, it is celebrated by Sony Music, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, the Recording Industry Association of America, the Recording Academy, SAG-AFTRA, Human Artistry Campaign, Motion Picture Association and more.
Mitch Glazier, chairman and CEO of the RIAA, praised the bipartisan effort, saying “this bill proves that we can prioritize the growth of AI and protecting American creativity at the same time.”
Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, added: “The Academy is proud to represent and serve creators, and for decades, GRAMMYs on the Hill has brought music makers to our nation’s capital to elevate the policy issues affecting our industry. Today’s reintroduction of the NO FAKES Act underscores our members’ commitment to advocating for the music community, and as we enter a new era of technology, we must create guardrails around AI and ensure it enhances – not replaces – human creativity.”
The negative response to the song “+57” by Karol G, J Balvin, Maluma, Feid, Blessd, Ryan Castro and DFZM reached a new peak on Tuesday (April 9), when a high court in Colombia ruled that it violated the rights of children because its lyrics “sexualized” minors, reports the Associated Press.
The Council of State, the supreme court for administrative litigation in Colombia, ordered the reggaetón stars to refrain from publishing music that violates the rights of children and teenagers. “Sexualizing minors reduces them to becoming objects of desire, and exposes them to risks that can affect their development,” the court said in a 14-page ruling, according to AP.
The track received a barrage of criticism since its release on Nov. 7 of last year. Rolling Stone En Español published an article titled “The Disaster of +’57′,” which Colombian President Gustavo Petro shared on his X account expressing that “it’s OK to have a cultural debate.” And the ICBF issued a statement saying that the song “reinforces the sexualization of childhood in our country” and that it “does not contribute to our fight against the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.”
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On Nov. 11, Karol gave a lengthy response to the criticism and apologized, saying, “I still have a lot to learn.” A couple days later, the lyrics were changed on the music video, saying “a hot mama since she was 18” instead of “14.”
“+57,” whose title is the international phone code for Colombia, was produced by hitmaker Ovy on the Drums and written by all of the aforementioned artists along with Keityn and newcomer DFZM. The name of the song, and the union of these superstars, had caused anticipation among fans eager for a new reggaeton anthem for Colombia.
The song was recorded in Karol G’s hometown of Medellin, a city that has become famous for nurturing several famous reggaeton singers. A main tourist destination, the city has also struggled to protect minors from sexual predators who visit the city in search of young women, reports the AP.
At last month’s Billboard Women in Music ceremony in Los Angeles, Breakthrough honoree Ángela Aguilar took a moment to express her solidarity with the Latin immigrant community, dedicating her award to women who cross the border to the United States “with nothing but hope in their hearts, only to find themselves living in uncertainty and fear,” she said in a poignant speech that prompted a standing ovation. “You deserve safety, dignity, the right to dream.”
Aguilar is part of a growing group of Latin artists — including Shakira, Maná and Alejandro Fernández — who are using their platforms to speak up for immigrants after President Donald Trump took office in January and immediately launched an aggressive crackdown on immigration, pledging to carry out mass deportations.
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But it was perhaps regional Mexican artist Tony Aguirre who addressed the situation more bluntly. “I’m scared that no one will show up to my shows,” he said during an interview with a Mexican podcaster when asked how things were going with Trump as president. Aguirre tells Billboard he is genuinely worried.
“Regional Mexican events have been directly impacted, and it’s not just me going through this, many of my colleagues feel this way,” says Aguirre, who tours mainly in the U.S. “When it all started, we were reaching out to each other just to see how things were going and everyone was saying the same thing, low attendance. People are scared to go out because of mass deportation threats, and I wanted to speak up because it seems like no one in our industry is willing to really to talk publicly about how this has impacted our industry, and it’s important that we do.”
While the effects of Trump’s policies on Latin music still remain to be seen on a larger scale, there is a real concern about the impact.
Abel DeLuna, California-based member of the veteran Mexican music association Promotores Unidos and founder of Luna Management, is once again dealing with a situation that’s historically effected regional Mexican bailes, which are small but mighty shows (and for many years the backbone of the genre) predominantly held in nightclubs catering to a specific demographic and booked by indie promoters. In 2007, Billboard’s Leila Cobo interviewed DeLuna about “stepped up” immigration enforcement under the George W. Bush administration, where he said then that the immigration situation alone accounted for 20% to 25% of the drop in his concert promotion business. He relived the same scenario 18 years later when Trump took office for a second term earlier this year, with that fourth week of January and first week of February being particularly brutal. DeLuna says shows in those weeks sold only around 10% to 15% of tickets, which ultimately led him to cancel some shows in Northern California.
“Our people are worried,” says DeLuna, speaking over the phone just weeks after Trump took office. “Many are afraid to go out, afraid to go out to work, afraid to go to the bailes, concerts, several having to get canceled because people are not buying tickets. I don’t know how long this is going to last, if it is really going to calm down soon or if it is going to go on for a long time and if it does, then our people are going to suffer a lot and the whole business is going to suffer.”
Low concert attendance aligns with a decrease in foot traffic in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods around the country since Trump took office, says Maria Teresa Kumar, president of Voto Latino, a non-profit organization that aims to encourage young Hispanic and Latino voters to register to vote.
“People are scared that they’re going to be targeted and rounded up, creating a chilling effect happening around a community that is getting internalized mentally but also physically in their decisions to not go shopping or go to concerts,” says Kumar, who in the past has teamed up with artists like Maná and Los Tigres del Norte to get Latinos more politically involved.
The Latin music industry thrives on a diverse fan base, and while it’s reaching a global audience now more than ever, its core listeners are still Latinos, and a significant portion of them are immigrants. Just as with previous administrations, when there are increased reports of immigration raids in U.S. cities, businesses inevitably suffer. That includes everything from flower shops and restaurants in Chicago seeing a notable decline in sales to schools and churches feeling the “chilling effect,” as The New York Times put it in a report about “immigrants in hiding” over fear of deportation.
DeLuna says the sobering topic came up at the annual conference for Promotores Unidos, a long-standing Latin concert promotion association with more than 300 members, in Las Vegas in January.
“[Immigration] is the most important conversation right now,” DeLuna says categorically. “With those I have talked to among the association, I recommend the same thing: We must take care of ourselves, but we have to work harder and try to do better promotion to get people to come to our events, even if that means keeping prices low. What I’m personally doing is lowering prices to see if people feel encouraged to come out.”
Enrique Ortiz of Luz Record, a management, promotion and booking agency based out of L.A., also attended the Promotores Unidos conference in Las Vegas and says that while misinformation on social media about alleged raids in certain cities has also affected concert attendance, he’s been following the situation closely. “We’ve been noticing that ICE is arresting those with a criminal record, yes, but also those who don’t [have one]. And that’s concerning. It has a direct impact on all of us as managers, promoters, musicians.”
Billboard’s reporting confirms that this is an ongoing topic of conversation in important Latin music spaces and is top of people’s minds — although many in the industry prefer not to speak on the record about it. Over the course of two months, Billboard reached out to more than a dozen industry leaders, from managers to agents to promoters, for this story, with the majority declining to give an interview about just how much the Trump administration could impact the business of Latin music. Some who agreed to speak on background on the condition of anonymity expressed the same sentiment: uncertainty. One source, a manager to a well-known regional Mexican act, said they had already seen the impact on live shows in certain markets, particularly concerts that mainly book more traditional (i.e. older) regional Mexican acts.
Josh Norek, president of Regalias Digitales, refuses to stay silent and blasted a wide email to his contacts in March with the subject line: “Latin music industry — the time to speak is now.”
“From venues and record labels to artists and crews, deportations create instability that threatens the economic power of Latin music,” Norek’s email reads, with messaging crafted by Voto Latino for artists and executives to share. “If our audiences and communities are at risk, our industry suffers.”
Norek is particularly focused on the impact Trump’s administration will have on royalties should his promise of mass deportations come to fruition. “I project in the next four years we’ll see a significant decrease in earnings,” he tells Billboard. “I care tremendously on a humanitarian standpoint, but when you think about the economic impact, it’s very simple math: A stream coming from Mexico is worth about 2% of a stream coming from the U.S. So, if you deport 5 million streamers and put them in places like Mexico, Guatemala or Venezuela, you go from paying $10 a month for Spotify to [the] free ad-supported tier in Mexico, and it will generate almost nothing. Meanwhile, Pandora exists only in the U.S. and if you take away those users, it will impact SoundExchange royalties. You shouldn’t have to be a Democrat, Republican or independent to be thinking about the economic impact of deportations.”
Adding to the precariousness of it all, Trump’s global tariffs, announced on April 2, could also affect the U.S. music industry, from musical instrument manufacturers to the vinyl business. They could also lead to a potential decrease in local tourism, directly impacting concert and festival attendance in the U.S.
“During these times [of uncertainty], people are double-thinking how to spend their expendable income and, sadly, concerts are one of those pieces that are disposable income,” adds Kumar. “It’s been only two months and we’re already seeing the implications in the music industry, in hospitality, retail industry — this is not tenable.”
Norek reached out to Voto Latino to help craft messages for industry leaders and artists to share, although the shareable posts have yet to garner wider traction. “I understand that it’s tough for some people to speak out because they don’t want to be demonized,” says Norek. “However, now there’s just outward hostility toward Latinos and immigrants. The least we can do is show our clients that we care. This is our audience.”
Charli XCX appointed PPL for the collection of her international neighboring rights royalties, joining a client list that includes Ice Spice, Kenya Grace, London Grammar, Becky Hill, Sigala, Joel Corry and Lewis Thompson.
Downtown Artist & Label Services announced a trio of new deals including with Capital Cities (“Safe and Sound”), which partnered with the distributor to support the band’s catalog and future releases, including the release of the band’s A Hurricane of Frowns album on Feb. 14. Downtown also signed with Sofi Tukker for the U.S. rights to the duo’s catalog and upstreamed Twenty One Pilots‘ self-titled debut album, originally released via Downtown-owned distributor CD Baby in 2009.
Indian singer Sid Sriram signed a joint venture with Warner Music India that encompasses recorded music, management, live performances, brand collaborations and strategic ventures focused on non-film Indian-language music. Sriram and Warner Music India will “scout and nurture a new wave of global talent” under the agreement. The first release under the deal is Sriram’s “Sivanar,” which was released on Thursday (April 3).
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Indian star Guru Randhawa also signed with Warner Music India, which will release his next album, Without Prejudice. The first single, “Gallan Battan,” was released on March 28. Randhawa’s deal covers recorded music, live experiences, fan engagement and more. The deal includes new management led by Gurjot Singh, who founded BeingU Studios.
Chicago pop-rock quintet The Walters (“I Love You So”) signed a licensing deal with Amuse, which released the band’s debut album, Good Company, late last month. Amuse is providing frontline support, including DSP optimization, playlisting, editorial relationships, marketing, design support and UGC monetization help.
Indie singer-songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou signed with Nettwerk, which will release her first self-produced single, “You and I,” on Friday (April 11). Lou is managed by Gorka Odriozola at Independent Artists Management and booked by Brian Greenwood and Carly James at CAA.
Country band LANCO signed with UTA for representation in all areas. The band released its debut album, We’re Gonna Make It, in January; recently completed its We’re Gonna Make It tour; and is slated to play multiple fairs and festivals this summer. LANCO is managed by Bryan Coleman and Eleanor Kohl at Union Entertainment Group/Red Light Management.
Caroline Jones, a country singer-songwriter and member of Zac Brown Band, signed a recording deal with Big Machine Label Group’s Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment. The label released her latest track, “No Tellin,’” on March 28.
Former We The Kingdom member Franni Cash is launching a solo career and has formed her new team, which included signing a label deal with Capitol Christian Music Group and aligning with WME for booking representation. She is managed by Round Table Management’s Hannah Gifford. As part of We The Kingdom, Cash has earned two Grammy nominations and won three GMA Dove Awards. – Jessica Nicholson
Americana band The Brudi Brothers signed with Mom+Pop Music on the heels of its viral single “Me More Cowboy Than You.”
Emerging country singer-songwriter Tyler Nance signed a management deal with Redline Entertainment in Nashville. Nance will be managed by the firm’s Larry Blackford and Wes Mayers. He released his debut EP, Wasted Chances, last year.
Ohio native and country-rock artist Preston Cooper has signed with The Neal Agency for booking representation. Cooper has released songs including “Numbers on a Mailbox” and Weak” and will release his debut album, Toledo Talkin’, on May 30. The Neal Agency’s roster also includes Morgan Wallen, Ernest, HARDY, Bailey Zimmerman, Ella Langley and Anne Wilson. – Jessica Nicholson
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: Young Thug’s Atlanta prosecutors get really mad over a social media post; Diddy’s sex trafficking case heats up as a trial date looms; Mariah Carey seeks payback after beating a “Christmas” copyright case; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: DA Gets Mad About Young Thug’s Tweets
Less than six months after Young Thug pleaded guilty to gang charges and was sentenced to probation, he found himself facing accusations from Atlanta prosecutors that he had violated his release terms. The issue? A mean tweet.
To rewind: After sitting in jail for more than two years on felony accusations over his “YSL” group, Thug rebuffed a plea deal and simply pleaded guilty in October, winning a sentence of only probation — a humiliating result for the Fulton County District Attorney’s office after the longest-running trial in state history had descended into chaos.
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While Thug avoided prison, he was hit with strict release terms from the judge, who warned him that “there better be no violations.” And on Wednesday (April 2), prosecutors accused him of just such a misstep — citing a social media post on X (formerly Twitter) in which the rapper had criticized an investigator as “the biggest liar in the DA’s office.” They called that post “a blatant disregard for the law” and part of a “a calculated campaign of intimidation.”
Unsurprisingly, Thug’s attorneys disagreed — calling those accusations “baseless” and arguing that the rapper was legally entitled to voice his opinion about the government even while under probation: “Mr. Williams can admit to all of the allegations alleged and still not have violated any term of his probationary sentence.”
When the dust settled Thursday (April 3), Judge Paige Reese Whitaker sided with Thug and declined to revoke his probation. But she also suggested that he be more careful on social media: “While the court does not find that the cited social media post rises to the level of a violation of defendant’s probation, it may be prudent for defendant to exercise restraint regarding certain topics.”
Other top stories this week…
DIDDY CASE HEATS UP – The sweeping sexual abuse case against Sean “Diddy” Combs heated up with the trial looming next month, first with a new superseding indictment that added new legal charges against the star, and then with news that his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura would testify against him at the trial using her real name. Prosecutors argued that the other three alleged victims should remain anonymous, though, citing such treatment in previous cases against R. Kelly and Ghislaine Maxwell.
PRE-TRIAL CLASH – Meanwhile, federal prosecutors and Diddy’s defense attorneys sparred over a crucial pre-trial question: Whether jurors can hear testimony from numerous other accusers beyond the four women at the core of the government’s case. His lawyers say the feds are trying to “pollute the trial with decades of dirt” by adding last-minute “incendiary” claims to paint him as a “bad guy”; the government says Combs is “desperately” trying to keep relevant testimony about his other intent and knowledge “hidden from the jury.”
MARIAH’S REVENGE – After beating a copyright lawsuit over her holiday classic “All I Want for Christmas is You,” Mariah Carey and other defendants demanded that Vince Vance, the little-known songwriter who filed the case, repay more than $180,000 they spent on lawyers defending certain “frivolous” motions. That might sound like a lot for just a few motions, but Carey says she was “perfectly justified” in paying elite lawyers because Vance was seeking drastic remedies like $20 million in damages and the “destruction of all copies” of the song.
DRAKE DISCOVERY – A federal judge ruled that Drake could move forward with discovery in his defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) over Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us,” allowing his attorneys to begin demanding documents like Lamar’s record deal. The ruling went against UMG, which had argued that Drake’s case was so flawed that it would likely be quickly dismissed, making discovery a waste of everyone’s time. But discovery in a civil lawsuit is a two-way street — infamously so in defamation cases — and UMG can now also seek vast swathes of sensitive materials about Drake, including demanding to depose the rapper himself.
HAYES v. TRUMP SURVIVES – A federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump must face a copyright lawsuit filed by the estate of Isaac Hayes over the president’s alleged use of the 1966 song “Hold On, I’m Coming” on the campaign trail. The president’s attorneys had argued that Hayes’ estate had failed to show that it even owned a copyright to the song, but a judge said the estate had done just enough to avoid having the case tossed at the outset.
“NOTHING MISLEADING” – SiriusXM asked a federal judge to dismiss a class action claiming the company earns billions by foisting a deceptive “U.S. Music Royalty Fee” onto subscribers, arguing there had been “nothing misleading” about its pricing and marketing. The lawsuit claims the fee makes the service far more expensive than advertised, but SiriusXM argued that users “received what they paid for” and knew about the fee: “Sirius XM has done exactly what it said it would do: charge a monthly price for music subscriptions, plus ‘fees and taxes’.”
GEMA revenue rose 4% to €1.33 billion in 2024 ($1.44 billion, according to an average annual exchange rate), the German collecting society announced Tuesday (April 8). The organization also said it’s distributing €1.13 billion ($1.22 billion) to rightsholders, the third consecutive year in which that number has exceeded the billion-euro mark. It reduced its cost ratio modestly, from 15.2% to 14.9%.
Last year “was marked by geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, and disruptive technological developments,” GEMA CEO Tobias Holzmüller said in a statement released with the results. “In this environment, GEMA demonstrated stability — financially, organizationally, and culturally.”
The live concert business segment is growing especially fast, with revenue rising almost 17% to €194.9 million ($210.9 million). Public performance revenue as a whole — i.e., revenue from compositions played in public places, including concerts but also stores or restaurants — rose 13.1% to €502 million ($543.3 million). That’s GEMA’s biggest category of revenue, with growth fueled largely by Germany’s live concert boom.
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GEMA’s second biggest source of revenue was online, which came in at €310.1 million ($335.6 million), down very slightly from €310.3 million ($335.8 million). Online generally shows more growth, but the way collecting societies book revenue makes it hard to draw any conclusions from this. Revenue from the use of music on radio and TV increased 1.2% to €308.4 million ($333.8 million).
International revenue increased to €87.8 million ($95 million), up 6.9%. Revenue from statutory remuneration rights, which consists mostly of levies on blank media and computer memory, as well as legal settlements, fell to €58.6 million ($63.4 million) — down significantly from 2023, when retroactive remuneration claims were settled — or about the 2022 level. Mechanical royalties from physical media, such as CDs and vinyl records, should increase 2.2% to €45.7 million ($49.5 million).
For the past few years, since the pandemic, the major European collecting societies have experienced substantial growth — partly because they took in less during the pandemic and partly because of the subsequent boom in concert attendance. This year, growth is expected to return to normal, and that seems to be the case with GEMA’s results. It will be interesting to see if its rival societies fare better, or whether overall growth will return to a slow, gradual climb.
Back before satellite radio launched at the turn of the millennium, the best an artist could hope for was that their label’s radio team could help get their songs on playlists at as many terrestrial stations as possible, as often as possible.
But following the launch of the XM and Sirius satellite radio services in 2001 and 2002, respectively, a new paradigm emerged that allowed artists the possibility of hosting their own bespoke channels — on which they could play their hits and deep cuts, as well as songs by their influences, while chatting up their latest releases.
The new format kicked off, naturally, with Elvis Radio in 2004 on Sirius. That was followed by Sirius’ first artist pop-up channel, the Bruce Springsteen-focused E Street Radio, in November 2005, which ultimately went full-time in 2007 and continues to this day.
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The trend continued following the 2008 merger of the Sirius and XM satellite services. Since then, SiriusXM has hosted full-time channels by big-name artists including Kenny Chesney, Willie Nelson, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Pitbull, Eminem, Bob Marley, Diplo, The Beatles, Jimmy Buffett, Grateful Dead, Phish, Frank Sinatra and dozens of others. The service has also collaborated with artists including Green Day, Beastie Boys, Jonas Brothers, Metallica, Linkin Park, Luke Bryan, Coldplay, Usher and Billie Eilish on shorter-run pop-up stations.
So why have artists flocked to the service to claim their own spots on the satellite dial?
For some, having their own SiriusXM channel can serve as a valuable promotional vehicle for a forthcoming release. Lady Gaga, who had a short-run “Gaga Radio” channel in February ahead of her blockbuster Mayhem album, tells Billboard it was “a reflection of the sounds that shaped Mayhem, the artists who move and inspire me, and the emotional connection I share with my fans,” adding that “every song you hear was handpicked — not by an algorithm, but by me.”
Marcus Mumford — whose band Mumford & Sons is the newest act to have a short-run channel, tied to the release of its new album Rushmere — says his group “leapt” at the chance to celebrate their music and look back at their catalog, live performances and collaborations over the years. “As artists now we can’t show up expecting to get people’s attention… there’s less gatekeeping, which is a good thing, so you really have to put in the work,” he tells Billboard. While taking extra time to sit with SiriusXM staffers to record the stories behind the band’s songs and curate the channel during the rush of Rushmere promotional duties, was, in his words, “not ideal,” he says the group was up for the hard work it takes. “We love going where people are,” he says.
“The feedback we get labels or artists when they do these pop-up channels has been really outstanding, so I think there are other aspects beyond increasing consumption numbers,” says SiriusXM head of music Steve Blatter when asked if there’s specific market data he can point to that illustrates a Colbert-like “SiriusXM bump” for either the long-running or time-limited channels (he notes that the company does not share any details on the financial arrangements for its artist channels).
For other artists, particularly those who have year-round stations on the satellite service, it’s less about promoting a project than about promoting a catalog, or even a culture. When LL Cool J launched his year-round Rock the Bells Radio channel in 2018, he wasn’t interested in just putting his name on a channel — he wanted to preserve and elevate timeless hip-hop. “[I] personally went through thousands of tracks to shape something real for the culture,” he says. “Every song, every interview, every moment you hear is chosen with intention.”
Tom Petty‘s daughter, Adria Petty, says that when her dad heard Bob Dylan doing his “Theme Time Radio Hour” shows on SiriusXM’s Deep Tracks channel from 2006 to 2009 — on which the rock bard told rambling stories and played songs around a particular theme — it led him to approach SiriusXM about starting his own channel, realizing the free format would allow him to do something other than talk about his music and lyrics, which “he found to be a hassle,” she says.
While Petty was alive, the channel also gave Petty’s fellow Heartbreakers band members the chance to come on and do their own shows and play deep cuts, live tracks and rarities. “It was that idea that DJs are people who create and curate culture and have fun in communion with people,” says Adria, adding that before her father died in 2017 at age 66, he told her the channel was a crucial part of his legacy.
Today, Adria says the channel not only heightens her dad’s catalog consumption but functions as the “heart and soul” of the estate. The 24-hour channel’s constant presence on the virtual dial impacts the catalog “in a big way,” she says, because there’s a whole team dedicated to programming it, which can help promote re-issues and archival releases.
“When you have an artist produce their channel in the manner we do, it’s not just about spinning their music, but about shaping a culture and cultivating the artist’s fan community and really presenting their legacy in a way that’s very authentic and credible to that artist,” says Blatter. Since Carrie Underwood’s year-round Carrie’s Country channel launched in 2023, it’s been an “amazing avenue” for the country star to connect with her fans, says her manager, The HQ’s Ann Edelblute, who adds that connection “is extremely important to her and the reason she signed on.” Since the launch of Carrie’s Country, the superstar has launched two additional streaming-only channels: Carr-dio by Carrie, featuring the country star’s workout picks; and Savior Sunday Daily, which has a mix of uplifting faith-based country and gospel.
“Both [of the additional channels] allow her to go deeper into areas that she and the fans love,” says Edelblute. “The three channels are a great creative outlet for her as well, as she regularly curates new playlists and loves being able to create new content and special programming year-round.”
Not everyone can have a year-round channel, however. Satellite-distributed services such as SiriusXM have a limited bandwidth to work with, says Blatter, so there’s a fixed number of channels they can offer; any time they add a new channel, they have to drop something else. “I’d love to offer a lot more artists their own year-round channels, but it’s challenging to do so…so the bar to get your own year-round channel becomes fairly high,” he says. Another key factor in who gets a spot is whether an artist’s body of work can hold up to being a year-round draw, according to Blatter. This can include legacy acts like the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, Springsteen, Grateful Dead and Phish as well as contemporary artists such as Eilish and Lizzo.
As for audience size, Blatter says even the artist channels with the smallest audiences are well-trafficked, though he declined to provide any hard numbers. (A spokesperson for SiriusXM says the company does not publicly share listenership data.)
At this point, SiriusXM has 46 year-round artist partner channels, though a few legendary acts with deep catalogs such as Michael Jackson, Prince, Dolly Parton and Beyoncé are noticeably absent from the permanent lineup (though all except Beyoncé have had limited-run channels in the past). Blatter says he’d love to expand the company’s relationship with any of those artists (or artist estates) into something bigger, noting that sometimes it’s the talent’s choice to only commit to a short-run channel to promote an album release or documentary.
Sometimes it comes down to resources and the artist only wanting to have a presence during a specific promotional window. Or, in the case of a somewhat niche act like Trans-Siberian Orchestra, realizing that interest will peak during the Christmas holiday and then likely drop off shortly after, making a quick hit channel more realistic.
For Mumford, having a SiriusXM channel is a way to engage with fans on a deeper level amid a surge in short-form content that perhaps underestimates audiences’ attention spans. “A lot of your publicity has to be shortened into snippets… yet people’s capacity and attention is greater than ever — they’ll sit and watch 10 hours of a Netflix show,” he says. “I think people want to hear stories in whatever form they come… it felt like a wider palette to paint with.”