Business
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Sony Music announced on Monday (April 7) that David Massey, president of Arista Records since its relaunch in 2018, will retire at the end of June. The company has yet to announce new leadership.
“It has been a privilege to work with David on the rebirth of Arista,” Sony Music Group chairman Rob Stringer said in making the announcement. “In two different eras at Sony Music, David has been a hugely respected key senior executive for the company worldwide and as a friend and colleague in both those eras I wish him all the happiness in his retirement.”
Founded by Clive Davis in 1974, Arista was the longtime home of Whitney Houston, Patti Smith, Carlos Santana and Barry Manilow, among other legends, before it was retired in 2011 by RCA executives. Sony Music Nashville continued to operate Arista Nashville, which featured Brad Paisley on its roster, until its closure in March 2023.
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Massey and Stringer’s decision to resurrect the Arista Records brand received the Davis seal of approval in 2018. “Clive was amazing about it,” Massey told Billboard at the time, “and I think we all just felt like it was a very natural, great opportunity to bring back a label that so many people respect and love seeing it.”
Under Massey’s leadership, Arista’s roster has included Grammy-nominated singer JP Saxe, Italian rock band Måneskin, and rappers Lola Brooke and Paul Russell, among others.
Prior to joining Arista, the British-born executive led Universal Music Group’s Mercury Records from 2007 until he became president of Island Records in 2013. During his tenure, Island was part of the Island Def Jam Music Group until it became a standalone entity in April 2014. At Island, Massey guided the careers of artists such as Shawn Mendes, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Tove Lo, The Killers, Fall Out Boy, Bon Jovi and Mike Posner.
Earlier in his career, Massey spent a decade at Sony’s Epic Records, advancing through the A&R department to become head of the division, and later executive vice president of A&R for Sony Music Label Group U.S. He also founded Daylight Records, in 2000, where he signed and developed Good Charlotte, Jonas Brothers, Anastacia and Phantom Planet.
Before his tenure at Epic, Massey built a successful career in London as an artist manager, working with acts like Wang Chung. He also ran his own independent record company, Big World Records.
Massey served as a governor and trustee at the RIAA from 2010 to 2015.
“It has been a great honour to spend this chapter of my career back at Sony Music, working with Rob Stringer, a visionary executive for whom I have the utmost admiration, and with the extraordinary Sony family worldwide,” Massey said. “Having started the label from scratch nearly seven years ago, I am so proud of the achievements of the team at Arista and our great young artists. I know that Arista will go from strength to strength in the future.”
Scooter Braun and Jermaine Dupri are together again.
On Monday (April 7), HYBE America, where Braun serves as CEO, announced it had struck a distribution partnership with Dupri’s legendary So So Def Recordings, serving as a full-circle moment for both music executives.
“Everything I learned about the music business started with Jermaine,” said Braun in a statement. “He gave me my first shot when I was just a kid with a dream. I was blessed to witness genius up close — and now, years later, it’s an honor to return to where it all began and stand beside him as a partner.”
Braun’s legendary career started when he was a 19-year-old club promoter working under Dupri’s tutelage. In the years since, he has risen to become one of the biggest names in the music business, previously managing A-list artists like Justin Bieber, Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Ariana Grande.
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The deal will give So So Def full access to HYBE America’s marketing infrastructure, allowing the label to expand its artists’ global reach.
As one of the biggest powerhouse labels of the ’90s and early 2000s, So So Def’s roster has included superstars like Usher, Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey. It also recently launched rising star Muni Long.
“Jermaine Dupri isn’t just a legend — he’s one of the greatest producers and executives of all time,” Braun continued. “He changed the sound of a generation. This deal is about giving him the modern tools and reach his legacy deserves, and making sure the next generation hears what the last one already knows: Jermaine Dupri is a giant.”
Dupri echoed this sentiment in his own statement. “This isn’t just a business move — this is family,” he said. “Watching Scooter build what he has built has made me incredibly proud. He learned the game inside So So Def, and now he’s in a position to open doors the way I once opened them for him. That’s what legacy is about.”
So So Def and HYBE America will begin rolling out new music in the coming months.
British police on Friday (April 4) charged Russell Brand with rape and sexual assault following an 18-month investigation sparked when four women alleged they had been assaulted by the controversial comedian.
London’s Metropolitan Police force said Brand, 50, faces one count of rape, one of indecent assault, one of oral rape and two of sexual assault.
Brand denied engaging in “non-consensual” sexual activity.
The alleged offenses involve four women and took place between 1999 and 2005 — one in the English seaside town of Bournemouth and the other three in the Westminster area of central London.
Police said the investigation remains open and urged anyone with relevant information to contact the force.
In September 2023, British media outlets Channel 4 and the Sunday Times published claims by four women of being sexually assaulted or raped by Brand. The accusers have not been identified.
The comedian, author and Get Him to the Greek actor has been interviewed by police about the allegations, which he denies.
In a video posted Friday on X, Brand said “I’ve never engaged in non-consensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes.”
He added that “I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”
Known for his unbridled and risqué standup routines, Brand hosted shows on radio and television, wrote memoirs charting his battles with drugs and alcohol, appeared in several Hollywood movies and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry between 2010 and 2012.
In recent years, Brand has largely disappeared from mainstream media but has built up a large following online with videos mixing wellness and conspiracy theories. He recently said he had moved to the United States.
Brand is due to appear in a London court on May 2.
Jaswant Narwal, of Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service, said prosecutors “carefully reviewed the evidence after a police investigation into allegations made following the broadcast of a Channel 4 documentary in September 2023.
“We have concluded that Russell Brand should be charged with offences including rape, sexual assault and indecent assault,” Narwal said.
“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds everyone that criminal proceedings are active, and the defendant has the right to a fair trial.”
In January the BBC apologized to staff members who felt unable to complain about Brand’s conduct because of his celebrity status. Brand had two weekly radio shows on the BBC from 2006 to 2008 and worked periodically on a number of short-term projects.
The BBC acknowledged that it was “clear that presenters have been able to abuse their positions” in the past.
Fyre Fest founder Billy McFarland is pushing back after Mexican government officials poured cold water on his plans to resuscitate his flailing Fyre Fest 2.
Hours after the city council of Playa del Carmen, a seaside resort town along Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce the event was not happening, McFarland issued a statement of his own calling media reports of the news “inaccurate” and “based on misinformation.”
The disagreement began Wednesday night (April 2) when an account for the Playa del Carmen City Hall posted a statement that, when translated to English, claimed no event called Fyre Fest 2 was happening in the coastal city.
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“In response to rumors about a supposed event called ‘Fyre 2,’ we inform you that no event of that name will be held in Playa del Carmen,” the statement read. “After a thorough review, there is no record or planning of any such event in the municipality.”
That led McFarland to fire back today, taking to Instagram to claim that “Fyre has been working directly with the government of Playa del Carmen and their officials since March 5, 2025, to ensure a safe and successful event.” McFarland then shared about a dozen documents on the festival’s Instagram account detailing its work with Playa del Carmen government officials to secure the proper permits for the festival, which has long been billed as a redemption project for McFarland following his disastrous 2017 Fyre Festival in the Bahamas. For that event, ticket holders were promised a luxury destination music festival only to find, on arrival at Great Exuma island, that the event they were promised was completely unrealized.
McFarland ended up serving a four-year prison sentence for misleading investors about the project. Since his release in 2022, he has promised to stage a makeup event to clean up his image and help repay the $26 million he owes his victims in restitution.
As part of Friday’s document dump, McFarland shared an email from someone with a gobiernodesolidaridad.gob.mx email address — a URL tied to the Playa del Carmen municipal government — that he called an “official invitation letter” designed to be sent to artists’ representatives to help procure talent for the festival. (The name of the email’s sender was redacted.)
“We are actively working with Fyre Festival 2 organizers to ensure a successful event from May 30 – June 2, 2025,” the email reads. “The event organizers have secured some of the best beach clubs, villas and experiential locations.” McFarland also included copies of alleged event authorization permits from Luis Armando Herrera Quiam, secretary general of Playa del Carmen, along with an alleged film permit and environmental impact assessment.
What the back and forth means for the future of Fyre Fest 2 remains to be seen. McFarland had previously announced plans to stage the event on Isla Mujeres, a popular tourist destination in the Caribbean Sea about a 30-minute ferry ride from Cancun, located in the state of Quintana Roo. But in March, tourism officials there told several media outlets that no record of the festival existed.
Tickets for Fyre Fest 2 start at $1,400 a piece for a four-day pass (airfare and hotel not included) and go as high as $25,000 for artist passes. On the high end, fans can also purchase a $1 million package for eight people that McFarland says includes access to luxury villas, a private marina with high-end yachts and a private jet to and from Cancun.
Music stocks were battered this week after President Donald Trump unveiled the tariffs that will be applied to imported goods from around the world.
The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) fell 8.2% for the week ended Friday (April 4), marking the largest single-week decline in the index’s two-and-a-half-year history. Among the 17 stocks that posted losses, eight declined by 10% or more, and one — iHeartMedia — far surpassed a 20% decline. Of the 20 stocks on the index, only three South Korean K-pop companies posted gains for the week.
Markets around the world experienced large declines in the wake of the tariffs. In the U.S., the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 10.0% and the S&P 500 dipped 9.1%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 slipped 7.0%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index fell 3.6%. China’s SSE Composite Index declined just 0.3%.
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SM Entertainment was the top performer of the week with an 8.3% gain, besting JYP Entertainment’s 3.3% increase and HYBE’s 2.3% improvement. No other music stock finished the week in positive territory, although French company Believe came close with a 0.1% decline.
Spotify fell 10.3% to $503.30, erasing approximately $12 billion of market value. While most stocks cratered on Thursday (April 3), Spotify had fared relatively well by losing just 1.2%. But Spotify shares fell 9.9% on Friday (April 4), paring down the once high-flying stock’s year-to-date gain to 7.9%.
Like Spotify, Tencent Music Entertainment bucked the downward trend on Thursday by suffering only a minor loss, but declined 9.5% on Friday, dropping 9.9% to $12.95.
Radio companies, which are heavily dependent on advertising revenue, were among the most affected stocks. iHeartMedia shares fell 26.8% to $1.20, bringing its year-to-date decline to 43.7%. Cumulus Media dropped 14.9% to $0.40. SiriusXM declined 14.2% to $19.51.
Live entertainment stocks were also hit hard. Sphere Entertainment Co., owner of the Sphere venue in Las Vegas, fell 19.5% to $26.74, mirroring sharp declines in gaming companies reliant on travel to Las Vegas such as Wynn Resorts (down 14.9% this week) and Caesars Entertainment (down 9.7%). Sphere announced on Friday that it has two new experiences in production: The Wizard of Oz at Sphere and From The Edge, a film about extreme sports.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment dropped 11.9% to $29.71, widening its year-to-date loss to 17.2%. Live Nation had been up 7.7% through Wednesday (April 2) but finished the week down 3.4% after losing a combined 10.3% over Thursday and Friday. German concert promoter CTS Eventim fell just 6.2%.
Music stocks started 2025 well, but concerns about tariffs have wiped out the index’s early gains. The BGMI has lost 18.0% of its value since Feb. 14 and has declined in five of the previous seven weeks. Halfway through February, the index had gained nearly 30% in the first six weeks of the young year. By Friday, that year-to-date gain was down to 6.3%.
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The Trump administration’s tariff policy aims to return manufacturing to the United States is already having ripple effects throughout for the U.S. music industry and could have further consequences in the future.
Trump announced on Wednesday (April 2) a minimum 10% tariff on all trade partners, a 25% tariff on all foreign-made automobiles and additional tariffs on countries with which the U.S. has a trade deficit. No country is safe — not even Australia’s uninhabited territories near Antarctica, which got slapped with a 10% tariff despite having more penguins than people.
The tariffs are meant to protect America’s manufacturing industry and encourage businesses and consumers to purchase U.S.-made goods. But because many goods produced in the U.S. consist of raw goods and finished components imported from elsewhere, even products made at home are subject to higher costs that may be passed on to consumers. Musical instruments are likely to suffer from the tariffs, and they’re not alone.
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“Domestic vinyl pressing costs are likely to rise,” says an executive in the vinyl manufacturing business. Much of the PVC used to manufacture records comes from overseas and will be subject to tariffs, this person says. Canada supplies much of the board stock and paper for record packaging. Lacquers used to create temporary masters for vinyl pressing come from Japan.
The cost of physical music product from Europe will also become more expensive, says David Macias, co-founder of Thirty Tigers. Macias is trying to help Thirty Tigers’ labels source manufacturing in the U.S. to avoid the additional costs, but he notes that because domestic manufacturing costs will likely increase, independent record stores may still face “a chilling effect” from higher wholesale prices and financially stressed consumers. “We’re heading straight into $35 single vinyl albums,” says Macias. “In an economy where everything else costs more, vinyl will become a luxury item.”
The music business could be spared some of the pain. As the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) noted in a message emailed to its members, the Berman Amendment to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — which President Trump invoked to launch the tariffs — prevents the president from regulating or banning the import of “informational materials” such as phonographs and CDs. And the Free Trade in Ideas Act of 1994 expanded the Berman Amendment to include newer forms of communication. The vinyl manufacturing executive expressed uncertainty about the exemptions, however, and expects vinyl imports will be subject to tariffs “at least in the short run.”
Responses from foreign countries could heighten tensions and ensnare music companies in unexpected ways. China responded by slapping a 34% tariff on U.S. imports, and the U.K. is reportedly compiling a list of U.S. products it could hit with tariffs. A2IM told its members that countries could also respond by withholding royalty payments.
Some U.S. contingents have praised the tariffs: steel manufacturers, electrical contractors and the cattle industry, among others. “This is exactly the type of bold action America needs to restore its industrial leadership,” Zach Motti, chairman of the Coalition for Prosperous America (CPA), said in a statement. The CPA represents U.S. farmers, labor unions, manufacturers and ranchers, and it advocates for trade protections, according to non-partisan watchdog InfluenceWatch.
But the tariffs, and the Trump administration’s bellicose and often threatening statements, aren’t being well received by other countries. Not only are U.S. trading partners responding with tariffs of their own, but some foreigners are also avoiding the U.S. altogether. That presents a huge potential loss of visits to experience everything from music festivals in Southern California to the rich musical history of the Mississippi Delta.
Nashville, a city heavily dependent on tourism, is already seeing fewer visitors from the north. “Canada is our top international market, and unfortunately, we are already seeing a decrease in Canadian visitors,” Deana Ivey, president/CEO, of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, said in a statement to Billboard. “We know how much they enjoy coming here for the music, and we’re hopeful they will still make the trip to CMA Fest” in June. International visitors accounted for approximately 3% of the 17 million visitors to Nashville in 2024, with about half coming from Canada, according to the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp.
A decline in Canadian tourism would hurt more than Nashville. The U.S. Travel Association estimated the tariffs could result in a 10% decline in U.S. tourism from Canada, the No. 1 source of tourism to the U.S. with 20.4 million visitors and $20.5 billion in spending in 2024. Las Vegas would be hard-hit: Canada was the top source of foreign visitors to the city in 2024, bringing in more than 1.4 million people, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
There are already signs that Canadians are avoiding their neighbor to the south. In March, Canadian airline Flair Airlines announced it canceled flights from Canada to Nashville — a loss of 18,000 seats, according to the commissioner of Tennessee’s Department of Tourist Development. Also last month, the president/CEO of Visit Buffalo Niagara told CP24.com that cross-border visits were down 14% in February from the prior-year period. “This is a big concern for us,” he said.
The testy relationship between the governments of the U.S. and Canada prompted the Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) to pull out of SXSW. Back in February, CIMA president/CEO Andrew Cash became concerned that spending Canadian tax dollars on a trade mission to the U.S. might not be a good choice given the tone of political discourse. CIMA’s presence at SXSW, Canada House, is a public-facing, Canadian-branded event that hosts “vulnerable artists” and their teams, he explains. “It was hard to know what effect that was having on the attitude towards Canada,” he explains. “That was part of it. CIMA also is the custodian of a certain amount of taxpayer dollars. And I also thought about the optics of that.”
Cash isn’t alone in his unwillingness to spend money in the U.S. Rob Oakie, executive director of Music PEI, a non-profit that aids music development for Prince Edward Island, says the recent political rhetoric, combined with the increased cost of time required for Canadians to obtain a visa to tour the U.S., will result in fewer trips to a market that has always been a focus for Canadian artists.
Oakie says his music development colleagues at the other three Atlantic providences — Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland — have collectively decided “not to invest any money in the U.S. in the immediate future.” That affects upcoming travel to the Folk Alliance International Conference to be held in January in New Orleans and the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards to be held in September in Chattanooga, Tenn.
“On the artist side,” Oakie adds, “I have heard quite a number of artists saying they have no intention of touring the U.S.” He points to an incident in March with Canadian folk duo Cassie and Maggie that received national attention after the musicians were pulled over by sheriff deputies in Ohio. According to reports, each sister was asked if they preferred Canada or the U.S. while the officers echoed a Trump talking point about the amount of fentanyl that comes into the U.S. from Canada.
While President Trump’s tariffs are meant to fix a deficit in the goods trade, they could end up affecting the country’s services trade surplus. The European Union’s anti-coercion instrument (ACI), introduced in 2023, allows the EU to impose penalties on countries that use trade policy to attempt to get a country to change policy. Created mainly as a deterrent, the ACI provides tools for the EU to deal with coercion, including tariffs on goods but, importantly, also trade restrictions on services, intellectual property and foreign direct investment.
That could leave American tech companies, many of which provide music services globally, vulnerable. A French government spokesperson told Reuters that digital services are likely to be a focus, and a senior European Union official told Politico a response could target intellectual property rights. In other words, Trump’s tariffs could affect not just physical goods but the digital engine that drives the modern music business.
Federal prosecutors have unveiled an updated indictment against Sean “Diddy” Combs, adding new charges to the sex trafficking and racketeering case just over a month before trial. In a superseding indictment filed Thursday (April 3) in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors made several tweaks to the sweeping case against Combs, which claims that the hip-hop mogul […]
After finishing the last of seven concerts at GNP Seguros Stadium in Mexico City March 30 as part of her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran tour, Shakira announced she would return to Mexico in August. Her encore will bring her total shows played in the country to 22, a record for a single tour. Shakira initially played 11 stadium shows in Mexico, selling them all out, and eventually announced additional shows for August and September, including one more stop at GNP Seguros Stadium. Her eight performances there will be a record.
It’s the latest success in a string of them for the Colombian star. Last week, Billboard reported that, for the month of February, Shakira topped the monthly Top Tours chart for the first time, earning $32.9 million from 282,000 tickets sold that month, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
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Shakira follows Bad Bunny, Los Bukis and RBD among Latin artists who have topped the monthly ranking, making her the first solo Latin woman to hit No. 1. This also marks the first time Shakira ever tops the chart, which launched in 2019, after she finished her previous outing, 2018’s El Dorado World Tour.
All those tickets sold are particularly sweet success for Shakira, who not only hadn’t toured in six years, but hadn’t had this level of success with her recorded music, either. Since 2019, as is by now very well known, the global superstar split up with her longtime partner, Gerard Pique, moved from Barcelona to Miami, turned her heartbreak into chart-topping songs, and now, at 47 years old and as the mother of two children, is in the midst of what will be the biggest tour of her career.
At her side is manager Nadine Eliya, who after working with Shakira in different capacities for years, took over management in 2023 after the Colombian star moved to Miami and started releasing new music. While that was a project in and of itself, Shakira’s new tour, a massive endeavor that kicked off last month in Brazil, is the Colombia’s star most ambitious move yet. Originally slated to be an arena tour, Shakira scrapped those plans last fall, following reaction to her new album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (Sony Music Latin), and announced she was doing stadiums instead. And while she had to cancel three South American dates —two for production issues and one due to illness — her Mexico run has more than made up for lost time.
Given the extraordinary resurgence of Shakira, spotlighted by her No. 1 spot on Top Tours for February, Eliya is Billboard’s Executive of the Week. Here, she speaks about crafting Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, and its impact on the touring market.
You’ve had many Shakira highlights in the past year, but these Mexico concerts feel particularly significant. Is that the case?
These Mexico concerts were so rewarding in so many ways. It’s nice to see a Latin American city leading on a global scale as a concert city market, and only reinforces the massive growth we’ve been seeing in the Latin market over the last 10 years. To be breaking such significant records 30-plus years into your career is a testament to Shakira’s longevity and the care we’ve taken to keep creating music that draws new fans while deepening the connection with the ones who have accompanied her all along the way.
Shakira went from having a much-publicized split with her longtime partner two years ago to now leading Billboard’s tour recap for the month. What was the biggest challenge in achieving this?
The biggest challenge, I think, was being able to channel the pain into productivity, into growth, into a tool for connection. I think her music last year has struck a chord with so many women who felt like she gave a voice to their same feelings and frustrations and made them feel seen.
I think people may think, it’s Shakira, she’s a global star, this is easy…
Ha! Every new leg of a stadium tour brings its own challenges, and every achievement only brings ideas for new goals we want to reach. It’s a misconception that when you get to the top, you relax. It only makes the stakes higher. And I’m bad at relaxing.
What has been the biggest challenge in putting together this stadium tour?
The biggest challenges were bringing a production of this size to Latin America, which had never been done before in many of the markets we visited. Also, thinking big picture about where we want to be at the end of it, the milestones we want to hit, and how we plan to get there.
What can you tell us about the concept of the tour?
It’s all about female archetypes, connection and empowerment. If you notice, many of the interludes, that are a CGI-animated Shakira — an industry-wide first — center around an archetype: the warrior, the mother, the primal she-wolf. The idea was to take the fans on this journey with her and to walk out feeling uplifted and empowered. And I think she delivered beyond anyone’s expectations, including her own.
What were your expectations when you started to plan, and what are they now?
I think we expected to surprise fans with a big show but we didn’t expect how emotional the reaction would be and what a movement it’s become, this experience of attending her concert.
A couple of weeks ago, Shakira also released the music video to “Ultima,” a very melancholy ballad that looks back at her relationship. Why now?
We filmed that video a while back, but we wanted to release it at a time that had meaning to it. It felt like a beautiful bookend to a year after the release of such a personal album and sharing it from a very different place than when the song was written, after the live [version] of the song has connected with so many on tour. It was a gift for the fans who offered so much support through a difficult time.
Vancouver label Nettwerk is giving a boost to a key west coast accelerator program.
Music BC’s ARC intensive welcomes 10-15 emerging artists annually to participate in intensive workshops and professional development training. For the next three years, Nettwerk will be offering extra resources to the program, to help the cohorts further grow their skills and profiles.
Specifically, Nettwerk will give participants the opportunity to leverage the label’s direct access to digital service providers (DSPs) and social media properties. In an industry where digital presence has become paramount, those tools will help ARC artists reach a wider range of fans and build audiences toward long-term loyalty.
The label is an influential indie music company in Canada, representing Canadian and international talent like pop duo Milk & Bone, folk singer James Vincent McMorrow, and indie pop artist Miya Folick. Founded in 1984, Nettwerk operates in cities across the globe like London, Sydney, Berlin and Nashville. Recently, the label celebrated its 40th anniversary.
“At Nettwerk, we believe deeply in the value of the independent music sector in fostering innovation and elevating exceptional talent,” says Nettwerk president Simon Mortimer-Lamb. “Partnering with Music BC’s ARC Program celebrates Nettwerk’s unwavering commitment to helping unsigned Canadian talent find their places on the world stage and build a lasting legacy in the music industry.”
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“With an undeniable track record and a long-standing commitment to artist development, Nettwerk has helped shape the careers of countless artists on the global stage,” adds Music BC Executive Director Lindsay MacPherson. “It speaks volumes that they recognize the impact of our work through ARC to empower emerging talent in our own backyard.
ARC has hosted three cohorts so far, with alumni including rising hip-hop artist Kimmortal and R&B singer Sadé Awele. The program consists of a three-day training clinic, a five-day retreat, and a culminating performance, tackling topics like building a brand, vocal performance and recording techniques and mental health care.
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bbno$ Lands ‘Check’ on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100
bbno$ has a knack for making the most of a moment.
The Vancouver rapper won the TikTok Fan Choice Award at the Junos this past weekend, and used the time to nab the viral moment of the night. “Elon Musk is a piece of garbage,” he said, eliciting cheers in the patriotic crowd. (He also took the time to remind people his name is pronounced “baby no money” and not “bibinos.”)
Already in the viral zeitgeist, he has another thing to celebrate as his song “Check” debuts at No. 75 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 for the chart dated April 5, 2025.
Built around a familiar sample, War’s instantly recognizable “Low Rider” horns, the song’s nonstop hooks burrow into your head in less than two minutes – though many are hearing it in even shorter 5 or 10 second chunks on TikTok.
bbno$ has had billions of streams on Spotify and TikTok for songs like “La La La” and “Edamame,” with “Check” quickly racking them up too, so expect to see him on the charts again.
Check out more on this week’s charts here.
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SOCAN Celebrates 100th Year: Canada’s largest music rights organization marks its centennial with a record $512.4 million in royalty distributions, a 17.5% increase from 2023. Despite this success, SOCAN warns that less than 10% of online music consumed in Canada is Canadian-made. It urges greater support for local artists, emphasizing their role in the nation’s economy, culture, and global presence. SOCAN’s 2024 Annual Report highlights revenue growth to $559.4 million, new software initiatives, and enhanced educational programs, maintaining an expense-to-revenue ratio of 12%. FULL STORY
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SiriusXM Canada Launches New South Asian Music Channel, SiriusXM Dhamaka
SiriusXM Canada is launching a new channel dedicated to South Asian music.
That makes the satellite radio company the latest in a series of Canadian music institutions to put resources behind the massive growth of South Asian music in Canada.
The new channel, SiriusXM Dhamaka, is available across North America on channel 796. The channel will play a mix of Canadian and international stars, as well as featuring exclusive artist interviews, live performances, talk programming and comedy.
It’s programmed by Canadian radio host and Emmy-nominated music supervisor Raoul Juneja. Juneja previously created Canada’s first South Asian music TV show, V-Mix on OMNI Television in 2011.
Over ten years later, South Asian music is one of the buzziest subjects in the Canadian industry.
Rising superstar Karan Aujla won the Junos fan choice award last year, and heads into this year’s Junos with three nominations In 2024, Diljit Dosanjh made history with two Canadian stadium shows on his Dil-Luminati Tour, while artists like AR Paisley, AP Dhillon and Ikky make waves on the Canadian charts.
The Canadian industry is supporting that growth. The Junos introduced a new category for South Asian music recording for the 2025 awards, and Warner Music Canada’s 91 North records, a joint venture with Warner India, has been a key source of investment in new South Asian talent.
SiriusXM Dhamaka provides a new avenue for that expansion, promising to showcase Hindi, Punjabi, Pakistani, South Indian,Bengali and West Indian artists who make up the global South Asian diaspora.
“This channel has been in the works for some time, and we are so proud to finally announce its launch,” says Michelle Mearns, senior vice president of programming and operations. “SiriusXM Dhamaka showcases not only our incredible South Asian talent right here in Canada, but also international artists, giving listeners the opportunity to discover new and emerging music from around the world.”
“Cowgirls” hitmaker and four-time ACM Award nominee Ernest is adding another notch to his musical resume, launching his own label, DeVille Records, in a joint venture with Big Loud Records (where Ernest himself signed as an artist in 2019).
Ernest’s DeVille Records features Chandler Walters, Rhys Rutherford and Cody Lohden as its first artists. Ernest, Walters, Rutherford and Lohden are all managed by new recently-announced management company Greenhouse Management, launched by Kiley Donohoe.
The initial project from the new label is Cadillac Sessions, a mixtape-style compilation set for release on May 9, that will feature two new original songs, and one cover from Ernest, Walters, Rutherford and Lohden, plus guest artists. The project will blend honky-tonk, ’90s country, Western swing and more.
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“We’re going to build this thing wide and on concrete,” Ernest said in a statement of DeVille Records. “Artist development. Write the songs and do it the old-school way. Make the videos, see the vision, help the vision come to life.”
“We have been in business with ERNEST for almost a decade. What started with ERN as a young prolific songwriter-artist in Big Loud’s publishing hallways, has evolved into so much more over the years,” Big Loud CEO / partner Seth England added. “Our partnerships in ERN’s Cadillac Music have gone so well, and his desire to create DeVille Records alongside of it made sense. ERNEST himself grew in an independent and cultural environment much like the one he desires to create. He and I have talked about this day for years, and all of the unique ways we could help break the next wave of prolific artists. Kudos to Rhys, Cody and Chandler for buying into this vision and supporting this unique rollout style with our upcoming DeVille project.”
With the new label, Ernest continues doubling down on giving back to his hometown of Nashville. Last year, he released a musical love letter to his hometown with the album Nashville, Tennessee, has earned multiple ACM, CMA and Grammy nominations, including his current ACM nominations for artist-songwriter of the year, as well as being a co-writer on the ACM song of the year-nominated song “I Had Some Help,” recorded by Morgan Wallen and Post Malone.
Writer, artist and steel guitar player Walters is touring with Post Malone and Ernest, and co-wrote the Post Malone/Morgan Wallen hit “I Had some Help.” Kentucky native Lohden, a former firefighter/paramedic, draws on the sounds of ’80s country singers such as Keith Whitley and Don Williams, and has toured with Ernest, Bailey Zimmerman and Walker Hayes. Rutherford has contributed to songs by (“Is This Really Over?”), Ernest feat. Morgan Wallen (“Hangin’ On”), Kashus Culpepper (“Talk With Me”) and George Pippen (“Rest of Our Life”).