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Seeker Music has acquired the publishing rights to Marcos “Kosine” Palacios’ catalog, including his share of hits like “Anaconda” by Nicki Minaj, “Birthday Cake” by Rihanna, “DANCE (A$$)” by Big Sean as well as the soundtracks he wrote for FOX’s Empire and Star and his work as half of the production duo Da Internz. Additionally, Kosine has been named Seeker’s first-ever Samplémoose ambassador.
The Samplémoose platform is a key part of the company’s strategy to boost the profile of its catalog by offering select producers, artists and songwriters access to an easy-to-clear, curated selection of loops, beats and flip-starts made out of the company’s songs. Already, Samplémoose efforts have led to the creation of Coco Jones’ song “Double Back,” which flips “Rain” by SWV. Other flips from Seeker’s catalog include Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song” (flipped from J-Kwon’s “Tipsy”), Chris Brown’s “Freak (from Nelly’s “Air Force Ones”), Teyana Taylor’s “Freak” (from Adina Howard’s “Freak Like Me”), and IVE‘s “All Night” featuring Saweetie (from Icona Pop’s song of the same name).
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Through his new ambassadorship, Kosine will spearhead the expansion of more Samplémoose initiatives. Last week (April 10-12), the producer put together a songwriting camp with Seeker called Samplémoose Sessions, which brought together nearly two dozen music creators to flip songs from Seeker’s catalog. Some of the songs used at the camp included Christopher Cross’ “Sailing” and “Arthur’s Theme”; The Go-Go’s‘ “We Got The Beat,” Whitney Houston’s “Million Dollar Bill” and Fantasia’s “When I See U.”
Seeker Music, which was founded in 2020 by songwriter and entrepreneur Evan Bogart, takes a creative and active approach to catalog management, treating older songs with the same approach as its new, frontline releases. To date, the company has acquired catalogs from artists such as Run The Jewels, Teddy Geiger, Jon Bellion, John Ryan, Plested and MoZella. Its frontline publishing roster includes Kito, Robopop, Sofía Valdés and K Sotomayor, while its frontline label roster includes Kareen Lomax, CARR, Dead Pony, Latroit, ONR and Fourth Daughter.
“In joining forces with Seeker Music and the Samplémoose initiative, I feel a profound sense of alignment with a team that not only values the legacy of music but also pioneers new pathways for creativity and innovation,” said Kosine in a statement. “This partnership marks a significant milestone in my career, offering a unique platform to reimagine the classics while nurturing the next generation of talent. I’m thrilled to embark on this journey, blending tradition with innovation, and to contribute to the music industry in a way that resonates across generations.”
Evan Bogart added: “When we started acquiring catalogs at Seeker, I only was interested in songs I wish I wrote, or projects I wish I had worked on, and that’s hands-down, undeniably Kosine’s body of work. Me and Kos go way back and have been collaborating on music for almost 15 years. Now, we get to write our next chapter together, working closely on Samplémoose, and investing in each other, in ways a publishing company and producer haven’t before. It’s a major honor to have this opportunity to build with him.”
Six-time Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier, Grammy-nominated producer Yeti Beats (Beyoncé, Doja Cat) and rapper/producer Erick the Architect, founding member of the Flatbush Zombies, are now part of the management roster at newly launched Early Hour Entertainment.
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The Los Angeles-based artist management and production company is helmed by CEO Adam Fell.
Most recently president of Quincy Jones Productions, Fell has partnered with former QJP VPs Michael Peha and Thomas Duport. Peha, who worked in Warner Records’ international marketing department prior to QJP, serves as president of Early Hour. Duport, who began his music industry career in the front office of Montreux Jazz Festival, is Early Hour’s COO.
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In a statement announcing the establishment of Early Hour Entertainment, Fell said, “We are very grateful to Quincy Jones for the decades of mentorship and guidance. I am fortunate to have the two best partners on planet earth and a team that can truly accomplish anything. We are so honored by the trust that the artists have put in us, and we know that this is only the beginning for Early Hour.”
During his 20-year tenure with Jones, Fell oversaw multiple divisions including endorsements and licensing, film/TV/music production and artist management. Collier had been among the latter division’s clients since 2014. Fell also worked as an executive producer of the 2023 musical film adaptation of The Color Purple.
In March of this year, Early Hour Entertainment partnered with Jon Batiste, Mathieu Jaton and Jeremy Arditi for the inaugural Montreux Jazz Festival Miami. The three-night event will return to Miami in 2025. Early Hour has also teamed with hospitality veterans Jake Mathews and Corey McGuire, owners of Winston House and The Waterfront Venice, to open a music-themed restaurant on L.A.’s westside slated for early 2025.
In addition to Collier, Beats and Erick the Architect, Early Hour’s artist management roster includes trumpeter/composer Ibrahim Maalouf, pianist Alfredo Rodriguez, jazz pianist Justin Kauflin and producer/multi-instrumentalist Henry Was.
When Steve Stoute connected with Davido at his UnitedMasters SelectCon event last year, he didn’t flinch at the opportunity to build with the Afrobeats superstar; after their initial encounter, the executive visited Davido’s homeland of Lagos, Nigeria and dared the “Fall” singer to dream bigger. Stoute envisioned Davido, adept at crafting sugary melodies with a Nigerian flair, leading nothing less than a global takeover — not just as a premier artist but as a businessman.
Starting Wednesday (April 17), the three-time Grammy nominee will embark on a new chapter as a full-fledged executive, signing a deal with UnitedMasters (which recently launched in Nigeria) to start a new label, Nine+ Records. Stoute and Davido are clear that they won’t limit themselves to Afrobeats but will venture into the realms of hip-hop, R&B, Latin, country and more, casting a wide net for new talent.
“I think the music that Davido has been able to make, produce and share with the world has been amazing,” says Stoute. “For me, I think his connection between Nigeria and Atlanta, and everything he’s gone through has brought unique experiences that I can hear and feel through his lyrics and production. I didn’t even know that [at the time], I just knew there was something different about his sound and the way he structured his songs.”
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According to Stoute, it didn’t take much convincing: He sold Davido on the possibilities of building a label reminiscent of the hard-nosed rap imprints he witnessed first-hand in the ’90s and ’00s.
“There’s such a big opportunity globally and I see him as an entrepreneur that could build the next Bad Boy, the next Death Row and the next label that has significant impact like a Cash Money,” Stoute says. “[I told him to] forget everything you were doing before, let’s commit to building something in a joint venture and that’s the formation of Nine+ and UnitedMasters.”
Billboard spoke to Davido and Steve Stoute about their newly minted partnership, the importance of having a great team and more.
Davido, what made you decide to partner with UnitedMasters for your new label Nine+ Records?
Davido: Shout-out to big bro. There’s one thing that I’ll always love, which is nurturing new talent, bringing them up and helping them grow. I’ve been doing that since Afrobeats wasn’t even Afrobeats, since when you guys didn’t even know what it was. Since I came up from writing my first song, I’ve been helping my two cousins work on their music. I put them under my label, but it got to a point where I felt I needed some knowledge. I need some mentors to advise me. Some artists, all you need is one hit song and your life can change. Sometimes, when you get to that point, you don’t have anybody to advise you on how to move and get good paperwork done. I just felt like that was one thing Steve Stoute represents, and that’s helping the artists and making sure they know the best option when it comes to business. My job is obviously to bring the creatives and deliver, but I do need Steve’s vision on how I’m going to advise on these new artists.
Steve, speak to the tutelage you hope to instill in Davido from an executive lens with the years of experience you have under your belt.
There’s a thin line between what a talent and what an executive has to do. For a lot of talent, it’s very hard to be an executive or it’s hard for them to jump that fence. I’m gonna be there to help him because he comes from a lineage of very, very tight, philosophically sound businessmen.
His father was a G. His father was very special and talented. Davido is also very creative. It takes that sort of left brain and right brain to be a talented musician who could work with talent as well as be a business person. To be able to bring that together to build one of these legacy companies, the greatest artists always had that attribute. He has that attribute.
The best thing that I can do is, you use my experience as a veteran in this business to help put up some guard rails to keep him going because I want him to become the biggest artist in the world and continue his trajectory as an artist, but then build something that’s a legacy outside of that with Nine+.
Before this, I was the president at Interscope. When Jimmy [Iovine] built Interscope, it was all about these labels. Whether it was Pharrell’s label, Organized Noize, Timbaland, or Aftermath, these were labels that were built because Jimmy built The Ruff Ryders. Jimmy believed in that model. So I came from working with talent who had labels and I understand how to build that model just from that experience. I want to pass that along to this young entrepreneur, creative genius.
What’s the best advice you’ve gotten from Steve on accelerating as an executive and building out Nine+ on what you ultimately want it to become?
Davido: First of all, you gotta have a good team. There’s one thing I learned from Steve: I didn’t know you had to get all of this to get a label because where I’m from and where you record, there’s no office. Now…with Steve, we’re getting an office, we’re getting [a lot]. I have a studio and a headquarters, but it’s different from the way I’ve worked.
Steve Stoute: If you wanna scale, you gotta bring structure. He’s a super-talented guy. He’s gonna find talented people. There’s been a lot of people who are talented, but they didn’t have the business structure around them. They never got a chance to see the effects of their talents go all the way. It’s the guys who had structure with talent that were able to actually go all the way. My job is bring that structure to him and hopefully to his team.
He has a great team around him. He has a great team of people with chemistry. Chemistry is undervalued and underrated. It’s very important who you want to work with. We’re here to bring that structure and funding so he can do what he has to do. My job isn’t to go in there and A&R records. If I can get him in the room with the producers and the artists, and I can get it out the room, that’s my job. To get in the room and to get out.
Again, my experience in doing this for a while and being able to help bring that structure, whether it’s an office or not, is what I’m bringing to the table and I’m looking forward to working with him and building something that’s an aspect of his legacy.
With Nine+, are you looking to expand beyond Afrobeats?
Davido: Oh yeah, everything. R&B, trap, etc. Obviously, I’m going to start in Africa, but definitely yeah. I can see us going all the way. I don’t see why not.
Steve Stoute: Look, I told you, my man has roots in Atlanta and Nigeria. This is not going to be limited to anything. When you have creative people who can understand melodies, beats, rhythms and songs, whether it’s country music, trap music, hip-hop music, Latin music, none of these things are off-limits. I think we look at it as global music. I think Davido is a global superstar. He’s going to sell out Madison Square Garden like he sells out London, like he sells out buildings in Africa. That’s what he does. He wants to make global music, so we’re looking for artists that have that potential and it’s not limited to genre. It is limited to great music.
After a disastrous couple months, Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF) has agreed to a $1.402 billion takeover from rival Concord Chorus.
In a statement issued early Thursday (April 18) to the London Stock Exchange, the deal values each Hipgnosis share at £0.93, a premium of roughly one third the royalty fund’s shareprice at the close of trading on Wednesday.
“The board is pleased to announce and unanimously recommend this US$1.4 billion offer for Hipgnosis from Concord,” comments Robert Naylor, chairman of Hipgnosis. The acquisition, he continues, “represents an attractive opportunity for our shareholders to immediately realize their holding at a premium, mitigating the risks we see ahead to achieving a material improvement in the share price.”
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HSF has been in the doghouse since a failed investors continuation resolution in October 2023, and a partial catalog sale — effectively a vote of no confidence in both the previous board and the investment advisor, Hipgnosis Song Management.
Matters took another turn last month when HSF, which has amassed a catalog that includes stakes in songs by Neil Young, Justin Bieber, Journey, Lindsey Buckingham, Blondie, Justin Timberlake and many other artists and writers, cut the value of its portfolio by more than a quarter and told investors that it does not intend to recommence paying dividends “for the foreseeable future” as it focuses on paying down debts.
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Compiled by the board’s lead independent adviser, Shot Tower Capital, the report found that Hipgnosis Song Management, run by Hipgnosis founder and music manager Merck Mercuriadis, materially overstated the fund’s revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) and supported catalog acquisitions with financial analysis that failed to meet “music industry standards.”
HSF itself overstated the scope of its music assets, the report noted, in disclosures to investors and regulators. And in a pitch last September to investors to sell some 29 catalogs to a sister Hipgnosis company, the fund included a better-than-could-be-expected post-deal valuation, the report found.
Following completion of the acquisition and a short transition period, reads a statement to the London Stock Exchange, it is expected that Concord will take over the management of Hipgnosis’ assets, adding to a business that, since 2015, has completed more than 100 transactions across recorded music, music publishing and theatricals, US$2.8 billion spending spree.
The Hipgnosis board, Naylor continues, is confident that Concord is the “right owner” to take on the Hipgnosis catalogue and manage it in the interests of composers and performers.
The offer has been unanimously recommended by its board and has the support of 29.38 per cent of their shareholders, comments Bob Valentine, CEO of Concord, controlled by investor Alchemy Copyrights. “We believe we are offering a fair price for Hipgnosis’ catalogues and music assets, giving its shareholders the opportunity to realize their investment at a significant premium to the prevailing share price in cash.”
Concord’s leadership identifies Hipgnosis’ assets as further means to grow its business and scale and leverage its operations.
A bill to create a new statewide live music fund in Tennessee has passed in the state’s Senate and House. It will now head to the desk of Governor Bill Lee, who is expected to sign it into law.
SB2508/HB2712 — composed of identical companion bills carried by Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson and House Majority Whip Johnny Garrett — was introduced as a collaboration between the Music Venue Alliance Nashville, the National Independent Venue Association and the Broadway Entertainment Association. The bill creates the structure of a live music fund that will one day provide grants to live music and performance venues, promoters and performers.
The legislation also defines elements of the live music industry in code for the first time, marking a fundamental step toward directing future support. The fund is set up to be administered by the Tennessee Entertainment Commission under the Department of Economic and Community Development.
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Though the bill does not allocate any government money to the fund during this fiscal year, it does allow it to receive donations and grants from individuals and the private sector. The opportunity for government-appropriated funds remains on the table for future years. Stakeholders will also soon come together to evaluate revenue streams flowing into similar funds in other states and determine if any opportunities exist that might be a good fit for the Tennessee fund.
“We are truly excited by the unanimous and bipartisan support for our independent venues,” said Chris Cobb, board president of the Music Venue Alliance Nashville, in a statement. “It has become increasingly difficult to own, operate, or grow an independent venue in today’s climate, and a fund like this will be a difference maker to ensure that independent venues across Tennessee not only survive, but thrive.”
“The Live Music & Performance Venue Fund creates a massive opportunity for us to protect and preserve Tennessee’s live music industry for years to come,” said Bob Raines, executive director of the Tennessee Entertainment Commission, in a statement. “Independent venues and performers across the great state of Tennessee are the foundation of our complex and vibrant ecosystem and we know their success is directly tied to the vibrancy and growth of our communities across the state.”
While Tennessee is only the second state in the nation to define a live music and performance venue in the state code, similar funds have been created in cities and states across the United States. Texas provided over 650 micro-grants to individual creatives in 2023 through a similar fund and also provided a grant to the historic Austin, Tex., independent venue Hole in the Wall that enabled it to secure a 20-year lease extension.
“We applaud Leader Johnson and Representative Garrett for their leadership, and thank the entire Tennessee General Assembly for their unwavering support of independent venues, promoters, and the entirelive entertainment sector in Tennessee,” Stephen Parker, executive director of the National Independent Venue Association, said in a statement. “Whether investment to bolster the fund comes from the live community, the private sector, or government, we look forward to rallying support and growing this fund in the years ahead to ensure the preservation of Tennessee’s legendary live music economy.”
When Phish takes the stage at Sphere on Thursday to begin its four-night run at the cutting-edge new Las Vegas venue, it’ll do so armed with a bespoke production in keeping with its long history of head-turning concert innovation — which is why co-creative director Abigail Rosen Holmes‘ sentiment on the eve of the shows initially seems counterintuitive.
“We’re pushing a lot of technical boundaries, and we’re doing a lot of things that are somewhat new … but never done for its own sake, all done very specifically to achieve what we want to do creatively,” the live music veteran says of her work with Phish, which follows U2 as the second musical act to play Sphere since it opened last fall. “You should just walk in and think that it was amazing, and you had a great time. If you’re sitting there thinking about what it took for us to build it, then that’s probably not right.”
What Holmes wants fans to focus on is Phish “just being the band playing the best Phish music they can.” Phish has an extensive history of intricately produced “gags” — deploying a fleet of clones, turning Madison Square Garden into an underwater world replete with drone-powered whales and dolphins, or even doing a Broadway-caliber staging of its song cycle about the fantasy world of Gamehendge, to name a few — but Holmes says that since she first began conceptualizing the Sphere shows with the band and its frontman Trey Anastasio last July, they’ve eschewed such a creative direction.
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“We’re going to use all of the opportunities of this building — the audio, the visuals — and do it while supporting Phish truly playing music the way Phish plays music,” she says. “That became really the guiding star for everything that we thought about creatively. How do we create visuals and use all the technology of this space — and not impede Phish being able to play anything they want any way they want on the night?”
It’s a marked contrast from U2, which kept its show more or less the same for each of the 40 nights it played Sphere, and designed impressive song-specific visuals for several key tracks. That Phish will mix up its show for each gig on a four-night run — not repeating a single song — is a given; what that looks like in a venue with Sphere’s epic visual capabilities is less familiar territory.
Abigail Holmes
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Still, in Holmes and the Montreal-based multimedia studio Moment Factory, whose Sphere team is led by the show’s co-creative director Jean-Baptiste Hardoin, Phish has secured a creative crew that’s up to the paradoxical task of orchestrating an advanced, immersive sensory experience to accompany a band whose musical signature is improvisation. Holmes started working with Phish in 2016, when she collaborated with lighting director Chris Kuroda on designs for the band’s touring show, and she conceptualized the live production for Anastasio’s 2019 side project Ghosts of the Forest; her career dates back to lighting work on Talking Heads‘ Stop Making Sense, and extends far beyond her concert résumé — she’s also worked with Janet Jackson and Roger Waters, among others — to architectural and installation projects, including a stint at Walt Disney Imagineering. “I feel like people often reach out to me for projects that don’t fall neatly into any really easy category,” she says, adding with a laugh, “People call me for their weird stuff.”
In Moment Factory, Phish united Holmes with kindred interdisciplinary spirits. The firm has worked with Phish several times dating back to 2015, including on its 2018 and 2021 Halloween gags and on its 2022 Earth Day show at Madison Square Garden — the one where the band turned the venue into an arena-sized aquarium. Like Holmes, Moment Factory’s work extends beyond its music clients — who include Billie Eilish and Halsey — and into airports, malls and more. But even so, Moment Factory producer Daniel Jean explains, “The challenge with Phish [at Sphere] was the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced […] to make sure that we create a show that is flexible and can react in real-time.” As Hardoin puts it, the team has been “trying to design the unpredictable.”
While Holmes and Moment Factory are tight-lipped about specific creative elements of the show, which they began workshopping in earnest last October, they share some broad strokes. Each night will have a loose theme, Holmes says, not unlike those that governed each concert in Phish’s 13-show Madison Square Garden “Baker’s Dozen” run in 2017. That choice “provided a little bit of a framework for a jumping-off point for ideas for the visuals,” she says, though she emphasizes it’s “not rigid in the song choice, it’s not rigid in the visuals.”
Those visuals will be twofold. Kuroda, the band’s longtime lighting designer, known for improvising his work along with the band’s jams, will continue that role at Sphere, utilizing a new version of his intricate rig designed specially for the venue. “The amazing rig that he has on tour was not a good fit into this building,” Holmes says. “It sits in front of the screen, it takes a lot of motors that would be in front of the screen. We realized pretty early on that that would have to change. I’m extremely excited to watch the new rig that’s designed for him in here. It plays a role in tandem with the screens instead of existing on its own.”
Moment Factory contributed to the set design that ensured Kuroda’s lighting rig and Sphere’s screen could live in harmony. And furthermore, Sphere has provided an opportunity for the company to expand its early 2000s roots in multimedia to staggering proportions. “We’re basically VJ’ing on a 16,000-by-16,000-pixel ratio for Sphere,” Jean says.
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The exact nature of those visuals remain under wraps until Phish takes the stage on Thursday night, but the creative process Holmes and Moment Factory describe sounds groundbreaking. In a nutshell, the Moment Factory team has created visuals and worked with Holmes to create a playback interface — not unlike the custom programming Kuroda has implemented over the years for his lighting rig — that will allow for real-time manipulation of the visuals that follow Phish’s musical impulses.
“It was a matter of, OK, how can we evolve this universe for eight to 20 minutes, with different parameters, wheter it’s the colors, whether it’s the saturation, whatever,” Hardoin says. “[Holmes] has a very good understanding of the music of the band. She’s able to modulate [the visuals] live, as lighting designers do.”
At the shows, Holmes will be executing the visuals, which will integrate generative content and use existing technologies in new ways, like Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, a platform that allows creatives in fields like gaming, television and live events to blend live-action video and CG. (“That’s been pushed very far past what’s been done in other places,” Holmes says of Unreal.)
For months, Holmes and her team have used the vast trove of Phish concert recordings to simulate how the Sphere visuals “might evolve during a jam … being quite careful to use multiple versions, because they’re going to be radically different,” she says. “The visuals go in real-time to support [the band] and follow them musically, not the other way around.”
Phish’s penchant for newness is, in Holmes’ estimation, what will define the band’s Sphere run — and it explains why the booking appealed to the band in the first place. While the band capped off its 40th anniversary year in 2023 with a New Year’s Eve production of its Gamehendge saga, comprised of some of its oldest material, Phish has a new studio album out this summer (Evolve, due July 12) and continues to introduce fresh material while rethinking its live presentation.
“When we think about this show, it’s today — it’s not referencing the past,” Holmes says. “This is a piece of them taking a huge risk and experimenting and trying something new, because that’s what they like to do.”
YoungBoy Never Broke Again (aka NBA YoungBoy) was arrested Tuesday (April 16) in Utah, where he has been under house arrest for more than two years while awaiting trial on federal gun charges. The rapper (real name Kentrell Gaulden) was arrested on seven charges ranging from drug and gun possession to identity fraud, according to […]
Grammy Go, a new online initiative from the Recording Academy, is the result of a partnership with Coursera, a leading online learning platform, to offer classes tailored for music creators and industry professionals. Grammy Go on Coursera includes courses taught by Recording Academy members and featuring Grammy nominees and/or winners.
Starting today, enrollment is open for Grammy Go’s first Coursera specialization, “Building Your Audience for Music Professionals,” taught by Joey Harris, international music/marketing executive and CEO of Joey Harris Inc., and featuring Jimmy Jam, Janelle Monáe and Victoria Monét. This specialization will help participants gain the skills, knowledge and confidence to build a strong brand presence and cultivate a devoted audience within the ever-changing music industry.
The partnership’s second course, launching later this summer, is “Music Production: Crafting an Award-Worthy Song.” That course, which aims to strengthen the technological and audio skills of a music producer, will be taught by Carolyn Malachi, Howard University professor and a Grammy nominee in 2011 for best urban/alternative performance for her track “Orion.” This specialization will include appearances by Cirkut, Hit-Boy, classical producer Judith Sherman, artist and vocal coach Stevie Mackey and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr.
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“Whether it be through a Grammy Museum program, Grammy Camp or Grammy U, the Grammy organization is committed to helping the next generation of creators flourish, and the Recording Academy is proud to introduce our newest higher learning opportunity with Grammy Go in partnership with Coursera,” Panos A. Panay, president of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “A creator’s music education is ongoing, and these courses have been crafted to provide participants with the essential tools to grow in their professional and creative journeys.”
“We are honored to welcome Grammy Go, our first entertainment partner, to the Coursera community,” said Marni Baker Stein, chief content officer at Coursera. “With these self-paced online specializations, aspiring music professionals all over the world have an incredible opportunity to learn directly from iconic artists and industry experts.”
Grammy Go is billed as the first creator-to-creator learning platform from the Recording Academy. Visit go.grammy.com to learn more. For more information and enrollment about the first specialization, visit the landing page for Building Your Audience for Music Professionals.
Primary Wave has partnered with Neil Sedaka to acquire a stake in the star’s master and publishing rights. Regarded as perhaps the world’s first-ever teen pop star, Sedaka began his career in 1957 and went on to pen hits like “Love Will Keep Us Together,” “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” “Laughter in the Rain,” “Calendar Girl,” “Oh! Carol” and “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen.”
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Sedaka has earned his fair share of accolades over the years, including five Grammy nominations. He has been inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was one of the first musical guests on Saturday Night Live.
After getting his start as one of the top acts of the late 1950s, he pivoted to focusing his efforts on writing hits for other artists, including Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones, The Monkees and The Fifth Dimension.
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During the height of the British Invasion, he continued to hone a strong fanbase in the UK, and in the early 1970s was re-introduced to American audiences by Elton John, who signed Sedaka to his new label Rocket Records. As he gained acclaim through songs like “Bad Blood” and “Laughter in the Rain” under the Rocket deal, one of his early songs, “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do,” was re-released as a ballad to great success, becoming the second song in history to make the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 for two versions of the same song. Plus, Captain and Tennille won Record of the Year for “Love Will Keep Us Together,” which was co-penned by Sedaka.
A classically trained Juilliard graduate, Sedaka embraced his roots in the 21st century, composing symphonies and piano concertos like “Joie De Vivre” and “Manhattan Intermezzo,” both of which were recorded with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London.
This deal encompasses Sedaka’s entire catalog, including all compositions written by him and all recordings performed by him. Other legendary artists have also performed and recorded his works, including Elvis Presley, Connie Francis and Abba. While these recordings are not part of the deal, Primary Wave still benefits on the publishing side, given Sedaka’s writing credits.
Primary Wave, known as an active and creative catalog buyer and publisher, will help boost Sedaka’s works with the help of its in-house marketing, digital strategy, licensing, synch and film/tv production teams.
“I am thrilled to be entering into this partnership with Primary Wave – an organization that I have long-admired for their unwavering commitment and dedication to the artists they represent,” says Sedaka of the deal. “After almost 70 years in the music business, I’ve gotten pretty good at separating the big talkers from the real deals, and Larry and his team at Primary Wave are about as real deal as it gets. I look forward to a long and prosperous relationship that will allow me to work side by side with this amazing organization and finally give my extensive collection of songs the attention and exposure it deserves.”
Madeline Boyd, Primary Wave’s finance & investments manager adds, “We are thrilled to welcome Neil Sedaka into the Primary Wave family. As both a singer and songwriter, Neil has created an iconic catalog that has transcended decades and genres. We look forward to continue creating new opportunities for his timeless songs together.”
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: Legal experts raise concerns about Tennessee’s new ELVIS Act and other laws aimed at AI-powered voice cloning; Jelly Roll faces a trademark lawsuit from a Philadelphia wedding band with the same name; Taylor Swift and other artists get their music back on TikTok; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Are New AI Voice Laws Going Too Far?
State and federal lawmakers across the country are scrambling to crack down on voice cloning – an effort cheered on by the music industry and artists. But some legal experts are worried such laws might be an “overreaction” that could have unintended consequences.
With last month’s enactment of the ELVIS Act, Tennessee became the first state in the country to pass legislation aimed at protecting artists from situations like last year’s infamous fake Drake song. At least five other states are considering similar bills, and a federal version is currently being debated on Capitol Hill.
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Those laws address a very real problem – namely, that artificial intelligence tools have made it far easier to convincingly mimic a real person’s voice, and existing laws seem only to provide them with limited recourse to stop it.
But while legislative efforts to fix that have been broadly supported by the music industry, they’ve met a more mixed reaction among some legal experts, who are concerned that the rush to pass new laws could lead to collateral damage for free speech and other “innocuous” behavior – ranging from tribute bands to interpolations.
Other top stories this week…
JELLY ROLL TRADEMARK SUIT – The rapper-turned-country star was hit with a trademark infringement lawsuit from a well-known Philadelphia wedding band that has used the name Jellyroll for decades. The case claims that Jelly Roll’s increasing popularity over the past two years has flooded the market with the name, making it difficult for prospective clients to find “Philly’s favorite wedding band.”
TIKTOK & TAYLOR – Why is music from Taylor Swift and certain other Universal Music Group artists back on TikTok, despite an ongoing licensing feud that has seen the music giant pull its catalog from the social media platform for months? As explained by Billboard’s Elias Leight and Kristin Robinson, the answer mostly boils down to leverage and good lawyering.
LIVE NATION TO FACE SUIT – The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly planning to sue Live Nation within a matter of weeks over alleged violations of federal antitrust laws, including that the company leveraged it dominant position over the live music industry to undermine competition for ticketing. The case follows years of antitrust criticism of Live Nation, which increased in intensity after the company’s botched handling of ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour in November 2022.
NewJeans in LA on March 6, 2024.
Sami Drasin
K-POP DEFAMATION BATTLE – The K-pop group NewJeans asked a U.S. federal court to force Google to unmask an anonymous YouTube user so that the person can be criminally prosecuted in South Korea for posting “false and defamatory videos.” The case that highlighted the stark differences between defamation laws in America and Korea – where even true statements can get you hauled into court, and criminal convictions can lead to “imprisonment with labor for up to seven years.”
PANDORA HITS BACK AT MLC – The streaming service fired back at a lawsuit filed by the Mechanical Licensing Collective that claims the company has failed to properly pay streaming royalties, calling the case a “gross overreach” based on a “legally incoherent position.” The case centers on whether Pandora’s free ad-supported service is an “interactive” platform like Spotify, or more similar to a “noninteractive” radio broadcast – a key distinction under the federal copyright laws that govern royalty payments.
FAKE MERCH, REAL PROBLEMS – Bootleg artist merchandise is a big problem, as attorneys for the biggest stars in the world say they send countless takedown notices annually but that they face “a game of Whack-a-Mole” with few easy answers. Go read Billboard’s story from Steve Knopper, who chatted with numerous lawyers on the front lines in the war against fake merch.
RADIO RIGHTS SETTLEMENT – Global Music Rights, Irving Azoff’s boutique performance rights organization that reps Bruce Springsteen, Bruno Mars, Prince, Drake and others, settled a copyright infringement lawsuit in which it had accused seven Vermont radio stations of refusing to license the group’s music.