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Detroit promoter and entertainment provider The Right Productions has teamed up with health and human service agency Neighborhood Service Organization to provide housing for artists in need. To help alleviate the issue of chronic issues of homelessness the two entities have launched the Tommy Garrett House as a solution for the local artistic community in Detroit.
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Located on the northwest side of Detroit, the Tommy Garrett House is a three-bedroom, 1,920-square-foot home designed to house six artists at a time. Named after the internationally acclaimed singer, songwriter and recording artist Tommy Garrett, who overcame homelessness with NSO’s support, this house aims to foster a nurturing environment for artists to live, build stability and create work safely in the heart of Detroit.
“Addressing the complex issue of homelessness is challenging. More than 1,500 people in Detroit experience homelessness on any given night. Despite nearly 6,000 households accessing housing assistance in 2022, a significant number are not officially considered homeless, but they lack access to safe and stable housing, resulting in a continuous cycle of transition,” said NSO president and CEO Linda Little in a release.
Little added that NSO’s collaboration with The Right Productions started when both entities conceptualized and hosted the inaugural Community of Hope concert featuring R&B artists Maxwell and Tamia. The Community of Hope inaugural concert, also hosted by the City of Detroit, took place in July of this year to energize, inspire and foster a community-wide drive to address the challenges faced by the unhoused and their families in metro Detroit. Funds raised from the Concert of Hope event were allocated to address homelessness by supporting housing and services tailored to the needs of the unhoused individuals, including those within metro Detroit’s creative community.
“The overrepresentation of Black individuals among the homeless population, the prevalence of domestic violence and the median length of 69 days for homelessness highlight the challenge, emphasizing the need for comprehensive, long-term and affordable solutions, such as initiatives focused on permanent housing,” said Little. “The Tommy Garrett House was created to do just that for local artists.”
President and CEO of The Right Productions Shahida Mausi added: “Sometimes you see a need and wish you had the ability to address it. I had long wanted a way to provide housing and support services for artists of many genres. Having worked with artists for my entire career, I’ve seen the gaps in financial and mental health services in the creative community. I dreamt of a place where creative people could feel supported and cared for during difficult times. I shared my dream with Linda Little at NSO, who has the expertise to bring a dream into reality.”
In addition to the Tommy Garrett House, the second annual Community of Hope is scheduled for Aug. 2-4 at Detroit’s Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, which The Right Productions runs. The event will feature two evenings of inspiration and performances by various musical artists including headliner Kem. Efforts will also be made to connect the unhoused population in metro Detroit with community organizations that offer a comprehensive range of wraparound resources and will engage a colloquium of stakeholders.
One of Ibiza‘s most fabled clubbing institutions is under new ownership.
As was rumored this past summer, Pacha Group — which includes the Ibiza flagship club, two hotel island hotel properties and clubs in Barcelona and Munich — has been acquired by FIVE Holdings, the Dubai-based hospitality and real estate group. FIVE encompasses a namesake hotel brand with two locations in Dubai and a property in Zurich, with a third Dubai property currently under construction.
FIVE Hospitality and The Pacha Group CEO Aloki Batra tells Billboard that FIVE’s acquisition of The Pacha Group is worth approximately $330 million, and that conversations regarding the sale started nearly two and a half years ago at an event in Mykonos.
The Pacha Group was previously owned by the private equity firm Trilantic Capital Partners, which acquired the brand in 2017. A representative from Trilantic declined to comment on the sale.
Batra says that as part of the transfer of ownership, Pacha Ibiza will see some light changes, including improvements to the lighting system, slightly expanded VIP areas, enhanced production elements and improvements to the club’s “digital footprint” including systems to track attendance through NFT wristbands.
“If [you’ve] been to been to five or six shows, the next time you show up, we should know that. Now it’s just blind,” says Batra. “[We plan to] increase the quality of experience by getting to know our fans a lot better and then [determining] how we can engage with them and make them feel special.” Batra adds that there’s been a “full continuity” of staff at the club amid the change in ownership.
Batra says FIVE is also looking at ways to revive the club’s longstanding record label, Pacha Recordings with pre-recorded DJ sets delivered to fans globally on DSPs.
“[We’re] definitely looking at that that very seriously,” Batra says. “We have this rich legacy and need to take it ahead for the digital age and the customer of today. I think that’s a huge opportunity for us, and it’s great for the fans, because we intend to bring your favorite club closer to you.”
While programming at the club will remain largely the same — including Solomun’s iconic Sunday night residency — Batra says the plan is to also make offerings “a bit more reggaeton-ey” for the 2024 season. “There’s a lot of demand for it and we’re looking to address that demand,” he says, noting that Maluma and J Balvin have previously performed at Pacha Ibiza. “We want to be well represented in the reggaeton world… We think there’s definitely a trend in that direction.”
The acquisition marks FIVE’s first properties in Ibiza, with the deal also encompassing the resorts El Hotel Pacha Ibiza and Destino Pacha Ibiza. Located approximately 15 minutes north of the club, this latter property will see a series of what Batra calls “significant upgrades” and officially become a FIVE branded property in 2025.
He says that while the Ibiza market is highly competitive, visitors to the island now often come more and stay longer, creating opportunities for property owners. He adds that the same demographic that visits FIVE resorts in Dubai are also likely to travel to Ibiza.
Pacha Ibiza opened in 1973 and, 50 years later, hosts some of the biggest DJs in the world. Batra emphasize that while other clubs in the market offer “a show with a big DJ set” Pacha is still focused on throwing “a party with the DJ right at the center.”
To wit, FIVE will maintain Pacha’s ” bohemian artistic direction…[The plan is] not more pyrotechnics as far as we’re concerned,” says Batra. “We’re more about the party, the atmosphere and enhancing that experience [and not having] people pull out their mobile phones for the entirety of the set.”
“We’re buying into a real legacy,” Batra adds. “It’s one of the greatest entertainment brands out of Europe at the forefront of dance music and culture. The relationship between the success of Ibiza and the success of Pacha is very intertwined; I think it’s almost a definitive story of Ibiza… So it’s very exciting to have an opportunity to be part of this great story and navigate it into a blissful future.”
A federal judge is refusing to alter the conditions of NBA YoungBoy‘s house arrest to let him to spend more time in the recording studio creating music, unswayed by arguments from the rapper’s attorneys that his record sales have dropped as a result of his lockdown.
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The rapper, who is currently under house arrest while awaiting trial on federal gun charges, had argued that he needs to be able to travel to the studio to “produce the quality of music that his fans expect” – and that his label had informed him that “sales have suffered” because he had not been able to do so.
But in a ruling Monday, Judge Shelly Dick denied that request. Although she loosened restrictions to allow YoungBoy (Kentrell DeSean Gaulden) more access to mental health treatments, the judge said his request for more studio time could potentially put people in harm’s way, including the rapper himself.
“The conditions imposed on Gaulden’s pretrial release are designed to reasonably assure the safety of both Gaulden and others,” Judge Dick wrote. “Given the vague bounds of the request, and in light of the history of violence aimed at Gaulden and those around him, the court is more troubled by the threat that the proposed modification imposes on Gaulden’s safety.”
Attorneys for YoungBoy did not immediately return a request for comment.
YoungBoy was indicted by Louisiana federal prosecutors in March 2021 on charges of “felon in possession of a firearm,” after he was allegedly found with two guns during a September 2020 incident in Baton Rouge. Possessing guns would be illegal for YoungBoy since the rapper was previously convicted in 2017 of aggravated assault with a firearm.
When YoungBoy was arrested in Los Angeles on those charges, another gun was found in his car, leading to a similar case brought by California federal prosecutors. Following a three-day trial last year, YoungBoy was acquitted on that charge. But he’s still facing a looming trial in Louisiana over the original 2021 indictment.
In October, his attorneys moved to alter the terms of his pre-trial house arrest, citing the “deterioration of Mr. Gaulden’s mental health due to the long period of social isolation.” In addition to asking for more medical treatment, they warned that his career was in “jeopardy” due to his “seclusion from the fans that consume his music.” They said that “analysis” by his label (Atlantic Records) indicated that “sales have suffered due to his limited ability to produce quality recordings.”
“Music and entertainment is Mr. Gaulden’s only way of earning a living and supporting his family,” the star’s attorneys said. “Mr. Gaulden has exhausted all his options for recording in his home with a very limited production crew.”
They told the judge that YoungBoy “needs to be able to travel to and from recording studios on occasion in order to continue to produce the quality of music that his fans expect.” They also asked for the ability to “film studio music videos to promote his music.”
“No professional recording artist can survive and maintain a career without studio quality audio & video production,” YoungBoy’s lawyers wrote.
But in a response last month, federal prosecutors argued strongly against any such changes. They called the request “hopelessly vague” and warned that it “generates more questions than answers.”
“Where are the studios? Who is allowed there? Will individuals that are not allowed at his home be present at the studios? How many people will be at the studios?” prosecutors wrote in their filing. “Will the defendant’s ‘employment related’ studio activity be subject to the same time restrictions applicable to his home incarceration?
Notably, prosecutors pointed to previous statements from Atlantic Records CEO Julie Greenwald to support their point. During a hearing in 2021 over whether YoungBoy would be granted pre-trial release, Greenwald testified in court that the label would re-create a recording studio in his home to ensure that he was able to stay under house arrest rather than need to be held in jail.
“We would build a studio in the house that he would be staying to make sure he abides by the rules that he has to,” Greenwald said at the time, according to court transcripts. She said they would be “basically bringing his work environment to him” and that they “can get good recordings” from such a set up.
In their motions last month, prosecutors cited Greenwald’s testimony to undercut YoungBoy’s claims that he needed to travel to the recording studio to maintain his career.
“Given that the defendant’s work environment may be brought to him, there simply is no need for travel and participation in other undefined ‘employment related activity,’” prosecutors wrote.
Although Monday’s order denied YoungBoy’s request to change the rules themselves, the judge said he could “continue to seek Court-approval” for travel to a studio or other music-related requests on a case-by-case basis. And she granted his request for more flexibility to “attend medical appointments,” saying he could do so if they were “specifically approved in advance” by federal authorities.
YoungBoy’s trial is currently set to kick off in July 2024.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund has announced a last-second delay in publishing interim results for the six months ended Sept. 30, citing concerns over its valuation following a series of hiccups for the Merck Mercuriadis-led company.
The fund, which owns full or partial rights to the song catalogs of artists ranging from Justin Bieber, Neil Young, Bruno Mars, Jimmy Iovine, 50 Cent, Shakira, Blondie, Justin Timberlake, Lindsey Buckingham and many more, was scheduled to publish it financial results on Tuesday (Dec. 19) but now expects to announce on New Year’s Eve, according to a regulatory filing.
In explaining the delay, the Hipgnosis board said the valuation it received from an independent firm was “materially higher than the valuation implied by proposed and recent transactions in the sector,” namely two deals involving itself: a proposed $417.5 million sale of 29 catalogs to Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Capital, a price reflecting a 24.3% discount from a valuation dated March 31, and last week’s sale of 20,000 “non-core songs” to an undisclosed buyer for $23.1 million, which it said reflects a 14.2% discount on the songs’ valuation as of early fall.
Due to the disparity between the independent valuation and the “implied” one tied to recent trends and proposed sales, the board sought advice from its in-house investment advisor, Hipgnosis Song Management Limited, which delivered a “heavily caveated” opinion that led to the board’s concerns as to the valuation of HSF listed in the interim results scheduled to be disclosed today.
Hipgnosis is comprised of three companies: Hipgnosis Song Management, Hipgnosis Songs Capital and Hipgnosis Songs Fund. The latter of the three has been mired in controversy in recent months after it was announced that the London-listed trust would not pay its investors a dividend because of new, lower projections for revenue. On Oct. 26, investors of the fund overwhelmingly demanded structural changes to the music rights company, with more than 80% of Hipgnosis investors voting in favor of the board drawing up “proposals for the reconstruction, reorganization or winding-up of the company to shareholders for their approval within six months.”
Last month the company announced that the fund will not declare dividends before the new fiscal year, which begins next April, in order to ensure it has enough on its balance sheet to pay contractually-mandated catalog bonuses.
Investors are still processing the news, with the company’s stock only slightly down, roughly 2%, in mid-day trading on the London Stock Exchange.
Groundbreaking Los Angeles-based disc jockey Jim Ladd, whom Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers immortalized in their 2002 song “The Last DJ,” died suddenly Sunday of a heart attack. He was 75.
A Los Angeles fixture, Ladd worked up and down the Los Angeles radio dial, including stints at KNAC, KMET and KLOS. He was considered the last freeform DJ in the country, allowed to pick his own song selections.
After leaving KLOS in 2011, he was quickly picked up by SiriusXM’s Deep Tracks channel, where he appeared until his death. Over the decades, he was well known for his interviews with such artists as John Lennon, Pink Floyd, Stevie Nicks and Led Zeppelin.
The Doors drummer John Densmore paid tribute to Ladd on social media, posting on X, “’The Last DJ’ has crossed the tracks. There wasn’t a more soulful spinner of music. The songs he played were running through his blood, he cared so much for rock n’ roll. Irreplaceable… a very sad day, which can only be handled by carrying his spirit forward.”
Densmore’s Doors bandmate Robby Krieger also posted, “Rest in peace, Jim Ladd. He was the best friend in radio The Doors ever had. Even when people forgot about us in the late ‘70s, he kept playing our music.“
Ladd started his career at Long Beach, Calif.’s KNAC in 1969 as FM radio was burgeoning and quickly established himself as one of Southern California’s leading rock voices. In an undated interview with Michael Simone, he said of his mentors and being at the forefront of FM radio, “We were inventing this thing as we were going along, so what I would say in radio [for role models], it is pretty much everybody that I’ve worked with that I’ve learned from or borrowed from. … As far as role models in my life, Martin Luther King would be one, and certainly when I was growing up, John Lennon and Jim Morrison were two others who had a great influence on me, as well as [Roger] Waters.”
Waters and Ladd had a long friendship, with Ladd playing a rebel DJ on Waters’ 1987 Radio K.A.O.S. album and touring with Waters on the Radio K.A.O.S. On the Road outing.
From KNAC, Ladd moved to KLOS in 1971 and then had stops at Los Angeles stations KMET, KMPC and KLSX before returning to KLOS in 1997, where he stayed for 14 years. As Billboard reported in 2011, when he was let go from KLOS after Cumulus bought the station, he signed off with Pink Floyd’s “Shine On Your Crazy Diamond.”
Ladd inspired “The Last DJ” song, which Petty told journalist Jim DeRogatis was “about a DJ who becomes so frustrated with his inability to play what he wants that he moves to Mexico and gets his freedom back.”
Flowers will be placed on Ladd’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. He received his star in 2005. “His legendary voice and unparalleled contribution to the world of radio have left an indelible mark on the industry,” Ana Martinez, producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremonies, stated in a statement. “Jim’s passion for music and his unique ability to connect with his listeners will always be remembered fondly.”
SiriusXM is airing tributes to Ladd, who is survived by wife Helene, on Deep Tracks as well as other classic rock channels.
Bridgeport Music is conducting an audit of the Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC), according to the Federal Register. Bridgeport, which represents the interests of George Clinton and Funkadelic, is best known for its bullish approach to copyright enforcement, once accusing more than 800 artists and labels of infringement in one lawsuit in the early 2000s. […]
When Frances Moore started in the Brussels office of The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in 1994 as regional director for Europe, the trade organization represented six major labels that made most of their money selling CDs – and mostly in Europe and the U.S. When she retires at the end of this year, she will leave a business with three majors that’s truly global and focused on streaming. In between, Moore scored some of the key policy wins that made that happen, especially since ascending to the top job in 2010. She also transformed IFPI into a global force and served longer as CEO than any of her predecessors.
Moore started just as the major labels and other media companies began pushing for laws to protect digital content – an effort that ultimately resulted in the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the U.S., and the 2001 Copyright and Information Society Directive in the European Union. One of her major achievements was IFPI’s passage of the 2019 copyright directive that addressed some of its shortcomings by tightening up some of the safe harbor rules that created a “value gap” between what rightsholders made from licensed services like Spotify and what they got from user-upload-fueled services like YouTube. In between, she led IFPI efforts to extend the term of copyright protection for recordings in Europe and establish a public performance right for recordings in China, plus strengthened IFPI’s operations in markets that barely existed when she started at the organization three decades ago.
You announced in July that you would retire at the end of the year, but some executives can’t quite picture that – you have a reputation for working extremely hard. What are your plans?
I can’t really picture me retiring, either! Come the first of January, I’ll tell you the answer. I’ll take a rest at the beginning and see what happens afterwards.
You’re leaving an organization that’s much more international than the one you joined in 1994.
When I joined, the two big markets were Europe and the U.S., and the bulk of the industry’s revenues came from those two places – the other territories were much smaller. But IFPI was always an international organization: There was already an office in Hong Kong and two small offices in China, so it was more a question of how you brought everyone together.
You started in Brussels and played a major role in building up the organization there.
There was a Brussels representation [when I started] but they didn’t really have U.S. [style] lobbying and that’s what I brought to build a campaign for the [2001] copyright directive. Back in the ‘90s, Europe had a lot to learn about lobbying. I remember suggesting to one of the major national groups that they bring in a lobbyist and they were shocked. It was as if I had suggested bringing in a lady of the night. Lobbying wasn’t seen then as a clean profession.
You started at IFPI right before the first copyright directive and one of your big accomplishments as CEO was to get the 2019 copyright directive passed. That was supposed to address some of the issues with the first one, but the implementation of it in different EU countries has varied. How do you see that?
For the first copyright directive, we built something at the European level that we never had before – we had 32 organizations working together from books, film, music, you name it. In implementing the WIPO treaty, we had a good, strong directive that let companies go online with confidence. When it came to the second one, the issue was what we called ‘the value gap’ [the difference between what it cost companies to license content and how little some of them were paying to use it]. Companies were doing deals with one hand tied behind their back. That was a hard campaign to fight, not because of the arguments – people could see that – but because we had huge opponents. Now some of these companies we work with and they’re a part of the success of the music industry. But as far as EU Parliament, they said this was the hardest-fought campaign they ever had to deal with. Luckily, they came through in the end.
In theory, you got what you needed. But the directive was implemented quite poorly in some countries, especially Germany.
There are 27 countries and there’s one that hasn’t implemented it yet – Poland. But Donald Tusk [who became Polish Prime Minister on December 13], will make sure it’s implemented. In most countries, it has been done faithfully. In Germany and in Belgium, we had problems and we’re taking it to court. But it was a signal more than anything else. To some degree, once it was adopted, the tech companies realized that they had to do what it was asking for.
What do you consider your biggest accomplishment?
I think my biggest accomplishment was putting together an A-level team. I don’t like the cult of personality – everything we do, we do as a team.
Your job is like herding cats – there are the national recording business organizations and the major labels – now small, medium, and large. It’s a very tough act to follow.
The job isn’t to be an expert in legal policy – the job is to hold the ball tight and keep running forward. There’s a global search [for a successor] and I think we’ll be able to announce the person shortly, and I wish that person all the best. The most important thing is that the companies speak with one voice – then everything else becomes easier.
Frances Moore and Taylor Swift
Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
You’ve had support on policy issues over the years from some very famous artists. Did you ever get starstruck?
I’m a Scottish rationalist – I don’t do starstruck. We have this program, Friends of Music, when artists come to the Parliament and they perform, and it moves you. I remember Jamie Cullum was performing in Strausberg [Germany] and at one point he stopped playing on the keys of his piano and just strummed on the wood. It was pure music. I don’t get starstruck but I get impressed beyond belief with talent.
You are leaving an organization that’s much more diverse than the one you joined in 1994. For example, you have women regional directors in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Latin America. Was that a priority for you?
That was the state of the world [in 1994] – it wasn’t just the recording industry. In my case, there was never a point of saying I’m going to recruit a woman – you can only put together an A-level team if you choose the best candidates. We have six regional teams, and three are led by men and three are led by women. That’s balanced but not deliberately balanced – it just worked out that way.
What’s going to be the most important priority for your successor?
AI, because if you don’t get it right, it could decimate the industry. That’s the big one. There are some technology companies saying that there are text and data mining exceptions and we fit in there, so we don’t have to respect copyright. Wrong.
The European Union is looking into whether Elon Musk’s online platform X breached tough new social media regulations in the first such investigation since the rules designed to make online content less toxic took effect.
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“Today we open formal infringement proceedings against @X” under the Digital Services Act, European Commissioner Thierry Breton said Monday in a post on the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“The Commission will now investigate X’s systems and policies related to certain suspected infringements,” spokesman Johannes Bahrke told a press briefing in Brussels. “It does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.”
The investigation will look into whether X failed to do enough to curb the spread of illegal content and whether measures to combat ” information manipulation,” especially through its crowd-sourced Community Notes fact-checking feature, were effective.
The 27-nation EU also will examine whether X was transparent enough with researchers and will look into suspicions that its user interface, including for its blue check subscription service, has a “deceptive design.”
“X remains committed to complying with the Digital Services Act, and is cooperating with the regulatory process,” the company said in a statement. “It is important that this process remains free of political influence and follows the law. X is focused on creating a safe and inclusive environment for all users on our platform, while protecting freedom of expression, and we will continue to work tirelessly towards this goal.”
A raft of big tech companies faced a stricter scrutiny after the EU’s Digital Services Act took effect earlier this year, threatening penalties of up to 6% of their global revenue — which could amount to billions — or even a ban from the EU.
The DSA is a set of far-reaching rules designed to keep users safe online and stop the spread of harmful content that’s either illegal — such as child sexual abuse or terrorism content — or violates a platform’s terms of service, such as promotion of genocide or anorexia.
The EU has already called out X as the worst place online for fake news, and officials have exhorted owner Musk, who bought the platform a year ago, to do more to clean it up. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, quizzed X over its handling of hate speech, misinformation and violent terrorist content related to the Israel-Hamas war after the conflict erupted.
Every time Taylor Swift shows up in Kansas City, people eat more donuts.
Last July, Donutology’s two stores in the city made 20,000 donuts in a single weekend after marketing “Tayl-gating” 30-packs, including Lavender Glazes and Caramel Is a Cat bismarcks, to meet the demand of 74,000 Swifties at two Arrowhead Stadium concerts. The stores hastily hired former employees for around-the-clock frying and assigned their marketing director, Abby Meyer, to help in the packaging department. “It hasn’t really died since then,” Meyer says.
Unlike other U.S. cities on last summer’s Eras tour, Kansas City’s Swiftie boom continues, thanks to the singer’s high-profile presence in the city this fall with her boyfriend, Travis Kelce of the NFL’s Chiefs. And Donutology isn’t the only one cashing in on the buzz: Local businesses such as clothing shops Westside Storey and Made In KC and restaurants Piropos and Prime Social have significantly boosted their sales, social-media views and website traffic over the past few months.
“We can’t attach a number to it,” says Tim Cowden, president/CEO of the Kansas City Area Development Council. “It’s an incredible opportunity that she is providing our region.”
According to the city’s Economic Development Council, Eras tickets across the United States sold at an average price of $1,200, so the Kansas City shows generated $88.8 million in revenue. Additionally, Swifties bought $1,300 to $1,500 worth of meals, merch and other goods throughout the tour, and for Kansas City, that amounted to an overall financial impact of $185 million to $200 million. Then, after Swift’s widely viewed appearance last Sunday in a vintage Chiefs sweatshirt during the team’s game against the Green Bay Packers, Westside Storey, which sold her the item, landed an unprecedented 100 online orders in the two or three days after the game, according to the store’s owner, Chris Harrington.
“It’s quite insane,” says Harrington. “It’s just driven traffic like we’ve never had before. We’re waiting to see when it ends.”
Piropos, the Argentine restaurant where Swift and Kelce had a Kansas City dinner date in late October, reports a similarly massive word-of-mouth reaction. “We didn’t put up any sign. People just called us,” says Cristina Worden, the restaurant’s owner. “We got more reservations, we have more commentary. It’s been great for every business.”
The Eras-related sales spike in Kansas City took Keith Bradley, co-owner of the 11-store gift-and-apparel chain Made In KC, by surprise. Ticketholders streamed into town, buying apparel, jewelry, candles and hats, and the stores scrambled to adapt by launching Swift-themed drinks and friendship bracelets. Nearly three months later, when Swift attended her first Chiefs game, “it felt like that was a new wave,” Bradley says, adding that his shops’ most popular holiday-season products are “anything Taylor and Travis,” such as candles and T-shirts.
The Swift-Kelce romance is a feel-good, fast-moving story and a “buzzworthy partnership,” as Katie Essing, a University of Missouri assistant teaching professor of marketing, describes it — which allows brands to attach themselves for exposure without fearing backlash or consequences. After Swift publicly ate chicken fingers with ketchup and what appeared to be ranch dressing at a Chiefs game in late September, KFC referred to Swift on social media as its “Ranch Queen” and Heinz launched a new flavor called Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch. “Brands having anything to do with ranch could jump on social media,” Essing says. “And that’s what we see happening with the brands in the Kansas City area with this relationship.”
The Eras Tour was so huge — grossing $900 million plus, with 63,000 ticket sales per show, or 3.3 million overall, according to Billboard estimates — that officials and businesses in host cities had to be asleep to not take advantage of the marketing opportunities. Tampa named Swift “honorary mayor”; Las Vegas lit up its Gateway Arches in colors representing all of her albums; and Seattle’s Japonessa Sushi Cocini racked up $10,000 in sales of “Reputation” sushi rolls and cocktails packed with glitter. But only Kansas City has extended its Swiftie effect beyond Eras.
Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas says the NFL Draft in April, which reportedly drew 312,000 attendees and generated $164.3 million, led to “flack” from some local businesses. (Owners complained about street closures, excessive traffic and high parking costs that kept regular customers away.) “Taylor Swift was the opposite — for almost no municipal investment, we’re getting a heck of an investment,” he tells Billboard. “Any mayor would love to have Taylor Swift just start randomly coming to their city. This is great for our economy. It’s great for our culture. It’s great for letting people know we have this dynamic city. Life kind of sucks, so it’s nice to just see two happy people enjoying life.”
SiriusXM’s announcement that it planned to merge its stock with Liberty SiriusXM Group, a tracking stock of Liberty Media, helped the SiriusXM share price climb 16.4% to $5.40 this week after it lagged for much of 2023. Friday’s high mark of $5.78 nearly brought the stock back to where it ended 2022, at $5.84 per share.
The deal, which requires regulatory approval and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2024, “will create value for all stockholders by eliminating the tracking stock structure, enhancing liquidity and allowing former LSXM stockholders to participate directly in the ongoing performance of SiriusXM,” said Greg Maffei, Liberty Media president/CEO, in a statement released Tuesday (Dec. 12).
Elsewhere, Live Nation climbed 9.2% to $93.00 this week thanks in part to an investor note by Morgan Stanley analysts that raised the price target to $110 from $100. Analysts pointed to a “secular shift” in consumer spending on experiences, the company’s increased disclosure about its Venue Nation business and a “highly unlikely” chance the Department of Justice will break up the company following its antitrust probe. Morgan Stanley’s $110 price target implies the stock, which is up 33.4% year to date, has 18% upside after Friday’s close.
Those big gains from SiriusXM and Live Nation, as well as a 4.1% gain from Universal Music Group, one of the index’s most valuable components, helped the Billboard Global Music Index increase 2.2% this week to a record 1,522.78. Nine of the index’s 20 stocks finished the week in positive territory, 10 stocks lost ground and one was unchanged.
Other indexes soared this week after the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates unchanged on Wednesday (Dec. 13) and indicated it would cut interest rates three times in 2024. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite set a record closing price of 14,813.92 on Friday, marking a 2.8% gain for the week. The S&P 500 is still 2% away from its high mark after finishing the week up 2.5% to 4,719.19. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 7,576.36. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index gained 1.8% to 2,563.56.
The Billboard Global Music Index’s second-largest increase came from Reservoir Media, which gained 15% to $6.82. The stock’s $6.89 closing price on Thursday was its highest since $7.06 on Feb. 16 and is 31.4% above its 52-week low of $5.19 set on Aug. 10. Chinese music streamer Tencent Music Entertainment gained 8.0% to $8.88.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund gained 4.9% to 0.701 pounds ($0.89) after the company announced on Monday (Dec. 11) the sale of 20,000 non-core music assets for $23.1 million. The proceeds will be used to pay down its revolving credit facility. On Friday, the company also announced the appointment of Christopher Mills as an independent non-executive director effective immediately. Mills, who has a reputation as an activist investor, is CEO/investment manager of North Atlantic Smaller Companies Investment Trust and founded Harwood Capital Management in 2011. Following the news, Hipgnosis Songs Fund shares rose 2.3% on Friday.
Music streaming company Anghami dropped 30.4% to $0.94, bringing its three-week decline to 66.5%. Other than Anghami, however, no other stock finished the week with a loss greater than 5%. iHeartMedia fell 4.9% to $2.52 and MSG Entertainment dropped 3.2% to $31.16.