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iHeartMedia shares dropped 19.6% to $2.01 this week as the company warned investors of continued softness in radio advertising dollars. Fourth quarter results “will be weaker than we originally anticipated,” said CEO Bob Pittman during Thursday’s earnings call. In October, consolidated revenue was down 8% from the prior-year period. For the fourth quarter, iHeartMedia expects consolidated revenue excluding political ad revenue to decline in the low single digits.
Still, iHeartMedia’s third-quarter results were in line with previous guidance. Revenue of $953 million was down 3.6% from the prior-year period, a bit better than the guidance of a low single-digit decrease. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $204 million was within the guidance of $195 million to $205 million.
The week’s sharp decline brought iHeartMedia’s year-to-date loss to 67.2%, far deeper than the declines of broadcast radio company Cumulus Media (-21.9%) and satellite radio company SiriusXM (-20.7%). Not only has broadcast radio suffered from weak national advertising, it lacks the high growth rates of music streaming and podcasting. PwC’s latest forecasts call for U.S. radio advertising revenues to rise just 4% from 2023 to 2027 while U.S. podcast advertising — where iHeartMedia has a large footprint — will grow 41% to $2 billion.
Next year’s elections should provide a shot in the arm, though. “As we look forward to 2024, we expect to generate significantly better free cash flow driven in part by an improving macro environment, as well as the impact of political dollars,” said CFO Rich Bressler. In 2020, the company generated $167 million in political revenues, he noted.
The Billboard Global Music Index mostly held steady this week, dropping just 0.3% to 1,390.68. Of the index’s 20 stocks, seven gained this while while 13 finished in negative territory. Most stocks had low-single-digit gains or losses and iHeartMedia was the only stock with a double-digit move in either direction.
French company Believe was the index’s greatest gainer of the week after improving 7.4% to 9.93 euros ($10.64). German concert promoter CTS Eventim, which will release third-quarter earnings on Nov. 21, gained 5.5% to 62.75 euros ($67.24). Music streaming company LiveOne gained 4.7% to $1.12. Chinese music streamer Cloud Music, which has not yet announced the date of its third-quarter earnings release, gained 3.3% to 99.50 HKD ($12.74).
Shares of Sphere Entertainment Co. dropped 1.5% to $35.95 after a roller-coaster week. Following the company’s Nov. 3 announcement that CFO Gautum Ranji had left the company, Sphere Entertainment shares dropped 9.6% to $32.97 on Monday. The share price fell an additional 4.5% to $31.87 on Wednesday following the quarterly earnings release. But Sphere Entertainment picked up momentum in the latter half of the week, gaining 12.8% over Thursday and Friday to close at $35.95.
U.S. stocks were broadly up this week despite news that consumer sentiment declined in November and expectations for future inflation reached their highest level since 2011. The Nasdaq composite rose 2.4% while the S&P 500 improved 1.3%. Many major U.S. tech stocks posted big gains. Microsoft hit an all-time high of $370.09 on Friday and finished the week at $369.67, up 4.8%. Apple rose 5.5% to $186.40. Amazon improved 3.6% to $143.56. Meta jumped 4.5% to $32.8.77. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 fell 0.8%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index gained 1.7%.
Music companies’ third-quarter earnings reports have so far been full of good news and positive trends. Subscription and streaming growth continue to drive revenues for record labels and publishers. Live entertainment continues its post-pandemic expansion. Margins are healthy. Overall, these have been solid report cards for the state of the music business.
Among the companies to report thus far are Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Spotify, Believe, Sphere Entertainment Co., MSG Entertainment, HYBE and SiriusXM. Next week’s earnings reports will come from Warner Music Group (Nov. 16) and Tencent Music Entertainment (Nov. 14). German concert promoter CTS Eventim will report on Nov. 21.
Here are seven items from the earnings releases to date that stood out and deserve more attention.
Universal Music Group struck out against “merchants of garbage.” During Universal Music Group’s Oct. 26 earnings call, chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge got a lot of attention when he bemoaned the “merchants of garbage” — creators of low-value functional music such as generic mood music and nature sounds — that want to be on equal royalty terms at streaming platforms as such UMG artists as Taylor Swift, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Grainge’s memorable turn of phrase came in defense of UMG’s artist-centric royalty scheme crafted in partnership with French music streaming service Deezer. “Sorry, I can’t really think of another word for content that no one really actually wants to listen to,” Grainge said.
Spotify’s price increase gave a much-needed uplift to subscription revenues. The price for an individual Spotify subscription in the U.S. was $9.99 from 2011 to July 2023. The price hike to $10.99 in roughly 50 markets may have arrived later than its competitors, but it came just when Spotify needed a boost. Spotify’s premium average revenue per user dropped 6% year over year (1% at constant currency) mainly because the company had a larger share of family plans compared to the prior-year, CFO Paul Vogel said during the July 25 earnings call. Early returns from the price increase in the U.S., U.K. and dozens of other markets helped offset those losses. Because Spotify’s number of subscribers increased 16% year over year to 226 million, subscription revenue grew 10% year over year (16% at constant currency) to 2.9 billion euros ($3.1 billion). With three full months of a price increase in the fourth quarter and considering the price increase covered about 75% of Spotify’s revenue base, the company expects the price increase to provide “a positive, mid-single digit” benefit (excluding foreign exchange) in the fourth quarter, said Vogel.
No company lowered guidance, and some have raised guidance. Sony Music raised guidance for revenue and adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization by 5% and 4%, respectively. Reservoir Media raised guidance for fiscal 2024 revenue and adjusted EBITDA by 10% each. It’s one thing for a company to meet expectations it had previously laid out to investors. But raising previously released expectations is something else altogether — a sign the future will be better than expected. It’s usually a benefit to the stock price, too. The share price is the present value of future cash flows. When an estimate for future cash flows takes a sudden jump, that changes the financial model used to calculate the share price.
Consumers aren’t slowing their spending on live music. In August, concerns arose that a resumption of student loan payments, paused to help people struggling during the pandemic, would take a bite out of pocketbooks and cause music fans to pull back on the record amounts they were spending on live entertainment. Three months later, there is no indication that consumers are slowing down, according to Live Nation. “We’re seeing no sign of weaknesses,” said president and CFO Joe Berchtold, noting that Ticketmaster’s October sales in North American were up double-digits year over year. “We’re not seeing any pullback in any way from a club to a stadium tour from Milan to Argentina right now,” added president and CEO Michael Rapino.
SM Entertainment has big plans for its new publishing subsidiary, Kreation Music Rights. The K-pop stalwart has been “aggressively recruiting global writers” and plans to have 80 of them under contract this year, CEO Jang Cheol Hyuk said during the Nov. 8 earnings call. SM Entertainment is pursuing collaborations with both domestic and international publishers and plans to recruit foreign writers “who wish to advance into K-pop by establishing overseas subsidiaries,” Jiang said.
Radio advertising continues to struggle — but the clouds may be starting to part. iHeartMedia’s October revenues were down 8% and the company expects its fourth-quarter revenue excluding political revenue to be down in the mid-single digit percent year over year. The fourth quarter will be iHeartMedia’s strongest quarter of the year “but will be weaker than we originally anticipated due to some dampening of advertising demand which coincided with the uncertainty caused by the recent geopolitical events,” CEO Bob Pittman said during Thursday’s earnings call. That said, iHeartMedia’s digital business “is sort of in recovery mode,” said Pittman, and the company is “seeing the pieces falling into place” for radio’s recovery as most advertisers expect to be “back in growth mode…and spending to support that” in 2024.
The market for catalog acquisitions isn’t slowing down. Reservoir Media CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi said catalog prices aren’t contracting despite higher interest rates. “We’re still seeing a lot of demand for assets and continued infusion of new capital within the competitive set,” she said during Tuesday’s earnings call. “And that is certainly fueling the demand. The pipeline is robust. And it ranges in size from large to a lot of smaller deals.” Reservoir Media hasn’t been suffering from sticker shock, though. Acquisitions in the Middle East-North Africa market — such as some catalog of Saudi Arabian label Mashrex in June — provide the company with good value, Khosrowshahi added. “If we’re looking at a market here that is somewhat saturated with a lot of capital in the marketplace, and we’re able to execute [deals in MENA] at these lower multiples, that makes it just that much more attractive to us.”
In the Mechanical Licensing Collective’s (The MLC) third annual membership meeting, the Nashville-based non-profit organization revealed that it has distributed $1.5 billion in total royalties to date to songwriters and publishers, up by about $500 million from March.
This year marked the Music Modernization Act‘s fifth anniversary since passing into law — the landmark occasion that instructed the MLC’s formation. As part of the law, a new blanket license was created for musical work (also known as “song” or “composition”) mechanical royalties that greatly simplified music licensing for digital services like Spotify and Apple Music, among others.
The previous, piece-meal system was not only complicated for the services — it also led to a growing pool of over $400 million in streaming royalties that were unallocated because the compositions’ owners couldn’t be found. (This is colloquially known in the business as “black box” money, although the MLC uses the term “historical unmatched royalties.”) The MLC was tasked to implement and administer this new blanket license and distribute the money in this stagnant royalty pool. It officially opened its doors on Jan. 1, 2021.
According to its latest report, The MLC has completed 31 monthly royalty distributions to date, each one of them completed on time or early. Its match rate for all royalties processed through October is also up 1% since their last reporting in March, rising from 89% to 90%. According to the MLC, the match rate represented the percentage of total royalties processed that were able to match to a registered work in their database.
The MLC reported a membership of 32,000 people — 9,000 of which joined in 2023 — and touts 33 million works in its database, with data for over 3 million works added in 2023 alone. An MLC spokesperson clarified that this metric means that there were 3 million new songs this year, calculated by taking the total number of songs registered at the beginning of the year and comparing that to the total number registered at the end of September.
During the membership meeting, The MLC also announced some new board appointments. Alisa Coleman was re-elected by The MLC’s Class B Members to serve on The MLC’s Board of Directors for a second three-year term; The MLC’s Class A Members selected Troy Verges to fill the open seat as a songwriter director of the board, a position previously held by Craig Wiseman; The Class A Members selected Kevin Kadish to serve a second three-year term as a songwriter director of the board. (The Class C membership will not change in 2024.)
“We are proud of these accomplishments, particularly in reaching the milestone of distributing over $1.5 billion in royalties,” said Kris Ahrend, CEO of the MLC. “We have effectively illuminated the black box by empowering our members with several tools that enable them to take actions intended to eliminate the black box. We look forward to continuing our work to fulfill our mission of ensuring songwriters, composers, lyricists and music publishers receive their mechanical royalties from streaming & download services in the United States accurately and on time.”
As part of the five year anniversary of the MMA, Congress hosted a committee hearing in June to review its impact on the music business so far. Ahrend, along with Garrett Levin (then-president and CEO, Digital Media Association), Michael Molinar (president, Big Machine Music), Abby North (president, North Music Group), Daniel Tashian (songwriter, producer) and David Porter (songwriter, producer) all spoke as witnesses.
The 2024 Grammy Awards nominations were released today (Nov. 10), with SZA, Victoria Monet and Phoebe Bridgers among the artists receiving the most nods for the Feb. 4 awards. For the fourth time in the past six years, Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA) artists racked up the most nominations among labels in the “Big Four” categories of record, album and song of the year and best new artist.
IGA artists accumulated 13 nominations among those top categories, more than doubling the next-highest label tally. They include Jon Batiste (Verve/Interscope), boygenius, Olivia Rodrigo (Geffen) and Lana Del Rey, all of whom landed multiple nominations. Billie Eilish also scored two, for record and song of the year for her track “What Was I Made For?” off the Barbie soundtrack album. (Eilish is a Darkroom/Interscope artist, though that soundtrack was released by Atlantic Records; in this case, those nominations are being counted for both Interscope and Atlantic. Warner Records artist Dua Lipa’s contribution to that soundtrack, “Dance The Night,” was also nominated for song of the year and is also counted for both labels.)
Notably, three of those Interscope artists — Eilish, Rodrigo and Bridgers, who is a member of boygenius — were nominees for best new artist within the past four years, with both Eilish (in 2020) and Rodrigo (in 2022) winning the honor. This year, Interscope has another artist, Gracie Abrams, nominated in the category.
Behind IGA, both Atlantic and RCA picked up five nominations among the Big Four categories, tying for second place among labels. Atlantic has three from the Barbie soundtrack, as well as an album of the year nomination for Janelle Monae’s The Age Of Pleasure and a best new artist nod for dance act Fred Again… SZA led the way for RCA, with her hit “Kill Bill” earning record and song of the year noms and album SOS picking up an album of the year nod, while Victoria Monet was recognized for record of the year for “On My Mama” as well as best new artist for the Sony-owned label.
Beyond those three labels, Taylor Swift’s three nominations in the Big Four — record and song for “Anti-Hero” and album for Midnights — led the way for Republic, which also saw Noah Kahan (Mercury/Republic) pick up a best new artist nomination to round out its total of four nods. Meanwhile, Miley Cyrus’ three Big Four nominations — record and song for “Flowers,” album for Endless Summer Vacation — accounted for all nods in the Big Four for Columbia, which led all labels in Big Four nominations last year. Other labels whose artists received Big Four nominations include Capitol (Ice Spice, best new artist, in collaboration with 10K Projects), BBR Music Group (Jelly Roll, best new artist), Def Jam (Coco Jones, best new artist), UMG Nashville (The War and Treaty, best new artist) and Warner Records (Dua Lipa’s “Dance The Night,” song of the year).
Broken out by label group, Universal Music Group led the way with 20 nominations in the Big Four categories, while Sony Music Entertainment picked up eight, Warner Music Group accounted for five and BMG, which owns BBR Music Group, received one.
Aluna is one of the dance world’s strongest voices for the representation of Black artists, and this week she’s continuing the mission with the launch of her own label, Noir Fever.
Launched in partnership with Empire, Noir Fever will be a home for dance music created by Black artists, with a focus on Black women and LGBTQ+ artists.
“I started Noir Fever records as a key component to my 360-degree strategy of making sustainable and effective change to the future of Black dance music, an idea which was birthed as a response to my own letter to the Dance music industry in 2020,” Aluna said in a statement.
“Investment in the recording side is essential to fostering emerging talent, and by focusing on black women and the queer community I can ensure that everyone is being uplifted,” the statement continues. “This label will work in tandem with my events company so that those who I am opening doors for are not simply walking into another closed door, I’m trying to create a path not an opportunity to slip through a crack.”
The label’s first release is “Pain & Pleasure,” a vibey jam from Moonshine, a Montreal collective of musicians, DJs, dancers and visual artists. The track features the Juno Award-nominated, Somali-Canadian artist Amaal Nuux, Portuguese-Angolese artist Vanyfox and Aluna herself. Listen to it below.
Noir Fever has also appointed Adam Cooper as creative director. Cooper is a strategist, creative director and DJ based in Los Angeles, born in Trinidad & Tobago and raised in Caracas/Venezuelaas well as Brooklyn.
Of the launch, EMPIRE Dance’s director of operations/A&R Deron Delgado said in a statement: “Beyond her extraordinary achievements and remarkable talent, Aluna has consistently championed diversity and inclusion in the music industry, principles that have been ingrained in the very fabric of EMPIRE since our inception over a decade ago. Our shared values and objectives align seamlessly, making this collaboration a natural synergy that promises to elevate music, events, and art to a broader global audience. We are truly excited to be part of showcasing the exceptional talent that Noir Fever is bringing to the masses.”
The label launch follows the release of Aluna’s second solo album, MYCELiUM, released this past July via Mad Decent.
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Latin superstar Chayanne is a chart machine. The Puerto Rican heartthrob boasts a multi-decade streak of 15 albums that have reached the top 10 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Albums chart since his self-titled debut in 1989. Only one other Latin act (Rocío Dúrcal) has matched that feat.
But Chayanne’s last album was 2014’s En todo estaré, released nine years ago, while his last tour stopped short in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And although he’d had plenty of singles chart activity since then, his last No. 1 was 2007’s “Si nos quedara poco tiempo,” which topped the Hot Latin Songs chart.
Certainly, expectations and pressure were high for Chayanne to deliver, and he’s done just that. His new album, Bailemos, out on his longtime label, Sony Music, opened at No. 3 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Albums chart, while his current single, “Bailando Bachata,” notched its 13th week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Tropical Airplay chart, marking his longest-running single to date on any chart. One of the most successful Latin touring acts in the market, Chayanne is also readying what will be his next mammoth, multi-year tour, which kicks off next year and will include arenas and stadiums in the United States, Latin America and Spain.
Despite the long gap between studio albums, at the core of Chayanne’s success is consistency: He’s a self-described “label artist” who has been signed to Sony since his 1989 debut. He could also be described as a one-manager artist. Patty Vega, director of Chayanne’s Chaf Enterprises, has managed him for the past 27 years with a steely, steady hand. The Colombian-born Vega, known for her no-nonsense, get-it-done style and her ability to position her client in every country in the world, is one of the very few female managers in Latin music, albeit one who prefers to stay behind the scenes. This week, given Chayanne’s success, she earns the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week — and explains why her legacy artist remains in his prime.
It’s been nine years since Chayanne’s last studio album. What did it mean to you as a manager to wait nearly a decade for your artist to release an album?
It was a struggle because the years kept going by. But Chayanne was waiting for his moment, and in between, he did two tours — and remember, each Chayanne tour takes roughly two and a half years to complete. Then we had the pandemic, and that’s when we started to talk about an album. So it’s not like we weren’t on it. Afterward, Sony’s songwriting camp system was magnificent and it’s something Chayanne hadn’t done before. They brought together songwriters, producers and the artist, who in this case had input on everything and was able to pinpoint what he wanted and contribute to the songs. And we see the results: 13 weeks at No. 1 and No. 3 in sales. The experience of making this album was totally different from before.
How so?
Before they would send us songs, the songwriter would chat with Chayanne, Chayanne would give his input, they’d record a demo, but it’s very different from actually being in the studio and working the songs there. This time, we had three studios going on, and in the space of one week, we had 16 songs, which we whittled down to nine.
Chayanne became a superstar at a time when albums were sold, radio and TV were all-important and there were few Latin global stars. How do you explain to an artist like that that the world of music and promotion is very different now?
We had very long, involved conversations, and above everything, we have a very good relationship. We have our big differences in terms of the proposals that we consider. But he is always open to analyze something. Sometimes he’ll get up and say no, but a seed is planted. This was a long process. For example, he was very reticent with social media. He said he didn’t have the time and he didn’t want to do things his fans might not like or want. Convincing him to really work on his social media was intense. But today, he understands it perfectly, and everything he does resonates, which says a lot about his fans and how faithful they are to him. Those millions of followers he has, he’s gained every one of them organically. For example, “La Bachata” — you go on Instagram and there’s thousands of posts of people dancing to it.
That’s Chayanne. How did you change?
Well, I had to learn. You have a formula that’s given you a great response for decades. And suddenly, it’s not the same. So you have to adapt. That’s why convincing Chayanne to open up to other things was so major. He’s remained relevant because, first and foremost, people love him. That’s not something you can buy; that’s genuine and that’s something we’ve built through the years. But also, beyond music, for example, we do a lot of campaigns.
What do you mean by campaigns?
We have many commercial campaigns with brands, and that keeps his image relevant in many countries. Lala in Mexico, for example, is a very well-known milk brand and every year we do a national campaign that includes traditional media like television and banners, and digital. [Department store] Falabella has done a Christmas campaign with Chayanne in Chile, Colombia and Peru for five consecutive years. Chayanne’s image is very present.
While you’re doing a lot with digital and social media, radio has been very central to the promotion of this album. Is it a struggle with the label to attack both avenues of promotion?
Not at all. It may seem old school but it’s essential for us. And Chayanne has spent his entire life with Sony, and this marketing team is the best. We meet constantly, and they understand perfectly that although he now has a younger audience — because the age range of his fans is younger now — he also has a fan base that doesn’t understand social media as well, and still listens to radio and still wants to buy the CD and the poster. Radio is still very important, and radio has embraced Chayanne in every country. Television is also important and continues to sell for us. We have to consider all those elements: the mothers, the aunts, the grandmothers, the daughters. It’s many generations. But, I felt supported one thousand percent [by the label]. I thank my team every day… They’re all on team Chayanne.
What has been the biggest challenge with this album?
The same one as ever: To get people to love it. Having him do something great and being able to say, “We did it.” It’s very hard [to stand out] in such a competitive industry where there are so many young artists making hits, and where artists from other generations aren’t as visible. You have to really strive to do something better than the last album. Make a better tour than the last tour. At the end of the day, word of mouth is what gets people to your shows. But in the end, all the pieces fell into place. This album had to come out now, and Chayanne had to be ready.
I know you’re touring next year. What can you tell me?
It’s throughout all of Iber-America: from Spain to Argentina, going through every single country in Central and South America. For the U.S. I already have a proposal for 40 arena dates. Our last tour was 100 dates, and we had to cut the last five months due to the pandemic. As Alejandro Soberón [CEO of OCESA] once said, with Chayanne, you have to sell subscriptions because female fans go see him again and again when he plays. [He] can play a Movistar arena now, and come back months later and do it again. We repeat in a lot of markets.
You’ve worked with Chayanne for 33 years, 27 of them as his manager. That’s very unusual, especially now, when artists change managers at a very fast clip. To what do you attribute the longevity?
I think honesty. And loyalty. The most important thing for me is to look someone in the eyes and know that I’m telling them the truth and they can trust me. That’s the way it’s always been. We’ve disagreed, of course; we have our tempers. But we’ve worked with respect: He respects my work and I respect his.
No matter how you Style it, Taylor Swift‘s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is a juggernaut. The re-recorded set debuted with 1.653 million equivalent album units (EAUs) in the United States in the week ending Nov. 2, according to Luminate, making it far and away the biggest debut for an album so far in 2023. To give a sense of just how phenomenal its performance is, we’ve stacked it up against every other No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 so far this year — a list comprising 15 additional titles in all.
It bears reiterating that first-week EAUs for 1989 (Taylor’s Version) dwarfed those of all other No. 1 albums released this year, topping every other debut week by more than double. That includes her own Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which had the second biggest debut week of the year with 716,000 EAUs in July, as well as the third-place finisher, Morgan Wallen‘s One Thing at a Time, which racked up 501,000 EAUs in its first week. Swift’s top-two placement on the list is a remarkable feat, underlining the fact that in some ways, the megastar’s only real competition these days is herself.
Case in point: In its first week, 1989 (Taylor’s Version)‘s 1.359 million in traditional album sales — a metric that encompasses physical sales (vinyl, CD, cassette) and digital downloads — quickly surpassed 2023’s previous best-seller, Swift’s own Midnights, which dropped in October 2022 and had racked up 791,000 in sales so far this year. Swift also has the third most-sold album of the year with Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which has racked up sales of 755,000 since its July release. All three got to those numbers due to Swift’s strategy of offering multiple collectible physical formats; in the case of 1989 (Taylor Version), that includes five color vinyl variants, eight CD editions and two cassette editions — not to mention two digital download editions (standard and deluxe).
The strategy of offering multiple physical variants is one that’s also successfully employed by many of today’s top K-pop acts, including three who enjoyed No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 this year: TOMORROW X TOGETHER, Stray Kids and NewJeans. As a result, like Swift, the majority of those acts’ first-week EAUs consist of traditional album sales. The first-week sales of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) comprise a whopping 82.2% of total EAUs — more than any other No. 1 debut album this year aside from TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Temptation EP (94.41%) and Stray Kids’ 5-Star (94.38%). NewJeans’ Get Up EP had nearly as high of a sales percentage at 80.6%. The only other non-K-pop act to boast a similar first-week sales-to-streams ratio was blink-182‘s One More Time…, whose first-week sales made up 81% of total EAUs thanks to the band’s offering of 11 vinyl variants, as well as a CD, cassette and deluxe boxed set.
In fact, the first-week sales of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) were larger than the next five biggest first-week sales tallies of 2023 combined: Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (507,000), Travis Scott’s Utopia (252,000), Stray Kids’ 5-Star (235,000), TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Temptation EP (152,000) and Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts (150,000).
Unlike these top-selling K-pop acts, whose first-week streaming units tend to hover in the low-five-digit range, Swift’s streaming game stacks up well against the heaviest hitters on that metric. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) racked up 294,000 streaming units in its first week, third only to Drake’s For All the Dogs and Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, which drew 392,000 and 390,000 streaming units, respectively.
Kobalt has extended its worldwide publishing deal with rap superstar Gunna. The agreement includes global synch and creative services for all of Gunna’s catalog as well as future works. “Gunna is a superstar, plain and simple,” says Kobalt CEO Laurent Hubert. “It’s been incredible to see him attain these musical achievements while at Kobalt. We are honored to continue our partnership with Gunna and his team and look forward to supporting their efforts.”
BMG has signed a publishing deal with Daniel Johns, encompassing his entire Silverchair catalog. The worldwide deal immediately includes all of Johns’ publishing interests on his sophomore solo album FutureNever, and it will eventually include his catalogue of global hits including “Straight Lines,” “The Greatest View,” “Ana’s Song,” “Freak,” “Tomorrow” and many others reverting into the deal in 2025.
Warner Chappell Music and Madfun Entertainment have extended their publishing agreement with Matt Jenkins and have purchased Jenkins’ back catalog of music. This includes songs like “Happy Anywhere” by Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, “Buy Dirt” by Jordan Davis ft. Luke Bryan, and more.
Reservoir has announced a new deal with Grammy-winning country songwriter/producer/engineer Brent Maher. The company’s relationship with Maher began in 2018 when it acquired rights to Maher’s full catalog, and now it will also be involved in his future works as well. over the course of his career, Maher has worked on a slew of hits, including songs recorded by The Judds, Tanya Tucker, Dottie West, Tina Turner, Kenny Rogers, and more.
Warner Chappell Music has signed rising country trio The Castellows. Comprised of Ellie, Powell and Lily, the band recently signed a record deal with Warner Records and Warner Music Nashville and released their debut song “No. 7 Road.”
Budde Music and Karma Songs have extended their publishing deal with Nick Bradley, a London-based songwriter who has written songs with James Blunt, Bow Anderson, Røry, Matteo Bocelli, Don Diablo, You Me At Six, Maneskin, Kelvin Jones, NCT 127 and Flux Pavilion.
Warner Chappell Music has renewed its publishing deal with multi-platinum songwriter Rick Boardman. His credits include songs with Marshmello, Jonas Brothers, Khalid, Bebe Rexha, Louis Tomlinson, Clean Bandit, and Jess Glynne.
Universal Music Publishing Group has signed a global publishing deal with Mexican singer-songwriter Carin Leon. He’s known best for his Latin Grammy-winning song “Como Lo Hice Yo,” but he also has a slew of other popular songs, including “Ni me debes ni te debo,” “Te lo agradezco,” “Me haces tan bien,” and more.
Concord Music Publishing has signed Nashville-based songwriter and producer Aaron Eshuis. The worldwide co-publishing deal is effective immediately and also includes a selection of his existing catalog and all future works. His catalog includes cuts with Scotty McCreery, Rascal Flatts, Joe Nichols, A Thousand Horses, Catie Offerman, Kameron Marlowe, Corey Kent, Cole Swindell, Kylie Morgan, Meghan Patrick, and Mason Ramsey.
Position Music has signed producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Alex Wilke to a worldwide publishing deal. So far, the rising hitmaker has worked on songs with Maddie Zahm, Leah Kate, Lexi Jayde, Jake Miller and more.
Linkin Park is facing a lawsuit that claims it has refused to credit or pay royalties to an ex-bassist who played with the band in the late 1990s — a legal battle triggered by an anniversary re-release of the band’s smash hit 2000 debut album.
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In a complaint filed Wednesday (Nov. 8) federal court, Kyle Christner says he helped creating many songs that were included on the 2020 box-set edition of Hybrid Theory, which holds the lofty distinction as the best-selling rock album of the 21st century. But he says his contributions have been effectively erased.
“Christner has never been paid a penny for his work with Linkin Park, nor has he been properly credited, even as defendants have benefitted from his creative efforts,” his lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.
Christner claims he was a member of Linkin Park for several months in 1999, until he was “abruptly informed” that he had been fired shortly before the band signed a record deal with Warner Records. But before his exit, Christner claims he played bass on a self-released EP and on several demo recordings, some of which he says he “helped compose.”
His lawsuit claims that as many as 20 of those recordings were released as goodies on the 2020 re-release, making him “a joint creator of many tracks in the box set.” That includes a song called “Could Have Been,” a never-before-released demo track that has amassed 949,000 views on YouTube.
According to Christner, the situation came to a head earlier this year when he was contacted by a Linkin Park representative offering him royalties for the Hybrid Theory re-release. The email allegedly read: “You get mechanical royalties for 3 demos and the 6-song Hybrid Theory EP that you performed on.”
Christner responded by pressing the band for a more detailed explanation of his royalty breakdown, and arguing that he was entitled to a cut from a greater number of tracks — “more than twenty songs.” He later told the band: “If you do not believe I deserve writing credits on these songs, please state your reasons for that in your response.”
Later, after lawyers got involved, Christner says the band backtracked, denying that his work appeared in the box set at all.
“In other words, after admitting that Christner played on at least some tracks included in the box set and admitting that Christner was entitled to at least some ‘mechanical’ royalties, which are royalties paid for compositions, defendants repudiated Christner’s co-authorship and co-ownership of the works at issue,” his lawyers wrote in Wednesday’s complaint.
In technical terms, the lawsuit is asking a judge to issue a so-called declaratory judgment that says Christner is a co-author and co-owner of the copyrights in question, and to weigh in on the “rights and obligations of the parties” — meaning, whether the band owes him a cut of royalties and how much. He also is asking for a court-ordered accounting of royalties for the disputed songs.
As defendants, the lawsuit personally names Linkin Park’s living members (Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, Brad Delson and Joseph Hahn), as well as its business entity, Machine Shop Entertainment LLC, and the band’s label Warner Records.
A rep for Linkin Park did not immediately return a request for comment.
It’s Friday, we’re in love with Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across the music industry.
There’s no place like home for Tim Braüner, the longtime Atlantic Records A&R exec who’s set to return to his native Denmark early next year for an elevated role within WMG. Starting Feb. 1 in Copenhagen, Braüner will be director of international A&R for Warner Music Nordics and Warner Music Denmark. He’ll report to the incoming head of Warner Music Denmark and will also work closely with Mark Fry, president of Warner Music Nordics, as well as the territory heads of Finland, Norway and Sweden. He launched his music career at WMD back in 2016 before being recruited by Atlantic two years later to join the team in NYC. Currently vp of A&R, Braüner has signed and worked with Atlantic roster artists including CKay, Major League DJz, Studio Killers and Surf Curse. “It’s great to have Tim back in the Nordics,” said Fry. “We were so proud when he was tapped by Atlantic for an A&R job in New York and now he’s back with five years’ experience and a wealth of connections that’ll help him super serve our artists.”
Warner Music Group appointed Alexandra Condon as vice president of public policy and government affairs, making her the point-person between the label and policymakers across the EU and the UK. She’ll also stay in close contact with key trade orgs and other stakeholders and be an all-around public advocate for the company. The London-based Condon joins WMG after more than a decade at PRS for Music, where she crested as head of policy and public affairs, and played an important role in the UK collecting society’s campaigns for copyright legislation. She reports to Mark Baker, svp of PPaGA. “This is a pivotal time for the music industry, with many exciting challenges and opportunities in front of us,” Condon said. “It’s never been more important to ensure policymakers understand our business and the need for a legal framework that enables us to keep investing in artists and songwriters.”
Mike Chuthakieo was named the first chief revenue officer at 88rising, reporting to CEO and founder Sean Miyashiro out of Los Angeles. Chuthakieo leads brand partnership strategy develops new commercial partnerships at the music and media company, which aims to elevate Asian talent. Chuthakieo comes to 88rising from Pinterest, where as an industry lead he launched the entertainment and restaurant industry sales teams. Prior to Pinterest, he held roles at Pandora, FOX, Myspace and Wasserman Media Group, among others. “88rising’s explosive growth over the past years has been phenomenal to watch,” said the new CRO. “I’m humbled and excited by the opportunity to join the team and apply my expertise to continue broadening the reach of this cultural powerhouse.”
Music distribution and payments platform Stem hired Nick Terzo to help extend its reach with labels and other rights owners. As the company’s new head of label and catalog partnerships, Terzo will scout opportunities for pairings with indie labels, music IP funds and catalogs, as well as work on ways to boost Stem’s artist development efforts. The East Coaster arrives from his own catalog consultancy company Radical Songs, and before that held roles at Royalty Exchange, Columbia/Sony and Maverick. Since joining Stem, Terzo has already stacked up at least a couple wins: he facilitated or guided pacts with both Immortal Records and Brooklyn Music Distribution. He reports directly to Kristin Graziani, president of Stem Distribution. “Nick is a fantastic addition to our growing team,” Graziani glowed. “He brings an infinite wealth of experience, knowledge, and relationships that will undoubtedly expand our presence and amplify our capabilities.”
Dylan Berthier is Kobalt‘s new chief people & culture officer, based in London and reporting to CEO Laurent Hubert. Berthier has 20-plus years experience in leading HR teams, and recently navigated the impossible-sounding task of leading Activision Blizzard’s P&C team during Microsoft’s just-closed $69 million acquisition of the gaming giant. Hubert hailed Berthier as being adept at leading teams “of all shapes and sizes through times of change and expansion, facilitating innovation and ensuring organizations have a culture of excellence and ways of working to enable these transformations.”
ICYMI: Hipgnosis hired a new CFO and general counsel … Amazon Music shed jobs … Delia Orjuela and Ruben Abraham were picked to lead WMG’s Mexican music division … Island hired Jay Schumer away from Columbia … Sony Music Mexico aligned with Manuel Cuevas … Maria Inés Sánchez was appointed Sony Music Latin’s new vp of West Coast operations … and CAAers in Nashville will have new digs in 2025.
Spotify named Tim Foisset as head of label partnerships in Nashville. He will manage Nashville’s label partnerships team, including Gemma McInturff, Miller Guth and Meagan Bennington. Foisset previously spent 13 years at Warner Music Nashville, most recently serving as senior vp of commercial partnerships. Prior to WMN, Foisset was director of digital marketing at Razor & Tie out of New York City. –Jessica Nicholson
Independent live producer and promoter Danny Wimmer Presents increased its headcount by five as it looks to capitalize on recent growth. DWP’s newest team members: Lisa Brende, evp of intelligence, will lead a team using data and research to help DWP stay on task in making sure “the voice of the fan is at the heart of everything they do.” She previously held senior roles at TikTok and Sony Music. Steve Donovan, project manager, will oversee teams working on production, artist relations and hospitality. He arrives from Google, where he was a senior project manager. Dan Lerner, senior designer, responsible for crafting visually compelling projects for DWP. His past work as an illustrator and graphic designer includes many a poster and album cover. Ryan Brady, accounting manager, is tasked with streamlining the finance team at DWP. He has over seven years of experience, including at Live Nation. Tanvi Varma, staff accountant in DWP’s accounts receivable/payable desk. She arrives from Wasserman Media Group, where she worked in the sports division.
Secret City Records, the Montreal-based label home of Patrick Watson and The Barr Brothers, among others, elevated Magali Ould to the newly created role of general manager. Ould is tasked with managing the indie label’s day-to-day operations, reporting directly to company president and CEO Justin West. She has been a key member of the label for 12-plus years in communications and project management roles, including director of marketing. Ould has also been key in pushing Secret City’s expansion into Francophone music, working with Daniel Bélanger, Antoine Corriveau and others. “Secret City’s tremendous growth, as well as the accelerated pace of the changing market, both bring new challenges and opportunities, and drive the need for additional management infrastructure to ensure the relevant parts of the organization continue to function at the highest level,” said West.
Music financing company beatBread hired Spencer LeBoff to spearhead a new division that offers an expanded offering of highly customizable publishing advances for songwriters. His title at beatBread, which offers advances as little as $1,000 up to $3 million, is general manager of publishing. LeBoff arrives from BMG Music Publishing and previously spent time in A&R at Warner Music, where he worked with artists including Dua Lipa and Adam Lambert. “We’ve seen significant success building partnerships on the artist side since we launched in 2020, and it’s already clear that there is real demand from songwriters for our offering,” said founder and CEO Peter Sinclair. “Spencer is an outstanding leader, and we’re excited about where this business will go, and there is much more to come.”
Musicians On Call announced four new hires at the non profit, which brings live music to hospitals: Jenny Methling as senior director of strategic partnerships; Cindy Gonzalez and Simba Woodard as program coordinators; and Lia Okenkova as a grants coordinator. “This is an exciting time for Musicians On Call as we welcome new team members whose creativity and passion will help take our mission to new heights.” said Musicians On Call president & CEO Pete Griffin.
Talent agency Wasserman Music welcomed four new executives to its ranks. They are: Brad Goodman, LA-based senior vice president. He brings decades of experience and several clients — Melissa Etheridge, “Weird Al” and Ziggy Marley — from his time at WME. Sam Bartlett, vp of casinos and performing arts centers. The CAA and ICM veteran oversees the company’s roster when booking for casinos and other venues in the U.S and Canada. Taryn Haight, LA-based vp of strategy, electronic music. This new role looks for brand-building and non-touring opportunities for WM’s roster of dance artists. Guy Mason, London-based legal counsel. Joining from VCCP Group, Mason will support Wasserman’s European business affairs team. “Since the launch of Wasserman Music in 2021, we have always put a premium on our culture and on super-serving the artists we have the honor to represent around the world,” said Wasserman Music evp & managing executive Lee Anderson.
The Chamber Group promoted Shannon Atran to director of public relations at the boutique firm. In her new role, Atran will oversee PR campaigns and overall messaging — including in crisis situations — for a wide swath of TCG’s music clients, including Lil Wayne, Mass Appeal and Big Sean, among others. Atran joined TCG in 2019 following a four year stint at MWWPR. She is New York based and reports directly to Chris Chambers, TCG’s principal and founder. “Her work and attention to detail has earned her spot as a senior member of the team at the company and I look forward to seeing the direction her career takes from here,” says Chambers.
Outback Presents promoted Taylor Freeman to senior booking manager at the independent live events promoter. The Nashville-based Freeman joined Outback Presents four years ago and has zeroed in on comedy tours, primarily, including Taylor Tomlinson, Leanne Morgan and Dusty Slay. He began his career with a four-year tenure at WME, where h honed his craft in the music department. You can hit up Freeman at taylor.freeman@outbackpresents.com.
Nashville Notes: Republic Live hired Anne Stirk as director of marketing and brand strategy, where her duties include the Boots and Hearts Music Festival. She arrives from Spotify, where she was an artist and label marketing specialist … Bob Squance joined music publisher Lady Luck Songs as creative director. He arrives from Round Hill Music, where he served as senior director of A&R … PLA Media added senior social media and marketing consultant Pip Wynans, who was most recently a Crowd Surf digital marketing manager … The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum hired Caroline Mullins as director of marketing. Prior to joining the museum, Mullins held positions at Lipscomb University and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.
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