Business
Page: 324
Kenny MacPherson, a long-time music publishing executive, has been placed on a leave of absence from his job at Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the company tells Billboard, following the filing of a lawsuit that claims he sexually assaulted a staffer in 2005 while he ran another company.
In a complaint filed Wednesday in Los Angeles court, Sara Lewis alleges that she “endured an onslaught of unwanted sexual advances” from MacPherson while she worked as an A&R at Chrysalis Music during the mid-2000s, when he served as the company’s president.
Lewis claims the harassment eventually escalated into “a traumatic sexual assault” during a 2005 business trip, and that she was then “blacklisted” when she reported the abuse.
“The entertainment industry is rife with tales of the abuse of aspiring entrepreneurial women at the hands of older, powerful executives,” Lewis’ lawyers write. “Women have been historically punished for standing up for themselves, refuting sexual advances, or speaking out against their perpetrators. Sara is unwilling to perpetuate that stigma. This lawsuit is about reclaiming agency for survivors of sexual violence and bringing to justice those high powered perpetrators who have historically avoided culpability.”
In a statement to Billboard on Thursday (Oct. 5), Hipgnosis — which was not named in the lawsuit nor accused of any wrongdoing — said it had placed MacPherson from his role as the CEO of the company’s publishing unit pending an investigation.
“Hipgnosis Songs Fund has a policy of zero-tolerance to harassment or abuse,” a spokesperson for the company said. “While the company is not a defendant to these historic allegations which relate to a period 15 years before Hipgnosis was founded, Kenny MacPherson was placed on leave of absence from Hipgnosis Songs Group as soon as it became aware of the allegations. Our rigorous procedures for dealing with such matters have commenced.”
MacPherson did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday.
In addition to MacPherson, the lawsuit also named as a defendant BMG Rights Management, which acquired Chrysalis in 2010. Lewis claims that BMG, as the legal successor to her employer, is “directly liable” for the company’s failure to stop abuse by its president. In a statement to Billboard on Thursday, BMG stressed that it did not acquire Chrysalis until “years after the alleged events had taken place.”
“BMG stands solidly against all forms of discrimination, harassment, and abuse and we are shocked and dismayed by the allegations made by Sara Lewis,” the company said.
In her complaint — which contains graphic details of alleged harassment and assault — Lewis claims she was hired by Chrysalis in 2002 to “what she thought was her dream job,” eventually moving into a role as an A&R by 2003. But she says the dream “became a literal nightmare” as she was subjected to “relentless” harassment and “grooming” by MacPherson, who then served as the president of Chrysalis.
“Each of the repeated advances were unwanted and unwelcome,” her lawyers write. “But Sara had nowhere to turn. As president of Chrysalis, MacPherson knew all and controlled all. As a professional and aspiring executive, Sara put her head down, endured the harassment, and continued to pursue her dream career in the music industry.”
Lewis claims the harassment escalated into outright assault during a 2005 trip to Chicago to visit a newly-signed artist. After “plying her with alcohol” during a concert, she says he then “insisted that he and Sara have another drink in Sara’s hotel room” and eventually “professed his love” to her. When she says she “reiterated that she did not share these feelings,” he then “forced himself” on her.
“MacPherson attempted to penetrate Sara, but was unable to maintain an erection,” her lawyers wrote in Wednesday’s complaint. “MacPherson then forcibly performed oral sex on Sara as she laid motionless, repeatedly crying and saying ‘no,’ and pleading for MacPherson to stop. Eventually, apparently frustrated with Sara’s lack of participation and his own inability to perform, MacPherson relented and stopped his sexual assault.”
Lewis says she eventually “mustered the courage to report MacPherson’s abuse,” but her efforts were met only with silence and retaliation. Her direct supervisor did nothing, she says, and MacPherson began to shut her out of important portions of her job. When she tried to look for other jobs, she says she learned she had been “blacklisted” by MacPherson and Chrysalis. Eventually, she says she was “forced to leave the music industry entirely.”
“MacPherson and Chrysalis created an environment wherein Sara was without recourse,” her lawyers wrote. “She either acquiesced to MacPherson’s relentless and unwanted sexual advances, or faced a career-ending fate. Sara will no longer remain silent and now brings this action to seek redress for the years of sexual harassment and abuse she suffered at the hands of MacPherson, which was enabled and covered up by Chrysalis.”
In technical terms, Lewis is accusing BMG and/or MacPherson of 12 different counts of civil wrongdoing, including sexual battery, gender violence, and a slew of violations of California labor and employment laws covering sexual harassment and wrongful termination.
Stories about sexual assault allegations can be traumatizing for survivors of sexual assault. If you or anyone you know needs support, you can reach out to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). The organization provides free, confidential support to sexual assault victims. Call RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE) or visit the anti-sexual violence organization’s website for more information.
Read the full legal documents here:
Beatport has announced the recipients of its second annual diversity and parity grants. Awards totaling $150,000 will be given to the organizations Change the Beat, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, ONE OFF TRAKS, Other Village People, Saffron and We Are Moving the Needle.
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life works to empower young people from around the world via fundraising initiatives for grassroots projects. The organization will use the money to teach DJing and production to 32 young women over eight weeks in Leeds, U.K.
ONE OFF TRAKS, an Australian writing camp collaboration and platform for women, trans and non-binary artists, will use its grant to host and expand the writing camp in 2024.
Based in South Africa, Other Village People powers three queer-centered platforms. The organization will use its grant for its newest initiative Queertopia, a three-day festival celebrating South African contemporary queer nightlife culture and movements.
The U.K.’s Saffron works to foster equality in music tech by creating safe and inclusive spaces for people underrepresented in the space. The organization will use its grant to work with 20 Black creatives in the U.K. in endeavors such as community building, knowledge sharing and other educational opportunities.
We Are Moving the Need, based in the States, works to evolve the recording industry with the focus of gender equity and inclusivity. The platform will use its grant on its touring CTRL symposium, which aims to build community and evolve the recording industry via events in Los Angeles, Nashville and New York.
The fund, now in its second year, is awarding two kinds of grants: one that awards amounts between $3,000 to $15,000 to smaller organizations consisting of one to three staff members, and one awarding amounts between $15,001 and $30,000 to organizations with more than four staff members.
“The electronic music community is filled with vibrant groups of creative people who want to make our industry and world better,” Sofia Ilyas, Chief Community Officer of The Beatport Group, says in a statement. “The recipients of our second annual Diversity + Parity Fund exemplify the spirit of positive change, and it is our hope that their endeavors will resonate in powerful ways across our industry.”
This year has been defined by consistency at the top of the charts, and one record label has led in current market share in each of the first three quarters: Republic Records, which has 12.28% of the market through Sept. 28, according to Luminate. That’s a negligible drop from last quarter’s 12.46% and more than four percentage points higher than the 8.77% share the label had for the same period last year.
Republic’s market share — much like the year overall — has been headlined by the massive Morgan Wallen album One Thing at a Time, which has racked up more than 4.5 million equivalent album units since its March debut, and Taylor Swift’s prolific release schedule, which not only includes her latest collection of new tracks, Midnights, but also the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). Both are among the top 10 albums of the year so far. (Republic’s share also includes Island, Big Loud, Mercury, Cash Money and indie distributor Imperial.)
Wallen’s dominance is such that his label, Big Loud, would rank eighth among all labels on its own, with a 2.69% current market share if it were broken out from Republic, with both One Thing at a Time and his last release, Dangerous: The Double Album, both counting toward current share. (Current is defined as albums released within the past 18 months or that have remained in the top half of the Billboard 200.)
Coming in at a comfortable second place, with big third-quarter releases from Olivia Rodrigo and NewJeans, was Interscope Geffen A&M, which hit a high mark for the year so far with an 8.55% current share, a half-point increase over its midyear mark. That’s down from the 9.23% current share IGA posted at the third-quarter mark of 2022, but is a strong showing in a year in which Republic has vacuumed up so much market share. (IGA’s share also includes Verve Label Group.)
In third place, Atlantic — which encompasses 300 Elektra Entertainment — has also moved to a high mark for the year, with a 7.39% share, up from 7.34% at midyear. The music group’s performance was boosted by releases by Gunna, Lil Uzi Vert and, most significantly, the Barbie soundtrack, which is among the top five albums of the third quarter with over 650,000 equivalent album units.
However, factoring in back catalog to look at overall market share shakes up the top two. Interscope takes the top spot with 9.57%, besting Republic’s 9.49% by a shade over 500,000 units through the first three quarters, with Atlantic in third at 8.31%. That’s due to the deeper catalog of IGA and Atlantic: They are Nos. 1 and 2 in catalog-only share, with 9.91% and 8.62%, respectively. Republic finished third at 8.54%. Coming into the final quarter of the year, that’s a race to watch.
Capitol, which includes Motown/Quality Control, Blue Note, Astralwerks, Capitol Christian and indie distributor Virgin Music, remained steady in fourth place at 6.01% (from 6.0% at midyear) through three quarters. (Although HYBE acquired Quality Control earlier this year, Universal Music Group [UMG] continued to distribute the label.)
In fifth, Warner Records has made large gains throughout the year, largely due to the successes within Warner Nashville. (Its market share also includes catalog label Rhino, as well as Warner Music Latina.) Zach Bryan’s self-titled album has been a standout success in the quarter, while Bailey Zimmerman’s Religiously. The Album continues to perform well. Notably, both Capitol and Warner made big leaps in current market share year over year: Capitol jumped from sixth place to fourth, growing from 4.50% in 2022 to 6.01% in 2023; Warner grew from 4.77% in 2022 to 5.89% in 2023.
Slipping down the rankings year over year was Columbia, which dropped in current share from fourth through three quarters in 2022 (6.93%) to sixth in 2023 (4.93%). Columbia scored big this year with Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation, though 2022’s slate with releases from Harry Styles, Beyoncé and Adele represents a tough act to follow. RCA, in seventh, remains on a hot streak led by the huge success of SZA’s SOS — still the No. 2 album of the year — with the label coming in at a 4.64% share, up from 4.47% this time last year.
Epic has roared back after a relatively quiet 2023 on the strength of Travis Scott’s mammoth Utopia, which boosted the label from 1.82% in current share at midyear to 2.39% at the three-quarters mark — its highest quarterly showing for the year. Sony Nashville (eighth, 2.50%) and Sony Latin (10th, 1.96%) round out the top 10, with each growing more than half a percentage point year over year.
Among the label groups, both UMG (up from 32.54% to 34.61%) and Sony Music Entertainment (up from 27.09% to 27.50%) made big year-over-year strides, while Warner Music Group (down from 18.64% to 17.46%) and, collectively, independent labels (down from 21.73% to 20.43%) lost share compared with the same period in 2022.
After successfully defeating a lawsuit that claimed they ripped off their 2019 hit “Dancing With a Stranger” from an earlier song, Sam Smith and Normani are now demanding that their accuser reimburse their legal bills – a whopping total of $732,202.
In a ruling last month, a federal judge rejected allegations that Smith and Normani had copied a little-known 2015 song of the same name when they released “Dancing,” one of Smith’s top-charting hits that peaked at No. 7 on the Hot 100 chart.
Now, Smith and Normani say they shouldn’t be forced to foot the bill for a “frivolous and unreasonable” lawsuit.
“Defective copyright infringement claims, like Plaintiff’s claims here, burden the court, cause potentially damaging negative publicity for recording artists … and others, and force needless attorney’s fees on them,” wrote attorney Peter Anderson, who reps the two stars in a Sept 22 court filing. “Awarding attorney’s fees here will deter plaintiff and others from filing and blindly prosecuting such claims without anything close to the required factual and legal basis.”
The case against Smith and Normani was filed last year by songwriters Jordan Vincent, Christopher Miranda and Rosco Banlaoi, who claimed that “Dancing” was “strikingly similar” to their 2015 same-named track. In their complaint, they said it was “beyond any real doubt” that the song had been copied.
But last month, U.S. District Judge Wesley L. Hsu said it was, in fact, very much in doubt. Granting Smith and Normani’s motion for an immediate ruling ending the lawsuit, the judge said the songs simply were not similar – and he criticized the plaintiffs for manipulating them to make them appear more alike.
“Permitting copyright plaintiffs to prevail … by rotating chords, recalibrating the tempo, and altering the pitch of a defendant’s song so that it sounds more similar to the plaintiffs’ would lead courts to deem substantially similar two vastly dissimilar musical compositions,” Judge Hsu wrote at the time.
Unlike most forms of litigation, winners in copyright lawsuits are often able to legally recover the money they spent on lawyers fighting the case. Judges grant such requests in cases where a lawsuit shouldn’t have been filed, and they can serve as a powerful deterrent against future questionable lawsuits.
In their filing asking Hsu to order Vincent, Miranda and Banlaoi to reimburse them, Smith and Normani said the songwriters’ case had been exactly the kind of pointless lawsuit that needs to be deterred.
“Plaintiff sought to monopolize unprotectable elements that are common property to all,” Anderson wrote. “Claims like Plaintiff’s here threaten to cheat the public domain and curtail the creation of new works.”
As for the total, the pair of stars said they had incurred a whopping $732,202 bill for the services of Anderson and other lawyers from the top firm Davis Wright Tremaine who defended them. That figure was “below the median hourly rates” of similar elite copyright lawyers, they said, and they were “perfectly justified” in racking up big bills on a case that was demanding all of the profits from a a multi-platinum hit song.
Two groups of artist managers have come together to form The Circuit Group, a new entity that will create business opportunities around artists’ intellectual property. Founded by Dean and Jessica Wilson of Seven20 — whose clients include deadmau5 — along with Brett Fischer, David Gray and Harvey Tadman of AYITA — clients include Chris Lake […]
Multimedia Music has acquired the entire film and TV music catalog of composer Christopher Lennertz, known for his work on films including Horrible Bosses, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Sausage Party, Bad Moms and Baywatch and TV shows including The Boys, Lost in Space and Supernatural.
Lennertz is a multiple Emmy nominee and 20-time BMI Awards honoree who was recently named a BMI Icon at the organization’s 2023 Film, TV & Visual Media Awards in May.
“We are huge fans of Chris Lennertz’s work, he has created fantastic scores for so many successful films and TV series,” said Multimedia Music partner James Gibb in a statement. “We’re delighted to add his body of work to our catalog of wonderful film music by some of the best composers in the business.”
“When looking for the ideal place to entrust Christopher’s catalogue, we turned to Multimedia Music based on their great reputation and their great people,” added Lennertz’s agent, Richard Kraft of Kraft-Engel Management.
The deal is just the latest for Multimedia Music, led by Gibb and Phil Hope, which claims it’s spent a total of $150 million on acquisitions since it launched in late 2021. Previous deals include purchasing a 50% stake in a catalog of music publishing and master rights from the film music library of Amblin partners; the STX music library of master and publishing rights; the catalog of composer James Newton Howard; and the master and publishing rights to a 48-title film score catalog from Atlantic Screen Music.
Canada-based audio group Lenbrook acquired the assets of U.K. music technology company MQA nearly six months after MQA lost its founding financial backer and filed for administration. The purchase adds several patents as well as two audio codecs — MQA and SCL6 — to Lenbrook’s intellectual property portfolio. “We view this acquisition as an opportunity to ensure the technologies developed by the scientists and engineers at MQA continue to serve the industry’s interests rather than be confined to any single brand or company,” said Lenbrook CEO Gordon Simmonds in a statement. Lenbrook has retained a core group of MQA engineers and developers as well as sales and marketing staff including Andy Dowell, formerly the head of licensing at MQA, who will continue leading business development activities. A press release states that “MQA had amassed over 120 licensees [including Lenbrook] and several content partnerships, so Lenbrook’s primary objective in this acquisition was to provide certainty for business and technical developments that were underway prior to MQA’s administration.”
Universal Music Middle East & North Africa (MENA) partnered with Cairo-based Harb Talent Management on a deal that will see the two companies work together on talent discovery, development, music production, marketing and promo, live events and brand partnerships in Egypt. Under the agreement, Universal Music MENA announced three signings to its roster: Egyptian hip-hop artists Ahmed Santa, Slyver and Abu El Anwar. All three are expected to release music later this year and next.
Vassal Benford, CEO/chairman of the B.B. King estate, the B.B. King music company and the family trust, announced the launch of the B.B. King Life Legacy Initiative, which will encompass several new partnerships, retail products and brand concepts. The first project announced is a partnership with Heritage Distilling for an exclusive line of King-branded spirits. Also forthcoming are a new music project that will feature artists including Quavo, Jason Derulo and Swae Lee; a King theatrical biopic; a King documentary featuring a new single from Quavo; and a 24-hour B.B. King blues network.
Create Music Group struck a partnership with Black Lion, a music technology company behind a valuation engine that analyzes the performance and value of song catalogs to reduce the amount of time music companies spend evaluating potential acquisitions and signings. “This strategic partnership will significantly expand our ability to identify, research and make deals with rights holders all around the world,” said Create Music Group co-founder/chief business operator Wayne Hampton in a statement. “Black Lion’s cutting-edge technology will streamline our deal making process and enable us to generate increased revenue for Create and for all of our partners.”
India-based record label Saregama India acquired a 51.8% stake in youth-focused Indian digital content creator and publisher Pocket Aces, “with a clear path” to acquire an additional 41% in the next 15 months, according to a press release. “This acquisition will further strengthen Saregama’s strategic ambition to take [a] leadership position in New Music across all Indian languages,” the release continues. Pocket Aces boasts an intellectual property catalog of more than 3,000 pieces of content including web series and music videos on its channels — FilterCopy, Nutshell and Gobble — as well as a talent management arm with a roster of more than 100 digital influencers and a long-form studio called Dice Media. The release claims Pocket Aces has more than 95 million followers, “which Saregama will leverage to further popularize its music library among the 18-35 audience segment. It will also create synergies across the artiste & influencer management and long-format video creation businesses of the two companies.”
Amazon is shutting down its live-radio app Amp, the company has confirmed to Billboard.
“We’ve made the difficult decision to close Amp,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. “In creating Amp, we tried something that had never been done before and built a product that gave creators a place where they could build genuine connections with each other, and share a common love for music. We learned a lot about how live music communities interact in the process, which we are bringing to bear as we build new fan experiences at scale in Amazon Music.”
News of the shirtdown was first reported by Bloomberg.
Launched in March 2022, Amp allowed users to host their own shows by streaming music from a catalog of tens of millions of licensed songs from the three major labels, as well as indies including Beggars Group, PIAS, Believe and CD Baby. Though it was designed primarily for non-celebrity creators, Amp also hosted shows from high-profile artists including Pusha T, Tinashe, Travis Barker, Lil Yachty, Lindsey Stirling, Big Boi and Nicki Minaj, who brought her Apple Music show, Queen Radio, to the platform at launch. In September 2022, the platform also established a monthly fund to reward emerging U.S.-based creators for building loyal audiences on the app.
The Amp shuttering comes nearly a year after Business Insider reported that Amazon had laid off 150 employees at the app. At the time, the company confirmed to Billboard that it had chosen “to consolidate a few teams” at the division.
More widespread layoffs at Amazon came in January when the company announced it would jettison 18,000 employees, followed by its termination of an additional 9,000 employees in March. The layoffs affected workers across multiple divisions, including Amazon’s cloud computing unit AWS, its advertising business, gaming platform Twitch and stores division PXT. The cuts arrived following a surge in hiring amid the pandemic, during which Amazon doubled its employee count. But demand slowed once restrictions eased and people began venturing out of their homes again.
In March, following the announcement of the 9,000 additional layoffs, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company was in the midst of streamlining its operations due to the wobbly economy and the “uncertainty that exists in the near future.”
Live audio experiments flourished during the pandemic, with similar products including Clubhouse, Spotify Live (formerly Spotify Greenroom) and Twitter Spaces (now X Spaces) flooding the burgeoning space over a two-year period. But few gained traction: Spotify Live shut down in April 2023, while last month, Clubhouse rebranded itself as a social messaging app after waning in popularity once pandemic restrictions lifted. An outlier among these is Stationhead, which remains a popular vehicle to boost the streaming performance of new releases from A-list artists, including, recently, stars like Olivia Rodrigo and Ed Sheeran.
The Warner Music Group’s chief digital officer Oana Ruxandra is leaving the label, according to company emails obtained by Billboard.
The top-level exec, who also held the title of executive vp of business development, led the major label group’s digital strategy since her promotion to her current role in April 2020. She first joined WMG in December 2018, when she was hired as executive vp of new business channels / chief acquisitions officer, then a newly-created role at Warner under then-CEO Stephen Cooper. Her next move is currently unknown; in an internal memo to staff, Ruxandra implied that current Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl had a replacement lined up already.
During Ruxandra’s tenure, she led Warner’s push into the gaming and web3 arenas, including investments in Roblox and Overwolf, partnerships with Snap and NFT platforms OneOf and Blockparty, and negotiated deals with Twitch, Peloton, TikTok, Meta, avatar company Genesis and Spotify’s podcast division, among several others. She has often been credited with positioning the company to take advantage of technological innovations for the future, something that has become increasingly important as the industry begins to grapple with the effects of AI.
“Oana’s been a key player in — and fierce advocate for — the evolution of both this company and the industry at large,” Kyncl wrote in an internal memo obtained by Billboard. “She has not only helped us vault many challenges, but drive streaming revenue, while exploring and developing new paths and platforms that will maximize value for our talent, our team, and our company.”
Prior to returning in 2018, Ruxandra spent four years at WMG in the early 2010s, rising to vp of digital strategy and business development, before moving to Universal Music Group as senior vp of digital strategy and partnerships in 2016. Before her time in the record label business, she spent several years working in finance at Constellation Capital Management and BlackRock.
“I leave WMG knowing it’s well positioned for a bold, bright future: Not least with our core streaming partners and evolving social media platforms and fitness players; we’ve also been the first to forge innovative partnerships with a wide, diverse, and thriving network of gaming, Web3, and AI companies,” Ruxandra wrote in an internal memo obtained by Billboard. “At the same time, we’ve acquired and created new businesses for WMG, including Interval Presents, our podcasting unit, and IMGN, our social media publisher. … The last decade has been a wonderful wild ride; we’re once again at the heart of seismic shifts and massive opportunities. I wholeheartedly believe that the future of our industry lies in the dynamic relationship between artist and fan, and the incredible explosion in creative and commercial possibilities created by that interplay.”
Read Ruxandra’s full note below.
Hi everyone,
I wanted to let you know that I’ll be leaving WMG. Robert and I have been discussing my role for a while now, and I’ve decided it’s time for a change, one where I explore even further my entrepreneurial spirit. Look out for an announcement about my next move. I know Robert has plans for my successor and you’ll be hearing from him about that soon.
Like so many of you, my primary motivation is always our artists and their music. It’s an incredible honor and responsibility to help grow their careers, expand their revenue streams, and champion their rights. I’ve loved being part of this team, dreaming big and driving change. I’ve spent eight out of the past ten years of my music career here, and I’m very proud of everything we’ve accomplished together.
I leave WMG knowing it’s well positioned for a bold, bright future: Not least with our core streaming partners and evolving social media platforms and fitness players; we’ve also been the first to forge innovative partnerships with a wide, diverse, and thriving network of gaming, Web3, and AI companies. At the same time, we’ve acquired and created new businesses for WMG, including Interval Presents, our podcasting unit, and IMGN, our social media publisher.
The last decade has been a wonderful wild ride; we’re once again at the heart of seismic shifts and massive opportunities. I wholeheartedly believe that the future of our industry lies in the dynamic relationship between artist and fan, and the incredible explosion in creative and commercial possibilities created by that interplay.
Above all, I’m most proud of the extraordinary team we’ve assembled, which has evolved into the absolute best in the business. I want to thank them for their passion, dedication, and above-and-beyond hard work. I’ll be looking forward to seeing what you all accomplish in the future.
My last day in the office will be next Friday. In the meantime, I want to thank Robert, Steve, Len, and the Board of Directors for the opportunity to help grow WMG. I’ve made many friends here and I’ll see you all soon.
Keep in touch - I’ll be rooting for you,
Oana
A “groundbreaking” scheme that gives concertgoers the chance to own a share of their favorite grassroots music venues has acquired its first property in the United Kingdom, delivering a much-needed boost to a struggling sector that’s still yet to fully recover from the pandemic.
The 100-capacity The Snug, located in the town of Atherton, just a few miles outside Manchester, is the first grassroots venue to be purchased as part of the “Own Our Venues” initiative by U.K. charity Music Venue Trust (MVT).
The scheme was launched last May and offers music fans the chance to become investors in small U.K. grassroots venues by purchasing community shares that are then used to buy out commercial landlords, effectively transferring ownership to the trust and local patrons.
To date, more than 1,250 investors have backed the pilot project, raising around £1.5 million ($1.8 million), with Ed Sheeran among its high-profile supporters. Funding has also come from Arts Council England and Arts & Culture Finance, who both contributed an additional £500,000 ($606,000) to the member-owned Music Venue Properties fund.
Share options begin at £200 ($250), although investors under the age of 25 can buy single shares at a discounted rate of £100 ($125). In return, investors receive 3% annual interest, generated through rent returns and more efficient running of the businesses, say organizers. To prevent big companies or corporations from becoming majority owners, shares are non-transferable and cannot be sold or traded with other investors.
Venue properties bought by the Music Venue Properties fund, such as The Snug, are leased back to the current operators at a reduced below-market rate, with venue managers also receiving financial support around maintenance, insurance and repairs.
The Snug’s managing director Rachael Flaszczak said the purchase of the seven-year-old venue “serves as a light of hope that the preservation of grassroots music venues can be done when people pull together to make things happen.”
Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Dayvd tells Billboard the acquisition represents “an amazing step forward” for a grassroots live industry that’s “currently in the middle of a crisis.”
According to the trust, 127 grassroots venues have closed or stopped putting on live music concerts in the United Kingdom in the past 12 months, representing around 16% of its members and depriving new acts of vital spaces to develop their craft in front of live audiences.
In the last 20 years, more than 500 grassroots music venues have shuttered in the United Kingdom, reports the trust, with notable closures including London’s The Marquee, Astoria, 12 Bar Club and Madame Jojos. Contributing factors include rising rents and costs, long-term lack of investment and the gentrification of surrounding areas leading to noise complaints and restrictive licensing conditions.
The pandemic and accompanying shutdown of the live music industry saw the United Kingdom’s grassroots music scene acquire £90 million ($110 million) of new debt, says Dayvd. Underpinning the fragility of the sector, 93% of small-capacity music spaces in the United Kingdom are run by tenants, with most having less than 18 months left on their tenancy agreements, according to MVT’s research.
To try and stop further closures, the trust has identified a further eight venues in U.K. towns and cities that it plans to purchase under what it calls a “world first” public ownership model and is in advanced talks with the landlords of two of those properties, says Dayvd. The trust’s long-term goal is to have a nationwide network of publicly owned properties whose status as music venues is protected for the long-term future.
“Many of the most pressing challenges faced by the sector are solvable by this issue of ownership,” says Dayvd, who wants to grow the number of fund investors to boost its buying power. He’s also keen to see the “Own Our Properties” scheme roll out to other countries where grassroots venue operators are under similar financial pressures.
“We have to accept that grassroots venues, wherever they are in the world, are doing the job of research and development — giving the stage to a young artist who’s written their first song or playing for the first time in front an audience,” says Dayvd. “It’s what pushes the industry forward, and we need to protect that pipeline.”
Employees of Bandcamp sent a letter to Songtradr CEO Paul Wiltshire on Tuesday (Oct. 3) asking him to recognize their union, “extend [job] offers to all Bandcamp employees” and “maintain everyone’s current employment status,” including “current pay, working conditions, and benefits.” Songtradr, a music licensing platform, purchased Bandcamp from Epic Games last week.
“The integrity of the workers who build Bandcamp is a crucial aspect of the company’s ability to uphold its values,” Cami Ramirez-Arau, a support specialist, said in a statement. “Bandcamp’s core mission is best protected by retaining all workers and by those workers having a seat at the table.”
“We’ve been able to work effectively and directly with management at Epic Games to bargain collectively,” added Eli Rider, a data analyst. “We want to continue this process with Songtradr.”
A rep for Songtradr did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.
Epic Games acquired Bandcamp in March 2022. Roughly a year later, Bandcamp workers filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to authorize a union election. At the time, Rider told Billboard there was “a shift in our workplace conditions” after the sale.
“If you think about Bandcamp, it’s about paying artists fairly for the music that we love so much,” Rider added. “So, the workers that build the site and support it also would like to have fair and transparent wages.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Bandcamp employees said their union, Bandcamp United, was recognized in May and began bargaining with Epic Games in August. But the negotiations were not complete by September 28, when Songtradr announced it was taking Bandcamp off Epic Games’ hands, potentially wiping out any progress in the talks. A rep for the union said it was not aware that Epic Games was planning to sell Bandcamp.
The employees union issued a statement on Wednesday saying that Epic had told them that Songtradr “would be offering positions to some Bandcamp employees but not all.” Adding to the feelings of uncertainty and disarray: Most employees “have had critical systems access revoked by Epic management and have been unable to do their jobs.”
Ed Blair, a support specialist, said in a statement that “Songtradr not immediately recognizing Bandcamp United is a worrying indicator that they have misunderstood the value of Bandcamp.”
“The workers who make up Bandcamp United are essential for the future of Bandcamp,” he emphasized.
Bandcamp United also noted in its letter to Wiltshire that it “has garnered extensive support from the Bandcamp user community – and the public more broadly.”
“Recognizing us,” the letter stated, “would go a long way to establishing goodwill for Songtradr.”
When Wiltshire spoke to Billboard following the announcement of the Bandcamp acquisition, he called Bandcamp “a great platform.” He added, “There’s not a need to change it into anything other than what it is.”