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Round Hill Music has acquired the remaining share of Big Loud Shirt’s catalog of music publishing rights, bringing Round Hill Music’s ownership of Big Loud Shirt’s music catalog to 100%. Round Hill previously acquired a share of the Big Loud Shirt catalog in 2014.
Round Hill has also acquired 50% of the writer’s income streams from songwriter/producer Craig Wiseman, the founder/owner of Big Loud Shirt.
The Big Loud Shirt catalog comprises more than 1,200 songs recorded by artists including Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, Luke Bryan and Tim McGraw. The majority date prior to 2015, with 75% of them at least seven years old.
According to a press release announcing the deal, streaming income generated from Big Loud Shirt’s catalog increased approximately 200% from 2017 to 2021.
The deal brings new rights into Round Hill’s portfolio and expands its existing interests in songs including McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying” (co-written by Wiseman), Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” and “Blown Away” and Strait’s “I Saw God Today.”
According to a release, this acquisition also increases Round Hill’s exposure to the country music market, which as of December 31, 2022, comprised 11% of their portfolio.
Round Hill Music CEO Josh Gruss said in a statement, “Craig Wiseman and his publishing company, Big Loud Shirt, have produced some of the highest profile, most recognizable and enduring country music hits of the last three decades, bringing them firmly in line with the song profile of the Company’s portfolio. We have a terrific working relationship with Craig, who we have known for many years, and are deeply familiar with these songs. This investment not only enables us to further increase Round Hill Music’s exposure to the fast-growing Country music genre but also provides an exciting opportunity for us to leverage our in-house platform to manage these incredible songs, maximizing their income streams and further growing their value.”
Wiseman added, “I have known and been working with Round Hill for a decade and I’m thrilled to be expanding our relationship by sharing these incredible pieces of art with them. I know they will manage these songs carefully and effectively, identifying creative opportunities to bring them to new audiences worldwide.”
When Travis Scott decides to do something, he usually goes big.
And with his latest album, he decided to go colossal, with a 60,000-person concert unveiling his latest release, Utopia, at Rome’s iconic Circus Maximus, the ancient stadium that used to serve as a chariot racing venue during the Roman Empire. The event came together in less than a week and served as a capstone to the rollout for what became the biggest debut week for a hip-hop album this year, and the third-biggest week of any album at all in 2023, moving 496,000 equivalent album units.
Even more remarkable for an album in a genre that heavily over-indexes in streaming, half of the units moved for Utopia came from sales, as Scott continues to be one of the most innovative artists in music with his sales strategies. Helping him pull all this off has been his manager, Cactus Jack GM David Stromberg, who earns the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
Here, Stromberg talks about the huge first week for Utopia, the challenges in pulling off that show at the Circus Maximus and why artists should be celebrated for their approach to merchandising and sales. “A24 releases merch for their big movies, Disney and Marvel create massive product lines around their blockbusters, fans line up for jerseys and official merch at every sporting event,” he says. “But strangely in music, it’s now considered a negative towards overall consumption and metrics behind a project. I feel record-breaking artists who are able to move merchandise at an elite level should be celebrated at a time when branding, creativity and marketing [are] generally nonexistent in the music industry.”
This week, Travis Scott’s Utopia debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 496,000 units, the third-biggest debut week of any album this year and by far the biggest for any hip-hop album. What key decisions did you make to help make that happen?
Our small core team has been together since the start of Travis’ career. Cactus Jack is essentially an independent label and polymath-driven creative agency — we oversee everything from marketing strategy to design and execution. I also handle everything on the business end. For this project, Travis really wanted to lean into building a strong visual language. Producing his film CIRCUS MAXIMUS on an insanely tight timeline, shooting in exotic locations around the world and premiering the album within a film in theaters nationwide was a massive undertaking but definitely set up the project in a unique way. We are all super proud of the final product and it was amazing to see the world’s reaction.
This is his first album since 2018’s Astroworld, which also posted around 500,000 units in its first week. After five years, how did you work to set up this release to the point that it nearly equaled his last?
While the numbers are powerful and have important historical context, our focus is always primarily on the music and world-building. ASTROWORLD was such a seminal moment in culture, we wanted to level up that energy and recapture the feeling of event albums, which are clearly lacking in music lately. UTOPIA‘s first-week global streaming numbers actually almost doubled ASTROWORLD, Billboard just quantifies merch bundles differently now than in 2018 [in terms of sales]. On a global consumption level, it’s safe to say it actually far surpassed ASTROWORLD.
Of those units, about half came from streaming and half came from sales. What was the strategy around each side of that, particularly the sales side?
One thing that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough when judging music consumption data is the inherent disadvantages hip-hop faces in manufacturing physical music product. Due to the fluid nature of rap collaboration, leak culture and last-minute changes, vinyl lead time always far exceeds album delivery dates for rap. Pop artists are usually able to turn in their albums five to six months early and manufacture a significant amount of vinyl with a robust retail plan in place. Vinyl often ends up accounting for well over 50% of these pop artists’ first-week totals, whereas hip-hop is judged entirely on streaming. In an even playing field, rap stars are going to far out-stream even the biggest names in pop music, but for whatever reason they aren’t graded on the same sales curve. Going into this rollout we wanted to crack the code — we successfully manufactured our own vinyl and CDs in record time and built an e-com plan to leverage day-and-date physical music for the first time in modern mainstream rap. It was a really ambitious plan but thankfully everything came together smoothly. Huge thank you to recent Billboard cover hero Larry Jackson for his invaluable guidance and strategy throughout this whole process.
How important are direct-to-consumer sales and merch to an artist like Travis?
Man… I’d love to eventually have a deeper conversation around this topic at large. For some reason, direct-to-consumer and merch is used as a negative connotation against artists like Travis, oftentimes by artists or labels doing the exact same thing in their online stores to diminishing returns. Why stigmatize artists with extremely active fan bases who want to engage and support the album, even at a much higher price point than just a la carte music? Since the inception of rock and roll, merch has always been an important part of supporting your favorite artists. A24 releases merch for their big movies, Disney and Marvel create massive product lines around their blockbusters, fans line up for jerseys and official merch at every sporting event. But strangely in music, it’s now considered a negative towards overall consumption and metrics behind a project. I feel record-breaking artists who are able to move merchandise at an elite level should be celebrated at a time when branding, creativity and marketing [are] generally nonexistent in the music industry.
How did you choose the Circus Maximus for that performance, and what were the challenges in pulling it off?
Ancient worldwide settings were an early reference point for this album. Travis was particularly interested in civilizations that transcended technological and cultural limitations to reach new heights. Part of the film is essentially a live performance from the ancient Pompeii amphitheater ruins. We have a couple other Wonders of the World locations held for possible performances, currently studying timing and logistics. With the Circus Maximus show we basically put it on sale, designed the stage, produced the livestream ourselves and sold 60,000 tickets in less than a week. It was a crazy challenge but one of the most rewarding and epic shows of his live career. The energy and hearing the album live for the first time in that setting was an unforgettable experience and iconic way to conclude the first week of UTOPIA rollout.
How are you working to keep the momentum for this release going in the weeks and months to come?
I don’t want to say too much, but there is a lot in the works. Definitely continuing to build the UTOPIA world in unexpected ways. We just released the CIRCUS MAXIMUS film on Apple Music after a week of exclusivity in theaters. We’ve been thinking a lot about touring in different, innovative ways and utilizing new technologies in live performance. And Travis is always working on new music.
As artificial intelligence remains the hottest topic of 2022, last month President Biden stood alongside big tech leaders as they pledged impotent “voluntary commitments” to control the emerging technology. Those leaders did so fully comprehending the dangers posed by the rapid and unrestricted penetration of AI through society — which are especially grave for artists and creators.
None of the commitments can give anyone in the music or creative industries comfort. They are as basic and malleable as “prioritizing research” and “sharing information on managing AI risks.” It is impossible to monitor big tech’s compliance with them. Even worse, all of the commitments are unenforceable.
We are already experiencing the consequences of the unbridled development and use of AI. Copyrighted material is being routinely ingested and used by AI conglomerates without the consent or even knowledge of rights holders. AI-generated vocals and deepfakes — given prominence by the Fake Drake and The Weeknd’s “Heart On My Sleeve” saga — are prevalent and becoming more realistic by the day. “Artificial streaming” — whereby AI bots create and upload songs, and then artificially inflate streaming numbers — is a massive issue for the streaming industry. Misinformation and inaccuracies in AI output are rampant. Generative AI programs suffer from what experts call “hallucination” — where they make up or misrepresent facts. The victims are widespread, ranging from lawyers given fake legal cases to cite in court papers, to a professor named as the accused in a sexual harassment scandal fabricated by AI.
Nicholas Saady
The lacuna of AI regulation and long wait for decisions in significant AI court cases leaves rights holders, and broader society, at the mercy of big tech. That includes the protagonists of the 2016 Cambridge Analytica scandal (where there were laws in place prohibiting such misconduct), Frances Haugen’s 2021 revelations about Facebook and its platforms’ impact on issues such as teen health and even human trafficking, as well as those being investigated by the FTC for engaging in unfair or deceptive practices causing harm to consumers. Some in this group have recently shown immense hostility to lawmakers, and threatened to leave the EU if it regulates AI. None are those whose history or current actions compel public trust.
We also have minimal, if any — a point recently illustrated by the California Stability AI lawsuit, in which key issues are copyright infringement and data scraping — transparency around the ingestion and scraping of data by companies that own generative AI. Content and data protections were not formulated with current forms of AI in mind. Nor were copyright and right of publicity laws. It is unclear whether they provide sufficient protections, and in any case, are difficult to enforce amidst the black box of AI data ingestion.
Draconian regulation is not the answer to these issues. Nor is inaction. Congress has been exceptionally slow to move. While some lawmakers have proposed legislation, held a few congressional hearings, and suggested new federal agencies to deal with AI, nothing meaningful has resulted. The significant AI litigation is also not progressing quickly. Recently, a Federal Judge indicated that he was inclined to dismiss the California Stability AI lawsuit, but would give the plaintiffs a chance to reformulate their case. This means any decision or guidance is unlikely this year. Similar court cases will not provide definitive guidance soon, and many may settle. Even if decisions are released, they will not be universally applicable.
U.S. Congress’ inaction starkly contrasts the European Union’s continued development of its “AI Act,” which includes important guardrails for the use of AI. For generative AI such as ChatGPT, the AI Act requires disclosure of content generated by AI; prohibitions on the ability to generate illegal content; and publication of copyrighted data used for training. It also prohibits real-time and remote biometric identification systems and cognitive behavioral manipulation using AI. While the final form of the Act is being negotiated, the EU hopes to “reach an agreement by the end” of 2023.
However, the EU AI Act is not a panacea — especially not for artists and creators, as music industry organizations like GESAC, ICMP, IFPI, IMPALA and IMPF recently pointed out to the EU. To properly protect human creativity and rights in creative output, more can be done to increase transparency regarding the data on which AI is trained and record keeping of the same — particularly content which is protected by registered copyrights. Such publicly accessible information will enable artists and creators to determine if their content has been ingested by AI, and also to make fully informed assessments as to whether AI outputs constitute infringement or fair use of their content. Stronger protections around the use of video and audio deepfakes and digital recreations of humans, particularly celebrities, are becoming an increasing priority to protect privacy, creativity and livelihoods.
The stakes are too high for a wait and see approach. We saw what happened when that approach was employed with cryptocurrency: FTX and other similar debacles. The potential impact of generative AI is greater because of its universal application and almost limitless potential. As history and the cacophony of current AI lawsuits make clear, big tech has little regard for the intellectual property, livelihoods and creativity of artists and creators, nor for individuals’ privacy and personal information.
The recent “voluntary commitments” won’t change a thing. Congress should take swift action. It has a unique opportunity to lead the world in AI regulation by passing an enhanced version of the EU AI Act. The risks of inaction amidst the rapid development and use of generative AI — like AI’s capabilities — are in many respects, existentially threatening.
Nicholas Saady is a U.S. and Australian lawyer, who represents high-profile organizations and individuals — including major artists, labels and agents — regarding complex intellectual property, technology and commercial matters. He has also published widely on issues relating to technology, AI, NFTs and cryptocurrency.
Universal Music Singapore hired Alice Kent as general manager, overseeing day-to-day operations and spearheading efforts to up the UMG division’s presence in the Southeast Asian island country. She reports to UMG chief of South East Asia Calvin Wong, who says Kent “brings with her a pioneering spirit and a wealth of experience from her decades of working in the music and entertainment industry” — including a recent stretch as marketing, partnerships and business development director at Live Nation Entertainment Singapore, and before that senior roles at both Warner Music and Sony Music. Among the many feathers in Kent’s cap include securing sponsorship deals for Blackpink and brokering partnerships with Singtel and PayPal, in addition to working with Billie Eilish and the Singapore Tourism Board.
Alexander Vazelakis was named head of A&R for longstanding dance imprint Ultra Records. This is Vazelakis’ return to the label, where he previously spent nearly a decade working with artists including Sofi Tukker, Icona Pop, Steve Aoki, Anabel Englund and DVBBS. Based in Los Angeles, Vazelakis most recently served as VP of A&R at both Helix Records and Ultra Publishing and now reports to Ultra Records President David Waxman. –Katie Bain
SiriusXM promoted longtime executive Jen Leiweke to vice president of artist and industry relations. Previously a senior director on the talent and industry relations team, Leiweke joined Pandora in late 2010 and has worked across marketing, brand partnerships, live and experiential. In the past year, Leiweke helped develop a major sponsorship framework with American Express around SiriusXM’s Small Stage Series, which has featured performances from John Legend at The Wiltern in Los Angeles and Halsey at Union Transfer in Philly, among others. She also helped launch SiriusXM’s first foray at Miami Art Basel along with partner Chase Sapphire. Prior to joining Pandora, which was acquired by SiriusXM in 2019, Leiweke held positions at Alison Prod Public Relations and AEG.
Marigo Mihalos was also promoted to vice president at SiriusXM, where she oversees the entertainment booking team specializing in film, TV, and lifestyle. Before joining the satellite radio giant, Mihalos launched her own PR agency and later solidified her reputation as a booker on television shows like The Wendy Williams Show and Who Want to Be a Millionaire. Her best-of list of wins at SiriusXM include snagging the entire cast of Elvis for a Graceland appearance and orchestrating a collaboration between Bravo host-with-the-most Andy Cohen and icon-of-icons Dolly Parton at Dollywood. She can be reached at Marigo.mihalos@siriusxm.com.
Nashville-based publishing and artist development company Back Blocks Music expanded its team, adding Autumn Ledgin as senior director of A&R and Elizabeth Cook as creative coordinator. Back Blocks Music was founded by Billboard Power Player and 40 Under 40 recipient Rakiyah Marshall, with a roster including Ashley Cooke, Lily Rose, Blake Pendergrass and Tucker Wetmore. Ledgin previously worked at Good Company Entertainment, as day-to-day manager for the company’s roster, including Jake Owen and Larry Fleet, before adding A&R duties and becoming a board member and planning coordinator for the Jake Owen Foundation. Cook joins Back Blocks Music during her senior year at Belmont University as a songwriting major; she previously interned at Creative Nation and King Pen. –Jessica Nicholson
Believe-owned TuneCore appointed Tash Shah as its new vice president of International at the digital music distributor. Shah is a 12-year veteran at Spotify, where she served as the streaming giant’s first head of marketing in the UK and most recently held the title of director of growth programs. At her new gig, which is based in London, she’ll drive TuneCore’s international growth into new global markets oversee a team across 17 countries, while developing programs to benefit TuneCore’s growing roster of artists and labels. Shah will eventually report to TuneCore’s TBA chief revenue officer, but in the interim will work directly with CEO Andreea Gleeson.
Songtradr appointed Paul Langworthy to chief revenue officer of the music licensing marketplace and distribution platform. Reporting directly to CEO Paul Wiltshire, Langworthy’s focuses will include expanding licensing, music management, and creative branding opportunities, as well as continuing expansion into markets where music rights management remains under-monetized. Langworthy was previously CEO of U.K. digital music company 7digital, which Songtradr scooped up earlier this year for roughly $23 million. At the time of the acquisition, it was announced that Langworthy and the bulk of 7digital’s senior leadership team would join Songtradr. “Paul has a proven track record of successfully managing large teams, multiple revenue streams and has a deep understanding of the complex music rights ecosystem we work in,” said Wiltshire.
ICYMI: Tom Becci joined Concord Label Group as chief executive … peermusic appointed Elizabeth Rodda as president of Latin America and global society relations … About sixty employees are set to be impacted by layoffs at CAA … and Quality Control CEO Pierre “P” Thomas won Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players’ Choice Award.
A2IM hired Melissa White as director of membership and Jasmine Lopez-Alvarez as marketing manager of the independent music advocacy group. In their new roles, White will oversee A2IM’s label relations and membership engagement strategy, while Lopez-Alvarez will manage marketing initiatives and spearhead membership growth. White arrives from sample marketplace Tracklib, where she rose to music catalog director; Lopez-Alvarez has clocked time at SiriusXM, Maruder and HIFI. “Their experience and passion for independent music will play a crucial role in developing our reach and furthering our mission,” said Richard James Burgess, CEO of A2IM. You can reach the pair at melissa@a2im.org and/or jasmine@a2im.org.
Industry veteran Nathalie Rubin joined PR collective Hustle&Co. as account supervisor. Based in Los Angeles and reporting to founder and CEO Jenn DeMartino Callister, Rubin’s remit will center around driving campaigns for clients including music investment firm Influence Media Partners, destination experience company Vibee and something called Spotify (specifically its EQUAL and GLOW programs). Prior to joining Hustle, Rubin served as publicity manager at Elektra Entertainment, acing press campaigns for the label group’s artist roster found on Fueled by Ramen, DTA Records and the mothership imprint. She kicked off her career with a five-year stretch at BMG Recorded Music, where as in-house publicist she worked directly with a murderer’s row of rock favorites including Evanescence, Thrice, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and My Chemical Romance’s Frank Iero. She can be reached at Nathalie_Rubin@hustleandco.com.
The Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC), a non-profit organization founded in 2020 to combat systemic racism in the music business, added rapper-activist Cordae and Live Nation Urban president Shawn Gee to its Executive Leadership Council. Cordae and Shawn Gee, who received the Social Impact Award at BMAC’s inaugural annual gala, join a growing list of industry leaders on the ELC, including Dina LaPolt, Wassim “Sal” Slaiby, Jonathan Azu, Tariq Cherif and Jeff Azoff, among others. See a full list here.
VRTCL, a content management and influencer marketing agency, promoted Imani “Mango” Lewis to director of music and Jenn Rilloraza to director of brands and content. In their new roles, Lewis will lead overall strategy and operation of the music and social teams, while Rilloraza will continue working with her team to develop authentic content on behalf of some of the world’s biggest brands. Both report to FH Media CEO, Ash Stahl, who says they “have a proven history of working closely with artist and commercial brands to amplify their messages in ways that are completely authentic.” VRTCL was acquired by Create Music Group in early 2022 and folded into an FH Media roster that also includes influencer brands Flighthouse, Teenager Therapy and Retirement House.
Nashville Notes: Musicians On Call, a Nashville-based nonprofit that brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities, announced a series of promotions and new hires. Promotions include Kat Weeks to vp of marketing, Torianne Valdez to senior talent manager and PJ Cowan and Caroline Love to senior program managers. New hires include Orenda Senior as program coordinator and Sasha Arnkoff as executive assistant … Triple Tigers hired Nashville-based Blake Nixon as director of Southeast promotion. He previously held a similar role at Show Dog Nashville … Shelby Yoder founded songwriter/producer management company willo&co. She was previously head of Milk & Honey Nashville.
Longtime music executive Steve “Steve-O” Carless has partnered with Warner Records on a joint partnership to start his label Defiant Records. Carless, who is president of A&R at Warner, told Billboard that creating Defiant was a “lifelong mission.”
“I just believe in achieving what you set out to do no matter the risk, test, or obstacle,” he said. “It’s important to be brave and intentional to not lose sight of that. I wanted this to be representative of the career I’ve been privileged to have and also speak to the artists who dream to create their story on their own terms, who aren’t scared to be who they are unapologetically.”
Defiant Records houses burgeoning acts, including Bandmanrill, Sha EK, and McVertt, who teamed to craft the bulky 27-track project The Defiant Presents: Jiggy In Jersey. Executive produced by McVertt (who co-produced Lil Uzi Vert’s Hot 100 top 10 hit “I Just Wanna Rock), Bandmanrill and Sha EK thrive in a playground where Jersey Club and drill music coexist. Having previously worked with Pusha T, Big Sean and the late Nipsey Hussle, among many others, Carless believes his experience will come in handy when building out the careers of his signees.
“I truly believe that my experience affords these artists an opportunity and mentorship that’s hard to duplicate,” Carless relayed to Billboard. “I have 10,000 hours of experience in management, A&R, digital, and promotions. I’ve been inside a record company for my whole career and have simultaneously operated outside of those buildings as well. I’ve helped build brands and companies and also understand the agency piece of it thoroughly. I think all of that super-serves these artists in a way that can create more unexpected opportunities and expedited learning because it’s a unique situation here at Defiant Records.”
Regarding plans to grow Defiant Records into a powerhouse, Carless has a simple rinse-and-repeat strategy he thinks will be the blueprint for his label.
“The plans are simple, be authentic and detailed. We set attainable goals, achieve them, and repeat. We will always be the best in our space. The name of the game is to be consistent and curate our big-picture and individual stories simultaneously. Our focus has primarily been YouTube because it’s the most current breeding ground for global talent, and we’ve signed each one of our artists based on their following on the platform.”
Stream The Defiant Presents: Jiggy In Jersey below.
The organizer of a Malaysian music festival is seeking 12.3 million ringgit ($2.7 million) in losses from British band The 1975, after its lead singer’s on-stage protest of the country’s anti-gay laws prompted authorities to shut down the festival, the company’s lawyer said Friday (Aug. 11).
Future Sound Asia sent a letter to the band on Monday demanding compensation over a breach of contract, said FSA lawyer David Dinesh Mathew.
During the July 21 performance, Matty Healy used profanities in his speech criticizing the Malaysian government’s stance against homosexuality, before kissing bassist Ross MacDonald during the opening show at the Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur. Footage of the performance was posted on social media and sparked backlash in the predominantly Muslim country.
In Malaysia, homosexuality is a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison and caning.
The government slammed Healy’s conduct, blacklist the band from the country and cut short the three-day festival. Some in the LGBTQ+ community also took to social media to criticize the band, saying Healy had disrupted the work of activists pushing for change and also endangered the community.
In the letter, Mathew said the band had given a written pledge before the show that it would adhere to all local guidelines and regulations. Instead, Healy’s “use of abusive language, equipment damage, and indecent stage behaviour” caused financial losses to FSA.
“Unfortunately, the assurance was ignored,” Mathew said Friday in a written statement to The Associated Press. “Their actions have had repercussions on local artists and small businesses, who relied on the festival for creative opportunities and their livelihoods.”
As such, he said FSA demanded that The 1975 acknowledge their liability and pay 12.3 million ringgit in compensation for damages incurred. On its website, FSA said it is in the midst of accommodating all refund requests.
The lawyer said FSA will take legal action in the courts of England if the band fails to respond by Monday, a week after the legal letter of claim was sent.
The band canceled its shows in Taiwan and Jakarta, Indonesia, after the fiasco in the Malaysian capital. It wasn’t the first such provocative on-stage display by Healy in the name of LGBTQ+ rights: In 2019, he kissed a male fan during a concert in the United Arab Emirates, which outlaws same-sex sexual activity.
Following his 10-year prison sentence this week for shooting Megan Thee Stallion, Tory Lanez took to Instagram late Thursday (Aug. 10) to maintain his innocence and declare that he won’t “stop fighting till I come out victorious.”
Lanez (real name: Daystar Peterson) — who was convicted on three felony counts in December over the 2020 shooting — addressed the note to his “Umbrellas” fan group.
“I have never let a hard time intimidate me,” he wrote. “I will never never let no jail time eliminate me. Regardless of how they try to spin my words, I have always maintained my innocence and I always will.”
He writes that during his sentencing hearing, he took responsibility for “verbal and intimate moments that I shared with the parties involved,” but not for the shooting itself. “In no way shape or form was I apologizing for the charges I’m being wrongfully convicted of. I remain on the stance that I refuse to apologize for something that I did not do.”
Tuesday’s decadelong prison sentence for Lanez — which comes more than three years after the July 2020 shooting — was more than the probation sought by his lawyers but less than the 13 years prosecutors had suggested. The shooting occurred after Lanez, Megan Thee Stallion (real name: Megan Pete) and their friend Kelsey Harris left a party. According to prosecutors, Meg exited the vehicle and Lanez shot at her feet while shouting, “Dance, bi—!” Lanez was charged with the shooting in October 2022.
Read Lanez’s new statement in full below:
To The Umbrellas,
I have never let a hard time intimidate me. I will never never let no jail time eliminate me. Regardless of how they try to spin my words, I have always maintained my innocence and I always will.
This week in court I took responsibility for all verbal and intimate moments that I shared with the parties involved. … That’s it.
In no way shape or form was I apologizing for the charges I’m being wrongfully convicted of. I remain on the stance that I refuse to apologize for something that I did not do.
I’ve faced adversity my whole life and every time it looked like I would lose, I came out on top. This is nothing but another moment where my back is against the wall and I refuse to stop fighting till I come out victorious.
Tough times don’t last, tough people do.
To my family, friends and umbrellas thank you for your continued support.
See you soon.
Amid a production halt during a double strike, major talent agency CAA is undergoing a round of layoffs.
About sixty employees are set to be impacted — including agents, executives and support staff — within the next week, a source tells The Hollywood Reporter. The figure is a relatively small percentage of the thousands of staffers that work at the Century City-based representation giant led by Kevin Huvane, Richard Lovett and Bryan Lourd.
Multiple departments had been evaluating staffing levels even prior to when the Writers Guild of America strike began on May 2. When performer’s union SAG-AFTRA joined the strike on July 13, Hollywood settled in to a long summer as the dealmaking ecosystem ground to a halt.
Several talent agencies have cut staff in the ensuing months as the guilds faced off with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of studios. For instance, Endeavor, the owner of fellow “Big 3” agency WME and fashion-focused IMG, estimated on August 8 that the impact of the actors’ and writers’ strikes would be about $25 million per month in revenue.
Talent and literary agency Verve, which reps many scribes, cut about 60 percent of its assistants and 3 agents in late May. And Big 3 firm UTA had already made a round of cuts, which it described as a single digit percentage of a workforce that totals 2,000 employees, in February.
Hollywood’s agencies went through retrenchment and conducted notable layoffs or furloughs during the COVID-19 shutdowns in the middle of 2020, also at a time of a widespread production halt. At that time, in July 2020, CAA said it cut 90 agents and executives and further furloughed 275 assistants and other staffers.
Since that time, CAA made the most consequential move in the Hollywood talent agency space, acquiring rival firm ICM in a megadeal that closed last June and added 425 of its employees to the payroll, with 105 staffers cut. At the time, the combined company was said to have 3,200 employees in 25 countries.
Deadline earlier reported CAA’s planned cuts on Thursday.
This article was originally published by THR.com.
Amazon Music reached a new merchandise integration with concert-discovery platform Bandsintown that will allow fans across the globe to shop merch items from artists while browsing their artist profile pages on the Bandsintown website and app. Under the integration, more than 590,000 registered artists on Bandsintown for Artists will be able to promote their merch and physical music releases to their Bandsintown followers and the followers of similar artists through in-app notifications, email and social channels. The merch available on Bandsintown will be drawn from the Amazon Music Artist Merch Shop on Amazon.com, developed and curated by the Amazon Music team.
Oliver Chastan‘s artist and brand development company Iconoclast acquired the producer royalties of composer, songwriter and producer Giorgio Moroder. The company will additionally work with Moroder on the development of his name, image and likeness rights. Over the course of his career, Moroder has collaborated with artists including Berlin (“Take My Breath Away”), Donna Summer (“I Feel Love”, and Blondie (“Call Me”). His work as a film composer includes scores and songs for Midnight Express, Top Gun, Scarface and Flashdance.
CTS Eventim increased its stake in France Billet from 48% to 65%, making it the majority owner of the French ticketing company. CTS Eventim acquired the 48% stake in France Billet back in 2019 — a deal that included an option to acquire a majority stake in the company this year.
Reactional Music, the maker of an interactive music engine for video games, reached a global partnership with Southeast Asian games publisher Amanotes, whose games attract more than 100 million monthly active users, according to a press release. The deal will allow Amanotes gamers to personalize their personas and gameplay with their favorite music while also allowing Amanote to tap into a faster and more efficient method to create and prototype music in its games.
Toyota is now the name-in-title sponsor of the Concord Pavilion in Concord, Calif., which will now be known as Toyota Pavilion at Concord. The move is sponsored by the Northern California Toyota Dealers Association, which is composed of 58 local Toyota dealers operating in the region. Upcoming shows at the venue in 2023 include Sting, Snoop Dogg, Jelly Roll, Culture Club and Beck.
PRS for Music and PPL announced a new partnership with music technology company Audoo. Under the deal, Audoo’s Audoo Audio Meters — which aim to ensure “accurate and transparent” royalty distribution to music creators by identifying background music being played in businesses, according to a press release — will be installed in businesses including cafes, bars, hair salons, restaurants and retail establishments across the United Kingdom, with usage data reported back to PRS and PPL.
Live Nation signed a multi-year partnership with Montana-based promoter Logjam Presents. Under the agreement, Live Nation will invest in Logjam, of which the Checota family will retain ownership and continue to manage day-to-day operations for. “Out of state national and regional promoters are already actively promoting in venues around the state. This new partnership will allow Logjam to remain competitive as a Montana-based promoter and will retain our event booking, marketing, management and, most importantly, 100 percent of our staff locally,” said Logjam president Nick Checota in a statement. “Our new partnership will also provide Logjam access to an incredible artist network and will provide additional capital to improve existing venues and explore opportunities in other Montana regions.”
Desertscene and Old Empire, both independent heavy music promoters, announced a partnership “merging our distinct styles and unyielding passion for live music,” according to a statement by Old Empire founder Josh Retallick. Based in the United Kingdom, Old Empire promotes artists including Heilung, Chelsea Wolf, SUNN O))) and Electric Wizard. Desertscene books and promotes Desertfest festivals in London, New York and Berlin as well as in Antwerp, Belgium and Oslo, Norway.
Universal Music Group’s music merchandise and brand management company Bravado partnered with brand licensing and extension agency Redibra as its official licensing agent in Brazil. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to create incredible products and experiences for the dedicated music fan community in Brazil,” said Redibra CEO David Diesendruck in a statement.
Under a new partnership, Primary Wave Music, Sun Records and TC Restaurant Group will expand Nashville’s music-themed eatery Sun Diner — inspired by Sun Records artists like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash — to additional locations across the United States; a second location opened Aug. 3 in Gatlinburg, Tenn. Primary Wave acquired the rights to Sun Records in 2021.
Long before signing Nirvana and the Foo Fighters to their respective record labels and, later, becoming AEG Presents’ global touring and talent president, Gary Gersh was a devoted The Band fanatic. While working at Licorice Pizza in California, he saw the influential rock ‘n’ rollers perform numerous times, and as a young Capitol Records employee, he befriended Robbie Robertson, who died Thursday at 80, during The Band’s The Last Waltz farewell concert.
By phone from a Minneapolis airport, Gersh recalls his early encounters with The Band; coaxing Robertson into recording his 1987 self-titled solo debut while working as a Geffen Records A&R man; and long conversations with the guitarist and songwriter in Woodstock, N.Y.
How did you come to be involved with The Last Waltz?
I was a young guy starting out, and The Band were on [Capitol] and doing their thing when they decided The Last Waltz would be the last show. I get up there for rehearsals, and for the show itself, and it was monumental. I watched Robbie in the middle of it all, being different than a musician — he was always talking to cameramen and Mr. [Martin] Scorsese [who directed the 1978 film documenting the event]. It was a beginning of an education. Robbie helped raise me and I was fortunate to have somebody so unbelievably talented and so beautiful as a human being teaching me so much.
What moment do you remember most from that concert?
Robbie was front and center in a way he had never been seen before. Not necessarily the most important member, because the beauty of The Band was the quality of the whole and everybody mattered, but Robbie was the star on screen. Because of the way everything was captured, all of a sudden people were seeing this guy as one of the greatest live guitarists that ever lived.
How did you get to Capitol Records back then?
Gary Gersh photographed on Oct. 21, 2019 at AEG Presents in Los Angeles.
Sally Peterson
I had come from a chain of record stores, Licorice Pizza, and Capitol was my first record-company job. The Band had put out a Christmas song [“Christmas Must Be Tonight,” recorded in 1975 and, released two years later] as a single, and I was crazy for it. I was just this guy at the record label, at the very, very bottom, jumping up and down and screaming about The Band. They weren’t the biggest priority at the time, because they weren’t the biggest band, but, to me, they were the most influential band in American music. I saw them play at the Santa Barbara Bowl when I was in my late teens and it was probably well over 100 degrees. Robbie was dressed up in a suit and they were all just dying from the heat, but there they were, just being The Band, and they crushed every time I saw them.
You helped him make Robbie Robertson — how did that come about?
One of the first things I did as an A&R guy was sign Robbie and talked him into making solo records, which, at the time, he wasn’t thinking of doing. I said, “You can’t stop making music. You can do whatever else you need to do, but you can’t stop making music.” I kind of didn’t know what I was talking about, but I think he got that I could be a partner on the ride.
What was making that album like?
He was developing what he wanted his sound to be while we were working on the record. I had always known that [producer] Daniel Lanois was the guy to make the record, and Robbie knew it but had never met him. They hit it off famously. … Daniel pushed Robbie in ways I’m not sure had ever happened before. Robbie had always written multiple verses and had extra lyrics from all the songs. I had never seen that before. There were whole verses being moved in a way that took all of us to see and help develop.
Was there a moment that stands out from that process?
When the first solo album was finished, we mixed the record with [engineer] Bob Clearmountain at Bearsville Studios [in Woodstock, N.Y., site of many Band recordings], which Robbie obviously had a real history at. The day we got to Woodstock, we got a six-pack and he took me over to Big Pink, and we sat on the curb, and I just started asking questions. He was one of the greatest storytellers, whether he was talking about a meal at dinner or a film or music. He talked about how, once they got into the house, they started writing songs from fragments of things. And how Robbie thought each piece was like an actor in a play or a movie, and how they would come and go in a way that made it so cinematic.
When was the last time you saw him?
I talked to him a few weeks ago — he knew my family and knew my wife, and we had young kids and were starting to raise a family, and he had already had one.
Anything else you’d like to add?
He introduced me to so many people — so many musicians — that I had never thought in my life I would know. But he felt it would be part of my education. Van Morrison was just on the music system here [at the airport]. I remember meeting Van because Robbie introduced me to him when they were working on a song [“Wonderful Remark”] for the [1983] King of Comedy soundtrack. I hear things and I’m just reminded everywhere I go. I think that’s the way it is with great teachers. It never leaves you.