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Mexican music hitmaker Geovani Cabrera has signed an exclusive global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), Billboard has learned. Born in Sinaloa, Mexico, the 15-year music veteran has penned a number of hit songs, including “JGL” recorded by Luis R. Conriquez, Christian Nodal‘s “Se Me Olvidó” and “A Través Del Vaso” by Los Sebastianes, to name […]
Billboard’s peer-voted Power 100 Players’ Choice Award is back for 2025 and asking music industry members from all sectors to honor the executive they believe had the most impact across the music industry in the past year. Voting is open to all Billboard Pro members, both existing and new, with one vote per member per […]
Billboard’s peer-voted Power 100 Players’ Choice Award is back for 2025 and asking music industry members from all sectors to honor the executive they believe had the most impact across the music industry in the past year. Voting is open to all Billboard Pro members, both existing and new, with one vote per member per […]
Alana Dolgin has joined Atlantic Music Group as the label’s first president of digital marketing, a position created to drive digital strategies across the labels within the company, including Atlantic Records, 300 Entertainment and 10K Projects. Dolgin, who is based in AMG’s Los Angeles office, reports to chief operating officer Zach Friedman and general manager […]
Tributes from industry luminaries and executives are pouring in for legendary producer, arranger and composer Quincy Jones, who died Sunday (Nov. 3) at the age of 91. A jazz sideman who evolved into a bandleader, label executive, film composer, TV and movie producer and, of course, popular music savant as studio maestro to Michael Jackson, Jones’ considerable artistic wingspan during his seven-decade career — his picture should be in the dictionary under “multi-hyphenate” — will rightly be lauded by every nook of the entertainment world.
“Through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones’ heart will beat for eternity,” his family said following his passing.
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Here is a list of reactions, which we’ll update as they come in:
Guy Moot and Carianne Marshall (CEO and COO, Warner Chappell Music): “We join billions of music fans around the world, as we mourn the loss of the great Quincy Jones, and celebrate his immeasurable contributions to culture. Words like titan, genius, GOAT, will be used today and he deserves it all. Quincy was a producer, artist, composer, and activist, but above all, he was a songwriter. He leaves behind an extraordinarily powerful, diverse body of work that will light the way for future generations. Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.”
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (he was inducted in 2013): “Quincy Jones excelled at every role he took on. Producer, arranger, trumpeter, executive, and more, Jones won 28 Grammy Awards and guided historic sessions with such giants as Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, and Michael Jackson in addition to his groundbreaking work in film and television. Jones established the standard for innovation; accomplished and successful in every facet of the music industry, he set the model for the modern music mogul.”
Michael Huppe (president and CEO, SoundExchange): “Huge loss yesterday to the music world. A seminal force. From Michael Jackson to Count Basie to Frank Sinatra.”
Nile Rodgers (guitarist, producer and co-founder of Hipgnosis Songs Fund):
TIDAL (the streaming service): “Rest in peace to Quincy Jones, who, as a producer, film scorer and solo artist, quite simply did it all. He has been sampled by Mobb Deep and the Pharcyde; composed the music for ‘The Color Purple’; and produced both “We Are the World” and Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller,’ the latter being the best-selling album of all time.”
Danyel Smith (former editor of VIBE, which Jones co-founded): “In addition to being one of the best producers in the history of American music, [Quincy Jones] is the founder of VIBE magazine. [He] launched VIBE because it was the change he wanted to see. He wanted glorious and rigorous storytelling. He wanted depth of design and imagery. He wanted hip hop and the history of American Blackness that informed it to receive the credit it is due. Always surrounded by genius teams, and predecessors, and successors, I was music editor, cover story warrior, and the first Black person and first woman to serve as VIBE’s editor-in-chief — so I am blessed to have known Quincy Jones. As an artist yes, but also as a negotiator, a conversationalist, a charmer. Quincy Jones is a person I often reported to, a person who encouraged me (without sentiment). He was a networker, a knower of his worth, and a valiant enforcer of the true value of Black music and culture. I’m lost this morning. And at a loss. Rest in everlasting peace, Quincy Jones — from me and your grateful VIBE family.” (Smith’s full post on X can be found here.)
AXS, the AEG-owned ticketing company, on Nov. 4 announced the acquisition of a white-label ticketing company called white label eCommerce. The latter company, a Hamburg start-up founded in 2012 that has about 35 employees, currently sells tickets to festivals, sports events and some concerts, but not under its own name. White label eCommerce will become […]
The arbitration process governing SESAC’s performance license rates has determined that for the 2023-2026 licensing period, a blanket fee of 0.2824% of revenue — or a 10.4% increase from the prior period’s rate of 0.2557% of revenue — will be set, according to a press release from the Radio Music License Committee (RLMC).
The rate represents the amount SESAC, a performing rights organization (PRO), can charge stations in exchange for playing works from their repertory over terrestrial radio.
Each side characterized the final rate determination differently, with the RLMC claiming victory because the arbitration panel rejected SESAC’s efforts to more than double the rate, and also substantially expand the license revenue base. But SESAC says the arbitration award reflects a failure by the RLMC in its attempt to lower the rate.
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The rate decision is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2023, which means that stations paying the SESAC interim licensing fee at 2022 rates will receive “a modest true-up adjustment.” The arbitration process governing SESAC’s rates came about as a result of a 2015 RMLC antitrust litigation settlement with SESAC that set forth a rate arbitration process for the next 20 years.
The RMLC announcement claims SESAC sought to justify its efforts to increase rates and expand the licensing revenue base by relying upon rates set for other music licensors.
Meanwhile, SESAC’s statement on the determination says the RMLC failed in its attempt to tie SESAC’s rates to those of BMI and ASCAP, the two U.S. PROs, which operate under consent decrees that mandate a rate trial in the Southern District of New York when negotiations fail.
“Despite the fact that no increase was warranted, the arbitration decision reported here constitutes a significant victory for RMLC-represented radio stations given SESAC’s demands, and comes at a challenging economic time for the industry,” RMLC chairman Ed Atsinger said in a statement. “The RMLC intends to continue to defend and protect the interests of its members at a time when all of the performing right organizations are seeking to aggressively increase their fees.”
In another aspect of the rate determination, the RLMC said that “long-form license terms are still being worked out but it is expected that the non-music format stations will continue to pay the same 77.5% discount” off of the above music stations’ headline rate. Mathematically speaking, that means the RMLC expects that the non-music rate fee will be set at 0.06354% of revenue, or a 10.5% increase from the prior rate of 0.0575%, Billboard estimates.
“The arbitration award reflects another failure of the RMLC to impose regulated rates on SESAC since SESAC and the RMLC concluded their settlement in 2015,” SESAC performing rights president and CEO Scott Jungmichel said in a statement. “The panel awarded SESAC an over 10% increase while rejecting the RMLC’s attempts to lower the rate, turn back the clock, and yoke SESAC to the regulated rates paid by ASCAP and BMI. In addition, the revenue base subject to the fee is significantly greater than the revenue upon which station groups had sought to pay under the 2017 award.”
British prosecutors say they have been given a file of evidence from police about alleged sexual offenses by comedian Russell Brand and are considering whether to charge him. The Crown Prosecution Service said late Saturday (Nov. 2) that “we have been passed a file by the police to consider a charging decision in this case. […]
YG Entertainment shares gained 4.3% this week as “APT” by ROSÉ and Bruno Mars continued its hot streak. A week after YG’s stock gained 6.1% following the track’s blockbuster start on streaming services, the track topped both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts. ROSÉ, a member of YG recording artist BLACKPINK, released “APT” through Atlantic Records in partnership with THEBLACKLABEL, a YG sub-label co-founded in 2015 by BLACKPINK producer Teddy Park. While YG continues to manage BLACKPINK, ROSÉ signed with THEBLACKLABEL for the management of her solo career.
Universal Music Group (UMG) shares fell 0.7% over the week but gained 1.6% to 23.45 euros ($25.52) on Friday (Nov. 1) following the company’s third-quarter earnings the prior day. Morgan Stanley raised its price target to 35 euros ($38) from 33 euros ($35.90). “Our conviction on UMG is as high as it’s ever been,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in an investor note. Guggenheim called UMG’s third-quarter results “encouraging” and maintained a 25.50 euros ($27.74) price target and its “neutral” rating on UMG shares.
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SiriusXM gained 4.7% to $27.65 after the company’s third-quarter earnings release on Thursday (Oct. 31) showed a net gain of 14,000 self-pay subscribers in the quarter. Despite the uptick, average revenue per user fell due to a “higher proportion of subscribers on self-pay promotional and streaming-only plans,” the company said.
Deezer shares gained 2.1% to 1.43 euros ($1.56) after the company’s third-quarter earnings showed 11% revenue growth and a 9% uptick in subscribers. New CEO Alexis Lanternier sounded upbeat about partnerships with MeLi+ and Mercado Libre, which has converted free trials at a rate “higher than our expectations,” in his words. Still, Deezer’s share price is down 32.9% year to date.
Reservoir Media fell 3.5% to $8.25 following its earnings release on Wednesday (Oct. 30) which showed solid 6% revenue growth. The stock did not get a bump from Reservoir’s slightly upgraded full-year guidance nor B. Riley’s increase of its price target to $12.50 from $11.50.
The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) was essentially flat for the week, rising 0.3% to 1,995.67 despite having just seven gainers as opposed to 13 stocks that lost ground. The small increase brought the index’s year-to-date gain to 30.1% and reversed the BGMI to the win category after it dropped 0.6% the prior week, breaking a streak of six consecutive weeks of gains.
Even a small gain outperformed many major stock indexes. In the United States, the Nasdaq composite fell 1.5% to 18,329.92 and the S&P 500 fell 1.4% to 5,728.80. Both indexes rose on Friday, however, as investors paid little attention to a weak jobs report and both Amazon and Intel jumped after reporting quarterly earnings. On Thursday (Oct. 31), Meta and Microsoft shares fell following their respective earnings reports, with Meta dropping 3% and Microsoft falling more than 5%.
Music streamer LiveOne was the greatest gainer of the week after jumping 32.8% to $0.77. The company announced on Thursday that it has engaged MZ Group to increase the visibility of PodcastOne in the investment community. LiveOne spun off PodcastOne in 2023 and retained an 81% stake. Investors may have taken note of MZ Group’s Chris Donovan’s statement that PodcastOne “owns intellectual property that can be sold for a significant return on investment.”
Outside of YG Entertainment, the other four K-pop stocks lost ground. HYBE fell 3.1% and increased its year-to-date loss to 20.0%. JYP Entertainment fell 4.2%. SM Entertainment slipped 0.7%. Collectively, the four K-pop companies’ share prices are down 28.6% in 2024.
iHeartMedia jumped 16.1% to $2.09 a week before the company reports third-quarter earnings on Thursday (Nov. 7). Another radio company, Cumulus Media, dropped 19.0% to $0.94 following its release of third-quarter earnings on Friday. The company’s revenue fell 1.8% to $204 million and it saw a net loss of $10.3 million, down from a net profit of $2.7 million in the prior-year period. “Looking forward, the advertising environment remains uncertain,” warned Cumulus CEO Mary Berner.
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Spinnin’ Records president Roger de Graaf is retiring, a representative for the label has confirmed to Billboard. De Graaf co-founded the Dutch label in 1999 alongside Eelko van Kooten, maneuvering it through several eras of electronic music and quickly evolving consumption models, from CDs to DSPs. “In the beginning, we wanted to become the No. […]