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French music company Believe benefitted from “healthy” paid streaming growth as its third-quarter revenue grew 9.1% to 215 million euros ($197.6 million at the quarter’s average exchange rate), the Paris-based company announced Tuesday (Oct. 24).
The owner of distributor TuneCore and labels such as Groove Attack and Naïve said organic revenue growth of 7.5% would have been 15.4% without the impact of the currency translation within the digital royalties it receives from its digital partners. Paid streaming “remained strong,” the company stated in its earnings release, although revenue was not yet impacted by recent price increases “due to their deployment calendar in some markets.”
Revenue grew 25.9% to 66.9 million euros ($61.5 million) in Europe outside of Believe’s two single largest markets, France and Germany, accouting for 31.1% of total revenue. The company cited particularly strong growth in Southern Europe, Eastern Europe and Turkey. The addition of Liverpool-based Sentric, acquired from Utopia Music in March, helped revenue growth in the United Kingdom. Revenue was up only 0.7% in France, which accounted for 16% of total revenue, after growing more than 40% in the prior-year quarter. Revenue dropped 6.4% in Germany due to non-digital sales being down “strongly” as Believe moved away from contracts it believes were too weighted in physical sales and merchandise.
Revenue from Asia Pacific and Africa grew 6.6% to 55.8 million euros ($51.3 million) and accounted for 25.9% of total revenue. The company was helped by increased paid streaming penetration in the region but hurt by soft ad-supported streaming and a stronger euro against local currencies. Greater China was particularly strong, while Japan was aided by Believe’s roll-out of its Premium Solutions offering. The Americas accounted for 14.4% of Believe’s revenue and grew 8.4% in the quarter; Brazil and Mexico were particularly strong, the company said.
Believe is comprised of two segments, Premium Solutions and Automated Solutions. Premium Solutions revenue rose 10.1% to 202.9 million euros ($186.5 million). Automated Solutions, which includes TuneCore, dropped 4.5% to 12.1 million euros ($11.1 million) due to a stronger euro and a challenging comparable period influenced by TuneCore’s launch of unlimited pricing in July 2022.
Looking forward, Believe increased its forecast for adjusted earnings before taxes, interest and amortization margin from 5% at the mid-year mark to 5.5%. The company reiterated its guidance for full-year organic growth of 14%.
Although Believe’s growth slowed in the last two quarters, the company expects its organic growth rate — excluding foreign exchange impacts and the impacts of acquisitions — will recover in the fourth quarter “thanks to solid paid streaming trends enhanced by price increases by some large digital partners, a slight recovery in ad-funded streaming expected at the end of the quarter and additional market share gains,” it stated in the earnings release.
Next year’s revenue will get an additional boost from subscription services following up their recent price increases by further raising prices to 12 euros/$12 per month, said CEO Denis Ladegaillerie during Tuesday’s earnings call. “We definitely expect [price increases] to come. ‘When’ is the question. But it’s going to be 2024, no doubt.”
Total revenue increased 9.1% to 215 million euros ($197.6 million).
Digital sales rose 7.1% while non-digital sales rose 39.6% as reported (12.4% at constant currency and constant perimeter).
Digital sales accounted for 92% of revenue, the same as the prior-year quarter.
Premium Solutions revenue grew 10.1% to 202.9 million euros ($186.5 million).
Premium Solutions’ digital sales rose 16.8% and non-digital sales rose 11.2%.
Automated Solutions revenue dropped 4.5% to 12.1 million.
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: Universal Music Group (UMG) and other music companies file a hotly-anticipated copyright lawsuit over how artificial intelligence (AI) models are trained; DJ Envy’s business partner Cesar Pina is hit with criminal charges claiming he ran a “Ponzi-like” fraud scheme; Megan Thee Stallion reaches a settlement with her former label to end a contentious legal battle; Fyre Fest fraudster Billy McFarland is hit with a civil lawsuit by a jilted investor in his new project; and more.
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THE BIG STORY: AI Music Heads To Court
When UMG and several other music companies filed a lawsuit last week, accusing an artificial intelligence company called Anthropic PBC of violating its copyrights en masse to “train” its AI models, my initial reaction was: “What took so long?”
The creators of other forms of content had already been in court for months. A group of photographers and Getty Images sued Stability AI over its training practices in January, and a slew of book authors, including Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin and legal novelist John Grisham, sued ChatGPT-maker OpenAI over the same thing in June and again in September. And music industry voices, like the RIAA and UMG itself, had repeatedly signaled that they viewed such training as illegal.
For months, we asked around, scanned dockets and waited for the music equivalent. Was the delay a deliberate litigation strategy, allowing the fast-changing market and the existing lawsuits to play out more before diving in? Was the music business focusing on legislative, regulatory or business solutions instead of the judicial warpath they chose during the file-sharing debacle of the early 2000s?
Maybe they were just waiting for the right defendant. In a complaint filed in Nashville federal court on Oct. 18, UMG claimed that Anthropic — a company that got a $4 billion investment from Amazon last month — “unlawfully copies and disseminates vast amounts of copyrighted works” in the process of teaching its models to spit out new lyrics. The lengthy complaint, co-signed by Concord Music Group, ABKCO and other music publishers, echoed arguments made by many rightsholders in the wake of the AI boom: “Copyrighted material is not free for the taking simply because it can be found on the internet.”
Like the previous cases filed by photographers and authors, the new lawsuit poses something of an existential question for AI companies. AI models are only as good as the “inputs” they ingest; if federal courts make all copyrighted material off-limits for such purposes, it would not only make current models illegal but would undoubtedly hamstring further development.
The battle ahead will center on fair use — the hugely important legal doctrine that allows for the free use of copyrighted material in certain situations. Fair use might make you think of parody or criticism, but more recently, it’s empowered new technologies: In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the VCR was protected by fair use; in 2007, a federal appeals court ruled that Google Image search was fair use.
Are AI models, which imbibe millions of copyrighted works to create something new, the next landmark fair use? Or are they just a new form of copyright piracy on a vast new scale? We’re about to find out.
More key details about the AI case:
– The timing of the lawsuit would suggest that UMG is aiming for a carrot-and-stick approach when it comes to AI. On the same day the new case was filed, UMG announced that it was partnering with a company called BandLab Technologies to forge an “an ethical approach to AI.” Hours later, news also broke that UMG and other labels were actively negotiating with YouTube on a new AI tool that would allow creators to make videos using the voices of popular (consenting) recording artists.
-The huge issue in the case is whether the use of training inputs amounts to infringement, but UMG’s lawyers also allege that Anthropic violates its copyrights with the outputs that its models spit out — that it sometimes simply presents verbatim lyrics to songs. That adds a different dimension to the case that’s not present in earlier AI cases filed by authors and photographers and could perhaps make it a bit easier for UMG to win.
-While it’s the first such case about music, it should be noted that the Anthropic lawsuit deals only with song lyrics — meaning not with sound recordings, written musical notation, or voice likeness rights. While a ruling in any of the AI training cases would likely set precedent across different areas of copyright, those specific issues will have to wait for a future lawsuit, or perhaps an act of Congress.
Go read the full story on UMG’s lawsuit, with access to the actual complaint filed in court.
Other top stories this week…
MEGAN THEE SETTLEMENT – Megan Thee Stallion reached an agreement with her record label 1501 Certified Entertainment to end more than three years of ugly litigation over a record deal that Megan calls “unconscionable.” After battling for more than a year over whether she owed another album under the contract, the two sides now say they will “amicably part ways.”
DJ ENVY SCANDAL DEEPENS – Cesar Pina, a celebrity house-flipper with close ties to New York City radio host DJ Envy, was arrested on federal charges that he perpetrated “a multimillion-dollar Ponzi-like investment fraud scheme.” Though Envy was not charged, federal prosecutors specifically noted that Pina had “partnered with a celebrity disc jockey and radio personality” — listed in the charges as “Individual-1” — to boost his reputation as a real estate guru. The charges came after months of criticism against Envy, who is named in a slew of civil lawsuits filed by alleged victims who say he helped promote the fraud.
FOOL ME ONCE… – Billy McFarland, the creator of the infamous Fyre Festival who served nearly four years in prison for fraud and lying to the FBI, is facing a new civil lawsuit claiming he ripped off an investor who gave him $740,000 for his new PYRT venture. The case was filed by Jonathan Taylor, a fellow felon who met McFarland in prison after pleading guilty to a single count of child sex trafficking.
AI-GENERATED CLOSING ARGS? – Months after ex-Fugees rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel was convicted on foreign lobbying charges, he demanded a new trial by making extraordinary accusations against his ex-lawyer David Kenner. Michel claims Kenner, a well-known L.A. criminal defense attorney, used an unproven artificial intelligence (AI) tool called EyeLevel.AI to craft closing arguments — and that he did so because he owned a stake in the tech platform. Kenner declined to comment, but EyeLevel has denied that Kenner has any equity in the company.
ROLLING STONES GET SATISFACTION – A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing The Rolling Stones members Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of copying their 2020 single “Living in a Ghost Town” from a pair of little-known songs, ruling that the dispute — a Spanish artist suing two Brits — clearly didn’t belong in his Louisiana federal courthouse.
JUICE WRLD COPYRIGHT CASE – Dr. Luke and the estate of the late Juice WRLD were hit with a copyright lawsuit that claims they unfairly cut out one of the co-writers (an artist named PD Beats) from the profits of the rapper’s 2021 track “Not Enough.”
The K-pop agency ATTRAKT announced that it has terminated its contracts with three of the four members of the girl group FIFTY FIFTY, stating that the three members — Aran, Sio and Saena — had “slandered and defamed the agency” and sought to break their contracts.
The termination is in response to an apparent contract dispute between all four members of the group and ATTRAKT that arose in June, according to the Korea Times, wherein the group alleged that ATTRAKT had breached its contract by “failing to provide accounting data” and neglecting the group’s mental health, according to the outlet. Since then, the fourth member of the group, Keena, dropped her lawsuit and returned to the agency.
FIFTY FIFTY broke out onto the charts in a major way earlier this year with their hit “Cupid,” which initially gained momentum on TikTok before rising to No. 17 on the Hot 100 and spending two weeks at No. 1 on the Global Ex-U.S. chart in May, while also reaching the top 10 of the Pop Airplay chart in July, peaking at No. 7 and becoming just the second K-pop group, behind BTS, to reach that territory. The group, which was formed by ATTRAKT last year, signed a deal with Warner Records / Warner Music Group Korea in April of this year.
A rep for Warner Records did not return a request for comment..
In its statement, ATTRAKT also alleged a “conspiracy” between the three members of the group and Sung-il Ahn, also known as SIAHN, who is the founder/CEO of The Givers, a K-pop consulting firm that co-managed the group alongside Attrakt and who is the producer of “Cupid.” According to the Korea Times, Attrakt has filed a suit for damages against SIAHN and The Givers over its involvement in the contract dispute, alleging SIAHN attempted to poach the group away from ATTRAKT.
In April, SIAHN told Billboard that ATTRAKT and The Givers were taking a different approach towards the group than the typical K-pop company does with its artists, which typically combine management and label services under one roof.
“We plan to propose a new label structure for FIFTY FIFTY — a separate label for them, solely concentrating on the artist’s development,” SIAHN said at the time. “K-pop companies have an entrenched ‘artist-agency’ relationship, which poses a significant obstacle to an artist’s long-term global expansion. To overcome this persistent problem, The Givers is exploring a structure where the label directly contracts with the artist while the main producer oversees the creative aspects of the group and collaborates with the label.”
Thomas Coesfeld says that the next 10 years will be much different for BMG than the last 10.
Navigating the onslaught of generative artificial intelligence (AI), diverging streaming economic models and the slowdown in streaming revenue growth is among the challenges “that are keeping me up at night,” says the new CEO of the world’s fourth-largest music company, who sat down with Billboard for his first U.S. interview since succeeding Hartwig Masuch in July.
At 33, Coesfeld is the fresh young face of one of Europe’s oldest and most powerful media dynasties. His grandfather was Reinhard Mohn, a legendary CEO of BMG’s German parent company, Bertelsmann. Coesfeld’s predecessor also earned a spot in the media conglomerate’s corporate pantheon. Masuch reinvigorated BMG after serving as an adviser for the company’s uncoupling from Sony in 2007, building it into an entity that generated roughly 900 million euros ($947.7 million) annually. It’s now Coesfeld’s job to lead the company beyond the 1 billion euro mark ($1.1 billion) by 2024.
The Berlin-based executive spoke candidly about the challenge he faces being a relative newcomer to the music industry and the acumen he developed while overseeing BMG’s balance sheet since 2021 as the company’s CFO. Coesfeld received a baptism by fire as one of BMG’s chief negotiators for song catalog acquisitions during the market run-up in the early 2020s. From 2021 to 2023, he helped the company land 70 deals, including acquiring the catalogs of rock icons Mötley Crüe and Tina Turner, as well as those of Mick Fleetwood, Paul Simon, The Pointer Sisters, Peter Frampton and The Hollies.
A photo of Coesfeld’s grandfather, former Bertelsmann CEO Mohn, viewing the Manhattan skyline in 1954. Much like him, Coesfeld says he has a “strong fondness” for the United States.
Urban Zintel
Bertelsmann, flush with cash after its failed acquisition bid for Simon & Schuster, has promised to invest between 5 billion and 7 billion euros ($5.3 billion to $7.4 billion) across its companies through 2025 — an infusion that should help Coesfeld outpace BMG’s nearest competitors, Concord and HYBE, which are both on track to close $300 million to $500 million in company acquisitions this year. But competition doesn’t trouble Coesfeld. He is less combative and more collaborative than is typically found in the music industry.
“I’m convinced that the key challenge of the music industry is not fighting each other,” he says. “It’s not about conventional distinctions between segments, like frontline or catalog, or companies, like majors or indies. There are bigger challenges than that. What is needed is a more collaborative approach with business partners to face this more challenging environment.”
You’ve been in the CEO seat for just over 100 days. What is the five-year plan for BMG?
My predecessor was an entrepreneur who brought Bertelsmann back into the music space. He achieved a thing you don’t see that often, particularly in media. We are a very established company on a solid foundation. Now comes a new chapter. The next iteration of BMG will focus on better engaging with our artists, songwriters and business partners. I’m truly convinced we can only be effective if we are not focusing too much on ourselves — not building too much resources internally — but instead focusing on the value creation and service delivery for the artists and songwriters. Naturally, we will continue on our investment strategy.
What does BMG taking digital distribution in-house mean for the company’s future?
First, it allows us to significantly upgrade our services for artists. We get better in our marketing ability to advocate for the songs, campaign management, things like that. Second, we get better and direct access to the data feeds from the platforms. Artists care about that. The third point is it’s massively enhancing our service portfolio. This enables us to offer a bigger variety of deals for artists to allow them to choose what kind of service level they want. And then obviously, every intermediary takes fees. So this allows us to have a more sustainable business model, become more competitive and offer more competitive terms to our artists. And artists get the monies faster.
Another photo of Mohn.
Urban Zintel
How does integrating the frontline business and catalog help you achieve these goals?
What’s key on the recording side is marketing. What is new and increasingly important is understanding the [streaming] channels. You need expertise for each [digital service provider]. Spotify is really different from Apple. We’ve had a direct relationship with YouTube for the last eight months, and the results are phenomenal — not just from a topline perspective, which is the ultimate measure, but also in having access to data, providing improved service on marketing, trending and velocity to artists. If you look through the lens of marketing, frontline and catalog become more integrated because the skill that makes the difference is marketing and understanding the channel. Consumption is way more fragmented. Fans make their own choices. Music taste is the decisive factor.
What do you expect streaming growth to look like in the coming years?
Two trends are relevant: One is that the massive market growth for the future of streaming in Western markets will happen through price increases. The second is the majority of the volume growth will happen in the developing markets. The good news is that the market is still fundamentally growing — not at the same speed as in the past 10 years — but we still have a fundamentally attractive market.
We need to own distribution to fully understand the trends early on and to react faster, to market in more tailored ways. With lower growth, we need to be more precise in how we invest marketing dollars.
How would you describe your leadership style?
There is a German saying: “You always see each other twice in life.” The idea of this saying is you always have opportunities — from a power-play perspective, you’re in a better situation — but the more sustainable approach is to still treat everyone as partners. We are in it for the long run. This is, for me, a paradigm for how to act on a daily basis. I’m very grateful for the partnership we had [with ADA]. We tripled our revenue. We’ve learned a lot, and it was clear from the get-go that at some point in time we would leave. [Warner Music Group CEO] Robert [Kyncl] and I had very frank conversations about it.
The statuette, which was a gift from Coesfeld’s aunt, “represents ambition,” he says.
Urban Zintel
What opportunities do you see in the catalog market?
We have a well-oiled machine. We know how to assess catalog, pitch and discuss with artists and songwriters. Hartwig built a reputation. Artists and songwriters trust us. That’s a big opportunity from a positioning standpoint. Paired with a very committed parent company, which is willing to fund the further growth of this company, we see massive growth, and I remain very optimistic about the market fundamentals. There are a lot of things going on which may cause challenges — streaming economics, generative AI — but I see those as massive opportunities for the industry overall.
How have your previous executive roles at Bertelsmann shaped you, and how will they shape BMG?
This is my first CEO role. Now, I can’t blame the CEO any longer! I’m a firm believer from my own experience that the way you treat people, the way you interact in all types of relationships, is critically important to firm longevity and business success. If you take that and apply it to BMG, it’s even more important because our clients are a diverse set of characters. That’s why they have fans. They are not normal. They are not average. They are different. They are beyond that. Treating people with respect is critically important, and that sets Bertelsmann apart from other companies.
And in my CFO role, I had the privilege of being responsible for a catalog acquisition strategy. That helped me a lot in getting to know so many artists over the last two to three years. That introduced me quite well to this industry. Not having been around for decades in the music business was a challenge and, at times, still is.
A keyring that Coesfeld bought in New York when he was 12 and has carried with him since.
Urban Zintel
What is BMG’s view of the ongoing experiments with artist-centric and user-centric streaming payment models?
We are not the market maker there, which is important to understand our views. Overall, I welcome that we are having this discussion as an industry. What is on the table is a great step in the right direction. We are about to establish mechanisms to fight fraud, money laundering, things like that. Even more importantly, in light of gen AI, it is so easy to create music and to have artificial consumption of music.
How do you see this as a tool to address your concerns around generative AI?
If you don’t have mechanisms that make a distinction between human artistry and white noise, then something is wrong about the system. The streaming economics were designed 12 years ago. They are just not the appropriate models any longer. One thing I’d love to see more pronounced is trust in consumer choices — so a distinction between the superfan who is listening to just one artist and the more infrequent listener who is also paying $11 a month but listening to 50 streams a month.
What are the pitfalls and opportunities of generative AI?
I do see a fundamental threat to the ‘copyright-ability’ of human creativity. If regulators do not hold up, we will have a big issue. What keeps me optimistic is that fans don’t just care about the musical expression. It’s about the personality, the artist — especially for superfans.
Music-licensing company Epidemic Sound has signed Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Jordin Sparks, the company tells Billboard. Under the deal, Sparks will collaborate with Epidemic’s in-house team — including musicians, producers and A&Rs — to create a collection of “classic Christmas songs” to be released later this year, with Epidemic distributing. The tracks will be made available to Epidemic’s global community of content creators along with being released to all streaming platforms.
“We are thrilled to announce this partnership with Jordin Sparks. Jordin is an extraordinary superstar who has significantly impacted the music industry,” said John Cleary, Epidemic’s director of music recruitment & music U.S., in a statement. “Creators, filmmakers, marketers, and storytellers know the power of music in telling a compelling story, and they seek amazing music to elevate their content. By collaborating with Jordin, Epidemic Sound can continue catering to content creators’ needs while simultaneously amplifying her artistry globally and unveiling her tracks to our global ecosystem of creators and international fanbase.”
Sparks rose to fame after winning season 6 of American Idol and has since released three Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles including “No Air” with Chris Brown, “Tattoo” and “Battlefield.” According to a press release, she’ has’s sold more than 10 million tracks in the United States alone. In 2014, Sparks won a BMI Pop Award in 2014 for co-writing Ariana Grande and Mac Miller‘s hit single, “The Way.”
“I’m excited for this new partnership with Epidemic Sound,” said Sparks in her own statement. “They have empowered artists to thrive commercially, creatively and to reach new audiences. The freedom they give artists to choose their own path and work on different projects at the same time is unique and inspiring. I’m excited to join a roster of incredible artists and I’m looking forward to working with Epidemic Sound’s team!”
Epidemic Sounds’ remuneration model offers upfront payments, a 50-50 royalty split from streaming revenue and a quarterly soundtrack bonus. The company allows artists to work under non-exclusive agreements.
Bryce Leatherwood, winner of season 22 of NBC’s The Voice, signed with Universal Music Group Nashville in alliance with Republic Records. His label debut, “The Finger,” releases Oct. 27. Leatherwood is also signed with Morris Higham Management, CAA, Sony Music Publishing and O’Neil Hagaman. – Jessica Nicholson
Canadian singer-songwriter ThxSoMch signed with UTA for global representation in all areas. His track “Spit in My Face!” has been certified platinum by the RIAA, broke into the Billboard Hot 100 and hit No. 9 on Billboard‘s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. His most recent singles include “Caroline,” “Hate” and “Crumbled,” while his debut EP, Sleez, was released May 19. ThxSoMch is signed to Elektra Records.
Berlin-based composer-producer Ben Böhmer signed to Ninja Tune, which just released his new single, “One Last Call” featuring Felix Raphael.
Swedish singer-songwriter Winona Oak signed to Nettwerk, which released her new single, “With Or Without You,” on Oct. 20. Oak is signed to The Very Good and PostOak LA for management, with booking by CAA in the United States and Wasserman in Europe.
Nettwerk also signed Toronto-based bedroom pop artist Peach Luffe (born Jong Lee). The classically-trained violinist released his latest single on the label, “Say It Back,” on Oct. 20. He’s managed by Michael MadConald at Lonely Beach and was previously signed to Lonely Beach Club; he’s slated to play next year’s South by Southwest.
Lastly at Nettwerk, the label signed Chicago-based singer-songwriter Wic Whitney. His first release under the label, “Ooolong,” marks the first single from his forthcoming EP, Afternoon Tea, which is slated to drop on Jan. 12. Whitney is managed by Colby Carlson.
Night Tales signed with Empire Dance and will drop a crossover single, “Work It Out” featuring Champion DI, on Friday (Oct. 27). The group is managed by the team at Prime Artists, including leaders Harrison Bamel, Adam Lynn and Zach Ruben, with booking by Hunter Williams and Jenna Adler at CAA. Night Tales was previously signed to Sony Music’s Ultra Records.
Easier Said, a recently-formed dance and rhythmic label founded by A&R exec Dominique Keegan, signed Party Pupils and will release the group’s new song, “Girlfriend” featuring MAX, bbno$ and MILLI. The label is an imprint of Firebird Music and has also released music by artists including Ian Asher, NALA, Roland Clark, Riva Starr and Maya Jane Coles.
Chicago-based indie band Brigitte Calls Me Baby signed to ATO Records, which will release its debut EP, This House Is Made of Corners, on Nov. 3. The group is managed by Phil Costello at Red Light; booking is handled by Jackie Nalpant and Kiely Mosiman at Wasserman in the United States and David Exley at Wasserman in the United Kingdom and European Union.
Global distribution and artist and label services company The Orchard recently expanded its operations in Africa and, as part of that move, signed a global distribution deal with Ghanian duo R2Bees.
Massachusetts-based rapper Millyz partnered with Create Music Group, which put out his new singles, “Passion” and “Soul Bleed” featuring DeeBaby. Millyz is managed by Ceize Gemini, Bryce Raines and Jeremy Karelis, with booking handled by Ashley Ventura at MAC Agency. His previous distributor was Perfect Time Music Group.
Singer-songwriter Fancy Hagood (“Blue Dream Baby” featuring Kacey Musgraves) signed with UTA for global representation in all areas.
New York-based singer-songwriter Odetta Hartman signed to Transgressive Records, which will release her second studio album, Swansongs, on March 22. The first single from the set, “Dr. No,” was released Oct. 17.
Australia-based singer-songwriter Kirin J Callinan signed with [PIAS] via his record label, Worse Records, for the release of his fourth album, If I Could Sing.
Indie rock band Brother Elsey signed to Nashville-based independent label River House Artists. The group’s inaugural releases on the label are the tracks “Passing Through” and “Babylon.” The group, which is currently on a U.S. tour through November, is managed by Jay Emmons and Jerrod Wilkins, with Grace Stern and Jay Williams at WME handling booking.
Singer-songwriter Dan Smalley signed with ONErpm Nashville, which will release a series of singles leading up to his next full-length album, The State of Country Music, next year.
South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim signed with Decca Classics. Last year, the 18-year-old became the youngest-ever winner of the Vin Cliburn International Piano Competition in Texas. He will soon make his debut at Carnegie Hall and is also slated to perform with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris alongside and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He’ll release his debut album with Decca in spring 2024. Lim is represented by Nicholas Mathias and Federico M. Benigni at IMG Artists and in Korea by Sam Lee at MOC Production.
Wishy, a new band formed by Indiana songwriters Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites, signed to Winspear, which will release the duo’s debut EP, Paradise, on Dec. 15. The single “Donut” is out now.
Belarusian violinist Yevgeny Kutick signed with Epstein Fox Performances for North American and general management.
Black River Records signed Scotty Hasting to its roster. Hasting’s label debut single, “How Do You Choose,” will release Nov. 3. – Jessica Nicholson
Spotify reported its first profitable quarter in more than a year on Tuesday, after subscription price hikes, lay offs and marketing budget cuts helped boost revenues and operating income for music streaming and podcasting giant.
Spotify reported revenues for the third quarter rose 11% to 3.4 billion euros ($3.6 billion), and operating income over 32 million euros ($34 million). The company beat its growth guidance on both monthly active users and subscribers, adding 23 million monthly active users, a 26% uplift, for a total of 574 million compared to the year ago period. The number of premium subscribers rose by 6 million, or 16%, to 226 million from the year ago period.
The company said that the uptick in revenue is due to the early effects of its $1 price hike on premium individual plans and a rebound in the ad market, as improving podcasting trends and lower operating expenses after January’s company-wide cost cuts helped operating income turn a 1% profit.
The company told investors they could expect total monthly active users (MAU) and premium subscribers to continue to grow for the rest of the year–by 27 million net new MAUs and 9 million new subscribers in the fourth quarter 2023–which is expected to boost total revenues by 3% and gross margin by 0.2%.
Spotify reported a free cash flow of 216 million euros for the quarter, up from 25 million euros a year ago. As of Sept. 30, the company says it employed 9,241 full time employees worldwide, down from roughly 9,800 at the end of 2022.
Spotify has been managing a reboot of its podcasting strategy this year, moving away from the hundreds of millions of dollars acquiring podcast start-up and programing under former Chief Content Officer Dawn Ostroff. Spotify now hosts over 100 million tracks, 5 million podcasts titles, and 350,000 audiobooks.
The company also benefitted from a rebound in ad-supported revenue, which rose 16% to 447 million euros ($475 million), helped by a 20% uptick in music. “Podcast advertising revenue growthremained in the healthy double-digit range,” according to a Spotify release.
Monthly active users rose by 26% to 574 million, compared to the third quarter 2022, beating guidance by 2 million.
The number of subscribers rose by 16% to 226 million from the year ago period, also ahead of guidance by 2 million.
Ad-supported monthly active users rose by 32% to 361 million from the year ago period.
Total revenue rose 11% to 3.36 billion euros ($3.57 billion) from 3.04 billion euros ($3.2 billion).
Revenue from preimium subscriptions rose by 10% to 2.9 billion euros ($3.08 billion).
Revenue from ad supported users rose 16% to 447 million euros ($475 million).
Operating income was 32 million euros ($34 million), bosted by higher gross margin and lower personnel and marketing costs.
The company’s gross margin was 26.4%, compared to 24.7% in the third quarter 2022.
Reports that singer Rihanna has inked a multi-year contract with Live Nation are “bogus” a source tells Billboard, pouring cold water on news that a live comeback for the superstar singer is imminent.
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On Sunday, the London-based Daily Mirror reported that the singer was planning a major world tour through 2024 and 2025 as part of a 32 million pounds ($39 million) deal with Live Nation. On Monday (Oct. 23), ET also ran a report saying Rihanna was “planning a world tour for 2024/2025 after striking a deal with Live Nation.”
But a high-level source who would be involved in such the talks said the 32 million pounds figure sounds made up and noted that “no tour has been confirmed for Rihanna.”
While promoters like Live Nation, or their competitive rival AEG, would be more than happy to book and a promote a global Rihanna tour, the source says “Bitch Better Have My Money” singer hasn’t yet committed to any touring projects for 2024.
As well, Live Nation has not placed any holds on venues for a potential tour. Typically, when a promoter begins booking a tour for a major artist, they will call different venues on the tour route and ask venue bookers to reserve various dates on their calendar to accommodate different routing scenarios for an upcoming tour. If Rihanna and Live Nation were to sign a deal, it would likely take several months to hammer out a potential tour route.
The demand for a Rihanna tour, and new music, is arguably unparalleled. She is one of the most commercially successful artists of all time, with 14 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a record surpassed only by The Beatles and Mariah Carey. Her last album was 2016’s Anti and her last tour was the one that followed that year. It generated more than $110 million in sales worldwide, and since its final stop in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 27, 2016, she has not performed a commercial concert. She has since only performed three times, including at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2023 and the 2023 Oscars.
While a new global tour would surely net hundreds of millions in ticket sales and merchandise, Rihanna doesn’t exactly need that money. A March 10 story from the Wall Street Journal estimated Rihanna’s business empire to be worth $1.4 billion, thanks to the success of her record sales and cosmetic company Savage X Fenty, which she owns in partnership with luxury brand LVMH.
She also has a compelling reason not to want to hit the road – in August, she gave birth to her second child Riot Rose, whom she shares with rapper A$AP Rocky. The couple’s oldest son RZA was born in 2022.
UBS partnered with Billboard to help increase awareness about the financial resources available to all entertainers. In the third of four episodes, Wale Ogunleye sat down with Billboard to share his experience managing personal finances throughout his NFL career and ultimately transitioning to his role at UBS today. Related Images:
The title of the U.S. version of the Rolling Stones’ first album was England’s Newest Hit Makers – but that was almost 60 years ago. Their latest is Hackney Diamonds, a polished, straightforward return to rock n’ roll from a band that helped define it. In between, the Stones released 24 albums, went through three guitarists and have had enough diva arguments to fill several books and documentaries. Leaving no stone unturned, Billboard rolled back the pages to shine a light through the past, darkly.Street Fighting Band
Reviewing the band’s U.S. debut single, “Not Fade Away,” in the April 11, 1964, issue, Billboard hailed “another hot GB group that proves how deep the R&B roots have gone over there.” “The Redcoats Are Coming” declared a June 6, 1964, headline of an impending Stones tour; in that same issue, a full-page ad trumpeted, “Watch the Rolling Stones crush The Beatles!” In smaller text: “This space has been given, in the public interest, by an advertiser.”
Paint It, Wack
By the Nov. 22, 1969, issue, the Stones had notched five No. 1s on the Hot 100 (of an eventual eight), but Billboard had a heart of stone when it came to their tour. The show worked, “but more because of who they were than what they did,” we wrote. “[Mick] Jagger’s theatrics became trite at times to an audience much older than the teeny boppers who flocked to see him in 1966.” And we must have been out of our heads in the June 12, 1971, issue, where we erroneously reported that “Wild Horses” featured “Keith Richards taking the lead” vocal.
The Last Time?
Billboard was hip to the Stones by the release of Some Girls, saluting their “diffuse yet coherent sense of rhythm and urban angst” in the June 17, 1978, magazine. In the same issue, Billboard embraced what has now become a 45-year tradition: predicting the end of the band. “Also note major tour. Possibly the last.”
Sympathy for the Regional Promoter
The Dec. 9, 1989, Billboard reported on the band’s game-changing Steel Wheels tour, for which the group embraced sponsorships and “a national promotion arrangement,” which “alarmed top regional tour promoters.” In a Billboard interview, Jagger dismissed the concerns: “I like seeing the most efficient way of doing business … It’s not a charity.” Richards agreed — “What do they want, a pension?” — but admitted to being amused by the flood of Stones-branded clothing. “I’m in the rag trade here,” he said.
As Years Go By
Drummer Charlie Watts died in 2021 at age 80, but the band had been reckoning with his mortality during sessions for 2005 album A Bigger Bang as Watts endured cancer treatment. “There’s suddenly Mick and I looking at each other and going, ‘Possibly we’re the only two left of the originals,’” Richards said in the Aug. 6, 2005, issue. But “you don’t talk about that sh-t, you know?” By then, the Glimmer Twins were getting along glowingly. “There are too many pluses for an odd minus to get in the way,” Richards continued. “Maybe it’s called growing up.”
At the top of 2020, Nick Mueller found himself in the throes of his first Grammy week. “I was lucky enough to be at a lot of the events because of what was happening in my business at that time – but there were a lot of people that weren’t,” he recalls, speaking of his peers, many of whom were also in their early twenties. “That week specifically is very power driven; You’re not invited to certain things unless you’re of certain stature and you’re doing things at a certain level. And I wanted to create something that didn’t feel like that.”
Growing up in Dallas, Mueller (now 25) started unofficially managing local high school acts his junior year. After graduating in 2016, he worked for Austin-based production, promotion and management company Scoremore. Two years later, he moved to Los Angeles to ultimately pursue management full time.
By 2019, Mueller was enjoying his first major win as his client Ant Saunders scored a viral hit with the melodic pop song “Yellow Hearts.” Less than a year later, Mueller founded Golden Kids Group alongside his business partner Lil Fogarty and in 2021 he not only launched the company’s label arm but decided to make good on his promise of creating an event that felt more aligned with his position in the industry – and Golden Hour was born.
“Lil and I discussed, ‘How can we create an atmosphere for young people?’ And by young, there’s no age restriction, it was more the energy that people brought to the environment,” says Mueller. “How can we create an event where people feel like they’re equal to each other and build relationships and friendships, whether or not it translates to business…It’s more about connecting people with similar interests on the same journey in L.A. and watching what comes of it.”
The first Golden Hour – hosted at the picturesque Harbor Studios in Malibu – was held in fall 2021 for about 120 people. “The feedback was immense,” says Mueller. “People would come back to us and say, ‘I got a job from this.’” In its second year, Golden Hour doubled in size. And this year, Mueller estimates the event hosted over 300 attendees.
“The music industry can be so fiercely competitive but from the beginning, Nick and I have seen how powerful it is to choose to be collaborative instead,” says Fogarty, 26. “The business is a tricky world to navigate – especially as a young exec dealing with a lot of industry firsts – but it’s a lot less tricky when you have a community of people to lean on for guidance. Not only is it empowering to share knowledge, but by collaborating we get to put our artists in better situations too.”
Golden Kids is a small but mighty team of three, with Zoe Burbridge assisting with administrative work. The company’s size is something Mueller says he and Fogarty discuss often, considering how much the roster has grown. To date, the management side alone boasts 347aidan, Ant Saunders, Sky McCreery and TELYKAST. (SEB and Anees round out the recording roster.)
“We have such a system in place that allows us to operate at a high level without feeling overwhelmed, but still being able to bring the utmost value to everyone that we touch,” says Mueller, “which is kind of the MO of the company.”
Below, he explains what drove him to launch his own firm and why creating space for young executives to connect remains as much of a priority as helping an artist catch their big break.
How do you perceive the role of a young manager in this business?
We have to always be of the mindset of, ‘How can we help people win?’ It doesn’t matter what they can bring to us or provide for us. If we can do that, opportunities are going to present themselves. And maybe it’s cliche, but life is short and this business is small, and at the end of the day, yes, we’re impacting people and we’re building careers and changing fans’ lives through the music, but it’s not that deep. One day when it’s all gone, if you didn’t have fun and you didn’t help people along the way, then it’s pointless in my eyes.
How does that approach and hosting an event like Golden Hour help you and your company’s visibility?
When we’re in meetings, people will bring it up and say, ‘Oh, my friend that lives in New York has never even been, but that’s how they know about Golden Kids.’ We’ve seen that where the company is recognized not because of the artist, but because of the event, which is spectacular and at the end of the day when you bring people together and you have the intentions that we have, naturally, it’s going to help the brand build. I think that goes for anything. And I think it’s important to us that we’re providing an atmosphere to grow and to win. When you do that, things work out.
How would you describe where Golden Kids is at right now?
We’re in a very pivotal point of the company and a lot of the artists are at that cusp where they could either break or they don’t. And so for us, the focus has to be 10x what it was when we were just starting with them and that’s why we can’t take on everyone that we would love to. But we still find ways to advise or consult. Artists call me all the time and say, ‘Hey, what do you think about this? Should I do this deal? What do you think about this manager? What do you think about this agent?’ And I’m always open to that. And there’s no strings attached.
For other young managers whose artists are on the cusp of breaking, what’s your advice for navigating that window of time?
I think the most important thing is the relationship that you have with the artists, because as artists grow and get bigger, there’s a lot of people and a lot of voices that come into the mix, whether it’s a label, a publisher, bigger managers that want to partner with you… you have to be extremely tight with the artists and with the crew around the artists in those moments, because the easiest place to derail a team is at that moment when they’re breaking. Because it’s exciting, there’s a lot of things happening, there’s a lot of people that want to talk, there’s a lot of people that want your attention. And that’s the nature of the business that we work in. But you have to trust the decisions that you and the artist want to make, and go with those.
Looking back on the past year, what are you most proud of?
I’m extremely proud of how we operate and how we’re building the company, the artists and each other up. As a manager and as an executive it is so important to make sure [our artists are] happy and that they’re constantly excited and feeling like [their break is] just around the corner, because the second that they lose hope is a very dangerous thing. So for me, the biggest achievement in the last 12 months is just where all of our artists’ heads are at.