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More than a decade after Led Zeppelin‘s Jimmy Page settled a lawsuit over the disputed songwriting credits to “Dazed and Confused,” he’s facing a new case accusing him of flouting that earlier agreement. Jake Holmes has claimed for years that he actually wrote “Dazed and Confused” and that Page simply performed it without credit or […]
Zach Bryan has re-upped with Warner Records, Billboard has confirmed.
The extremely prolific singer-songwriter has released three studio albums on the label since first signing with it in 2021: 2022’s American Heartbreak, 2023’s self-titled set and 2024’s The Great American Bar Scene. He’s also put out three EPS and two live sets. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news, adding that the new deal is for at least two albums.
Bryan’s rise has been meteoric. Billboard named him its top new artist of 2023, and he has dominated at both country and rock since then. “I Remember Everything,” his duet with Kacey Musgraves, and “Something in the Orange” were the top two songs on Billboard’s 2024 year-end Rock Streaming Songs chart. That same year, he ranked third on Billboard’s Top Artists of 2024 and No. 1 on the Top Rock & Alternative Artist chart. His self-titled set became his first album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and all three of his full-length Warner Records sets have bowed atop Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
Bryan has also been a critical favorite, earning four Grammy nominations, with “I Remember Everything” winning best country duo/group performance at the 65th annual Grammy Awards in 2024.
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He’s also a crowd favorite. After headlining the opening night of Stagecoach last month, Bryan is headed to Dublin for three shows in June and then will play BST Hyde Park in London on June 28-29. He will then return stateside for seven stadium shows, including three nights at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Bryan helped usher in a new wave of country-oriented acts signing with coastal labels, as Billboard reported in September. Bryan wasn’t the first country-leaning act signed by a major coastal label, but his massive success has proven that an act no longer necessarily needs the usual Nashville methods, including country radio, to break through.
Prior to the pandemic, Nashville labels generally had a lane to themselves when it came to signing country artists, with their relationships at country radio giving them almost exclusive access within the genre. But once COVID hit and touring slammed to a halt, labels became laser-focused on data and analytics as the only available metrics to gauge an act’s success. The coastal labels saw tremendous opportunity and jumped in, with New York and Los Angeles labels signing country-leaning acts with strong streaming numbers and a high TikTok engagement rate, including Warren Zeiders (Warner Records), Koe Wetzel (Columbia), Dasha (Warner Records) and Ella Langley (Columbia); or jointly with a Nashville partner, such as Megan Moroney, who is signed to both Columbia and Sony Nashville.
Warner Records declined to comment on the news.
Big Loud Texas has added a publishing arm, Big Loud Texas Publishing, with Timothy Allen as the publishing company’s inaugural signee. Lizzy Rector will spearhead the new venture, having been hired as publishing director for the Austin-based Big Loud Texas Publishing.
The newly-formed division will work hand-in-hand with Big Loud Texas’ co-founders, three-time Grammy winner Miranda Lambert and producer/writer/musician Jon Randall.
Rockwall, Texas native Allen, whose work as a touring musician, producer and studio musician has included time spent with Shane Smith and the Saints, caught Randall’s attention while performing music from his solo project at Texas Music Revolution. Allen resides just outside of Dallas in Royse City and counts John Moreland and Sufjan Stevens among his influences.
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Rector joins Big Loud Texas following a seven-year tenure at Big Machine Music Publishing, where she most recently served as creative manager. A Texas native and Belmont University alum, Rector will lead Big Loud Texas’ new publishing division, focusing on strengthening creative connections between Austin and Nashville.
Lizzy Rector
Chasity Posey
In partnership with Big Loud Records, Lambert and Randall founded Big Loud Texas in 2023, with the aim of promoting and cultivating Texas artists to global acclaim. They signed flagship artist Dylan Gossett along with Mercury Records and also added country neo-traditionalist Jake Worthington to the Big Loud Texas roster. Lambert and Randall, along with the Big Loud Records team, are involved with signing and developing artists for the Big Loud Texas roster, with Randall serving as president of A&R (as well as offering his producer expertise), and Brendon Anthony serving as vice president at Big Loud Texas.
“I grew up listening to incredible storytellers like Guy Clark and Emmylou Harris,” Lambert said in a statement. “Hearing their music made me realize I wanted to be an artist who poured my own truth into songs and said something meaningful through my writing. With Big Loud Texas Publishing, I’m proud to help nurture that same spirit in a new generation of writers, and I’m so excited to welcome Timothy Allen as our first signing.”
“I am so excited that we are announcing the publishing arm to Big Loud Texas,” Randall added. “Obviously songwriting is very close to our hearts. I am so grateful for the opportunity to continue growing the Big Loud Texas brand with Miranda, our partners and our team and giving songwriters a place to call home.”
“We are so grateful to have Lizzy in the Big Loud Texas family,” Anthony said in a statement. “Her experience in publishing and her vision for the company are already proving to be invaluable. Lizzy is a strong leader and a champion of songwriters. We could not have asked for a better person to take the reins.”
Randall said of signing Allen, “He is one of the most talented and musically versatile singer songwriters I’ve ever met. We so appreciate Tim entrusting us with his talent and craft and we are so proud to be a part of his musical a journey.”
(L-R): Timothy Allen, Brendon Anthony and Jon Randall
Jordan Pierce
Though economic uncertainty lingers, some music companies’ stocks got boosts following their first quarter earnings releases this week, while a better-than-expected jobs report on Friday (May 2) lifted stocks across the board.
K-pop companies were among the top performers of the week. Led by HYBE’s 13.8% gain following its first quarter earnings report on Tuesday (April 29), the four South Korean companies had an average share price gain of 10.3%. JYP Entertainment rose 11.7% and SM Entertainment, which announces earnings on Wednesday (May 7), improved 9.0%. YG Entertainment gained 6.6%.
The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) rose 3.6% to 2,690.13, its fourth consecutive weekly improvement. At 2,690.13, the BGMI has improved 19.1% since a two-week slide and stands just 2.4% below its all-time high of 2,755.53 set during the week ended Feb. 14.
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Music stocks slightly outperformed the Nasdaq and S&P 500, which rose 3.4% and 3.1%, respectively. Foreign markets were mostly positive but more subdued. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 2.2%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index gained 0.5%. China’s SSE Composite Index lost 0.5%.
Universal Music Group (UMG) gained 4.3% to 25.86 euros ($29.23) following a quarterly earnings report showing that recorded music subscription revenue grew 11.5% and overall revenue improved 11.8%. JP Morgan analysts’ conviction on UMG “remains very high,” and the strong quarter “should help rebuild confidence and share price momentum” dented by Pershing Square’s sale of $1.5 billion in UMG shares, analysts wrote in an investor note on Tuesday.
Spotify finished the week up 3.7% to $643.73 despite its shares dropping 3.4% on Tuesday after the company’s first-quarter earnings report included guidance on second-quarter subscription additions that seemed to underwhelm investors. Gross margin of 31.6% beat Spotify’s 31.5% guidance. Loop Capital raised Spotify to $550 from $435, while Barclays lowered it to $650 from $710. UBS maintained its $680 price target and “buy” rating. Guggenheim maintained its “buy” rating and $675 price target.
Live Nation, which reported first quarter earnings on Thursday (May 1) and predicted a “historic” 2025, gained 2.3% on Friday and finished the week up 0.7%. A slew of analysts updated their price targets on Friday. Two were upward revisions: Jefferies (from $150 to $160) and Wolfe Research (from $158 to $160). Two were downward revisions: Rosenblatt (from $174 to $170) and JP Morgan (from $165 to $170).
Nearly all streaming stocks posted gains. LiveOne was the week’s top performer, jumping 18.0% to $0.72. Chinese music streaming companies Cloud Music and Tencent Music Entertainment gained 11.6% and 7.1%, respectively. French music streamer Deezer gained 1.4% to 1.44 euros ($1.63) after the company’s first-quarter earnings on Tuesday. Abu Dhabi-based Anghami fell 3.1% to $0.62.
Cumulus Media fell 33.% to $0.14. Most of the decline came on Friday as the stock ceased trading on the Nasdaq and began trading over the counter.
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Billboard Canada is getting ready to spotlight some of the most vital players in the music industry: music managers.
Managers to Watch — Billboard’s spotlight on the teams behind music’s biggest breakout artists — will expand to Canada for the first time at this year’s NXNE festival.
A special invite-only Managers to Watch reception will take place on June 11, directly before Billboard Canada Power Players. The event will build on Billboard Canada’s new partnership with Music Managers Forum, which is moving its Honour Roll celebration of the most legendary managers in the business to NXNE this year.
Both recognitions will be given out at the Managers to Watch reception, after which all invited managers will be invited to stay and mingle with the most influential members of the industry at Billboard Canada Power Players.
The event will foster community and opportunity for self-managed artists and managers, who play a critical role in the success of Canadian artists on the international stage.
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“We’re proud to partner with MMF Canada to spotlight the managers powering the next wave of talent,” says Mo Ghoneim, president of Billboard UK and Billboard Canada. “They’re key players behind many of the industry’s biggest breakthroughs, and we’re excited to recognize their contributions on a global stage through Billboard.”
The Music Managers to Watch list will feature a hand-selected list of artists and self-managed artists making waves in the industry. It will be chosen by the editorial team at Billboard Canada. Managers can submit for consideration using this form.
Find more info here. – Richard Trapunski
CIMA Makes an Appeal to Prime Minister Mark Carney
The votes were still being tallied in the Canadian federal election on Monday morning (April 29) when the Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) sprang into action. The trade org issued a press release congratulating Mark Carney and the Liberal Party of Canada on their electoral victory while urging Carney to, in its words, “make the investment in and promotion of Canadian-owned cultural businesses a top priority.”
The statement stressed that “the global cultural economy is changing rapidly, and with it come significant risks to Canada’s cultural and economic sovereignty. Recent developments — including TikTok’s decision to walk away from licensing negotiations with Merlin, a key representative of independent music worldwide; Universal Music Group’s acquisition of Downtown Music’s assets; and the legal challenge by global tech platforms, in partnership with foreign-owned multinational record companies, to avoid regulation under Bill C-11 — starkly illustrate the growing concentration of global corporate power in Canada’s cultural sector. If left unchecked, these trends threaten to erode Canadian ownership of intellectual property, diminish our global competitiveness, and compromise the future of Canadian cultural exports.”CIMA emphasizes four priorities for the most industry and suggests the government act quickly:
Prioritize Canadian ownership in cultural policy and investment frameworks;
Strengthen competition, trade, and copyright policies to protect Canadian IP holders;
Champion independent Canadian businesses in international markets;
Defend Canada’s right to regulate its cultural industries against multinational corporate resistance.
CIMA concluded by noting, “We are eager to work with your government to secure a strong future for Canadian culture — Canadian culture remains Canadian-owned, Canadian-created, and world-renowned.”
Read more here. – Kerry Doole
Black Eyed Peas’ Apl.de.Ap and Other Lapu Lapu Day Festival Performers Speak After Van Attack in Vancouver
Artists are sharing their heartbreak after a deadly attack at Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu Day festival.
The attack killed 11 people, leaving dozens more injured, when an SUV drove through the block party on Saturday (April 26.) A 30-year-old man has been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder.
Organized by Filipino BC, the festival is a celebration of Filipino hero Datu Lapu-Lapu and an annual occasion for the Filipino-Canadian community to celebrate resilience and cultural heritage.
The attack took place in the evening, following a day of performances from artists like The Black Eyed Peas‘ apl.de.ap (the Filipino-American artist also known as Allan Pineda Lindo), multi-disciplinary artist Kaya Ko and R&B singer Sade Awele. Festival performers are sharing messages and calling for support for the B.C. Filipino community following the attack.
Apl.de.ap and Filipino singer J. Rey Soul had recently left the stage after finishing their headlining set when the attack took place.
“It’s hard to describe the shock and heaviness we feel,” they shared in a joint statement on social media. “Please keep the victims, their families, and the organizers in your prayers.”
“The one thing I have noticed, from the audience to the messages sent around, is the sense of community that wraps its loving arms around us.”
Festival chair RJ Aquino spoke about the support that’s been pouring in from around the world.
“It’s not lost on us … that the spirit of the festival was about that resistance, resilience, that courage, that strength,” he told reporters, per CBC.
“And you know, we’re going to have to call that up in ourselves.”
Awele shared her prayers for the B.C. Filipino community on Instagram. “I was barely able to sleep thinking about the tragic incident that occurred after the festival,” she said. “We can’t keep living like this — treating each other with hate and violence. We have to do better.”
Read more here. – Rosie Long Decter
The owner of Las Vegas’ Sphere has hit Beyoncé with a cease and desist letter over fan-shot concert footage that shows the superstar picking up a computer-generated version of the iconic Las Vegas venue and briefly juggling it between her hands, Billboard has confirmed.
“Beyoncé — many orders of magnitude larger than the Sphere venue — leans over, picks up the venue, and looms over it,” the letter reads, according to the New York Post, which first reported the news, leading to “significant speculation that Beyoncé will end her tour with a Sphere residency.” (Billboard has not independently obtained the letter.)
The filmed sequence, which plays during an interlude at Beyoncé’s newly launched Cowboy Carter tour, irked Sphere Entertainment Co. executive chairman/CEO James Dolan because Sphere unsuccessfully lobbied the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer to perform at the venue in the past, sources with knowledge of the negotiations tell Billboard.
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Attorneys for Dolan, who is also the chairman/CEO of Madison Square Garden Entertainment Group, want Beyoncé to cut the brief sequence from her three-hour concert, which she performed for a second time at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Thursday (May 1).
The letter is addressed to Beyoncé’s production company, Parkwood Entertainment, on behalf of Sphere Entertainment Group and authored by Kathleen McCarthy of the law firm King & Spalding. In the letter, Spaulding accuses Parkwood of using imagery of the Sphere’s likeness “without permission” and accuses the singer of misleading her fans.
“It has recently come to SEG’s attention that a Cowboy Carter tour interlude video contains the unauthorized use of SEG’s intellectual property,” the letter reads. “SEG is sure that multiple aspects of the interlude video, including other brands, clips and music, were duly cleared by the tour with rights permissions from the rights holders whose works were used in the video, as is common practice. SEG, however, was never asked and the prominent appearance and manipulation of SEG’s Sphere™ venue in the video is unauthorized.”
“SEG demands that the tour cease and desist from using the Sphere™ venue in the video immediately,” the letter continues, demanding that Parkwood “refrain from using this imagery on any merchandise, promotional or marketing materials, or in tour movies, etc. Should you fail to do so, SEG reserves all rights to take further action as SEG deems appropriate without notice to you.”
Beyoncé has never played Sphere in Las Vegas, although her representatives reportedly held talks with officials at Sphere Entertainment about a possible residency at the venue several years ago. Those discussions never materialized into bookings and Beyoncé has instead opted to play Allegiant Stadium when her Cowboy Carter tour stops in Las Vegas on July 25 and 26.
Billboard reached out to representatives for Beyoncé and tour promoter Live Nation for comment, but did not receive a response by press time.
Federal prosecutors have unveiled a new indictment against Lil Durk in his murder-for-hire case — only this time, they’ve dropped all reference to lyrics that the star’s lawyers had claimed were being unfairly weaponized against him.
The new “superseding” indictment, released Friday (May 2), came six months after prosecutors first charged the Chicago drill star (Durk Banks) with murder-for-hire, accusing him of ordering members of his Only the Family (OTF) crew to carry out a 2022 attack on rival rapper Quando Rondo that left another man dead.
Though it added a new charge of stalking, Friday’s new indictment is most notable for what it removed: Any mention of Durk’s lyrics. Last month, his lawyers argued that the cited song was clearly unrelated to the shooting and had been unfairly used against him; in a social media post Wednesday (April 30), Durk’s family said he was the latest rapper to be “criminalized for their creativity.”
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In separate court filings on Friday, prosecutors acknowledged removing Durk’s lyrics from the new indictment, but said the move would not weaken the case against him.
“Defendant Banks has presented a false narrative that he is being prosecuted and detained because of his violent lyrics. This claim is, and has always been, baseless,” prosecutors write. “Just like every iteration of the indictment before it, the [new indictment] contains significant allegations that show defendant’s alleged role in the execution-style murder of [the victim] on a busy street corner in Los Angeles.”
Durk’s attorney, Drew Findling, filed his own response to the new indictment in court Friday, arguing that “it appears that the government has conceded” the “hotly contested” dispute over the lyrics. He also noted that prosecutors had deleted another passage from the indictment that directly accused one of Durk’s co-defendants of paying a bounty at Durk’s direction.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles declined to comment on the new indictment. Findling did not immediately return a request for comment.
Durk was arrested in October on murder-for-hire and gun charges related to the September 2022 shooting at a Los Angeles gas station, which left Rondo (Tyquian Bowman) unscathed but saw his friend Lul Pab (Saviay’a Robinson) killed in the crossfire.
In court filings, prosecutors have argued that Durk’s OTF crew was not merely a well-publicized group of Chicago rappers, but a “hybrid organization” that also functioned as a criminal gang to carry out violent acts at his behest. One of them was the Rondo attack, the feds say, allegedly carried out in retaliation for the 2020 killing of rapper King Von (Dayvon Bennett), a close friend of Durk’s.
To back up that claim, prosecutors quoted lyrics from a song called “Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy” that allegedly referenced the shooting. They claimed Durk “sought to commercialize” Lul Pub’s death by “rapping about his revenge” on Rondo: “Told me they got an addy (go, go)/ Got location (go, go)/ Green light (go, go, go, go, go),” Durk raps in the track. “Look on the news and see your son/You screamin’, “No, no” (pu–y).”
The use of rap music as evidence in criminal cases is controversial, as critics argue it threatens free speech and can sway juries by tapping into racial biases. Over the past few years, the practice has drawn backlash from the music industry and led to efforts by lawmakers to stop it. But it has continued largely unabated, most notably in the recent criminal case against Young Thug in Atlanta.
Last month, Durk’s lawyers sharply pushed back — arguing that “Wonderful Wayne” could not have referenced the Rondo shooting because the rapper wrote and recorded his verses “seven months before the incident even happened.” Mockingly asking if the government was prosecuting Durk “on a theory of extra-sensory prescience,” the star’s lawyers called the lyric allegations “false evidence” that had been unfairly used to indict him and to deny him pre-trial release.
Ahead of Friday’s new indictment that dropped the lyrics, prosecutors had strongly defended their use of Durk’s music. In a court filing earlier this week, the feds said he was not being prosecuted “because of his lyrics,” but suggested they might still be cited as evidence in the case.
“Defendant has repeatedly used his pulpit as a voice of violence, publicly rapped about paying for murders, hunting opponents with machineguns, ‘bounty hunters’ in Beverly Hills — and other lyrics that have a striking similarity to the modus operandi used to kill S.R.,” the government wrote. “It’s true that words have power, and that defendant’s words about ‘green lighting’ violence and placing bounties may be admissions of criminal conduct. That is for a jury to decide.”
According to Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino during the company’s earnings call on Thursday (May 1), every chief executive is being asked the same question this earnings season: Are you feeling a consumer pullback?
It’s a reasonable query given the worsening state of the economy. U.S. gross domestic product decreased at an annual rate of 0.3%, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced on Tuesday (April 30). And on Thursday, news broke that U.S. joblessness claims for the week ended April 26 surged beyond expectations. Earlier in April, the University of Michigan reported that its consumer sentiment score fell to 57.0 in March, down from 71.8 in November. That puts the closely watched measure on par with scores during the 2009 fallout of the U.S. housing crisis and in August 2011, as consumers feared a stalled recovery.
But on Friday (May 2), a reprieve from the bad news arrived in the form of a better-than-expected jobs report. And judging from comments during this week’s earnings calls, many music companies remain confident that their businesses will weather whatever storms develop in 2025.
Trending on Billboard
“We haven’t felt [a pullback] at all yet,” Rapino said. Whether it’s a festival on-sale, a new tour or a standalone concert, Live Nation has seen “complete sell-through” and “strong demand” that surpasses 2024’s record numbers, he added: “So, we haven’t seen a consumer pullback in any genre, club, theater, stadium [or] amphitheater.”
To see how Live Nation fared during the last recession, you’d have to go back to 2009. The U.S. housing crisis had shaken the economy and GDP shrank 2.0% that year, but Live Nation’s revenue increased 2.3%. Then, as the economy rebounded in 2010, the company’s revenue jumped 21.1% in 2011.
Of course, live music took a nosedive during the pandemic, but the drop-off in 2020 and 2021 was caused by a decrease in the supply of concerts, not a dip in demand for live music. When artists returned to touring, fans showed up in record numbers.
Some parts of the economy can be trusted to stumble during a downturn. Case in point: U.S. advertising revenue fell 14.6% in 2009 and dipped 5.4% in 2020. Brands are quick to cut their ad spending when they anticipate a pending sales decline. For example, car dealerships frequently advertise on TV and radio, but cut back as auto sales fell 17.6% in 2009 and 20.3% in 2020.
A decline in advertising is harmful to some parts of the music business. Radio companies have struggled with weak ad revenues in recent years, and their stock prices have taken a beating. Through Friday, iHeartMedia’s stock price is down 50% year to date, and Cumulus Media, which de-listed from the Nasdaq today, has lost 82%.
But music is a “counter-cyclical” business, meaning it doesn’t follow larger economic trends, and the popularity of subscriptions has helped insulate the music industry from economic woes. It’s widely believed that consumers simply won’t part with their favorite music service. In fact, $11.99 for a month from Spotify or Apple Music, although a few dollars higher than two years ago, is considered by top music executives to be underpriced.
During Spotify’s earnings call on Tuesday, CEO Daniel Ek said “engagement remains high, retention is strong” and the ad-supported free tier gives users a way to remain at Spotify “even when things feel more uncertain” — not that Ek is uncertain about the company’s future. “I don’t see anything in our business right now that gives me any pause for concern,” he said flatly.
Universal Music Group (UMG) is on the same page as Ek. CEO Lucian Grainge attempted to ease investors’ concerns by explaining that he has witnessed music weather numerous recessions. “Music has always proven to be incredibly resilient,” he said during an earnings call on Tuesday. “It’s low cost, high engagement and obviously a unique form of entertainment.” In addition, added chief digital officer Michael Nash, UMG’s licensing agreements include minimum guarantees that provide “very significant protection against digital revenue downside risk this year.”
There’s always a chance that unforeseen events or a particular confluence of factors will ruin music’s winning streak. With subscription prices rising, a possible “superfan” subscription tier on the horizon, ticketing prices not getting any cheaper and tariffs increasing the costs of music merchandise, consumers may reach a breaking point. MIDiA Research’s Mark Mulligan argued this week that superfans are being “pushed to the limit” and concertgoers don’t have an unlimited ability to absorb higher ticket prices.
So far, however, the evidence suggests music fans’ spending is continuing unabated. Live Nation says its various metrics — ticket sales, deferred revenue for future concerts — point to another “historic” year in 2025. Rapino added that the company’s clubs and theaters haven’t reported a decrease in on-site spending. Part of that could be that Live Nation carefully curates an array of food and beverage options that maximize per-head revenue. But a more likely explanation is that people need entertainment now more than ever.
As part of the ongoing Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans, a jubilant event took place at music venue Tipitina’s on Monday (April 28): the annual Shorty Fest, which took over the block outside the legendary club to showcase the talented teens and young adults involved with the Trombone Shorty Foundation.
This marked the 13th year the Foundation hosted Shorty Fest, which gives kids a chance to show off their skills outside Tipitina’s before heading inside for a student-assisted performance by “Trombone Shorty” (born Troy Andrews). The annual event serves as a fundraiser for the foundation, started by New Orleans native Shorty, that provides a free after-school program for kids aged 12-18 (Trombone Shorty Academy); a music industry apprenticeship program; a free program on the music business (Fredman Music Business Institute); and masterclasses and cultural experiences including trips to Cuba.
The young students not only perform at Shorty Fest, but use the skills learned through the foundation’s business-oriented programs to help produce the event, which features marching bands, alumni bands and a battle of the bands contest.
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“People can see on display the full beauty of New Orleans music culture, but through the eyes of the younger generation,” says Trombone Shorty Foundation co-founder/executive director Bill Taylor. “Then throughout the evening, our young people sit in with the various bands that are performing, and then they all come out with [Trombone Shorty] during his set, and it creates this magical moment that it’s hard not to be emotionally moved seeing that on stage playing out in front of your eyes. It’s like watching the passing on of culture in real time.”
The Trombone Shorty Foundation launched in 2012 as a way to pass on and preserve the various musical cultures that have made New Orleans such a vibrant city. Taylor tells Billboard that the foundation was created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2006. With so many families displaced by the tragedy, historically Black neighborhoods became gentrified, especially the Treme neighborhood where Shorty grew up.
Trombone Shorty Foundation at Shorty Fest in New Orleans.
Jafar M. Pierre
“One of the things that New Orleans has always been known for is its ability to regenerate that culture and pass it down to the next generation. And the way Troy was able to absorb a lot of it early on was through his neighborhood,” says Taylor. “We recognized the need to protect the culture and to give young people the same opportunities that a young musician like Troy had when he was their age.”
The foundation’s flagship program, the Trombone Shorty Academy, provides students a chance to learn how to play instruments, perform on stage and be immersed in the musical traditions of New Orleans. While the city is best known for brass bands and jazz, students are also taught about soul music, funk and other less well-known influences on the Louisiana sound.
Shortly after the foundation launched in 2012, the leadership decided they needed to also educate students on the business side of the music industry and launched the Fredman Music Business Institute. The free program gives students insight into how to financially support themselves as musicians, but also how to get involved in event production, touring, licensing, management, finance and marketing. The foundation takes the students — roughly 200 per year — to other U.S. music hubs to see how the business of music is run outside New Orleans, giving them the chance to visit studios, agencies, management companies and more in Nashville, New York, San Francisco and other locations.
“That infrastructure that exists in Nashville, and obviously New York and L.A., is pretty lacking in New Orleans,” says Taylor. “It is going to be the young people who are going to change that.”
The foundation’s apprenticeship program allows kids ages 12-24 to learn from industry experts and then apply those skills to paid positions with hands-on work throughout the city, with apprentices selecting the industry partners that best align with their interests.
Taylor offers an example of a talented young trumpet player who performed and traveled with the Academy but whose real passion was graphic design. “He is out of college now and opened up his own graphic design company,” Taylor says. “He now designs some of the artwork for our events. He connected with his real passion and it’s connected to music, but he’s not trying to be a professional musician, necessarily.”
Trombone Shorty
Jafar M. Pierre
Along with a trip to Nashville, the foundation also recently took a group of 250 students, staff and musicians to Havana, Cuba — where Shorty found a lot of inspiration while visiting a relative — for an annual trip that started in 2020. The most recent visit to the country included appearances by George Clinton, Valerie June, Yola, Robert Randolph and more.
“New Orleans is your superpower, because if you’re from New Orleans and you’re in music, you naturally get respect,” says Taylor. “Then the question is, what can we do to connect some of these young people to a bigger world, so that the possibilities of what they can do with their career, with their life, with their music, starts to expand?”
Within Christian music, few artists of the past decade have made as many waves as Brandon Lake. The singer, songwriter and guitarist, who got his start by crowdfunding his first album, 2016’s Closer, has emerged as one of the genre’s leading lights in recent years, having racked up six Billboard Hot Christian Songs No. 1s, five Christian Airplay No. 1s and one Christian Albums chart-topper, 2023’s Coat of Many Colors.
It was that last album, his first for Provident Entertainment, that really kicked his career into high gear — even beyond the traditional confines of Christian music. As COMC was still producing charting singles, Lake began teasing new music on tour and on TikTok, which started connecting with an audience broader than what he was used to. “With each release, Brandon, his team, and Provident kept raising the ceiling on what was possible and setting a new floor of success for where we could go,” Provident’s president Holly Zabka tells Billboard. By last July, that led to the release of the song “That’s Who I Praise,” which tied the record for longest run at No. 1 on Christian Airplay this decade. But it was his next release that would catapult him into the mainstream.
After teasing the song on TikTok and at shows, Provident released “Hard Fought Hallelujah” in November, months before they had planned, due to fan demand. The response sent the song to No. 1 on Hot Christian Songs, and this week, it not only spends its 20th week at the summit of that chart — making Lake the only artist with three 20-week No. 1s there — but reaches No. 40 on the Hot 100, his first entry on the mainstream chart and the marker of a bonafide crossover smash. And as “Hallelujah” — which also got a high-profile remix from Jelly Roll — continues to gain steam, Provident’s Zabka is Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
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Here, Zabka talks about building into the success of “Hallelujah,” the effects of the Jelly Roll remix and TikTok on the song’s upward trajectory, and why Christian music is growing in popularity right now. “There’s a quote from Moneyball that says, ‘The first one through the wall always gets bloody, always,’” Zabka says. “At Provident, we operate from the perspective of being the first ones through the wall, leading the way for our creators and the genre.”
This week, Brandon Lake’s “Hard Fought Hallelujah” spends its 20th week at No. 1 on Hot Christian Songs, making him the only artist with three songs to lead that chart for that amount of time. What key decisions did you make to help make that happen?
From the moment we signed Brandon, our goal has been to throw out the “rulebook” of how we historically would release music and, as a team, challenge ourselves to think differently at every turn.
Last year, we were roughly seven months into working Brandon’s first release on Provident, Coat of Many Colors, when he started teasing new songs on socials and the road. At that time, we were successfully working two different songs to Christian radio, with DSPs focusing on a third single. Conventional wisdom would say we shouldn’t move on to new music; there was still a lot of gas left in the tank on COMC. We watched and learned that Brandon’s audience had the capacity and hunger to consume the current release while also making room for what was coming next. While the data showed a growing appetite for more music, we also had to listen and watch how his fans engaged, and then trust our instincts, because ultimately, the fans indicate how artists should release content.
By July, we released a new single called “That’s Who I Praise” that doubled our biggest single from the previous record. With each release, Brandon, his team, and Provident kept raising the ceiling on what was possible and setting a new floor of success for where we could go. “Hard Fought Hallelujah” was the second single to be teased way back in the spring. Before there was a plan for a record, we were two singles in, and “HFH” released in late fall, again doubling anything Brandon had previously released. Not only was the current record holding its activity, but everything new kept exceeding expectations.
The song also got a remix with Jelly Roll. How did that help boost its traction?
Obviously, we recognized that adding an incredible artist like Jelly Roll would attract a new audience to the song. Brandon’s solo version of “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” released in November of ’24, exceeded every goal and demonstrated that his audience was already expanding. Before a collaboration was possible, Jelly had heard and been affected by the song, making the request for a potential collaboration feel organic and natural. The combination of Jelly, who is very open about his faith, and Brandon, whose artistry had already begun to transcend the genre, created broader access and opportunities for discovery in new spaces.
How did TikTok play a role in the song’s success?
In early 2024, Brandon began playing the verse and chorus of “Hard Fought Hallelujah” at a few shows and then each night of his summer arena tour. Even in fragments, you could feel people connecting to the message and posting videos of their experiences with the song, proving that something special and unique was happening; people were asking for it. All of this occurred before a release date was scheduled, but everything indicated that this song had already ignited a deep connection.
He officially began teasing it across all social media in August, and we had planned for a January 2025 release, given the success he was already enjoying with his previous releases. However, demand for the song was undeniable, amassing over 10 million views and 35,000 short-form creations before it was released in November.
“Hard Fought Hallelujah” hit No. 40 on the Hot 100 this week, Lake’s first-ever Hot 100 entry, suggesting it has major mainstream appeal. It’s also one of just three songs to chart on both the Hot 100 and Hot Christian Songs since 2020. What’s behind that surge, and how have you helped fuel it?
Brandon and his co-writers have written a song that beautifully captures the authentic experiences many people have in their faith journeys. Life is hard, and maintaining faith during those difficult seasons can be challenging. Everyone can relate to the idea of struggling through something, holding onto hope, and emerging on the other side. That’s what has sparked the surge. The song resonates with people right where they are.
We fueled that surge by not allowing the artist’s past to dictate or limit the song’s potential. We focused on the connection the song was making across various audiences and leaned into that in every possible direction. We have had Jelly Roll on Christian radio, Brandon at country radio, and featured on country playlists, faith playlists, and worship playlists; the song has been sung in churches and now at Stagecoach, breaking through typical genre barriers. Regardless of how successful a song or artist becomes, we consistently ask what we can do to help it reach more people. This mindset, shared by everyone on Brandon’s team, continues to drive the growth of the song and the artist.
Christian music in general has been surging lately. What is behind that, and how has Provident been able to benefit from it?
When songs like Lauren Daigle’s “You Say” or Brandon’s “Hard Fought Hallelujah” impact culture beyond the Christian music genre, they inspire the creative community to elevate songwriting, artist development and expression. They attract fans who may not have previously explored an artist or a song in our genre, primarily because the song or artist connects to something deeper.
Provident has seen remarkable growth over the last two years with artists like Brandon, Elevation Worship, Seph Schlueter and Leanna Crawford. These artists have contributed to the genre’s expansion and are shaping the future of Christian music.
The Christian genre has experienced double-digit growth in the past two years, during which time Provident has gained eight frontline market share points. We’ve outpaced the growth of the genre because, instead of merely benefiting from the increasing interest in Christian music, we’ve aimed to be the driving force behind it. We will continue to foster growth by remaining curious, continuing to learn and maintaining our willingness to break down genre barriers for every artist signed and yet to be signed to the roster.
How do you see Christian music continuing to grow moving forward?
There’s a quote from Moneyball that says, “The first one through the wall always gets bloody, always.” At Provident, we operate from the perspective of being the first ones through the wall, leading the way for our creators and the genre.
We must be willing to try, fail, take risks, push boundaries and explore new spaces with our music. In the past, for a song in the Christian genre to cross over, we had to take the best our genre had to offer and give it to the mainstream. This surge in Christian music is proving we can attract that audience to us. As the genre walls continue to disappear, more and more “mainstream” audiences are discovering that Christian music authentically represents a part of their life, faith and daily experience that can be supported through our music. The growth of the genre isn’t slowing down, and we will continue to lead the way and challenge perceptions of Christian music through the quality, diversity, and authenticity of our songs and artists.