Business
Page: 344
Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter is facing a third sexual abuse lawsuit, this time from an unnamed woman who claims he assaulted her when she was 15 years old.
In a complaint filed Monday in Las Vegas court, a Jane Doe accuser identified as “A.R.,” claims that Carter sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions in 2003, when he was in his early 20s, including several times on a yacht and once on a tour bus.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
She claims Carter “knowingly provided alcohol and drugs” and then assaulted her “despite her repeated refusals and requests for him to stop.” The incident left her with sexually-transmitted diseases and other lasting effects, she claims.
“The impacts of Carter’s sexual abuse are ceaseless, causing plaintiff severe emotional distress, physical anguish, intimacy issues, and other complex trauma,” the accuser’s lawyers write.
Carter is already facing lawsuits from Shannon “Shay” Ruth, a woman who says he raped her on a tour bus when she was 17 years old, and from Melissa Schuman, a former member of teen-pop group Dream who has long claimed that she was assaulted by the singer.
The singer strongly denies the accusations and is countersuing both women for defamation, saying he’s victim of “conspiracy” that aims to “to harass, defame and extort” him by exploiting the #MeToo movement.
In a statement responding to the latest case, Carter’s lawyers called the new accusations “ridiculous,” saying they had been thoroughly investigated and rejected as “meritless” by law enforcement at the time — and that police even concluded that A.R. “could herself have been charged with a crime” over the incident. They claimed she was also later “threatened with criminal charges for filing a false police report” over a separate matter.
“Now she’s at it yet again,” Carter’s lawyer Dale Hayes Jr. said in the statement. “But repeating the same false allegations in a new legal complaint doesn’t make them any more true. Nick is looking forward to the evidence being presented and the truth about these malicious schemes coming to light.”
Like the previous cases, the new lawsuit against Carter includes graphic details of alleged sexual assault.
The lawsuit claims the first incident occurred in August 2003 on Carter’s yacht, where he allegedly “directed” the intoxicated plaintiff to a cabin and “engaged in oral sexual intercourse with A.R. and penetrated her vagina with his genitals” without her consent.
Days later, she claims that Carter’s sister “encouraged” her to meet him on a bus, where he “coerced A.R. to orally copulate his genitals.” A month after that, another alleged assault took place on the yacht, during which Carter allegedly “enticed three other men” to watch them have sex.
“Defendant Carter instructed these same three male friends to observe his assault of A.R. through a window hatch on the boat,” her lawyers write, adding that he “attempted to perform anal sex” on her during this incident “despite her repeated refusals and requests for him to stop.”
Later that year, the accuser claims she and her mother reported the incident to police in Pennsylvania, where she lived at the time.
In their statement on Wednesday, Carter’s attorneys insisted that police had cleared him of wrongdoing after that investigation. But John Kawai, the lawyer who filed Monday’s case, said in a statement that his civil allegations were not foreclosed by the lack of criminal charges: “Abusers can take notice that just because they avoided prison doesn’t mean they don’t have to answer to a jury for their actions.”
The other lawsuits against Carter remain pending, as does his counter-suit. Lawyers for his accusers pushed to dismiss Carter’s defamation case under Nevada’s so-called anti-SLAPP law, arguing that he was using litigation to retaliate against an accuser who was speaking out. But in March, a Nevada judge rejected that request and allowed Carter’s case to move forward.
After partnering with Brent Faiyaz earlier this year, UnitedMasters continues to stockpile their roster with more proven talent by joining forces with EARTHGANG. The newly minted partnership between the rap duo and UM will allow the Atlanta MCs to fortify their lanes as independent artists for the first time in their careers while remaining at […]
It’s early afternoon on Friday (August 25), the last day of class for students at this year’s No Label Academy (NLA) music business program. IDK, his team and I are driving to Harvard Medical School for two lectures on mental health. He maintains a calm demeanor, and is focused and pensive, as he prepares for one last session of helping his nearly two dozen students realize their personal and artistic potential.
“I felt like there was a lot of people like me who may not have the academic accolades but have the capability to be successful in music,” IDK tells Billboard in the backseat of a black Chevy Suburban. “They just needed the confidence.”
Two years ago, the Maryland rapper-producer and entrepreneur (born Jason Mills) and Boston-based non-profit No Label sought to break down the barriers to entry into the music industry by holding their first-ever No Label Academy. The nine-day seminar, held at Harvard University offers advice, resources, job opportunities and internships surrounding various topics in the music industry, and is “aimed at democratizing and improving opportunities for students from systemically disadvantaged backgrounds interested in careers in the music business,” a press release explains. The program is open to applicants ages 18 to 25, regardless of collegiate status, and also includes wellness exercises like morning workouts, meditation and daily affirmations.
This year, NLA returned for its second iteration — and invited Billboard to sample the experience, paying for this reporter’s lodging and transportation to visit the academy. Due to the busy schedules of IDK and No Label’s co-founders Marcelo Hanta-Davis and Miles Weddle, the program took around a year and a half to curate. After an application process consisting of a resumé submission, interview rounds and a video essay, 23 students were chosen to participate in the immersive music business course.
2021’s guest speakers included the late Virgil Abloh, Mike Dean and Zane Lowe. This year’s iteration follows suit with lectures from star rappers Roddy Ricch and Joey Badass, award-winning actress Issa Rae, celebrity stylist Bloody Osiris and more. And thanks to high-profile sponsors like Nike, Dior, Converse, Jordan Brand, Warner Music Group, Microsoft, Timberland and YouTube, transportation, lodging and meals are fully covered — making the program free for the students.
Joey Badass lecturing No Label Academy’s 2023 student cohort at Harvard University’s Science and Engineering Complex.
Lev Diamond
“Most stuff in entertainment is driven by financial decisions – and that’s not a core component to what it is we do here,” says Weddle, who is also a Harvard alumnus. “We’ve never paid a speaking fee, so every artist who comes here is really doing it because they want to give back to the community and educate individuals. The primary driver of our ability to do this is sponsor dollars.”
Weddle and fellow Harvard alumnus Marcelo Hanta-Davis founded No Label in 2018 to “utilize hip-hop and popular culture to make education more accessible,” says Hanta-Davis. “We’ve found this niche space of bringing hip-hop and academia together.” The idea for NLA came to fruition after the co-founders invited IDK to give a lecture on criminal justice reform at the Ivy League school for No Label’s Uncut speaker series in February 2020.
“I’m a middle-class person who went to prison, partially because I went to a bad school in a bad area,” the 31-year-old told Billboard in 2020. “Then I go back four times on the same exact charge … because I didn’t take home detention or violated this or that. Knowledge and education are important for empowerment, especially in the Black community.”
Hanta-Davis and Weddle maintained their relationship with IDK throughout the pandemic and combined their platforms to ideate No Label Academy. “We determined that there was a need for some kind of music education, and we thought we had a platform based in terms of our relationship with Harvard as alumni,” says Weddle.
IDK made sense as a professor given both the real-life hardships he endured and the first-hand experience he has a signed musician. In the mid-2010s IDK (which stands for “Ignorantly Delivering Knowledge”) began releasing mixtapes as an independent artist. In 2019, his label Clue Records signed a joint venture with Warner Records and released his critically acclaimed breakthrough album Is He Real? the same year. Four albums followed including 2021’s USEE4YOURSELF which reached No. 164 on the Billboard 200 and this year’s F65, which reached No. 21 on the Heatseekers Albums chart and features other big names like NLE Choppa, Musiq Soulchild, Snoop Dogg and more.
But as much success as he’s had as an artist, he’s finding even more satisfaction in his new role as a professor — to the point where he may consider teaching above making music in the future. “I’ve seen a few people cry a few times. I see people really trust the way that I think and the way that I look at things — their willingness to listen and learn,” he says. “There was a Harvard professor [who] is making synthetic hearts… he said he was inspired by what I do and wants to change the way he teaches his course after coming to my class two times. For me, to come from not really graduating high school properly, it means a lot.”
When asked if Harvard has remained cooperative while hosting NLA, he answers vaguely but alludes to the recent reversal of affirmative action in college admissions proving this year’s planning process to be difficult — even though NLA is merely using the institution’s facilities. (Back in June, the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action in college admissions, “declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies,” according to AP.)
“I can’t really speak on the affirmative action thing, honestly,” he says. “It’s still an ongoing thing that we are working to make sure we’re doing right in representing Harvard in a way that they felt was good and also we felt was accurate.”
@leviberlin
Once we arrive at Harvard Medical School, IDK meets up with LaShyra “Lash” Nolen, who walks us inside. Nolen is in her last year at the school, and is the first Black woman to be named Harvard Medical School’s class president. She is an advisor to NLA (along with Brian Price, clinical professor of law at Harvard Law School) and the next speaker for the day.
The last day of class at this year’s No Label Academy is almost identical to the previous four days of the week. Students start the day with 6:00 a.m. workouts, followed by breakfast, meditations, then lectures running from 9:00 a.m. to around 5:00 p.m., with breaks and lunch in between. Each day has a theme – like monetization, financial literacy or mental health — along with surprise guest lecturers.
“My own experience is probably the most important factor to this course,” says IDK. “When you go to school, oftentimes the people who are teaching, especially in music, aren’t currently practicing. And even if they are, they may not have the time to practice full-time. Every guest speaker, at least 99% of them, are personal friends, or people that I’ve met along my journey, and I just reach out to them. I personally believe they add value to what we are trying to do and our mission.”
Following Nolen, Chicago artist Saba and TDE rapper Ab-Soul join Friday’s class to discuss their personal bouts with mental health. The latter opens up about his suicide attempt, what he prefers to call his “near-death experience,” fighting addiction and moving forward. Saba primarily touches on grief (the lyricist lost a handful of his family and friends to violence in a short amount of time) and the pressures of fame and being a provider.
“I think grief is one of the most informative experiences,” Saba says to the class. “Grief can be so many different versions of pain. It’s inevitable and shows you yourself. Grief taught me that everybody going through some s–t.”
Whereas the past few weeks concluded with studio time, Friday evening is more celebratory, with a joint graduation ceremony/fashion show dinner ceremony held at Harvard Art Museum. The students walk a rose-lined runway to accept their certificates of completion while modeling their custom Dior uniforms, designed by IDK and Kim Jones, the fashion house’s men’s artistic director. Rapper and Massachusetts native Bia also stops by to perform at the students’ after party.
NLA 2023 graduate Zahir Muhammad, a 21-year-old rising film/music video director and senior at LSU, says the entire experience has been incredible for him. “I love learning [and] it’s been great having no limit on how much I can learn from everybody here,” he shares.
[embedded content]
“The first day of class, the theme was vulnerability,” Muhammad continues. “IDK said, ‘If you all can make it through this day, then you can make it through anything the entire week.’ None of us knew why he said that, but that whole day was [us] sharing the things we hated about [ourselves]. Everybody was crying but supporting each other. He basically broke us all the way down and built us all the way back up by the end of the week.”
In the future, as funding and time permit, IDK, Weddle and Hanta-Davis plan to expand NLA to colleges and universities nationwide.
“Sometimes we don’t acknowledge the knowledge that we have, because we may have not accomplished some of the things that society deems makes [us] valuable,” says IDK. “This program is a demonstration of perseverance, belief and the ability to never take ‘no’ for an answer — and showing how far that can take you if you have an actual plan that makes sense.”
IDK and No Label Academy’s 2023 student cohort.
Tito Garcia
A company that owns the rights to the “Space Jam” theme is suing a minor-league baseball club for using it – the latest in an increasingly active legal campaign to demand payment for a song that has been heavily used in internet memes and mashups for the past twenty years.
Watson Music Group, which bought the rights to “Space Jam” in 2019 from its original songwriters, has filed three federal lawsuits in the last three months, accusing companies of infringing its copyrights by using the song on the internet without permission. It’s also sent legal threats to an unknown number of others, arguing that unauthorized users must pay a “retroactive license” to avoid legal liability.
The latest target? The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers – a minor league affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers that Watson sued on Monday, accusing the team of briefly using the “Space Jam” song in a 2017 Facebook video. The 35-second clip, still live as of Tuesday, features the track playing in the background as the team’s mascot dunks a basketball.
“Despite plaintiff’s efforts and willingness to address defendant’s infringing activity, defendant failed to respond and plaintiff was forced to seek judicial intervention for defendant’s infringing activity,” the lawsuit claims, before demanding as much as $150,000 in statutory copyright damages from the team.
Performed by Florida hip-hop trio Quad City DJ’s, “Space Jam” was released as a theme song for the 1996 movie of the same name – a classic live-action/animated flick featuring NBA superstar Michael Jordan and the characters from Looney Tunes squaring off in a basketball game against alien invaders. The song plays during the opening credits, blasting its mix of pumped-up raps and bass-heavy dance beats over archival footage of Jordan’s career.
The movie was a hit, but the music was a smash. A star-studded soundtrack album, also featuring R. Kelly’s chart-topping “I Believe I Can Fly,” reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in April 1997. And while Quad City’s theme song didn’t reach the heights the group’s earlier “C’mon N’ Ride It (The Train),” the track was also a hit in its own right, eventually hitting No. 37 on the Hot 100.
In legal filings, Watson (which also goes by Quadrasound Music) says it acquired the rights to “Space Jam” composition in 2019 from its original songwriters: Quad City’s Jay “Ski” McGown and Nathaniel “C.C. Lemonhead” Orange, as well as Van “Thrill Da Playa” Bryant of the closely-affiliated Miami hip hop group 69 Boyz.
Since then, the group has not been shy about enforcing those rights. On a website focused exclusively on Watson’s “100%” ownership of the “Space Jam” rights, a large-print banner reads: “Did you receive a notice from us?” Below that question, the site informs visitors that “U.S. copyright law provides large financial penalties for using someone’s copyrighted work without permission.”
The site then features a frequently-asked-questions section, warning readers that any use of the theme song on social media would require payment: “If your post contains any elements of the original composition ‘Space Jam’, you will need permission (a license) from Quadrasound Music.” Another question in the FAQ asks whether removing such a post, or offering credit, would suffice to avoid litigation. “None of these actions limit your liabilities as a copyright infringer,” the site answers, before explicitly stressing that copyright damages can reach $150,000 for a single infringed work.
But, the Watson website says, it doesn’t need to come to all that: “We would rather save you the expense and worry of litigation by having you work with us to resolve this matter outside of the courts by issuing you a retroactive license.”
Depending on how aggressive they want to get, Watson/Quadrasound could have plenty of targets to send those notices demanding payment.
That’s because, in the mid-2000s, Quad City’s “Space Jam” theme enjoyed a bizarre second act as a meme. Across early internet sites like Something Awful and 4chan, users published hundreds of absurdist “slam remix” videos, combining the track with other songs and video clips, often inexplicably featuring NBA star Charles Barkley.
By the early 2010s, the trend had largely faded away – most memes do. But dozens of slam remixes still exist on YouTube, and whole websites dedicated to the art of slamming are still live in 2023. During a late-night appearance in 2021, Tony-winning playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda heaped praise on Slamilton, a full-length LP splicing “Space Jam” with his musical Hamilton: “Kudos to the genius who made that. The internet remains undefeated.”
In a 2021 Billboard story recounting the long, strange history of slam remixes, Quad City member Jay Ski seemed to love the fact that his song had been meme-ized: “I feel so honored that the community embraced us and said, ‘Hey, let’s use this.’ Think about all the records they could’ve used,” he said at the time. “For ours to take on its own direction and own little world, that’s awesome.”
Do the creators of all those remixes have licenses to use “Space Jam”? Almost certainly not. So, is every one of them going to get letters from Watson, demanding they take “retroactive licenses” or risk costly litigation? Darren Heitner, a Miami lawyer who serves as the company’s outside general counsel, said he could not answer that question and that every case would be treated individually.
“I can’t speak broadly to whether our client is seeking payment from everyone who has used the content as part of a meme, given the facts vary on a case-by-case basis and there are instances where a meme may be commercialized or be used as part of a larger commercial enterprise,” Heitner told Billboard.
Heitner would not say how many legal notices Watson/Quadrasound had sent out, nor how much money the company typically demanded in licensing fees to avoid litigation.
“Our client’s policy is to send out a notice when it, with reasonable diligence, discovers the infringement,” Heitner said. “It has recently become much more active in policing such infringement with the intent to engage in thorough discourse with the infringer before escalating each matter.”
Over the past three months, the company has begun rapidly filing lawsuits against those who refuse to pay or ignore demands. In May, Watson sued SportsGrid, a New York-based sports betting media company, over allegations that it featured “Space Jam” repeatedly in videos and podcasts without licenses. Then in June, the company sued a Florida company called CPPM Leasing LLC, claiming it had used the song in a basketball-themed Facebook video in 2019. And now this week, Watson filed its suit against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers over its slam-dunk video.
Those cases are a far cry from suing every creator of a meme, of course. They target sophisticated business entities who chose to use a copyrighted song in commercial contexts to help promote themselves, not random individuals who mashed-up two songs for fun. But if you believe Watson’s own language, the company does not make that kind of distinction between different types of alleged infringers.
“Is an unauthorized version of the composition ‘Space Jam’ considered copyright infringement?” the company asks in its FAQ. “Yes (there are a few exceptions). Without permission from Quadrasound Music, you most likely are an infringer.”
LONDON — BMG’s revenues jumped 11.5% to 414 million euros ($450 million) in the first half of 2023, fueled by strong growth in the company’s publishing business and a number of high-profile acquisitions, including a major interest in Paul Simon‘s portion of the Simon & Garfunkel catalog and a deal for George Harrison’s solo recordings.
The record label and publisher’s operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were up 23% (on a constant currency basis) to 90 million euros ($98 million) at the mid-year point ended June 30, according to figures released Wednesday Aug. 30 by BMG’s German parent company Bertelsmann.
Classic songs from Blondie, Kurt Cobain, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards – coupled with hit releases by contemporary artists like Lewis Capaldi and Austrian rapper RAF Camora — helped drive the company’s 62% of revenues that come from publishing. That equates to around 257 million euros ($280 million) by Billboard’s calculation (the company didn’t break out revenue numbers).
Recorded music represented 34% of revenue (around $152 million) with Jelly Roll, Kylie Minogue, Godsmack and Rita Ora among BMG’s top-selling recording artists. Among its most listened-to catalog titles were tracks by Motley Crue, Black Sabbath and George Harrison.
In total, BMG said its digital businesses accounted for 63% of revenue, down from 69% in the first half of the previous year. The company said the decrease was due to higher digital revenues being offset by stronger growth in live revenues, driven by a post-pandemic surge in touring.
BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld, who took over from longstanding chief executive Hartwig Masuch July 1, said the double-digit percentage growth reflected the company’s “strong performance in the face of an increasingly tough market.”
“Against the background of a soft advertising market, a maturing subscription streaming business and a physical music market impacted by inflation-driven cost increases, this is a very positive result,” said Coesfeld in a statement.
Breaking down the revenues on a regional basis, the U.S. was BMG’s biggest market, generating 217 million euros ($236 million), a rise of £14 million euros ($15 million) on the first half of 2022. Germany was BMG’s second biggest market with revenues of 49 million euros ($53 million), followed by the United Kingdom, which brought in 42 million ($46 million).
BMG completed 15 acquisitions in the six-month reporting period, including a deal for Paul Simon’s royalty and neighboring rights income to the full recorded Simon & Garfunkel catalog. Other deals closed in the first half of this year included the acquisition of the song catalog of 1960s British band The Hollies and a share of the writer’s royalties from the heavily synced German Eurodance group SNAP!
In February, BMG reached an agreement with Dark Horse Records over George Harrison’s solo works, marking the first time that the former Beatle’s recorded and publishing rights have sat together under the same roof. To commemorate Harrison’s Feb. 25 birthday, Dark Horse and BMG released Harrison’s entire catalog in Dolby Atmos surround sound exclusively on Apple Music.
Alongside BMG, Bertelsmann’s media holdings include RTL Group, Penguin Random House and service provider Arvato. Bertelsmann reported total revenue of 9.7 billion euros ($10.6 billion) for the first six months of the year, up 4.5% on the previous year. Organic revenue growth was 2.3%.
A team investigating sexual assault allegations by the late founder of a powerful talent agency for boy bands has found the charges credible, calling Tuesday (Aug. 29) for compensation for the victims and the resignation of the current chief executive.
The three-month probe, which included speaking with 23 victims, concluded that Johnny Kitagawa sexually assaulted and abused boys as far back as the 1950s and targeted at least several hundred people.
The investigative panel said Johnny & Associates must apologize, strengthen compliance measures and educate its ranks about human rights. Julie Keiko Fujishima, the chief executive, must resign for not taking action over the years, according to the special team. Kitagawa died in 2019 and was never charged.
“The company’s coverup led to the sexual abuse continuing unchecked for so long,” investigative team leader Makoto Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “There were many opportunities to take action.”
Critics say what happened at Johnny’s, as the Tokyo-based company is known, highlights Japan’s lagging awareness about rape, sexual harassment and human rights. Public opinion has often been unsympathetic toward people who say they were targeted by sexual predators.
In the Johnny’s case, about a dozen men have come forward in recent months to allege sexual abuse by Kitagawa, the agency’s founder, while performing as teens. More people are expected to come forward, the report said.
Fujishima has so far only apologized in a brief online video for “disappointment and worries ” over the case. It is unclear whether she will resign. The company in a statement reiterated its earlier apology and promise to hold a news conference, once it had studied the team’s report.
While rumors of abuse at Johnny’s circulated over the years and several tell-all books have been published, Japan’s mainstream media remained silent. Kitagawa began his management career with the teen boy band the Johnnys before founding Johnny & Associates in 1962, which spawned a series of “idol” groups including SMAP and Arashi.
Serious questions resurfaced this year after BBC News produced a special segment focused on several people who claimed to be Kitagawa’s victims. Another turning point came earlier this month when the U.N. Working Group on Business and Human Rights urged the Japanese government to take action. The group also accused Japan’s mainstream media of what it called “a cover-up.”
According to the allegations, Kitagawa asked fledgling singers and dancers, many of them children, to stay at his luxury home. When he told one of them to go to bed early, everyone knew it was “your turn,” those who have spoken up told the panel.
The boys were raped by Kitagawa when they were 14 or 15 and given 10,000 yen (about $100) bills afterward, the report said. It added that the victims feared they would be penalized if they refused. It recommends more people come forward, promises that their privacy will be protected and that no material evidence of a sexual attack will be required.
Those who have spoken out say they have been painfully traumatized, unable to tell anyone, even family, and still suffer flashbacks and depression, the report said.
City of Hope held its third annual Closing the Care Gap event Monday evening (Aug. 28) in association with its Music, Film and Entertainment Industry (MFEI) fundraising group. Focusing on the progress that’s being made while overcoming the challenges that still exist in bringing quality health care to underserved communities, the event was hosted by YouTube and Google global head of music Lyor Cohen and Epic Records chairperson/CEO Sylvia Rhone. Cohen is also MFEI’s 2023 Spirit of Life honoree. He’ll accept the award at City of Hope’s annual gala on Oct. 18.
Held at the Los Angeles home of real estate agent and TV personality Josh Flagg, Closing the Care Gap began with a welcome from Evan Lamberg, president of North America for Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG). Among the healthcare experts, entertainment industry professionals and prominent music industry executives on hand were City of Hope’s Dr. John D. Carpenter and Kristin Bertell, 300 Entertainment CEO Kevin Liles, UMPG CEO Jody Gerson, CAA head of music and past Spirit of Life honoree Rob Light, former BET CEO Debra Lee, Republic Records executive vp Danielle Price Sanders, 50/50 Music Group Management CEO Willie “Prophet” Stiggers and songwriter Justin Tranter.
Kristin Bertell, Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, Jonathan Azu, Sylvia Rhone, Lyor Cohen, Danielle Price Sanderson, John D. Carpten, Gail Mitchell and Evan Lamberg attend City of Hope’s 3rd Annual Closing the Care Gap Event on August 28, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Lester Cohen/Getty Images for City of Hope
In addressing the audience, Cohen said, “The more you give, the more you receive. And today we are all in the business of giving — of our time, our influence, our connections and experiences. It’s our responsibility to do the work to close the care gap. We need to provide access to early detection with routine screenings and better treatment and, of course, resources and education that help increase health equity.”
Rhone, MFEI’s 2019 Spirit of Life honoree, introduced Cohen to the audience. “I’m grateful to have the privilege to help solve these challenges with our industry and give everyone fighting cancer the hope they deserve,” she said.
According to statistics shared by City of Hope, only 20% of cancer patients in the United States are treated at National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers like City of Hope. In the meantime, economically disadvantaged and racially diverse communities face systemic barriers that limit their ability to find and sustain specialized, lifesaving care.
Dr. John Carpten, director of City of Hope’s National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and director of the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope as well as the organization’s chief scientific officer and the Irell & Manella Cancer Center Director’s Distinguished Chair, further amplified the equity issue. “Too many people needlessly suffer due to lack of access to the latest medical innovations and systemic barriers that prevent them from getting the best cancer care,” he said. “At City of Hope, we are working to carry out solutions that increase the likelihood that every person living with cancer — regardless of race or region — can get the best care.”
Jacqueline Saturn, Sylvia Rhone, Dina LaPolt and Jody Gerson attend City of Hope’s 3rd Annual Closing the Care Gap Event on August 28, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Lester Cohen/Getty Images for City of Hope
Culture Collective CEO and MFEI board member Jonathan Azu added a personal note by sharing his journey after being diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 44. Growing up in a family of medical professionals, he had access to resources and health care that many don’t.
“My outcome is going to be a lot better because of the prostate cancer screening and active surveillance I was able to receive,” Azu said. “There’s nothing I’m more passionate about than breaking the barriers that prevent those who look like me from getting access to screenings and treatment that could save their lives.”
Bertell, City of Hope’s chief philanthropy officer, closed the evening by noting, “You are part of the movement. Your philanthropic partnership supports us in removing obstacles to care for everyone. We cannot cure cancer if we don’t cure it for all.”
Closing the Care Gap is part of a year-long fundraising initiative by City of Hope that will conclude with MFEI’s Spirit of Life Gala honoring Cohen. The gala will celebrate 50 years of philanthropic partnership with MFEI on Oct. 18 at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles.
Were David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross adapted for the music industry, Tom Windish’s mantra — “Keep booking” — could replace the play’s motivational line “Always be closing.”
At a time when agencies are consolidating and many agents are concentrating on their next career move, Windish remains focused on the core purpose of his job as head of A&R and business development at Wasserman Music: building an impressive roster of promising acts and established stars and helping them graduate to larger and larger stages. That roster includes alt-J, M83, Tove Lo, First Aid Kit, Rina Sawayama, Bartees Strange and superstar Billie Eilish, whom Windish helps route with Wasserman Music’s Sara Bowinkle. And this year, he signed one of his first management clients, activist and attorney-turned-artist Danielle Ponder.
“I like finding bands really early and rolling my sleeves up and figuring out every opportunity we can for them,” says Windish, 50. “When I’ve got an artist that’s already established at a certain level, I like going out and finding shows for them.”
The Schenectady, N.Y., native has worked for over three decades as an agent — first as an intern at WMA, where he was fired after three weeks for not being “William Morris material,” he says. After a stint at Billions, he opened The Windish Agency, which he sold to Paradigm in 2017. Wasserman Music launched in 2021 after acquiring Paradigm’s North American live music division. In 2023, the agency earned the distinction of booking the most acts at Coachella.
Windish recently relocated from Vancouver to New York, where he lives with his wife, film producer Emma Ludbrook — actor and 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto married the couple in 2017 — and two children.
For Windish, discovery and development remain a large part of what drives him. “I probably take on more new things than almost anyone at the company,” he says. “I’m not necessarily saying that’s a good thing, but I tend to find artists that develop slower.”
How are your artists doing post-pandemic?
Last year was hard for artists because of supply chain issues. Just getting the gear that some artists needed was difficult. But this year sales have been very strong, especially in the United States, which has been very beneficial for agents that have international rosters. In Europe, things are much messier, and you see more acts coming to the U.S. a little more often than they used to.
What is your agenting style?
I’m pretty dry. My main responsibility is to send people music and have a conversation about what’s going on and why I’m excited about it. If they react to it or they don’t, I don’t take it personally. I’ll still call them about the next thing. I look for people I can build some history with that are passionate and take chances early.
Do you rely on data to make the case for your artists?
In the last decade or so, I do look at data a lot, especially global data. I have my ear really close to the ground in America and Canada. But I might not know something that’s happening in the Philippines or Korea or Australia because I’m not talking to the people there as frequently. What Spotify for Artists can reveal is interesting, and it’ll lead me to reach out and just ask other people, “Are you seeing this? What does it mean to you? Who is reaching out about it? What type of promotions are going on there? Should we have a tour strategy there? Should we go there?” I’ll also reach out to promoters at the same time.
Shows are being scheduled further and further in advance — deep into 2024. How do these long lead times affect the routing of tours?
I’m usually booking shows before new music is out. Often it’s nine months before it’s out, and I have no way of knowing how people are going to react or how likely they are to buy tickets. But one of the age-old rules of this business is don’t skip steps. So if you sold 500 tickets the last time, maybe you’ll try to sell 1,000 this time. You’re not just bumping up to 2,000 because you have this data that’s indicating there might be more [demand]. One of my strategies to deal with that is to hold a second night or a [venue] upgrade in case it goes really, really well.
Why sell to Paradigm?
I felt like the bigger we got, and the bigger the artists got, the harder it was to compete with these agencies that had a lot more resources. I felt I needed to compete and offer these things so that I wouldn’t lose out on clients. Paradigm had achieved its scale by bringing together independent agencies that all had similar backgrounds to me. Marty Diamond started in the coat closet booking bands in vans. Paul Morris started in the back of a record shop booking Tiësto.
What was that experience like for you, to sell Paradigm to Wasserman?
The sale was prompted by the pandemic. I didn’t know if the business was even going to come back. It was brutal — a lot more brutal for people in our business than others. It was an existential crisis. In terms of what it meant for the agency, I was in the dark about what was going on. There weren’t many people that I could ask because I think we were all in the dark because of the state of the business at the time. No one knew when shows were coming back. No one knew when there was going to be revenue coming back.
How does Wasserman compare with Paradigm?
They’ve been really helpful and great partners. I met [chairman/CEO] Casey Wasserman a few times over the years before it happened and while the transition was happening and was really excited about it. I mean, I was reading books about his grandfather Lew Wasserman for years because I’m a geek for that kind of stuff. I’ve read, like, every book about agents and Hollywood.
There have been complaints that labels are no longer developing and breaking acts. How does that affect the live business?
It’s hard to put it all in one bucket. I do think artist development is falling on the shoulders of the artists themselves and their managers. Labels are looking for artists to make an impact on their social media and to develop their own streaming. The labels get involved after things are moving. It’s “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”
Have you ever signed an artist that hasn’t played a live show?
Oh, yeah. I remember a time when it was sacrilegious to sign an artist who hadn’t played a show. But if I didn’t sign artists before they had played a show, I wouldn’t be booking Billie Eilish. I wouldn’t be booking Lorde. And that’s the way it is now, and it’s OK.
What’s your perspective on Ron Burkle’s merging of the AGI and APA agencies?
When you look at all the changes that have happened in the last three or so years, it’s pretty wild. There’s a lot of things moving around, and I think that the biggest thing it shows is that we are all still trying to figure it out. We’re not done. Right now, everyone’s trying to perfect the model maybe, or at least improve their model.
What do you think of the emergence of companies like Firebird?
The interesting thing about Firebird is that we’re seeing now how much managers need to do. A lot of it is stuff that labels used to do. One of the more interesting things about Firebird is going to be how management companies evolve the services that they provide. Will there be more big management companies that are backed by groups like Firebird? Or will a bunch of different management companies share resources, like Artist Nation, where they all shared layers of infrastructure?
What genres are doing well on the road?
The thing I’m most interested in right now is just how global things are. I’ve been a student of that for a long, long time. In the old days, I was looking for artists from other countries because my competitors weren’t. So it was easier for me to sign them. There was an extra layer of a pain in the neck because of the visas and all that kind of stuff, but I was just like, “It’s fine. I’ll do it.” I signed Os Mutantes from Brazil and it was harder than booking an American rock band, but I love them. And now everybody’s signing stuff from all over the world in a lot of different genres. That is the way we now find fans. We kind of ignored these fans in the past because they liked acts we never expected. A lot of artists have been ignored because an agent decided they would never work. And looking back, many of them turned out to be wrong.
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: Eminem invokes special political licensing rules to block a Republican presidential candidate from using his music at rallies; a federal judge cites Biggie & Wu-Tang to dismiss a copyright case; the messy Isley Brothers lawsuit has no quick end in sight; and much more.
Want to get The Legal Beat newsletter in your email inbox every Tuesday? Subscribe here for free.
THE BIG STORY: Eminem Pulls Music From GOP Candidate
Eminem is demanding that a Republican presidential candidate stop using “Lose Yourself” on campaign stops — and, lucky for him, licensing groups like ASCAP and BMI have made it easy for him to do so.
In a letter obtained by Billboard, a rep for BMI formally asked Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign last week to stop using Eminem’s music, saying the star himself had requested that they do so. The move came less than two weeks after the candidate was captured in a viral video rapping the lyrics to the smash hit song at an event in Iowa.
“This letter serves as notice that the Eminem Works are excluded from the Agreement effective immediately,” the group wrote in the letter. “BMI will consider any performance of the Eminem Works by the Vivek 2024 campaign from this date forward to be a material breach of the agreement for which BMI reserves all rights and remedies.”
A spokeswoman for the campaign quickly announced that Ramaswamy would comply, saying they would “leave the rapping to the real Slim Shady.”
And that’s because they pretty much had to under the terms of BMI’s special “political entities” license – a unique legal solution crafted to address the problem of music stars who want to freely license their songs to stadiums, bars and other public spaces, but not to certain politicians.
To learn more about Eminem’s letter to Ramaswamy – and the history of top artists complaining about their music being used at political rallies – go read our full story over at Billboard.
Other top stories…
JUDGE KNOWS HER HIP HOP – It’s not every day that you see a federal judge cite Biggie, Wu-Tang, Kanye, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Neil Young in a single ruling. But that’s what Judge Martha Pacold did when she tossed out a copyright lawsuit against Future claiming he ripped off his 2018 song “When I Think About It” from an earlier track by a little-known Virginia rapper.
TRUMP HIRES GUNNA’S LAWYER – Facing a sweeping racketeering case in Atlanta, former President Donald Trump hired attorney Steven Sadow, a veteran Georgia criminal defense attorney who just represented Gunna in the high-profile criminal case against Young Thug and other rappers. Sadow, who has also represented Rick Ross, T.I. and Usher, will take over for Drew Findling, another lawyer with close ties to Atlanta’s hip hop community.
ISLEY BATTLE CONTINUES – A federal judge refused to quickly end a nasty lawsuit pitting members of the Isley Brothers against each other over the trademark rights to the band’s name. The ruling means more litigation over Rudolph Isley’s accusation that brother Ronald Isley of improperly is trying to secure sole ownership over a name that’s supposed to be jointly owned.
R. KELLY’S UMG ROYALTIES – More than $500,000 in R. Kelly’s royalties held by Universal Music Group must be handed over to Brooklyn federal prosecutors to help pay his victims, a federal judge ruled last week. The decision covers most of Kelly’s money held by Universal, but leaves unresolved questions about his funds held by Sony, Kelly’s former label, and about millions in additional money he owes to victims and debtors in other cases.
NAME CHANGE ENDS ‘FEST’ SUIT – Major League Baseball’s Minnesota Twins agreed to change the name of an upstart “TC Summer Fest” concert series in Minneapolis, a month after they were sued for trademark infringement by the organizers of Milwaukee’s decades-old Summerfest. The lawsuit accused the Twins of picking the name to “piggy-back” on the success of the existing event.
LIVE NATION SUED OVER INJURY – A stagehand hired to prepare a recent concert by The Weeknd in Texas is suing Live Nation, claiming that the company is liable for negligence after his leg was run over by a forklift while the stage was being built.
Grimes is among the first wave of featured speakers for the 2024 South by Southwest (SXSW) conference, an event which promises to lean into AI-focused programming.
Announced today (Aug. 29), the multidisciplinary artist will join a session dubbed “AI and the Independent Artist,” which will explore how artificial intelligence is changing the way artists create and market their music, engage with their fans, and, of course, the challenges and responsibilities for the music industry that come with it.
The Canadian artist is known for pushing boundaries in the creative space. She enhanced that reputation by unveiling her Elf.Tech project earlier in the year, an open-source software program which encourages fans to make music (and money) with replications of her voice.
TuneCore CEO Andreea Gleeson and CreateSafe CEO Daouda Leonard are also confirmed for the panel, on which they will “present principles for companies to consider” and share results and lessons learned from early AI pilot programs, according to a SXSW statement.
The conversation on AI is only getting started. Just last week, streaming giant YouTube and Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest music company, announced a new initiative with artists and producers for an “AI Music Incubator,” and YT unveiled its own set of principals as it promised to “embrace” AI “responsibly together” with its music partners.
Other SXSW daytime discussions will drill into “AI and Humanity’s Co-evolution,”” with speakers venture partner at SignalFire Josh Constine and OpenAI’s VP of consumer product and head of ChatGPT Peter Deng; “Building the Next Era of the Internet” with author, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, and founder/managing partner at a16z crypto Chris Dixon; and a conversation with creator, host, and executive producer of the podcast Call Her Daddy Alex Cooper and founder and CEO of ACE Entertainment Matt Kaplan.
Also slated for the conference schedule, CEO of the Future Today Institute and professor at NYU Stern School of Business Amy Webb will launch the 2024 Emerging Tech Trend Report.
SXSW 2024 will take place March 8–16 in Austin, TX.
Established in 1987, SXSW celebrates the convergence of tech, film and television, music, education, and culture and is recognized as an important destination for professionals who play in those spaces.
SXSW 2024 is sponsored by Porsche, C4 Energy, and The Austin Chronicle.
Visit sxsw.com for more.