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Latin music, long seen as a trend that ebbed and flowed through the years, is finally being seen as a true market player — with mainstream American labels, TV shows and even management companies increasingly courting (and signing) Latin acts.
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But to truly succeed in the Latin market, those mainstream players must proceed with caution and cultural intelligence. That was the sentiment among industry leaders at a recent “State of the Latin Industry” panel during the Latin Alternative Music Conference in New York July 12.
“Obviously it’s a natural consequence of what’s happening with Latin music globally and it was to be expected,” said Roberto Andrade, managing director for Warner Music Latina. “[But] it’s positive as long as you work in partnership. In our case, we signed [Argentina rising star] María Becerra to Warner Latina, but we’re associated with [American label] 300 Entertainment, so they can also bring opportunities to the table. As Gus said, ‘Work in what you know.’”
He was referring to Gustavo López, CEO of Saban Music Group, who earlier in the panel had been particularly passionate when talking about the industry’s current gold rush regarding regional Mexican music — a market López worked with extensively during his days as president of Mexican labels Fonovisa and Disa, between 2008 and 2011.
“It saddens me when people talk about a Mexican music ‘boom,’ when it’s been 60% of the Latin music market for the past 40 years,” he said. “Make no mistake: Companies like Del, Rancho Humilde, have taken advantage of the opportunity major companies left to the side, and they’ve done it very well, and they’ve done it with the right teams. I ask labels to not get into genres they don’t know without the right teams, because they’ll f–k it up.”
Gustavo Lopez, Colleen Theis, Alex Gallardo, Leila Cobo, Mickey Sanchez and Roberto Andrado pose at the LAMC State of Latin Music Panel on July 12, 2023 in New York, NY.
The same principle, he said, applies to mainstream American labels rushing into Latin. But, he adds, “It’s also the artist’s responsibility to decide who he goes with. That’s where it all starts. If you’re simply going with X executive because he did a thousand things in another market, and now he’s going to do it in the Latin market, be very careful. If they don’t have the right team to execute, it’s going to be tough. It’s not just about money. The biggest danger for an artist is to take money from a place that doesn’t add knowledge.”
In the past year, many record labels and management companies, big and small, have made moves into the Latin market. Among the most noteworthy: J Balvin recently signed a management deal with Roc Nation after three years with SB Projects. In turn, Ozuna signed a management deal with SB Projects. Karol G signed to Interscope, and last year, regional Mexican sibling trio Yahritza y su Esencia unleashed a bidding frenzy before signing with Columbia Records.
Historically, however, there are few, if any, long-term success stories of core Latin acts either managed or signed to mainstream companies. Instead, the big wins have come from artists who partner with labels from both sides of the aisle.
“Partnerships are the smart way to go,” says Alex Gallardo, president of leading Latin label Sony Music U.S. Latin, which has the longest history of partnering with its mainstream counterparts with acts like Shakira and currently, Rosalía, whose EP RR with fiancé Rauw Alejandro (another Sony Latin act) is a joint release between Columbia and Sony Music US Latin. From the other end, DJ Marshmello has been releasing a string of successful singles featuring Latin artists under Sony Latin, including the global hit “El Merengue” with Manuel Turizo.
“I feel many Anglo labels sign stuff without understanding the language, the culture or the media,” said Gallardo, making the parallel with partnerships between Latin majors and indies. “I help you go further because I bring you my knowledge. But what knowledge can I bring you if I don’t understand your world or what you’re doing?”
From an observer’s point, it is impossible not to recognize the opportunism displayed by many who for decades, paid scant attention to Latin music. But Latin music can’t be ignored anymore, not at a global scale; this week, 47 tracks on Billboard’s Global 200 chart are in Spanish, and typically, 30% of Spotify and YouTube’s weekly global charts are Latin. It can’t be ignored in the U.S. either, where, according to Luminate’s midyear music report, Latin music registered a 21.9% percentage growth year over year, more than any other genre except for World Music (which encompasses non-U.S. genres like K-Pop and Afrobeats). Latin also managed to grow its overall share of the market significantly over the same period last year, from 6.25% to 6.72.
Gallardo says he’s conflicted by what these numbers represent to those who have long been outside the Latin market: “Are you signing this artist simply because you want your little piece of market share, because the numbers are good, or because you are really the best partner possible to take a career to the next level? The latter should always be the true reason.”
Which is not to say that mainstream companies cannot do a good job with Latin music. Witness The Orchard, which has been entrenched in the Latin market for decades and has distributed Bad Bunny from the beginning of his career.
“We’ve been working in Latin music from the onset,” said Colleen Theis, COO of The Orchard, noting that the distributor has had its Latin team in place for over 20 years. “For The Orchard, we put music out, and we pull people in rather than deciding what people are interested in. That really underlies that for us Latin music IS general market music, and we work in the general market. I’d rather empower the label base that we have to be the general market, than give those key artists to an American label who is Anglo.”
Universal Music Group has elevated Manusha Sarawan to oversee its efforts and market-leading label roster across southern and eastern Africa. In her new Johannesburg-based role as managing director, Southern and East Africa, Sarawan will continue to work closely with Adam Granite, UMG’s evp of market development, who said she was “ideally suited” for the role. Sarawan was […]
Since the rise of digital music technology in the 1990s, royalties from online music have proved bountiful for star performers.
But back then, forward-thinking music industry executives and musicians helped make sure that non-featured performers on recordings, like session players and backup singers, could also share in digital music royalties. One of those income streams — the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution (IPRD) Fund, which marks its 25th anniversary this year — reports paying out $650 million to date to such artists.
For the 12-month period ending March 31, 2021 — the most recent full year for which its finances are available — the nonprofit fund has distributed $57.2 million to eligible performers.
Most of the fund’s revenue comes from SoundExchange, which collects royalties for every song played on digital radio like Pandora, webcasters like iHeartRadio and satellite radio services like SiriusXM. Those royalties are split: 50% to the record label, 45% to the featured artist and 5% to non-featured performers.
Fund participants span a spectrum of musical skills and styles. They include vocalists such as Carmen Carter (who has recorded with Beyoncé, Céline Dion, Whitney Houston and Luis Miguel), Wendy Moten (Carrie Underwood, Buddy Guy, Cece Winans) and Dan Navarro (Dolly Parton, Julio Iglesias, Neil Young), as well as musicians like guitarist Michael Landau (Enrique Iglesias, Diana Ross, LeAnn Rimes), keyboardist Greg Phillinganes (Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Elvis Costello, Stevie Wonder) and drummer Abraham Laboriel Jr. (Paul McCartney, Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus), among many others.
But while collecting royalties from Sound Exchange is easy and many musicians are easy to find, tracking down every performer who should get a cut can be a challenge. Though the fund paid out royalties to some 27,000 non-featured musicians last year, many are still unaware of its existence — or that they might have royalties to be claimed, says fund CEO Stefanie Taub.
“The big thing for us is we really want to make sure that the non-featured performers are aware that we’re here and there is this money source for them,” says Taub, a 25-year AFTRA and SAG-AFTRA veteran who prior to leading the fund sat on its board of directors.
The SoundExchange royalties paid to labels and performers are the result of the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recording Act of 1995 and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, which between them amended copyright law so that, among other things, digital and satellite radio services pay royalties for recorded music. (Terrestrial radio doesn’t make any payments to record labels and performers but pays royalties to songwriters and music publishers.)
As part of the revamped copyright law, AFM (American Federation of Musicians) was designated to be the agent to pay out half, or 2.5%, of the 5% due to non-featured musicians on songs played on digital and satellite radio, while AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) was designated to oversee the other half (2.5%) of the royalties for non-featured singers.
The two unions agreed to collaborate on a single administrator to collect and pay out the royalties. Thus, the AFM & SAG-AFTRA IPRD Fund was born.
“Back then, it made sense to create this fund so they didn’t waste money with duplicate efforts,” Taub says. “So it’s very unique that these two completely separate unions came together to create this fund.”
Stefanie Taub
Courtesy of AFM SAG-AFTRA Fund
How do you view this anniversary of the fund?
We’re very proud of the fact that we paid over a half-billion dollars to non-featured performers in our 25 years. We’re in a unique space because many people are aware of how featured artists — name artists on recordings — get paid for their music. But there’s not as much awareness that our fund exists and that it pays the non-featured performers. People really don’t know we exist, especially when we first started out. Back then, we were collecting a very small amount: under $100,000 a year. Nowadays, we collect more than $50 million a year. So that is something we really want to promote: This money is there for these performers, and we are here to pay it to them.
Does a musician need to be in the union to qualify for funds?
That’s a misconception. Even though the unions created this fund, their executives sit on the board, and our name includes the unions; the fund distributes to all performers without regard to union status. We’re required by law to distribute to everyone [regardless of] status.
Where does the Screen Actors Guild, which represents and pays actors, come into the picture? Are its funds blended into what you collect?
SAG represents mostly actors but also other performers in film and TV, [so] if a singer did a song in a film, that would be represented by SAG; if they do a record, they are represented by AFTRA. But the SAG funds are completely separate, and what we collect is completely separate from anything that the unions do on their own.
Your financial statement for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021, shows that the fund collected $63.1 million in royalties. How much came from SoundExchange?
It fluctuates, but it has been around $50 million or more for [each] of the past five or six years.
Foreign royalties also flow into the fund. What’s the source of those monies?
They are due to copyright treaties and to reciprocal agreements with collection organizations in other countries — and those royalties consist of many different things, including what they call “private copying”; in some foreign countries, they collect a royalty on devices like iPhones and iPads and things like that. Some countries do pay the U.S. [royalties] on broadcast terrestrial radio and even [on] what they call “communication to the public,” like songs played in nightclubs and restaurants. Every country is a little bit different in what royalties they pay to the U.S.
So, percentagewise, what would you say the breakout is from SoundExchange versus the other sources of income?
I would say SoundExchange is about 80% of what we collect. But we’re growing in the international space every year, and we’re hoping to increase that as time goes on. We had a very good year last year. Our financials are not showing yet for that, but we collected over $25 million internationally last year.
Are there other challenges your organization faces in paying out royalties?
When we reach out to people [eligible for payments], some don’t believe us because no one has ever gotten a secondary income stream from their recordings. Of course, we need to verify their identity and we ask for certain information. And these days, everybody’s concerned about their privacy, so they think it’s a scam sometimes. But the more we can get our message out, the more that creates awareness, so [that] people actually do sign up for us.
How do you reach musicians who might be due money?
We have a whole department called artist relations, and their only job is to either take incoming inquiries or to actively search for folks where we’ve seen their names on credits but need to find them. We use all types of resources, whether it’s the internet, social media or other publicly available information. We also try to get other participants who have been paid to let their friends know about our fund.
A big question for funds like yours is, how much of what you collect do you match with eligible recipients and pay out every year?
Our current percentage is about 82% payout, and we are reducing the unmatched number every year.
And your administrative costs are about 14% of your revenue.
We have an obligation to make sure we’re doing the right thing with other people’s money. It’s not my money, so I always look at the most efficient way to get the job done so that as much of what we collect as possible can go out the door to the performers.
What if the album credits don’t specify who played on what song?
When we get the money from SoundExchange, we do our research on a track-by-track basis and by individuals. It’s very difficult because, depending particularly on the age of the recording — or where it was done — sometimes there’s no information at all. That’s why we really encourage people to also look at the list on our website of all the recordings that we have money for. If they make a claim on a recording, then we always require proof that shows they are on the recording. That proof could be a union contract, liner notes or something printed somewhere on the internet. And we cross-check multiple sources to make sure that everything’s matching.
What if the featured artist says, “Yeah, he played on my track”?
We accept that, too. Or often there might be other side musicians on the track who vouch for the third, and we will accept that.
How many titles do you research and pay out on?
In April 2023, the fund distributed royalties on 50,000 titles. And we’re increasing that every day. But it’s very time-consuming to research non-featured artists, especially now when there is often no printed [credits] because there is no physical recording. But there’s a current drive to get more metadata to be included in a lot of [digital] tracks.
It’s the record labels that should make sure songwriters, publishers, side musicians and singers are listed.
Yes, and they’re not as driven to make sure that the non-featured artists are getting credit.
There have been some recent grievances with the fund, including a suit over $45 million in undistributed funds and another complaint about a data purchase and service fee paid to the unions. What has happened with those complaints?
The former was settled in November 2020, and the latter was resolved in March 2022. We welcome the resolution of these matters so we can focus our resources on what we do best, which is putting money into artists’ pockets.
Are there any other messages you would like to get out?
Just to let people know that they should take a look at our website and make sure that if they’ve done any non-featured work on songs, they should sign up and create an account so that we can find them and pay them. That’s the whole reason we exist — to pay performers. We want to make sure that we’re creating that awareness.
This story originally appeared in the July 15, 2023, issue of Billboard.
BRISBANE — Budjerah signs with United Talent Agency (UTA) for representation in the Americas, Billboard can exclusively reveal.
The fast-rising Australian singer and songwriter is repped by global touring agent Noah Simon, whose roster has included Post Malone, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Jacob Collier, Masego and others.
Hailing from Fingal Head, New South Wales, Budjerah is one of the most promising young artists in his homeland. The 21-year-old singer and songwriter was the inaugural winner of the Michael Gudinski prize at the 2021 ARIA Awards, won his first APRA Music Award in 2022 for most performed R&B/soul work of the year for “Higher” with Matt Corby, and collected best new artist at the 2023 Rolling Stone Australia Awards.
The young man with the golden voice has several chances to add to his collection next month at the 2023 National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs); he’s in the hunt for artist of the year, song and film clip of the year, both for “Therapy,” which has chalked up more than 6 million streams.
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On the live front, Budjerah supported Ed Sheeran on the Brit’s 2023 stadium tour (and jumped on a remix of Sheeran’s “2step”), performed a sold-out headline show at the Sydney Opera House for Vivid LIVE, scored a slot on the For The Love festival run, and he’s booked for the traveling Spilt Milk fest in November and December.
The Coodjinburra artist’s career is guided by Lemon Tree Music, Regan Lethbridge and David Morgan’s Australia-based artist management company, whose stable includes Tones And I and Tash Sultana.
“I am thrilled to represent Budjerah and proudly welcome him to the UTA family,” comments Simon. “He is undoubtedly a singular talent with a timeless voice and in close collaboration with Lemon Tree, we’re excited to introduce his exceptional artistry to the Americas.”
To celebrate the UTA pact, Budjerah shares the new single “Video Game” (via Warner Music Australia), a “thank you to all my fans who’ve supported me at my shows over the last year,” he says in a statement.
Penned by Meg Mac, Matt Corby and Chris Collins, the stripped-back track explores the emotions behind growing up and finding himself, and can be streamed below.
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Shares of SM Entertainment gained 11.8% to KRW 117,900 ($92.88) this week, making the K-pop company the greatest gainer on the Billboard Global Music Index. The home of groups such as NCT 127 and Red Velvet, SM got good news this week after boy band EXO’s latest release, EXIST — The 7th Album, sold over 1 million copies in South Korea on its first day of release. In the United States, the group currently has four of the top five songs on Billboard’s Hot Trending Songs chart. Year to date, SM Entertainment shares are up 37.5%.
Led by SM Entertainment’s double-digit gain, 13 of the Billboard Global Music Index’s 21 stocks finished in positive territory this week. The index rose 1.7% to 1,355.35, its third-straight weekly increase and the sixth in the last seven weeks. Music stocks lagged behind many major indexes, however. In the United States, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite gained 2.4% and 3.3%, respectively. The United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 improved 2.4%. And South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 4%.
Spotify continues its hot streak by gaining 9.6% to $172.03, bringing the stock’s year-to-date improvement to 117.9%. The streaming giant got a boost this week after analysts at Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo increased their price targets to $185 and $250, respectively. Wells Fargo analysts are enthusiastic about Spotify’s prospects to improve its margins following the company’s layoffs and reduction of podcast content costs. Long-awaited price increases in the United States could improve Spotify’s gross margin by three percentage points and add nearly $727 million of revenue in 2024, according to the analysts.
Another K-pop company experienced the index’s largest decline this week: Shares of HYBE, home to BTS and Tomorrow X Together, fell 10.3% to KRW 256,500 ($202.08). The company was in the South Korean media this week following complaints of sexual harassment by security guards at an &TEAM singing event in Seoul. In a statement, HYBE apologized to the fans and explained that attendees at such events are searched to prevent recordings from leaking to the public.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd.’s decline of 3.9% to 0.74 pounds per share was the index’s biggest decline of the week after HYBE. On Thursday (July 13), Hipgnosis reported a $12.9 million improvement in pro-forma annual revenue million in calendar year 2022, although both gross and net revenue declined due mainly to two large, non-recurring adjustments. Still, investors remain wary of the stock, which has declined 14.3% year to date. As Billboard reported this week, Hipgnosis is shopping some assets that could help bolster its share price if sold. Shareholders will get a chance to weigh in on the fund’s future at the annual meeting in September by voting to change fund managers, liquidate the fund or stay on course.
Radio and music industry trade website All Access will cease operations on Aug. 15 due to “a marked decrease in revenues that makes moving forward impossible,” according to a bulletin from the company, which also noted that the site will remain online for an undetermined amount of time.
A statement from All Access reads, “This was not a decision that was reached lightly nor without earnest tries to find a path forward. It comes on the heels of major changes in the music industry announced in January of this year. These strong financial headwinds also extend to our non-music partners as well. Both downturns have greatly affected how All Access operates. The dollars are just not there to support our operation and staff any longer.”
According to the All Access website, the company has just over two dozen staff members.
All Access launched in 1995 and has been an essential source of news for the radio and music industries across genres including rock, pop, country and gospel/Christian, with the website providing news, editorial insights, community, industry events and job postings to many in the business for nearly three decades.
You can read the statement from All Access founder/president/publisher Joel Denver below.
This is without question the saddest and most heartbreaking moment of my professional life to have to tell you that allaccess.com will cease publishing and will be going out of business.
All Access began nearly 28 years ago and with the help of an amazing staff of professionals, the best in the business. We’ve weathered many changes and obstacles in the industry over these years. We’ve carved an incredible path and have taken each part of our operation to amazing levels of success through honesty, hard work, and passion for the radio industry, the music, the artists and our many readers, marketing partners, clients and our many contributing editors. Thank you all so much — we could not have done any of this without you.
The goal of All Access has always been to provide cutting edge content for all sectors of our business. We’ve strived to provide the best and most credible NET NEWS coverage, help people find jobs and stay connected. We have been blessed with wonderful partnerships and have created many valuable services for all parts of the radio and music businesses and have the support of nearly 100,000 active users.
Looking back over nearly three decades of service, we have much to be proud of. We’ve created amazing editorial and service products that will be benchmarks of our success like: All Access Downloads, First Alert, co-creation/presentation of Worldwide Radio Summit and creation/presentation of the All Access Audio Summit, among many others along the way.
Again, I cannot begin to express my sincerest appreciation and thanks to all of our many thousands of readers, our many amazing partners, wonderful clients, and the incredible ALL ACCESS staff for your love and devotion to All Access, our mission, and our success for nearly 28 years. I will miss working with all of you.
Closing All Access doesn’t mean that I am retiring from the business. I will take a moment to catch my breath and focus on new horizons and opportunities.
I hope that you will give all of our All Access team members a good strong look as well at new opportunities — they are the best of the best, and I will provide a glowing recommendation for all. There is not one person on the All Access team that I wouldn’t hire again. Please reach out to them by visiting our Team Page.
It has been a true honor to have served the radio and music communities. We have had a blast doing this. We will all miss serving and working with all of you — our readers and clients. I truly wish everyone much success in the future.”
In January, three months before Reservoir Media put rap group De La Soul’s first six albums on streaming services for the first time, the company began taking pre-orders for reissues of classic albums like 3 Feet High and Rising and De La Soul is Dead, as well as De La Soul merchandise. The rap legends’ recordings came to Reservoir Media through its 2021 acquisition of Tommy Boy Music. Negotiations with Tommy Boy owner Tom Silverman over taking the albums to streaming services had stalled in 2019 over a royalty dispute — but not only did Reservoir quickly hash out a deal with De La Soul to reintroduce the world to its Tommy Boy catalog, it also planned a marketing campaign with the group to create exclusive merchandise and launch a slate of LPs, CDs and cassettes.
Selling directly to De La Soul’s biggest fans has meant 30% of its physical product sold worldwide has gone through the group’s website, wearedelasoul.com, says Rell Lafargue, Reservoir Media COO/president. In the process, Reservoir was able to tap into a consumer group of rising importance in today’s music business: superfans. “Twenty percent of wearedelasoul.com customers are repeat customers in just the first six months of the store opening,” says Lafargue, “and we see superfans fill their carts with multiple copies and color variants of vinyl, shirts, hoodies and more at check out.”
De La Soul fans are part of a trend shaping the U.S. music business in 2023: Superfans’ purchases of CDs, LPs and cassettes to help support their favorite artists helped drive increases in all physical formats in the first six months of the year, according to Luminate’s 2023 midyear report released Wednesday (July 12).
Luminate says 15% of the general population is made up of superfans — a group of passionate music consumers with a propensity for discovering new music, connecting with artists on a personal level and being part of a community, or “fandom,” that artists provide. They’re valuable, too: Superfans spend 80% more money on music each month than the average U.S. music listener.
While the average consumer may subscribe to a streaming service, stream for free or listen to the radio, superfans purchase physical formats like it’s 1999. Buyers of CDs, vinyl LPs and cassettes are 128% more likely to be super fans, according to Luminate. They also skew young. U.S. millennials and Gen Z music listeners spend 22% and 13% more on music than the average music listener.
The power of superfans helps explain why U.S. physical album sales improved drastically in the first half of the year. Vinyl LP sales were up 21.7% through June 30 — well above the 1% gain in the prior-year period — and CD album sales grew 3.8%, a huge improvement from the 10.7% decline a year earlier.
Direct-to-consumer sales increased 20% to 4.4 million units, with vinyl sales specifically improving 25% to 3.6 million units and CD sales growing 15% to 1.7 million. Over 60% of direct-to-consumer sales are current releases — defined as titles 18 months or younger. That number rises to 75% for direct-to-consumer sales for both CDs and cassettes.
Golda Bitterli, vp of sales at Revelator, maker of a technology platform for labels and distributors, attributes the trend to the fans’ access to artists online, particularly on social media. “Fans are becoming more active participants in the artist’s career, including involvement in the creative process like we see on TikTok, as well as direct access to artists through platforms like Telegram,” she says. “This gives the fan a greater sense of connection and stock in the artist’s career and leads to more consumption through streaming, downloads, ticket sales and more.”
K-pop superfans are in an entirely different category. According to Luminate, K-pop fans spend 75% more on music than the average U.S. music listener, with much of that spending going to physical products. K-pop fans are 46% more likely to have purchased a CD in the last 12 months, while almost a quarter have purchased a cassette in the past 12 months.
K-pop superfans are on a different level of fandom than the typical fan, organizing and supporting their favorite artists at levels rarely seen elsewhere in music. They buy multiple copies of albums, snap up merchandise and purchase the clothing artists are seen wearing on social media, says Kristine Kim, GM of Korea for business-to-business platform Surf Music. In Korea, fans will even rent out cafes to gather with other fans and purchase billboards to wish their favorite artists a happy birthday. “The investment, the time investment, the energy that they put in — emotionally, physically — and the money that they put in, it’s pretty incredible,” says Kim.
In the United States, superfans’ influence can be seen in the uptick in album sales in the first half of the year. K-pop albums, usually made available in multiple versions and formats so superfans can buy more than one copy, accounted for six of the top 10 physical albums and 16 of the top 50 physical albums, according to Luminate. The only artist to outsell K-pop artists Tomorrow X Together, Stray Kids, TWICE and Seventeen was Taylor Swift, who replicated the K-pop approach by offering over 20 different versions of her album Midnights.
For the upper strata of superfans, buying albums goes beyond merely collecting items or listening to music. “What drives these fandoms and CD sales is they just want to support the artists,” says Kim.
Anyone who has attended a music festival has experienced the frustration of attempting to send and receive calls and texts amid tens of thousands of other phone-wielding fans. Messages often don’t go through, arrive an hour after being sent or show up en masse when the night is over, creating confusion and leaving meet-ups unmet.
Anyone who has attended many of the leading U.S. music festivals over the past few years has likely noticed improvements, however, with cell service approaching real-time efficiency. This isn’t a fluke, but the result of focused improvements in how service is provided both generally and at music-related mass gatherings specifically.
“Frankly, I consider phone conductivity kind of like running water these days. Venues have to have it,” says Matthew Pasco, who as vp of information for the Las Vegas Raiders oversaw construction of the distributed antenna system (DAS) at Allegiant Stadium, which has hosted major tours from Taylor Swift, Metallica, The Rolling Stones and Garth Brooks since opening in summer 2021.
That’s because while cellphones used to just be a way of connecting with (or trying to connect with) friends at shows, they’re now seen as part of the concert and festival experience, with mobile ticketing, venue apps and digital payment systems demanding fully functional coverage. Connectivity also fosters greater safety, allowing fans in need of assistance to dial out during emergencies. Social media is another important consideration, with coverage at events now expected to keep up with the ballooning data demands of TikTok, Instagram and even fans livestreaming entire shows, as has happened recently on tours by Swift and Bruce Springsteen. According to Verizon, at Governors Ball 2022, its subscribers alone used roughly 14.5 terabytes of data, which equates to one person streaming 3 million songs continually for over 10 years. So, too, do fans arrive with phones, Apple Watches and iPads — and the expectation all of them will work.
Until recently, cell coverage has been wonky at big events as the demands of smartphones collided with networks designed before devices burned through so much data. With upwards of 125,000 people squeezed into a square mile (the size of Coachella’s site), all of whom texting and posting simultaneously, carriers — primarily AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile in the United States — would often overload. Event organizers, who sought to solve this by providing Wi-Fi, found those networks crashed easily due to high volume.
Enter Irvine, Calif.-based tech company MatSing. Founded in 2005, the company builds antennas that, instead of reflecting signals like a traditional antenna, refracts them, creating multiple independent signals beamed in multiple directions. Instead of implementing 10 individual antennas, an event can then employ one MatSing lens antenna that creates 10 separate coverage sectors and allows multiple carriers to utilize it.
“Festivals are the hardest thing to create coverage capacity for,” says MatSing executive vp Leo Matytsine. “That was our best way of getting a foot in the door.”
The first music carrier to use MatSing’s technology at a festival was AT&T at Coachella in 2014. “People actually got connectivity that year,” says Matytsine. “After that, Verizon and T-Mobile saw what was deployed, and it started to snowball because the technology worked.” Indeed, it’s how networks function — or don’t — in high-demand settings like festivals that typically cause carriers to lose subscribers, making performance at mass gatherings crucial to customer retention.
MatSing sells its 150-plus antenna models directly to carriers, and they are now permanently installed at 32 U.S. stadiums, arenas, raceways and venues including the Hollywood Bowl, with temporary deployments at myriad Super Bowls, presidential inaugurations and festivals including South by Southwest, Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Burning Man. The lattermost employs one antenna — incorporated by law enforcement as a safety measure, but which provides many attendees with service — while Coachella uses a few to cover its entire festival grounds. Prices vary depending on size and range from a couple of thousand for smaller models to tens of thousands of dollars for larger ones.
Carriers have also caught up with demand. While companies previously deployed mobile cell towers (along with MatSing tech) at mass gatherings to supplement coverage, Verizon representative Karen Schulz notes that “the network has evolved significantly over the past several years.” Improvements include fiber network expansion, carrier aggregation (which lets data flow freely across multiple spectrum bands) and U.S. deployments of high-speed 5G networks starting around 2019.
Unsurprisingly, venues themselves are now building and retrofitting to suit coverage requirements. Allegiant paid for the venue’s eight-figure DAS to maintain ownership over this asset, which the three major carriers rent out. (“I don’t want to sign away all the plumbing in my building so every time someone flushes the toilet, someone else gets paid,” says Pasco.) This DAS system also utilizes 28 MatSing antennas that hang from the roof around the ring of the stadium and service the 60,000-capacity bowl. (This option was chosen over deploying mini antennas under every seat, an option Los Angeles’ 3-year-old SoFi Stadium went with for its DAS.) At Allegiant, traditional cellular antennas have been installed in walkways, VIP suites and other areas MatSing antenna signals can’t reach. The stadium also offers Wi-Fi that has a 60% to 70% adoption rate among fans.
Some older stadiums and arenas, which are often “cement monstrosities,” says Pasco, “really struggle with deploying premium DAS systems because they don’t have the pathway to run cabling.” When such retrofits happen, they’re often “a little bit ugly,” he says.
However this coverage is implemented, its evolution is fostering increased connectedness among individuals in massive crowds, between attendees and venues themselves and with audiences well outside the confines of a show. This festival season, attendees might not even have to ask, “Hey, U there?”
Marti Cuevas is the new president of the The Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame (LSHOF), Billboard can exclusively announce. Additionally, the organization said Mauricio Abaroa will serve as the chairman of the newly-established ‘Latin Angels’ La Musa Capital Funding Committee. The company’s former president, Delia Orjuela, will continue in her role of president emeritus. According to the LSHOF, the new additions and re-alignment “reflect the expansion of responsibilities commensurate with the continuing growth of the Latin Songwriters Hall Of Fame in membership, activities and stature.” The LSHOF’s main event each year is the La Musa Awards, which honors the world’s greatest Latin music creators and their memorable songs.
“[Marti and Mauricio] will help us continue to build and expand the world’s first organization that truly honors and celebrates the lives and music of Latin music’s greatest songwriters and composers,” added Rudy Pérez chairman and CEO of LSHOF — which he co-founded in 2012 with Desmond Child. –Griselda Flores
Rami Mohsen was appointed managing director of Sony Music Middle East, where he’ll drive the label’s overall strategy and operations across the fast-growing market. Mohsen arrives at Sony following a brief stint as Spotify’s head of music for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia — but for the bulk of the last 20 years he worked his way up to oversee operations at Cairo-based Nogoum FM, the first private radio station in Egypt and one of the largest in the Middle East. In a statement, Sony executive Shridhar Subramaniam said “Rami is well-positioned to take [SMME] to new heights,” and the company has good reason to be optimistic. A surge in recorded music revenues in the MENA market made it last year’s fastest growing region, rising by almost 24% and driven almost entirely — a 95.5% chunk — by streaming, reports the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
Primary Wave Music promoted veteran creative specialist Marty Silverstone to president of global sync. Based out of their new Beachwood Canyon office in Los Angeles, Silverstone will continue to oversee a crack synch licensing department responsible for placing a number of roster songs across TV (Stranger Things, Ted Lasso), film (Elvis and The Fabelmans) and this thing called the Super Bowl (nine commercials in the three years, the company says). Silverstone is 13 years into his PWM tenure — having joined senior creative director before stepping up to svp/head of sync in 2014. Prior to Primary Wave, Marty was head of creative licensing at independent publisher North Star Media. “[Marty’s] vision for how our catalog of music can be reimagined has no bounds,” commented founder and CEO Larry Mestel. “He and his team have brought new life to our iconic and classic songs helping to usher them into the modern era.”
Veteran artist manager Christian Stavros just revived Little Operation, the Los Angeles-based agency he originally founded in 2010, bringing with him an artist roster headlined by Angel Olsen, Devendra Banhart, Best Coast, Morgan Nagler and King Tuff. Stavros’ right hand is McKenzie Rice, who’ll handle day-to-day operations while also managing Little Op client Jack Van Cleaf. The two managers previously worked together at Other Operation, the creative house Stavros co-built and launched in 2021. You can reach Stavros and Rice at info@littleoperation.com.
Other Operation’s other co-founder, Heather Kolker, announced the formation of her management company this week as well. At Dreamshop Management, she’ll continue to represent Icelandic indie folk rockers Of Monsters and Men, queer indie-pop band MUNA, and the solo projects of OMaM singer-guitarist Nanna and MUNA member Naomi MacPherson. Joining Kolker as day-to-day manager at Dreamshop is Megan Manowitz, who previously worked in booking and tour management at Ground Control Touring and most recently project managed at Mondo Mondo, a luxe brand. Kolker can be reached at heather@dreamshopmgmt.com.
ICYMI: A flurry of senior executives and staff members have left posts at Hipgnosis Song Management in recent months … The board of directors at Gibson Brands confirmed Cesar Gueikian as president and CEO.
Sony Music Nashville named Fred Rubenstein as vp of digital marketing, to be responsible for overseeing the digital marketing team and leading the strategy, execution and implementation of social media and digital marketing campaigns across the Sony Nashville roster. Rubenstein will also focus on new partner/platform opportunities to advance digital discovery, enhance artists’ brands and drive consumption. Rubenstein was most recently senior. manager of creator acquisitions & development for Amazon’s live streaming service Twitch. Prior to his role at Twitch, Rubenstein was a member of digital marketing teams at Elektra Music Group and Roadrunner Records. –Jessica Nicholson
Kobalt Music appointed Teresa Romo as senior creative director for Latin America, responsible for overseeing the independent music services company’s expansion in Mexico. She’ll remain based in Los Angeles and report to Nestor Casonu, president of Latin America, who remarked the “market is in need of someone that not only has a deep understanding of the genre but also the vibrant and fascinating Mexican culture.” Prior to joining Kobalt, Romo served as Latin head of creative for BMI, where she signed and developed a songwriter roster including Edgar Barrera, Ana Barbara, Geovani Cabrera, Kuinvi, Alemán and Carla Morrison. Earlier in her career, Romo held senior publicity and communications roles at The Recording Academy, NBCUniversal, Universal Music Latin Entertainment and Warner Music.
UTA promoted Brandi Brammer to senior vice president of global music operations, an upgrade from her previous role as vp of people and business partnerships at the mega-agency. She’ll continue to be based out of Nashville. In her new role, Brammer will lead the day-to-day operational work of UTA Music, spanning human resources, legal and business affairs, finance, facilities and technology initiatives. Before joining UTA in 2021, Brammer served as vp of human resources at WME, leading HR for the agency’s music division.
Music and culture agency Premier Music Group promoted Winslow Bright and Aaron Mercer to co-president roles in charge of its music supervision and strategy teams across advertising, film, TV, and podcasts. They’ll both report to CEO Josh Deutsch and creative director Randall Poster. Bright joined PMG in 2020 from Search Party, the music supervision company acquired by Deutsch, and Mercer arrived in 2019 after Premier snatched up Wool & Tusk. Premiere also elevated longtime music supervisor — and former Search Party-er — Meghan Currier to executive producer. “Each of them brings a new perspective to the work we do,” commented Deutsch.
The Academy of Country Music announced a round of new hires and promotions. Kris Reyes has been hired as director, finance and operations; Kortney Toney has been hired as manager, programming & community engagement; Libby Gardner has been promoted to senior manager, content & editorial; Jesse Knutson has been promoted to senior manager, publicity & media relations; Haley Montgomery has been promoted to senior manager, awards & membership; Taylor Wolf has been promoted to senior manager, ACM Lifting Lives; and Alexis Bingham has been promoted to coordinator, events. Reyes has previous experience in operations accounting at TravelCenters of America. Toney previously worked at Opry Entertainment Group and Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Knutson is a multiple Emmy winner, having served as a TV reporter in Nashville, Seattle and Harrisburg, PA, and as a producer at Los Angeles’ KNBC. Montgomery joined the Academy in 2020 as manager of awards & membership after holding a variety of multi-discipline roles across the industry. –JN
Women in Music, a nonprofit founded in 1985 that works to empower and advance women in the music industry, recently welcomed new ambassadors and advisory board members. This year’s ambassadors include: rapper Rapsody, CD Baby executive Faryal Khan-Thompson, veteran booking agent Amy Davidman, Atlanta agency owner Dina Marto, and REBEL vp Adriana Arce. WIM 2023 advisory board is: Lauren Apolito, Nikisha Bailey, Erin Barra, Cindy Charles, Liz Cimarelli, Alex Flores, Maureen Ford, Ali Harnell, Ariel Hyatt, Lauren Iossa, Sari Kohen, Bea Koramblyum, Linda Lorence-Critelli, Molly Neuman, Mayna Nevarez, Jennifer Newman Sharpe, Jessica Sobhraj, and Monika Tashman.
Former TikTok creative licensing executive Rich Sica and commercial music industry veterans Jack Bradley and Aleena Bissett have teamed up to launch Juice, a new music company focused on “speed and the ear-worm ethos” to produce short-form social and other online content for brands and creators. Sica, Juice’s advising creative director, oversaw creative music licensing across North America and LATAM during his two-plus years at TikTok. Managing director Bradley and head of production Bissett arrive from commercial music shop HiFi Project, which they’ll continue to run.
Cade Price was promoted to general manager at Play It Again Entertainment, the label and management company founded by singer-songwriter Dallas Davidson. In his new role, Price will oversee daily operations of PIAE and its roster of artists, including rising singer Dylan Marlowe, whom Price manages. The Missouri native, who is now based in Nashville, joined Play It Again five years ago and has worn many hats across publishing, marketing and A&R. “Cade Price thinks outside of the box,” said Davidson. “I love that about him. Just look at what he did with Dylan Marlowe. He took his talent and the music Dylan was making and made sure that millions of people got to hear it.”
PR firm Shore Fire Media promoted Taylor Perry to senior account executive. The Brooklyn-based publicist joined Shore Fire in 2020 as a publicity assistant and since then was upped to account executive, leading campaigns for Samara Joy, Jewel, Rhino Records and other clients.
Blue Raincoat Artists has hired veteran artist manager Amy Frenchum, who brings along her clients Ezra Collective and Yazmin Lacey to the London-based agency. BRA is the artist management arm of Blue Raincoat Music, a Reservoir company, and has a roster including Arlo Parks, The Nova Twins, Skunk Anansie, The Mysterines, Cigarettes After Sex and Phoebe Bridgers.
Nashville Bites: Ruth Todd was appointed Bonneville executive vp/chief content officer. A former TV news anchor, she was most recently senior vp/chief reputation officer for beauty and wellness company Nu Skin. Bonneville’s country stations include KNCI Sacramento, Calif., and KYGO Denver… The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. established a Music City Host Committee to assist in booking events and raise funds for the city’s newly approved stadium. Eric Church is the lone artist on the 16-member panel, chaired by former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam. –Tom Roland
Republic Records jumped out to a huge lead early on in the market share rankings this year among current releases (those released within the past 18 months), and maintained a 12.46% current share across the first half of the year — more than four points higher than the next-closest label, Interscope Geffen A&M (8.08%). But […]