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Indicted hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been hit with yet another civil lawsuit, claiming that he repeatedly drugged and sexually assaulted an unnamed model over a four year period.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in New York state court, the accuser – identified only as a Florida model under the pseudonym Jane Doe – says that Combs abused her on multiple occasions from 2020 to earlier this year, often after giving her drugs and using other coercive tactics.
The allegations from the woman – at least the twelfth victim to accuse Combs of sexual abuse of over the last year – echo claims made by federal prosecutors in a sweeping indictment unsealed last week, which detailed elaborate, drug-fueled “freak off” performances involving numerous victims.
“Combs would make her ‘perform a show’ for him and would ply her with alcohol and substances until she passed out,” her lawyers write. “Throughout the four years, defendant Combs would consistently pressure Jane Doe adding other men and women into the bedroom despite Jane Doe being clear that she did not want others involved.”
The accuser says Combs and others used “coercive and harassing language” to force her to agree to his demands, including making “threatening jokes” to her that caused her to “fear for her safety if she did not comply.” She says he and others even tracked her location and monitored her conversations.
At one point in 2022, the accuser says she became pregnant shortly after a sexual encounter with Combs. After she shared the news with Combs, her lawyers say one of his associates “harassed Jane Doe by repeatedly calling her and telling Jane Doe to have an abortion.” She says she later suffered a miscarriage.
Combs, also known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, was once one of the most powerful men in the music industry. But over the past year, he has faced a flood of civil abuse lawsuits, starting with a high-profile case filed late last year by his former longtime girlfriend Cassie Ventura. That case quickly settled, but it was later corroborated by a widely shared video of Combs assaulting her at a hotel, and it was followed by numerous other cases with similar allegations.
Then last week, federal prosecutors unveiled a sweeping indictment, accusing Combs of operating a criminal enterprise centered on a “pervasive pattern of abuse toward women.”
“For decades, Sean Combs … abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct,” reads the indictment, which was obtained by Billboard. “To do so, Combs relied on the employees, resources and the influence of his multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled.”
Even after the criminal charges, new civil cases have continued to be filed. Earlier this week, a woman named Thalia Graves filed a case claiming that Combs and another man another man “viciously raped” her New York City studio in 2001 – and that they filmed the encounter.
Combs is currently behind bars after a federal judge refused to grant him bail, ruling that he would pose a flight risk and might seek to intimidate witnesses and victims if released. The criminal case is pending, with a trial likely still months away.
News that Bytedance will shut down its 18-month old TikTok Music on-demand music streaming service might have come as a surprise to some people. After all, TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users globally and singlehandedly redefined music discovery by turning generation of smartphone users onto music-based, short-form videos.
But TikTok Music’s demise was entirely predictable. Building a sustainable on-demand music streaming service is incredibly challenging. The digital music graveyard is littered with streaming products that didn’t last — remember Rdio, Boinc, Guvera, Turntable.fm or SpiralFrog? Not even a well-funded platform from a corporate giant is guaranteed of success. Sony’s Music Unlimited didn’t last. Nor did Microsoft’s Zune. Xiami, founded by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, shut down in 2021 after 12 years.
Bytedance’s uphill road was made more difficult when it took on a different role with TikTok Music. TikTok was an insurgent that built itself without the typical constraints facing typical streaming services. The app created a new use case for music in the same way the download succeeded the CD and streaming succeeded the download. TikTok Music, on the other hand, was constrained by the licensing terms that govern on-demand services.
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As a result of those rules, Bytedance built something more like Spotify than TikTok because it didn’t have any other choice, says MIDiA Research’s Mark Mulligan. “TikTok Music had massive potential to be these so many things that didn’t look anything like any other [digital service provider],” he says. “But they still ended up having to make something that looked pretty much like any other streaming service.”
That TikTok Music resembled every other music streaming service was a problem, Mulligan argues, not a solution for a new market entrant. On-demand music has become a well-functioning utility like water service, he explains, but one that doesn’t build communities, drive fandom or create conversion — things TikTok does well and TikTok Music couldn’t. “We all really value the water that comes out of our taps, but we rarely go down to the local bar and talk to our friends about how great the water is that comes from taps,” says Mulligan.
These aren’t just any utility companies TikTok Music has been competing against. Market leader Spotify, with its $76 billion market capitalization, is far smaller than the next three companies, Apple, Google and Amazon. These four companies, and even smaller ones like them, have spent years pouring resources into building products and features that keep people listening to music, podcasts and, in the case of Spotify, audiobooks.
TikTok is great at creating engagement, too, but getting people to listen to full songs is different than feeding them a never-ending series of 15-second video clips, says Vickie Nauman, founder of CrossBorderWorks, a music tech and consulting and advisory firm. “You can’t necessarily translate that to something else.”
Things might be different if TikTok Music could differentiate itself on catalog by offering music not available on other music platforms. That’s how it works with on-demand video streaming. But global music services have, more or less, the same catalogs. Offering the world’s music has long been part of the music subscription service’s value proposition. So, music streaming services instead compete against one another on their user experiences.
On-demand services “had to make [the user experience] so elegant, so intuitive, and really, really customize it to consumers,” Nauman explains. In her experience, people underestimate the difficulty of creating a great product and executing the technology that underpins it. “It’s incredibly challenging,” she says. “Not only the user experience,” she continues, but the technology required to manage many tens of millions of tracks. “I think a lot of companies just really misperceive it.”
Changing consumer habits was always going to be a problem, too. It would be presumptuous to think anybody with a TikTok app would become a TikTok Music subscriber. Not every iPhone owner subscribes to Apple Music even though Apple offers a free trial to new iPhone owners and bundles the music service into a money-saving package, Apple One. Even though Alphabet owns both the Android operating system and YouTube, not every Android Phone owner subscribes to YouTube Music.
“To some extent, I’m not surprised” by TikTok Music’s failure, says MusicWatch principal Russ Crupnick. When MusicWatch surveyed American TikTok users about their interest in a standalone TikTok streaming service, the reaction was “surprisingly low” and “very lukewarm,” he says. (TikTok Music never launched in the U.S.) “Getting most people to switch [subscription services] at this point is a bit of a challenge. You’re more likely to get people to use multiple services.”
In the U.S., self-pay subscribers — not including free trials — have an overage of 2.3 music subscription services, according to MusicWatch. That includes Amazon Prime, which online shoppers buy mainly for free shipping, as well as satellite radio service SiriusXM. Asking people paying for multiple services to pay for one more music subscription plan is a tall order for a newcomer like TikTok Music. What’s more, MusicWatch found that Spotify ranks behind only Amazon Prime in terms of subscriber passion. When the economy gets rough, Spotify users are relatively unlikely to cancel their plans.
Zoom out and the demise of TikTok Music reveals something else about the music streaming market. In 2024, the number of global platforms may have reached a steady state and new entrants are unlikely to appear (and, like TikTok Music, any attempts will be unsuccessful). Experts who spoke with Billboard don’t foresee there being another company with both the funding and the stomach to take on the demands of licensing and administering rights for a huge amount of music.
“We’re at a fork in the road where all of these broad catalog licenses are kind of exhausted,” says Nauman. Gaming companies have the money but don’t need to license entire catalogs, she adds. Fitness companies that had licensed large catalogs now “want simpler solutions.”
If new entrants are going to find success, says Mulligan, it could be in “regional hubs” in which streaming services can license a smaller amount of local music and focus on markets where Western repertoire is less important. In China, for example, a market dominated by local music licensed by local rights owners, Tencent Music Entertainment has 117 million subscribers and Cloud Music had 44.1 million at the end of 2023 (the last figure the company made available). But regional services are being threatened by the bigger global companies. In some populous markets such as India and the Philippines, dominant Western companies have pushed aside local players.
In the end, Bytedance doesn’t need TikTok Music to be an influential force in music. Mulligan thinks it’s possible that the “majority” of music activity — not revenue — will happen on TikTok within three to five years. Younger people want to create, not just consume, he says, and TikTok could become a self-contained ecosystem that captures more of its users’ time — at the expense of the kind of on-demand streaming business that Bytedance is now abandoning.
A few days after the Sept. 16 arrest of Sean “Diddy” Combs on racketeering and sex trafficking charges, a book said to be based on diaries and notes from his late girlfriend, Kim Porter, became a best-seller on Amazon. (It was a best-seller within a certain category, which probably means it sold well but not hardcover-bookstore-best-seller well.) What’s really impressive is that the book did so well despite the fact that Diddy and Porter’s children say she didn’t actually write any of it.
The 60-page book, Kim’s Lost Words: A Journey for Justice, From the Other Side, was self-published under the name Jamal T. Millwood by Chris Todd, whose real name is apparently Todd Christopher Guzze. Todd has said the book is based on the contents of a flash drive, which he allegedly received from two people close to Porter and Combs, but he “didn’t ask too many questions about how they got it,” according to Rolling Stone. “If somebody put my feet to the fire and they said, ‘Life or death, is that book real?’ I have to say I don’t know,” said Todd, who says he’s a producer and journalist and hopes the book will lead other sources to come forward. (Journalists generally tend to ask too many questions.) “But it’s real enough to me.”
It would be hard to find a more ridiculous quote to describe the very serious problem that big media platforms have created. I have no idea how the book was written, of course, but Todd knows that’s not the point and presumably so do readers — it’s real enough to me, he says, so it’s real enough for them. (The story behind the book actually sounds more interesting than the book itself.) This sounds harmless enough until you realize that — wait a minute — that’s basically what Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance says about the claim that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. He heard it, then justified it as a way to call attention to a problem. (There is no evidence that anyone is actually eating pets, and the whole idea sounds racist.) Like Todd’s book, it certainly went viral. It was real enough for people — to the point that it has become an actual political issue.
Stories about scandals, real and exaggerated, are hardly new. (Diddy faces unrelated criminal charges; Porter died in 2018 of lobar pneumonia.) What is new, though, is the way online platforms create incentives to create and spread them. Amazon now sells more than a dozen books about Porter, including a “Kim Porter Coloring Book” and several books that use “lost words” in their titles. The speed and ease of selling books on Amazon’s open system has made Porter’s death a cottage industry. It’s gross — does anyone want to be memorialized by a coloring book? — and you can’t blame her kids for being upset. There’s money in it, though.
It’s a useful metaphor for streaming fraud. The problem isn’t that Amazon or online music services stand behind conspiratorial books or useless music with streaming numbers pumped up by bots — it’s that they don’t stand behind anything. Open platforms like these let people distribute their own art, which is promoted as a feature but might more often be a bug — a lot of what’s online is neither professional work nor hobbyist creations but rather get-rich-quick schemes of various kinds. Which is funny until it could affect an election.
The most common argument against this in the music business is that fraud takes money from artists, which is true, but it can be hard to get horrified about schemes to steam millions of fractions of pennies from thousands of artists. (Most of the book business works very differently, but dubious books do take money and attention that more legitimate books need.) Another argument is that low-quality material undermines the integrity of the system — consumers who hear lousy music and read dubious books might be less inclined to spend more money on such legitimate products.
The argument that ought to get more attention is that these kinds of products simply aren’t good for the overall experience platforms offer. Streaming services used to promote their vast selection, but at this point some of what’s uploaded just makes more popular music harder to find. The same applies on Amazon. A search for “Kim” and “Lost Words” brings up a half-dozen books — and even those who find and buy the one they want may be disappointed. Kim’s Lost Words has 98 reviews, which average out at three stars. Others have none at all. This doesn’t affect the value of other books, of course, but it could make them harder to find.
Any serious solution to this will involve changing the incentives. The current level of curation and enforcement won’t work once AI is more widespread. It’s one thing to sell a book that may or may not contain Porter’s words, but Amazon already sells 12. Are we ready for 12,000?
Making platforms easier to use will mean making tough choices, then pushing them down to distributors who will in turn push them down to individual uploaders. There are options, however: Platforms could hold uploaders responsible for content that hurts the user experience or pay out more to companies who have a better ratio of content users engage with compared to their total. That’s what I think — unless this all came from a flash drive someone gave me.
Changes are coming to Montreal’s nightlife. Following public outcry over the closure of the popular venue La Tulipe, Mayor Valérie Plante announced this week (Sept. 25) that venues will now be exempt from the bylaw that led to its closure.
The venue announced this week it would cease operations due to a decision by the Quebec Court of Appeal, which mandated the venue to not emit sound that could be heard in an adjacent building.
Specifically, in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough of Montreal (a popular area for live music), music venues will no longer be subject to Section 9 of the bylaw governing noise regulation, which specifies that amplified sound cannot be audible in a neighbouring building. Projet Montreal, Plante’s party, has also committed to improving the city’s soundproofing program and presenting a new nightlife policy in October.
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Plante posted a video on Instagram, sharing her own dismay at the news that La Tulipe would be closing its doors for the foreseeable future. She expresses concern that one person could derail an entire music venue.
“Yes to neighbourliness, but no to the dictatorship of neighbours,” Plante says in the video.
La Tulipe isn’t the only venue in the city to be affected by noise bylaws. Popular spots like Divan Orange and Diving Bell Social Club have previously closed down due to noise complaints.The outcry to the news about La Tulipe indicated a growing frustration amongst cultural laborers in the city, which has a reputation as a haven for arts production in Canada. – Rosie Long Decter
Newly Announced Rogers Stadium Will Become One of Canada’s Biggest Music Venues
On Thursday (Sept. 26), Live Nation and Northcrest Developments announced Rogers Stadium, the new 50,000 capacity outdoor venue in Toronto opening in June 2025. The venue will instantly become one of the biggest in Canada, with a slightly higher capacity than Toronto’s other stadium, Rogers Centre. It’s also one of the world’s few venues of the size that isn’t also home to a sports team.
The venue will be located at YZD, on the site of what used to be the Downsview Airport in North Toronto. Bombardier used the land for an air field, air force base and testing base for aircrafts. In 2018, Bombardier sold the facility to Northcrest Developments and will move its operations to Pearson Airport.
Rogers Stadium in Toronto
Courtesy of Northcrest Developments/Billboard Canada
The company is redeveloping the land into mixed-use residential communities, a $30B plan that is slated to take 30 years. In the meantime, the 370-acre site, now called YZD, is being used for a variety of arts, community and other initiatives as part of “Meanwhile Use Strategy.”
After the announcement press conference, Billboard Canada spoke to Erik Hoffman, president of music at Live Nation Canada, about why they decided to open the venue and why now. Hoffman says the decision was inspired by a specific artist.
“The idea came from [working with] a major artist who we were very frustrated that we couldn’t find dates [for],” says Hoffman. “They were just going to bypass Toronto on their world tour.”
That act (unrevealed, but there’s plenty of room for speculation) will now play Rogers Stadium next summer, one of 12-15 shows on the 2025 slate. Hoffman says almost all of those shows are already booked.
“It’ll be the biggest year we’ve ever had in stadium-level touring. By far,” he says. “It’s the kind of acts that you would traditionally see at an NFL stadium in the U.S. or the Rogers Centre here. The biggest acts in the world, and some of them setting up for multiple days.”
Stadium and festival-size shows are in high demand, he says, and Toronto is one of the top stops on any world tour. The city is also multicultural and multilingual, which makes it an ideal market for exploding genres from around the world including K-pop, Latin music and Punjabi music. Stadium shows from Indian star Diljit Dosanjh in Toronto and Vancouver this summer have shown there’s an appetite.
“If the fans weren’t coming, [artists] wouldn’t stage shows that big,” Hoffman says. “Not to dumb it down too much, but if they keep selling out stadium shows you do more stadium shows.” – Richard Trapunski
Somali-Canadian Artist K’naan Charged with Sexual Assault
Canadian musician K’naan has been charged with sexual assault.
A charge sheet was filed this week (Sept. 26) in Quebec City for the musician and director, born Keinan Abdi Warsame, for a count of sexual assault dating back to 2010, The Canadian Press reports.
The arrest warrant alleges that the assault took place between July 16 and 17 in Quebec City, which coincides with a show he played at Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) in 2010. CBC reports that the complaint was first filed in May of 2022 with the Montreal police, but was later transferred to Quebec City. The assault allegedly took place in a hotel room on territory covered by the Quebec City police force.
K’naan, who’s known for his 2009 hit “Wavin’ Flag” (later rerecorded as the global anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup), took an extended break after his 2012 album Troubadour and spent time in both Canada and the United States. Recently, he has recently returned to prominence.
The Somali-Canadian musician returned with “Refugee” in 2023, a song that he said was intended to feel “like a home for those of us made homeless by conflict.” K’naan won the Best Song for Social Change Award by the Recording Academy at this year’s Grammy Awards.
Just over two weeks ago, K’naan made his debut as a director, premiering his feature film Mother Mother at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. This week, on Sept. 24, K’naan attended the SOCAN Awards at History in Toronto and accepted the SOCAN Cultural Impact Award for the lasting global impact of his anthem, “Wavin’ Flag.”
Warsame was not in attendance for the proceedings in Quebec. The case has been set for April 2025. According to Radio-Canada, Warsame’s lawyer has requested he be tried in English in front of a jury. – R.T.
Max Lousada, who has served as CEO of recorded music for the Warner Music Group since 2017 and who will soon be exiting the company, has penned a farewell note to staff, which was obtained by Billboard.
“My entire career, from my indie roots through my 21 years here at Warner, has been guided by one simple truth: People who can make music that moves people are special,” Lousada wrote. “The world needs them. It’s a privilege to help those artists be seen, heard, appreciated and, ultimately, to succeed.”
Lousada has spent two decades at the Warner Music Group, starting in the mid-2000s, when he joined Atlantic U.K. and ran that company for nine years. He took over Warner Music’s whole U.K. operation in 2013, before shifting to take on the top music role at WMG under then-CEO Stephen Cooper in 2017. A longtime artist advocate within the building, Lousada is credited with playing a major role in the careers of Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Coldplay, David Guetta and more.
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During his tenure, he was part of the leadership team that helped WMG become a public company once again in 2020, while also helping facilitate and integrate the acquisitions of 300 Entertainment, 10K Projects and Spinnin Records.
Prior to his time at Warner, Lousada ran his own distribution company in the late 1990s before joining indie labels Rawkus Records in 2000 as European managing director, and Mushroom Records in 2002 as head of A&R.
On Aug. 1, current WMG CEO Robert Kyncl announced a major restructuring of the label group, which included news of Lousada’s exit; his last day in his post will be Sept. 30, though he will remain in an advisory capacity through January. His position within the company will not be replaced. As part of the transition, a number of high-profile leaders at Warner are also leaving the company, including Atlantic Music Group CEO Julie Greenwald, who herself penned a farewell letter to staff yesterday (Sept. 26). Elliot Grainge will take over as CEO of Atlantic Music Group beginning Oct. 1.
Read Lousada’s full note to staff below.
Hi everyone,
Monday will be my last day as CEO, Warner Recorded Music.
Although I’ll be working in an advisory capacity till the end of January, it feels like this is the moment to thank you all for what has been the most extraordinary experience and the most incredible honour.
My entire career, from my indie roots through my 21 years here at Warner, has been guided by one simple truth: People who can make music that moves people are special. The world needs them. It’s a privilege to help those artists be seen, heard, appreciated and, ultimately, to succeed.
So I want to express my gratitude to all the artists and managers who put their faith in me and in Warner to support them. Being there from the beginning with superstars like Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Dua Lipa, and David Guetta; our partnerships with legends like Coldplay and Linkin Park; being entrusted with the catalogs of icons like David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Madonna, and Led Zeppelin; seeing artists like Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Uzi Vert, CKay, Zach Bryan, Myke Towers, Gunna, Lizzo, Jack Harlow, Benson Boone, and Charli xcx make their mark on culture…these and so many others are memories and relationships I will treasure.
I want to give huge respect to everyone who champions artists every day by supporting their creativity, telling their stories, fuelling their fandom, and taking them global, as well as the unsung heroes protecting artists’ rights, getting them paid, and making sure all of us are equipped to do our best work. Everyone here plays their part and, whatever your role, know that I see you and I appreciate you. It has been my privilege to work with you and to lead you.
I would like to thank Len for backing Warner, and to wish him, Robert, and the WMG leadership team every success in steering this unique and historic company forward.
For all of you taking Warner into its next era, remember that, at its very best, music is the sound of change. What the most iconic artists and the most enduring businesses have in common is evolution. Sometimes that’s exhilarating, sometimes it’s messy and difficult. I encourage you to embrace ALL of it because it’s when we challenge ourselves to move forward that artists win, fans win, and we win. Ultimately, music has to win. It’s just too important not to.
Whatever my next era looks like, I’ll always be rooting for you and I hope many of our paths will cross again.
For now, I’m going to go and put a record on…
Thank you, all of you, for everything.
Max
Welcome to a sopping edition of Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music. It’s Julie Greenwald‘s last Friday as chair and CEO of Atlantic Music Group — read her farewell letter to staff here. Carry on for [mostly] good news but also check out Billboard‘s just-released annual list of Latin music’s most powerful executives, plus our weekly interview series spotlighting a single executive, our helpful calendar of notable events, and have you ever wanted to look at tchotchkes inside the office of an executive while reading their in-depth answers to the most important questions facing the biz? From the Desk Of is probably your jam.
Warner Music Group appointed Corey Sheridan as global head of commerce and revenue for ADA, the company’s independent label and artist services division. Sheridan, until recently the head of music partnerships at TikTok, will manage ADA’s commercial strategy, working to drive revenue and optimize music releases. The Los Angeles-based exec reports to ADA president Cat Kreidich. At TikTok, Sheridan played a crucial role in the platform’s music strategy, overseeing the creation of the TikTok Charts feature and securing partnerships with Billboard, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. His first role at TikTok was as head of music for North America, from April 2019 until February of the last year. Prior to TikTok, Sheridan held leadership roles at UnitedMasters, SoundCloud and Sony’s The Orchard. His work has earned recognition on Billboard’s 2020 Impact list and the 2019 Digital Power Players list. Kreidich praised Sheridan for his visionary leadership over the years, particularly in anticipating industry trends, and highlighted his deep passion for indie music and extensive digital and social experience as key assets for ADA’s future success. Sheridan lauded ADA’s “clear vision and unmatched drive to strengthen what a distribution company can offer.”
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Drew Hill, CEO of Proper Group’s distribution division, was elected chairman of the Official Charts Company, which compiles the UK’s music and video sales data. Hill succeeds Sony Music senior director of commercial analytics Charlotte de Burgh-Holder, taking on the non-executive role starting Sept. 29. He represents ERA, the Digital Entertainment & Retail Association, which co-owns the Official Charts Company with BPI. As chairman, Hill will work closely with CEO Martin Talbot to shape the company’s strategy and chair the Official Charts board. With over 20 years of experience in the entertainment sector, including roles at Walt Disney and Curb Records, Hill now leads Proper Group’s distribution division. He recently oversaw the launch of the UK’s largest warehouse for physical music and video. Talbot praised Hill’s wide-ranging industry experience, noting it makes him well-suited for the role “as we continue to evolve all that the Official Charts does and stands for – and prepares for the next phase in its development.”
Warner Chappell Music promoted A&R executive Spencer Nohe to vp of A&R. During his career, Nohe has worked with artists including Thomas Rhett, Alysa Vanderheym, Brittney Spencer and Conner Smith. He joined WCM Nashville in 2020 as director of A&R and previously worked at Curb/Word Entertainment and BMI. Nohe will continue to report to Ben Vaughn, president and CEO of WCM Nashville, who called him a “true, thoughtful music professional.” –Jessica Nicholson
Universal Music Greater China senior vp Gary Chan has been tasked with helming a new label specifically covering China’s Greater Bay Area, which includes both Hong Kong and Macau and is home to more than 86 million people. The new imprint, Universal Music China Greater Bay Area, has its headquarters in Shenzhen and will focus on discovering and nurturing local talent. “We eagerly anticipate welcoming the outstanding talents from this region to join us in driving forward, the next era of Chinese pop music,” said Timothy Xu, chairman and CEO of UMGC. “In this pursuit, we are setting our sights on transforming the GBA into a trendsetting hub that epitomizes creativity, vitality, and connectivity, crafting fresh musical expressions and innovative entertainment experiences.”
Big Machine Label Group appointed Andi Brooks as director of streaming for The Valory Music Co, effective immediately. Previously the director of Southwest promotion & marketing at Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment (formerly BMLG Records), Brooks will now collaborate with VMC’s streaming partners to strategize and promote both new releases and existing catalog. She reports to VMC president George Briner and svp of digital & promotion Ashley Sidoti. Brooks joined BMLG Records in 2019, following a successful career in radio and morning television in Madison, WI. “Her enthusiasm and passion for music, along with her desire and drive to be the best in the streaming world makes her a great addition,” said Briner.
Distribution and retail brand Fat Beats appointed industry veteran Rob Caiaffa as its new head of marketing. Caiaffa will oversee Fat Beats’ marketing efforts during a time of growth and expansion, as the brand celebrates its 30th anniversary. His role will focus on enhancing Fat Beats’ market positioning and strengthening relationships with artists and industry partners. Caiaffa brings two decades of experience from previous senior positions at companies like SoundCloud, Motown Records and Def Jam Recordings. At SoundCloud, he played a key role in launching initiatives like the Fresh Press artist interviews and the CloudBar industry insights program, and worked on strategic partnerships with major brands like SiriusXM and Pandora. Caiaffa said his goal at his new gig is upholding Fat Beats’ legacy while exploring innovative new opportunities for the brand’s future.
Jon Borris joined The Core Records as general manager, where he will oversee the label’s day-to-day operations, focusing on artist strategy, A&R, marketing and distribution. He joins the label following a six-year tenure at Republic Records, where he worked with artists including Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen, Drake and Ariana Grande. Prior to Republic, Borris spent two decades at Sony Music Entertainment. Kevin “Chief” Zaruk and Simon Tikhman launched The Core Records in 2023. -J.N.
Outback Presents appointed Joel Bachkoff as senior vp of comedy, marking a key addition to the company’s growing funny business. Bachkoff will focus on developing the careers of comedy talent, guiding them from clubs to theaters and eventually arenas, while cementing their long-term success. With decades of experience in the comedy industry, Bachkoff’s career began at the club level and expanded to owning and operating multiple comedy, music, and restaurant venues across Arizona, Florida, and California. His expertise and innovative approach have made him a respected leader in the field. Outback Presents co-CEOs, Brian Dorfman and Michael Smardak, expressed their excitement about Bachkoff joining the team, with Smardak saying he’s “thankful to be able to work with Brian and Joel who have dedicated their careers to comedy.” Reach Bachkoff at joel.bachkoff@outbackpresents.com.
Dhar Mann Studios, a leading digital content company, appointed Sean Atkins as president and COO. Atkins, a media industry veteran with experience at Jellysmack, MTV, and Discovery, joins to drive the company’s growth and expansion into new business lines. Dhar Mann Studios produces scripted content, generating over 6.7 billion views in the past year, the company said. Atkins will oversee its Burbank production facility and lead efforts to broaden the company’s reach, including live events, merchandising, publishing, and partnerships, with representation from CAA. As president of DMS, Atkins has already launched the 5th Quarter Agency, a new creator-services division to help top creators monetize their content on YouTube. Dhar Mann, the company’s founder, sees Atkins as key to accelerating the company’s mission-driven growth. “Together, we’re set to advance our mission of using media to make a positive global impact, while we propel the company into this next stage of unprecedented growth,” he said.
Align PR is expanding its music and Latin teams with the addition of Lauren Morris-Ruff and Erica Goldish in Los Angeles, Victoire Selce and Nick Vinci in New York City, and Justin Tejada in Miami — all with strong backgrounds covering labels, agencies and various markets. Align’s client roster includes heavy-hitters like Madonna, Demi Lovato, Zayn Malik, Lil Wayne, Lea Michele and Nicky Jam, among others. Co-founder Nicole Perez-Krueger expressed excitement about the company’s growth, noting how the varied experiences of the new team members — Morris-Ruff at PMK*BNC, Goldish at Shore Fire, Selce at Wasserman, Vinci at 10K Projects and Tejada at Acoustyle — enhance the firm’s culture and storytelling abilities. The music department will continue to collaborate with longtime staff members such as Nicole Perez-Krueger, Brit Reece, Cait Bailey, Paul Samaha, Alec Huerta, Trixie Richter and Isa Perez.
ICYMI:
Dickon Stainer
Elektra veteran Gregg Nadel was appointed co-chair and co-president of Warner Music Nashville, replacing Ben Kline to work alongside co-head Cris Lacy … Universal Music Group Nashville appointed Robert Kilduff as chief financial officer … Several staffers at CMT have been let go … and Dickon Stainer was appointed chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK, succeeding David Joseph, who announced a day before that he was stepping down from the role after almost 17 years at the wheel. [MORE]
Last Week’s Turntable: An Old Friend Returns to Budde
Grammy award-winning, multi-platinum artist Maren Morris has signed with WME for representation globally. Morris was previously represented by CAA. Morris is currently managed by Red Light Management. In addition to her Grammy win, Morris has garnered five ACM Awards (including winning female artist of the year twice), five CMA Awards and three Billboard Music Awards. […]
There’s a brand new venue coming to Toronto, and it will be one of the biggest in the country. Rogers Stadium will open in summer 2025. At 50,000 capacity, it will also be one of the biggest venues built specifically for music. Despite the stadium designation, the venue will not be home to a sports […]
When Jeremy Sirota signed on as CEO of indie digital rights nonprofit Merlin in January 2020, he had already spent years championing the independent music community.
After starting his career as a tech lawyer in the mid-2000s, Sirota worked for nine years at the Warner Music Group at WEA and ADA, helping to distribute WMG’s affiliated indie-label partners. He then moved to Facebook Music, where he was independent label lead for its business and partnerships team. That experience gives him the perspective needed to assist Merlin’s 500-plus members representing 30,000-plus label partners in more than 70 countries in navigating an increasingly complex digital world.
Over the past four years, he has worked to set those labels — which collectively represent some 15% of the global recorded-music market — on a course to optimize partnerships that increasingly power the business. They include expanded alliances with Meta and YouTube; deals with SoundCloud, for its fan-powered royalties structure, and Deezer, for its “artist-centric” royalties plan; and a new initiative, Merlin Connect, that grants select tech startups a license for its members’ catalogs to help educate those new companies about music usage on their platforms while getting Merlin’s labels and their artists paid.
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Since Sirota became CEO, Merlin has added more than 100 members and launched a mentorship program, Merlin Engage, which pairs women music executives with the next generation of female industry leaders. He’s also debuted Merlin Insights, launched in April to help parse the avalanche of data that indies must process. And as the sector grows globally, Sirota says he’s focused on how to best superserve Merlin’s labels. “There are a lot of ways we think about growth,” he explains. “The most important are ‘Am I driving more value to my members? Am I helping support their ability to be independent? And am I helping to shape a future where artistry, authenticity and creativity can thrive?’ ”
Have you brought in new members and territories this year?
Our growth is about making sure that our values are held by the members who join. This year, 11 new members have joined Merlin, including Artist Partner Group, UNIFIED and Rostrum Pacific. We’ve grown the team to deliver on white-glove support. That involves three things: automate as much as possible; communicate; and collaborate more efficiently and effectively. Something we think about a lot is “How do we free people up?” We’re now over 50 people and have added people around the world at all levels. One of the most important things we do is report and pay to our members on a timely basis so they can pay their bills, their labels and their artists. And we’re deepening our relationships with some of our partners, like Meta, and doing things with [graphic design platform] Canva — which I’m really excited about. We’re finding new ways to monetize music in a healthy and fair way.
A coffee enthusiast, Sirota calls this “my rocket ship of an espresso maker — a Profitec, gifted by my wife — with which I enjoy my daily ritual of making cortados.” He admits to a “guilty love of New York deli coffee with a generous dose of milk and sugar.”
Nina Westervelt
How does Merlin Insights benefit your members?
Insights is a big initiative. We now have a data operations team to make sure that all trends data is being delivered in the right format. Our market share on some of these platforms is significant — more than just the 15% we talk about. So we have this incredible wealth of data. What could we do with that that members cannot do on their own? If you’re not a global organization with 10,000 employees all around the world, we have the ability to pull out interesting stories that help our members — things they don’t know because they’re not on the ground. We do reports, webinars, feedback loops with members around: What else do they want to see? What do we get right? What do we get wrong? That’s where this membership, this community, really comes into play.
What are some of the biggest challenges facing indies right now?
Their world keeps changing so rapidly, and whatever worked six months ago doesn’t work today. That’s why I talk so much about this one-on-one white-glove approach, which is helping them understand where things are headed so that they can make better decisions. Compared to a major, they have less capital, less resources, smaller teams. They have to be more nimble, and the decisions they make have to be right more often. What kind of guidance are you giving them? What does it mean to break and sustain artists, given the way this world’s operating? And what can we be doing with data, our deal-making and with our partners? And then, what are the next, new opportunities? If music is like water, it’s flowing everywhere, and yet it’s not picking up the monetization it should. So trying to find those next, new opportunities.
Is that one of the ideas behind Merlin Connect?
We’re trying to make the ability for startups — pre-seed companies — to be able to more seamlessly tap into music, from a licensing perspective, from an operational perspective, and get value in return for that. But they may not even realize the value of music. We’re also trying to tackle people who may not have thought about music.
I look at so many different types of companies where music could be so valuable to them if they just understood it. We want to make it more seamless, the operations, the licensing, and then there’s an education piece. But it’s not just a license — we’re investing in you as well. You get access to our team, which [collectively] has hundreds of years of music experience with startups about what works and what doesn’t work. You get access to our independent members who love to be on the cutting edge.
We’ve had some really good conversations with some companies now. This is a long-term project — this is our approach now to how we think about the ecosystem and how we nurture it. I’m not going to change the trajectory of every startup just because they have music now, but I think I can fundamentally change the trajectory of so many startups in a way they don’t realize yet.
This photo of David Bowie, taken by Mick Rock, “is a cherished piece because it captures Bowie’s aura.”
Nina Westervelt
Is this about finding new growth sectors?
One hundred percent. It’s almost endless, the types of platforms and startups that could benefit from music. And it’s going to take experimentation. You can’t help everything grow, but there’s a lot out there that’s not growing the way it could. And it’s going to benefit Merlin and its members and their labels and artists, but it could have beneficial ramifications for the whole industry as well. If we can help be a part of that, that would be really exciting.
How have your experiences at Warner and Facebook served you at Merlin?
It gave me the ability to relate to people at different levels in the business, whether it’s a product manager at a digital platform, or an engineer who’s now a founder of a startup, or it’s a member who runs a metal label, or [is] the head of [European indie trade association] IMPALA. I try to see the business through their eyes. I’ve always been on the service side, and that’s always been the through line. People want to know that you understand them, and that they were heard, and that you’re working to do what you can.
When Merlin renewed its Meta partnership this year, you said it was about more than licensing music. What else do you expect of these alliances?
We don’t think of it as “Let’s come back and kick the tires every few years.” We want to help shape their thinking about music and their understanding of what independents need at an operational level. We want to do the same thing with our partners to create this continual feedback loop and conversation.
“These artifacts represent a different period of my life that keeps me grounded,” he says. They include awards from the Eagle Scouts, WEA and the Young Presidents Organization.
Nina Westervelt
What were your reasons for Merlin’s deals with SoundCloud and Deezer over their proposed changes to the royalty payout model for streaming services?
We want to make sure no one’s gaming the system. We want to make sure that fraudulent content is not an issue. We want to make sure that artificial streaming is not an issue. We’re absolutely willing to experiment and try out different models. But when you say, “Let’s change the system,” we need to be really careful about two things. One is unintended consequences. And No. 2 is, sometimes what I hear is, “Let’s penalize independents.” Let’s prevent abuse, but let’s be careful. Let’s be incremental to avoid unintended consequences. And let’s not do something that will make it more difficult for independents to operate. It’s already expensive enough to operate in this space, and it’s creating more barriers to entry for those who don’t have the same level of capital to arbitrage against.
That raises a question. Over the past 10 to 15 years, many of the traditional barriers to the music business have come down. It seems like some of these proposed changes to the model are a bit like “Let’s rebuild some of those walls.” Do you feel like things are too wide open now? Do we actually need barriers to entry?
When I hear “create more barriers to entry,” I have a little bit of reflex [thinking that means] “Let’s make it more difficult for independents.” At the same time, you want to be supporting quality music. What has happened is technology is outpacing how we operate as humans. I think the biggest challenge music always has is that there is a zero-sum game around some of this. It’s one of the reasons we’re always thinking about creating new incremental revenue sources.
Where did the idea of Merlin Engage come from, and how have things gone so far?
Katie Alberts from Reach Records was the first to propose this, and Marie Clausen from Ninja Tune was the second. This is our second year. We’re conscious of not biting off more than we can chew. But what is really great about it is, we’re matching very senior leaders with up-and-coming, next-generation female leaders. And what I find particularly inspiring is that these people who are incredibly busy are willing to put time toward it. The second is, we’re creating another mini community. And it’s global, we’re connecting people from different countries. There’s so much we want to do at Merlin, but this one was just a no-brainer to help move the music industry in a better direction.
“I keep a curated sample of already-read books nearby as an invitation to be inspired,” he says. Above them: “A graffiti artwork by my talented aunt, Laura Shechter, whose art estate I manage.”
Nina Westervelt
This story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024 issue of Billboard magazine.
LEVEL, a distribution company owned by Warner Music Group, announced on Thursday (Sept. 26) via Instagram that it will be shutting down in 2025. In a letter to its clients, obtained by Billboard, LEVEL notes that it is no longer accepting new songs for distribution or edits as of the date of the announcement and it will cease all operations on July 31, 2025.
The letter also said that all live releases will automatically be taken down on Nov. 18, but artists are “welcome to request a takedown” of their content before then. It also notes that access to the LEVEL Wallet, which is how the company pays out royalties, will be shut down on July 11. “We’re honored to have supported all of the talented people who have used LEVEL to share their music with the world over the years,” the company said.
In a statement provided to Billboard, WMG said: “We’re focusing all of our efforts behind the ADA brand, as we continue to strengthen our global suite of services for artists and label partners across the independent community. We’re taking a truly global approach, and investing in our team and technology, with some exciting announcements in the works.”
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In late 2022, multiple LEVEL artists and former employees told Billboard that the company was experiencing operational issues. This included the random removal of artists’ songs and projects distributed through the company and increasing difficulty in getting in touch with staff to remedy the takedowns and to generally receive service. Two former employees believed at the time that this was due to a reduced headcount at the company. A number of artists also took to the company’s Instagram comment sections to voice their concerns about the company. Those comments have all since been deleted.
In January 2023, the company addressed these complaints in an Instagram post, saying, “when it comes to customer support, we acknowledge we need improvement… we are refining our process for how we approach withdrawals [as well].”
LEVEL was started in 2018 by WMG in an effort to work more closely with young, unsigned artists. During the course of its operations, it released early songs by Remi Wolf, Stephen Sanchez, brakence, Dreamer Isioma, Boyish and more.
News of LEVEL’s shut down comes amid a widespread restructure of WMG’s Atlantic Music Group, which includes Atlantic Records, Elektra Records 300 Entertainment, Fueled by Ramen, Roadrunner and 10K Projects. Over the last few weeks, around 150 employees under the Atlantic Music Group umbrella have been let go, and a number of high-profile executives are also stepping down from the company, including Atlantic Music Group CEO Julie Greenwald, who co-led Atlantic for nearly 20 years; WMG’s CEO of recorded music Max Lousada, who had been at WMG for decades; 300 Elektra Entertainment chairman/CEO Kevin Liles; Atlantic general manager Paul Sinclair; and Atlantic co-president of Black music Michael Kyser, along with several department heads at both Atlantic and Elektra Records.
Atlantic Music Group will now be helmed by 10K Projects founder/CEO Elliot Grainge.