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Universal Music Group has entered a strategic partnership with AI music company KLAY. To date, KLAY has not yet released any of its products, but the AI start-up is said to be developing what it calls a “Large Music Model,” dubbed “KLayMM” which will “help humans create new music with the help of AI,” says […]
As earnings season prepares to get underway, K-pop companies were among the week’s rare winners as music stocks broke a six-week winning streak.
YG Entertainment surged 6.1% this week as the company appears to have scored a hit with “APT” by ROSÉ, a member of the girl group BLACKPINK, featuring Bruno Mars. The track got off to a blistering start this week, topping Spotify’s global and U.S. daily streaming charts and earning 13.3 million streams in the U.S. in its first four days of release. SM Entertainment, home to NCT 127 and RIIZE, rose 4.1%, while HYBE, with a roster including Seventeen and Tomorrow X Together, improved 2.1%. JYP Entertainment, the agency behind Stray Kids and ITZY, improved 1.4%.
Stock prices are likely to see movement in the coming weeks as companies release their results for the quarter ended Sept. 30. The first music companies out of the gate are Reservoir Media (Oct. 30), SiriusXM (Oct. 31), Universal Music Group (Oct. 31) and Cumulus Media (Nov. 1). Other companies that have announced earnings release dates include Sony Corp. (Nov. 8), Tencent Music Entertainment (Nov. 12), Live Nation (Nov. 12) and Spotify (Nov. 12).
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The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) fell 0.6% to 1,974.72 in the week ended Oct. 25 after breaking 2,000 for the first time the prior week and posting gains the previous five weeks. In the week ended Oct. 18, the BGMI reached 2,001.28, more than doubling in value since the index launched in February 2022. After the recent decline, the index’s year-to-date gain stood at 29.7%, ahead of both the Nasdaq composite (up 23.4%) and S&P 500 (up 21.8%).
Stock markets were mixed this week. In the U.S., the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 18,518.61 while the Nasdaq composite fell 1.0% to 5,808.12 despite Tesla’s 22% gain after the electric vehicle maker beat earnings expectations and upgraded its growth outlook. In the U.K., the FTSE 100 dropped 1.6% to 8,248.84. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index dipped 0.4% to 2,583.27. China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.2% to 3,299.70.
Outside of South Korean companies, one of the biggest movers of the week was Live Nation. Ahead of the company’s Nov. 12 earnings release, numerous analysts increased their price targets on the concert promoter’s stock this week: Redburn Atlantic (to $126 from $118), Jefferies (to $132 from $113), JP Morgan (to $137 from $118) and Goldman Sachs (to $132 from $128). Given that the third quarter is historically Live Nation’s strongest period and the company has set all-time records in previous quarters, Q3 results are likely to boast more all-time highs.
Spotify was one of the index’s few stocks to post a weekly gain — albeit with just a 0.1% increase. Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Spotify on Wednesday to $430 from $400. Analysts see much upside for Spotify. Global subscription penetration (excluding China) “remains relatively low” at 15%, Goldman analysts explained in a Tuesday (Oct. 22) investor note, and Spotify has the ability to further raise prices. Additionally, they wrote, Spotify’s growing audiobook business proved the company can generate more revenue from its subscribers than was possible when it offered just music.
Most music stocks had modest, single-digit declines this week. Warner Music Group fell 0.1% to $32.38, Universal Music Group dropped 1.9% to 23.61 euros, Tencent Music Entertainment declined 3.2% to $11.50, Reservoir Media dipped 3.4% to $8.55, iHeartMedia was down 4.3% to $1.80, and both Sphere Entertainment Co. and SiriusXM were off 4.4%.
LiveOne was the week’s biggest loser after falling 10.6% to $0.58. The music streamer has fallen 38% since its Oct. 1 announcement that Tesla will no longer subsidize the LiveOne-powered streaming service in new vehicles. Radio broadcaster Cumulus Media dropped 9.4% to $1.16, bringing its year-to-date decline to 78.2%.
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Lil Durk ordered his OTF associates to murder rapper Quando Rondo in a failed 2022 shooting, according to criminal charges unsealed by federal prosecutors on Friday (Oct. 25) — and he was allegedly planning to take a private jet to Italy when he was arrested.
The Chicago rapper (real name Durk Devontay Banks) was arrested Thursday evening on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, hours after several of his Only the Family associates were indicted on similar charges over their alleged involvement in the attempted killing of Rondo (Tyquian Bowman).
In a new complaint unsealed on Friday, prosecutors laid out their case against Durk (referred to as BANKS in the complaint) — accusing OTF of being not just a rap collective, but also a “hybrid organization” that also functions as a criminal gang that has carried out violent acts “at the direction of BANKS.”
Prosecutors say one of those acts was the 2022 attempted killing of Rondo, allegedly carried out in retaliation for the 2020 killing of rapper King Von (Dayvon Bennett), a close friend of Durk’s.
“BANKS put a monetary bounty out for an individual with whom BANKS was feuding named T.B.,” referring to Rondo by his initials. “BANKS ordered T.B.’s murder and that the hitmen used BANKS and OTF-related finances to carry out the murder.”
An attorney for Lil Durk did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday.
The charges came a day after Los Angeles federal prosecutors unsealed murder-for-hire and murder-for-hire conspiracy charges against several alleged OTF members — Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson and Asa Houston – as well as two other alleged Chicago gang members named Keith Jones and David Brian Lindsey.
In both the new charges and the earlier indictment, prosecutors claim that the five men were behind the 2022 shooting. But in the new filings, they directly allege that Durk ordered the killing, saying it was retaliation for a 2020 Atlanta shooting in which a Rondo associate allegedly shot and killed Von.
“At the time of the murder, T.B. had a public feud with BANKS,” prosecutors write. “The feud stemmed from a Nov. 6, 2020, murder, where an associate of T.B. shot and killed an OTF rapper named Dayvon Bennett aka ‘King Von.’ Bennett was a member of OTF and BANKS’ close friend.”
The new filings also claim that Durk was planning to flee the country when he was arrested.
Prosecutors say that following the OTF arrests, they received notification that Durk had booked commercial flights to both Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and to Switzerland — flights that he never boarded. The FBI then allegedly learned that he had booked passage on a private jet to Italy, and Durk was arrested when he neared the departing airport for that flight.
King Von, a rising rapper in Chicago’s drill scene and a childhood friend of Durk, was shot and killed outside an Atlanta nightclub on Nov. 6, 2020, after an argument between two groups turned into a fight in the parking lot. A 22-year-old man named Timothy Leeks, reportedly an associate of Rondo, was arrested days later, but the case was eventually dropped.
Two years later, on Aug. 19, 2022, Rondo and associate Lul Pab (Saviay’a Robinson) were ambushed by gunmen while sitting in their car at a Los Angeles gas station. Rondo emerged unscathed, but Robinson later died at the hospital.
According to Thursday’s indictment, that killing was allegedly carried out by OTF members Grant, Wilson and Houston, as well as by Jones and Lindsey, who prosecutors say were “members of other gangs in Chicago.” They allege the group “used two vehicles to track, stalk and attempt to kill T.B. by gunfire — including with a fully automatic firearm — resulting in the death of S.R.”
In Friday’s complaint, prosecutors say the group carried out the attack on orders from Durk in retaliation for the earlier King Von slaying. They cite a text allegedly sent by Durk to another co-conspirator: “Don’t book no flights under no names involved wit me.”
According to prosecutors, the group used “a credit card associated with OTF” to buy plane tickets to fly to Los Angeles and rent a hotel room. Using two cars, including one with fake license plates, the group then tracked Rondo’s SUV through the city until they reached the gas station.
“Jones and Lindsey, and Co-Conspirator 2 used the firearms procured by defendant Grant — including the fully automatic firearm — to shoot at T.B.’s car, striking and killing S.R., who was standing next to T.B.’s car while T.B. was inside,” prosecutors write.
After fleeing the scene, prosecutors say the group later reconvened at a restaurant, where they hashed out payments for the crime. Later in the day, they allegedly used the same OTF-linked credit card to purchase plane tickets and fly back to Chicago.
The old saying that any publicity is good publicity isn’t always true in the music business. And this year, Sean “Diddy” Combs is proving that listeners and corporations alike have limits.
Near the end of 2023, Combs was enjoying the momentum of the September release of The Love Album: Off the Grid, which spent seven weeks on the Billboard 200 albums chart and peaked at No. 19 on the Sept. 30 chart week. Meanwhile, album single “Another One of Me” by Diddy, French Montana & The Weeknd featuring 21 Savage peaked at No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100.
However, those numbers would start dropping quickly. In November, the Bad Boy Records founder was the subject of three separate lawsuits by an ex-girlfriend, Cassie, and two other people with various allegations of sexual and physical assault. While his weekly streams and radio plays — composed of various solo recordings under names including Diddy, Puff Daddy and P. Diddy — could be expected to experience some decay as the weeks passed after the album’s launch, the controversies arguably accelerated Combs’ downturn with listeners.
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When Combs stepped down as chairman of digital media company Revolt a week later, his streams fell 22%, while his radio spins fell 36%. Two weeks after that — when brands severed ties with Combs’ e-commerce company, Empower Global, and Hulu scrapped plans for a reality show involving Combs — his radio plays fell another 55%.
That’s not to say that being in the news always hurts an artist’s streaming numbers. After Combs was arrested on Sept. 16 after being indicted for allegedly running a federal sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, U.S. on-demand streams of Combs’ music jumped 37% in the week ended Oct. 3. That Combs’ music benefitted from negative publicity isn’t a surprise — heavy media coverage, whether due to a death or a high-profile lawsuit, tends to influence what listeners seek out on streaming platforms. But the post-arrest bump was short-lived. Three weeks after Combs entered the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, his streaming numbers had fallen to pre-indictment levels.
Diddy
Billboard
Radio is a different story. While many listeners continued to stream Combs’ music, radio programmers, who risk losing advertisers by playing controversial artists, quickly abandoned Combs. In the first quarter of 2023, well before any public signs of impropriety, Combs’ music was getting played on U.S. radio anywhere from 800 to 1,000 times per week. But the March 25 FBI raids on Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami coincided with a 27% drop in weekly radio spins. By the time a video of Combs assaulting Cassie in the hallway of a hotel surfaced at CNN in May, weekly spins of Combs’ songs were down to 352 — 94% below where they were when Cassie filed her lawsuit seven months earlier. By June, his weekly radio plays had dropped below 200.
Radio’s interest in Combs’ music reached a nadir soon after. The week after his arrest on Sept. 16, Combs’ weekly radio spins were down 25%, and radio programmers have largely refrained from playing his music ever since.
Combs’ experience at the hands of music streamers and radio stations echoes that of R&B singer R. Kelly a few years earlier. Long hounded by allegations of sexual abuse, Kelly managed to avoid accountability until the Washington Post ran a story titled “Star Treatment” that detailed how the music industry overlooked his deeds. In the wake of the article, Spotify and other streaming platforms decided in May 2018 to deemphasize Kelly’s tracks in algorithms and editorial playlists, and his average weekly U.S. on-demand streams dropped 10%. Radio programmers had an even bigger impact: Kelly’s weekly U.S. radio plays dropped 29% following the article’s publication.
Kelly’s arrest in February 2019 didn’t lead to an immediate drop in his streaming numbers; throughout 2019, his weekly on-demand streams consistently hovered around 15 million to 16 million. But radio programmers began abandoning him; by the time Kelly was arrested and charged by the state of Illinois in February, his weekly radio plays had already bottomed out at just over 100, down from about 2,000 a year earlier.
Over the next few years, streams of such songs as “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Ignition” would gradually and consistently decline. In 2020, Kelly’s tracks were doing roughly 9 million to 10 million streams per week. The next year, weekly streams fell to roughly 8 million, then 7 million.
Following a guilty verdict in September 2021, Kelly was given a 30-year prison sentence in June 2022. Like with Combs’ September 2024 arrest, media coverage of his sentence resulted in a small, single-digit gain in weekly streams, but the numbers showed a clear damage to his reputation. A week after the verdict, Kelly’s U.S. on-demand streams stood at 8.8 million per week — down 40% since the Washington Post article ran in 2018.
R. Kelly’s music seems to have reached a plateau, however, and interest in his catalog on streaming platforms has remained steady since his sentencing. Over two years later, Kelly’s weekly on-demand streams remain unchanged at roughly 9 million per week, though radio remains disinterested in playing his songs. This suggests that Diddy’s music could perform better online than at radio as his saga plays out.
10/25/2024
The mogul purchased the pop star’s six-album catalog for upwards of $300 million in 2019.
10/25/2024
Crypto.com Arena hosted the first game of the 2024-2025 NBA season on Tuesday night (Oct. 22), which saw the arena’s tenants, the Los Angeles Lakers, take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. The evening notably featured the first appearance of a father-son duo (LeBron James and son Bronny James) in NBA history — while the 25-year-old arena also showed off its new, nine-figure renovations.
A quarter of a century is a long time for any entertainment arena to remain culturally relevant, but Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center) has completed its third round of multi-million-dollar renovations to keep up with technological advancements and a new era in fan enjoyment.
During the Oct. 22 game, the arena — at the center of the entertainment campus L.A. Live — unveiled its new outdoor space, refreshed food and beverage offerings and state-of-the-art technology designed to reduce wait times throughout the facility. The arena’s first outdoor space, the City View Terrace, offers concert and game attendees the option of enjoying food and drinks with downtown Los Angeles as the backdrop while still being able to view the game or concert taking place inside. The terrace features several food and beverage stops and is open to all ticket holders.
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For floor- or ice-seat ticketholders, the arena revamped its exclusive Chairman’s Club to become the Delta SKY360° Club. On Wednesday (Oct. 23), Crypto.com Arena senior vp of guest services and security Danielle Snyder took media on a tour of the reimagined space, which includes a private bar in a lounge setting that is only accessible to premium seat holders and friends and family of the team or act playing. For the first time in its history, Crypto.com Arena will also now offer VIP tours to the general public, allowing guests to access behind-the-scenes areas such as the Delta SKY360° Club.
Danielle Snyder, Crypto.com Arena Senior Vice President of Guest Services and Security
Courtesy of Crypto.com Arena
This season, founding partner Coca-Cola is also continuing to expand its presence with the newly unveiled Coke Studio, a 3,300-square-foot music-driven studio and event space at Crypto.com Arena that will host concerts, artist appearances, podcast recordings and more. Coca-Cola is supporting the arena’s sustainability initiatives, including the r.Cup program, which replaces single-use cups with reusable ones to help further the arena’s commitment to reducing waste. As part of this program, Coca-Cola products, along with other non-alcoholic beverages, will be served in r.Cup’s reusable vessels.
The arena’s new food offerings include chef and TV host David Chang’s spicy fried chicken concept fuku and chef and restaurateur Ludo Lefebvre’s two new concession stands: Mediterranean-focused Ludobab and Trois Familia, a fusion of Lefebvre’s French background with local Mexican cuisine. Elsewhere, Fresh Brothers will become the arena’s official pizza partner with a new concession stand (replacing Blaze Pizza), while Big Mozz is the arena’s newest official mozzarella stick partner.
Courtesy of Crypto.com Arena
A standout of the new offerings includes the first Doritos restaurant, Doritos After Dark. Located at the arena’s main Star Plaza entrance, Doritos After Dark serves up late-night favorites elevated with the flavor and crunch of Doritos for appetizers and entrees. Special items include Doritos Spicy Sweet Chili Ramen-Rito (a Dorito and ramen-filled burrito) and Doritos Nacho Cheese Crunchtastic Vanilla Cone (an ice cream cone with a chocolate shell covered in cheesy chips). On Nov. 15, for one night only, Doritos After Dark will step out of the arena and into a one-of-a-kind Doritos Night Market pop-up in a free, immersive, neon-filled atmosphere open to all from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at L.A. Live’s Peacock Place.
Courtesy of Crypto.com Arena
New technology has also been installed at the arena. This includes Evolv, a leader in AI-based security technology, which is enhancing fan safety with the rollout of its Evolv Express screening system at all entrances. This cutting-edge technology allows fans to move through security checkpoints more quickly and efficiently, differentiating between potential threats and most everyday metal items such as cell phones and keys. By streamlining entry, Evolv is designed to help fans spend less time waiting in line and more time enjoying the event.
Once inside, fans can also skip lines with Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, which has been installed at multiple locations inside the arena, along with the brand-new Exo self-checkout at the Team LA Store, which also underwent a remodel. Now, all items at the Team LA Store include RFID technology, which allows fans to drop all their merchandise into a scanner that rings up everything instantaneously. The technology is currently only available at sporting events, as tour merchandise is not yet streamlined with RFID technology.
Crypto.com Arena is set to host programming tied to some of the biggest and highest-profile sporting events over the next decade. Among other events, it has been selected to host the 2025 Grammy Awards (the 22nd time the arena has hosted music’s biggest night), the 2027 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Regional, and the men’s and women’s gymnastics competitions for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
A new Spanish-language version of Brenda Lee‘s holiday hit “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” was released Friday (Oct. 25), using “responsibly-trained” artificial intelligence to make the translation. A perennial hit for 66 years and counting, “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” is the biggest song to have been translated into a new language using AI.
Released via MCA Nashville/Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), “Noche Buena y Navidad” was revamped by four-time Latin Grammy award-winning producer Auero Baqueiro. Baqueiro first translated the lyrics from English to Spanish, trying to match the same phonetics and rhyming structure that made sense for Spanish while maintaining the original lyrical themes from the original English version. Then, he enlisted Chile-born, L.A.-based vocalist Leyla Hoyle to sing the vocals in Spanish in a way that would capture Lee’s unique voice patterns, including intricacies like phrasing, tone, and breaths.
Baquiero ultimately kept the original music and background vocals and, once Hoyle recorded the raw Spanish vocals, used AI to map Lee’s voice over Hoyle’s performance. The translation was made possible using SoundLabs AI’s MicDrop technology, a “responsibly-trained” AI audio plugin that allows users to swap their voices out with another voice or instrument.
Trending on Billboard
The new AI-powered translation arrives just in time for the holiday season. Despite being released back in 1958, Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is more popular than ever. Last year, her song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time and stayed in the top spot for three straight weeks.
Lee is not the first artist to use AI to translate her work. In May 2023, HYBE debuted a new K-pop artist, MIDNATT, who used AI to release his first single in six different languages. In November 2023, indie-pop artist Lauv released an AI translation of his single “Love U Like That” in Korean as a nod to his strong fanbase in that country. Similarly to “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” a bilingual human songwriter, Kevin Woo, translated the “Love U Like That” lyrics to Korean. After Woo sang through the song, Lauv’s voice was planted on top of his vocals using the AI voice platform Hooky.
Finally, country icon Randy Travis made headlines in May 2024 by using AI voice technology to record a new single, “Where That Came From,” after his vocal abilities were greatly diminished in a near-fatal stroke a decade before.
The Spanish-language version of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is the first release from Universal Music Group (UMG) and SoundLabs’ partnership, which was announced in June 2024. The AI company was founded by software developer and electronic artist BT and is said to be “responsibly” trained. The partnership is part of UMG’s “responsible AI initiative,” as laid out by the company’s CEO/chairman Lucian Grainge, which involves “forg[ing] groundbreaking private-sector partnerships with AI technology companies.”
“I am so blown away by this new Spanish version of ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,’ which was created with the help of AI,” said Lee in a statement. “Throughout my career, I performed and recorded many songs in different languages, but I never recorded ‘Rockin’’ in Spanish, which I would have loved to do. To have this out now is pretty incredible, and I’m happy to introduce the song to fans in a new way.”
“We are thrilled to work with Brenda Lee to making ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ the first classic song translated responsibly into another language with the power of AI, added UMe president/CEO Bruce Resnikoff. “We are also very excited about the possibilities of this emerging technology and look forward to harnessing its capabilities to introduce new material created by and approved by our artists.”
“The minute you hear Brenda Lee’s iconic voice on ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ you know it’s the official start of Christmas,” said UMG Nashville chair/CEO Cindy Mabe. “The global hit has touched people all over the world and kept this young 13-year-old spirit of Christmas captured in a time capsule. We are all so excited for this new Spanish version created with the help of AI from that legendary voice and approved by Brenda Lee herself to help celebrate this enduring, timeless classic.”
Toronto is preparing for a new era.
Taylor Swift will bring her behemoth Eras Tour to the biggest city in Canada for six sold-out shows in November. But Torontonians know all too well that major concerts can lead to bad traffic downtown. The city has announced that to help those shows run more smoothly, there will be a ‘Limited Activity Zone’ around the Rogers Centre stadium during the two weeks of Swift-mania.
Planned work in the zone — like construction or filming — will be limited to off-peak hours and will require express permission from the City of Toronto, though emergency work will be allowed.
The zone covers a sizeable area of Toronto’s downtown and will aim to keep traffic flowing as roughly 240,000 fans attend Taylor Swift’s performances. The affected industries shouldn’t be too worried though — the zone will only be in place for a fortnight, from Nov. 11 to 25.
Trending on Billboard
The ‘Limited Activity Zone’ isn’t the only infrastructural adjustment needed to account for Swift’s superstardom. Rogers revealed last week that it just completed an $8 million upgrade to its 5G network at the Rogers Centre, so fans can livestream the enchanting spectacle in real-time — or just text their friends, which can be tough during service overloads at major events.
The route from Rogers Centre north to Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square, where City Hall sits, will also be renamed Taylor Swift Way for the month. Signs will designate the new name, guiding fans into the ‘Limited Activity Zone’ where Swift will take the stage.
The city is anticipating a major financial boost from Swift’s visit, with over $250 million in economic impact projected.
Taylor Swift performs in Toronto from Nov. 14-16 and again from Nov. 21-23. –Rosie Long Decter
Slipstream Acquires Anthem Entertainment’s Extensive Production Music Portfolio
Music licensing platform Slipstream has announced that it has acquired the production music portfolio of Toronto-based music rights company Anthem Entertainment.
The acquisition of Anthem Production Music Group includes three major brands: Anthem’s production music agency Jingle Punks, independent production music library 5 Alarm Music, and U.K.-based independent production music publisher Cavendish Music. The net result is the addition of over 650,000 tracks to Slipstream’s catalog.
Slipstream says the acquisition positions it as “the largest global independent music licensing platform.”
There are long and close connections between the principal players involved. Slipstream was founded in 2021 by CEO Dan Demole and chief revenue officer Jesse Korwin. Demole was the co-founder of Jingle Punks and former president of Anthem Production Music Group, while Korwin served as managing director of Jingle Punks.
“This acquisition is a homecoming for us,” says Demole. “Jesse and I built both Jingle Punks and Slipstream on the foundation of making great music accessible to every type of creator. We now have an unprecedented opportunity to build on the success of both brands while leading the next wave of innovation in music licensing. With this vast catalog and our tech-enabled platform, we’re not only the largest independent player in the space, but also the most innovative.”
The expanded platform will serve a diverse client base, from individual content creators and small businesses to global brands and enterprises. Slipstream said the acquisition is in line with its goal to streamline music licensing across TV, film, advertising, gaming, social media and brands.
Anthem Entertainment will make an investment in Slipstream as part of the transaction. Anthem Entertainment CEO, Jason Klein, who is one of Billboard Canada’s 2024 Power Players in the Publishing category, commented: “Anthem’s focus since my appointment in January 2023 has been on building its core music publishing and recorded music divisions, while considering the best path forward for our production music businesses.”
“This sale to Slipstream has placed Jingle Punks, 5 Alarm and Cavendish Music back in the familiar and capable hands of proven leaders in the production music and technology space. Dan and Jesse already know these businesses and have a unique vision for their future as part of Slipstream. Our belief in them as leaders and their vision is the reason we have also chosen to invest in Slipstream going forward.”
The New York City-headquartered Jingle Punks has long maintained an office in Toronto, alongside branches in Santa Monica, London, Sydney and Melbourne. – Kerry Doole
Billboard Canada Parent Company AMG Acquires Major Stake in Music Festival NXNE
Artshouse Media Group (AMG) has acquired a major stake in Toronto music festival North By Northeast (NXNE).
The media company — which publishes Billboard Canada, Billboard UK and Rolling Stone Quebec and also owns Arts Help, Waveland Canada and the Climate Library — will own 50% of the long-running festival. The acquisition begins a long-term partnership, starting with NXNE’s landmark 30th anniversary edition from June 11-June 15, 2025.
“This partnership with NXNE comes at an exciting time for both Billboard Canada and AMG. As NXNE marks its 30th anniversary, we are aligning our shared goals of elevating artists and engaging music lovers,” says Amanda Dorenberg, CEO of Billboard Canada and AMG. “Together, we’ll amplify the festival’s impact, providing artists with a broader platform to reach audiences and creating new ways for fans to discover fresh talent.”
Michael Hollett will continue as NXNE’s president and CEO, while Barbara Hefler serves as managing director.
NXNE launched in 1995 and quickly established itself as the heart of Toronto’s live music scene. Originally formed in partnership with Austin’s SXSW, it evolved its own identity for recognizing and showcasing emerging talent in the early stages of international success. Artists from Lizzo to Daniel Caesar, Feist, Grimes, The Beaches, Mac DeMarco, Haviah Mighty, Sam Roberts and Billy Talent have played critical NXNE showcases at breaking points in their careers.
The festival has also been responsible for some legendary headlining shows from acts including Iggy Pop & The Stooges (one of the biggest free shows ever in downtown Toronto at Yonge-Dundas Square), Vince Staples, the Flaming Lips, The National, Post Malone, Tyler, The Creator and many more.
The collaboration with AMG and Billboard Canada will grow the festival’s reach in its landmark 30th anniversary edition with new co-produced programming and activations to be announced soon.
Artist applications are open now at nxne.com. 2025 venues will include The Garrison, Drake Underground, Collective Arts brewery and more, plus a new official festival headquarters at The Theatre Centre on Queen West.
The 30th anniversary edition will celebrate the festival’s rich history and the big acts who have played over the decades, while staying committed to its “Listen to the Future” tagline and its commitment to always looking for the next big thing in music.
“We want to meet and exceed NXNE’s ‘glory days’ as a citywide, community-engaging discovery festival,” says Hollett.
Drew Baldridge, who earned a top 5 hit on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart with his independently-released song “She’s Somebody’s Daughter,” has partnered with BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville in releasing his new song, “Tough People,” which goes for radio adds Nov. 4 via Stoney Creek Records. Baldridge has also signed with Left | Right Management for representation. He […]
Following his 2023’s breakthrough album, Whitsitt Chapel, Jelly Roll has become a country superstar widely embraced for the former rapper’s confessional, salvation-seeking songs and his larger-than-life personality, as well as his redemption arc as a former convict.
As he began promoting and releasing songs from his follow up release, Oct. 11’s Beautifully Broken, Jelly Roll also made it very clear on social media that debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 would be the realization of a dream. That dream came true this week, when the set entered atop the chart with 161,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. for the week ending Oct. 17, according to Luminate — the artist’s best week ever by units and the third-largest week, by units, for any country album in 2024.
The work began more than a year ago, as Jelly Roll began writing and recording songs for the new album. He worked closely with Katie Kerkhover, vp of A&R for Nashville-based BMG/BBR Music Group (which released the album in conjunction with Republic), whose own background as a musician helped inform her work with Jelly Roll. And her contributions to Beautifully Broken help earn Kerkhover the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
Trending on Billboard
Here, Kerkhover discusses the making of the album from the “vision” Jelly Roll took into its creation, his sense of purpose in recording every song and the intention behind picking his duet partners from several different genres, as well as the non-stop promotion efforts that brought it over the line.
Beautifully Broken debuted at No. 1, something that Jelly Roll made clear was his goal. What decisions did you make in the making of the album that you felt would increase its chances for a No. 1 debut?
Jelly has a very strong vision for the impact he wants to make with his music. It has a purpose. Every song he writes has a purpose. Making sure his heart and the gravity of his messages was the constant that was guiding everyone was critical in making the album. Encouraging those involved, who have their fingerprints on it with him, to bring that emotion out of their own contributions was vital. Making sure the production and mixes were mirroring Jelly’s emotions. He was creating until the absolute last moments, so having trust in each other when we were counting the hours on the final touches was also extremely important. Don’t forget, he was finishing this album while he was in the middle of tour.
This album was a joint project with Republic. What was the division of duties in terms of the A&R?
Jelly started working on this album in 2023. He had already defined a solid foundation and clear direction, so when Republic joined the team, we all knew what we were aiming at. There wasn’t so much a division of duties as more of how we work together to add the most value to Jelly. What strengths do we have separately and together to elevate his vision and hit his goals.
Was there a mission statement from the moment you started recording tracks for what Jelly Roll wanted the album to be?
There wasn’t any more of a mission statement than what you hear him continuously say, “I make real music, for real people, with real problems.” When we started to go through songs in 2023, we listened to every song he had written and focused on the ones with the strongest impact. Did we feel something? One of the things I admire most about Jelly is he always comes back to the purpose and to the why. “Why am I cutting this song? What purpose is it filling on the album and in the lives of others?”
Jelly Roll duets with a number of artists, country and otherwise, on Beautifully Broken, including Halsey, Keith Urban and Wiz Khalifa. How were his duet partners chosen and how does the diversity of the artists broaden the album’s appeal?
The collaborators were chosen by who Jelly felt the song would resonate with. Who would be the best person to add their talent and continue to elevate the song? As far as the broader appeal, Jelly is a huge music lover and that’s why you see so much diversity in his collaborators on this album. I think it’s only natural that the appeal is broadened because he creates without boundaries and, ultimately, the human factor is what connects all of us. Fun fact: he also knows more about the history of songs, artists and genres than anyone I’ve met, so his well of potential collaborators runs deep.
“I’m Not Okay” tackles mental health and is a Hot 100 hit for Jelly Roll. How has that song brought him a new audience?
We all have times we struggle and are not okay. The message of this song transcends genres and resonates deeply with listeners. Jelly has the courage to share his personal struggles through candid lyrics, revealing a vulnerability that really enables him to connect with a broader audience, including those who may not have been familiar with his earlier work.
There are several different configurations of Beautifully Broken, ranging from 14 to 28 tracks. How was the sequencing for each project decided to convey a cohesive work no matter what variation fans were buying?
We selected the initial 14 as the first collection for vinyl because he was still writing. The sequencing is tied together by the overarching message that Beautifully Broken is a reflection on his experiences with mental health and addiction, and the idea that winning comes from losing. The road to atonement has no shortcuts and there will be highs and lows along the way. It all began once he selected “Winning Streak” to be the opening track of the album.
Beautifully Broken achieves the third largest week for a country album in 2024, behind Beyoncé and Post Malone. What does that mean to Stoney Creek/BBR?
Jelly’s success speaks volumes about the incredible connection he shares with his audience. His fan base is broad and deeply passionate, showing up in full force for every project. This relationship helps fuel our growth as a team, pushing us to innovate and strategically add resources that make sense. Our collaboration with Republic on this project is one example.
But the real driving force behind this achievement is Jelly himself. The sheer amount of work he poured into creating and promoting this album is nothing short of mind blowing. For two months leading up to its release, Jelly didn’t have a single free minute. Every ounce of his energy was devoted to making this album the best it could be, and the results speak for themselves. His work ethic, paired with the passion of his fans, made this project a true success.
You come from a publishing background. How did that help you approach picking songs for this album?
I’ve had a long and extensive career as a touring musician, having played violin since the age of four. Before I turned 20, I was performing hundreds of shows a year with Nashville artists like Sara Evans and Billy Currington, playing at the biggest country festivals and stadiums.
What I set out to do was take my real-life musical experience and transform it into a tool to help songwriters and artists master their craft. A great example of that is from late 2020 when I joined BMG as a publishing A&R. One of the first things I did was bring in the incredibly talented songwriter/producer Austin Niveral, just as the label was signing Jelly Roll. I immediately saw the potential for the two to collaborate, [then-BMG Nashville president] Jon Loba recognized my strengths and ultimately appointed me to lead A&R for the label side. As we know, Jelly and Austin would go on to write the massive hit “Need A Favor” from Whitsitt Chapel, and they continued their partnership with Beautifully Broken, setting the tone for the album with “Winning Streak.”