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Korean music company HYBE is more than getting by with its primary artist, BTS, on hiatus and its members pursuing solo projects and preparing for military duty. In 2022, HYBE’s revenue grew 41.6% to 1.78 trillion won ($1.41 billion at the Dec. 31, 2022 exchange rate), the company announced Tuesday (Feb. 21).
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 23.9% to 328.8 billion won ($260.5 million). Margins were thinner that in previous years, however. Last year’s operating margin (as a percent of revenue) fell to 13.4% from 15.1% in 2021 and 18.3% in 2020. Adjusted EBITDA margin dropped to 18.5% from 21.1% in 2021 and 20.2% in 2020.
HYBE breaks revenue into two main categories: artist direct-involvement and artist indirect-involvement. Direct involvement revenues cover such things as recorded music, touring and management. Recorded music sales improved 47% to 553.9 billion won ($438.9 million) and was the largest single revenue source. Concert revenue jumped 470.1% to 258.2 billion won ($204.6 million) as artists returned to touring after scaling back performances during the pandemic.
BTS may be taking a break but it’s still HYBE’s sales leader in album-loving Korea. Four HYBE artists were in the top 10 of Korea’s year-end album tally: BTS was No. 1 with 5.75 million units, Seventeen was No. 3 with 5.56 million units, Tomorrow X Together was No. 5 with 2.78 million units and ENHYPEN was No. 8 with 2.64 million units. Le Sserafim was the No. 15 artist with 1.29 million units. As a point of comparison, the top album in the U.S. last year, Taylor Swift’s Midnights, sold the equivalent of 1.8 million units.
Artist indirect involvement revenue grew only 9.7% in the calendar year. Merchandising and licensing improved 24.8% to 395.6 billion won ($313.5 million) and fan club revenue grew 47.1% to 67.1 billion won ($53.2 million).
In the fourth quarter, HYBE’s revenue grew 16.9% to 535.3 billion won ($424.2 million) in the fourth quarter of 2022. Recorded music revenue jumped 76.4% to 149.1 billion won ($118.2 million) and was the largest single source of revenue.
BTS’s global success has allowed HYBE to diversify itself and rely less on the K-pop super group. In 2017, Korea accounted for 72% of HYBE’s revenues compared to 14% for Japan and 9% for North America. In 2022, HYBE had grown 19-fold from 2017 and had almost evenly balanced business between its three main markets: Korea (33% of revenue), North America (32%) and Japan (28%). The rest of the world contributed just 7% of HYBE’s 2022 revenue — but that could change if the company’s newest investment works as expected.
HYBE’s recent acquisition of a leading stake in competing K-pop company SM Entertainment is an opportunity to develop in markets where it currently has little presence. CEO Park Jiwon explained during Tuesday’s earnings call that HYBE artists can benefit from SM Entertainment’s strong network and infrastructure in China and Southeast Asia. Likewise, HYBE believes it can help SM Entertainment in the North American market.
HYBE latest acquisition didn’t impact 2022 results but will help expand its presence outside of Korea in 2023. On Feb. 8, HYBE purchased QC Media Holdings, the parent company of Atlanta-based hip-hop label Quality Control Music, the home of Migos and Lil Baby, for $300 million. Quality Control will sit under HYBE America and the leadership of CEO Scooter Braun, whose Ithaca Projects was acquired by HYBE in 2021.
The trial of Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred, who is accused of aggravated rape and assault, started in Paris on Monday (Feb. 20).
The 37-year-old Lamjarred, who is famous on the Arab pop music scene, allegedly raped a French woman at a luxury hotel on the Champs-Elysees in October 2016 while he was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine.
He has denied the allegations. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison. A verdict is expected on Friday.
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The woman, who was 20 years old at the time, said that she met Lamjarred at a Paris nightclub and accompanied him to his hotel, according to the document summarizing the conclusions of the investigation that was read out by the presiding magistrate at the court.
She said that he struck her several times as she was trying to push him back before he raped her, the document said. She managed to leave the room, and hotel staff reported seeing her crying and in distress.
The woman’s lawyer Jean-Marc Descoubes, told reporters Monday that the alleged victim remains strong, despite the trauma she sustained. “It was extremely violent… It was very traumatic for her. She’s still being treated, but she remains strong, decent and courageous,” said Descoubes.
On Monday, Lamjarred told the court that he rejects the allegations of rape and assault. He acknowledged he had “occasionally” used alcohol and drugs at the time, but has since stopped.
The court said Lamjarred respected the conditions of the judicial supervision he has been under since 2017. Lamjarred is not permitted to perform in France, but has been allowed to leave the country for shows abroad.
Lamjarred is one of the Arab world’s most popular artists. His music video “Lm3allem” has more than 1 billion views on his YouTube channel, where he has more than 14 million subscribers.
King Mohammed VI awarded him Morocco’s highest national honor in 2015.
Lamjarred has also been charged with the aggravated rape of another woman in August 2018 at a nightclub in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera. A trial date hasn’t been set for that case.
Meta Platforms Inc. is launching a “Meta Verified” subscription service on Facebook and Instagram that allows users to verify their accounts with a government ID.
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The company’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg revealed Sunday (Feb. 19) on social media that the platform will begin testing the service in Australia and New Zealand. The authentication will also include proactive account monitoring for account impersonation, direct access to customer support and increased account visibility and reach.
The monthly subscription-based plan can be purchased on Instagram or Facebook for $11.99 on the web and $14.99 on iOS and Android. According to a news release, for users to be eligible, accounts must meet minimum activity requirements and submit a government ID.
Meta clarified that there will be no changes to already verified accounts as they test the new plan.
The news release said that the “Meta Verified” service was developed after the platform received an abundance of requests from creators for broader access to verification and account support. The release explained that the service’s goal is “to help up-and-coming creators grow their presence and build community faster.”
The company added that it hopes to expand the service globally soon.
Meta isn’t the first social platform to introduce a paid verified subscription plan. When Elon Musk took over Twitter in October 2022, he re-vamped Twitter Blue, with a paid plan for users to sign up for $8 a month on the web and $11 a month for iOS. He also replaced the “official” label with a gold or gray checkmark, depending on the account.
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
Two more senators are calling for restrictions on TikTok’s operations in the U.S., citing alleged risks to national security and consumer privacy presented by the Chinese-owned platform.
In the letter sent Thursday, U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) called on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which is currently investigating TikTok’s 2017 merger with Musical.ly, “to swiftly conclude its investigation and impose strict structural restrictions” between the platform and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance — including by “potentially separating” the two companies. The letter was addressed to U.S. Treasury Secretary and CFIUS chair Janet Yellen.
In the letter, Blumenthal and Moran cite a December disclosure by ByteDance — reported by The New York Times — that four of its employees obtained the data of several TikTok users, including two journalists, in an effort to locate the sources of suspected leaks to journalists of internal company conversations and documents.
Despite ByteDance’s assertion that it fired the employees involved, Blumenthal and Moran allege that the scheme was in fact perpetrated by a “formal ‘Internal Audit and Risk Control’ team” directed by senior executives, including TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.
“The incident also occurred while TikTok’s executives had repeatedly promised that Americans’ personal data was secure against such spying,” the letter reads, citing testimony given by TikTok’s vp/head of public policy, Michael Beckerman, to the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection in October 2021.
The letter goes on to claim that TikTok company engineers “continue to have dangerous access to Americans’ personal data and control over its algorithmic recommendation systems, access that continues enable this spying on journalists.”
The senators cite several more reports to bolster their case, including a December article in The Wall Street Journal reporting that TikTok’s product development and management — including oversight of its algorithmic recommendation system — remains based in China. Another article published by Forbes in August, which reported that roughly 300 current employees at TikTok and ByteDance work or have worked for Chinese propaganda outlets including Xinhua News Agency and China Global Television, is also held up as evidence to support restrictions.
Elsewhere, Blumenthal and Moran cite an October investigation by Consumer Reports that found TikTok tracks Americans — including those who don’t use the platform — by embedding “a tracking technology” on partner websites. “While this collection effort is ostensibly an advertising effort by the company, the transmission to TikTok of non-user IP addresses, a unique ID number, and information about what an individual is doing on a site provides a deep understanding of those individuals’ interests, behaviors, and other sensitive matters,” the letter adds.
Despite TikTok’s assurance that it no longer censors videos critical of the Chinese government and other authoritarian regimes, the senators additionally allege that the platform “continues to opaquely demote or remove certain content, including blocking LGBTQ accounts.”
TikTok “is clearly, inextricably dependent on ByteDance for its operations,” the letter concludes, “and therefore beholden to the government of China.”
Thursday’s letter is just the latest in a string of recent condemnations of TikTok by U.S. lawmakers. In December, President Joe Biden signed a bill that prohibits use of the platform by nearly 4 million government employees on devices owned by its agencies, joining at least 27 state governments and several universities that have passed similar measures. The same month, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Flor.), Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) introduced a bill that would effectively ban TikTok and any other China-based social media platform from operating in the United States. And earlier this month, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Col.), pushed Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores over national security concerns, claiming the Chinese Communist Party could “weaponize” the platform against the United States by forcing ByteDance to “surrender Americans’ sensitive data or manipulate the content Americans receive to advance China’s interests.”
These lawmakers clearly weren’t assuaged by TikTok’s announcement in June that it had started routing U.S. user data to Oracle cloud servers located in the U.S., instituted audits of its algorithms and established a new department to solely manage U.S. user data for the platform.
Concerns about TikTok have been prevalent in other corners of the West, most prominently in Europe. In January, Zi Chew met with European Union officials over concerns about child safety and data privacy, among other matters. On Friday, TikTok’s general manager of operations in Europe, Rich Waterworth, attempted to allay some of those concerns in a blog post where he noted that the company plans to establish two additional European data centers, citing a commitment “to keeping our European community and their data safe and secure.” He added that the company is “continuing to deliver against” a data governance strategy they set out for Europe last year, which includes plans to further reduce employee access to European data, minimize data flows outside Europe and store European user data locally.
Zi Chew is slated to appear before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on March 23, when he’s expected to comment on TikTok’s data security and user privacy policies, the app’s impact on children and ties with the Chinese Communist Party.
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Keen observers noticed that last quarter Warner Music Group’s global streaming revenues were down 2.6% year over year, a rare sputter in the music industry’s main engine of growth. The company’s total revenue declined 7.8% as losses in recorded music’s physical and digital revenues couldn’t make up for publishing gains.
On its face, a year-over-year decline in streaming revenue – the driving force behind growth at labels as well as the rise in music catalog valuations – might seem alarming. Declines are routinely seen in download and physical sales. Streaming is typically the dependable bright spot of any earnings report.
The decline was more noticeable when compared to companies that released earnings for the same quarter. Sony Music Entertainment posted strong growth in the same period. SME’s streaming revenue improved 33.2% in its recorded music division and 59.8% in its publishing division. Reservoir Media didn’t show streaming softness last quarter, either. In its recorded music division, digital revenues were up 17% year-over-year. Digital revenues in its publishing division rose 29%.
So, what happened? Some of it is due to a quirk of WMG accounting, some of it is due to WMG, and some of it is due to factors that affect the entire music business.
One factor in WMG’s weak streaming revenue was a shorter quarter: WMG’s last quarter had one fewer week than the prior-year quarter, which gave the company a tough basis for comparison even before other factors could be considered. A 14-week quarter has 7.1% more days to generate income than a 13-week one and that’s a big gap to overcome. Adjusting for that, WMG streaming revenues would have been up 5% year-over-year.
The stronger dollar — WMG’s financial statements are reported in dollars, Sony reports in yen, Universal Music Group in euros — also played a part in the decline. In WMG’s recorded music division, streaming revenues declined 4% as reported but were flat on a constant currency basis (which assumes no change in foreign exchange rates). In its publishing division, streaming revenues grew 13.2% as reported and 16.8% at constant currency.
WMG also blamed the soft streaming numbers on a new release line-up that CFO Eric Levin called “a softer, largely U.S.-based release schedule” that “could roll into our fiscal Q2. But given our release schedule as second half-oriented this year,” he added, “we do feel good about our performance of releases and strength in the second half of the year.”
Another factor was not specific to WMG: a slowing ad market. Levin called it “a dislocated ad market” and warned “the decline is getting more pronounced.” The decline in ad-supported streaming revenue isn’t a surprise. The Ledger wrote about the soft advertising market in August 2022. Spotify CFO Paul Vogel warned advertising growth in the third quarter would be “slower than we might have forecast earlier in the year.” French music company Believe said “ad-funded streaming activities should be affected by rising inflation and economic uncertainties.”
The streaming market has become bifurcated. Subscription services have fared well through the pandemic and high inflation. Advertising is more closely associated with the direction of the broader economy. Consumers are generally reluctant to cancel entertainment subscriptions, but it’s easier for brands to pull back on ad spending, hurting everything from YouTube to broadcast radio companies like iHeartMedia (and music publishers to a lesser extent). At WMG, “subscription streaming grew by high single digits” but was partially offset by a drop “in the mid-teens” in ad-supported revenue, Levin said. WMG also noticed the slowdown in brands’ spending has created “a somewhat softer market for synch.”
In the fourth quarter, Spotify’s advertising revenue rose 14% compared to an 18% improvement for subscription revenue. With the growth of Spotify’s podcasting business, not all the advertising growth could be attributed to music. Advertising growth lagged subscription growth in the third quarter by three percentage points.
Long Beach is the laboratory for a half-dozen sustainability initiatives at this weekend’s annual Cali Vibes music festival at the city’s Marina Green Park.
Headlined by Snoop Dogg, Jack Johnson, Slightly Stoopid, Damian Marley, Ben Harper, Cypress Hill and many more, the popular reggae and West Coast hip-hop festival will be ground zero for new efforts by promoter Goldenvoice to dramatically reduce waste, decrease the event’s carbon footprint and use materials from last year’s festival to create merch and apparel for 2023 fans.
The challenge for Cali Vibes — like all other festivals — is that most festivals are not considered environmentally sustainable due to the amount of attendee travel involved, the energy consumed and the waste generated on-site, says AEG vp of Sustainability Erik Distler.
“It’s important to start with recognizing this work is difficult,” Distler says. “Executing sustainability initiatives for a large temporary event with tens of thousands of people involves engaging a broad stakeholder set” that includes artists, vendors, production companies, city officials and fans.
Distler said Goldevoice realized early on that the best way to maximize the impact of their sustainability efforts was to “embrace the complexity at the onset” of planning the 2023 event and develop a strategy centered around trackable operational improvements and attendee education.
“We’re in the business of bringing people together, evoking emotion, fueling passion and energy — it’s very human,” Distler adds. “We have the opportunity and responsibility to connect with our fans and talk about our sustainability work in a way that’s inspiring and uplifting. It’s about what’s possible if we come together.”
Sustainability has always been one of the undertones of Cali Vibes, “due to the event’s proximity to the ocean and the overall spirit of the festival,” says Nic Adler, vp of Goldenvoice Festivals. “This year, we booked Jack Johnson and his team really got us motivated to look at each corner of the festival and ask ourselves ‘what can we do differently?’”
That includes pushing Goldenvoice and its parent company AEG to offer fans refillable water stations and eliminate the sale of single-use plastic water bottles at the festival. This effort included renegotiating a water sponsorship agreement originally brokered by AEG with Origin, which will now offer canned instead of bottled water at Cali Vibes. Goldenvoice also partnered with vendor r.Cup to replace its single-use beer cups with a reusable plastic cup that is collected on-site, washed at a specialized cleaning facility and reused the following weekend.
Cali Vibes
Elli Lauren
“These cups have a life expectancy of several years,” dramatically reducing the number of single-use cups that end up in the landfill, says Michael Ilves, director of Goldenvoice Festivals, noting that the event’s waste management plan includes bins specifically designed to collect the cups.
“Another change in how we manage waste production is that bins previously labeled as trash or landfill will now be labeled as ‘waste-to-energy,’” Ilves explains. “Long Beach happens to have a waste-to-energy power plant that burns off waste, captures the gases released and powers about 35,000 homes off of that process.”
Helping fund the initiative is a first-ever $5 per ticket sustainability fee to pay for initiatives like the r.Cup program and purchase equipment to promote the use of solar energy and reduce the use of diesel generators. Goldenvoice is also working with a vendor to recycle signage, printed material and leftover merchandise from the 2022 festival to create new consumer items for 2023, including apparel, tote bags and posters.
All sustainability initiatives at the festival are being closely tracked by Santa Monica firm Three Squares Inc. — including recording every staff member’s own carbon footprint — to measure Goldenvoice’s progress and analyze opportunities to expand the company’s sustainability efforts to the 32 festival brands it operates globally, including the annual Coachella and Stagecoach festivals. Insights gleaned from the resulting report can help the company significantly improve its environmental impact, Adler explains.
“Popping up in a parking lot for an event that 20,000 people drive to is not sustainable,” Adler says. “That’s why it’s important for us to create a report that allows us to continue the work that we’re doing and be honest about our own carbon footprint. It gives us an opportunity to get together in a room and say ‘Here is last year’s number, this year let’s try to cut it in half.’”
Courtesy Photo
One of the bigger surprises of 2023 so far has been the music of Lil Yachty, the Atlanta-based rapper who released his first project in three years earlier this month. But rather than delving into the hip-hop styles for which he’s known, Yachty branched out with Let’s Start Here, releasing an album that is more psych rock than trap rap — and receiving some of the best reviews of his career in the process.
The album debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top Rock Albums chart last week, and has stuck around in the top 40 of the former and top 10 of the latter in its second week on the chart. And helping guide the stylistic switch up and land Yachty with some of the most intriguing collaborators he’s worked with in his career has been Motown Records vice president of A&R Gelareh Rouzbehani, who earns the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
Here, Rouzbehani discusses the switch for Yachty from hip-hop to alt-rock, and the somewhat unexpected success that the album achieved, given how difficult it can be to change the narrative for an artist who is nearly a decade into his career at this point. “It goes to show that great music still reigns supreme,” Rouzbehani tells Billboard. “Working with Yachty on this album was more about adding ideas rather than taking things away. He had a really strong sense of the record he was making and, for me, it was about bringing session ideas to the table, people I felt like could add to his vision.”
This week, Lil Yachty’s Let’s Start Here spent its second week in the top 40 of the Billboard 200 and the top 10 of the Top Rock Albums chart. What key decision did you make to help make that happen?
The beauty of this album’s success thus far is that it has organically resonated with people around the world. It goes to show that great music still reigns supreme. Working with Yachty on this album was more about adding ideas rather than taking things away. He had a really strong sense of the record he was making and, for me, it was about bringing session ideas to the table, people I felt like could add to his vision.
This album represented a stylistic switch for Yachty, from rap to rock. What did that entail from the A&R side?
I remember when I first met Yachty in Atlanta and we shared a love of Tame Impala and music that inspired him as an artist and me as an exec. He has always wanted to make an alternative record and I was itching to A&R an alt-leaning album. We didn’t necessarily sit down and say, “Hey, let’s do this now.” The stars just aligned. He had met Pony, Patrick and Jacob and just started creating. I’m grateful that Yachty trusts me with his art. As much as it’s vulnerable for an artist to put themselves in that position, it’s also something I don’t take lightly. To be able to call him and bounce ideas back and forth is something I enjoy. He was open to meeting and working with Teo Halm, so we invited him to a session at Mac Demarco‘s studio. They started vibing, Teo was playing chords and Mac was on bass. Nami, another extraordinary creative, came to that session. Credit to Yachty for saying yes. That day, “drive ME crazy!” was created, which is now the No. 1 most consumed song [from the album].
How is it different A&R’ing a hip-hop record vs. a rock record like this?
The initial process for me is always the same. The way we go about making the records may be different and, of course, sonically there are differences, but there’s always very similar underlying characteristics. Being aligned with an artist’s vision is the most important part for me. Once that foundation is set, it’s like painting on a blank canvas, whether it be rap, alt, pop, rock. I’m most inspired when I’m giving creative input and it just flows.
What challenges exist in shifting genres like this, and how do you overcome them?
I think the challenge really lies outside of the world you build. There wasn’t necessarily a challenge going into making the record; that came very naturally to Yachty. Since he’s a multi-genre artist, he can literally make any genre of music, he’s just that type of creative. It was about making sure we don’t alienate his core fans but also grow and reach new audiences. It was also really important for the alt/rock community to grasp this type of record coming from Yachty, who has evolved so much musically.
The album debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top Rock Albums chart with a strong critical reception. What did you do to help it succeed out of the gate, and how do you keep the momentum going now?
Having every department aligned on our goals was key for the rollout of this project. Everyone was really excited hearing the record, but the challenge was how to get it out to the world in the most meaningful and genuine way. That energy has to match the music, from marketing to international to creative. The goal was to have people listen to the album top to bottom, no skips, since it’s really a journey from the very beginning to the last track. Now, it’s about getting the live element in place and going into the second phase of marketing and our plans around ex-U.S. markets.
How has the job of an A&R changed over the course of your career?
Every A&R is different. It depends on each individual and what their strengths are and really focusing on those strengths. I’m very hands on and like to be a part of the creative process from inception, then putting a different hat on once we deliver the record.
Previous Executive of the Week: Debra Rathwell of AEG Presents
Former Roadrunner Records executives Dave Rath and Cees Wessels are spearheading a fresh rock label, Blue Grape Music (BGM), Billboard can exclusively reveal.
Rath, former head of A&R at Roadrunner Records, and Wessels, founder and ex-CEO of Roadrunner, have a long — and loud — history with the harder-edged stuff. The pair played their parts in shaping the careers of Nickelback, Slipknot, Type O Negative, Killswitch Engage, Fear Factory, Sepultura, Turnstile and others.
The first signing to BGM is Code Orange, the two-time Grammy Award-nominated hardcore punk band from Pittsburgh, PA, and whose first release through the label is What Is Really Underneath?, a 14-track companion to 2020’s Underneath, a collection that is part-remix, part-soundtrack.
“I have been lucky enough to be on the ground floor with Dave Rath and Co. watching them build the foundation of Blue Grape Music,” comments Code Orange frontman Jami Morgan in a statement, unveiling the new project. “There is no group of people that I have more faith in to create a fresh, forward leaning home for rock music and beyond.
Expect BGM and its roster to operate in the harder lane.
“The focus of the label will lean toward all forms of rock music, along with music that may reflect the attitude that made rock music what it is,” Rath tells Billboard.
Blue Grape Music “strives to be a place where artists have the latitude, support, and resources to grow and create something meaningful,” he continues. “We look for music that takes the culture it came from and moves it forward to new places.”
Sony Music’s The Orchard handles distribution for BGM, which has the “muscle and reach of a major” with the “attention and dedication of an indie,” reads a statement. Each signing can expect to work with a team “carefully crafted to best serve their creative vision and goals,” the message continues.
To reach those goals, the venture taps Roadrunner alumnae Suzi Akyuz as senior vp of marketing, and Paolo d’Alessandro as executive vp of international.
Rath spent 21 years in the A&R and creative departments of Roadrunner, where he A&R’d albums by Slipknot, Korn, Gojira, Coheed and Cambria, Slash, The Amity Affliction, Trivium, Stone Sour, Dream Theater, Megadeth and more.
Wessels left Roadrunner in 2012, some 17 months after the completion of the rock and metal specialist’s sale to the Warner Music Group.
Blue Grape is headquartered in New York City with its European operation in Amsterdam. Additional signings will be revealed in the coming months.
“The collective history of BGM’s staff understands when to be patient, and when to move quickly,” Rath adds. “Our focus on providing artists with the support they need to express the best version of themselves is, first and foremost, our priority.”
Jessica Keeley-Carter was promoted to executive vp of global marketing at Warner Music Group. Based in the United Kingdom, Keeley-Carter will take on a bigger global role, working closely with marketing leads in Asia, Latin America and Canada alongside her current remit in the U.K. She most recently served as senior vp of global marketing. That role will now be filled by Tony Corey, who was previously vp of global marketing. Based in New York, Corey will continue supporting campaign executions and long-term artist strategy; he was previously vp of global marketing. He has led Warner’s Global Priority System since joining the company in 2021.
The Worldwide Independent Network (WIN), which represents the global independent music sector, appointed its board of directors for 2023. Partisan Records COO Zena White will serve as chair, working closely with WIN’s newly appointed CEO Noemí Planas on delivering on the organization’s goal of growing and connecting the indie music community worldwide. Joining White on the board are three new directors: AIM’s COO Gee Davy, N.E.W.S managing director Geert De Blaere, Sub Pop Records/Hardly Art/Sub Pop Publishing president Tony Kiewel and GoDigital, Cinq Music and VidaPrimo chair Jason Peterson, who was elevated from his prior role of board observer. They will succeed outgoing directors Lisa Levy (Robbins Entertainment USA), Michael Lambot ([PIAS]) and Paul Pacifico (AIM). Elsewhere, former WIN board chair Maria Amato (AIR) is now treasurer; she will continue to sit with Mark Kitcatt (Everlasting Records), Richard Burgess (A2IM), Oliver Knust (IMICHILE) and White on the executive committee. Finally, Nerea Serrano was appointed community and projects manager at WIN; she joined the organization as communications officer in 2021.
Jamie Spinks was named head of A&R at Columbia Records UK, reporting directly to Columbia UK president Dipesh Parmar. He joined the label last year, signing and developing Venbee. He’ll be tasked with overseeing the direction of the Columbia UK A&R strategy while also running the joint venture label Room Two. Spinks was at Polydor Records for 10 years prior to his Columbia hire.
Rob Brown was hired as COO at mprs Global, the royalty tracking and collection service founded by the team behind mtheory. He joins from Kobalt Music Group, where he worked for nearly 12 years, most recently as vp of business affairs & commercial strategy. He can be reached at rob@mprs.co.
Ultra International Music Publishing opened a new creative hub in Lagos, Nigeria, where its African operations will be overseen by London-based A&R manager Harold Serero. As part of the announcement, the publisher revealed the signing of Nigerian artist Amexin to the roster.
Beville Dunkerley will step down from her role as SiriusXM/Pandora head of country music talent & industry relations to launch her own media training consultancy focusing on actors, athletes, authors and recording artists. She joined Pandora more than six years ago prior to its SiriusXM merger. Dunkerley can be reached at bevilledarden@gmail.com. (via Country Aircheck)
Four executives were promoted at Zync/Round Hill Music: Madison Norris to executive vp of creative operations, Kelly Ross to vp/head of creative licensing and publishing, Becca Luce to senior director of film & TV/creative publishing and Steve Nalbert to vp of sync licensing and digital. Norris will facilitate day-to-day management for the Zync creative licensing team, leading marketing efforts for both frontline and back catalog. Ross will lead synch licensing for the catalog and handle pitching for advertising while also signing songwriters and artists to frontline publishing and master deals. Luce will guide the co-write team with expanded A&R responsibilities along with film and TV pitching. Nalbert will build, optimize and carry out Round Hill Music’s digital strategy, collaborating with partners including Meta, Apple and TikTok.
Agent Dave Kaplan joined Paladin Artists, where he brings more than 20 clients including Spacey Jane, The Black Angels, Gary Numan, The Kills, Melody’s Echo Chamber and Allah-Las. He was previously at ICM Partners and has also worked at Paradigm and The Agency Group.
Keisha Perry Walker joined entertainment law firm Carter + Woodard as a new counsel. She will provide counsel to recording artists, producers, songwriters, manager, executives, independent labels and digital influencers, among others.
Linda Yaccarino was appointed group chair at YMU, a role she will occupy alongside her current position as chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal. She will work closely with YMU Group CEO Mary Bekhait. Also at YMU, Dani Chavez was promoted to senior marketing manager of the U.S. music division. Based in Los Angeles, Chavez will work closely with the company’s individual artist managers while reporting to YMU Music US head of marketing SuzAnn Brantner.
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum senior vps Nina Burghard and Lisa Purcell were promoted to executive vp roles. Burghard was elevated to executive vp of finances and operations and Purcell was upped to executive vp of external affairs. Both will report to CEO Kyle Young. Burghard oversees the museum’s financial operations as well as some information and technology elements, in addition to the human resources and maintenance & operations departments. Purcell supervises the marketing and public relations departments and provides leadership in individual & planned giving, memberships & corporate partnerships, educational programming and public affairs. Purcell can be reached at lpurcell@countrymusichalloffame.org and Burghard can be reached at nburghard@countrymusichalloffame.org.
Also at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Ben Hall was promoted to vp of development, Paul Kingsbury was hired as senior director of editorial and interpretation, Luke Wiget was promoted to senior director of creative and Leigh Anne Wise was promoted to senior director of facilities, operations and sustainability. Hall oversees diverse fundraising initiatives and manages Country Music Hall of Fame member relations on behalf of the museum. Kingsbury will manage editorial staff and the development of written content for the museum’s website, exhibitions, public programs, publications, educational materials and online offerings. Wiget will guide the creative and project management teams responsible for producing the museum’s exhibitions, books, videos, education materials, marketing collateral and social media content. Wise oversees facilities maintenance, building projects, building operations including security, housekeeping and event setup, as well as sustainability initiatives.
Courtney Allen was promoted to senior director of A&R at Concord Music Publishing in Nashville. She was previously director of A&R. During her time at the publisher, she has signed Justin Wilson and Jennifer Wayne and contributed to catalog and publishing deals with Russell Dickerson and Corey Crowder. Allen can be reached at Courtney.allen@concord.com.
Jon Pikus was named vp of A&R/business development at Wixen Music Publishing. Based in the company’s Calabasas, Calif., office, Pikus will sign new artists, songwriters, producers and catalogs to Wixen’s roster, in addition to setting up collaborations and co-write sessions for the existing roster. He’ll report to Wixen president/CEO Randall Wixen, CFO/COO Andrew Wixen and chief technology officer/executive vp Jason Rys. Pikus has held A&R roles at Columbia Records, Interscope Records, MySpace Records and more. He can be reached at jpikus@wixenmusic.com.
Lydia Kanuga was promoted to vp of media relations at PR firm The Chamber Group. In her new role, Kanuga will create and implement publicity strategies for a roster that includes Usher, the Michael Jackson estate, Mass Appeal and Toni Braxton. She will also take a lead role in business development prospects for the company. Based in New York, Kanuga reports directly to Chamber Group principal/founder Chris Chambers. She can be reached at lydia@thechambergroup.com.
Alex Siciliano was appointed senior vp of communications at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). He will lead NAB’s communications team, and oversee the association’s outreach while spearheading messaging strategies to further NAB’s initiatives and advocacy issues before Congress and the Biden administration. He also serves as chief spokesperson for NAB and as a key advisor to senior leadership. He most recently worked as deputy chief of staff to former Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Col.).
John Moser and Ale Delgado were promoted to senior project managers at Thirty Tigers in Nashville; both were previously project managers. With their elevations, Moser and Delgado will play a bigger role in departmental operations while managing album release campaigns for the company. Elsewhere, Micki Windham was promoted to senior production manager, up from her previous role of production manager; Sydney Clancy‘s role was expanded from catalog coordinator to production coordinator, which will see her supporting all production efforts for both new releases and inventory management; and Alex Ramsay was promoted to independent retail sales & marketing manager, a bump from her previous role of independent retail sales & marketing coordinator. Thirty Tigers also announced several recent hires, including Kayla Ganz and Lauren Caudle. Ganz boarded the company in February 2022 as director of digital sales and streaming, joining from Naxos Music Group, while Caudle joined in September 2021 as project manager coordinator before being promoted to project manager in June 2022. Finally, Zack Hallcroft returned to Thirty Tigers as project management coordinator, joining the company from CDA Entertainment.
The Women’s Music Business Association (WMBA) announced its 2023 board of officers, organizational chairs and board of directors. Serving on the 2023 board are president Virginia P. Brick (SESAC); vp Aura Guadagno (Varnell Enterprises); treasurer Taylor Baird (Wiles + Taylor & Co.); secretary Alyssa Hoffman (manager of Wayland); events & education co-chairs Libby Gardner (Academy of Country Music) and Megan Clemons (CSM Management); and marketing & membership co-chairs Mackenzie Adkins (Rhonda & Company) and Aya Robinson (Opry Entertainment Group). On the WMBA board of directors are newly-elected chairwoman Amery Fridenstine (Above Board Consulting) along with brand-new board members Sheree Spoltore (Global Songwriters Connection), Jensen Sussman (Sweet Talk Publicity) and Christy Walker-Watkins (The AristoMedia Group/AristoPR). Brandi Simms (MooTV, Moo Creative & The Steel Mill) will continue in an advisory role as board of directors emeritus, while Lauren Spahn (Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley, & Norton) will act as legal counsel.
Ed Thompson joined ATC Live, bringing clients Jungle, Iron & Wine, Car Seat Headrest, Zero Zero Bonito and Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs to the agency. He joins the company from Free Trade Agency. Thompson can be reached at ed@atc-live.com.
Mallory Mason Pascal was promoted to partner at artist business management firm KFBM (previously King Business and Financial Management); she joined the company in 2020. Pascal can be reached at mallory@kbfmgmt.com.
Abi White was named head of dance and electronic promotions at Kartel Marketing Agency, the marketing and media promotions agency within Kartel Music Group. White will lead promotions for all dance and electronic agency clients as well as Kartel’s electronic label, EMK. She joins the company from For the Record PR, where she served as co-founder and co-director.
Desiree McCann was named manager of international marketing at Los Angeles-based management company Hills Artists. She will handle day-to-day management for Hills Artists clients while supporting and driving international marketing campaigns for the roster. Additionally, Brenna Rindfuss has been promoted to manager. McCann joins Hills Artists from Universal Music Australia, where she worked in artist development. She can be reached at desiree@hillsartists.com.
Staff at Motown Records were hit with news of layoffs Thursday (Feb. 16) as the label gets reintegrated under the Capitol Music Group (CMG) umbrella, multiple sources tell Billboard. The number of people and departments affected are unknown as of press time.
A spokesperson for Motown Records confirmed the layoffs to Billboard. “As Motown returns to the Capitol family, certain positions that had been created when we became a stand-alone label have since become duplicative,” the person said in a statement. “These employees are leaving the company and our People, Inclusion and Culture department is helping them find new opportunities — either within or outside of UMG.”
Layoffs were feared by staffers since chairwoman/CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam’s sudden announcement of her departure on Nov. 29, at which point the future of Motown — which had been spun out of the Capitol Music Group into a standalone label in March 2021, with Habtemariam promoted to the top title — was unclear. In the weeks that followed, it emerged that Motown would be consolidated once again into CMG, at which point the prospect of layoffs loomed.
Motown had been under the CMG umbrella since 2014 when Universal Music Group (UMG) dissolved the Island Def Jam Music Group and moved Motown to Los Angeles to operate out of the Capitol Tower. Habtemariam, who had been president of Motown since that year, oversaw the shift from New York to L.A. and in 2015 led the signing of Motown’s landmark partnership with Atlanta-based Quality Control, which brought Migos, Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, City Girls and others to the label. That led to a surge in interest, signings and market share for Motown, resulting in the establishment of the label as a standalone frontline in 2021, with Habtemariam given the chairman/CEO title.
However, just 20 months after assuming that role, Habtemariam announced she was leaving UMG entirely to “pursue new endeavors,” departing a label that had been energized in recent years without a clear leader. As a standalone label, Motown maintained its own A&R and marketing departments, though it shared services such as radio promotion with Capitol.
CMG is run by Michelle Jubelirer, who was promoted from COO to chair/CEO in December 2021, succeeding Jeff Vaughn, who lasted just a year in the role. Jubelirer oversees a record group that also encompasses Blue Note, Astralwerks and Capitol Christian Music Group, in addition to Motown. While its market share remains under CMG, in September indie distributor Virgin was consolidated alongside Ingrooves and mTheory into the Virgin Music Group, whose co-CEOs report directly to UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge.
However, Capitol will not have Quality Control in its purview moving forward, as the label was sold to HYBE America in a deal that was announced Feb. 8. That means that while Capitol will oversee Motown, it will not have any future releases from some of Motown’s biggest stars of the past decade.
Motown is the latest music company to undergo layoffs in recent months, as the global economy’s outlook remains uncertain. The tech sector was hit particularly hard in that respect, with Amazon, Google/YouTube, Spotify, Twitter, SoundCloud, BMI and others shedding jobs; many cited the dwindling advertising market, which has stubbornly retracted. In October, Grainge himself addressed the advertising market’s downturn when speaking about UMG’s third quarter financials, noting that ad-supported streaming revenue grew slower than expected, up just 5.2% over the third quarter period of 2021, though it was offset by increases in other sectors such as subscription, licensing, tour merchandising and publishing.
In 2022, Motown had raised its overall market share to 0.97%, up from 0.90% in 2021. In terms of current market share — music released over the most recent 18 months — Motown grew its share from 1.18% in 2021 to 1.33% in 2022. It had remained part of Capitol’s market share during that period, despite its ostensible status as a standalone entity. Capitol’s overall market share declined from 6.81% in 2021 to 6.40% in 2022, while its current share dropped from 5.64% in 2021 to 4.97% in 2022.
Additional reporting by Gail Mitchell.