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Six years ago, Drake delivered a message to Apple Music’s then-global creative director Larry Jackson that would change his life.
“Someone get Larry Jackson on the phone,” Drake rapped on the first verse of Lil Wayne’s “Family Feud,” a track that Jackson heard for the first time while he was vacationing in the Maldives. “I need some ownership if we pressin’ go.”
“I really sat down and started to reflect on my life,” Jackson recalled recently at one of his regular tables on the patio at The Beverly Hills Hotel’s Polo Lounge, where the 42-year-old often spends mornings hobnobbing with music business power brokers and fielding a steady stream of calls from A-list artists seeking his counsel on everything from creative projects to sponsorship deals. Drake’s verse shook him from a “slumber” he says had been induced by his corporate, “hamster wheel” routine, and made him think: “What if there was another level to the video game?”
Jackson says that wakeup call inspired him to revisit an idea for his own venture that he’s now launching as Gamma, a one-stop-shop media company that creates, distributes, and markets content, from music to podcasts to films, offering resources and guidance to artists who want to build their brands and expand beyond music. Backed by investors that include Apple and Todd Boehly’s Eldridge (which also owns a stake in Billboard’s parent company) Gamma debuts as the “best capitalized music company competing with the major labels and signing superstars,” says Raine Group partner Fred Davis, who advised Jackson through his fundraising process, though neither he nor Jackson would disclose the amount raised to date.
“There’s a lot of private equity acquiring catalogs,” Davis tells Billboard, “but this is unprecedented.”
Jackson acquired the distribution platform Vydia in December, subsuming its 76 mostly New Jersey-based employees, and has struck deals with about a dozen of the world’s most influential creators, from Usher to Naomi Campbell to Angelica Nwandu, founder of The Shade Room, one of Instagram’s most popular news channels.
In December, Gamma also quietly acquired a stake in the Death Row Records catalog from Snoop Dogg, who had purchased the catalog last year and pulled it from streaming services. Jackson wouldn’t disclose the terms of his deal with Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, but said that it’s a long-term partnership that includes two future albums and allows rights to revert back to Broadus after “we work together to enrich the value of the IP.” Jackson released the catalog exclusively on TikTok last month without disclosing his participation, allowing fans to create their own videos using clips from classic albums like Doggystyle, and to transform themselves into various breeds of dogs using TikTok’s “What Dogg Are You?” AR filter, an effort to drive buzz and engagement for the music before it returns to streaming platforms.
Jackson is betting that with his own distribution pipeline, a bevy of big-name acts, an array of culture-driving shows and an alliance with indie film studio A24 (in which Boehly is also an investor), Gamma could give TikTok a run for its money and “become the new radio, where you could actually break records,” plus sell an array of other goods from concert tickets to beauty products.
“Having the whole thing A to Z creates kind of a farm-to-table situation,” Jackson says. “Everything can’t be about one place where you break music – I’m not going to say what that one place is, but you know what I’m talking about. For us, as a company, I’m looking to decrease our dependence on outside sources. I don’t see that being done anywhere.”
He’s also hoping that as a Black founder and CEO, his leadership will drive more diversity, inclusion and equity at the top of the music business. He wants to run Gamma with a closer focus on — and more sensitivity to — Black culture than the major labels, while structuring deals that help artists retain ownership of their work and build generational wealth.
To build intrigue, Jackson has been mysteriously teasing his new company as he might a new album, drawing on his many years working in the record business. After the Grammys in February, for instance, he hosted a party at Mr. Brainwash Art Museum in Los Angeles, inviting a mix of bankers and stars such as Lil Wayne, Leonardo DiCaprio and Madonna, making guests say “Gamma” as the password for entry. This month, he put up billboards on Los Angeles’s Sunset Boulevard and in New York’s Times Square, featuring cymbal-banging monkeys and the new company logo.
Jackson’s core team includes his co-founder and COO Ike Youssef, with whom he worked at Universal Music’s Interscope Records, where Youssef was CFO. It also includes Ben Cook, who left his post as president of Atlantic Records UK in 2019 amid controversy over an old photo in which he was dressed up as a member of Run-DMC; Cook apologized in a statement at the time, saying he realized his appearance was “offensive” and that he’d only been trying to honor his musical hero.
“I believe in redemption,” says Jackson, noting that he was grateful to get a second chance himself after being fired for cause from Sony’s RCA Records in 2010. (He had offered to personally pay Alicia Keys a sum that exceeded the amount the label had approved for the rights to have Jennifer Hudson record one of Keys’ songs, in an effort to expedite the release of Hudson’s second album.) “In retrospect, I can see how that could be perceived as disrespectful and insubordinate – but I was doing it more with a magnanimous spirit of making sure that the album came out, which would have ensured that the company made its numbers and that all 170 employees got their bonuses. I was trying to honor the artist and honor my colleagues.”
Jimmy Iovine gave Jackson another shot, hiring him almost immediately at Interscope, and it was there during a white-board brainstorming session that same year that Youssef says they came up with the initial notion for a company like Gamma.
Jackson then worked closely with Iovine and Dr. Dre to launch Beats, their headphones and streaming service company, becoming Apple Music’s global creative director when Apple acquired Beats in 2014. Youssef, meanwhile, went on to work at Yeezy, the Kanye West-Adidas venture, as CFO from 2017 to 2018, and in 2019, Jackson and Youssef started raising capital for Gamma and shopping for assets.
Jackson is “really resourceful about creating events that distinguish artists in the marketplace. There are, what, 100,000 songs uploaded to Spotify every day? You need to have someone like Larry to get people to pay attention. He is second to none in that,” Youssef says. He “knows how to cut through the clutter.”
Jackson says he learned his tricks from Iovine, who “used Best Buy to market Beats” and “partnered with artists to market the headphones.” He just plans to expand on Iovine’s ideas, using fashion and film as vehicles for exposure, keeping Iovine close as his “chief consiglieri,” and heeding his advice like “don’t get caught speeding,” “don’t spend foolishly” and “always stay at the table.”
Among Gamma’s first musical releases will be a new album by Usher, through a new joint venture between Usher and veteran music executive L.A. Reid that Gamma will distribute. (Jackson says he’s known both Usher and Reid since he was 17, so he’s been “much more involved” than a typical distributor.) He’s also developing new podcasts with Naomi Campbell, and says he’s been in close touch with Frank Ocean throughout the launch of Gamma, seeking the artist’s feedback on details like the name of the company, but wouldn’t comment on any projects they might have in the works together.
Gamma has been shopping for catalogs besides Death Row, too, bidding for instance on some of Dr. Dre’s music assets – passive income streams including his artist and producer royalties from his solo albums — that were recently on the market, though Dr. Dre ultimately sold them to Universal and Shamrock. Jackson says catalogs “were never was a part of the business plan,” and that he’s only interested in acquiring them “on terms favorable to the original creator.”
“I only make offers,” Jackson says, “on things I feel that we can enhance.”
In the latest bid by lawmakers to crack down on TikTok in the United States, on Tuesday (Mar. 7) a bipartisan group of senators introduced a new bill that would empower the White House to rein in the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.
Led by Sens. Mark A. Warner (D-Va.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) and co-sponsored by 10 others in the chamber, the RESTRICT Act would “comprehensively address the ongoing threat posed by technology from foreign adversaries” including China, Russia and Iran by authorizing the Department of Commerce — led by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo — “to review, prevent, and mitigate information communications and technology transactions” that are found to threaten U.S. national security, up to and including an outright ban, according to a press release.
The White House has also come out in support of the new bill, with U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan noting in a press release that the legislation “presents a systematic framework for addressing technology-based threats to the security and safety of Americans.”
Though TikTok is not named in the text of the RESTRICT Act, both Warner and Thune invoked the platform in their own statements on the legislation.
“Congress needs to stop taking a piecemeal approach when it comes to technology from adversarial nations that pose national security risks,” said Thune. “Our country needs a process in place to address these risks, which is why I’m pleased to work with Senator Warner to establish a holistic, methodical approach to address the threats posed by technology platforms — like TikTok — from foreign adversaries.”
A representative for TikTok did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.
TikTok has been subject to increased scrutiny by the U.S. government recently over fears that national security and consumer privacy could be compromised by the platform, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. In December, President Joe Biden signed a bill that prohibits the 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. And last month, the administration drew a sharp rebuke from the Chinese government after it gave all federal agencies just 30 days to wipe TikTok from government devices.
Tuesday’s Senate bill follows a separate one introduced in December by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) that would have required President Biden to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to restrict U.S. citizens’ access to the app.
In the House on Wednesday (Mar. 1), another bill advanced out of committee that would direct the Treasury Secretary to prohibit Americans from engaging with TikTok and other entities found to be directed or influenced by the Chinese government — though it was criticized by Democrats who said it had not been properly vetted and could affect innocent U.S. businesses. That legislation would additionally empower the President to impose sanctions on TikTok and other companies tied to China.
TikTok has long attempted to assuage fears that the platform, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has ties to the ruling Chinese Communist party and censors content critical of the Chinese government and other authoritarian regimes. In June, the company announced 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.
The U.S. government has so far been undeterred. “We look forward to continue working with both Democrats and Republicans on this bill, and urge Congress to act quickly to send it to the President’s desk,” said Sullivan on Tuesday.
Concerns about TikTok have also been prevalent in other corners of the West, most prominently in Europe. In January, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew met with European Union officials over concerns about child safety and data privacy, among other matters. On Feb. 16, 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.
SM Entertainment shareholders have until the end of the month to weigh two competing visions for the South Korean music company’s future before its annual general meeting on March 31 — one from SM and Korean tech company Kakao and another from K-pop rival HYBE.
Despite SM Entertainment’s announcement Monday that it had canceled plans due to a court injunction to issue new shares and give Kakao a 9.05% stake in the company, making it the leading shareholder, SM and Kakao are pushing forward with their strategy to maintain control. On Tuesday (March 7), Kakao launched a tender offer to buy a 35% stake from SM’s minority shareholders by March 26 and, if successful, could soon own nearly 40% of SM and hold significant voting power.
SM — home to such K-pop acts as NCT 127 and Aespa — has nominated a slate of independent directors and laid out a plan for adding 260 billion won ($200 million) of revenue by 2025 by setting up operations in the U.S., Japan and Southeast Asia, and making acquisitions — including a publishing company — in the coming years, according to a company presentation to shareholders. If the roadmap is successful, SM believes it can double its annual sales from an estimated 770 billion won ($690 billion) in 2023 to 1.5 trillion won ($1.14 billion) in 2025.
Much of SM’s road map stems from its battle with founder Lee Soo-man. In late 2022, an activist investor, Align Partners Capital, convinced SM’s board to appoint a new auditor and terminate a contract with Lee’s production company, Like Planning. Now, SM is attempting to remake itself under revamped corporate governance and a more decentralized organization than Lee’s hierarchical control of artist development.
The current inside directors — including Lee’s nephew, Lee Sung-soo — will resign their positions “in order to take responsibility for the problems of the [Lee Soo-man] system,” the company stated. In their place, SM is recommending its own slate of three executives: CFO Jang Chul-Hyuk; Kim Ji-Won, head of marketing center; and Choi Jung-Min, head of global business center.
To ensure an independent board of directors, SM has proposed the chairperson be one of its outside directors, not one of its own executives. Among the company’s picks for outside directors are Kim Kyu-Shik, president of the Korean Governance Forum; Moon Jungbien, a professor at Korea University that specializes in environmental, social and corporate governance matters; and Sung M. Cho, CEO of music analytics company Chartmetric. For part-time directors, SM recommends Lee Changhwan, the CEO of Align Partners, and Jang Yoon-Joong, Kakao’s global strategy officer.
Lee Chang-hwan
Courtesy of Align Partners
HYBE, home to the wildly popular boy band BTS, has different ambitions for SM’s future. HYBE acquired a 14.8% stake in SM from Lee, the SM founder, on Feb. 22, and an additional 1% through a tender offer, according to a March 6 regulatory filing. It has blasted “the bias and irrationality” of the SM management that approved the Kakao partnership.
“HYBE has been considering the acquisition of SM for a long time and gave much thought into how the two companies could work together,” Jung Jinsoo, HYBE’s chief legal officer, wrote in a letter to SM shareholders on Thursday.
In the letter, Jung argues HYBE solved two problems when it acquired Lee’s equity. First, HYBE acquired Lee’s shares in two SM subsidiaries: SM Brand Marketing and Dream Maker Entertainment Limited. That solves what Jung called “leakage in SM’s profits” to Lee. Second, HYBE alleges SM still owes Lee fees for three years even though it terminated the Like Planning contract as of Dec. 31.
Jung says HYBE structured the stock purchase agreement so payments to Lee stop “upon the execution of the agreement.” HYBE also added a clause to terminate any transactions from SM to Lee that HYBE did not know about.
While SM sees Kakao as the partner for its transformation into a larger, more global entity, HYBE calls it an “unfair partnership” that would give Kakao permanent and exclusive rights to distribute SM’s music, protect SM’s equity at the expense of other shareholders and create conflict of interests that favor Kakao’s interests. “We believe that these details demonstrate the bias and irrationality of the current SM management who approved such arrangements,” Jung writes.
Beyond SM’s relationship with Kakao, HYBE is concerned with SM’s roadmap to increase the number of artists on its roster by expanding production in Korea and building overseas outposts. Jung is questioning SM leadership’s understanding of the time and resources required to develop and break successful artists.
“It goes without saying but you cannot generate profit in K-pop just by having a longer artist roster,” Jung writes. “What’s important is to nurture artists who are loved by fans and provide a creative environment.”
HYBE has submitted a competing slate of inside director recommendations featuring a handful of HYBE executives: Jung; Lee Jaesang, president of HYBE America; and Lee Jin Hwa, HYBE’s chief of management and planning.
For outside directors, HYBE has recommended Kang Namkyu, managing partner at GAON Law Group; Hong Sounman, professor of public administration at Yonsei University; and Lim Dae Woong, a representative of the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative. HYBE’s recommendation for part-time director is Park Byungmoo, managing partner at buyout firm VIG Partners; and Choi Kyu Dam, a former NCSOFT finance executive, for part-time auditor.
SM portrays the battle with HYBE as a fight for its independence from a large company. A HYBE takeover would put its interests over SM’s artists, SM says, and could force SM to downsize or divest assets to meet regulatory approval. What’s more, HYBE might not receive a warm welcome: 85% of SM employees who voted on the workplace app Blind oppose HYBE’s “hostile takeover” and want to “protect the culture diversity of K-pop and the unique identity of SM,” according to SM’s investor presentation.
Ultimately, the two sides have competing visions for a board of directors that will best serve SM shareholders and lead the company. To SM, HYBE’s recommended directors are either tied to Lee, employed by HYBE or hurt shareholder value in their previous corporate tenures. To HYBE, SM’s proposals could result in a board controlled by Align Partners that lacks the experience to expand SM and reach the company’s lofty targets.
“[I]t is questionable whether the current management has a sufficient understanding on these circumstances,” writes HYBE’s Jung.
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: A deep-dive into the messy – and litigious – situation inside the iconic 80s rock band Journey; an update on YNW Melly’s death-penalty case at the Florida Supreme Court; a sudden dismissal of a copyright lawsuit against Benny Blanco, Ed Sheeran and others; and much more.
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THE BIG STORY: Don’t Stop Litigatin’
If you read one thing this week, make it Steve Knopper’s long Billboard story about the simmering problems inside Journey — an epic tale of internal dysfunction among members of an iconic band that’s still printing money decades after its “Don’t Stop Believing” heyday.
The story has it all: dueling security guards in green rooms; a multi-million-dollar pay-per-view wedding; a trail of fired managers and staffers; and an absolute all-timer quote: “This is Neal. I am fucking your wife.” But above all else, it has lawsuits — ranging from divorce to defamation to intellectual property to assault.
Sure, there’s the current battle between lead guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain over a disputed American Express card. But there’s also the lawsuit filed against Live Nation over an alleged assault on Schon’s wife, a case alleging a “coup” by former bandmates Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory, a trademark dispute with former frontman Steve Perry and much more.
For the full breakdown of the crisis inside Journey, go read the entire story here.
Other top stories this week…
DEATH PENALTY DISPUTE – Prosecutors urged the Florida Supreme Court to reject an appeal by YNW Melly from a ruling last year that said he could face the death penalty if convicted at an upcoming murder trial. The rapper says the state forfeited the right to seek the death penalty by failing to give proper notice, but prosecutors say he “suffered no harm.”
MARILYN MANSON UPDATE – A week after one of Marilyn Manson’s sexual assault accusers recanted her allegations, a judge ruled that the sudden reversal couldn’t be used as evidence in Manson’s defamation lawsuit against his ex-fiance Evan Rachel Wood. The move came after Wood’s lawyers argued the “eleventh hour” revelation was just a “bad-faith” effort to save Manson’s case.
COPYRIGHT CASE CLOSED – Two songwriters who sued Benny Blanco, Halsey, Khalid and Ed Sheeran for copyright infringement over their 2018 hit “Eastside” suddenly dropped the lawsuit. The accusers told Billboard that they decided that continuing the case would have been “too costly, challenging, and risky for us”; but Blanco’s lawyer said the accusations were “baseless” and “never should have been made” in the first place.
PODCAST POT CLASH – Chris “Kit” Gray, the president and co-founder of PodcastOne, was hit with a lawsuit claiming he fired his executive assistant because she refused to ship cannabis products from California (where they’re legal) to his home in Florida (where they aren’t).
TRAVIS SCOTT’S NIGHTCLUB SCUFFLE – Police in New York sought to question rapper Travis Scott after he was accused of assaulting a sound engineer and causing $12,000 worth of damage to sound equipment at Manhattan nightclub Nebula. His reps called it “a misunderstanding being blown out of proportion” and stressed that no charges had been filed. Scott is expected to sit for questioning this week.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida prosecutor told jurors during closing arguments Tuesday (March 7) that three men on trial for the 2018 slaying of rapper XXXTentacion were “predators” who waited outside a motorcycle shop to rob and shoot the rising star, escaping with $50,000.
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Prosecutor Pascale Achille played cellphone videos the defendants allegedly took hours after the killing that showed them smiling and dancing as they flashed handfuls of $100 bills. Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams and Trayvon Newsome are all charged with first-degree murder and face mandatory life sentences if convicted.
“This is who they are. This is their real character. Killers that within 24 hours after shooting the victim dead and stealing $50,000 from him, this is what they do,” Achille told the jury as she played the video. “Look at how happy they look. Look at how excited they look.”
She also played surveillance video from the motorcycle shop and from where two of them allegedly stashed an SUV that she says link the men to the killing. And she recounted statements from a fourth man, Robert Allen, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last year and testified against his former friends.
George Reres, Newsome’s attorney, implored the jury not to convict his client based on Allen’s testimony or evidence implicating the other two defendants, saying, “He was not there.” He said that Allen, a 12-time convicted felon, should not be believed and that Newsome’s DNA was not found on any evidence.
He told jurors they should not believe Newsome is guilty simply because of the video showing him flashing money with the others, arguing he may not have even known where they got it.
“He did some stupid things — he posed with some money,” Reres said. “Guilt by association is not something the law permits.”
George Reres, Newsome’s attorney, implored the jury not to convict his client based on Allen’s testimony or evidence implicating the other two defendants – “he was not there.” He said Allen, a 12-time convicted felon, cannot be believed and that Newsome’s DNA is not found on any evidence.
He said they should not believe Newsome is guilty simply because there is a video showing him flashing money with the other defendants – he may not have even known where his friends got it.
“He did some stupid things – he posed with some money,” Reres said. “Guilt by association is not something the law permits.”
Mauricio Padilla, Williams’ attorney, called Allen a “liar.” He said the prosecution’s witnesses contradicted each other and Broward County sheriff’s detectives didn’t look at other possible suspects, including the Canadian star rapper Drake — he and XXXTentacion had an online feud. He said his client did tattooing and other work that paid him in cash, so the video of him flashing money means nothing.
Padilla also cast doubt on the value evidentiary value of the surveillance video, saying that while it may show his client in the store and walking back to the SUV, there are moments where the vehicle is blocked and Williams could have gotten out and left.
Boatwright’s attorney is to give his closing argument later Tuesday. The trial began a month ago.
XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, had just left Riva Motorsports in suburban Fort Lauderdale on June 18, 2018, with a friend when his BMW was blocked by an SUV that swerved in front.
Surveillance video showed that two masked gunmen emerged and confronted the 20-year-old singer at the driver’s window, and one shot him repeatedly. They then grabbed a Louis Vuitton bag containing cash that XXXTentacion had just withdrawn from the bank, got back into the SUV and sped away. The friend was not harmed.
Boatwright, 28, is accused of being the shooter, while Newsome, 24, is accused of being the other gunman. Williams, 26, is accused of being the driver.
Prosecutors say the men, along with Allen, set out that day to commit robberies and went to the motorcycle shop to buy Williams a mask. There they spotted the rapper and decided to make him their target. Allen and Williams went inside the motorcycle shop to confirm it was him. They then went back to the SUV they had rented and waited for XXXTentacion to emerge and ambushed him, according to prosecutors.
The rapper, who pronounced his name “Ex ex ex ten-ta-see-YAWN,” was a platinum-selling rising star who tackled issues including prejudice and depression in his songs. He also drew criticism over bad behavior and multiple arrests, including charges that he severely beat and abused his girlfriend.
Producer, songwriter and artist Metro Boomin – a.k.a. Leland Tyler Wayne – has sold a portion of his entire existing publishing catalog to Shamrock Capital for close to $70 million, sources close to the deal tell Billboard.
News of the sale arrives on the heels of his second album HEROES & VILLAINS, which was released on Dec. 2, 2022. The record was peppered with some of the biggest names in music, including features from Young Thug, Travis Scott, Future, Don Toliver, Chris Brown, A$AP Rocky, Gunna, and late Migos member Takeoff. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, making it his second album in a row to hit No. 1 as an artist.
As one of rap and R&B’s most defining creatives, Metro Boomin has helped craft hits like “Bad and Boujee” by Migos, “Mask Off” by Future, “Congratulations” by Post Malone, “Bank Account” by 21 Savage, “Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1” by Kanye West, “Jumpman” by Drake and Future, “Heartless” by The Weeknd, “Waves” by Kanye West, “Child’s Play” by Drake, “Tuesday” by iLoveMakonnen, and many more.
The multi-hyphenate musician has had 99 total entries on the Hot 100 chart as a producer, including two No. 1s and 10 top 10s. As an artist, Metro Boomin has 46 total entries on the Hot 100. He has spent 18 weeks at No. 1 on the Rap Producers chart and three weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 Producers and Hot 100 Songwriters charts.
Representatives for Shamrock did not return Billboard’s requests for comment. A representative for Metro Boomin declined to comment.
Shamrock was founded in 1978 as Roy E. Disney’s family office and has since become an active, powerful buyer in the music catalog investment space. It’s most notable investment being that of Taylor Swift’s Big Machine catalog which the firm bought from Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings in 2020. In 2021, Shamrock expanded into the lending space with a $196 million debt fund to loan money to IP owners in entertainment.
Last month, on Feb. 2, 2023, Shamrock Capital announced that it raised $600 million in a new fund (Shamrock Capital Content Fund III) aimed at acquiring film, TV, music video games, and sports rights.
Metro Boomin’s deal, along with other recent hip-hop acquisitions — like Juice WRLD’s sale to Opus Music Group for a nine figure sum, Dr. Dre’s Shamrock and UMG deal for an estimated over $200 million, and Future’s publishing catalog sale to Influence Media Partners between $65-75 million — have proved that the genre is fueling new investor interest.
Those who have been skeptical of rap catalog sales often point to the genre’s short history, which may indicate sharper — or still unknown — decay curves from other genres like rock and pop. Decay curves, which are based on past performance of other songs in the genre, refer to when the song levels out into a predictable state of income generation.
But the 50th anniversary of hip-hop special at the 2023 Grammy awards and its continued dominance on streaming platforms may reveal that rap is ready to become another sought-after genre for buyers.
“There are certain names that have been around for a long enough period that they are now of an evergreen standard,” City National entertainment banking leader Denise Colletta recently told Billboard. “Those household names in hip-hop will continue to resonate with audiences.”
Florida prosecutors are urging the state’s supreme court to reject an appeal by YNW Melly over whether the rapper should face the death penalty if convicted in his upcoming murder trial.
Last month, lawyers for Melly (real name Jamell Demons) asked the Florida Supreme Court to tackle his case, arguing that prosecutors had forfeited the right to seek the death penalty by failing to give proper notice that they planned to do so.
But in a response last week, Florida’s attorney general told the top court that it should steer clear of the rapper’s case.
“Demons has suffered no harm,” prosecutors wrote in the Feb. 27 brief. “He was on notice for three years that the State was seeking death and at no time had the State indicated it was altering its sentencing intent.”
In asking the state high court to take up his case, Melly has argued that it raises issues of “great public importance” for Florida law beyond his individual charges. But in their response, prosecutors said there was no such pressing need for such judicial review.
“No other district court has been faced with this issue, thus showing that the issue rarely arises,” the state wrote in its brief. “Should a death sentence be imposed, this Court will have the opportunity to resolve this unique matter on direct appeal.”
Melly has spent years awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges over accusations that he and another YNW rapper shot and killed Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams and Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas Jr. in 2018.
A first-degree murder defendant in Florida would typically face the possibility of execution if convicted, but Melly’s attorneys argued last year that the state had failed to comply with strict laws on how they must warn defendants that they’ll seek the death penalty.
Florida requires prosecutors to give notice 45 days after arraignment if they plan to seek capital punishment. In Melly’s case, the state attorney filed such a notice when they originally indicted the rapper in 2019, but failed to do so when a so-called superseding indictment was handed down earlier this year.
In July, a trial judge sided with Melly’s attorneys and said prosecutors had forfeited the chance to seek death. But in November, an appeals court ruled the judge’s decision was incorrect. The court wrote that since prosecutors gave notice that they might seek death when they first charged Melly in 2019, they had complied with state rules: “Notice is notice.”
Melly appealed that ruling to the Florida Supreme Court last month, arguing it was important that the death penalty law have “precisely defined and easily understood rules.” But like the U.S. Supreme Court, Florida’s top court hears only a small percentage of the appeals it receives.
In its new brief, state prosecutors urged the court to refuse to do so in Melly’s case: “Demons attempts to find conflict were there is none.”
A decision on whether to take the case will be issued by the high court in the months ahead. If it takes the case, both sides will then present more in-depth arguments on the disputed issues. If not, the case will return to the lower court for a jury trial on the murder charges against Melly.
Silvio Pietroluongo has been promoted to executive vp of charts & data partnerships at Billboard, it was announced Tuesday (Mar. 7).
The New York-based Pietroluongo, who was previously senior vp of charts & data development, is a 30-year veteran of the brand who has led Billboard‘s chart operation since 2008. In his new role, he will recruit new data partners for chart inclusion while collaborating closely with various departments within Billboard and PMC to create content and further business initiatives for the Billboard brand domestically and across the globe.
“Silvio’s contributions to Billboard and its charts is undeniable. Throughout the years, Silvio has been an exceptional operational leader among us and someone whose passion, commitment, and relationships shapes our daily team culture,” said Billboard president Mike Van in a statement on Pietroluongo’s promotion. “We are beyond thrilled to be able to recognize him and honor his commitment to making the ‘Billboard Charts’ what they are today.”
Under Pietroluongo’s leadership, the Billboard charts have evolved to reflect the ever-evolving digital and social media age, optimizing the comprehensive data sets that accurately and definitively measure success in music. During his tenure, Billboard’s charts were the first globally to include audio and video streams to measure song and album consumption. More recently, Billboard launched the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Excl. U.S. charts to measure worldwide song popularity as well as expanded its menu of international song ranking under the Hits of the World banner to over 40 territories.
Pietroluongo started his Billboard career as an intern and moved up the ranks from there, serving in various leadership roles including research supervisor. He was promoted to associate director of charts in 2006, director of charts in 2008, vp of charts & data development in 2014 and senior vp of charts & data development in 2018.
Korean tech company Kakao will launch a tender offer to acquire up to 35% of SM Entertainment’s outstanding shares. The move came a day after a court injunction forced Kakao to cancel its plan to acquire a 9.05% stake directly from SM, whose roster includes NCT 127 and Red Velvet; a court injunction scuttled SM’s plan to issue new shares and give Kakao the stake, according to reports by Bloomberg and Reuters.
Kakao and its subsidiary Kakao Entertainment are seeking to become SM’s largest shareholder and partner, to help rebuild the company after SM’s board of directors terminated a production contract with the company’s legendary founder, Lee Soo-man, on Dec. 31. Lee sold most of his SM shares to HYBE, the home of BTS, on Feb. 22 and won a court injunction Friday that prevented SM from issuing new shares to Kakao. As a result, Kakao has been forced to seek shares from existing SM shareholders instead.
HYBE had sought an additional 25% stake in SM through a tender offer but was able to purchase slightly less than 1% of outstanding shares, the company revealed in a regulatory filing Monday (March 6). That increased HYBE’s ownership stake in SM to 15.8%. With Lee’s 3.65% stake, HYBE has voting power of 19.4% of outstanding shares. The next-largest shareholder, Korea’s National Pension Service, owns 6.2% of SM’s shares.
Kakao and HYBE are locked in a battle for control of SM’s board of directors ahead of the company’s annual general meeting on March 31. “Kakao has strong trust in the excellent competitiveness of SM Entertainment’s current management, employees, and artists, and the current management’s efforts to resolve the factors that hinder SM Entertainment’s growth,” the company said in a statement.
HYBE sees itself as the more skilled, experienced company to guide SM’s global ambitions and has criticized its competitor’s “utterly irresponsible contract” with Kakao.
Kakao and its subsidiary Kakao Entertainment, which raised $966 million from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia and Singapore in January, will offer 150,000 won ($115.46) per share — a 25% premium over the 120,000 won ($92.36) per share HYBE offered.
SM’s share price rose 13.8% to 148,100 won ($114.09) on Tuesday morning in Seoul following news of Kakao’s tender offer.
Additional reporting by Jeyup S. Kwaak.
Paramount is exploring a potential sale of a majority stake in its BET business, which includes BET, VH1, and the BET+ streaming service, a source familiar with the matter tells The Hollywood Reporter.
The source cautioned that the discussions are still in the early stages, and there is no guarantee of any transaction taking place. They added that if a deal closes, Paramount expects to maintain a minority stake in the business, as well as a commercial relationship. Scott Mills serves as BET’s CEO.
BET is also unusual within Paramount’s portfolio in that some of its divisions have minority investors of their own. BET+, for example, counts Tyler Perry as an investor, while BET Studios counts Kenya Barris and Rashida Jones as stakeholders. Those deals would complicate any effort to merge BET+ or BET Studios into Paramount+ or one of the company’s other studios.
Such a deal, if it happens, would give Paramount cash as it continues to build out its main streaming offering, Paramount+, and as it reviews its holdings and figures out where things piece together in its strategy moving forward.
In January, the company announced plans to merge its Paramount+ and Showtime businesses.
Founded in 1980 by former cable lobbyist Robert Johnson and his wife Sheila Johnson, the BET channel was the first cable network to specifically cater to African American audiences. Paramount (then known as Viacom) acquired BET in 2000 for $2.3 billion.
While it is too early to say who potential buyers could be, given BET’s status in the African American community, high-net-worth Black individuals, or a Black-led company, would make some sense. A number of high-profile advertisers, including General Motors and Coca-Cola, have committed to significantly increase their ad spend on minority-owned media companies. While BET targets a minority audience, its Paramount ownership would not fit that bill.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the discussions.
This story originally appeared at THR.com.