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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.
A new London-based buyer has entered the already crowded catalog acquisition market. Called Bella Figura Music, the company was founded by former BMG U.K. president, Alexi Cory-Smith, who will act as CEO, and former BMG global investments division leader, Neelesh Prabhu, who will act as head of investments.
According to the company’s announcement, Bella Figura Music is a “purpose-built, artist-centric music company, bringing together leading technology and a relentless focus on creative excellence.”
Over the last year, Bella Figura’s team has been quietly amassing a catalog of recording and publishing assets with financing aid from private equity fund Freshstream.
So far, Bella Figura has acquired the publishing catalog of Guy Chambers, one of the songwriters behind Robbie Williams‘ “Angels,” “Feel” and “Let Me Entertain You,” as well as David Gray‘s record label IHT, which owns and controls all of the singer-songwriter’s albums, from 1998’s White Ladder to 2019’s Gold in a Brass Age.
According to the company’s announcement, Gray is “closely involved with Bella Figura Music,” acting as an “interested party” in the catalog’s business dealings. Gray’s management team at Mick Management will remain closely involved with the catalog, new products and new initiatives. “Dave remaining involved financially and with creative controls and input intact was a key feature of us wanting to do the deal,” says Cory-Smith. “This is the kind of deal we really like.”
Other acquisitions by Bella Figura include R3HAB‘s recorded music catalog up until 2022, including “All Around the World,” “Sad Boy,” “Runaway” and “Call Me”; AWAL’s divested portfolio of rights, including shares of recordings by Gray, Placebo, The Wombats and Dashboard Confessional; songwriter-producer Darrell Brown’s publishing shares in 25 of his songs, including songs performed by LeAnn Rimes and Keith Urban.
“I view David Gray and Guy Chambers as the founding blocks on which we build the business,” Cory-Smith says. “One is records, the other is publishing — both top quality catalogues. I am very proud of what we have achieved in Bella Figura Music’s first year of business.”
Cory-Smith adds, “I’ve always wanted to have my own music company and after years in corporates, the timing to take an entrepreneurial path felt right.”
“I’ve been looking for a new partner for my music for quite some time, so when I heard about Alexi and Bella Figura I thought it had the potential to be a good fit,” says Gray. “They struck me as a company with serious ambitions, an eye for detail and a point to prove, and the fact that I had a good relationship with Alexi from her time at Chrysalis/BMG was definitely a major positive too. The world of music and technology is in a state of constant flux and it’s vital to work with people who are not only attentive to its challenges but also alert to its opportunities. I feel very optimistic that with Bella Figura I’ve found just that.”
“I’m so pleased to be working with Bella Figura,” adds Chambers. “I think Alexi is one of the most dynamic executives working in the music industry. Having Alexi at the helm of Bella Figura is an exciting prospect for what is a new and vital area for songwriters in the industry today.”
Condé Nast has reached a settlement to end a lawsuit against Drake and 21 Savage over their use of a fake Vogue magazine cover to promote their album Her Loss, Billboard has confirmed.
The agreement, first reported by the news site Semafor, includes a permanent injunction barring any further use of Condé Nast’s Vogue trademarks, as well as an undisclosed monetary payment from Drake and 21.
In an internal email independently obtained by Billboard, Condé Nast general counsel William Bowes said the company was “glad to put this matter behind us” but explained why the publishing giant had felt the need to file the lawsuit against the two rappers.
“As a creative company, we of course understand our brands may from time to time be referenced in other creative works,” Bowes wrote in the note. “In this instance, however, it was clear to us that Drake and 21 Savage leveraged Vogue’s reputation for their own commercial purposes and, in the process, confused audiences who trust Vogue as the authoritative voice on fashion and culture.”
Representatives for Drake, 21 Savage and Condé Nast all declined to comment.
The fake Vogue cover was part of a broader phony media blitz from the two stars, aimed at promoting the November launch of their album Her Loss. They also released a fake Saturday Night Live performance, teased a similar fake appearance on NPR’s Tiny Desk series and created an elaborate deepfake interview with Howard Stern.
NPR and Stern both publicly embraced the joke, but Condé Nast wasn’t laughing about the fake Vogue cover.
In a lawsuit filed Nov. 7 in Manhattan federal court, the publisher called the stunt a “flagrant infringement” of the company’s trademark rights, aimed at exploiting the “tremendous value that a cover feature in Vogue magazine carries” without actually securing that honor. Condé specifically pointed to Drake’s Instagram post teasing the fake cover story, in which he personally thanked famed Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
“Vogue magazine and its Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour have had no involvement in Her Loss or its promotion, and have not endorsed it in any way,” the company’s lawyers wrote at the time. “Nor did Condé Nast authorize, much less support, the creation and widespread dissemination of a counterfeit issue of Vogue, or a counterfeit version of perhaps one of the most carefully curated covers in all of the publication business.”
Just days later, a federal judge largely agreed with Condé Nast, issuing a preliminary injunction forcing the stars to pull down all references to the fake Vogue cover. The judge said the faux cover likely violated the publisher’s trademarks by “misleading consumers” and “deceiving the public.”
In the internal letter announcing the settlement, Bowes said Condé Nast had repeatedly attempted to resolve the dispute without resorting to litigation but had been “left with no other option” after the superstars ignored their requests to stop.
“We have a fundamental duty to protect our IP when it’s clear that it’s being used without permission for something other than serving our audience,” Bowes wrote in the letter.
A formal notice of settlement has not yet been filed in the federal court overseeing the lawsuit.
A Chicago federal judge has rejected R. Kelly’s bid to overturn his conviction last year on child pornography charges, clearing the way for sentencing which is scheduled for next week.
Denying motions filed by Kelly’s lawyers seeking either a new trial or an outright acquittal, Judge Harry D. Leinenweber ruled Thursday (Feb. 16) that federal prosecutors provided jurors with “enough evidence to sustain a guilty verdict on all six counts Kelly was convicted of.”
Among other arguments, Kelly’s lawyers had argued that one of his victims (known as “Jane”) gave false testimony on the witness stand about whether she planned to seek monetary restitution from Kelly if he was ultimately convicted. They said the incident suggested Jane had “motivation to share her story in ways that were not entirely honest.”
But Judge Leinenweber saw things differently: “Simply because Jane and her attorney considered the possibility of restitution, does not mean she lied during her testimony,” the judge wrote.
Following a four-week trial in Chicago federal court, Kelly was found guilty in September on three counts of child pornography and three counts of enticing a minor. He was acquitted of other charges that accused him of fixing a 2008 state-court trial over the same child pornography accusations.
That conviction came after a federal judge in New York previously sentenced Kelly to 30 years in prison in June on separate racketeering and sex trafficking convictions.
Kelly is set for sentencing on Feb. 23 on the Chicago charges. He faces as many as 90 additional years in prison on those convictions.
In seeking to overturn the conviction, Kelly’s lawyers made a number of arguments, including that the government had failed to show conclusively that the singer “enticed” Jane into making child pornography. But Judge Leinenweber ruled instead that there was “ample” evidence to support the charge.
“Jane testified about how Kelly gradually persuaded her into sexual activity with him,” the judge wrote. “Jane described how Kelly induced her into making Videos One through Three and that Kelly positioned the camera and told Jane exactly what to do and say while having sex with him.”
Thursday’s ruling is not the final decision on Kelly’s conviction. His attorneys can still challenge the outcome to a federal appeals court and eventually to the U.S. Supreme Court, though they face long odds in overturning a jury’s verdict.
Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday’s order.
Read the judge’s entire ruling here:
A federal jury has issued a verdict mostly clearing Damon Dash in a lawsuit that accused the Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder of sexually assaulting a photographer, Billboard has confirmed.
Monique Bunn sued Dash in 2019, claiming he had inappropriately touched her while she was sleeping at his house during a video project. She then tacked on defamation charges to the case, after Dash accused her on social media of charging thousands of dollars to a credit card without permission.
But following a four-day trial, the jury found that Dash was not liable for sexual assault, seemingly swayed by Dash’s testimony that the allegation was “ridiculous.” The jurors did find him liable for defamation but awarded Bunn just $15,000 in damages. A hearing on additional “punitive” damages is set for Thursday.
Bunn had sought tens of millions of dollars from the lawsuit, including for accusations that Dash failed to give her back a huge trove of her photos. But despite an earlier ruling by the judge that said Dash was liable on that claim, the jurors awarded Bunn no damages over the unreturned property.
The verdict was first reported by Law360 and confirmed to Billboard by attorneys for Dash. Attorneys for Bunn did not return a request for comment on Thursday (Feb. 16).
As reported in detail by Law360, Bunn testified last week at trial that the one-time hip-hop mogul had groped her during a 2019 video shoot at his house. While sleeping in his daughter’s room, she said she awoke to feel “something on the left side of my like lower back onto my butt, down my thigh.”
Bunn then also reportedly testified that Dash’s response to her allegations — a social media post and a radio interview in which he claimed she had stolen money from him — had destroyed her career. “I lost everything, I have nothing,” she said.
In his own testimony earlier this week, Dash reportedly called the allegations “ridiculous,” flatly denying any misconduct and calling Bunn a “con artist” who was making false accusations against him.
Following the verdict for Dash, either side can appeal the outcome — first by asking the judge to overturn the verdict against them, then by taking the case to a federal appeals court.
George Gershwin‘s heirs have opted to renew their long-term publishing administration deal with Raleigh Music Publishing. The deal is specifically for the works owned under A Gershwin, LLC, which holds a major share of Gershwin’s copyrights, including “Rhapsody in Blue” (arr. Ferde Grofé), works from musicals like Porgy and Bess, Shall We Dance, Crazy for You, An American in Paris, Nice Work If You Can Get It, and more. Songs from these stage productions remain some of the most vital musical works in American history, including “They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” “Love Is Here to Stay,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” “A Foggy Day,” and “Summertime.”
Sony Music Publishing has extended its global partnership with David Gates and his publishing company Kipahulu Music which began in the 1960s. Gates is best known as the frontman of the band Bread and as the songwriter of hits for The Murmaids and The Monkees, and worked with Elvis Presley, Bobby Darin, Merle Haggard and more. His hits include “If,” “Everything I Own,” “It Don’t Matter To Me,” “Baby I’m-A Want You,” “Make It With You” and many more.
Warner Chappell Music has signed a worldwide publishing deal with MZMC Inc. Korea Co. — a popular production and publishing company in the K-pop market. Under the partnership WCM will be administering MZMC’s entire music catalog worldwide, including hits like ‘Fine’ by Taeyeon; ‘Ko Ko Bop’, ‘Love Shot’, and ‘Tempo’ by EXO; RBB (Really Bad Boy)’ by Red Velvet, as well as ‘We Go Up’ by NCT DREAM.
Ultra International Publishing has expanded its Afrobeats operations to Nigeria and has formed a new creative hub there. Ultra has appointed Harold Serero, a London-based A&R manager, to oversee the operation. The company’s signings within the genre include Tejiri Akpoghene who is signed jointly between Ultra and Revels Group’s publishing arm Coup D’Etat Music. They have also signed Maesu, a rising Afrobeats artist, and Amexin to publishing agreements.
Marv Green has inked a global publishing deal with Red Door Music Group and Warner Chappell Music. Over the past few years, he has worked with Morgan Wallen, Jake Owen, Eric Church, Brooks and Dunn, Jon Pardi, Midland, Lee Brice, Tim McGraw and more. He is most known for his BMI Song of the Year-winning track “Amazed,” which was released by Lonestar.
Boosey and Hawkes, which is part of Concord, has added ballet score Mythologies to its catalog. Written by Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk, the ballet set to his score has been touring France and Italy since April 2022.
Warner Chappell Music, Liz Rose Music and Jimmie Allen have come together to jointly sign Cameron Bedell to a global publishing agreement. The singer-songwriter from Wichita, Kansas recently co-penned “Down Home” by Allen.
Sentric Music has signed Mason, a Dutch producer and DJ, to an exclusive publishing administration deal. The talent has been making dance music since his breakout song “Exceeder” in 2006. Since then he has worked with Roisin Murphy, Shingai, Aqualung, Kurtis Blow, Sway, and more.
Minds on Fire, a pop and dance-focus music publishing company, has announced that it is partnering with BMG. Its catalog will now be administered by BMG and future co-publishing signings will be done jointly with the Berlin-based company as well. The first signings to this new deal are Emre Turkmen and Michael Goldsworthy, founding members of the group Years & Years.
King Pen Music and Warner Chappell have joined together to sign a global publishing agreement with Liam St. John, a blues singer-songwriter and former contestant of The Voice (Season 19).