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Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter was hit with a lawsuit Thursday (Dec. 8) alleging that he raped a 17-year-old fan on his tour bus following a 2001 concert in Washington.
In a civil lawsuit filed in Nevada court, Shannon “Shay” Ruth says Carter picked her from a group of women seeking autographs after a concert in Tacoma. She says he then brought her aboard the bus, gave her an alcoholic beverage called “VIP juice” and repeatedly assaulted her.
The woman, now 39, says waited more than 20 years to come forward because she was afraid of retaliation.
“He told plaintiff she would go to jail if she told anyone what happened between them,” Ruth’s lawyers wrote in the complaint, obtained by Billboard. “He said that he was Nick Carter, and that he had the power to do that. Due to his various threats, plaintiff did not report Carter’s crimes for many years.”
The attack allegedly left Ruth infected with the sexually-transmitted infection human papillomavirus, or HPV, according to the lawsuit.
In addition to Ruth, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of three other unnamed “Jane Doe” accusers who allegedly experienced similar attacks by Carter from 2003 to 2006. According to the complaint, all three of those women were also given alcohol before being forced to have sex with him; one was allegedly similarly underage.
A rep for Carter did not immediately return a request for comment from Billboard. An unnamed source close to the singer reportedly told TMZ that the accusations were “categorically false.”
The allegations are not the first against Carter. Back in 2017, Melissa Schuman, a former member of teen-pop group Dream, publicly accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2003 when she was 18 years old. Carter denied the allegations at the time, saying Schuman had “never expressed” to him that “anything we did was not consensual.”
After an investigation into Schuman’s accusations, prosecutors in Los Angeles declined to bring criminal charges against Carter on the grounds that the 10-year statute of limitations had expired.
The new lawsuit against Carter contains explicit and disturbing details of the alleged sexual assault.
Once she had finished her “VIP drink,” Ruth says Carter took her to a bathroom and demanded that she perform oral sex on him: “Alone and under duress, Plaintiff reluctantly complied with his demand. Plaintiff cried during the ordeal.”
Following that incident, Ruth says Carter took her to another room on the bus where he “pushed plaintiff down onto the bed and proceeded to mount her.” She says she “begged him to stop” and tried to get away, but that “every time she said ‘No’ and tried to get up, Carter got angry and pushed her down harder.”
After the attack, Ruth says Carter grabbed her, called her a “retarded little bitch” and said that nobody would believe her story. Ruth has autism and cerebral palsy, according to the complaint.
Read the entire complaint here:
Music companies’ quarterly results in October and November were a bright spot amid a mostly bleak earnings season. High inflation, rising interest rates and the chance of a recession presented a triple-whammy to most sectors — particularly tech and retail — but in the music industry, those macroeconomic threats weren’t enough to dampen consumer demand and investors’ confidence.
“While the broader economy is facing challenges, the music industry as a whole remains healthy,” says Golnar Khosrowshahi, founder and CEO of Reservoir Media, which raised its full-fiscal-year forecast by 11% for both revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).
So what worked in music companies’ favor? In short, more people are going to concerts and buying streaming subscriptions, and revenues from those sectors helped bolster quarterly results for nearly every publicly listed music company.
Diversifiction = Fortification
The major labels, which have a piece of the market in nearly every segment of the music industry, all reported quarterly revenue gains over the third quarter last year, ranging from 16% at Warner Music Group to 6% at Sony Music Entertainment. On Universal Music Group’s third-quarter call, chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge attributed the company’s 13.3% third-quarter revenue gains to UMG’s diversification strategy. While ad-supported streaming revenue slowed significantly, only growing 5.2% (from last year’s 15.6% growth), licensing and other revenues rose by 30% due to an $84.2 million increase in touring revenue from Latin American, European and Asian markets where UMG is in that business. Merchandising and other revenue related to those tours grew by over 100% to almost $199 million. “We are better positioned to navigate the inevitable ebbs and flows of revenue of any particular business, as well as to weather any macroeconomic headwinds,” said Grainge.
Live’s Alive Again
Live Nation Entertainment had its biggest summer concert season ever, reporting that more than 44 million fans attended 11,000 events in the third quarter, as attendance for stadium shows tripled to nearly 9 million. Companywide, Live Nation reported $6.2 billion in quarterly revenue, up nearly 67% from the last-comparable quarter, which for it was the third quarter of 2019.
Streaming’s Still Strong
On a call with investors, an analyst asked Sony deputy president/CFO Hiroki Totoki what risks Sony Music Entertainment faces. His reply: “Streaming is very successful, and we don’t really have that much of a concern.” Spotify’s third-quarter results confirm that. Revenue rose 12% to roughly $3.2 billion at a constant currency, on a 13% uptick in subscription revenue from more than 195 million subscribers — 1 million more than the company targeted.
French streaming company Deezer also reported double-digit revenue growth, although it attributed the increase in part to a one-euro price hike the company instituted in France earlier this year. Deezer’s revenues rose nearly 14% to $112.5 million at the Sept. 30, 2022, exchange rate.
Price hikes, coming at a time consumers’ costs are rising across the spectrum, are the final thing working for music industry companies. After Apple said it would raise its standard individual streaming plan price by $1 to $10.99 in the U.S. and Spotify signaled it was also considering a price increase, major labels and other streaming company executives all said they expect trickle-down benefits.
It’s also worth noting that although Totoki said on the call that Sony is “taking steps to prepare for further deterioration… in each of our businesses,” the company raised its revenue and operating income targets for the full fiscal year by $9.8 billion and $1.9 billion, respectively (at Sony’s assumed exchange rate for the second half of the fiscal year).
AEG Presents UK has appointed Chris Wareing to senior vp of global touring and hired Paris Harding as a promoter, the company announced on Thursday (Dec. 8).
Wareing — a leading hip-hop, rap and R&B promoter as well as the founder of the annual Gods of Rap tour — joins AEG with the view of expanding the company’s hip-hop and rap presence across the globe. Wareing joins AEG from SJM Concerts, where he served for the last 10 years as a promoter. Harding brings with him a wealth of skills and experience in the rap space and also served as a promoter at SJM Concerts.
“Having worked alongside Chris for a number of years and admired his presence from afar, I couldn’t be more thrilled to have him join our team,” said AEG Presents UK CEO Steve Homer in a statement announcing the hires. “He’ll be working closely with myself and my colleague Gary Gersh [president of global touring and talent, AEG Presents] at an international level, to drive our footprint in these important genres forward. It’s rare to come across talent at the level he and Paris exhibit and I couldn’t think of a better way to close out a stellar year.”
In his own statement, Wareing added, “I’m excited to kick off the New Year with a new challenge booking globally with AEG. I admire the vision and work of the company and I’m looking forward to further driving their presence in the hip hop and rap space.”
If you think 100,000 songs a day going into the market is a big number, “you have no idea what’s coming next,” says Alex Mitchell, founder/CEO of Boomy, a music creation platform that can compose an instrumental at the click of an icon.
Boomy is one of many so-called “generative artificial intelligence” music companies — others include Soundful, BandLab’s SongStarter and Authentic Artists — founded to democratize songwriting and production even more than the synthesizer did in the 1970s, the drum machine in the ’80s and ’90s, digital audio workstations in the 2000s and sample and beat libraries in the 2010s.
In each of those cases, however, trained musicians were required to operate this technology in order to produce songs. The selling point of generative AI is that no musical knowledge or training is necessary. Anyone can potentially create a hit song with the help of computers that evolve with each artificially produced guitar lick or drumbeat.
Not surprisingly, the technology breakthrough has also generated considerable anxiety among professional musicians, producers, engineers and others in the recorded-music industry who worry that their livelihoods could potentially be threatened.
“In our pursuit of the next best technology, we don’t think enough about the impact [generative AI] could have on real people,” says Abe Batshon, CEO of BeatStars, a subscription-based platform that licenses beats. “Are we really helping musicians create, or are we just cutting out jobs for producers?”
Not so, say the entrepreneurs who work in the emerging business. From their perspective, generative AI tools are simply the next step in technology’s long legacy of shaping the way music is created and recorded.
“When the drum machine came out, drummers were scared it would take their jobs away,” says Diaa El All, founder/CEO of Soundful, another AI music-generation application that was tested by hit-makers such as Caroline Pennell, Madison Love and Matthew Koma at a recent songwriting camp in Los Angeles. “But then they saw what Prince and others were able to create with it.”
El All says the music that Soundful can instantly generate, based on user-set parameters, like beats per minute or genre, is simply meant to be a “jumping-off point” for writers to build songs. “The human element,” he says, “will never be replaced.”
BandLab CEO Meng Ru Kuok says that having tools to spark song creation makes a huge difference for young music-makers, who, so far, seem to be the biggest adopters of this technology. Meng claims his AI-powered SongStarter tool, which generates a simple musical loop over which creators can fashion a song, makes new BandLab users “80% more likely to actually share their music as opposed to writing from zero.” (Billboard and BandLab collaborated on Bringing BandLab to Billboard, a portal that highlights emerging artists.)
Other applications for generative AI include creating “entirely new formats for listening,” as Endel co-founder/CEO Oleg Stavitsky says. This includes personalized music for gaming, wellness and soundtracks. Lifescore modulates human-made scores in real time, which can reflect how a player is faring in a video game, for example; Endel generates soundscapes, based on user biometrics, to promote sleep, focus or other states (Lifescore also has a similar wellness application); and Tuney targets creators who need dynamic, personalized background music for videos or podcasts but do not have a budget for licensing.
These entrepreneurs contend that generative AI will empower the growth of the “creator economy,” which is already worth over $100 billion and counting, according to influencer Marketing Hub. “We’re seeing the blur of the line between creator and consumer, audience and performer,” says Mitchell. “It’s a new creative class.”
In the future Mitchell and El All both seem to imagine, every person can have the ability to create songs, much like the average iPhone user already has the ability to capture high-quality photos or videos on the fly. It doesn’t mean everyone will be a professional, but it could become a similarly common pastime.
The public’s fascination with — and fear of — generative AI reached a new milestone this year with the introduction of DALL-E 2, a generator that instantaneously creates images based on text inputs and with a surprising level of precision.
Musician Holly Herndon, who has used AI tools in her songwriting and creative direction for years, says that in the next decade, it will be as easy to generate a great song as it is to generate an image. “The entertainment industries we are familiar with will change radically when media is so easy and abundant,” she says. “The impact is going to be dramatic and very alien to what we are used to.”
Mac Boucher, creative technologist and co-creator of non-fungible token project WarNymph along with his sister Grimes, agrees. “We will all become creators and be capable of creating anything.”
If these predictions are fulfilled, the music business, which is already grappling with oversaturation, will need to recalibrate. Instead of focusing on consumption and owning intellectual property, more companies may shift to artist services and the development of tools that aid song creation — similar to Downtown Music Holdings’ decision to sell off its 145,000-song catalog over the last two years and focus on serving the needs of independent talent.
Major music companies are also investing in and establishing relationships with AI startups. Hipgnosis, Reservoir, Concord and Primary Wave are among those that have worked with AI stem separation company Audioshake, while Warner Music Group has invested in Boomy, Authentic Artists and Lifescore.
The advancement of AI-generated music has understandably sparked a debate over its ethical and legal use. Currently, the U.S. Copyright Office will not register a work created solely by AI, but it will register works created with human input. However, what constitutes that input has yet to be clearly defined.
Answers to these questions are being worked out in court. In 2019, industry leader Open AI issued a comment to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, arguing that using copyrighted material for training an AI program should be considered fair use, although many copyright owners and some other AI companies disagree.
Now one of Open AI’s projects, which was made in collaboration with Microsoft and Github, is battling a class-action suit over a similar issue. Copilot, which is AI designed to generate computer code, was accused of often replicating copyrighted code because it was trained on billions of lines of protected material made by human developers.
The executives interviewed for this story say they hire musicians to create training material for their programs and do not touch copyright-protected songs.
“I don’t think songwriters and producers are talking about [AI] enough,” says music attorney Karl Fowlkes. “This kind of feels like a dark, impending thing coming our way, and we need to sort out the legal questions.”
Fowlkes says the most important challenge to AI-generated music will come when these tools begin creating songs that emulate specific musicians, much like DALL-E 2 can generate images clearly inspired by copyright works from talents like Andy Warhol or Jean Michel Basquiat.
Mitchell says that Boomy may cross that threshold in the next year. “I don’t think it would be crazy to say that if we can line up the right framework to pay for the rights [to copyrighted music], to see something from us sooner than people might think on that front,” he says. “we’re looking at what it’s going to take to produce at the level of DALL-E 2 for music.”
Sony Music US Latin has officially opened its new headquarters in Puerto Rico, Billboard can confirm today (Dec. 8).
The multinational record label, which has had its facilities on the island since 1980 (formerly CBS Records), is relocating to the modern office complex Ciudadela in Santurce, where the label’s artists will have access to a press room, recording studio, content creation room for networks, and other benefits.
“These new offices are a tangible demonstration of what Puerto Rico represents for Sony and for Latino culture,” Alex Gallardo, president of Sony Music US Latin tells Billboard via email. “In addition, this expansion will allow us to provide a better service and support our current artists even more.”
Reaffirming its commitment to Boricua talent, Victor Manuelle, Pedro Capó, and Luis Figueroa were some of the Sony artists present at the inauguration, alongside Gallardo and Tuti Bou, vp and general manager of Sony Music US Latin (Puerto Rico Branch).
“After 42 years of having founded our company in Puerto Rico, today we celebrate this new stage,” Bou adds. “At Sony Music PR we are proud to be the only established multinational committed to the development of our music and culture. The space is modern, and spacious, and in which we have our own recording studio to continue developing, promoting, and discovering new talent. Sony Music Puerto Rico will continue to be ‘The House of Artists.’”
In addition, the label has commissioned a mural from the renowned artists of The Stencil Network in support of the urban development in Santurce.
Sony Music Latin offices in Puerto Rico
Dianeris Nieves/Sony Music Latin
Popular music in 2022 is more diffuse than ever. With TikTok entrenched as the industry’s most effective (and maddening) marketing tool, streaming services continually democratizing listening and dulling the impact of conventional singles, and songs from years (if not decades) earlier resurfacing as contemporary hits, it’s increasingly rare to see new releases rule over all sectors of the pop landscape.
But this past year, that very rarity was the norm for Columbia Records. As listeners’ ever-evolving consumption habits pulled them every which way — and rarely toward the same handful of releases — the label dominated in a way that could be described as old-fashioned: with acclaimed full-length albums from established superstars that spawned massive hit singles and sold lots of physical records. The monoculture may be long dead, but Columbia delivered a pretty convincing flashback to it in 2022.
Evidence of the label’s all-encompassing impact was on clear display during the Grammy nominations announcement in November. Columbia claims three of the most-nominated artists for the awards in February 2023: Adele, Beyoncé and Harry Styles, who have a combined 22 nods. An album of the year win seems especially likely for the label, with Adele’s 30, Beyoncé’s Renaissance and Styles’ Harry’s House considered the three front-runners to take home the award, according to betting site GoldDerby.
And the albums’ commercial performances easily matched their industry plaudits. Each debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Top Album Sales charts during the same weeks that their respective lead singles (“Easy on Me,” “Break My Soul” and “As It Was”) also led the Billboard Hot 100, as part of their combined 27 weeks atop the chart.
Meanwhile, the gains Columbia made in 2021 with The Kid LAROI and Lil Nas X — artists who had found commercial success before Columbia signed them, but who the label helped establish as A-level hit-makers — carried over, with the radio success of their respective chart-topping singles “Stay” (with Justin Bieber) and “Industry Baby” (with Jack Harlow) spilling well into the new year and helping Columbia earn Billboard’s Top Radio Songs Label distinction for 2022. And the label kept an eye on the future, aggressively signing up-and-coming sensations like Nicky Youre (“Sunroof”), Megan Moroney (“Tennessee Orange”) and Yahritza y Su Esencia (“Soy El Unico”), helping those acts get footholds in the industry following their early TikTok virality.
“We’re always focused on two things, really: One, breaking new artists, and two, elevating the careers of superstars,” says Peter Gray, executive vp/head of promotion at Columbia. “We don’t control the timing of the calendar, or the tides or the moons or the stars — the material flows as it flows, and we’re certainly happy to deliver it as it comes. But to see both of those things happening simultaneously — turning new young talent into household names, and then finding superlative moments for the world’s biggest stars — are equally gratifying and exciting for our team.”
Captaining that team are chairman/CEO Ron Perry — installed in the position in 2018 to take over for his mentor Rob Stringer after the latter’s move to run parent company Sony Music Entertainment — and Jen Mallory, the label’s executive vp/GM. Though label veterans like Adele, Beyoncé and Styles predate the duo at Columbia, Perry and Mallory have helped to expand those artists’ reaches and keep them vital to the contemporary pop mainstream, while also signing artists like LAROI, Lil Nas X, “Boyfriend” breakout Dove Cameron and recent Latin Grammy album of the year winner Rosalía, developing them to new levels of stardom.
Described by his staff as a master of A&R, Perry is known as an executive with a unique understanding of artists’ perspectives. It helps that he’s a musician himself, as well as a producer and songwriter — he even landed production and writing credits on BTS’ Columbia-released 2021 megahit “Butter.” “He’s the only major-label chief who’s also a musician and truly in the studio,” Gray says.
He also brings an artist’s pure passion for music to his position as Columbia’s lead decision-maker. “My favorite thing in this entire job is getting a song from an artist that’s just incredible — that excites me more than anything else,” Perry says. “Things are changing, things are evolving, things are always going to be different. But at the end of the day, great music is the biggest factor.”
Meanwhile, Mallory is a marketing specialist, approaching Columbia’s album campaigns from a global perspective (previously, she served as Sony’s senior vp of international marketing). Sitting together and talking to Billboard, it’s also clear that while Perry takes the lead, he relies on Mallory to fill in the gaps in his thinking — even down to a single word. As he searches for the most precise adjective to describe the nature of musical successes in 2022, Mallory offers options — “Transient, like they don’t last very long? Ephemeral?” — as Perry racks his brain.
“There’s not really one answer to [who does what between them] — it’s very fluid, it’s by project,” says marketing senior vp Erika Alfredson. “But that’s the beauty of the two of them: They’re able to sort of see that in real time — and they’ve gotten in a great rhythm of being able to kind of know where each of their places is, and where they can be the most effective.”
Ron Perry photographed on November 22, 2022 at Columbia Records in New York.
Aaron Richter
The combination of Perry’s expert touch with artists and Mallory’s global marketing vision has allowed Columbia to both land and grow successful artists at all levels of the industry — and while their 2022 success has a classic feel, both remain fixated on securing the label’s future. “We’re constantly trying to evolve and be better, honestly,” Perry says. “And we’re always learning… we’re never satisfied with the way a thing is done. We always want to improve, and…”
“Improve the status quo,” Mallory finishes. “I mean listen, [the market] is just all so fractured now, it’s all so…”
“That’s the word I was looking for earlier — ‘fractured’!” Perry interjects.
When you start a year like this, do you get the feeling that it’s going to be one when everything aligns?
Jen Mallory: I mean, you never know. But all the artists that were [Grammy] nominated, and of course the top three that we’re talking about [Adele’s 30, Styles’ Harry’s House and Beyoncé’s Renaissance], they’re incredible bodies of work. So it’s thrilling.
Ron Perry: And it’s well-deserved. We’re happy with the outcome.
And in the meantime, you’re still aggressively going after new artists like Yahritza, Megan Moroney and Nicky Youre. Is it important to keep stockpiling up-and-coming artists while you’re enjoying those successes up top?
Perry: I definitely wouldn’t call it stockpiling. We’re very deliberate in what we sign. I don’t think we sign that much, to be honest with you. Columbia’s just an amazing place to be, both historically and currently. And I think — Rob [Stringer] taught me this — that people that come in here, we give them a lot of love, a lot of attention, a lot of strategy. And we’re pretty careful in who we sign, to make sure that’s the right fit.
I’ve heard that you’re very aggressive in going after the artists that you’re really excited about.
Perry: Yeah, when you’re passionate, and you want something… I’m very aggressive about doing that. If it’s someone that I feel belongs here, then I really want them to be here.
Those three artists — Yahritza, Moroney and Youre — all had early success on TikTok. Is that where most of Columbia’s artist scouting is happening these days?
Perry: All these platforms, it’s always changing. We’ll be talking about something else a couple years from now. At the end of the day, you have to sign incredible talent. The platforms will always change and the talent won’t. So if someone is working on TikTok, you want someone because they’re great. Because… look at Twitter right now. If something happens [to the platform], you want to be able to have a great artist no matter what the situation is. Not necessarily because they’re great on one platform.
I actually prefer to avoid a viral hit early on in someone’s career. It’s too difficult to overcome that, if it’s too early.
Nicky Youre’s management told Billboard that one of the main reasons they decided to come to Columbia is because you have such a great reputation for radio. Do you take pride in that? Is it something you feel you can offer to up-and-coming artists?
Perry: Well, first of all, I think our reputation is that we’re artist-first. And that comes from Rob Stringer. And Rob, who’s really my mentor, taught me how to go from being an A&R person to being a chairman/CEO, and that the reputation of this company is really the artistic integrity and the amazing artists that this company has had… since the beginning of this company until today.
Have we done well at radio? I think we’ve done great. Peter Gray has come in, and I think we’ve gone from No. 9 to No. 1 in market share over a four-year period. I call the shots of which record to go with. I think we have a very high batting average with what we go to radio with. And I think Peter has done a tremendous job across all formats to make those records a big success.
In 2022 and 2023, I’m not sure that radio’s the No. 1 selling point in an artist’s career. It is a selling point, it is part of the picture, but we offer a lot of strategic help, and creative support, and with so many things that go just beyond this one thing.
So when you’re talking to those younger artists, telling them what Columbia can offer them that they can’t do on their own, what are you telling them?
Perry: Um… Jen?
Mallory: I think, again, it goes back to artist-first, and I think Rob has set us both up for success. What we do is we help an artist amplify, and help an artist build a world, right? Obviously radio’s a part of it, international’s a part of it, figuring out how to create a kind of community, fan-building… But no one campaign is like the other, and it’s all bespoke to the artist. And at the end of the day, artists need to find teams that they feel comfortable around, that they feel understand them. I think, ultimately, we’ve built a team here that does that.
Jen Mallory photographed on November 22, 2022 at Columbia Records in New York.
Aaron Richter
When you talk about the evolving landscape, what’s the biggest evolution that you’ve noticed over the last year or two that has really changed the way you think about how business is done here, or just the industry in general?
Perry: Obviously in the past year or so, catalog [consumption] has gone up. And with TikTok, the older records are climbing the charts, so front-line records take a little less space right now.
So are you taking a more open-minded view to what could be promoted, or what could be considered a new release, in light of the fact that songs from five to seven years ago are basically being treated like new hits?
Perry: Absolutely. We put everything on the table.
Mallory: Good music is good music, right?
Perry: There’s really no rules anymore.
And is that exciting to you?
Perry: Oh, it’s exciting to us.
Mallory: Super exciting.
Perry: We talk about that all the time. I mean… listen, two to three years ago we started teasing records [online], and that was an exciting time. And now as it’s happening within the entire marketplace, we’re looking at the next thing. What’s the next thing that’s going to be groundbreaking? So we love being challenged, and right now, the market’s interesting.
Going back to the bigger artists that you’ve had this year — each of them had immediate impact. Big first-week numbers, not just on the albums side but on the songs side, with each of those albums having an accompanying Hot 100 No. 1 single the same week the album was No. 1. Is that something that’s a priority to Columbia, to come out of the gate screaming and capture those big moments and headlines with the first-week performance?
Mallory: I mean, with those three artists? Absolutely. Again, each one is different. I think all the work that was done on [Styles’ 2019 album] Fine Line for Harry brought his fans into Harry’s House in a big, big way. So we had a huge, seismic kind of launch. And “As It Was” is an incredible song, and the album is fantastic front-to-back. So all of that played a part in such a big week one.
Perry: And with Harry, Beyoncé, they’ve been in this company for a long time. And Rob Stringer is extremely involved creatively with them. Very helpful.
Mallory: And Beyoncé, I think the way that she welcomed people back outside [with “Break My Soul”] off the back of the pandemic — that song was just a celebration of being out of the mask and back outside and with people again — from a narrative perspective, that played a part in [its success]. I think this lives in the streets, this lives in culture. Not only with “Break My Soul,” but now again with “Cuff It” — it has been beautiful to watch.
I talked to a couple of people in your promotions and marketing departments, and they said, “Well, yeah, the first week’s great and important, but we’re looking at 12 to 18 months on an album.” Is that harder to do in 2022? What’s most important to keeping the album fresh for that long?
Mallory: I also think it’s about building a long-term narrative and strategy and world for a fan to celebrate and step into, right? With Harry, we’re continuing to roll [out] singles and new kinds of chapters of this Harry’s House that stay fresh every time. And same thing with Beyoncé. We have so much more coming, obviously. Even Adele, I mean [30] is a year old and she just launched [her Las Vegas residency] and was incredible.
Perry: The [residency debut] was insane. One of the best things I’ve ever seen.
Jen, you mentioned “Cuff It.” TikTok is very unpredictable as a marketing tool, but is it a powerful thing to have in your back pocket when it helps a song like “Cuff It” take off?
Mallory: I mean, it’s just exciting to see people celebrating this music the way they are, right? This album has landed in culture, and people have just made it their own, in a way. And that hasn’t been the case before. And this is all Beyoncé — this is rolling out exactly how she wanted it to.
Perry: TikTok is a mirror of culture, you know? And therefore, if you’re impacting culture, people on the app are going to use the sound.
You mention more coming with Beyoncé — I think everyone basically knows that to be the case but isn’t sure when or what or where. Is it challenging to keep that balance between fans paying attention and listening to the album but also waiting for more to come?
Perry: I think nine Grammy nominations kind of speak for themselves in terms of what’s happening right now with Beyoncé.
Is there anything you can tell me about what Beyoncé has coming up?
Perry: No. She’s nominated for the Grammys, though!
Do you look to your artists’ live shows to not only raise awareness of an album but also give a boost to their entire catalog? Are you looking at the numbers there?
Mallory: Yeah. I mean, specifically, I think Rosalía is a good one to talk about. As she made her way through Europe — she started in Spain, and we kept a close watch on how that was lifting [her 2022 album] Motomami. It had a tremendous effect, because it’s probably one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen. And so people saw it and then engaged with the music again.
Perry: Another show you have to see. We’re going to give you a whole list of shows! (Both laugh.)
Rosalía
Kevin Winter/GI
Let’s talk about some experiences you’ve had with artists who are still more up-and-coming. I find Dominic Fike particularly interesting — there were reports about a bidding war and a $4 million offer to sign him. And he has had success, but I’m sure you would agree that there’s still potential to be reached there. Meanwhile, he’s on maybe the hottest TV show in the world right now, Euphoria. How do you convert that sort of buzz and success into eyes on his music career?
Perry: I think 2023 will be the year that… musically, all the stars align [for Fike]. He’s on tour right now, his new music is unbelievable. And obviously the show has done a lot for him. He’s just naturally gifted in almost everything — and incredibly good-looking. I really believe that this is the year that he could be one of the big, big breakthroughs across the industry.
And you had success like that with The Kid LAROI last year. I think people were looking for him this year to take even a step further, and it has been a bit rocky — he had a high-profile management switch, and his single “Thousand Miles” did well but didn’t quite take him to the next level. How do you see his 2023?
Perry: LAROI’s got great new music that he’s working on as well. He toured for most of the year. He toured everywhere, really for the first time. “Stay” is one of the biggest songs of all time. I think you can’t really compete with that record. Just like Lil Nas X couldn’t really compete with “Old Town Road,” you know what I mean? And I’ve heard the [new] music, it’s unbelievable. And so I think sometimes we have perceptions that actually aren’t accurate. It’s a touring year, and he’s got a real fan base. And so I think that he’s going to come back big this year.
You’re known to be a sort of artist whisperer when it comes to dealing with younger acts. What’s the most important thing in communicating with a younger artist?
Perry: Communicating! That’s exactly what’s important. You communicate — again, our job is to support [the artists]. Not everything we deal with with them is positive. Not every record is going to work for every artist. So I think it’s having a long-term plan, having the artist knowing that the label is there for a long time to support them.
Mallory: Not just when you’re in cycle, right? So just making sure that there’s communication, always.
Perry: And not just when it’s positive results. And that’s why Jen is so great, because Jen has amazing relationships with our artists, our managers — and not just amazing ideas, but also execution.
When you’re both communicating with these artists, do you play different roles? Is there a contrasting style in your strengths at dealing with artists in these respects?
Perry: Um… (Indicates Mallory should answer first.)
Mallory: I mean, listen… he’s an incredible A&R guy. His superpower is the music. But he’s also very, very involved with everything else. He’s an incredibly creative person generally, so very much involved in marketing and digital, very good with numbers, the rest of it. So yes, he probably spends more time talking about the music, and I talk about other things… the rollout, the marketing, the strategy. But again, he’s not not involved with that — he’s very much involved with every facet of the campaigns.
Perry: And I play Jen music all the time, and she’s got great ears. We just have an amazing collaboration and friendship, and I think that it makes what we do and how much time we spend here really fun, honestly.
Mallory: I would agree with that… I mean, listen, we both have very strong personalities, I would say. But we see eye-to-eye on a lot of things. I think that’s accurate. I don’t think there’s a lot of infighting.
Can you remember a time when you disagreed on a best path forward with someone or something? Or philosophically…
Perry: I can’t recall anything. I can’t recall right now.
Mallory: No, I can’t recall right now. For the most part, we’re a really good team. Not “for the most part” — we are a really good team.
And who else is in the inner circle of trust when making the bigger decisions? Who do you lean on when it comes to areas where you don’t feel yourselves the strongest?
Perry: I think we’re really good at collaborating with our senior staff. The reality is I could get ideas from really anywhere.
Mallory: That’s a benefit of the culture here… to his point, ideas can come from anywhere. There maybe isn’t that same sort of hierarchy that there used to be in an old-school system. We very much want to hear from every person. And we play to people’s strengths.
What are you looking forward to in the future? What trends are we going to see go even further, or what are we not talking about yet that we will be in years to come?
Perry: Future trends. Wow. Well, I have ideas, as we always have ideas, but I will not give them away. Because they’re our ideas. (Laughs.) So we’re always thinking about the future. We’re always trying to do things differently. We’re always trying to innovate. We’re trying to always think ahead. I think what we’ve accomplished here as a company in the past several years has shown that.
Mallory: I mean, it’s all so niche now. Niche communities, right? So we have to figure out how to knit those communities together and create importance and a long-term narrative and build out worlds. And that’s what we love to do here, and we have so many incredible artists that we get to work with to do that. But there’s always going to be disruption. Every year, we’re saying, “What’s going to be around the next bend?”
This story will appear in the Dec. 10, 2022, issue of Billboard.
LONDON — Hipgnosis Songs Funds reported a 7.5% year-on-year rise in gross revenue to $91.7 million for the six months ended Sept. 30, up from $85.3 million in the same period the previous year, at the company’s bi-annual presentation to investors, held in London Thursday (Dec. 8).
Net revenue — gross revenue minus royalties paid to songwriters under contract and administered catalogs — grew 5.8% to $78.4 million during the same period, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 16.9% year-on-year to $63.8 million.
Hipgnosis’ portfolio of over 65,000 songs, which includes hits by Dave Stewart, Timbaland, Journey, Mark Ronson and Barry Manilow, and includes the writer’s and/or publisher’s share of 13 of YouTube’s top 30 most viewed videos, has a net asset value (NAV) of $1.52 billion, down from $1.58 billion on March 31, according to the company’s mid-year financial results.
They report its “operative” net asset value as $2.22 billion, down from $2.24 billion six months prior. The aggregate fair value of Hipgnosis’ extensive portfolio was calculated by independent valuer Citrin Cooperman at $2.67 billion.
Speaking at the investor presentation, held at London’s Savoy Place, Hipgnosis’ founder and chief executive Merck Mercuriadis said he shared investors’ concern over the Guernsey-registered company’s share price, which has fallen by nearly 30% on the London Stock Exchange over the past six months as investor interest in music stocks has cooled. The share price at the close of trading on Monday was £0.81.5, down from £1.26.0 at the start of the year.
“I’m not going to pretend that the current share price is anything other than disappointing,” said Mercuriadis at the start of an almost three-hour presentation, which also included talks by Hipgnosis Songs Fund chief financial officer Chris Helm, Hipgnosis Song Management president and COO Ben Katovsky and chief music officer Ted Cockle, as well as a brief live music performance by rock guitarist Richie Sambora.
(Hipgnosis Songs Fund is the acquirer of music publishing and recording rights, while Hipgnosis Songs Management manages the publicly traded company’s catalog. There is also Hipgnosis Songs Capital ICAV, an investment vehicle established in partnership with Blackstone that earlier this year acquired Justin Timberlake’s back catalog, but is separate from the London-listed Hipgnosis Songs Fund.)
Mercuriadis said that Hipgnosis’ current share price “fundamentally undervalues the company” and he was confident the company’s extensive portfolio and proactive drive to grow revenues from its 146 catalogs, coupled with the continued growth of the global music industry, “supports our longer-term expectations for substantial revenue growth” and “will deliver superior shareholder returns over the medium term.”
Despite what Mercuriadis said was a “very challenging environment,” Hipgnosis operative net asset value per share remained steady at $1.8312 in the six months ended Sept. 30, which, when translated into pound sterling (at a sterling to dollar exchange rate of $1.2223), gave an equivalent net asset value of 149.82p as of Dec. 6.
Like-for-like pro forma (PFAR) revenues in the first half of the calendar year was $58.5 million, a 7.8% increase on the comparative period in 2021.
After the pandemic shutdown that darkened theaters on the Las Vegas Strip from February 2020 until July 2021, the “Entertainment Capital of the World’ is now amid a new golden era of entertainment. After opening both Allegiant Stadium and Resorts World Theatre in 2021, now in their first full year these two new venues and the existing Dolby Live performed top in their class according to Billboard’s year-end Boxscore charts thanks to residencies by Silk Sonic, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and more. And that boom’s expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
“Coming back as strongly and swiftly as we have has been such a surprise because we didn’t know what to expect,” says John Nelson, senior vp of Concerts West/AEG Presents, Las Vegas, which books the Resorts World and select Allegiant Stadium shows. “It taught us that we can’t always tell what’s just ahead of us. But Vegas is changing. If you interpret that definition of entertainment more broadly to include sports and spectacles, Vegas is continuing for the next decade as the entertainment capital of the world with F1 in 2023 and Super Bowl coming in 2024.”
Formerly Park Theater at MGM, Dolby Live features Live Nation residency shows such as Lady Gaga Jazz + Piano, Silk Sonic and Usher, topped the category for venues from 5,000 to 10,000 capacity with 478,000 tickets grossing $114.5 million over 98 shows according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. There, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s Silk Sonic played 51 shows throughout the year, grossing $50.4 million; Usher played 25 shows with $24.1 million gross; and Lady Gaga capped out her run with 9 shows bringing in $12.9 million.
“The Vegas entertainment community worked tirelessly behind the scenes to get entertainment back up and running again,” says Amanda Moore-Saunders, senior vp of Las Vegas residencies for Live Nation. “It’s mind-blowing to know that our team booked and marketed over 900 shows in Las Vegas in 2022, with residencies from the biggest artists in the world such as Adele, Gaga, Shania [Twain], Miranda [Lambert], Usher and many more, plus now we have Garth Brooks to look forward to in 2023; not to mention booking 13 of the 15 concerts at Allegiant Stadium this year with sell-out shows from BTS, Metallica, Bad Bunny and more.”
Allegiant Stadium, which debuted with sold-out shows from Illenium and Garth Brooks in July 2021 — also signifying the return to touring after the pandemic — grossed $182.5 million with over 1 million tickets sold from 24 shows in 2022. The new stadium with 65,000 seats has opened the city up to large touring shows, which previously passed by Las Vegas. Top 10 grossing tours, including Live Nation’s Bad Bunny, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Def Leppard & Mötley Crüe and The Weeknd and AEG’s Elton John and The Rolling Stones all played the venue in its first 15 months. BTS ($35.9 million), Bad Bunny ($22.1 million) and The Rolling Stones ($14.8 million) were the venue’s top earners.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” says Chris Wright, general manager of Allegiant. “I’ve seen venues turn around in markets but this is such a unique thing. The Raiders are fantastic partners. With the city and the state’s foresight to invest in this building, so many entities are all truly pulling together, working in the same direction for common success. One of the things I truly have come to love about the city is all of these disparate entities are not so disparate. People work together here to make something successful. And it’s really amazing to watch. I don’t think a lot of cities have that dynamic.”
Wright, who was previously vp and general manager of Oakland Coliseum and Oracle Arena, knew that the idea of a stadium in Las Vegas was already a risk, coupled with the task of opening a venue of that scale in the middle of a pandemic.
“There were a number of people with lots of experience who understood the business who had questioned whether a stadium in Vegas would truly do significant business. And here we are,” says Wright. Allegiant almost doubled the numbers of its closer competitor SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. SoFi grossed $107.8 million over 11 shows with 547,000 tickets sold. SoFi and Allegiant, both newcomers, joined State Farm stadium in Arizona in establishing a touring route.
“We fit into a routing through L.A. and Arizona — sitting in the middle [that works for artists to] add another date. But more than that, we have the ability to draw people to come to shows in Las Vegas who see the same shows elsewhere,” Wright says, noting that given the city’s vast entertainment offering it is easy for consumers to build multi-show Vegas weekends — a stadium show, a residency, a sporting event and more. But for the newcomer, getting the right content is an important piece of the puzzle and that came from building a team with strong relationships.
“[Our opening strategy] was an ‘everything’ strategy, our relationships with Live Nation and AEG were instrumental to bringing shows into the stadium and demonstrating that it works,” says Wright. “[We built a team] that canvases all avenues of the music industry — promoters, agents who we have relationships with, managers who we have relationships — constantly going at every opportunity and advancing forward. On a day-to-day basis, you just want to grab as much as you can and you’re constantly trying to move on events.”
With so much demand within the city and the number of venues available to book, getting the right content becomes increasingly difficult as many acts will do residency engagements prior to going on tour.
“It’s definitely competitive. I think if someone is going out on a stadium tour without factoring in a residency component, or a festival play, then I think it makes perfect sense to play Allegiant Stadium. It gets a little more complicated when someone is trying to calculate the impact of a residency either in front of their tour or behind their tour,” Wright says. “But we’ve gotten to the point now where people recognize you can do a stadium play and then come back and do a residency and be wildly successful doing that. I think one complements the other.”
For theaters under 5,000 capacity, newcomer AEG’s Resorts World Theatre, opening in 2021 with residencies from Katy Perry (40 shows, $24.7 million), Luke Bryan (18 shows, $10.5 million) and Carrie Underwood (18 shows, $12.4 million), grossed $55,272,018 over 87 shows with 326,510 tickets sold.
“Resorts World stepped up and made this enormous commitment to build the greatest theater in Las Vegas during a pandemic. They followed through and they did it. They did it on time and we opened and coincided with Vegas’ reemergence. Every day we’re grateful, surprised and happy with what’s happening,” says Bobby Reynolds, senior vp of AEG Presents Las Vegas.
Reynolds says standards across the city have been raised since the pandemic: “The city is firing on all cylinders, whether it’s entertainment or hotels — 20 months, a billion dollars. It is refreshing to see that pent up demand we thought was going to be there really is.”
He continues, “Katy’s show is beautifully produced. It’s huge. It’s massive, it’s larger than life by design. Luke’s concept for his show is so flexible and moves around so well. It’s so impressive with the risers of the stage, and of course, his catwalk that comes over the audience and Carrie’s show with its water feature and pyro. Everyone came in and did their own thing. Kevin Hart coming in to shoot for his next streaming special is a big feather in our cap and he is coming back on New Year’s Eve. I’d be surprised if Kevin didn’t return for more shows.”
In the highly competitive over 15,0001-plus-capacity category, T-Mobile Arena, which is located within the Park MGM campus, took fourth with $124.7 million grossed over 58 shows and 731,000 tickets sold.
George Strait played shows on Dec. 3-4, 2021 and Feb. 11-12, combining to $10.1 million; Daddy Yankee grossed $4.1 million on Aug. 6 and 20; and My Chemical Romance took in $2.3 million on Oct. 7.
“MGM Resorts is home to the industry’s premier entertainment venues [like Dolby Live and T-Mobile Arena]. The success we’ve seen the past two years is a true testament to our employees, event partners, and loyal entertainment and sports fans who enjoy the array of experiences we offer,” says Chris Baldizan, MGM Resorts International’s executive vp of entertainment. “We have hosted some of the world’s preeminent artists and sporting events over the years and look forward to delivering more exciting content in the months and years ahead.”
Live Nation Las Vegas president Kurt Melien concludes, “[We] are uniquely positioned to support live entertainment at every level including residency programming and big arena and stadium business, to our clubs and theaters, as well as a strong pipeline of festivals. We’ve been able to support artists as they bring more concerts and more creativity than ever to the city.”
Rock and blues singer-songwriter Chris Rea has sold his “music interests” to BMG. The deal includes the royalty shares of his 17 studio albums, including hits like “Driving Home for Christmas,” “On The Beach,” “Road to Hell,” and “Fool (If You Think Its Over).”
Electric Feel Entertainment has signed singer-songwriter Xplicit to a management deal, and Sony Music Publishing has signed the artist for publishing. Xplicit is known for penning some of pop’s stickiest hits of the last decade, including cuts like Justin Bieber’s “Anyone,” Fifth Harmony’s “Work From Home,” and Lil Dirk/Morgan Wallen’s “Broadway Girls.”
Liz Rose has renewed her publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music. Rose is regarded as one of the most essential songwriters in Nashville today and is particularly known for her collaborations with Taylor Swift. She has also worked with Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert, Ingrid Andress, Little Big Town, and more.
BMG has acquired the royalty interests of Haddaway‘s recordings. A multi-platinum Eurodance act, Haddaway is best know for their songs “What is Love,” “Life” and “Rock My Heart.”
Concord Music Publishing has partnered with Chromatic Music to sign producer and songwriter Aaron Chafin to a co-publishing agreement. The deal entails both his back catalog and future works made under the term of the deal. It marks the second-ever signing for the Toger Brown-founded Chromatic Music, following their deal with Nashville-based talent Lauren Hungate.
Jesse Murphy has signed an exclusive publishing deal with peermusic Nashville. Son of country singer David Lee Murphy, Jesse is part of crossover band House Whiskey. This marks the first signing under the tenure of Michael Knox, president of peermusic Nashville.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame recently hosted a documentary film screening and panel of “Killing Me Softly With His Songs,” a tribute to composer Charles Fox that chronicles his life and work. The hitmaker behind classic cuts like “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” “I Got A Name,” and “Ready To Take A Chance Again,” as well as iconic television show themes for Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Love Boat, Wonder Woman and more, Fox is one of the most defining songwriters of his generation.
Big Yellow Dog Music has inked a publishing and label deal with Kyle Coulahan. The protege of legendary producer Chips Moman (Waylon Jennings, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson), Coulahan is an up and coming country act that also writes for other artists across Nashville.
AJ Smith has signed a new exclusive publishing deal with Wise Music Group. Born in Denver and now based out of New York City, Smith is a pop artist on the rise, with songs “We’re All Gonna Die,” “Confetti” and “Grammy.”
Centricity Publishing has renewed their publishing deal with songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist, Kyle Williams. A recent winner of ABC’s Songland, Williams is one of Christian’s most talented writers, and he has built a career out of writing for other Christian artists as well as working on his solo projects and band We Are the Messengers.
Warner Chappell Music has linked with the company Group Projects to launch a joint publishing venture. Group Projects’ new publishing outfit, founded by Anthony Manker and Cooper Anstett, has already found a first signee, Sam Martinez. Born and raised in Virginia, Martinez moved to Nashville to pursue music. He’s worked closely with collaborators like Zack Dyer, Ben Stoll, Jared Scott, and more.
Bucks Music Group has inked an exclusive publishing agreement with Yahael Camara-Onono. The musician is best known for his work as both the band leader and creator of West African collective Balimaya Project.
Julie Greenwald, Atlantic Music Group chairman/CEO, and Craig Kallman, Atlantic Records chairman/CEO, will receive the 2023 Grammy Salute to Industry Icons award. The award will be presented at the Pre-Grammy Gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023. The annual event is presented jointly by industry legend Clive Davis and the Recording Academy.
This will be the first time since 2020 that the event will take place. Sony Music Group chairman Rob Stringer was announced as the recipient last year. He was scheduled to receive the award on Sun, Jan. 30, 2022, the night before the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, but the event was canceled because of a surge related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Grammys telecast itself was pushed back to April 3, 2022 and moved to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The award was presented to Stringer in Las Vegas by Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. Stringer was also acknowledged as the Icon honoree on the Grammy Awards telecast. But he missed out on the gala.
The Recording Academy and Davis will celebrate Greenwald and Kallman’s accomplishments at this year’s event, set for the night before the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, which will return to Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles (formerly the Staples Center) on Feb. 5, 2023.
“Respected across the music community, Julie and Craig have fostered the careers of an incredible range of talent,” Mason said in a statement. “They both have a passion and love for music, and they are constantly pushing the music industry forward with their transformative work with the artist community. We are so honored to celebrate these two industry titans at this year’s Pre-Grammy Gala.”
“I’ve personally known Julie and Craig for many years and it’s so very exciting to celebrate their exceptional creativity and achievements at this year’s Pre-Grammy Gala,” said Davis, a previous honoree at this event. “What a special night it will be spotlighting them and their incredible music and artists!”
Greenwald and Kallman first joined forces in 2004, when Greenwald moved to Atlantic from Island Def Jam. Greenwald and Kallman will be the first pair to receive the Grammy Salute to Industry Icons Honor since Herb Alpert & Jerry Moss, the co-founders of A&M Records.
In addition to Davis, Alpert & Moss and Stringer, the roster of previous Pre-Grammy Gala honorees includes Clarence Avant, Irving Azoff, Martin Bandier, Sir Richard Branson, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter, Ahmet Ertegun, David Geffen, Berry Gordy, Lucian Grainge, Debra L. Lee, Doug Morris, Mo Ostin, and Antonio “L.A.” Reid.
The recently formed Atlantic Music Group, which includes the Atlantic and 300 Elektra label families, garnered nearly 40 Grammy nominations this year. Its top nominees this year include Lizzo, with five nods, including album, record and song of the year; Coldplay and Jack Harlow, with three nods each; and GAYLE with a nod for song of the year.
The Atlantic Records site has a list of nearly 200 “active artists” for its various labels, including Big Beat Records, Canvasback, Elektra Records, Fueled By Ramen, Maybach Music Group, and Roadrunner Records.
The site also lists more than 60 “legacy artists” and six Broadway cast albums, including the blockbusters Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen.
Atlantic Records is celebrating its 75th anniversary. The label was founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. In 1967, Atlantic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, now the Warner Music Group. In 2004, Atlantic and its sister label Elektra were merged into the Atlantic Records Group.
The invitation-only Pre-Grammy Gala has become one of the most exclusive Grammy Week events. Sometimes, the event makes news, as it did three years ago when Combs put the Recording Academy on notice that he wanted to see major changes in the way it operated.
“Truth be told, hip-hop has never been respected by the Grammys,” Combs noted in his acceptance speech. “Black music has never been respected by the Grammys to the point that it should be … And that stops right now. I’m officially starting the clock. You’ve got 365 days to get this sh-t together. We need transparency, we need diversity.”