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Replying to mounting criticism from the public and Mexican officials, Ticketmaster Mexico issued a formal statement on Monday (Dec. 12) following a ticketing fiasco that led to hundreds being denied access to Bad Bunny’s Mexico City shows Dec. 9 and 10.
“As has been reported, on Friday an unprecedented number of fake tickets were presented at the entrance of [Estadio Azteca], purchased outside our official channels,” wrote Ticketmaster in its release, posted on Twitter late Monday. “In addition to causing confusion among entrance officials, this situation generated a malfunction in our system, which for moments at a time, couldn’t properly identify legitimate tickets. It’s important to underscore that there was no oversale of tickets. Ticketmaster took the technological and logistical measures needed to ensure what happened on Friday would not happen on Saturday.”
Mexico’s Federal Attorney’s Office for Consumers (PROFECO), reported that more than 1,600 people were denied entry to Bad Bunny’s Friday show, leading to crowds of angry ticket-holders clamoring outside the gates of Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca. At the time, Ticketmaster attributed the issue to fake tickets that caused their system to malfunction. On Saturday, just 110 were denied entry.
PROFECO, however, said the ticketing problem for the Puerto Rican superstar’s shows was triggered by an “oversale” of tickets and that Ticketmaster would be fined as a result. “The difference between those defrauded in the first and second concert is proof of it. 1,600 tickets in the first concert… and 110 in the second”, PROFECO head Ricardo Sheffield explained on TV program Aguila o sol.
The fine for Ticketmaster México could amount to up to 10% of that company’s total sales in 2021, Sheffield said.
“Ticketmaster claimed they were counterfeit, but they were all issued by them,” Sheffield said in an interview on Saturday with Radio Fórmula.
PROFECO’s investigation determined that many tickets claimed as false were indeed legitimate and had been purchased through legitimate channels, according to Sheffield.
In its new missive, Ticketmaster says the Bad Bunny shows were the most in-demand ever in the country’s history, with 4.5 million people attempting to purchase just 120,000 available seats for both Azteca dates. The company said it’s collaborating “openly and widely” with the investigation and will refund ticket buyers in addition to paying them the 20% indemnization mandated by law.
Read full statement in Spanish below:
Ticketmaster has technology that can prevent the type of fraud that allegedly impacted entry to the show, but so far it has only been deployed in the United States. The technology, known as SafeTix, digitizes tickets and eliminates easy to duplicate barcodes that can be resold to multiple people. It’s unclear when the technology will be available in countries outside of the U.S.
Ticketmaster Mexico had been owned and operated by OCESA-CIE since the 1980s but last year Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation finalized its acquisition of Ticketmaster Mexico, transitioning the company from a license holder to a Ticketmaster subsidiary. Ticketmaster Mexico is forecast to sell 20 million tickets this year.
Twitter is once again attempting to launch its premium service, a month after a previous attempt by the company failed.
The social media platform said it would let users buy subscriptions to Twitter Blue to get a blue check mark and access special features starting Monday (Dec. 12).
The company owned by billionaire Elon Musk has also started granting a new gold-colored check mark to businesses on the platform. The gold label began appearing Monday on the account profiles for Coca-Cola, Nike, Google and dozens of other big corporations.
“The gold checkmark indicates that the account is an official business account through Twitter Blue for Business,” the company says on a support web page.
Twitter’s blue check mark was originally given to companies, celebrities, government entities and journalists verified by the platform. After Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in October, he launched a service granting blue checks to anyone who was willing to pay $8 a month. But it was inundated by imposter accounts, including those impersonating companies like Nintendo, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Musk’s businesses Tesla and SpaceX, so Twitter suspended the service days after its launch.
The relaunched service will cost $8 a month for web users and $11 a month for iPhone and iPad users. San Francisco-based Twitter says subscribers will see fewer ads, be able to post longer videos and have their tweets featured more prominently. Twitter’s website doesn’t say if business accounts must pay extra for the gold label or if it is granted automatically.
A federal judge is refusing to dismiss a lawsuit filed by 50 Cent that accused a Miami medical spa of falsely suggesting that he’d had penis surgery, ruling the rapper might have a valid case.
The rapper’s lawsuit claims that Angela Kogan and her Perfection Plastic Surgery & MedSpa exploited an innocent photo he’d “graciously agreed” to take with her to imply that he was a client — and, more startlingly, that he had received penile enhancement surgery as part of his work.
Kogan strongly denies the allegations and immediately moved to dismiss the case, saying 50 actually was a client and had consented to the use of the image as payment for the work he received. But in a decision Monday, Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr. denied that motion, saying the lawsuit’s allegations were strong enough to survive the earliest stages of the case.
Among other things, Kogan defended herself by arguing that her Instagram post featuring the image merely thanked 50 for visiting her medical office and didn’t directly suggest that he’d endorsed the practice. But in his ruling on Monday, Judge Scola said that argument was “simply wrong.”
“As the proverbial saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words,” Scola wrote. “This one in particular depicts a worldwide celebrity next to Kogan with MedSpa’s name repeated all throughout the background. The promotional value is evident.”
Based on the claims in the lawsuit, the judge said the photo did more than just “thank” the rapper, whose birth name is Curtis James Jackson III: “Read in the light most favorable to Jackson, the defendants’ ‘thanks’ serves as a humblebrag. It is self-promotion.” The judge then offered up the dictionary definition of a “humblebrag” in a footnote.
Such a ruling does not mean 50 Cent has won the lawsuit. It merely means the case will head into discovery — the process during which both sides exchange key evidence — and toward an eventual trial where 50 will try to prove such allegations. But it bodes well for any litigant for a judge to rule that, if proven true, your allegations are valid.
An attorney for Kogan declined to comment on the decision.
50 Cent sued Kogan in September, arguing that he took a photo with “someone he thought was a fan” and had “never consented” to the use of the image for commercial purposes in any form. He says Kogan not only posted the image to Instagram herself but also engineered an article on the website The Shade Room that used the post to make the “false insinuation” that she’d provided him with penile enhancement.
The article in question (“Penis Enhancements Are More Popular Than Ever & BBLs Are Dying Out: Cosmetic Surgery CEO Angela Kogan Speaks On It”) did not directly claim that Jackson had the surgery. But it allegedly said he was a “client” of the practice while repeatedly using the image of him with Kogan — and Jackson’s lawyers say the “implication was clear.”
“Defendants’ actions have exposed Jackson to ridicule, caused substantial damage to his professional and personal reputation, and violated his right to control his name and image,” the star’s lawyers wrote at the time. They included social media comments in which users mocked the rapper, including one that “crudely” said the rapper should be called “50 inch.”
Firing back with her motion to dismiss the case in October, Kogan’s attorneys argued the image was “an innocuous capture of plaintiff and defendant in defendants’ office,” not the kind of direct endorsement that would give rise to a lawsuit. And her lawyers argued that she had no direct role in the Shade Room using the Instagram post alongside the article about penile enhancements.
But in his ruling on Monday, Judge Scola said Kogan’s lawyers had glossed over the fact that she had not merely posted the image to Instagram, but also posted a screen-captured video of her scrolling through the Shade Room’s article.
“They weakly argue that Jackson consented to the photo’s being uploaded on to Instagram while making no mention of Jackson’s consent/non-consent as to the screen capture video and the promotional value it doubtlessly served,” the judge wrote.
“That omission is fatal,” Scola continued. “Because the defendants took it upon themselves to post the video onto their Instagram accounts, Jackson can plausibly argue that the defendants unauthorizedly used his likeness to promote their business regardless of whether the defendants had any role in TSR’s publication of either the Tweet or the article.”
Even if 50 Cent had traded his photo consent for free medical care, the judge also questioned whether such treatment could possibly be fair payment for the commercial scale at which Kogan allegedly used the image.
“The promotional value that the defendants have received from repeatedly sharing Kogan’s photo with Jackson is surely great,” Scola wrote. “Although the court has no reason to doubt the quality of the ‘free medspa services’ that the defendants provided Jackson, the record is not sufficiently established to substantiate the defendants’ suggestion that their services equitably compensated Jackson.”
When Ben Kline and Cris Lacy took over Warner Music Nashville (WMN) as co-presidents in June, they let the staff know that their disagreements would be hashed out in the open.
“I want the kids to see Mom and Dad fighting,” jokes Kline, but then adds, “These are two people that are in the middle of [problem] solving, and hopefully, everyone learns from it and sees how we get to a decision.”
The hope is that airing out conflicts in public “empowers the staff to disagree with us,” says Lacy. When the pair took the reins from WMN chairman/CEO John “Espo” Esposito, who will ascend to chairman emeritus in January after 13 years, the last thing they wanted was “people sitting in the room just going along with whatever we throw out there. We need everybody to come in with the big ideas and be disruptors.”
Disruption is already happening at the artist level as the executives begin to put their stamp on the label: One of the first signings was Giovannie & The Hired Guns, the Texas-based band led by Mexican-American frontman Giovannie Yanez, whose breakout single, “Ramon Ayala,” spent five weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart. They are also seeing huge streaming numbers with nascent country rockers Bailey Zimmerman, who is co-signed with Elektra, and Zach Bryan, who is signed to Warner Records but co-works with WMN.
Kline and Lacy, who were unofficially touted as Esposito’s successors for many months, have been preparing for the changeover. “We both have coaches, and we’re working at this relationship because we know that it’s not as simple as, ‘Well, we love each other now, and it’s all great,’ ” Lacy says.
Kline’s parents gave him this Boston baseball, which he says is a reminder of his roots and love of the sport. “This is the one item that has sat on every desk I’ve occupied.”
Emily Dorio
“We had each done some executive coaching individually, but as this came about, we leaned in and the company was great, and they have offered solutions,” says Kline. “As new challenges and situations arise, it’s very reassuring to know that we have that type of resource. It’s an evolution, and what it is today probably isn’t what it looks like in six months.”
Kline, who was most recently executive vp/GM, started at WMN in 2014 as vp of revenue before becoming senior vp of global revenue and touring. Lacy joined in 2005 after stints at several publishing companies. She was most recently executive vp of A&R and has been responsible for bringing acts such as Kenny Chesney, Cole Swindell, Cody Johnson, Ashley McBryde and Gabby Barrett to the label. WMN, which ranked third on Billboard‘s 2022 year-end list of top country labels, also counts Blake Shelton, Dan + Shay and Ingrid Andress among its roster.
In their first joint interview since taking over WMN, the executives, who report to Warner Music Group CEO of recorded music Max Lousada, talked about their vision for the company, what they admire about each other, ongoing challenges at radio and what keeps them up at night. What do you admire the most about the other?
Ben Kline: Cris is incredibly inclusive as a manager, at soliciting everyone’s opinion and coming to a conclusion. Her ears and her heart go into our signings and 25-plus years of relationships that are drawn upon on a daily basis. I cannot tell you the level of safety I feel knowing that’s what my partner brings.
Cris Lacy: Ben is very decisive. I have so much respect for how laser focused he is in a meeting. That inspires a lot of confidence. The other is his business acumen. That makes me feel confident to go out to be creative — to jump off a cliff knowing that he’ll help me pull the parachute.
A print from the 1986 photo shoot for Dwight Yoakam’s Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc., which fueled country’s neo-traditional movement. “The picture captures the spirit of Dwight,” says Kline.
Emily Dorio
In February, Robert Kyncl will replace Stephen Cooper as Warner Music Group’s CEO. What interactions have you had with him so far? And since he is from YouTube, do you expect a greater emphasis on technology?
Kline: Yes. Cris and I have had a chance to meet Robert virtually. It’s hard not to get excited when you look at the companies that he has helped build.
Giovannie & The Hired Guns’ new album, Tejano Punk Boys, leans more rock than country. What drove the signing?
Lacy: What we heard felt like the spirit of the outlaw movement: rebellious, visceral, urgent and honest. Toby Keith is one of Gio’s influences. Toby has said things that pushed the boundaries. Gio is pushing the boundary a little further into rock musically. We also heard unreleased music that is more classic country in its structure. As a label, we have to look past what is probable in the current moment and ahead to what is possible. We believe in what Gio is doing right now, but we also believe in his vision to release different music down the road to the country, rock and Latin audiences.
Emily Dorio
That signing was in partnership with Warner Music Latina and Warner Records. Is the country market ripe for a Latin explosion?
Lacy: Yes! There’s a lot of opportunity, especially for our genre: the storytelling, the cadence of the music, the swagger. When we speak with our partners in that space, it feels like a natural fit for us. There will be more.
Your other initial signings were Madeline Edwards and singer-songwriter Chase Matthew. What does that reveal about your A&R philosophy, and how is it different than it was under Esposito?
Lacy: I was here for all of Espo, so I would say the A&R philosophy has always been consistent, which is: It’s storytellers. What Madeline and Chase and Gio say when you put them all together is there’s no boundary for us. We don’t sit in a room and say, “We need one of those.” The artist that we want is an artist that we don’t know exists yet.
Kline: The marketplace has also evolved, so how we judge success, how we’re able to amplify artists and get their music heard has changed. As important as [radio] is for critical mass, we are seeing incredible breakout success for artists in our genre through avenues that weren’t available.
How does that change A&R if you aren’t as reliant on radio?
Lacy: Honestly, it feels like freedom because it was so frustrating to know that when an artist came to a country major record label, what they were saying was they wanted radio. So if, as an A&R person, you loved the music but you realize it can’t go to radio, then you cannot ethically say, “I’ll sign you.” You ended up passing on artists that you truly loved. Now there are all these other ways to develop stories and break artists. The handcuffs are off.
“I try to start every day in gratitude,” says Lacy. “The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo puts everything in perspective. The cross came from a meditation journey, and the candle is from this amazing artist counseling nonprofit, Friends of Porter’s Call, where I serve on the board.”
Emily Dorio
Are you rethinking the costs of radio? It can take a year to get a song up the chart and six months before you know if you’ve got a hit.
Kline: I don’t think we’d be doing our jobs if we weren’t rethinking how we spend every dollar. For a really long time, your marketing efforts began the day you went to radio with your first single on a new artist. That was when the clock started. If you’re doing that in 2023, I don’t know if that’s a recipe for success. There has never been more ways to do it.
It used to be you were only competing against your fellow Nashville labels for acts. Now you’re competing with the coastal labels as well. How do you deal with that?
Lacy: The last artist that we looked at had, according to Billboard, 18 labels interested. The New York- and Los Angeles-based labels are seeing something very exciting in this genre, so that’s good for the business. As much as we joke about, “Gosh, I wish they’d just leave us alone to do our thing,” it means that our music is traveling in a way that it hasn’t before. We have really good lines of communication with our sister labels, and we talk openly about, what is the native genre for this act? Having very good relationships is important to Max Lousada and to the philosophy of the company.
Is the increased competition driving up signing costs?
Lacy: Signing costs are going up because you have data that is predictive. If you map out the next five years of an act who is streaming X, there’s no sense in offering them less than they’re going to be able to make if they never signed a deal. What we didn’t have before was a way to measure where something would be in five years.
Kline: There has never been more data available around unsigned artists, and everyone has access to generally the same data. The rosters in this town were [previously] built out of people going to clubs in cities where the only A&R person was from a label in Nashville. It’s a different ballgame now, and it puts added pressure on — and we’re up to the task — to prove why we add value for the artists that we’re talking to.
What keeps you up at night?
Kline: The weight of the responsibility for 80 people that work at our company and the impact that the decisions Cris and I make have on their lives.
Lacy: And also the inability to break an artist that chose to sign with you — if we still can’t make them a superstar after they’ve made all these sacrifices and worked their ass off. When someone signs to a record label, they’re really giving you the thing they value the most. And it keeps me up when I can’t help them fulfill that in the way that they always wanted.
“This is a photo of my mom, Andrea Cris Lacy — who was ahead of her time in a male-dominated industry — directing and producing a PBS documentary about a death row inmate,” Lacy says. “She also made the dress she’s wearing. She did it all. The belt buckle is a gift from Cody Johnson.”
Emily Dorio
Massive overselling of tickets for the last two concerts of Bad Bunny’s World’s Hottest Tour in Mexico City this weekend led to hundred of people being denied entry to the superstar’s shows and will have million-dollar consequences for Ticketmaster Mexico, according to Mexican authorities.
The head of Mexico’s Federal Attorney’s Office for Consumers (PROFECO), Ricardo Sheffield, told the Televisa network on Sunday that those affected must receive a 100% refund plus a 20% compensation, and that the company will also be fined.
In a statement, Ticketmaster México acknowledged on Saturday that “the access problems were the result of the presentation of an unprecedented number of counterfeit tickets, which caused an unusual crowd of people and an intermittent operation of our system” which “generated confusion and made entrance to the stadium complicated, with the unfortunate consequence that some legitimate tickets were denied entry.”
Sheffield confirmed the ticketing problem for the Puerto Rican super star’s shows was triggered by an “oversale” of tickets. A total of 1,600 faulty tickets were reported for the first concert Dec. 9, and 110 for the second on Dec. 10. Both shows were at Estadio Azteca. Organizers said some 80,000 people attended each night.
“The difference between those defrauded in the first and second concert is proof of it. 1,600 tickets in the first concert… and 110 in the second”, Sheffield explained on TV program Aguila o sol.
The fine for Ticketmaster México could amount to up to 10% of that company’s total sales in 2021, the official said.
“Ticketmaster claimed they were counterfeit, but they were all issued by them,” Sheffield said in an interview on Saturday with Radio Fórmula.
According to the Mexican official, in its investigation, PROFECO determined that many tickets claimed as false were indeed legitimate and had been purchased through legitimate channels.
Those affected are also preparing a class action suit against the company. PROFECO opened an investigation and invited those who had irregularities with their tickets for Bad Bunny and other major events to file a complaint.
“As we are a fiscal authority, if they don’t want to pay of their own will, we will seize their accounts then, and they will pay because they have to,” said Sheffield.
The ticket issue delayed Bad Bunny’s show on Friday for almost an hour, while a crowd of hundreds outside Estadio Azteca demanded an explanation. Some people climbed through the main gate of the compound in an attempt to gain entry but were stopped by law enforcement. On Saturday, PROFECO announced plans to assist those affected.
Billboard Español reached out to both Ocesa and Ticketmaster Mexico for comment on Friday and Monday, but had not received a reply by press time. On Saturday, Ocesa sent Billboard the press release issued from Ticketmaster Mexico about what had happened at Estadio Atzeca the night before. Last year, Live Nation acquired 51% of the operations of the Mexican company Ocesa and Ticketmaster México.
Cancellations or duplications of tickets for concerts operated by Ticketmaster México and concert promoter Ocesa have increased in recent months for massive concerts, including those of Daddy Yankee, Harry Styles and Dua Lipa, according to complaints from users of the popular ticket sales platform.
The situation in Mexico comes after fans of pop star Taylor Swift collectively sued Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation in the United States for the chaotic ticket sales of her The Eras Tour. Thousands of the singer’s followers were unable to get tickets for her concerts.
Elton John’s Farewell stadium run was one of the biggest touring stories of the year, selling 2.07 million tickets and grossing $334.4 million, according to Billboard Boxscore. But even he felt the pain of being on the road in 2022. The singer, 75, postponed two shows early on when he caught COVID-19. John and his entourage of security and hairdressers had to travel in one bubble while his longtime band was in a separate one. And gas prices were astronomical.
“It’s emotionally and spiritually healthy for people to get back out and see shows again,” says David Furnish, John’s husband and manager, calling from the family’s Los Angeles home ahead of the tour’s Nov. 20 finale at the city’s Dodger Stadium. “We just eat the extra cost. You just have to acknowledge that’s the world we’re living in now and press on.”
In 2022, the biggest stars once again performed to packed venues. Bad Bunny’s aptly named World’s Hottest Tour finished in stadiums, selling 1.8 million tickets and earning $375.5 million, the highest-grossing Latin tour ever. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lady Gaga, Garth Brooks, Mötley Crüe/Def Leppard and The Weeknd played stadiums. Harry Styles sold out 15 straight nights at Madison Square Garden. Live Nation reported huge revenue all year, including $6.2 billion in the third quarter. “2022 has been an incredible year of returning to live events,” CEO Michael Rapino said in a November letter to investors.
Yet high costs, supply chain issues and canceled concerts due to COVID-19 and mental health concerns posited a bleak side to this triumphant touring return after a lost 2020 and wobbly 2021. When canceling a tour in September, Santigold posted about the challenges of being on the road: “We were met with the height of inflation — gas, tour buses, hotels and flight costs skyrocketed.” In November, Lorde, who had sold out shows in New York, Los Angeles, London and elsewhere, wrote a newsletter to fans detailing “truly mind-boggling” freight costs, crew shortages, overbooked trucks and other factors that created an “almost unprecedented level of difficulty.”
“The hardest thing for touring this year, which may be a one-time occurrence, is you’ve got three summers of touring in one,” says Lorde’s manager Jonathan Daniel. “The amount of choices for people is insane. You can’t cry for artists who are wildly successful — they just have to spend more for freight — but for the middle class, it’s really hard.”
yim-touring-billboard-2022-bb16-illustration-by-andrei-cojocaru-pro-1260The biggest stars largely skated over the problems. In touring with the “largest production he has ever taken on the road,” as Furnish calls it, John’s team created an elaborate COVID-19 protocol to protect the singer, his band and the crew, providing regular testing and updated vaccines and boosters. “It’s important we deliver the same quality show and entertainment for everybody,” Furnish says. “It didn’t even occur to us to reconfigure it in any way to try to make it cheaper.”
Country star Luke Combs, who sold out multiple stadiums in 2022, was determined to tour the same way as he had before the pandemic — including ticket prices. He employed his regular band and crew throughout 2020, then capped ticket prices at $100, employing Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan service to cut down on resales. (Some upcoming tickets, however, cost as much as $2,800 on secondary-market sites.) “You take the hit,” says Chris Kappy, Combs’ manager. “We locked everything in at pre-pandemic pricing and post-pandemic expenses.”
According to Fielding Logan, the Q Prime manager who represents Eric Church and other top country acts, bus prices are 30% to 80% higher than they were before the pandemic. But like Combs, Church maintained low ticket prices, putting many seats on sale for $40. “Eric eats the additional expenses and has the lower profit margin,” Logan says. Not every artist has the means to absorb the additional costs, though: Another of Logan’s clients, singer-songwriter Paul Cauthen, was hoping to graduate from a van to a tour bus, but high costs have complicated those plans. “Could this inflation temporarily put a bus out of his reach? Yes, it could,” he says.
Some agents and managers have predicted 2023 will bring back a more manageable, pre-pandemic-style touring roster now that artists are neither rushing to make up for lost revenue nor rescheduling canceled shows from the past two or three years. But in July, demand was so high for Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s 2023 tour that resale seats on Ticketmaster cost over $5,000. And when Taylor Swift’s stadium tour went on sale in November, fans flooded the ticket-selling site to the point that it shut down. Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran and George Strait are among other stars playing stadiums next year. “2024 is probably where it really goes back — because everybody will have toured,” says Daniel, who also manages Green Day, Sia and Fall Out Boy. “Just having not everybody out at once is going to help.”
This story originally appeared in the Dec. 10, 2022, issue of Billboard.
Taylor Swift has reached an agreement with two songwriters to end a five-year long copyright lawsuit claiming she stole the lyrics to “Shake It Off” from an earlier song about “playas” and “haters,” resolving one of the music industry’s biggest legal battles without a climactic trial or ruling.
In a joint filing made on Monday in California federal court, attorneys for both Swift and her accusers – songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler – asked a judge for an order “dismissing this action in its entirety.” Before the deal, a trial had been scheduled to kick off in January.
The public filings did not include any specific terms of the apparent settlement, like whether any money exchanged or songwriting credits would be changed. Attorneys for both sides and a rep for Swift did not immediately return requests for comment.
The agreement means a sudden end for a blockbuster case that seemed headed toward the next landmark ruling on music copyrights. Following legal battles over Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” the case against Swift posed fundamental questions about the limits of copyright protection, with her lawyers arguing that the accusers were trying to “cheat the public domain” by monopolizing basic lyrical phrases.
Hall and Butler first sued way back in 2017, claiming Swift stole her lyrics to “Shake It Off” from their “Playas Gon’ Play,” a song released by R&B group 3LW in 2001. That was no small accusation, given the song in question: “Shake It Off” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 2014 and ultimately spent 50 weeks on the chart, a mega-hit even for one of music’s biggest stars.
In Hall and Butler’s song, the line was “playas, they gonna play, and haters, they gonna hate”; in Swift’s track, she sings, “‘Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.” In their complaint, the duo said Swift’s lyric was clearly copied from their song.
In the years since, Swift’s attorneys repeatedly pushed to dismiss the case, arguing that a short snippet of lyrics about “players” and “haters” was not creative or unique enough to be covered by copyrights. They cited more than a dozen earlier songs that had used similar phrases, including 1997’s “Playa Hater” by Notorious B.I.G and 1999’s “Don’t Hate the Player” by Ice-T.
Swift initially won a decision in 2018 dismissing the case on those grounds, with a federal judge ruling that Hall and Butler’s lyrics were not protected because popular culture in 2001 had had been “heavily steeped in the concepts of players, haters, and player haters.” But an appeals court later overruled that decision, and a judge ruled last year that the case would need to be decided by a jury trial.
“Even though there are some noticeable differences between the works, there are also significant similarities in word usage and sequence/structure,” the judge wrote at the time.
More recently, Swift’s team again asked the judge to dismiss the case, this time making a new argument: That documents turned over during the case had revealed that Hall and Butler voluntarily signed away their right to file the lawsuit in the first place.
In an August filing, Swift’s lawyers said the documents proved that Hall and Butler had granted their music publishers the exclusive rights to bring an infringement lawsuit over the song, meaning they lacked the legal standing to do so. Her lawyers said the pair had even emailed their publishers – Sony Music Publishing and Universal Music Publishing Group, respectively – asking for permission to sue, but that both companies had refused the request.
“After their music publishers refused to assign to plaintiffs the claim they assert in this action, their manager unsuccessfully lobbied a United States Congressman to get a House sub-committee to intervene,” Swift’s lawyers alleged in the filing.
That motion was still pending when Monday’s settlement was filed.
Given how hard nightlife was hit during the pandemic, with many clubs closing permanently, industry insiders are pleasantly surprised with its 2022 comeback. JoJo Walker, director of programming at New York’s Avant Gardner and Brooklyn Mirage, attests that the industry is generally doing “amazingly well,” even though “it’s more challenging now than ever before.”
As clubs reopened amid the lingering pandemic in mid-2021, venues scrambled to get DJs back behind the decks to play for fans eager to return to dancefloors. “2021 was a free-for-all because everybody wanted to party,” says Walker. “People were willing to pay high ticket prices, and the wheel was being fed from all angles.” This competitive market boosted DJ fees, which in many cases increased up to 20% for club and festival sets. But now, fees remain lodged at these higher rates even as demand has declined, creating headaches for dance promoters who are also navigating inflation’s effects on nightlife.
“It’s not just that artists are being greedy,” says Walker, “but for them to do what they need to in terms of traveling and making a living, they need to have their costs covered: flights, hotels, cars. Those costs are being passed on to the promoter, and now there’s not a wealthy part of the wheel that can be taken from.” Walker adds that many DJs are touring less after enjoying the pandemic’s slowed pace, prompting agents to negotiate higher paychecks for the shows these artists do play.
Promoters have had to get creative in order to turn a profit. Walker is currently structuring artist deals that involve a lower flat rate and a per-ticket bonus, which incentivizes DJs to promote their shows, as their final rates are relative to those shows’ success. Given that she books for multiple venues, along with the annual 100,000-person electronic festival Electric Zoo (owned by Avant Gardner), Walker also has the dexterity to offer multishow contracts, creating an advantage over promoters booking a single room.
Brig Dauber, entertainment director at long-standing Los Angeles club Avalon, says the venue has “kept on step” with new fee expectations while working harder to determine which artists are most viable in the current market. This year, Avalon has skewed toward theme-based nights centered on certain genres and musical eras to “diversify the patronage and avoid the risk of not actualizing profit versus artist fee.”
But whether booking a tiny space or an 8,000-capacity club like Brooklyn Mirage, the surge in venue overhead is resulting in consumers having to deal with higher ticket prices to cover costs. Walker says fans “can’t necessarily afford to go out in the same way they used to, so they’re much more selective about the shows they do attend.” This scrupulousness has created a major increase in week-of and day-of ticket sales, which in turn fosters even less certainty among promoters.
And yet, Walker remains confident things are heading in the right direction. “I feel like among everyone working in the industry there’s a lot of optimism that this will balance out. It’s just going to take some time.”
This story originally appeared in the Dec. 10, 2022, issue of Billboard.
Tory Lanez and Los Angeles prosecutors on Monday will finally kick off a closely-watched jury trial over whether he shot Megan Thee Stallion in the foot, with a potential 22-year prison sentence looming for Lanez if convicted.
After a week of jury selection, prosecutors will make opening statements in their effort to convict Lanez (real name Daystar Peterson) of three felony charges over the July 2020 incident, in which the rapper allegedly shot Stallion in the foot during an argument after a pool party in the Hollywood Hills.
Lanez has maintained his innocence, pleading not guilty to all three charges – and publicly implying that Stallion is lying about the shooting. Stallion (born Megan Pete) has been steadfast against such pushback, writing in a New York Times op-ed that “even as a victim, I have been met with skepticism and judgment.”
The trial will center on the early morning of July 12, 2020, when Stallion, Lanez and Stallion’s friend Kelsey Harris were driving in an SUV following a party at Kylie Jenner’s house. According to prosecutors, after an argument broke out, Megan got out of the vehicle and began walking away, then Lanez shouted, “Dance, bitch!” and began shooting at her feet.
Lanez has suggested on social media that he was romantically involved with both women, which led to the altercation. Stallion has strongly denied this.
Immediately after the incident, Stallion initially told police officers that she cut her foot stepping on broken glass, but days later alleged that she had suffered a gunshot wound. After media outlets reported that Lanez had fired the gun, Stallion directly accused him in an August 2020 Instagram video.
In October 2020, Lanez was charged with one count of assault with a firearm and another gun possession charge. At a December 2021 hearing, a Los Angeles judge allowed the case to move forward to a trial. A new charge, discharging a firearm with gross negligence, was added last week. Lanez has pleaded not guilty to all three counts.
The upcoming trial will feature testimony from a number of high-profile witnesses, including from Stallion herself and Kelsey Harris. Also taking the stand could be Jenner and Corey Gamble, Kris Jenner’s boyfriend who was also allegedly at the party. Peterson might take the stand himself, but putting a defendant on the stand is always a gamble for defense attorneys.
The government is expected to wrap up its case by Friday and turn over the proceedings to Lanez’s attorneys. The trial is expected to run into next week.
For the government, prosecutors Kathy Ta and Alexander Bott will handle the case. Though Lanez has been represented by celebrity attorney Shawn Holley throughout the case, attorney George Mgdesyan handled last week’s proceedings and appears to be set to take lead at the trial.
BRISBANE, Australia — George Ash is stepping down as president of Universal Music Australia and New Zealand.
In a surprise announcement that hit inboxes as the music industry settled in for the first day of the working week, Universal Music Group announced Ash would retire from his position at the end of the year.
“The time is right for me to step down from Universal,” says the outgoing executive in a corporate statement. “I feel confident that with the brilliant leadership group we have now, the organization will continue to grow and thrive.
New Zealand-born Ash will leave UMA as part of a “long-planned personal decision to focus on new goals and projects,” reads the statement, “whilst leaving the company under the leadership of a new generation of executives, who will continue to build on the legacy of creative and commercial success that has flourished during his tenure.”
With Ash at the helm of the Sydney-based business, UMA helped establish the careers of a long list of artists from these parts, including Lorde, Baker Boy, Amyl and The Sniffers, Tame Impala, Gotye, Dean Lewis, Troye Sivan and many others.
“Under George’s leadership, the UMA team has delivered countless local and international artist successes in this incredibly dynamic market,” comments Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO, Universal Music Group. “We are grateful to George for his dedication to, and passion for, our artists, and for the historic achievements of UMA during his tenure.”
A musician early in his career, Ash relocated to Australia in 2001 to become managing director at UMA, and was promoted to president in 2010, with duties for Universal Music’s companies on both sides of the Tasman. In 2013, he added duties for the Asia Pacific region.
During his tenure, Ash also served a member of the ARIA board and as chairman of Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) board.
Prior to his move west, Ash enjoyed stints at BMG NZ and PolyGram in his homeland, and was instrumental in the creation of MCA Geffen, Universal Music’s first operations in New Zealand, back in 1995.
In an internal message to staff, seen by Billboard, Ash writes: “Having been with the company for nearly three decades, the time feels right. I am so confident in, and proud of, the brilliant leadership team we have in place, as well as the positive changes we have made in the past couple of years, and I am excited to see the company, staff, labels, and artists continue to grow and thrive in the years ahead.”
The company is “filled with exceptional people, and it has been a privilege to share this journey with you all. My heartfelt thanks go to Sir Lucian Grainge for his incredible support and guidance, and to Boyd Muir, with whom I have worked since the very beginning of my time at UMG.”
As previously reported, Ash last year initiated an investigation into workplace culture at UMA, following allegations of inappropriate behavior within its ranks. Ash tapped Darren Perry at law firm Seyfarth Shaw, to conduct a probe into workplace culture, after a string of allegations emerged online and an internal complaint was lodged with HR.
“After 35 years working in music, my love for it has not diminished,” comments Ash in his message to staff on Monday (Dec. 12), “and I’m as excited for the future as I was back then, when I was working the nightshift in the Polygram pressing plant in Wellington.”
A successor will be announced “at a later date,” reads a statement.
Read Ash’s message to staff:
Dear colleagues,
I am writing to let you all know that I will be stepping down from my role as President of UMA at the end of the year.
This is something that I have been planning for a long time, as I still have many areas of personal interest and passions that I want to explore.
Having been with the company for nearly three decades, the time feels right. I am so confident in, and proud of, the brilliant leadership team we have in place, as well as the positive changes we have made in the past couple of years, and I am excited to see the company, staff, labels, and artists continue to grow and thrive in the years ahead.
I am also proud of the role that I have played in transforming UMA into the market-leading music company. It has been an honor to work with so many talented and creative artists, including Lorde, Baker Boy, Amyl and The Sniffers, Tame Impala, Gotye, Hayley Westenra, Wolfmother, Dean Lewis, Hilltop Hoods, Troye Sivan, Empire of the Sun, A.B. Original, Tina Arena, Havana Brown, The Presets, Boy & Bear, Powderfinger, Bernard Fanning, Sarah Blasko, Tkay Maidza and countless others, especially those that we have helped introduce to new audiences around the world. It has also been a pleasure to welcome so many of UMG’s international artists to our shores, and to help them achieve great success here.
This company is filled with exceptional people, and it has been a privilege to share this journey with you all. My heartfelt thanks go to Sir Lucian Grainge for his incredible support and guidance, and to Boyd Muir, with whom I have worked since the very beginning of my time at UMG.
My adoration, respect and gratitude go to so many of my colleagues here in Australia, New Zealand and around the world. I have so many fond memories, favorite shows, and most of all friendships from my time here.
After 35 years working in music, my love for it has not diminished, and I’m as excited for the future as I was back then, when I was working the nightshift in the Polygram pressing plant in Wellington.
My enduring thanks and admiration.