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A new copyright lawsuit claims that Roddy Ricch stole elements of his chart-topping 2019 song “The Box” from a 1975 soul song that’s been repeatedly sampled – legally – by other rappers.
In a complaint filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court filed against Ricch (real name Roderick Wayne Moore Jr.) and Atlantic Records, songwriter Greg Perry says the smash hit (which spent eleven weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100) clearly borrowed from his decades-old song “Come On Down.”
Perry’s lawyers say that an average music fan would be able to hear the “strikingly similar” tempo and melody of the two tracks simply by listening to it, but that more thorough investigation by music experts has more conclusively proven the theft.
“Comparative analysis of the beat, lyrics, hook, rhythmic structure, metrical placement, and narrative context by a musicology expert demonstrates clearly and convincingly that ‘The Box’ is an unauthorized duplication and infringement of certain elements of ‘Come On Down’.”
In specific terms, Perry claims that Ricch infringed the “ascending minor scale played by violin” that plays at the beginning of “Come On Down” and repeats six throughout the song. He says a very similar musical segment is featured in “The Box” and “permeates” the Ricch’s song, repeating 24 times.
According to Perry, “Come On Down” is a popular sample in hip hop – featured in both Yung Jeezy’s 2008 “Wordplay” and in Yo Gotti’s 2016 “I Remember.” But he says that both of those songs were fully cleared and licensed by giving him a songwriting credit and an ownership stake.
“Other [artists] in the rap world that have chosen to copy elements of ‘Come On Down’ have done so legally and correctly,” Perry’s lawyers wrote. “Defendants chose not to license the musical composition from plaintiffs and instead chose to intentionally infringe upon the copyright.”
Typically, a copyright accuser like Perry needs to show that Ricch and the other “Box” songwriters had so-called access to “Come On Down,” meaning they had a chance to copy the song in the first place. But Perry’s lawyers say his was “so popular in both the R&B and Rap Community” as a sample that such access is already “firmly established” at the outset of the case.
The lawsuit does not specify how much Perry is seeking in damages, but his lawyers claim he was given a 50% cut or greater on each of the earlier songs that sampled from “Come On Down,” which could potentially mean millions of dollars in royalties for a chart-topping song like “The Box.”
A rep for Ricch at Atlantic Records did not immediately return a request for comment.
Read the full complaint here:
South By Southwest has announced a second wave of invited artists for next year’s 37th annual showcase event and conference, taking place March 13-18 in Austin, Texas. A scan of the 301 artists reveals a number of standouts, including baroque rock legends The Zombies and the hard-to-categorize Lemon Twigs, along with R&B singer Ambré and garage-punkers Osees.
When listed alphabetically, the Zombies aren’t even the last act in the list — that goes to zzzahara out of Los Angeles. Other standout names include 7ebra (Sweden), ALASKAALASKA (not from Alaska, but London), Baklava Blues (Toronto), Chickasaw Mudd Puppies (Athens, GA), Kill Lincoln (DC, naturally), Puppy Angst (Philly), Revenge Wife (New Hampshire) and Snotty Nose Rez Kids (Kitimat, Canada), among others (full list below).
SXSW announced a first round of nearly 200 artists back in October; that list included Armani White, Algiers and Balming Tiger. The music showcase is just one part of the larger festival, an event founded in 1987 and dedicated to celebrating entertainment and culture. In addition to musical performances, the six-day event also typically gives audiences access to panels and Q&A sessions.
Previously unveiled featured speakers this year include Warner Chappell Music co-chair and CEO Guy Moot, Signal And Cipher chief Ian Beacraft and authors Douglas Rushkoff and Joost Van Druenen.
Among SXSW’s partners for the 2023 edition: Anniversary Group, Atomic Music Group, Athens in Austin, British Music Embassy, Don Giovanni Records, Fire Records, FOCUS Wales, Gorilla vs Bear, Jazz re:freshed Outernational, Pop Montreal, M for Montreal, Music From Ireland, New West Records, Space Agency, and Wide Days Scotland.
Next year will also bring SXSW to Sydney, Australia for seven days and nights from Oct. 15-22, 2023, marking the event’s first foray outside of the United States. Claire Collins was recently announced as head of music for the event Down Under.
SXSW signed a “lifeline” deal with P-MRC, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and MRC, the companies announced in April 2021, making P-MRC a stakeholder and long-term partner with the Austin festival. P-MRC is the parent company of Billboard.
Round Two List of Artists:
7ebra (Malmö SWEDEN)Abracadabra (Oakland CA)Adwaith (Carmarthen UK-WALES)Air Waves (Brooklyn NY)ALASKALASKA (London UK-ENGLAND)Ambré (New Orleans LA)Anastasia Coope (Cold Spring NY)Andrea Magee (Austin TX)Andrew Farriss (Barraba AUSTRALIA)Annie Blackman (Brooklyn NY)Annie Hamilton (Sydney AUSTRALIA)Aoife Nessa Frances (Dublin IRELAND)Ask Carol (Auma NORWAY)ÄTNA (Dresden GERMANY)Augustine (Stockholm SWEDEN)Ava Vegas (Berlin GERMANY)Aysanabee (Toronto CANADA)Balaklava Blues (Toronto CANADA)BALTHVS (Bogota COLOMBIA)Begonia (Winnipeg CANADA)Bellah (London UK-ENGLAND)Bella White (Calgary CANADA)Bells Larsen (Montreal CANADA)be your own PET (Nashville TN)Big Cream (Bologna ITALY)Big Wy’s Brass Band (Austin TX)BILK (Essex UK-ENGLAND)Billy King & The Bad Bad Bad (Austin TX)Blxckie (Johannesburg SOUTH AFRICA)Bona Fide (Copenhagen DENMARK)Boy Golden (Winnipeg CANADA)Brad stank (Liverpool UK-ENGLAND)Brittany Davis (Maple Valley WA)Caleb De Casper (Austin TX)Camilla George (London UK-ENGLAND)Candeleros (Madrid SPAIN)The Carolyn (Atlanta GA)Carver Commodore (Florence AL)Casey Lowry (Chesterfield UK-ENGLAND)Catbite (Philadelphia PA)CHAMELEON LIME WHOOPIEPIE (Tokyo JAPAN)Cheekface (Los Angeles CA)CHERYM (Derry UK-N. IRELAND)Chickasaw Mudd Puppies (Athens GA)Child Seat (Los Angeles CA)Christopher Brown (Mamaroneck NY)Cimarron615 (Nashville TN)CIVIC (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)Cloudland Canyon (Memphis TN)CODY JON (Sydney AUSTRALIA)The Color Brown (Carolina PUERTO RICO)Constant Smiles (Ridgewood NY)Corook (Nashville TN)The Courettes (Mariager DENMARK)cowboyy (Portsmouth UK-ENGLAND)Coyle Girelli (New York NY)DAIISTAR (Austin TX)Dana Gillespie (London UK-ENGLAND)Dan Davidson (Edmonton CANADA)Daniel Villarreal (Chicago IL)DAT GARCIA (Monte Grande ARGENTINA)Death Valley Girls (Los Angeles CA)deca joins (Taipei TAIWAN)Decent Criminal (Santa Rosa CA)Del Castillo (Austin TX)DESTA FRENCH (London UK-ENGLAND)Dhruv Sangari and The National Sufi Ensemble (Washington DC)Diatom Deli (Taos NM)Disco Doom (Zurich SWITZERLAND)Dream Wife (London UK-ENGLAND)El Combo Oscuro (Austin TX)Elephant Sessions (Inverness UK-SCOTLAND)English Teacher (Leeds UK-ENGLAND)Enjoyable Listens (Oxford UK-ENGLAND)Enumclaw (Tacoma WA)Estereomance (El Paso TX)Esther Rose (New Orleans LA)Evan Bartels (Tobias NE)Fake Fruit (Oakland CA)Fergus McCreadie (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)Floodlights (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)Foley (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)Font (Austin TX)Fonteyn (Salt Lake City UT)The Foreign Resort (Copenhagen DENMARK)Fotocrime (Louisville KY)Fraud Perry (Montreal CANADA)Frost Children (New York NY)Future Crib (Nashville TN)Garrett T. Capps & NASA Country (San Antonio TX)The Garrys (Saskatoon CANADA)Gay Meat (Wilmington NC)Georgia Lines (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)Geskle (Worcester MA)GEWALT (Berlin GERMANY)GIRLI (London UK-ENGLAND)Girl Scout (Stockholm SWEDEN)THE GOA EXPRESS (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)Gold Fang (Sydney AUSTRALIA)Good Looks (Austin TX)GracieHorse (Los Angeles CA)Graham Reynolds (Austin TX)Graham Reynolds & The Golden Arm Trio (Austin TX)Gus Englehorn (Montreal CANADA)Hamish Hawk (Edinburgh UK-SCOTLAND)THE HARA (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)Heartworms (London UK-ENGLAND)Hembree (Kansas City KS)HIEN (Budapest HUNGARY)Holly Montgomery (Falls Church VA)Housekeys (Fort Worth TX)Huntly (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)The Hypochondriacs (Fredericton CANADA)Igor Grohotsky (Kyiv UKRAINE)Iona Zajac (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)IOTA PHI (Athens GREECE)Ishmael Ensemble (Bristol UK-ENGLAND)IST IST (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)Jake Whiskin (Leeds UK-ENGLAND)JayWood (Winnipeg CANADA)Jaz Karis (London UK-ENGLAND)JER (Gainesville FL)Jessica Winter (London UK-ENGLAND)JM Stevens (Austin TX)Johnny Chops (Austin TX)Júlia Colom (Valldemossa SPAIN)July Talk (Toronto CANADA)Junk Drawer (Belfast UK-N. IRELAND)Kadeem Tyrell (London UK-ENGLAND)KALLITECHNIS (Montreal CANADA)Kalpee (Lange Park TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO)Kalu & The Electric Joint (Austin TX)Kate Davis (Frederick MD)Katie Toupin (Lexington KY)Katy Rea (Brooklyn NY)KAZKA (Kyiv UKRAINE)Kid Bookie (London UK-ENGLAND)Kill Lincoln (Washington DC)Kindsight (Copenhagen DENMARK)KING STINGRAY (Nhulunbuy AUSTRALIA)KOKO (Pesaro ITALY)Koleżanka (Brooklyn NY)La Paloma (Madrid SPAIN)Larkins (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)Laszlo and the Hidden Strength (New York, NY)Lauren Ann (Newry UK-N. IRELAND)Laveda (Albany NY)The Lemon Twigs (Long Island NY)Lil Cherry & GOLDBUUDA (SAUCE CARTEL) (Seoul SOUTH KOREA)Lime Garden (Brighton UK-ENGLAND)LÓN (Reykjavík ICELAND)Lontalius (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)Lorelei K (Dallas TX)Low Island (Oxford UK-ENGLAND)Luna Luna (Dallas TX)Maestro Espada (Murcia SPAIN)Mandy, Indiana (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)Manwolves (Chicago IL)Marcus Joseph (Leicester UK-ENGLAND)Mariel Buckley (Calgary CANADA)Marshall Hood (Austin TX)Mary Scholz (Los Angeles CA)Mauvey (Vancouver CANADA)MEERNAA (Oakland CA)Mexico City Heartbreak (Los Angeles CA)Micah Edwards (Houston TX)Miranda and the Beat (Brooklyn NY)Mnelia (London UK-ENGLAND)Moon Panda (Copenhagen DENMARK)Moriah Bailey (Oklahoma City OK)Mustangs Of The West (Los Angeles CA)Mya Byrne (Oakland CA)Natalie Shay (London UK-ENGLAND)Nathan Graham (Chicago IL)Night Tapes (London UK-ENGLAND)Noah And The Loners (London UK-ENGLAND)Normal Echo (Vancouver CANADA)Obongjayar (Calabar NIGERIA)Oracle Sisters (Paris FRANCE)OSEES (Los Angeles CA)otay:onii (Haining CHINA)Otis Wilkins (Austin TX)Painted Shield (Seattle WA)Palehound (Brooklyn NY)Paraísos (Barranquilla COLOMBIA)Party Dozen (Sydney AUSTRALIA)Patrick Holland (Montreal CANADA)Peach Luffe (Toronto CANADA)Pearl & the Oysters (Los Angeles CA)Pearl Earl (Los Angeles CA)PENDANT (Los Angeles CA)Personal Trainer (Amsterdam NETHERLANDS)Philine Sonny (Bochum GERMANY)Pink Nasty Meets El Cento (Austin TX)The Pink Stones (Athens GA)Plastic Picnic (Brooklyn NY)The Pleasure Majenta (Berlin GERMANY)Pleasure Venom (Austin TX)Poison Ruin (Philadelphia PA)Pol (Amsterdam NETHERLANDS)Poppy Jean Crawford (Los Angeles CA)popsiclestickairport (Gilbert AZ)POSTDATA (Halifax CANADA)Prim (Modena ITALY)Prima Queen (London UK-ENGLAND)Primo the Alien (Austin TX)Public Body (Brighton UK-ENGLAND)Puppy Angst (Philadelphia PA)Queen Millz (Leicester UK-ENGLAND)Rae Fitzgerald (Columbia MO)Redolent (Edinburgh UK-SCOTLAND)Reilly Downes (Bandera TX)Renée Reed (Lafayette LA)Rett Smith (Austin TX)Revenge Wife (Manchester NH)Rhinestone Pickup Truck (Asheville NC)Rinse & Repeat (Los Angeles CA)Roanoke (Nashville TN)Rob Cannillo (Florida NY)Rock Eupora (Nashvlle TN)Rod Gatort (Austin TX)Rogê (Rio De Janeiro BRAZIL)Roots From The Clay (Katy TX)Rose’s Pawn Shop (Los Angeles CA)Rosier (Montreal CANADA)Ryan Pollie (Los Angeles CA)sadie (Brooklyn NY)SAFER (Brooklyn NY)Salarymen (Sydney AUSTRALIA)Schatzi (Austin TX)The Scratch (Dublin IRELAND)Shae Universe (Watford UK-ENGLAND)Shanghai Baby (Madrid SPAIN)Shooks (Austin TX)Shutups (Oakland CA)Skye Wallace (Toronto CANADA)S.L. Houser (Austin TX)Snooper (Nashville TN)Snotty Nose Rez Kids (Kitimat CANADA)Sobs (Singapore SINGAPORE)Solar Eyes (Birmingham UK-ENGLAND)Sorcha Richardson (Dublin IRELAND)Sorry Mom (New York NY)South For Winter (Nashville TN)SpivOberta (Dobropillia UKRAINE)Spllit (Baton Rouge LA)S. Raekwon (New York NY)Stacey Ryan (Vaudreuil-Dorion CANADA)Stoneburner (Baltimore MD)Strawberry Guy (Liverpool UK-ENGLAND)Sunday Cruise (Chicago IL)Sunflower Bean (New York NY)Super Plage (Montréal CANADA)SURMA (Leiria PORTUGAL)Sweeping Promises (Lawrence KS)Sword II (Atlanta GA)Talia Goddess (Brooklyn NY)Tami Neilson (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)Tayls (Nashville TN)The Tender Things (Austin TX)Thala (Berlin GERMANY)Theodore (Athens GREECE)THICK (Brooklyn NY)Thin Lear (Waldwick NJ)Thor & Friends (Austin TX)The Tiarras (Austin TX)TITA (Guatemala City GUATEMALA)Tokio Myers (London UK-ENGLAND)Tribe Friday (Örebro SWEDEN)Trouble in The Streets (Austin TX)Truth Club (Raleigh NC)T. Thomason (Halifax CANADA)Tufan Derince (Diyarbakir TURKEY)Tulliah (Mornington Peninsula AUSTRALIA)TUSHAR (Adelaide AUSTRALIA)TVOD (Brooklyn NY)TYSON (London UK-ENGLAND)Ulysses Wells (Isle Of Wight UK-ENGLAND)UNI and The Urchins (New York NY)Vanille (Montreal CANADA)Venus Twins (Brooklyn NY)Viper Club (Phoenix AZ)VLURE (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)Voka Gentle (Stroud UK-ENGLAND)VooCha (Melissa E. Logan / Chicks on Speed) w/ Gaisma & Yohanna Logan (Berlin GERMANY)Warmduscher (London UK-ENGLAND)The Waymores (Atlanta GA)We Are The Union (Los Angeles CA)The Wends (Turin ITALY)West Texas Exiles (Austin TX)Winona Forever (Vancouver CANADA)Woodes (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)The XCERTS (Aberdeen UK-SCOTLAND)XENZU (Beijing CHINA)Yacko & Tuan Tigabelas (Jakarta Selatan INDONESIA)YAYOI DAIMON (Osaka JAPAN)You Said Strange (Giverny FRANCE)Youth Sector (Brighton UK-ENGLAND)YU-KA (Tokyo JAPAN)The Zombies (St. Albans UK-ENGLAND)zzzahara (Los Angeles CA)
BMG has acquired the catalog of Peter Frampton, the company announced today (Dec. 7). The deal includes his publishing, songwriter, artist and session work revenue streams, as well as his neighboring rights, for the entirety of his career, including massive hits like “Baby I Love Your Way” and “Show Me the Way,” as well as his work with Humble Pie. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In a statement, Frampton said he was “pleased to join the BMG family. As an artist-first company, I trust BMG will care for my legacy and that my songs are in good hands.”
It’s the latest acquisition deal for BMG, which has also picked up the rights to catalogs of Harry Nilsson, Jean-Michel Jarre, John Lee Hooker and John Legend (in partnership with KKR) in the past year. This deal extends as far back to works by Frampton’s first band, The Herd, and includes his latest album, 2019’s All Blues.
“From his incredible early rise of success to Humble Pie, his countless collaborations to achieving global stardom as a solo artist, Peter Frampton is one of the most inspirational and tireless musicians of his time,” BMG’s president repertoire & marketing for New York and Los Angeles Thomas Scherer said in a statement. “We are proud a legendary artist of his caliber entrusts BMG as the custodians of his most treasured works. A revered musical catalog of this magnitude, paid tribute to by countless artists, will continue to live on for generations.”
Journey‘s new manager, Mike Kobayashi, confirmed late Tuesday he was “just hired,” taking over from player-managers Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain after a roller-coaster year.
The classic-rock fixture sold 296,000 tickets and grossed $31.9 million on its 2022 arena tour, according to Billboard Boxscore, doubling the revenue pace of its previous headlining tour, in 2017, which grossed $31.7 million over 67 shows.
But the band ended 2022 with an internal squabble over an American Express card: Lead guitarist Schon sued keyboardist Cain last month for refusing to give Cain access to an account representing “millions in Journey funds”; Cain responded that Schon was “running up enormous personal charges” on the account.
The lawsuit, pending in California Superior Court, is one of several legal disputes involving Cain and Schon, one of the band’s founders, and other Journey members in recent years. In 2020, the two musicians sued drummer Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory, accusing them of improperly trying to take control of the band name; Valory filed a counter-complaint, and the lawsuit ended with a 2021 settlement in which Smith and Valory left the band.
And after Schon and Cain trademarked names of many of the band’s hits, such as “Wheel In the Sky,” former frontman Steve Perry filed an action in U.S. Trademark Court in September to stop the process. Perry cited a long-running band partnership agreement that requires Schon and Cain to get his permission to make these kinds of trademark moves.
Kobayashi, who also manages fellow road warriors Def Leppard, did not respond to requests for further comment on his new position with Journey.
Journey hasn’t had a new hit in decades, but the band remains a top-tier touring act and occasionally scores high-profile synchs in shows like The Sopranos and, last spring, Stranger Things, the Netflix series that revived Kate Bush‘s “Running Up That Hill” on the charts.
LONDON — Less than a year after being appointed chief executive of the Association for Electronic Music, Silvia Montello is exiting the global trade body to become CEO of AIM, the London-based Association of Independent Music.
Montello takes up the new post on Jan. 31. She will succeed Paul Pacifico, who leaves AIM later this month to head up the Saudi Music Commission, where he will be responsible for developing and championing the music sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In April, the London-based Montello was appointed the first female CEO of the Association for Electronic Music (AFEM). The New York-headquartered non-profit organization, founded in 2013, represents the interests of over 250 electronic music companies across 25 countries.
Montello’s appointment as CEO of AIM — which represents more than 1,000 U.K. indie labels, artists and music companies, including Beggars Group, Domino, Warp and Ninja Tune — comes on the back of another strong year for independent labels and artists in the United Kingdom. According to labels trade body BPI, independently released music made up 29% of the U.K.’s recorded music market in the first 10 months of 2022, up from 27% for the whole of 2021 — when total recorded music sales reached £1.3 billion ($1.6 million) in the U.K. — and an increase of 30% from 2017, when independents claimed a 22% share.
Independently released albums that have topped the U.K. albums chart this year include Arctic Monkeys’ The Car, Wet Leg’s self-titled debut, Fontaines D.C.’s Skinty Fia and rapper Central Cee’s 23.
“The growth of the indie sector has been fantastic to see and what’s really exciting about it is the rise in grass roots independent artists who are self-releasing and creating their own teams and finding ways of being able to build their own fanbase,” Montello tells Billboard.
Despite the growth, it remains difficult for many DIY and independent artists to make a decent living from streaming alone, she says, echoing well-publicized discontent from the creator community over low returns from music streams.
In her new role as CEO of AIM, Montello — who has been an active member of the U.K. trade body for several years — says she will continue the organization’s push for an “equitable and fair” split of streaming revenues but will also focus on educating and training independent artists and businesses about how they can monetize their art in the fast-changing music ecosystem.
“Looking outside of the reliance on just the major streaming platforms is going to be more of a significant conversation and trend going forward,” she says, citing the metaverse, Web3 and growth of neighboring rights revenues as potential avenues for artists to maximize their future earning potential.
“We always need to be looking forward and making sure that we’re trying to anticipate where there may be new opportunities for our members, but also anticipate where there may be challenges arising and making sure that we’re up to speed with everything,” says Montello.
Prior to heading AFEM, Montello held senior executive roles at the U.K. arm of Universal Music Group, where she worked as director of catalog marketing between 2006 and 2010, and BMG, where, according to her LinkedIn profile, she served as group senior vp of recordings operations and integrations from 2014 to 2016. She was subsequently appointed senior vp of operations at the then-Kobalt-owned artist services company AWAL, a post she held from 2017 to 2020.
More recently, Montello held senior posts at music rights data platform Blokur and Audio Network, a U.K.-based creator and publisher of music for film, television and digital content. Since 2011, she has also acted as CEO of Voicebox Consulting, which has worked with music companies and charities that include BMG, PIAS and the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Montello co-founded and is director of #remarQabl, an electronic music label services and publishing company that champions female, LGBTQ+ and underrepresented artists, and is a trustee for U.K. charity Help Musicians.
In a press release announcing Montello’s appointment, AIM chair Nadia Khan called the executive a “fantastic leader” whose “extensive industry background, contact base, business development skills, passion for diversity and inclusion, and vision for the future bring renewed leadership to AIM.”
Association for Electronic Music co-founders Ben Turner and Kurosh Nasseri congratulated Montello on what they called a “landmark appointment” for both her and the genre of electronic music.
“It is amazing to see an organization as influential as AIM looking to our sector and actually to our own trade body AFEM for their next leader,” Turner and Nasseri say in a statement. They thanked Montello for “her valuable input into AFEM in her short time with us” and said the organization has begun the process of recruiting a new CEO to succeed her.
Montello says she looks forward to “really getting under the skin of AIM” and doing all that she can to make the independent music business flourish, help artists avoid burnout and add to the “richness and diversity” of music coming out of the United Kingdom.
“Because if we don’t have that from the independent sector, where a lot of the creativity comes from the grass roots, the margins and underrepresented groups who have got something to say,” she says, “then all music lovers are going to miss out.”
TikTok has proven its success at renewing widespread interest around old songs countless times over the past several years. 2022 was no exception, as the short-form video platform announced Swedish Sadboy rapper Yung Lean’s 2013 track “Ginseng Strip 2002” was its most popular track of the year thanks to a trend of users singing along for about 10 seconds and then kissing at the end.
The nearly decade-old track was used in almost 11 million videos across the app in 2022, and while TikTok royalties are notoriously low to music rights holders, the upside proposition has been established that a viral hit there will drive streaming elsewhere. With “Ginseng Strip 2002,” that was most certainly true.
Since the “Ginseng Strip 2002” TikTok trend started to take off around the turn of the new year, its impact is relatively easy to compare year-over-year. And it’s considerable. As of Dec. 1, the track had been streamed more than 71 million times on-demand in 2022 in the U.S. That’s a 780% increase from the full year prior, and up over 1,070% when compared to the same 48-week period (Jan. 1-Dec. 1). To date, the track has over 206 million global streams on Spotify.
The viral success has undoubtedly been a pleasant surprise payday for Lean as well as his label, Swedish indie YEAR0001, and publisher Sony Publishing. Based off U.S. streams alone, the different rights holders have earned about $350,000 so far in 2022. Split up, that’s about $260,000 for the master recording to the label and artist, and $62,900 to the publisher and co-writers Yung Lean and Yung Gud, based on Billboard‘s estimates.
This is actually the second time “Ginseng Strip 2002” has gone viral. The casually hedonistic track that came together by accident during a microphone sound check, according to producer Yung Gud, first took off on YouTube in 2013. That quick success on YouTube caused Yung Lean some anxiety, as he told Beats 1 Radio in 2017. “I was kinda scared at one point that it was just gonna be a couple million views and some viral hit, and there wasn’t going to be anything else,” he said. “I was just trying to figure out my place and everything. I didn’t want to be a one-hit wonder.”
Yung Lean and YEAR0001 had not responded to a request for comment for this story at the time of publishing.
MSG Sphere, the long-awaited, globe-shaped venue under construction in Las Vegas, has been promised to revolutionize the concert-going experience. Before it even opens, however, MSG Sphere is transforming the corporate structure of its creator.
On Monday, MSG Entertainment announced new plans for an upcoming spin-off that will separate MSG Sphere, the next-generation music venue being built in Las Vegas, from the rest of its live music business.
The latest version of the proposed transaction results is a pure-play music company under the corporate name MSG Entertainment that includes venues such as Madison Madison Square Garden, Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre and The Chicago Theatre. MSG Entertainment would also include the entertainment and sports booking business, the Radio City Rockettes and the Christmas Spectacular production, and long-term arena license agreements with New York Knicks and New York Rangers, which play their home games at Madison Square Garden.
The first iteration of the spin-off paired the live music business with MSG Networks, a regional sports network that carries live games of the Knicks, Rangers, New York Giants, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres. That would have put the company’s two most mature divisions under one roof, separate from MSG Sphere and Tao Group Hospitality, the operator of restaurant and nightlife properties. MSG Entertainment would, however, combine the financially risky Sphere project with the more stable revenues of MSG Networks, which generated $608.2 million of revenue and $131 million of operating profit in the year ended June 30, 2022. The new plan “is optimal for maximizing shareholder value, while providing both companies with enhanced strategic and financial flexibility to drive long-term growth,” the company said in a statement.
The new spin-off plan puts MSG Networks with MSG Sphere and Tao Group Hospitality. The spin-off company will take the name MSG Sphere Corp and “would have enhanced flexibility to execute its business strategy and pursue global growth opportunities,” executive chairman and CEO James L. Dolan said in a statement.
The proposed transaction would be structured as a tax-free spin-off to all MSGE shareholders. Owners of MSGE Class A and Class B shares would receive a pro-rata distribution expected to amount to about a two-thirds economic interest in MSG Entertainment, the live entertainment company. The parent company, MSG Sphere, would retain approximately a one-third interest in MSG Entertainment.
The $1.8 billion MSG Sphere at The Venetian is slated to open in 2023 with a U2 residency. The spherical venue will provide a multi-sensory experience of audio and visuals for 20,000 standing spectators or 17,500 seated guests. It includes 160,000 square feet of video viewing space and an exterior exosphere with programmable LED technology.
Apple Music users will soon be able to sing along to their favorite hits right inside the app.
On Tuesday (Dec. 6), Apple announced the launch of a built-in karaoke function on the streaming service, which will be available to all Apple Music subscribers worldwide later this month. Dubbed Apple Music Sing, the feature will be accessible on iPhone, iPad and the newest model of the Apple TV 4K, with tens of millions of songs available at launch.
Apple Music Sing is similar to a typical karaoke player, highlighting the streamer’s onscreen lyrics beat by beat. Additional functionality includes the option to adjust a song’s vocal levels; the separation of background vocals from main vocals to make the lyrics easier to follow; and a “duet view” that places lyrics from multiple vocalists on opposite sides of the screen to make multi-singer tracks easier to navigate.
Along with the new feature, Apple Music will additionally be launching a suite of more than 50 thematic Apple Music Sing playlists grouping songs together by genre, decade and more.
“Apple Music’s lyrics experience is consistently one of the most popular features on our service,” said Oliver Schusser, vp of Apple Music and Beats, in a statement on the launch. “We already know our users all over the world love to follow along to their favorite songs, so we wanted to evolve this offering even further to enable even more engagement around music through singing. It’s really a lot of fun, our customers are going to love it.”
Ginseng Strip 2002,” a casually hedonistic track by the Swedish rapper Yung Lean, initially went viral on YouTube in 2013. Nearly a decade later, lightning struck again on a different platform when the single became wildly popular on TikTok. This song — a series of druggy snapshots narrated in an uninterested monotone — was used more than any other on the app in 2022, according to the year-end report TikTok shared Tuesday (Dec. 6).
While “Ginseng Strip 2002” was used in nearly 11 million videos, the Mexican singer Kim Loaiza enjoyed the most viewed artist account with 70.5 million followers. She was one of five Spanish-language acts among the top 10 most-viewed artists, including superstars like Bad Bunny (29.7 million followers) and Rosalia (27.5 million).
The growing commercial importance of sped-up and slowed-down remixes of singles was also reflected in TikTok’s year-end report. Sped-up hits included new versions of Michael Buble‘s “Sway” and Cat Burns‘ “Go;” an uptempo rework of Demi Lovato‘s “Cool for the Summer” helped the track crack the top five on the platform. It trailed only Nicky Youre and dazy‘s “Sunroof,” Willow’s “Wait a Minute,” WZ Beat’s “Beat Automotivo Tan Tan Tan Viral,” and of course, “Ginseng Strip 2002.”
“Ginseng Strip 2002” came together almost by accident, according to the track’s producer Yung Gud. “‘Ginseng Strip 2002’ was just a sound check — he was just checking to see if the microphone was working,” the producer told The New Yorker in 2014.
The track’s initial success on YouTube caused Yung Lean some anxiety. “I was kinda scared at one point that it was just gonna be a couple million views and some viral hit, and there wasn’t going to be anything else,” he told Beats 1 Radio in 2017. “I was just trying to figure out my place and everything. I didn’t want to be a one-hit wonder.”
While “Ginseng Strip 2002” was the most-used track globally, it ranked third in the U.S. behind “Sunroof” and Luclover’s “L$d.”
Sony Music has added Christel Kayibi to its Africa & Continental Europe team, which she will join as director of repertoire strategy, Africa.
In her new London-based role, Kayibi will be one of the few executives to focus on both Anglophone and Francophone Africa, where she will develop Sony Music’s roster and network; identify catalog, label and other investment opportunities; and drive Sony Music’s entry into new markets across the continent. Kayibi will also work closely with the label’s regional and local Africa teams to assist with the signing of artists in partnership with Sony Music labels worldwide.
For her first project, Kayibi forged a partnership between Sony Music Africa and Afrochella’s parent company, Culture Management Group, along with the streaming service Audiomack, to give unsigned African talent an opportunity to compete for global distribution deals and record contracts through the Ghana-based music festival’s expanded “Rising Star Stage” competition. She will report directly to Daniel Lieberberg, president of Continental Europe & Africa, for Sony, in coordination with Sean Watson, managing director of Sony Music Africa.
Kayibi’s hiring reinforces Africa’s position as a hotbed for global talent that all three major labels want to develop. In September, Def Jam signed an exclusive worldwide joint venture with Native Records, a Nigeria- and U.K.-based label. In June, Universal Music Group also launched Virgin Music Label & Artist Services Africa, which includes over 15,000 music titles, with more than 50 label partners from 25 countries, and releases from more than 100 of Africa’s leading artists. In the last couple of years, Warner Music Group has partnered with Chocolate City, one of Nigeria’s leading independent labels that includes Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti‘s son Femi Kuti and “Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah)” hitmaker CKay on its roster, and appointed Temi Adeniji as managing director of Warner Music South Africa and senior vp strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa, a post — similar to Kayibi’s — that’s meant to enhance the company’s presence in the region.
Before moving up at Sony Music, which she joined in 2019, Kayibi previously worked as the senior legal and business affairs manager and A&R at Columbia Records in the U.K., where she worked closely with finance, sales and marketing to ensure successful day-to-day operations of labels, including Columbia Records, 5K Records, Robots + Humans and Dream Life Records.
Before joining Sony Music, Kayibi worked as a lawyer at Slaughter and May, White & Case and Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.
In 2017, Kayibi became the global legal counsel for Nigerian artist and entrepreneur Mr. Eazi and worked with him on building up his label Banku Music — which expanded its roster beyond its founder with the addition of Nigerian singer Joeboy, Ghanaian singer J.Derobie and Ghanaian DJ/producer GuiltyBeatz –as well as his African talent incubator, emPawa Africa, which currently distributes audio and video content for 100 artists across the African continent. Earlier this year, Kayibi won the best lawyer award at the 2022 Young Music Boss Awards in London, which recognizes the achievements of rising music executives under the age of 35.