State Champ Radio Business
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Los Angeles punk/hardcore band Militarie Gun have signed with Roc Nation for management, Billboard can reveal.
The signing follows the announcement of the group’s debut album, Life Under the Gun, which is due out June 23 on Loma Vista Records. The 12-track project, engineered by Taylor Young at the Pit Recording Studio, will include the band’s previously-released single, “Do It Faster,” as well as its latest single, “Very High.” The album is available for pre-order on vinyl, CD and cassette here.
“When I first heard the demos for Militarie Gun’s forthcoming album, I literally couldn’t stop listening,” says the band’s manager Blaze James. “[Frontman] Ian [Shelton] has a knack for writing pop melodies layered into punk songs with an emotional pull. It was right in my wheelhouse.”
Life Under the Gun follows the release of several EPs by the band, including My Life Is Over and All Roads Lead to the Gun/All Roads Lead to the Gun II. Militarie Gun formed in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic; influences include Guided By Voices, Fugazi and The Jesus Lizard. In addition to frontman Shelton, the current lineup includes guitarists Nick Cogan and William Acuña and drummer Vince Nguyen. The band, which played South by Southwest in March, is slated to kick off a run of North American and European tour dates on Saturday (May 6) in San Pedro, Calif.
Militarie Gun also recently scored a high-profile synch, with the band and Dazy’s single “Pressure Cooker” being featured in Taco Bell’s new “Build Your Own Cravings” commercial; the ad is part of the brand’s “Feed the Beat” program.
Talent manager Brendan Rich has opened the Nashville-based, boutique artist management company Rich MGMT.
New York native Rich began his music industry career with stops at Buddy Lee Attractions and Paradigm before joining United Talent Agency, where he signed Matt Stell, Chris Bandi, Jimmie Allen and Logan Mize. He followed his time at UTA by segueing into artist management and spending five years as a manager at Ash Bowers’s Wide Open Music.
Joining Rich at his new company are former Wide Open Music management clients Stell, George Birge and Bandi, as well as new signee Darren Kiely. Stell has notched two Billboard No. 1 Country Airplay hits with “Everywhere But On” and “Prayed For You.” Meanwhile, Birge’s song “Mind on You” is currently at No. 46 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
Also joining Rich from Wide Open Music is Sarah Paravia, who will serve as day-to-day coordinator.
“Since my first days in the music business, I’ve always dreamt of opening my own management company, ” Rich said via a statement. “Those dreams have now come to fruition as we open our doors to manage world class artists, who we are honored to represent and guide in their careers.”
A statement from Rich MGMT notes the company’s mission “is to operate with integrity in every aspect of its business while helping its artists to build successful and long-lasting careers.”
Additionally, former Wide Open Music management client Jimmie Allen recently joined California-based firm The Familie, which also represents Machine Gun Kelly, Avril Lavigne and more. Wide Open Music’s Bowers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino’s total compensation package rose to $139 million in 2022, up from $13.8 million the previous year.
Rapino’s compensation included a base salary of $3 million, up from $2.6 million in 2021 (which came as Rapino agreed to take a pay reduction during the pandemic). Live Nation entered into a new employment agreement with Rapino in July 2022, ending Dec. 31, 2027, which meant he also earned a $6 million signing bonus.
The executive also earned a $12 million annual cash performance bonus for 2022 and stock awards of $116 million, some of which vest in early 2024, while others vest in four installments through 2027 if the company reaches certain stock price targets.
CFO Joe Berchtold also saw his overall compensation jump to $52.4 million in 2022, up from $5 million the prior year. His base salary increased slightly to $1.3 million from $1.1 million, and he also earned a signing bonus of $6 million and an annual cash performance bonus of $2.5 million. Berchtold received $42.4 million in stock awards.
These pay bumps come after a rocky year for the company.
The Ticketmaster, which falls under Live Nation Entertainment, has faced backlash since its site experienced errors and site slowdowns during its Taylor Swift presale for verified fans in fall 2022. Since then, the company has faced pushback from lawmakers over its merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation and is said to be undergoing an investigation by the Department of Justice. At the same time, concert attendance has been on the rise, as has the company’s revenue.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
With studios in New York, Los Angeles, Nashville and Washington D.C., SiriusXM can now also call Miami “home.” The audio entertainment company has officially opened their “state-of-the-art” broadcast complex that will operate in South Beach. SiriusXM is also set to launch a new Latin pop channel, Hits Uno, on Friday (May 5) which will become the station’s 17th Spanish-language channel.
“I’ve been with the company 15 years and when they told me that we were opening a state-of-the-art in Miami, in the hub of Latin music, I got so excited,” says Bryant Pino, director of Latin music programming at SiriusXM, who hosted artists such as CNCO and Zion & Lennox during a soft launch of the studios in March. “As a company, we’re doing things that really matter and are important, especially with what’s going on with Latin music right now.”
Latin music revenues in the United States hit an all-time high in 2022, exceeding the $1 billion mark on the wings of 24% growth that outpaced the overall market. According to the RIAA’s year-end Latin music report for 2022, total revenue jumped from $881 million in 2021 to $1.1 billion, with Latin music’s overall share of the total music market lifting from 5.9% in 2021 to 6.9%.
Opening studios in Miami and launching a new Latin channel is an acknowledgment of the culture’s growth, says Azu Olvera, SiriusXM’s senior director of Latin talent and industry relations.
“We’re not thinking of Latin as a backseat but as a driver of success and engagement. And when were coming up with the concept for the new channel, we wanted put together all these hits in one single channel that reflects the genre’s diversity.”
During the days leading up to Hits Uno, SiriusXM will host special live shows, including an intimate performance by Carlos Vives, an interview with Pitbull and a Becky G town hall-style conversation.
“With Hits Uno, we’ll be able to represent today’s Latin music fan,” adds Pino. “Back in the day you were a rockera, or reggaetonero but not both. Now, it’s cool to be eclectic, to listen to everything. We’re not a local radio station, this is not a Miami station but rather a nationwide platform so we’re going to be exposing people to global hits across all genres.”
The Howard Stern Show is airing live from the new Miami studios on Monday, May 1 through Wednesday, May 3. Stern, who has been working from home in recent years, will be joined live in the studio by special music and celebrity guests.
“Miami is an incredibly rich center for music and entertainment,” Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM’s resident and chief content officer, said in a statement. “SiriusXM Miami will capture the city’s unique culture and character and bring it to audiences across North America. We’re thrilled to have Howard kick things off in the biggest way with three exceptional days of shows, followed by a star-studded lineup of programming that showcases the broad array of content we offer, including the diverse and vibrant music emanating from the Latinx community.”
Nearly nine years after Johnny Winter‘s death, a battle for control of the legendary blues guitarist’s music is being fought in court with allegations of theft and greed flying back and forth.
The legal fight pits Winter’s former personal manager and bandmate, Paul Nelson, against the family of the bluesman’s late wife, Susan, who died in 2019.
Winter’s in-laws say Nelson and his wife improperly took more than $1.5 million from Winter’s music business, including auctioning off some of the late musician’s guitars.
Nelson and his wife have countersued, saying Susan Winter’s siblings swooped in when she was medicated and dying of cancer and tricked her into giving them control of Winter’s music, stripping away Nelson’s rights as the beneficiary of Susan Winter’s estate.
The case was scheduled to go to trial in a Connecticut court in April, but was rescheduled for September.
At stake is ownership of Winter’s music catalogue, proceeds from record and merchandise sales and authority to approve any commercial use of his songs, the value of which is uncertain.
“The case is about preserving Johnny Winter’s legacy and vindicating and making sure the Nelsons haven’t improperly taken the moneys rightfully owed to the plaintiffs,” said Timothy Diemand, a lawyer for the Susan Winter’s siblings, Bonnie and Christopher Warford.
Nelson wants to be reinstalled as the beneficiary of Susan Winter’s estate.
“The Plaintiffs orchestrated the wrongful termination of Paul Nelson during a difficult time in Susan Winter’s last year of life,” the Nelsons said in a statement released by their lawyer, Matthew Mason. They said it was clear that both Johnny and Susan Winter wanted Nelson to be responsible for Johnny Winter’s music and legacy.
John Dawson Winter III was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas. He burst onto the world blues scene in the 1960s, dazzling crowds with his fast licks while his trademark long, white hair flew about from under his cowboy hat. He and his brother Edgar — both born with albinism — were both reknowned musicians.
Winter played at Woodstock in 1969 and went on to produce albums for Blues icon Muddy Waters in addition to his own music. In 1988 he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.
Rolling Stone magazine listed him as the No. 63 best guitar player of all time in 2015. He released more than two dozen albums and was nominated for several Grammy awards, winning his first one posthumously in 2015 for Best Blues Album for “Step Back.” Nelson produced the album and also took home a Grammy for it.
Winter, who spent two decades living in Easton, Connecticut, before his death, battled heroin addiction for years and credited Nelson, whom he met in 1999, with helping him get off methadone, according to the 2014 documentary “Johnny Winter: Down & Dirty.”
Before he got clean, bandmates and friends said they were concerned because of his frail appearance and trouble talking. Nelson also credits himself with reviving Winter’s music career.
The Winters and Nelsons became good friends. Paul Nelson played guitar in Johnny Winter’s band and started running his music company beginning in 2005. Nelson’s wife, Marion Nelson, did bookkeeping for the Winters and the music business, according to legal filings in the lawsuit.
Winter died at the age of 70 on July 16, 2014, in a hotel room just outside Zurich, Switzerland, while on tour. Susan Winter and Paul Nelson have said the cause of death was likely emphysema.
Susan Winter was the sole beneficiary of her husband’s estate, which she put in a trust in late 2016. She named herself as the trust’s sole trustee and Nelson as the successor trustee, meaning he would inherit the rights to Johnny Winter’s music after she died.
But in June 2019, four months before her death from lung cancer, Susan Winter removed Nelson as the successor and replaced him with her sister and brother.
The Nelsons allege in their lawsuit that Bonnie and Christopher Warford got control by lying to their sister, wrongly telling her the Nelsons were mismanaging the music business and her affairs.
The Warfords’ lawsuit accuses the Nelsons of improperly taking more than $1.5 million out of Winter’s business “under the guise of royalty income, commissions, reimbursements, fees, social media expenses and other mechanisms, while obfuscating and misrepresenting these dealings to Susan Winter.”
They have also accused the Nelsons of taking three of Winter’s guitars, worth about $300,000 total, and selling them at auction without permission. The Nelsons deny the allegation.
“In short, this is the classic case of a manager taking advantage of an artist-client, and worse here, an artist’s surviving family,” Diemand wrote in a legal filing.
It’s not clear why Edgar Winter, a noted musician in his own right, was not involved in his brother’s estate after his death. Edgar Winter and his representatives did not return phone and email messages seeking comment.
The Warfords’ lawsuit is similar to one the Winters filed against Johnny Winter’s former manager Teddy Slatus for alleged financial wrongdoing around 2005. Slatus died in late 2005. It’s not clear what happened with the lawsuit.
“Johnny and Susan have been battling lawsuits all their lives, and still can’t rest in peace,” said Mary Lou Sullivan, who wrote a biography titled “Raisin’ Cane: The Wild and Raucous Story of Johnny Winter” published in 2010.
Both the Warfords, of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Nelsons, of Weston, Connecticut, declined interview requests by The Associated Press.
The All Access Audio Summit 2023 began Wednesday, April 26, and ran through Friday, April 28. Bringing together leaders in radio, podcasting, production and more, the virtual convention sparked conversation aimed at optimizing the impact of audio in multiple commercial forms.
Here’s a rundown of highlights from the gathering’s third day, when panels were introduced by YEA Networks’ syndicated host Tino Cochino, who aptly summarized the event as “a whole lot of learning, and catching vibes.”
‘We’re for the Masses’
All Access president and publisher Joel Denver opened the day with a conversation with Dave Milner, Cumulus Media president of operations.
“There’s no silver bullet” to successful radio, Milner mused. “It comes down to great local content, and making sure that content is available in multiple platforms. We have to be available any which way people listen to audio. If you put out good content, they will find it and consume it.
“Individuals are spending more time with audio – the pandemic stretched that,” Milner said. “Whether podcast, streaming or broadcast, people want audio.”
Milner also discussed one of the summit’s recurring topics: artificial intelligence. “There’s going to be a place for it,” he said. “It provides opportunities, from writing copy to traffic reports … weather reports … promotions. I have a hard time thinking it will replace any prime-time, personality-based radio.”
Milner cited a recent episode of SiriusXM’s Friday Night Freak-Out With Drew Carey that surreptitiously used AI. “I violated a rule from Radio 101,” Carey subsequently confessed, adding, “The reason treasured radio stations still make money is because people like the personality of the DJs.”
“You can’t replace that human touch, that soul, that connection with the audience,” Milner said.
Milner additionally touched upon another of the summit’s most prominent angles: finding and nurturing future talent. “The biggest thing we can control is how we mentor,” he said. “We’ve had a couple models where we’ve been able to take the third, fourth, fifth people on a morning show and given them an opportunity to have a more singular voice,” as hosts of their own shifts in different dayparts. “It’s helped them grow, and helped the station cross-pollinate and create a more contiguous audience across the station.”
As for fostering hits, “Radio is not the new music discovery place it used to be,” noted Denver, as streaming services have sliced into that share. “They can go deeper than we do,” Milner conceded of DSPs. “We’re more of a mainstream box store – we’re for the masses. It’s harder for us to take chances on a music level. We’ve got to deliver for all people. But on a day-to-day basis, we have the ability to out-local them all day long. Personalities live in communities – that is something the DSPs will never be able to do in an effective way. They’re trying … they know that’s our advantage.”
Atlanta ‘Radio United’
“You have to be in the daily conversation with your audience,” said Jimmy Steal, vp of branding and content for Hubbard Broadcasting’s WMTX and WSHE Chicago, in the day’s second session.
The discussion led to a rare, but rewarding, occurrence in radio: competing stations working together for a common cause, specifically one spearheaded by panelist Terri Avery, director of branding and programming for Cox Media Group’s WALR Atlanta. In late 2022, Avery helmed Black Radio United for the Vote, encouraging listeners to vote in the then-pending run-off election between U.S. Senator Raphael Wornock (the eventual winner) and challenger Herschel Walker. The initiative – among 11 Atlanta area radio stations – helped prospective voters check their voting status, be informed about requirements for in-person voting, get acquainted with a sample ballot and more.
That Avery could create harmony among so many stations in the same market prompted the session’s panel to agree that she herself “should run for Congress.”
Trolling the Trolls
An All Access Audio Summit panel about social media, led by moderator Lori Lewis, president of marketing firm Lori Lewis Media, had fun taking on trolls.
“They’re just looking for attention,” said Jamien “Melz on the Mic” Green, brand manager and afternoon host at Townsquare Media’s KISX Tyler, Texas. “They’re looking to feel something.” His playful strategy: “I’m gonna give you a rise back!”
His favorite online agitators? Those who take the time to craft an intricate post explaining … that they don’t care about your show. “You’ve helped my algorithm with your comment,” he noted.
Ultimately, he believes in the benefits of social media for radio. “You can lure in one listener at a time,” he said. “It’s free promo.”
Podcasting & Talk Radio (& Cheez-Its)
All Access vp of news, talk, sports and podcasting Perry Michael Simon chatted with Steven Goldstein, CEO of Amplifi Media. “We’re at a third of Americans listening to podcasts weekly – just under 90 million people,” Goldstein said. “I think that’s a giant success.”
Meanwhile, Todd Hollst, evening host on Cox Media Group’s talk station WHIO Dayton, Ohio, feels that the format doesn’t always need to be political-leaning. “There’s nonsense, serious moments … it’s not real-life, but it has that feel,” he said of his show, recapping a passion project of his combining fun and localism, and one not likely to stir a deep divide among listeners, depending on their stance on snacks: as Cheez-Its originated in Dayton in 1921, Hollst started a petition to build a statue in their honor. (No wonder he refers to himself as a wisecracker.)
VO & AI
Kelly “K3” Doherty, president and founder of Imaging House, posed one of the All Access Audio Summit’s most pointed questions, to voice-over and production specialists: Would you take a job recording AI, knowing it could ultimately result in a loss of further work?
“That’s a tough question,” pondered Scott Chambers, president of Scott Chambers VO. “Maybe, if my attorneys looked over the contract really well and I got residuals. The contract would have to be really good and lucrative.”
“I would probably prefer not to,” answered Donovan Corneetz, president of DonCo Productions. “I would not want to contribute to a tool to put me out of work. It wouldn’t serve the industry as a whole very well.”
Said Yinka Ladeinde, president of Yinka’s Voice, “I would like to say I would never do it. I would probably hold out until absolutely necessary.”
Doherty expressed caution that any recorded words could be stitched together to create audio considered offensive, or even incriminating, echoing the need for an airtight contract. Still, she noted that AI would be helpful when realizing a mistake had been made and the voice-over talent wasn’t subsequently available, or when copy is revised. “There are positives and negatives,” she said.
The panel also mused about its side of the business overall, and how sometimes factors are out of a talent’s control, regardless of how well a job is performed. Corneetz recalled once losing out on a gig because, he was later told about a client, “you sound just like her ex-husband … whom she hates.”
‘Our Superpower Is Human Connection’
In the summit’s final session, participants looked to the future of audio, and radio specifically, with another focus on AI.
Thea Mitchem, executive vp of programming for iHeartMedia, stressed the need not to dismiss AI, remembering that, around Y2K, certain executives for whom she then worked didn’t seem concerned enough about the rise of digital audio; even at the time, she thought that they should’ve been. “Technology has always moved things,” she said. “I think all industries have to embrace technology.” Still, she said about radio, repeating a common theme over the convention’s three days, “I think our superpower is human connection. There’s a trust level there.”
Said Kurt Johnson, Townsquare Media senior vp of content, “The concern with AI is no one knows where it’s going, and it’s going really fast. Copyright is a big issue. Like everyone else, were learning very quicky. We’re very big at generating local content. AI could contribute to that, but our people are what make our content.”
Added Keith Hastings, brand content director of Hubbard Broadcasting’s WDRV Chicago, of AI, “With rights come responsibilities. With opportunities comes responsibility. We have to study it and be careful with it.”
Agreed Jeff Sottolano, Audacy executive vp of programming, “All of us have a responsibility to experiment with it. I think there’s a lot of upside. Ask ChatGPT to write a 30-second script and I think you’ll be impressed – it might get you 80% of the way there.”
Johnson summed up his optimism about radio going forward (pointing out that the company’s name reflects how air talents in every market “are the town square”). “What radio provides hasn’t changed,” he said. “When you combine multi-platform – digital, radio, live events – you’re going to find people of all age groups. We have powerful tools to do it – that’s the exciting thing.”
An Atlantic City, N.J., music festival that was slated to feature Limp Bizkit, Rick Ross and Steve Aoki has been canceled just a week before kick-off after fans revolted over what they saw as unfulfilled promises and the city declined to issue a final permit for the event.
Organizers of the Bamboozle Festival, which was set to hold its first edition in more than 10 years at Bader Field from May 5-7, announced the cancellation in a notice posted to the festival’s official website on Friday (April 28).
“After extensive discussions, we have made the heartbreaking decision to cancel Bamboozle 2023,” reads the post on the website, which has been scrubbed of all other information. “An incredible amount of time, dedication, passion and hard work was invested into making this comeback a success. We appreciate everyone who supported this festival. Refunds should be requested at point of purchase.”
Though the festival did not cite the reason for the cancellation, a separate statement put out by Anthony Swan, city business administrator of Atlantic City, said the city put the kibosh on the event after failing to receive the paperwork necessary for it to proceed.
“We asked for this information months in advance to protect the city and the taxpayers of Atlantic City,” said Swan. “The event was fast approaching, and these issues were still unresolved.” After organizers failed to meet the city’s April 27 deadline to submit the documents, Swan added, “the attorney for the festival organizers has been notified … that the event is canceled consistent with our prior notice.”
The cancellation follows weeks of contention between Bamboozle organizers and fans, which began when those who bought tickets during the presale started complaining that the “stacked” lineup promised by founder John D’Esposito in a post on Bamboozle’s official Instagram page failed to come to fruition. Making matters worse, D’Esposito had said that the $400 three-day ticket prices would “jump” as more artists were announced, but instead they fell by nearly $100 after the fest offered a discount code.
The war of words between D’Esposito and fans ramped up in February when an anonymous Instagram account bearing the handle @scamboozlefest began making critical posts about the festival, claiming that organizers were refusing to honor refund requests and re-posting screenshots that showed D’Esposito harassing angry ticket buyers over Instagram, email and text. The Bamboozle Festival’s official Instagram account also began posting negative comments on Scamboozle’s posts, calling fans names like “clown,” “dork,” “pinhead” and “jackass.”
One post on the Scamboozle account bore screenshots of emails in which D’Esposito threatened to doxx a disgruntled fan named Alphonso Cino: “Maybe we have a street party in front of your home address,” one of the emails read. In an interview earlier this month with The Philadelphia Inquirer — which reported that Cino filed complaints against the promoters both with his local police department and the New Jersey State Police Cyber Crimes Unit — D’Esposito claimed the emails were “tongue in cheek” and that he “was joking around.” In the same story, D’Esposito said he expected roughly 15,000 attendees at the festival and claimed that a total of just 47 fans had been refunded the price of their tickets by their credit card companies.
According to NJ.com, numerous Bamboozle ticket buyers have also filed complaints with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs for false advertising and refund requests.
Following Friday’s cancellation, vendors also began scrambling to recover the money they had shelled out. Speaking with The Press of Atlantic City, Nick Richetti of Canna City Hemp said he was worried about receiving a refund after paying out $10,000 for a booth on the festival grounds. “I own one small CBD store in North Carolina, and $10,000 will absolutely break me,” he said.
Billboard reached out for comment to an email listed on Bamboozle’s official Facebook page but hadn’t received a response by press time.
D’Esposito founded Bamboozle in 2002 and kept the festival going for the next decade, with previous editions featuring top-tier acts such as 50 Cent, Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi, Snoop Dogg, Mac Miller, My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. At its peak, the event was drawing more than 100,000 fans over a single weekend. Following an alleged dispute between D’Esposito and his partners in the event, Live Nation and House of Blues, the festival went dormant in 2012. D’Esposito told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he repurchased the festival’s trademark in 2020 in order to resurrect it.
Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Richard Blumenthal’s new legislation aims to take on Ticketmaster by clamping down on the use of long-term contracts to lock up the exclusive ticketing rights of U.S. venues and festivals. But it could backfire in a way that would negatively affect venues and fans.
Titled the Unlocking Ticketing Markets Act, the legislation — introduced on the same day as a second bill from Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that would ban hidden ticket fees — is a clear attempt to break Ticketmaster’s grip on the ticketing industry, although it never actually mentions the Live Nation-owned company by name. (A press release announcing the Unlocking Ticket Markets Act says today’s concert marketplace is dominated “by one company” with a “70-80 percent market share” thanks in part to the long-term contracts its clients sign for its services.) But while Klobuchar and Blumental believe shortening ticketing contracts will promote competition, the proposal doesn’t seem to consider the benefits these contracts offer the venue clients.
Ever since Ticketmaster dethroned Ticketron as the top ticket seller in the 1980s, the company has built its dominance by offering large upfront cash payments in exchange for exclusive deals. This practice has become commonplace from ticketing companies in live entertainment, and venues and sports teams have come to rely on these advances — which can equal hundreds of thousands of dollars for smaller venues and millions of dollars for arenas and stadiums, increasing in value based on the length of the term — that are paid off over the term of the deal through fees added to the face value of each ticket.
This is a bargaining tool the ticketing companies use to acquire more venue customers, but within that, it’s at the venues’ discretion what kind of deal to take, passing the cost of that loan onto their customers as ticketing fees. If venues haven’t repaid the advance at the end of the contract term, they typically have two options: cut a check to the ticketing company to cover the difference or re-up their deal and borrow more money.
Klobuchar and Blumenthal’s bill would essentially shorten the length of the exclusive ticketing contracts by ordering the Federal Trade Commission to “prevent the use of excessively long multi-year exclusive contracts,” according to a press release announcing the proposed legislation. (The text of the Unlocking Ticketing Markets Act is not public, so it’s not clear how “excessively long” is defined, though average ticketing contracts are about five to six years.) If the FTC opted to limit ticketing to half of the average terms, Ticketmaster’s competitors would have twice as many opportunities to bid for those contracts the company holds.
Shorter contracts would either mean less money for venues, or greater risk that they would fail to repay the advances — in which case venues would either need to repay the remaining balance or negotiate that debt into a contract renewal. For example, a temporary four-month downturn in business is going to have a greater impact on a two-year, $2 million loan than it would on a four-year, $4 million loan. To protect themselves, ticketing companies would likely increase the fees added to tickets to recoup faster, thereby reducing the heightened risk of default — likely meaning higher costs to consumers.
A bill focused on contract length also fails to address long-standing complaints that venues often work with Ticketmaster because of a perception that it means parent company Live Nation will bring more events to their building. This sort of business practice is prohibited under the consent decree that has governed Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s operations since merging in 2010, but that hasn’t stopped accusations of anticompetitive behavior. While Live Nation has long denied this charge, during a January Senate Judiciary hearing probing Ticketmaster’s botched sale for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Sens. Klobuchar and Blumenthal indicated they believed that Ticketmaster’s relationship with Live Nation was the main reason Ticketmaster held a such a large market share of the ticketing business. Term lengths of the company’s contracts, however, were rarely mentioned.
In response to the introduction of the Unlocking Ticketing Markets Act, a Ticketmaster spokesperson told Billboard, “The ticketing industry is more competitive than ever. Ticketmaster wins business because it offers the best product available for venues, and the length of contracts is generally decided by venues and the guaranteed payments they want to help support their expenses. We do not expect any of the proposed changes to have a material impact on our business as we historically add clients in competitive marketplaces.”
Changing the terms of those loans, as Klobuchar and Blumenthal seek to do by limiting exclusive ticketing deals, could either cause venues to earn less money on the ticketing deals or increase the fees they charge consumers to repay those loans — making ticket prices even more expensive in a climate where most Americans already feel they’re paying too much.
Sean Heydorn was promoted to the joint role of senior vp of Rise Records and frontline catalogue at BMG. The announcement follows last week’s news that BMG has fully integrated its catalog and new release recordings businesses. In his new dual role, Heydorn will continue leading Rise Records while overseeing a newly-established frontline catalog team that will be responsible for marketing recent releases (i.e. projects designated as having been released 18 months ago or more) while ensuring the ongoing success of frontline music. The Los Angeles-based executive will continue reporting to executive vp of recorded music Dan Gill. Heydorn can be reached at sean.heydorn@bmg.com.
Tricia Arnold was promoted to executive vp of global artist/label services and sales at The Orchard, up from her prior role of senior vp of global label management and sales. Arnold will continue overseeing the company’s global distribution strategy and international sales and label services teams. The New York-based executive, who was named to Billboard‘s Women in Music List in 2023, will continue reporting to president/COO Colleen Theis. She can be reached at tarnold@theorchard.com.
Tim Plumley was promoted to vp of media and artist relations at UMe, the global catalog company of Universal Music Group. In the role, Plumley will strategize and execute 360-degree catalog media campaigns for both frontline album releases and catalog initiatives. Based in Los Angeles, he reports to executive vp of media and artist relations Sujata Murthy. Plumley can be reached at Tim.Plumley@umusic.com.
Sony Music Entertainment UK relaunched Epic Records UK and appointed Sarah Lockhart as president of the revamped label, effective May 1. Epic Records UK will relaunch as a frontline label alongside other Sony Music labels including RCA and Columbia. Lockhart takes on the role following a stint at Sony Music Publishing, where she was head of A&R for three years.
Jeff Geasey joined Page 1 Management as GM, West Coast out of Los Angeles. In the role, Geasey will sign new creators, service existing clients and work closely with Page 1 founder/CEO Ashley Page. He joins from Fast Casual Management, which he co-founded. Geasey can be reached at Jeff@page1management.com.
Sound Royalties announced several hires and promotions. On the promotions front, Shaun Kilmartin was named vp of technology and special projects; Allison Portlock was named vp of marketing; Marysol Aldaba was named royalty support manager; Emma Blake was named administration manager; Bryan Fried was named royalty analyst manager; Erin Regan was named marketing manager; and Kimberly Guisao was named digital marketing coordinator. New hires include Michael Aufiero as royalty specialist; Leandro Castro as junior systems administrator; Nicole Hanrahan as data management specialist; Natasha Mikazens as royalty specialist; Yvonne Swaby as accounting manager; Zachary Vega as royalty analyst; Kateleen Vera as royalty support specialist; and Christian Vernis as junior royalty specialist. Portlock can be reached at allison@soundroyalties.com.
Abby Sprague was promoted to vp of marketing at Mom+Pop Music. In her new role, she will run global campaigns for Mom+Pop artists and expand her roster to include SEB, Frances Forever and the newly-signed act Goth Babe.
Veteran music PR executive Cara Wodnicki departed her role as executive vp of publicity at BMF to launch her own firm, CSW Publicity. She will bring her personal roster of clients to the new company, including AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys, J-pop act Perfume, Emergency Tiara, RADWIMPS and Canadian pop singer Olivia Lunny. She can now be reached at Cara@CSWPublicity.com.
J.R. Johnson was named director of communications at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He joins from Refinery29, where he served as senior director of talent relations/special projects; he has also served in comms roles at Warner Bros. Records and Sunshine Sachs & Associates, among others.
Justin Levenson was named professional services product lead at OpenPlay, a leading asset management platform for the music industry. In his new role, Levenson will work with OpenPlay’s engineering team, clients and other stakeholders to ensure the platform is operating properly and meeting client needs, among other duties. He joins the company from Utopia Music, where he served as commercial director of financial services/senior product manager. Levenson can be reached at justin.levenson@openplay.co.
Emilia Huneke-Bergquist joined Stand Together Music to direct project management and events for the organization, which “unites the music industry, musicians, and their teams with proven change-makers to co-create solutions, starting with criminal justice, addiction recovery, education, free speech and peace, and ending the war on drugs,” according to a press release. Huneke-Bergquist will lead a cross-functional team of project managers and event professionals in facilitating marketing and communications efforts along with in-person and virtual experiences across the Stand Together community. Before officially joining the organization, she had previously worked with Stand Together on various partnerships. She can be reached at ehuneke-bergquist@standtogether.org.
Kylie Dembek was named country music project manager at ONErpm. She joins the company from Big Machine Label Group, where she worked as a strategic planning manager helping artists develop their radio and marketing strategies. In her new role, she will focus on creating and implementing release and marketing strategy for emerging and established artists. Dembek can be reached at kylie@onerpm.com.
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum named two new additions to its staff: Dave Paulson, who joins as writer-editor in the museum services department, and Austin Taylor, who was named director of event sales. Paulson will contribute to exhibitions, museum publications, public programs, online offerings and other educational initiatives; he was previously a reporter at The Tennessean. Taylor will lead the events and culinary department’s sales team while also being responsible for the event sales annual revenue goal. He was most recently senior sales manager with both the Hilton and HEI hotel brands and previously worked at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum between 2011 and 2017.
Away co-founder/CEO Jen Rubio has joined the board of directors at tvg hospitality, the venue group founded by Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons.
Growing up in East Los Angeles in the 1980s, George Prajin could see music in the making. His father was Antonino Z. Prajin, owner of Prajin One-Stop, a music retailer and distributor in Huntington Park, Calif., that sold to over 3,000 stores in the U.S. and Mexico and had 26 warehouses throughout Southern California. At that time, the music known as regional Mexican — comprising subgenres like banda, norteño and mariachi — dominated U.S. Latin music sales.
At the Prajin brick and mortar record shop that catered to mostly Mexican and Mexican-American buyers, “I always noticed that Mexican-American youth would buy hip-hop and regional. And I always tried to mix the two,” says Prajin today. “I tried to come up with a fusion of the two sounds.”
It took 25 years, a lot of money and a lot of heartbreak, but Prajin has finally found his sound with the artist known as Peso Pluma, the only act signed to his indie Prajin Records, and distributed via The Orchard. While Regional Mexican music is definitely having a moment — this week, 13 Regional Mexican tracks are on the Billboard Hot 100, a record for the genre — the current wave is led by the 23-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico.
Of those 13 tracks, an astounding eight are his, including “Ella Baila Sola,” his smash hit with California quartet Eslabón Armado, which reached No. 5 on the chart, marking the first time ever a Regional Mexican track, in Spanish, reached the top five — or the top 10, for that matter. The song also reached No. 1 the Billboard Global 200 chart (dated April 29). It’s the first leader on the list for each act, as well as the first for the regional Mexican genre. And it helps make Prajin Billboard‘s Executive of the Week.
The importance of the moment is not lost on Prajin, who grew up following the Billboard charts and who in the 1990s launched an independent record label for the first time. When the recording industry’s bubble burst at the onset of the digital download age in the early-mid-2000s, Prajin closed shop, studied law and established a practice — alongside veteran music entertainment lawyer Anthony Lopez — representing athletes and musicians. In 2019, when streaming numbers started to soar, he decided to give the music industry another shot as a record executive and launched Prajin Records. This time, the timing was right. Among the different projects that were shopped to him, one was Peso Pluma, a young Mexican singer and rapper who was living in New York and had been discovered through social media.
“Ella Baila Sola” is not only a Peso Pluma track; it was released on another California-based indie, DEL Records, whose founder Angel Del Villar was also an Executive of the Week when Eslabón became the first Regional Mexican act to enter the top 10 of the Billboard 200 last year.
This week’s achievement, says Prajin, was not just the result of DEL and Prajin’s strategy with “Ella Baila Sola.” Instead, he says, “it’s been a strategy with the project overall.”
Peso Pluma arrives for the 8th annual Latin American Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 20, 2023.
ROBYN BECK/AFP via GI
What was it about Peso Pluma that you found interesting?
I saw how he flowed on the tracks. He could do it all: He could rap, he could do regional, he could do reggaeton. But he was very stubborn that he wanted to do everything independently of each other. He said, “I want to rap on a rap song, I want to sing reggaeton on a reggaeton song.” I realized there is a way to do it and it’s how Peso envisions it, by staying in each lane and killing it in each genre but giving people what they want. I always recognize his base audience is regional and that’s actually the music he loves the most. But because Peso can do all these genres, and when they [he and his cousin Tito] write songs, they [incorporate] all these influences.
You met Peso Pluma through your former artist, Jessie Morales (El Regional de la Sierra). Jessie wanted you to sign Peso, but you actually turned him down the first time, even though as an attorney you represented several prominent Regional Mexican artists and labels at that point. What happened?
At the time, I didn’t want to compete with my clients, even though I felt the kid had a lot of talent. He ended up signing with Herminio Morales, Jessie’s brother. Fast forward 2021, Herminio got really sick and called me up and asked me if I could help with Peso. You don’t get two bites of the apple very often, and I was restless. I wanted to produce more music. And at that time nobody was really interested in Peso, because it wasn’t really a successful project.
Once you started with Peso, what would you say was your breakthrough track?
Because no other label was interested, I didn’t feel I was competing with anybody [so I would experiment]. He had an album already recorded and one song attracted my attention: “El Belicón.” He gave me permission to work on the track and we ended up taking the guy that was there off the track and putting in [singer] Raul Vega. We mixed the song — I have an amazing engineer — and we put it out on TikTok. We saw that there was a spark and we put in promotion and made an inferno. We made sure the video was like Call of Duty because we really wanted to target the kids. We threw all our efforts into making the song as big as we could. And we got to the level where we got people’s attention.
You did tracks with more urban acts like Nicki Nicole from Argentina and Ovy on the Drums from Colombia. Were you aiming for a more international sound?
I feel we started in regional but at the same time we were expanding regional. It’s like when rock n’ roll got into grunge. Peso’s saying, “We’re not regional; we’re Mexican.” When we saw the fusion going to the top of the charts, that’s when we invited others. The goal was to expand the international Latin scene. And what’s really, really cool is they all want to jump on Peso’s sound.
I feel that has really expanded the Mexican market. He wanted to do reggaeton and rap, we’d be in talks with major artists in other countries and we’d usually say, “Lets do a reggaeton song,” but they’d say, “Let’s do a regional song.” When we saw these artists wanted to do something regional, we started to double down.
When did you realize there was another audience interested in this guy?
I pay a lot of attention to the analytics. I’m always looking at the numbers and looking at what countries we get engagement. I saw we were getting a lot of engagement in the countries we were targeting but also in places like Japan and Germany. And then, obviously, the global charts. When we broke into the Billboard Global 200 and then we became the No. 1 song, and then we get interest from Jimmy Fallon, that’s when you see something that is global. As an executive I take everything and say, “How do we double down?”
Peso Pluma & Blessd
Cristhian Álvarez Suarez
And, how do you double down?
We’re Latin and we’re keeping our base. We’re opening offices, we’re doing a global tour, but like when we first started at the top of the charts in Mexico we doubled down on our infrastructure, and now that we’re global we’re going to make sure we can double down and have boots on the ground and make sure we’re touring individual countries.
“Ella Baila Sola” is originally an Eslabón Armado track. What is it about that song?
It’s a combo of a good sound, and Eslabón has a really good U.S. base which is something we were on the verge of entering. At one point our streams were 80% in Mexico and 20% in the U.S. Now I think we’re 50-50. But I feel this momentum was coming and we had been focused on international development. The audiences were looking for another regional track from Peso Pluma and it just so happened we were releasing with Eslabón. [Lead writer and singer] Pedro Tovar is an amazing talent. And the song was produced to be in line with Peso’s sound.
You hit a historic top five on the Hot 100. Were you aiming for that?
Nobody knows what’s going to be a hit. But the way it came out with the numbers it did overnight and on a weekly and monthly basis, I knew this song was going to be massive. I’d never seen those numbers with a regional song before. DEL released that track and they’ve done a lot to support the success of the track.
What’s next for you and for Peso Pluma?
Peso just launched WP Records. He’s the CEO and he’ll be producing a lot of the tracks. The first single came out 4/20. We’ll finally be releasing a Peso Pluma album before summer and that will be the focus in the next two to three weeks. I give all the credit to my artist. I’m an executive. I’m involved in every single aspect. But I give leeway to my artist and I trust him so much that we created a label.
Previous Executive of the Week: Cindy James of Virgin Music
