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Billboard is bringing back its highly anticipated Billboard Live Music Summit and Awards, taking place on Nov. 14 in Los Angeles.
After a four-year break, the event returns in collaboration with AEG Presents and Live Nation, marking its first occurrence since 2019.
The one-day event will feature a series of panels and thought leadership discussions, followed by the prestigious Billboard Live Music Awards, all programmed by Billboard’s Dave Brooks, Senior Director of Live Music and Touring.
“We’re excited to bring this program back to the epicenter of the concert business,” said Brooks. “This summit is a marketplace for ideas and brings together some of the biggest names in the business. This year, we will explore the industry’s challenges and opportunities, as well as celebrate how far we have come since 2019.”
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The event is expected to attract executives across artist representation, management, concert promotion, and the experiential sector, providing a unique platform for collaboration with top-charting artists. Topics will include the current landscape of the live music industry, strategies for navigating its evolving challenges, and insights into future opportunities.
Further details on the summit, including panelists and award categories, will be revealed in the coming weeks. For additional information, visit billboardlivemusicsummit.com.
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Billboard Live Music Summit and Awards follow in the footsteps of other notable events such as the Billboard Music Awards, Billboard Women in Music, and Billboard Latin Music Week, which connect the industry’s top talent and key players with music fans worldwide.
Oasis’ Liam and Noel Gallagher could not have chosen a better time to hit the road for their reunion tour — they don’t have to do press, they can skip the big festivals and they won’t be running into their ’90s Brit-pop rivals Blur.
Blur and frontman Damon Albarn already reunited last year and dropped a documentary in July, with plans to exit the road and go off-cycle in 2025. And instead of suffering through an NME interview or having to address their colorful history with TV host Graham Norton, the Gallaghers can just log on to Instagram and share a post with the band’s 3 million followers.
The on sale, covering 17 stadium shows — including three at the last minute due to demand — likely grossed $200 million to $225 million based on Billboard’s own calculations, conservatively estimating that each concert will gross $11 million to $13 million per show. Add in the two new shows the group announced earlier today — Sept. 27-28 at Wembley Stadium — and the potential gross jumps up to $209 million to $251 million for all 19 dates.
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Those huge grosses are not possible in a festival setting. Unlike the brothers’ final show on Aug. 22, 2009, at the now defunct V Festival at Weston Park in the U.K., the economics of touring have changed so much in the last decade that the band is forgoing all festivals in 2025, according to their Instagram page. Instead, the Gallaghers are playing only headline stadium shows in the U.K, where they will make far more money — possibly eight to 10 times as much as they would appearing atop the bill for Coachella, Glastonbury or any other festival.
For the only announced leg of the tour so far, the band is playing gigs in huge stadiums like Dublin’s Croke Park, which holds 80,000 people. While prices for the current tour vary greatly, the average sticker price for the top 20 stadium shows of 2023 was $138.
That means that if Oasis can pull off all 19 concerts, the boys could stand to gross $209 million, or about $11 million per show, just on the average ticket price of $138, not including platinum and VIP. Compare that to festivals, where attendance typically fluctuates between 30,000 to 80,000 fans who on average spend $133 per day on a ticket, often buying a weekend pass for $399. With that number in mind, about 30,000 tickets sold would generate $12 million, while 80,000 tickets would generate $32 million in sales. Not bad — but that gate money would have to be split between all headliners and all other performers across the festival’s three days.
Stadium shows have other advantages over festivals. Using pricing tools, promoters can charge more money per seat, while the best festivals can do is upcharge for VIP sections. And unlike festivals, stadium concert promoters can easily add additional concerts based on demand. By asking fans to register in advance, promoters from SJM Concerts and Live Nation already have a decent idea of how many people want to buy tickets and can add shows based off those numbers.
That’s bad news for festivals like Coachella and Glastonbury, which have built their reputations on reunion tours. However, there are still plenty of superstar acts looking for platforms to rip through another gig. Last year, No Doubt — one of the biggest bands of the 1990s — played a reunion set at Coachella, along with their Long Beach reggae-punk brethren Sublime; French DJ trailblazers Justice; and Blur, who could probably have toured after their Coachella set but instead decided to make a statement high up the lineup on the world’s biggest festival stage.
Sure, Blur would have made more money grinding their way around the world on a multicity tour — but sometimes bands have different priorities, and a high-profile set at Coachella is a major milestone that many acts want. But when it comes to cashing in on a reunion toward the $100 million mark, there are just not enough festivals to generate that much money.
Island Records has announced the promotion of Jackie Winkler to Senior Vice President, Head of A&R, effective Sept. 5.
Winkler, who was recently honored as Billboard’s Executive of the Week for her collaborative work with Sabrina Carpenter, will now lead the A&R department for Island Records, overseeing signing and creative development for the label’s roster of artists.
“Jackie is an exceptional leader and A&R executive,” said Co-CEOs Majid and Eshak in a joint statement. “Her collaborative spirit, creative instincts, and steadfast nature make her the ideal person to run our A&R Department. We’re thrilled she’ll join us in developing the next generation of iconic artists for Island Records.”
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Winkler expressed gratitude for the opportunity, saying, “I am deeply grateful to Imran and Justin for their unwavering belief and trust as I step into this new role. Their guidance has not only fueled my personal career growth but has been the cornerstone of our department’s success.”
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She added, “I am thrilled at the opportunity to lead such an exceptionally talented, dynamic, and fiercely competitive team as we push the boundaries of what we can achieve together.”
Winkler’s promotion comes after her work with Sabrina Carpenter for her latest album Short n’ Sweet, which has dominated the Billboard charts with two consecutive No. 1 Hot 100 singles, “Espresso,” which was recently crowned Billboard’s No. 1 Global Song of the Summer for 2024, and “Please Please Please.”
The album has achieved global success, reaching No. 1 in 15 countries, including the U.S., Australia and the U.K. Winkler signed Carpenter to Island Records in 2020 and has played a crucial role in shaping her career since.
In a June interview with Billboard, she spoke about working with Carpenter and the impact of her chart-topping singles.
“‘Nonsense’ walked so ‘Feather’ could jog, then ‘Espresso’ ran so that ‘Please Please Please’ could start a stampede,” she said. “At the core, the music Sabrina makes is perfectly reflective of who she is as a person, and all the quirks and character are what give her such a strong musical identity.”
“It is all owed to her remarkable talent, the music itself, and the relentless detail put into every aspect of her creative campaign,” she added.
Winkler began her career at Warner Records, where she rose from intern to A&R manager and discovered Academy Award-nominated artist Andra Day. She joined Island Records in 2015 as A&R Director and was promoted to Vice President of A&R in 2022. Along with Sabrina Carpenter, she works closely with artists like Demi Lovato, Keshi, and Lauren Spencer Smith.
Winkler’s achievements have not gone unnoticed by the industry with Billboard naming her one of its Women in Music for 2023.
Jennifer Hudson, the multi-faceted star who has won two Grammys, an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony — making her an EGOT — signed to Interscope Records, the label announced Wednesday (Sept. 4). Her most recent music release was the original soundtrack for Respect, in which she starred as Aretha Franklin and performed all of the songs. She has not recorded an album of original material since 2014’s JHUD, which was released by RCA. Two of her previous albums, 2008’s Jennifer Hudson and 2011’s I Remember Me, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. “Jennifer has made so many important contributions to global musical culture onstage, onscreen and through her incredible body of recordings,” said Steve Berman, vice chairman of Interscope Capitol Label Group, in a statement. “She is a tour de force and we are thrilled that she has chosen to spend the next phase of her career at Interscope.”
Capitol Records, in partnership with THEBLACKLABEL, announced the launch of MEOVV (pronounced “meow”), a new five-piece K-pop girl group (composed of Ella, Gawon, Soooin, Anna and Narin) whose name was unveiled last month. Notably, THEBLACKLABEL was founded by K-pop producer Teddy Park (a.k.a. TEDDY), who was an early BLACKPINK collaborator and has also collaborated with K-pop acts including BIGBANG, G-Dragon and 2NE1. MEOVV’s debut single is now available for pre-save on major streaming services.
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Grammy-winning band Portugal. The Man signed with WME for representation in all areas. The group, which released the album Chris Black Changed My Life last year, recently wrapped up a world tour in support of the LP, including shows at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Ryman Auditorium. The band also has a charitable organization, Pass The Mic, that focuses on human rights, community health and the environment, with an emphasis on issues that directly impact Indigenous Peoples.
Singer-songwriter Weyes Blood signed with Blue Raincoat Artists for management. She will be represented by New York-based Ed Harris, who also manages Cigarettes After Sex, Miss Grit and Katrina Ford. Weyes Blood (born Natalie Mering) has released a total of five studio albums, including her critically acclaimed 2022 release And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow. “Like many people I have been entranced and mesmerised by the beauty of her records and her live performances,” said Blue Raincoat Music co-founder/CEO Jeremy Lascelles in a statement. “She is so revered and admired by her peers, that it is truly an honour that she has trusted Ed and the Blue Raincoat team to guide her into and through the next exciting period of her career.”
L.A.-based electronic trio Cheat Codes partnered with Create Music Group to release the group’s next crop of music, including singles and an album. The first single to be released under the deal was “BLOOM” featuring Train. The band is managed by Jon Camche and Ricardo Zambak at Seminal Music Group.
Neon Gold Records and Tove Lo‘s label Pretty Swede Records jointly signed L.A.-based singer-songwriter-producer googly eyes. Her latest single, “Internet Star,” was released on Aug. 27 and was preceded by her debut single “Bareback on the Motherf—ing Plains.” Both will be included on her debut EP, Starlet, representing the first release on Pretty Swede outside of Tove Lo’s own music. “Internet Star has such a beautiful yet witty vulnerability that I think anyone who’s had dreams that maybe didn’t go their way can relate to,” said Tove Lo in a statement.
Heather Kolker‘s Dreamshop Management signed L.A.-based artist Hemlocke Springs. The singer-songwriter recently supported Doja Cat on her European tour and released her debut EP, going…going…GONE!, last year.
Singer-songwriter Diamante signed with Sumerian Records. The announcement coincided with the release of her new single, “All for the Glory.” Diamante, who is slated to embark on a North American tour alongside Sumerian labelmates Palaye Royale, I See Stars and Weathers, has released two studio albums to date: 2018’s Coming in Hot and 2021’s American Dream.
Also signing with Sumerian was Slovenian metal band Within Destruction, which released its new single, “Demon Child,” on Aug. 28. The band, which has released five studio albums to date, is set to play several dates in the United Kingdom and Europe this fall.
Warner Music Nashville signed William Beckmann to its roster. The bilingual Texas native will release his first post-signing song, “Not That Strong,” on Aug. 30. In 2022, he released the independent album Faded Memories followed by 2023’s Here’s To You, Here’s To Me, which featured “Tennessee Drinkin’,” Beckmann’s fifth consecutive top 20 song on the Texas Regional Radio Chart, according to a press release. – Jessica Nicholson
Audio Chateau Records, the new label launched by Jared Gutstadt‘s Audio Up Media, signed Nashville-based songwriter-musician Clayton Johnson, who recently co-wrote Lana Del Rey and Quavo’s “Tough” with Del Rey at the Audio Chateau studio space in Nashville. As a songwriter, Johnson is currently signed under a joint venture between Audio Up and Universal Music Publishing Group.
By the mid-2010s, the power of the playlist — the Spotify playlist to be exact — loomed large in the music business: Everyone knew a spot on Rap Caviar could mint a rap hit overnight; a placement on Fresh Finds could induce a label bidding war; and a lower-than-expected ranking on New Music Friday could ruin a label project manager’s Thursday night.
But in the 2020s, challengers — namely TikTok, with its potent and mysterious algorithm that serves social media users with addictive snippets of songs as they scroll — have threatened Spotify’s reign as music industry kingmaker. Still, Spotify’s editorial playlists remain one of the most important vehicles for music promotion, and its 100-plus member global team, led by its global head of editorial Sulinna Ong, has evolved to meet the changing times.
“Our editorial expertise is both an art and a science,” says Ong, who has led the company through its recent efforts to use technology to offer more personalized playlist options, like its AI DJ, Daylist and daily mixes. “We’re always thinking about how we can introduce you to your next favorite song to your next favorite artist. How do we provide context to get you to engage? Today, the challenge is cutting through the noise to get your attention.”
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In conversation with Billboard, Ong talks about training the AI DJ with the editors’ human expertise, using playlists to differentiate Spotify from its competition and looking ahead to Generation Alpha (ages 0-14).
I’ve seen such a shift in the editorial strategy at Spotify in the last couple years. Daylist, personalized editorial playlists (marked by the “made for you” tag), daily mixes, AI DJ and more. Did those inspire your team to push into these personalized editorial playlists?
To start off, it’s useful to zoom out and think about how people listen to music. The way people listen to music is fluid and curation and editorial has to be fluid as well. We have to understand the changes.
Curators have always been at the core of Spotify’s identity, right from the early days of the company. Back in 2012, Spotify’s music team started with three editors, and it quickly grew to more than 100 around the world today. These curators started by curating what became known as our flagship editorial playlists — Today’s Top Hits, Rap Caviar, Viva Latino. Over time that expanded to playlists like Altar, Lorem, Pollen, etc. Those are all still important.
But around 2018, editors made their first attempts to bridge human curation from our flagship editorial playlists with personalization engines. 2018 is the year when the technology arose with personalization and machine learning to open up these possibilities. At that time, we started making more personalized playlists where the tracks fit with an overall mood or moment curated by editors but varied for each listener — like My Life Is A Movie, Beastmode, Classic Roadtrip Songs. Editors will select a number of songs that they feel fit that playlist. Let’s say for example we have 200 songs selected, you might see the 100 of those that are most aligned with your taste.
Discover Weekly and Release Radar are tailored to listener activity and have been around much longer. Did those inspire your team to push into these personalized editorial playlists around 2018?
Yes, exactly. Algorithmic playlists, like Release Radar [and] Discover Weekly, we found that users liked them [and] that inspired us to then work with the product teams and ask, “What is the next step of this?” Spotify has more than 500 million users. We knew that it would keep growing and as a human curator, you can’t manually curate to that entire pool. Technology can fill in that gap and increase our possibilities. A lot of times, I see narratives where people call this a dichotomy — either playlists are human-made or machine-made. We don’t see it that way.
In 2024, personalization and machine learning are even more important technologies for streaming music and watching content. We’ve kept investing in cutting-edge personalization and it’s making a real impact — 81% of our listeners cite personalization as their favorite thing about Spotify. Our static editorial playlists are still very powerful, but we also have made these other listening experiences to round out the picture.
How someone listens is never one thing. Do you only want to watch movies? No, you want to watch a movie sometimes; other times you want to watch a 20-minute TV show. We have to understand the various ways that you might like to [listen].
Daylist, for example, is very ephemeral. It only exists for a certain amount of time. The appeal is in the title — it also really resonates for a younger audience.
Did your team always intend that Daylist, which often gives users crazy titles like “Whimsical Downtown Vibes Tuesday Evening,” could be shareable — even memeable — on social media?
Absolutely. It’s very shareable. It’s a bite-sized chunk of daily joy that you get that you can post about online.
It reminds me of the innately shareable nature of Spotify Wrapped.
There is a lineage there. It is similar because it’s a reminder of what you’re listening to. But it’s repackaged in a humorous way — light and fun and it updates so it keeps people coming back.
How do you think Spotify’s editorial team differentiates itself from competitors like Apple and Amazon?
Early on, we understood that editorial expertise around the world is really valuable, and it was needed to set us apart. So we have editors all around the world. They are really the music experts of the company. They are focused on understanding the music and the cultural scenes where they are.
We have what we call “editorial philosophy.” One of the tenets of that is our Global Curation Groups, or “GCGs” for short. Once a week, editors from around the world meet and identify tracks that are doing well and should flow from one market to another. We talk about music trends, artists we are excited about. We talk about new music mainly but also music that is resurfacing from social media trends.
This is how we got ahead on spreading genres like K-pop seven years ago. We were playlisting it and advocating for it spreading around the world. Musica Mexicana and Amapiano — we were early [with those] too. We predicted that streaming would reduce the barriers of entry in terms of language, so we see genres and artists coming from non-Western, non-English speaking countries really making an impact on the global music scene.
How was the AI DJ trained to give the commentary and context it gives?
We’ve essentially spun up a writers’ room. We have our editors work with our product team and script writers to add in some context about the artists and tracks that the DJ can share with listeners. The info they feed in can be musical facts, culturally-relevant insights. We want listeners to feel connected to the artists they hear on a human level. At the end of the day, this approach to programming also really helps us broaden out the pool of exposure, particularly for undiscovered artists and tracks. We’ve seen that people who hear the commentary from DJ are more likely to listen to a song they would have otherwise skipped.
When Spotify editorial playlists started, the cool, young, influential audience was millennials. Now it’s Gen Z. What challenges did that generational shift pose?
We think about this every day in our work. Now, we’re even thinking about the next generation after Gen Z, Gen Alpha [children age 14 and younger]. I think the key difference is our move away from genre lines. Where we once had a strictly rock playlist, we are now building playlists like POV or My Life Is A Movie. It’s a lifestyle or an experience playlist. We also see that younger listeners like to experiment with lots of different listening experiences. We try to be very playful about our curation and offer those more ephemeral daily playlists.
What are you seeing with Gen Alpha so far? I’m sure many of them are still on their parents’ accounts, but do you have any insight into how they might see music differently than other generations as they mature?
Gaming. Gaming is really an important space for them. Music is part of the fabric of how we play games now — actually, that’s how these kids often discover and experience music, especially on Discord and big MMOs — massive multiplayer games. We think about this culture a lot because it is mainstream culture for someone of that age.
Gaming is so interesting because it is such a dynamic, controllable medium. Recorded music, however, is totally static. There have been a few startups, though, that are experimenting with music that can morph as you play the game.
Yeah, we’re working on making things playful. There’s a gamification in using Daylist, right? It’s a habit. You come back because you want to see what’s new. We see the AI DJ as another way to make music listening more interactive, less static.
Spotify has been known as a destination for music discovery for a long time. Now, listeners are increasingly turning to TikTok and social media for this. How do you make sure music discovery still continues within Spotify for its users?
That comes down to, again, the editorial expertise and the GCGs I mentioned before. We have 100-plus people whose job it is to be the most tapped-in people in terms of what’s happening around the world in their genre. That’s our biggest strength in terms of discovery because we have a large team of people focused on it. Technology just adds on to that human expertise.
Back when Spotify playlists first got popular, a lot of people compared the editors to the new generation of radio DJs. How do you feel about that comparison?
It’s not a one-to-one comparison. I can understand the logic of how some people might get there. But, if I’m very frank, the editorial job that we do is not about us. Radio DJs, it’s all about them, their personality. It’s not about them as a DJ or a front face of a show. Not to be disparaging to radio DJs — their role is important — it’s just not the same thing. I don’t think we are gatekeepers. I say that because it is never about me or us as editors. It’s about the music, the artist and the audience’s experience. It’s very simple: I want to introduce you to your next favorite song. Yes, we have influence. I recognize that in the industry. It’s one I take very seriously. That’s a privilege and a responsibility, but it is not about us at the end of the day.
This story was published as part of Billboard’s new music technology newsletter ‘Machine Learnings.’ Sign up for ‘Machine Learnings,’ and Billboard’s other newsletters, here.
The members of 1960s rock band The Guess Who have settled a bitter trademark lawsuit in which two bandmates referred to a recent iteration of the group as nothing more than a “cover band.”
In a statement, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings said they had reached a deal to resolve their lawsuit against fellow original members Jim Kale and Garry Peterson — ending a legal battle among the four original members of the band best known for hits like “American Woman” and “These Eyes.”
Under the deal, Bachman and Cummings said they will acquire full control over the trademark to the band’s name. Monetary terms and other aspects of the agreement were not disclosed in the announcement, and no legal papers announcing the settlement have yet been filed in court.
“We are pleased to have reached a resolution that honors our shared history and allows us to move forward with a new sense of purpose and camaraderie,” Bachman said, with Cummings adding that they were “committed to preserving and celebrating the legacy for our fans.”
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Attorneys for Kale and Peter didn’t immediately return a request for comment. As recently as April, their attorneys called the lawsuit “a complete farce” and threatened to “hold Bachman and Cummings accountable for their wrongful and extortionate conduct.”
The battle between the members of The Guess Who was just the latest clash between bandmates over the legal rights to classic group names. Journey, Stone Temple Pilots and Jefferson Starship have all fought protracted litigation over their trademarks, as have members of The Rascals, The Ebonys, The Commodores and The Platters.
Such disputes often arise out of one question: Who truly constitutes the band? Is it the members, or an LLC that owns the rights to the name? Is it the original lineup, or the one that produced the biggest hits? Does one key member and a bunch of replacements count? Fans, band members and lawyers will likely give you different answers.
Bachman and Cummings sued last year, claiming that Kale and Peterson were misleading the public by operating a “cover band” under the name The Guess Who. The case claimed that the rival band had never featured Bachman or Cummings, that Kale had retired in 2016 and that Peterson only rarely took the stage — but that the group had been falsely advertised as the real thing.
The lawsuit called the band a “deceptive scheme” driven by Kale and Peterson’s “greed.”
“Defendants’ false advertisements and marketing have led to confusion and outrage by fans and consumers, many of whom have taken to social media to share their experiences of being deceived into buying tickets to see the Cover Band because of advertising and promotion by Defendants implying that the Cover Band’s live performances will include Plaintiffs,” read the lawsuit filed by Bachman and Cummings.
Unsurprisingly, Kale and Peterson saw things differently. In an April motion to dismiss the lawsuit, they pointed out that they owned the federal trademark registration for the name and called the lawsuit a “complete farce” — perpetrated by two former members who had left the band in the 1970s and whom nobody expected to see in the current lineup.
“Consumers who see an ad for a concert by The Guess Who would not reasonably assume that Bachman and Cummings are performing merely because they were in the band many years ago,” Kale and Peterson’s attorneys wrote. “It is common knowledge that bands often undergo membership changes and that few if any bands formed in the 1960s still have the same lineup today.”
Responding to a lawsuit that called them a “cover band,” Kale and Peterson fired back with their own personal digs, painting Bachman and Cummings as spurned former members who were jealous of their ex-bandmates’ ongoing success.
“After all, that is what is really driving this lawsuit. Following their time in The Guess Who, Bachman and Cummings performed as solo artists or in other acts, but found less success than they apparently expected,” read Kale and Peterson’s response. “As a result, Bachman and Cummings have tried to take The Guess Who name for themselves, despite having left the band decades ago and Defendants carrying on the band’s legacy.”
A North Carolina musician has been indicted by federal prosecutors over allegations that he used AI to help create “hundreds of thousands” of songs and then used the AI tracks to earn more than $10 million in fraudulent streaming royalty payments since 2017.
In a newly unsealed indictment, Manhattan federal prosecutors charged the musician, Michael Smith, 52, with three counts of wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. According to the indictment, Smith was aided by the CEO of an unnamed AI music company as well as other co-conspirators in the U.S. and around the world, and some of the millions he was paid were funneled back to the AI music company.
According to the indictment, the hundreds of thousands of AI songs Smith allegedly helped create were available on music streaming platforms like Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music and YouTube Music. It also claims Smith has made “false and misleading” statements to the streaming platforms, as well as collection societies including the Mechanical Licensing Collective (the MLC) and distributors, to “promote and conceal” his alleged fraud.
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Because of Smith’s alleged activities, he diverted over $1 million in streaming payments per year that “ultimately should have been paid to the songwriters and artists whose works were streamed legitimately by real consumers,” says the indictment.
The indictment also details exactly how Smith allegedly pulled off the scheme he’s accused of. First, it says he gathered thousands of email accounts, often in the names of fictitious identities, to create thousands of so-called “bot accounts” on the streaming platforms. At its peak, Smith’s operation allegedly had “as many as 10,000 active bot accounts” running; he also allegedly hired a number of co-conspirators in the U.S. and abroad to do the data entry work of signing up those accounts. “Make up names and addresses,” reads an email from Smith to an alleged co-conspirator dated May 11, 2017, that was included in the indictment.
To maximize income, the indictment states that Smith often paid for “family plans” on streaming platforms “typically using proceeds generated by his fraudulent scheme” because they are the “most economical way to purchase multiple accounts on streaming services.”
Smith then used cloud computing services and other means to cause the accounts to “continuously stream songs that he owned” and make it look legitimate. The indictment alleges that Smith knew he was in the wrong and used a number of methods to “conceal his fraudulent scheme,” ranging from fictitious email names and VPNs to instructing his co-conspirators to be “undetectable” in their efforts.
In emails sent in late 2018 and obtained by the government, Smith told co-conspirators to not be suspicious while running up tons of streams on the same song. “We need to get a TON of songs fast to make this work around the anti fraud policies these guys are all using now,” Smith wrote in the emails.
Indeed, there have been a number of measures taken up by the music business to try to curb this kind of fraudulent streaming activity in recent years. Anti-streaming fraud start-up Beatdapp, for example, has become an industry leader, hired by a number of top distributors, streaming services and labels to identify and prevent fraud. Additionally, severl independent DIY distributors including TuneCore, Distrokid and CD Baby have recently banded together to form “Music Fights Fraud,” a coalition that shares a database and other resources to prevent fraudsters from hopping from service to service to avoid detection.
Last year, Spotify and Deezer came out with revamped royalty systems that proposed new penalties for fraudulent activity. Still, it seems fraudsters study these new efforts and continue to evolve their efforts to evade detection.
The rise of quickly generated AI songs has been a major point of concern for streaming fraud experts because it allows bad actors to spread their false streaming activity over a larger number of songs and create more competition for streaming dollars. To date, AI songs are not paid out any differently from human-made songs on streaming platforms. A lawsuit filed by Sony Music, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group against AI companies Suno and Udio in June summed up the industry’s fears well, warning that AI songs from these companies “saturate the market with machine-generated content that will directly compete with, cheapen and ultimately drown out the genuine sound recordings on which [the services were] built.”
Though Smith is said to be a musician himself with a small catalog of his own, the indictment states that he leaned on AI music to quickly amass a much larger catalog.
The indictment alleges that around 2018, “Smith began working with the Chief Executive Officer of an unnamed AI music company and a music promoter to create thousands of thousands of songs that Smith could then fraudulently stream.” Within months, the CEO of the AI company was allegedly providing Smith with “thousands of songs each week.” Eventually, Smith entered a “Master Services Agreement” with the AI company that supplied Smith with 1,000-10,000 songs per month, agreeing that Smith would have “full ownership of the intellectual property rights in the songs.” In turn, Smith would provide the AI company with metadata and the “greater of $2,000 or 15% of the streaming revenue” he generated from the AI songs.
“Keep in mind what we’re doing musically here… this is not ‘music,’ it’s ‘instant music’ ;)”, reads an email from the AI company’s CEO to Smith that was included in the indictment.
Over time, various players in the music business questioned Smith’s activities, including a streaming platform, a music distributor and the MLC. By March and April 2023, the MLC halted royalty payments to Smith and confronted him about his possible fraud. In response, Smith and his representatives “repeatedly lied” about the supposed fraud and AI-generated creations, says the indictment.
Christie M. Curtis, FBI acting assistant director, said of the indictment, “The defendant’s alleged scheme played upon the integrity of the music industry by a concerted attempt to circumvent the streaming platforms’ policies. The FBI remains dedicated to plucking out those who manipulate advanced technology to receive illicit profits and infringe on the genuine artistic talent of others.”
Kris Ahrend, CEO of the MLC, added, “Today’s DOJ indictment shines a light on the serious problem of streaming fraud for the music industry. As the DOJ recognized, The MLC identified and challenged the alleged misconduct, and withheld payment of the associated mechanical royalties, which further validates the importance of The MLC’s ongoing efforts to combat fraud and protect songwriters.”
BMI named Martijn Tel to be its new chief financial officer on Wednesday, the performing rights organization said in a statement. Tel joins BMI from the global data & information services provider Gerson Lehrman Group, where he also served as CFO. He will report to BMI’s president and CEO Mike O’Neill. Since being acquired by the private […]
Republic Records has appointed Eddie Sears as its new executive vice president of creative, effective immediately. The announcement was made on Sept. 3 by Republic president and chief operating officer Jim Roppo.
In his new role, Sears will lead Republic’s creative team, working closely with the label’s entire roster. His responsibilities will include overseeing creative strategy, packaging design, visual storytelling, and immersive fan experiences for both superstar artists and emerging talent.
The department will also focus on short and long-form visuals, photo shoots, logo creation, and more.
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Roppo commented on the appointment, stating, “Eddie doesn’t just dig into the music; he completely entrenches himself within each artist’s vision. He studies every detail and proactively devises a creative strategy befitting of that vision. His spirit, energy, and creative expertise are unmatched, and I’m honored to welcome him to the Republic Records family.”
Sears, in turn, acknowledged the importance of creativity in the music industry. “Nothing is as powerful as an idea. On a daily basis, our team builds ideas for our artists, and we do so with an entrepreneurial mindset. Jim Roppo, Monte, and Avery Lipman know the importance of creative, and they’ve placed it at the forefront of Republic Records. Moreover, they’ve given us the latitude and support to really make an impact. It’s an honor to work with such an incredible team.”
Born in Italy, Sears has spent nearly a decade as the creative director at Ultra Records, where he worked with a diverse roster including Grammy Award-winning Black Coffee, Benny Benassi, Grammy Award-nominated Sofi Tukker, and Steve Aoki. Before that, he ran his own creative agency in Milan, serving clients across various industries. Sears is also known for his work as a singer, songwriter, and producer under the moniker Rocket Pengwin.
Sears will be based at Republic’s New York headquarters, where he will continue to bring his innovative vision and expertise to the label’s creative endeavors.
Rachelle Jean-Louis always knew the power of songwriting. As a preteen growing up in New Jersey, “When I finished my homework, I’d be listening to CDs and trying to unpack the albums,” she recalls. “Seeing who wrote and produced the songs, reading the liner notes and lyrics.” She idolized singer-songwriter Keri Hilson, who in the aughts “was writing really cool R&B songs” with collaborators like Timbaland, Kanye West and Lil Wayne.
“I wanted to be a songwriter just like her,” Jean-Louis adds. “Music was everything to me. There was no plan B.”
Jean-Louis, now 34, didn’t become a songwriter herself — but she is now the force behind one of today’s fastest-rising songwriting talents, Victoria Monét. When Monét stepped onstage to accept best new artist at the Grammy Awards earlier this year, she brought Jean-Louis, her manager, with her. “There was a binder that I made to take to this really important meeting at a label,” Monét said in her tearful televised speech. “I was an independent artist with no team, and I just thought, ‘Maybe my music would stand for itself.’ But that binder [was] left collecting dust … Rachelle found that binder, and she decided to take a chance, leave that label and be my manager. Thank you so much for seeing me.”
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“Her pulling me up onstage for best new artist … I honestly didn’t think she was going to do that,” Jean-Louis says. “But I’m really proud of her for everything that she’s accomplished against all odds. It’s a testament not just to her but the whole team.” And it’s for her transformative past year with Monét that Billboard honors Jean-Louis as its 2024 R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players Executive of the Year.
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The label Monét referenced at the Grammys was former RCA imprint Keep Cool, which Jean-Louis joined in 2017 as an A&R executive — one of several industry gigs (including stints as a music supervisor and a journalist) that helped her channel her fervent music fandom into the skills she would need as a savvy, intuitive artist manager and, eventually, CEO. In 2021, Jean-Louis co-founded management firm Tell Your Friends with business partner Austin Thomas; in addition to Monét, the company’s roster includes rising viral sensation Saint Harison.
Born in New York to Haitian immigrants — her father was a family lawyer, her mother a nurse — Jean-Louis says music was always “at the forefront” of her upbringing; her dad played guitar and piano, and she herself played classical piano as a child. While studying communications at the University of North Carolina, Jean-Louis interned at places including XXL magazine. After graduating, she wrote for the blog Earmilk, landed her first management gig — at the request of then-emerging rapper Doley, whom she had previously covered in XXL — and did a PR stint for an artist at Roc Nation. During a visit to Los Angeles, Jean-Louis followed up on an earlier email she had sent to music supervisor Scott Vener (Entourage) about a show he was working on; though it fell through, he invited Jean-Louis to work with him on HBO’s Ballers, which she did for two seasons.
Then, in 2017, Jean-Louis got the call that changed her career. Her friend Tunji Balogun (now chairman/CEO of Def Jam Recordings) was launching Keep Cool, a joint venture with RCA Records, and he wanted her on his team. Once there, with her music supervisor connections, Jean-Louis placed “Little More Time” — a then-unreleased song by Keep Cool/RCA artist Lucky Daye featuring Monét — on HBO’s Insecure in 2018.
After initially meeting Monét at the song’s video shoot, Jean-Louis later found her aforementioned binder during an office cleaning, and the genesis of Monét’s breakthrough began. With Balogun’s blessing, Jean-Louis exited Keep Cool with Monét and became her manager. In the past six years, with Jean-Louis guiding her, Monét has evolved from go-to songwriter (most famously for Ariana Grande, including her Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s “7 Rings” and “Thank U, Next”) and Platoon-distributed indie artist to full-fledged solo star in her own right on RCA, with her 2023 debut album, Jaguar II (and its hit single “On My Mama”), netting three 2024 Grammy wins.
“It’s been a learning curve for sure,” Jean-Louis says. “Especially when you’ve been used to doing everything yourself, fostering your own internal team and creating a business that’s self-sustaining. But it was all the right steps because Victoria needed to be in the same conversations as some of her peers and be recognized in the same way for her talent.”
Munachi Osegbu
What was it about Victoria’s binder that caught your eye and prompted you to leave Keep Cool?
I still have the binder to this day. (Laughs.) It had “Victoria Monét” across the top and, inside it, her short-term and long-term goals, her team at the time and their contact information, press photos: It just showed somebody that actually cared about every aspect of her artistry and wanted to be better. And for me, it also felt like the answer to the frustration I was having in terms of wanting to wrap my arms around an exciting project. A&R was my dream job and I hadn’t signed anyone yet. And I thought, “Here’s an artist with a clear vision. She has talent as a singer-songwriter, with ’70s-influenced music that’s fresh, not dated, and [she’s] a dancer. You just need to give her the room to do it with the right people that are invested.”
As an artist manager, what’s your personal ratio of gut instinct versus research?
For me, it’s like 70/30. Passion leads, then you look at the numbers and use them as a road map to help guide you. But if you’re only focused on the numbers, you’re losing the soul of it. Music is subjective. Something that’s not reacting right now could react in six months, a year or two years. Where’s the fun if you’re just going to read a chart that everybody has access to, right?
Now more than ever, many companies are very focused on numbers, numbers, numbers. However, there’s still something to be said about having a feeling, a gut instinct. And maybe it’s naive, but I like to believe that if you start with that, the data catches up. There are a lot of people that would have looked at Victoria and said, “Ah, her numbers,” and they would have missed out. A lot of people would have looked at Chappell Roan two years ago and said, “The data doesn’t suggest…,” but how wrong would they be? These are really talented artists that make great music. Don’t let data rule every decision that you make.
Whether signed to a major or an independent, why do artists still need managers?
It’s definitely important. That person is your advocate. They are supposed to be with you in every conversation, making sure to represent your interests and also protect you from anything that may not be aligned with your vision and goals. With everything that has changed in today’s climate, with artist development not really being a priority at labels, that honestly really does fall on the artist manager. And not a lot of people do it. Different managers have different strengths, but I think the common denominator is that they’re passionate about who they work with. It’s a partnership, and they also make sure that they’re aligned. They fix anything: If it’s not going to work with a label or a publisher, if that artist doesn’t feel like he or she is being heard or seen, it’s [the manager’s] job to say, “Let me go fix this, let me figure out how to make this better.”
How challenging has it been to receive equal respect as a woman in management and the industry overall?
There is a fine line being a woman, let alone a Black woman. If you challenge somebody, you could be called aggressive or deemed threatening, depending on your approach. On the other side, if you feel too strongly about something, then you’re being emotional. It’s isolating, too, because you really wish that you could call somebody else and say, “Hey, how’s your experience been?” When you look at the executives of major companies, the majority of them are men, right? And while I’ve heard of other female managers — and recently met Lainey Wilson’s manager [Mandelyn Monchick], who’s great — there are definitely a ton of male managers. So this does come with its own struggles of trying to navigate, trying to earn the same respect that may immediately be given to a male.
Despite all of that, I think this year, more than ever, there’s been more respect because of the success [with Monét] that people really can’t take away from us. We’ve earned it, we’ve worked, we’ve gone the long road. So now anytime somebody comes at me with any of that, it’s “Well, I earned my spot here. I didn’t just end up here. I didn’t inherit this spot.”
We have a lot of women on [Monét’s] team. They’re all empathic, very detail-oriented. There’s a strength to it. That’s why I really do wish there were more of us; there’s a huge area for growth in management.
Munachi Osegbu
Did you have any mentors guiding you through your industry journey?
I didn’t have a mentor, unfortunately. In all honesty, a lot of the mentorship that I got was just truly about watching. I would watch documentaries about and interviews with people like David Geffen and Scooter Braun, trying to understand their thinking so I could emulate that. I watched Beyoncé documentaries because I wanted to understand how this woman, who is running her own business, is still having issues with being heard. Those things made me feel seen. I always yearned for a person I could call about what’s going on, knowing that they’ve been there before.
I do have an amazing support system, for sure, in terms of friends and colleagues that I can call. And others have also extended their hands to me more recently, saying, “Hey, if there’s anything you need or any questions that you have, [reach out].”
Right now, what do you see as the biggest issue facing R&B and hip-hop?
The lack of resources that are allotted to R&B and hip-hop, based on the resources that are given to pop, are very different. I would also say the obsession with data. R&B is a slow-growing but also long-lasting genre. R&B fans are die-hard fans. So when they’re with you, they’re with you for life. It’s not always the same across other genres.
There’s a disconnect when it comes to recognizing R&B as a popular genre. However, R&B is pop. It’s so interesting to me when you think about the music that we grew up on, like Motown — that was pop music. The big ballads of Whitney Houston — that wasn’t R&B music? Somewhere along the way, we’ve become so obsessed with immediacy, like, “What’s the big TikTok song right now?” But what about the long road of these artists in building legacy? That’s the disconnect. R&B is a legacy genre with songs about everything that will stand the test of time. It’s both influential and timeless.
What advice do you have for others aspiring to music industry careers?
I’ve never told this story before, but I needed to figure out how to self-sustain and pay for things like internships in New York and other opportunities that my parents didn’t feel would lead to a real job. So for four years through college, beginning the first summer out of high school, I started working for Cutco. I became one of the top three reps in our district at the knife company; they actually made me a manager. (Laughs.) That was also my first time getting comfortable with the word “no.” Whenever people ask me for advice, I tell them you can’t be afraid of that word. You just have to find a different route to get to what you really want to do. You just need to put up enough shots, and hopefully one of them will go in. So I wasn’t afraid of cold-calling, cold-emailing. It was just what I had to do. Even now when choosing a rollout strategy, songs or any of that, if I really believe in something, I want to fight for it. And the same thing goes for artists.
After the tremendous success you have achieved thus far, how do you define power?
Having unwavering, unapologetic faith in your gut and your vision — and then moving on that.
This story appears in the Aug. 31, 2024, issue of Billboard.