State Champ Radio Business
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YouTube executive Tim Matusch has joined Warner Music Group (WMG) as executive vp of strategy & operations. The news was announced in a company memo sent last week by CEO Robert Kyncl, who worked alongside Matusch at YouTube before stepping down as chief business officer at the company to join WMG.
Matusch most recently served as managing director of strategy and business operations at YouTube, a role he held for more than two years. Prior to that, he served in senior consulting roles at Boston Consulting Group and Oliver Wyman, where he spent more than 12 years and eventually rose to partner. He also worked in senior operating roles at AOL, including general manager at AOL.com and AOL Products. He graduated from Eton College in 1996 and earned his master’s at the University of Oxford in 2001.
In the memo sent to WMG staff and obtained by Billboard, Kyncl noted that Matusch will be working closely with the greater WMG leadership team “to help define, facilitate, and execute our 5–10 year vision” while also playing a key part in “evolving” the label’s “cross-company plans, including deploying business intelligence to strengthen our decision-making, developing and tracking a set of critical KPIs, and ensuring everyone is on the same page as we build our future together.”
Acknowledging that strategy & operations is “a new function” at WMG, Kyncl continued that he’s “a firm believer in tapping into, growing, and unleashing the expertise within the company itself. That way, we’re more directly investing in ourselves, and compounding our knowledge and skills over time. It results in well organized, better informed, more realistic plans.”
Kyncl added that he worked with Matusch “across a wide variety of projects” at YouTube and has “been consistently impressed by what his team has delivered and how they did it – in a very collaborative fashion – which is particularly important to me.”
Kyncl officially assumed the role of CEO at WMG on Jan. 1, though he’ll share CEO duties with outgoing chief executive Stephen Cooper for the remainder of the month. Matusch is the first major hire announced under Kyncl’s tenure.
SiriusXM has brought on Suzi Watford, the former chief marketing officer for Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal, to oversee the satellite radio giant’s streaming subscription business, the company said on Tuesday.
Watford will join SiriusXM in the newly created role of chief growth officer and report to Joe Verbrugge, SiriusXM’s chief commercial officer. Her position will also include oversight of corporate marketing, data and research across SiriusXM and Pandora.
“Suzi has repeatedly demonstrated her ability to build and lead talented teams to evolve and grow profitable consumer subscription businesses, and we are thrilled to have her join us,” Verbrugge said in a statement.
Watford has spent the majority of her career at Murdoch-controlled media companies like News Corp.’s News U.K., in addition to the WSJ and Dow Jones. She most recently served as the chief marketing and membership officer for Dow Jones, overseeing marketing and subscription strategies across WSJ, Barron’s and MarketWatch.
Watford will be based in New York City.
“I’m looking forward to joining the talented team at SiriusXM at this stage in the company’s journey and playing a role as we look to attract and retain new growth audiences,” Watford said.
SiriusXM last reported having 32.2 million self-paying subscribers and 34.2 million total users at the end of September. During the same quarter, Pandora lost a net of 52,000 self-pay subscribers, leaving the music streaming service with a total of 6.29 million subscribers. The company will report its Q4 2022 earnings on Feb. 2.
This article was originally published on THR.com.
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings, and all the fun stuff in between. This week: Kanye West’s former lawyers go to extraordinary lengths to cut ties, indie rockers OK Go somehow find themselves in litigation over cereal, BMG is sued over the royalties to “Uptown Funk,” and much more.
Sign up for the free email version of The Legal Beat here.
THE BIG STORY: Kanye’s Lawyers Really, Really Want Out
Just like his corporate partners, his longtime record label, and many of his fans, Kanye West’s lawyers now want nothing to do with him.
In the wake of a string of antisemitic comments last fall, a who’s who of the nation’s top law firms publicly distanced themselves from the rapper. That included Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, the prestigious Wall Street firm that repped him in his dealings with The Gap; Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, a white-shoe litigation firm that West had reportedly sought to hire; and Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe & Rottenstreich, one of many law firms that briefly handled his divorce from Kim Kardashian.
But no firm has done so with quite the flair of Greenberg Traurig, which had been handling a copyright case that accused West of using an unauthorized sample in one of the songs on Donda 2. After months of being unable to formally notify him that he’d been dropped, the firm has proposed an extraordinary alternative: printing newspaper ads announcing they’re no longer repping the disgraced rapper.
Yes, you read that right. Read the entire story here.
Other top stories this week…
A BAND VERSUS A CEREAL BRAND – In a bizarre new lawsuit, indie rockers OK Go found themselves embroiled in trademark litigation with Post Foods over a new line of on-the-go cereal cups called “OK Go!” The band says Post “chose to steal the name of our band”; Post says those allegations are “unfounded.”
“UPTOWN FUNK” ROYALTIES FIGHT – BMG was hit with a lawsuit claiming it has failed to pay royalties from the smash hit “Uptown Funk” to the families of late members of the Gap Band, who are credited as co-writers on the song. As reported by Billboard at the time, those credits were suddenly added in 2015 (months after the song was released) in an apparent effort to avoid litigation. So much for that…
DRAKEO DEATH CASE MOVES FORWARD – A Los Angeles judge rejected Live Nation’s first attempt to end a wrongful death lawsuit over the 2021 murder of Drakeo The Ruler at a music festival, ruling that the late rapper’s family might have a valid case against the concert giant.
HARRY STYLES FIGHTS COUNTERFEITS – Attorneys for Harry Styles filed a lawsuit against online retailers for allegedly violating his intellectual property rights by selling counterfeit merchandise to unsuspecting fans. The aim was to freeze assets and shut down the fake sites, which the lawyers said were mostly based in China.
DRE’S COPYRIGHT THREATS WORK – Marjorie Taylor Greene responded to a cease and desist letter from Dr. Dre over her unlicensed use of the rapper’s 1999 smash hit “Still D.R.E.,” promising to make “no further use” of the song. Dre had blasted the lawmaker for using his hit to “promote your divisive and hateful political agenda.”
SOCIAL MEDIA STAR SUED FOR ABUSE – Singer and influencer Malú Trevejo was sued by four former staffers, who alleged that they “endured mental, emotional, sexual and physical punishment” during their employment with the 20-year-old artist.
Last January, Larry Rosin, founder of the radio consultancy Edison Research, tapped out the rhetorical equivalent of an SOS. “It is not an exaggeration to say that contemporary music is in a crisis at American radio,” he wrote. Pop radio stations have floundered in the ratings in the last decade, Rosin noted, while all things classic — “gold,” in radio terms — are on the rise. “American music radio is rapidly becoming a kingdom of gold,” he added. “One mostly hears the hits of yesteryear.”
But one segment of the airwaves appears to be bucking this trend: A handful of public radio stations dedicated to playing new music have enjoyed notable ratings bumps in recent years — especially KUTX in Austin, KEXP in Seattle, KCMP in Minneapolis, and, to a lesser degree, WXPN in Philadelphia. During this “crisis” for new music on the airwaves, these stations have excelled at finding, and holding on to, listeners excited by the prospect of discovering a track from an artist they’ve never heard of.
“As consolidated commercial radio conglomerates have sacrificed localism and diverse playlists in the interest of severely slashing jobs in recent years, it is no surprise that music listeners are turning to high-quality and diverse public radio alternatives,” says Rachel Stilwell, a music and media attorney who represents music industry coalitions before the Federal Communications Commission.
KUTX has led the pack in the last two years. For several months last summer, KUTX was the second highest-ranked music station in Austin, according to Nielsen ratings, lagging behind only KBPA (“Adult Hits”). This ratings prominence is a recent development. Across 10 months in 2019, KUTX’s average rating was around 1.8, meaning that 1.8% of the city’s listening population tuned in. Across 10 months in 2022, that number jumped to 5.7, leapfrogging Austin’s primary pop and country stations.
KUTX “hit a stratosphere nobody has ever hit before in this format,” says Mike Henry, a four-decade-plus radio veteran and the founder of radio consultancy Paragon Media.
Several of KUTX’s peers also soared. As 2022 came to a close in Seattle, the only music stations outranking KEXP play Adult Contemporary and oldies. (KEXP’s average rating grew from around 1.05 in 2019 to roughly 3.6 in 2022.) The 2019 average rating for KCMP Minneapolis was around 2.8; in 2022 that grew to roughly 4.2. WXPN in Philadelphia has also seen a small bump in ratings.
While many new music radio formats are seeing declines in their share of listeners, “we’re seeing non-comm radio audiences hold — and in some situations grow,” says David Safar, managing director for KCMP. And during an average week last year, all of the top 10 songs on KCMP, KUTX, KEXP, and WXPN were from 2022.
Commercial radio’s growing aversion to new artists and stubborn insistence on playing a few songs as if they’re the last tracks left on earth was documented as early as 2007, if not before. Representatives for the three biggest radio chains did not respond to questions about new music’s role in their programming. But promotions executives point out that these stations are dependent on advertising, and conventional radio wisdom dictates that listeners are more likely to fiddle the dial if they hear something foreign to them. As a result, promotions executives say many commercial stations may keep just 15 new songs (“currents”) in rotation today, with extra focus on a handful of priority tunes.
On top of that, commercial radio has never been more untethered from its listeners. In 2017, the FCC eliminated the “main studio rule,” meaning radio companies were no longer required to maintain any presence in local markets where they had stations. Many chose to rely even more on DJs voice-tracking a show in one city and then broadcasting it hundreds of miles away. (Reps for the three biggest chains also did not respond to questions about their support for local music.)
These shifts “opened the door for new people to discover public radio,” which has been patiently waiting in the wings, says Henry of Paragon Media. “It has big playlists with variety put together by local DJs. It still plays a lot of new music.”
Public radio stations are non-profits; instead of depending solely on advertisers, they lean on the largesse of their listeners, who often provide more than half of their budgets. This forces these outlets to take the tastes of those listeners into account — ignore them, and they’re likely to be stingy with donations. Matt Reilly, program director at KUTX, says his station plays a song 20 to 25 times a week at most; otherwise, “we hear about it pretty quickly.”
Less repetition automatically means there’s room for more variation. What’s more, these stations take pride in stepping up to support unknown acts: “We add new songs that aren’t being played by any other radio station anywhere, let alone in our market,” Safar says. At a time when radio promotion increasingly seems like a Catch-22 — stations won’t play music that’s not popular, but it’s hard for artists to get popular if no one will play their songs — non-commercial outlets are “the only form of exposure where the sonics mean more than the metrics,” according to one veteran promotions executive.
Public radio’s fundraising model also helps ensure they remain defiantly local: Where better to find talent and solicit financial support than in your own backyard? There’s only one rule for DJs at KEXP in Seattle, according to Kevin Cole, the station’s senior director of programming: “We play at least one local artist an hour.” KCMP has played the Minneapolis power-pop duo DURRY more than 380 times this year, for example, dwarfing the spin-counts from the only three other stations that have played the group.
Henry likens public radio’s recent success to that of a long-running band finally experiencing a breakout moment more than a decade into their career. “So many of these stations have been doing what they’ve been doing for a long time without getting notoriety beyond critical acclaim,” he says. “It’s cool to see high ratings and get that external validation.”
If you saw a portable snack package of Fruity Pebbles or Honey Bunches of Oats under the brand name “OK Go!” on a supermarket shelf, would you think that the rock band OK Go was somehow involved?
That bizarre question is at the center of a new lawsuit filed by cereal giant Post Foods against the power pop band, which is best known for its viral music videos, including a Grammy-winning video for the song “Here It Goes Again.”
In a complaint filed Friday (Jan. 13) in Minnesota federal court, Post said OK Go had been quietly threatening to sue for months, claiming that the company had infringed the trademark rights to the band’s name by launching the new on-the-go packages earlier this month.
“Without resolution by this court, Post will be unfairly forced to continue investing in its new OK GO! brand while under the constant threat of unfounded future litigation by defendants,” the cereal company wrote in its lawsuit.
Post is seeking what’s known as a “declaratory judgment,” meaning a ruling by a judge that says the company did nothing wrong. Post says the trademark rights of a rock band like OK Go don’t extend to an unrelated product like cereal, and that the new cups of Fruity Pebbles and other cereals are clearly marked with Post’s own branding to avoid any confusion.
In a statement to Billboard, the members of OK Go said they’d been surprised to learn of Post’s lawsuit.
“A big corporation chose to steal the name of our band to market disposable plastic cups of sugar to children. That was an unwelcome surprise, to say the least,” the band wrote. “But then they sue US about it? Presumably, the idea is that they can just bully us out of our own name, since they have so much more money to spend on lawyers? I guess that’s often how it works, but hopefully, we’ll be the exception.”
According to Post’s lawsuit, the dispute with OK Go goes back many months — and court records reveal the kind of legal back-and-forth that often precedes such litigation.
Back in September, an attorney for the band sent a cease-and-desist letter to Post, saying that OK Go had been “surprised and alarmed” to see Post’s use of its name on the new products. He claimed the new brand name would “suggest to consumers that OK Go is endorsing Post’s products,” or falsely imply that the cereal company had received permission to use the band’s name on its products.
Citing advertising collaborations with brands like Sony, Mercedes Benz, Google and Chevrolet, the band’s attorney argued that consumers had come to associate the “OK Go” name with consumer products across an array of industries. And he made particular mention that the band had even previously worked with Post itself, releasing a series of promotional videos for Honey Bunches of Oats back in 2011.
“Our client regards this matter with the utmost seriousness and has authorized us to take all steps necessary in any venue to protect its rights,” OK Go’s attorney wrote in the September letter. “If we do not hear from you within 10 days of the date of this letter, we will assume that Post does not wish to resolve this matter amicably.”
A week later, an attorney representing Post responded, saying that the company must “respectfully disagree” with the band’s accusations. The attorney argued that rock music and breakfast cereal were “clearly unrelated” products and that the phrase “OK Go” was merely a common term that had previously been used by many other companies on their products. He also flatly rejected the band’s arguments about its previous work promoting Honey Bunches of Oats.
“Given the length of time that has passed since that limited collaboration over a decade ago, the very small number of views indicated on the YouTube videos you referenced, and the general consuming public’s rather short attention span, it will also have absolutely no bearing on consumer perception of Post’s mark OK GO! used with cereal or cereal-based snacks, and will not lead to any mistaken association with OK Go,” Post’s attorney wrote in the response.
According to Post’s complaint on Friday, the company offered to pay the band as part of a “good faith effort” to resolve the dispute without resorting to litigation, despite its belief that the accusations lacked legal merit. The total figure that Post offered for such a “branding collaboration/co-marketing arrangement” was not disclosed in court documents.
But the food company says OK Go rejected that offer last week and made no counter-proposal, leaving Post with no choice but to file a lawsuit. Citing a “clear threat of potential litigation,” Post wrote that the judge must rule that the company is “free to use the OK GO! Mark.”
The case was filed in federal court in Minnesota, where Post is headquartered. An attorney for Post did not immediately return a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Read the entire lawsuit here:
Kanye West’s lawyers are asking a federal judge to let them print newspaper ads announcing they’ve dropped the embattled rapper, claiming he has thus far evaded all their efforts to formally notify him that he’s been fired as a client.
Greenberg Traurig, one of the many law firms that have cut ties with West in the wake of his antisemitic statements last year, told a California federal judge on Friday (Jan. 13) that the firm had “exhausted all methods” of contacting the rapper, who has legally changed his name to Ye. The cell phone he listed is deactivated, they said, and his reps no longer work for him.
“GT has been unable to locate Ye for personal service despite its best efforts,” attorneys from the prestigious firm wrote. “GT has tried to arrange for personal service by dispatching process servers to his last known location and using all available means to contact Ye and his representatives since November but has not been successful.”
Claiming that Kanye appears to be engaged in “deliberate avoidance and obstruction,” the firm asked the judge to permit an extraordinary alternative: printing a formal public notice in Los Angeles newspapers.
“Publication of the Withdrawal Order’s contents in two Los Angeles-area newspapers, where Ye appears to reside, will also apprise him of the Withdrawal Order,” his former lawyers wrote. “Given Ye’s public status, publication of the Withdrawal Order will likely garner significant media attention, resulting in broader publication and provide an even greater likelihood of apprising Ye of the Order.”
The filing came in a copyright lawsuit that alleged West had failed to pay for a sample he used in the track “Flowers” from his album Donda 2. Greenberg had represented him from the beginning of the case, but following West’s ugly statements, the firm announced publicly in October that it would withdraw: “This firm was founded by individuals who faced discrimination and many of us lost ancestors because of that kind of hate and prejudice.”
The firm got formal approval from the judge to withdraw from the case a short time later. But federal litigation rules and legal ethics require lawyers to serve clients with formal notice that they’ve been dropped; it’s this step that Greenberg says Kanye has evaded.
The request will require approval from the judge overseeing the case. West could not immediately be located for comment on Friday’s letter from his former lawyers.
In the wake of his public self-destruction last year, West has lost nearly every aspect of his once-formidable business empire. His representatives at CAA have dropped him, and his signature fashion partnerships with Adidas, The Gap and Balenciaga have all been terminated.
His lawyers have done the same. In addition to Greenberg, West has also been dropped by Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, the prestigious Wall Street firm that repped him in his dealings with The Gap; Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe & Rottenstreich, who repped him in his divorce from Kim Kardashian; and Brown Rudnick partner Camille Vasquez, who rose to prominence representing Johnny Depp in his defamation case against Amber Heard and briefly repped West last fall. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner Alex Spiro, who reps Jay-Z and Elon Musk, publicly clarified that West sought to hire him but never did so.
Read Greenberg Traurig’s full letter here:
YouTube and Goldenvoice have once again renewed their livestream and content partnership agreement for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts festival, striking an agreement that keeps the mega two-weekend festival on the Google-owned video platform through 2026.
First signed in 2011, the streaming partnership was renewed in 2018 through 2021 — the 2020 and 2021 versions of the festival were postponed due to COVID-19. Last year, the two companies worked out an agreement to air the festival’s post-pandemic return.
Besides multichannel live streaming and on-demand video from performances, the partnership enables fan shopping for Coachella merch, exclusive content for YouTube Premium subscribers, live chat, and onsite activations with YouTube creators and artists.
YouTube’s global head of music Lyor Cohen called the renewal “an absolute honor” and said the partnership would “bring the magic of Coachella to music fans,” while Goldenvoice president Paul Tollett said the agreement “brings Coachella to everyone around the world.”
Coachella is scheduled to take place April 14-16 and April 21-23.
Patrick Moxey is bringing the entire roster of Helix Records, the EDM label he launched last year after selling his stake in Ultra Records, into the world of Web3 — starting with an NFT membership pass.
Starting in February, the Helix Records Genesis Pass will act as a digital passport to the Helix ecosystem and grant holders a free music NFT from one of the roster’s flagship artists, which includes electronic duo Snakehips and house DJ Marshall Jefferson. Later in 2023, NFT holders will get the chance to access VIP tickets, backstage passes and submit music directly to the label for feedback. One holder will win a 1:1 conversation with Moxey.
Moxey — who played a key role in the success of Avicii, Kygo, deadmau5 and David Guetta through Ultra Records — aims to make Web3 and NFTs a foundational part of the new venture.
“I hope to make a company that’s much bigger than my last company within the next five years,” he said. “We really plan on making NFTs open a whole new door for you [the fan] that go way beyond the door that was available through the traditional record business.”
Helix Records will onboard its entire roster of electronic artists into Web3 and support them through the transition to NFTs and blockchain technology. The label believes this strategy will build a closer connection between artists and fans, and potentially enable supporters to benefit from the future success of their favorite acts. The label also hopes that NFTs will give them better insights into their artists’ fan bases, allowing them to identify and connect with the biggest and most active community members.
To power the label’s Web3 activations, Helix Records has partnered with FUEL — a software platform which enables artists and labels to build their own NFT storefront and control their branding. Billed as “Shopify for NFTs,” musicians have used the software to sell concert tickets, singles and collectibles to Web3 and Web2 fans.
“We are super happy to add Helix Records to our roster of musicians,” said FUEL founder Thanh Binh Tran. “Seeing pioneers like Patrick use our software gives us a glance at the future of music NFTs.”
While the Web3 hype has mostly died down since the dizzying NFT sales of 2021 and early 2022, artists and labels still see some promise in blockchain technology.
“Any way of making money for a musician is a blessing, because there are so few possibilities left,” said Marshall Jefferson, house DJ pioneer and one of the flagship artists on Moxey’s new label group. “An open area like this where your music actually has value and you can make a living of is an area worth exploring.”
The Helix Record Genesis collection will launch in February. The final date and details on supply and pricing will be announced shortly.
Austin Neal‘s year-old booking agency — The Neal Agency — has named Adi Sharma as a co-head and agent, and has added “Fall in Love” hitmaker Bailey Zimmerman, Canadian country artist Josh Ross, and indie artist mike., as well as lifestyle brand Stevenson Ranch to the roster.
These additions expand the agency’s roster, which already reps Morgan Wallen, HARDY, ERNEST, Chase Rice, Ashland Craft, Riley Green, John Morgan, Lauren Watkins and Seaforth, to a dozen clients.
The Neal Agency celebrated its one-year anniversary in December 2022 and has nominations at the upcoming CMA Touring Awards, including talent agent of the year (Austin Neal).
“It’s surreal to think this time last year we only had two employees, other than myself, and no office. Going into 2023, I am able to walk into a full office of 12 each morning – which is both humbling and exciting,” Neal said via a statement. “Adding Adi’s leadership to that mix will allow the company and our culture to reach new heights in our sophomore year. We are all so excited to be able to work with one of the brightest young agents in this business who will undoubtedly help lead the company going forward.”
“Austin and I have known each other since I moved to Nashville and we have always had a very like-minded approach to supporting and growing artists’ careers,” Sharma added via a statement. “To see what he and this team have built in the span of a year is inspiring. I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this rapidly growing team, to work with one of the best agents in the business, and to help the company continue to grow into the future.”
This year will mark more successful tours for the company, as Wallen’s One Night at a Time World Tour makes its way to Australia, the United States and Canada, including over 20 stadium shows along the way. ERNEST, who notched his first headlining tour last fall, will join Wallen on all of his 2023 dates.
Additionally, HARDY’s the mockingbird & The Crow Tour will launch Feb. 16 and is sold-out across 19 cities. Meanwhile, Rice’s Way Down Yonder Tour has 36 dates set through the summer. Seaforth will set out on their first headlining tour in 2023, with their 23-date About Time Tour.
The Neal Agency team (Pictured L to R: Hank Wiehebrink, Simone Chretien, Juliette Edwards, Haley Teske, Evan Kantor, Austin Neal, Andrew Greene, Kelly Sherin, Kolby Vetter, Adi Sharma, Marisa Mineo, Spencer Foote)
Tiia Sparzak
Veteran manager/label executive Greg Ham has launched artist development company one:eight entertainment, with Christian music icon Steven Curtis Chapman as his first signing.
Ham was previously a partner in the MWS Group, and the clients he shepherded there — Michael W. Smith, reigning Gospel Music Association artist of the year CeCe Winans, Gotee Records newcomer Joseph O’Brien and Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton — will move to one:eight entertainment. Producer Robert Deaton, who was previously managed by Ham outside the MWS Group, will also be under the one:eight umbrella, as will worship leader Charity Gayle.
The idea for the new company began percolating when MWS partner Chaz Corzine exited early last year to become the founding executive director of the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Nashville’s Belmont University. Corzine co-founded the MWS Group in 2009 and had served as Smith’s manager for 38 years.
“Chaz left a year ago now and it was Michael and me,” says Ham, a veteran executive whose extensive resume includes serving as former president/CEO of ForeFront Records. “As we were going through the year, we were saying, ‘I think there’s an opportunity to grow this thing more, but we’ve got to retool it a little bit.’”
The result is one:eight entertainment and the new business association with Chapman. “I’ve been a friend and a huge fan of Greg Ham for many years,” says Chapman, whose current single, “Don’t Lose Heart,” is currently No. 9 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart. “There’s nobody smarter or more full of integrity and I’m very blessed and honored to be a part of this exciting new season for Greg and the awesome team at one:eight entertainment.”
Chapman was previously managed by the Stable Collective, a company he launched in 2017 with artist manager Mark Mattingly. Mattingly joined radio station K-LOVE and Air1 Media Networks last October as executive director of live events and sponsorships.
Ham says the name one:eight entertainment was inspired by the Jan. 8 birthday he shares with Elvis Presley and David Bowie and also his favorite scriptures. “Three of my favorite verses that are foundational to me are 1:8 verses,” he shares. “That’s Daniel 1:8, which is ‘Daniel purposed in his heart’ and it’s a cool story. I consider that foundation[al]. And then Joshua 1:8, which is ‘Be strong and courageous,’ and Acts 1:8, which is ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you’ — so to me power from above to bring hope to the world. We are an artist/creative development company with global perspective and those three verses are at the very core.”
Though Chapman and Smith are two of the Christian industry’s all-time most successful male artists, Ham doesn’t see representing both as a conflict. “Maybe 20 years ago yes, but today it makes sense because to me it’s more complementary than competitive,” he says. “Steven and Michael being under the same umbrella says something very special to me to the younger generation that this is something to aspire to where two competitors can be served under one entity and the unifying nature that it shows.”
