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A woman accusing Diplo of sharing “revenge porn” has dropped her lawsuit against the DJ, just weeks after a federal judge ruled she would need to reveal her identity if she wanted to proceed with the case.
In a court filing on Monday (Jan. 13), attorneys for the unnamed “Jane Doe” asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit — a case that claims the DJ (Thomas Wesley Pentz) filmed sexual encounters without the woman’s knowledge and shared them on Snapchat.
The motion asked the judge to dismiss the case “without prejudice” — meaning the woman could still refile it at some point in the future. Her attorneys did not immediately return a request for comment on the decision to drop their case or whether they plan to refile it.
The move came two weeks after Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani ruled that the Doe must use her real name to keep pursuing her accusations against Diplo. The judge acknowleged that the allegations were “sensitive and of a highly personal nature,” but said the accuser had failed to legally show that she needs to remain anonymous.
“Those using the courts must be prepared to accept the public scrutiny that is an inherent part of public trials,” the judge wrote, quoting from another old ruling. “Plaintiff has not sufficiently demonstrated that this case warrants an exception.”
At the time, Doe’s attorneys vowed to appeal that ruling, saying revealing her name “risks permanently linking a survivor to their trauma.” The status of any such appellate effort is unclear after Monday’s voluntary dismissal.
Diplo’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the voluntary dismissal of the case against their client. In previous statements, they have strongly denied the lawsuit’s allegations, calling it an “obvious shakedown attempt.”
In a complaint filed in June, Diplo’s accuser alleged she’d had a consensual sexual relationship with the DJ from 2016 to 2023, and that she occasionally “gave defendant Diplo permission to record them having sex.” But she said she later learned that he had sometimes secretly recorded them and then shared footage on the internet “without plaintiff’s knowledge or consent.”
“Plaintiff brings this action to recover for the emotional and physical injuries she endured because of Diplo’s actions and to make sure no one else is forced to suffer the privacy invasions and physical and mental trauma she felt and continues to feel to this day,” Doe’s attorneys wrote.
The lawsuit accused Diplo of violating the federal Violence Against Women Act, which was amended in 2022 to ban the sharing of “intimate” images without the consent of those depicted in them. The case also cited an earlier revenge porn law enacted by the state of California.
The abrupt dismissal of the Jane Doe case came a week after lawyers for Diplo announced a deal to resolve a messy legal dispute with Shelly Auguste, another former romantic partner of the DJ/producer, as reported by Rolling Stone.
In that case, which had been set to go to trial this month, Diplo accused the woman of stalking, trespassing and releasing revenge porn of him. She had also leveled her own set of legal claims against him, including sexual battery and assault.
Just hours after the Recording Academy announced that it plans to go ahead with the 67th annual Grammy Awards telecast on Feb. 2 as scheduled despite the wildfires that have devastated parts of Los Angeles in the past week, Universal Music Group (UMG) announced it is canceling all of the company’s Grammy-related events, including its artist showcase and after-Grammy party, and will instead “redirect the resources that would have been used for those events to assist those affected by the wildfires.”
“Our deepest gratitude goes to the first responders and emergency personnel, who continue to perform heroically,” said the company in a statement. “L.A. is home to so many of us. We are committed to helping and supporting the music community, our artists, our teams and the people of Los Angeles get through this horrific episode.”
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The Recording Academy made a similar statement of concern even as it came to a different conclusion.
“Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles,” Recording Academy and MusiCares CEO Harvey Mason jr. and Tammy Hurt, chair of the board of trustees, said in a statement released earlier today. “This city is our home, and we mourn the loss of life and destruction that have come to it in recent days.
“In close coordination with local authorities to ensure public safety and responsible use of area resources, the 67th Grammy Awards telecast on CBS on Feb. 2 will proceed as planned,” they continued. “This year’s show, however, will carry a renewed sense of purpose: raising additional funds to support wildfire relief efforts and honoring the bravery and dedication of first responders who risk their lives to protect ours.”
Those local authorities reportedly include the office of Mayor Karen Bass, public safety agencies and fire marshals.
The Recording Academy’s plan is to go ahead with the telecast. It has made no decision about other Grammy Week events, such as the MusiCares Person of the Year event (which this year is set to honor the Grateful Dead) and the Recording Academy’s Special Merit Awards.
A major ancillary Grammy event, the Milk & Honey party, was canceled on Sunday (Jan. 12) with a pointed message on founder Lucas Keller‘s Instagram Story. “I regret that we will be canceling our annual award season pre-Grammy event in partnership with Reservoir and others. … It would be tone deaf to celebrate and I hope all other companies will follow suit,” he wrote. “Don’t come to town for the Grammy’s and take up hotels that people need desperately. Release your hotel blocks or donate them. In the meantime, if you can, please give money to MusiCares at this link to support wildlife relief. Everything counts.”The Recording Academy and MusiCares launched the Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort last week with an initial $1 million donation to support music creatives and professionals. “Thanks to additional contributions, we have already distributed over $2 million in emergency aid to those most in need — and we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing ongoing assistance,” Mason and Hurt said in their statement.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again (a.k.a. NBA YoungBoy) will be released from prison this summer, according to federal inmate records — far sooner than indicated by his formal two-year sentence handed down last month.
The rapper (Kentrell Gaulden) pleaded guilty last year to a pair of federal gun charges — one over possession of firearms in Louisiana, and another over a gun found when he was arrested in Utah. In December, he was sentenced to 23 months in prison and five years probation on those convictions.
But federal innmate records now indicate that YoungBoy is scheduled for release on July 27. It’s unclear when that release date was posted, or whether it could later be changed.
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The reason for the early release is likely time-served — credit for time YoungBoy already spent in jail awaiting trial. The rapper was previously in custody for several months on the Louisiana gun charge and spent several more months in a Utah county jail last year after he was arrested in that state.
Neither the rapper’s attorney nor federal prosecutors immediately returned requests for comment on Monday (Jan. 13)
YoungBoy, a prolific rapper who has had four albums reach the top of the Billboard 200, was indicted by federal prosecutors in March 2021 after he was allegedly found with two guns during a music video shoot in September 2020 in Baton Rouge, La. Because of an earlier felony conviction from 2017, the rapper was charged with violating a federal law that bans felons from possessing guns.
While awaiting trial on those charges under house arrest in Utah, YoungBoy was arrested again in April over accusations that he participated in a “large scale prescription fraud ring.” One of those added charges was another count of illegal gun possession over a semi-automatic pistol found in his Utah bedroom.
In December, the star’s legal team finalized a complex “global” settlement to resolve all his various cases. Under that deal, he admitted to federal charges of owning the illegal guns in both Lousiana and Utah and also pleaded no contest to several state charges in Utah.
Though he had been facing decades in prison over the various charges, the deal saw YoungBoy sentenced to 23 months in prison for the Louisiana charge and sentenced to five years of probation and fined $200,000 for a gun charge in a separate Utah case. At the time, his attorneys said in a statement: “This has been a long road that involved extensive litigation and ultimately extensive negotiation. Kentrell’s defense team is very happy for Kentrell and we look forward to his many future successes.”
While the July release date is now scheduled, it’s unclear if it means that YoungBoy will be released directly onto probation or into some kind of transitional facility, often known as a halfway house.
Sonos CEO Patrick Spence stepped down from the top job and his seat on the board on Monday (Jan. 13) after the speaker company faced months of challenges and laid off 6% of its workforce following a fraught redesign of its mobile app. According to a press release, Sonos’ board of directors named Tom Conrad, […]
These managers on the rise have helped the biggest breakout artists, songwriters and producers of the past year navigate major wins and milestones, from opening for superstars and selling out headlining arena shows to earning Grammy nods and topping the charts — with some even making history. Introducing: Billboard‘s 2025 class of Managers to Watch.
Abas Pauti, Jared Cotter
Ages: 27, 43Companies: American Dogwood, RangeKey clients: Shaboozey, Paul Russell
“It wasn’t until I met Shaboozey where the thought of artist management became a serious career aspiration for me,” says Pauti, noting that the chart-topping artist gave him “confidence” to succeed in the role. As for Cotter, after entering the industry as a songwriter, he soon became “disenchanted, but still wanted to be a champion for artists.” Together, Pauti and Cotter have helped Shaboozey and Russell deliver breakout hits with the former’s record-tying 19-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” and the latter’s viral hit “Lil Boo Thang.” Pauti says, “To know I played a role in helping both my clients get their records heard and loved from people across the globe will always be my greatest success.”
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Abas Pauti, Shaboozey and Jared Cotter
Allan Pimenta
Alex Lunt
Age: 31Company: Type A ManagementKey clients: Dasha, Beauty School Dropout, Dalton Davis, Anthony Ortiz
Since starting his management career a decade ago, Lunt has learned that “it is crucial to surround yourself with knowledgeable colleagues you can trust.” Last year, that approach paid off with country newcomer Dasha, who celebrated a trio of firsts: debuting on the Hot 100 with her viral hit “Austin,” performing at the CMT Awards in April 2024 and to a packed stadium at CMA Fest in June. Lunt says, “The best feeling has not been any accolade, but celebrating the success with a group of incredibly talented and passionate people.”
Alex Lunt and Dasha
Courtesy Alex Lunt
Amy Davidson
Age: 30Company: Volara ManagementKey clients: Sabrina Carpenter, Marina Diamandis, RIAH
Davidson has worked alongside Volara founder Janelle Lopez Genzink from day one, but, as Davidson says, the past 12 months in particular “have been nothing short of a fever dream as we’ve effectively checked off almost every item on our collective bucket lists.” Such items included Sabrina Carpenter scoring her first Hot 100 chart-topper with “Please Please Please” (while “Taste” and “Espresso” hit Nos. 2 and 3, respectively) and first Billboard 200 No. 1 album, Short n’ Sweet; an arena tour; a Saturday Night Live performance; and six Grammy nominations. Plus, Volara celebrated signing Marina Diamandis to its roster. “Effective management starts at the core of why you are there in the first place: to listen and respond to an artist’s needs,” Davidson says. “Understanding that an artist is a person with life happening outside of work is key for me.”
Janelle Lopez Genzink, Sabrina Carpenter and Amy Davidson
Christopher Polk for Variety
Christina Li, Michael Lewis
Ages: 29, 29Company: Nonstop ManagementKey clients: JKash, Michael Pollack, Ali Tamposi, Jake Torrey
Li says working as an assistant to hit-maker JKash “was a crash course in the music industry,” while Lewis feels “incredibly fortunate to call [him] a mentor.” The two also count Nonstop founder Jaime Zeluck Hindlin and president Bianca Minniti-Bean for being instrumental in their careers so far, guiding them through a major 2024 that kicked off with Michael Pollack winning his first Grammy: record of the year, for co-writing Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers.” Other highlights included Pollack and Ali Tamposi co-writing two original songs with Maren Morris for animated film The Wild Robot and Jake Torrey co-writing Marshmello and Kane Brown’s “Miles on It,” which made history as the first single to enter the top five on both Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (No. 1) and Hot Country Songs (No. 4).
From left: Christina Li, Michael Pollack and Mikey Lewis.
Jaynie Karp
Christopher Milano
Age: n/aCompany: The Vision ManagementKey clients: 4Batz, Bear Bailey, Guwop Reign
Milano “learned the ups and downs” of music management after meeting Akon and his brother Bu Thiam through the Bay Area’s “underground scene.” So when he met R&B singer 4Batz in 2023, he says, “opportunity met preparation.” In 2024, the pair celebrated a breakout year as the artist debuted across several Billboard charts — including the Hot 100, Hot R&B Songs and Rhythmic Airplay — with “Act ii: date @ 8,” which featured Drake on the remix. “We preach artist development at The Vision, and young artists who blow up fast don’t usually understand that process,” Milano says. “So it’s important to not only sign talented artists, but someone who’s willing to listen and wants to learn.”
Christopher Milano and 4Batz
Maurice Tyrone Holloway
Haley Evans
Age: 27Company: Mega HouseKey clients Peter Fenn, Casey Smith, Caroline Pennell, Mon Rovîa
While attending the University of California, Los Angeles, Evans spent Friday nights working at Ricky Reed’s Nice Life studio. “[I] became incredibly inspired by the way Ricky built intricate worlds with the artists he worked with while simultaneously building his own businesses,” Evans says. She continued to “learn from the best,” including Mega House co-founders David Silberstein and Jeremy Levin, who hired her in 2020. In March 2024, Evans was promoted to president as her client Peter Fenn celebrated the success of Myles Smith’s “Stargazing,” which hit No. 1 on the Rock & Alternative Airplay chart in December. “With new artists breaking online every day, the biggest challenge for songwriter-producer managers is helping guide clients to choose the right projects to focus their time and energy on,” she says. “Other than that, it’s getting our clients fairly compensated for their work — songwriters especially.”
Haley Evans and Peter Fenn
Olivia McDowell
Hayley Corbett
Age: 28Company: Punchbowl EntertainmentKey clients: Megan Moroney, Kristian Bush
At 15, Corbett started working with the Grammy Foundation as a volunteer, “networking as much as possible in New York and L.A., which is where I first became aware of artist management as a career,” she says. That commitment more than prepared her for Megan Moroney’s takeoff, which in 2024 included opening stadiums for Kenny Chesney and winning the Academy of Country Music Award for best new female artist of the year and the Country Music Association Award for new artist of the year. “One key to managing effectively is being intuitive to your clients’ needs, wants and dreams while being able to implement strategy that allows for continued growth,” Corbett says. “The biggest challenge for managers is avoiding burnout and oversaturation.”
Megan Moroney and Hayley Corbett
Mason Goodson
Holt Harmon, Parker Cohen
Ages: 31, 30Company: MetatoneKey clients: John Summit, Layton Giordani, Max Styler, Ranger Trucco
After a couple of years working in the label sector of the industry, Harmon was craving a longer-term partnership with artists. Similarly, Cohen “hit a ceiling of my own” on the events side of the business. “I wanted to work on building projects from the ground up,” he says. “Artist management quickly became the no-brainer to satisfy those needs.” They accomplished that goal with the success of John Summit, from releasing his debut album, Comfort in Chaos (which peaked at No. 2 on Top Dance/Electronic Albums), to his sold-out performances at New York’s Madison Square Garden and the Kia Forum in L.A. “One of the most valuable things we’ve learned along the way is that we are not the artist,” Harmon says. “It is not our project or vision, ultimately, and instead of trying to make it ours, we’ve placed our focus into being the best catalysts possible for them.”
From left: Holt Harmon, John Summit and Parker Cohen.
Ethan Garland
Jacob Epstein
Age: 34Company: Lighthouse Management & MediaKey clients: H.E.R., Towa Bird, Petra Collins
From a young age, Epstein was “obsessed” with both music and film — his management roster also includes Paul Rudd — yet as he puts it, “I knew I didn’t want to be the star. I wanted to be the engine and person breaking down the doors for those artists and guiding and architecting those creative decisions.” Today, he says even the smallest wins make him as proud as his artists’ biggest moments, which most recently include rocker Towa Bird capping off 2024 by opening at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum for Billie Eilish. “Only do this job if you truly are passionate about art and culture,” he cautions. “It’s too difficult if that love for it isn’t there.”
Jacob Epstein and Towa Bird
Alex Fleck
Jeff Burns
Age: 35Company: Reynolds MGMTKey client: Benson Boone
For Burns, the best part of Benson Boone’s breakout year has been “watching [him] love his career… He’s funnier, can sing and backflip better, is nicer and more humble than everyone — he has it all.” Such assets have helped Boone score a No. 2 hit on the Hot 100 with “Beautiful Things” and a Grammy nod for best new artist. For Burns, it’s all about not getting lost in the “million little things” and focusing on what matters most: “making the best music, marketing it better than anyone else, doing the best shows and staying happy and healthy.”
Jeff Burns and Benson Boone
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Justin Greenberg, Joe Izzi
Ages: 32, 38Company: Ocean AvenueKey client: Addison Rae
Three years ago, Greenberg and Izzi, along with their partner and Ocean Avenue co-founder, Sharon Jackson, left WME for management, launching with a roster that includes multihyphenate Addison Rae. Her 2024 single “Diet Pepsi” marked her major-label debut on Columbia and became her first Hot 100 entry; earlier in the year, Rae teamed with Charli xcx on a remix of “Von Dutch.” Greenberg and Izzi believe having “a deep understanding of your artists’ vision” is key to cutting through. “It’s not about us — we’re just here to make it happen.”
Lucas Barbosa
Age: 30Company: Habibi ManagementKey clients: Grupo Frontera, Mora, Tommy Torres
As a 17-year-old in Colombia, Barbosa helped an artist friend with “various tasks” before becoming his full-time manager; later, he launched his own company dedicated to producers and songwriters, who scored placements with Eladio Carrión, Maluma and Anitta. “That gave me the opportunity to expand my network,” Barbosa says. Now he’s helping his artists expand their fan bases, including Grupo Frontera, which toured arenas across the United States and Mexico last year. “We’ve taken the time as a company to build [our artists] from the ground up, ensuring that every step of the way is intentional and aligned with their artistic vision,” Barbosa says.
Lucas Barbosa (middle) with Alberto Acosta (left) and Juan Javier Cantú of Grupo Frontera.
Phraa
Luke Conway
Age: 29Company: Trade Secrets MGMTKey clients: Teddy Swims, Lø Spirit, Father of Peace
“I’ve always wanted to be involved in music one way or another,” says Conway, who spent high school in the metal and rock scenes, making merchandise for bands, directing music videos and planning DIY tours. His first management gig helped him “self-educate on every aspect of this business,” which today has helped him guide Teddy Swims through his breakout year. After “Lose Control” topped the Hot 100 in March 2024, the smash hit finished at No. 1 on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 Songs chart. Conway says, “This year has been a nonstop roller coaster, but everyone on the team has stepped up and delivered at a superstar level.”
Teddy Swims and Luke Conway
Bryce Hall
Mariana López Crespo
Age: 27Company: 1k DojoKey clients: Young Miko, Mauro
“To be honest, I never imagined I’d be involved as a manager in the music industry,” López Crespo says. “The opportunity came from acknowledging the potential around me and gaining confidence to develop it.” That combination has led to a major year for urbano star Young Miko, who started 2024 with her now-Grammy-nominated debut album, att. (which debuted at No. 9 on Top Latin Albums, her first entry on any Billboard albums chart), and in the spring made her Coachella debut following a sold-out U.S. tour. “However,” López Crespo says, “being able to build a solid team around creatives in Puerto Rico and providing them the resources to keep developing on a bigger scale has been the biggest blessing and main reason to keep working toward success.”
Young Miko and Mariana López Crespo
Christopher Polk for Variety
Max Gredinger
Age: 33Company: Foundations Artist ManagementKey clients: Laufey, mxmtoon, rainbolt, Ricky Montgomery
Inspired by managers Scooter Braun and Dan Weisman, Gredinger started managing acts as a high school student “and never stopped,” he says. In 2023, he was named partner at Foundations, and the following year, he and Laufey experienced a string of wins — he’s most proud, however, of her August performance at The Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which was released as a concert film in IMAX theaters worldwide. “Her ambition and goal of bringing classical and jazz music into the mainstream, and seeing that manifest in front of 17,000 people in her adopted home market and then in theaters, was unforgettable,” he says.
Laufey and Max Gredinger
Junia Lin
Maytav Koter
Age: 32Company: Good CompanyKey clients: Hayley Gene Penner, Buddy Ross, Andrew Sarlo, Spencer Stewart
After starting her career in publishing working for Justin Shukat at Primary Wave, Koter “discovered my passion for the songwriting community.” In 2019, she launched her own company “rooted in empathy and a long-term approach… I set out to create a family.” Last year, she joined client Buddy Ross at the Ivor Novello Awards, where he was nominated for his work on Fred again.. and Brian Eno’s track “Enough.” “I am deeply invested in [my clients’] lives beyond their careers,” Koter says, “which allows for more trust and transparency in our business relationship.”
From left: Spencer Stewart, Buddy Ross, Hayley Gene Penner (in front), Maytav Koter, Andrew Sarlo and Mona Khoshoi.
Kendra Hope
Nick Bobetsky
Age: 44Company: State of the ArtKey clients: LP, Livingston, Em Beihold, Debbii Dawson (Previously: Chappell Roan)
Bobetsky enjoyed a front-row seat for former client Chappell Roan’s rise, which he calls “a huge success not just because of the size it grew to, but because of how we did it differently with strategy that isn’t customary to the mainstream music business. It also helped that she’s a one-of-a-kind, generational artist.” After releasing her debut, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, in 2023, the album grew into a Billboard 200 top 10 mainstay while 2024 single “Good Luck, Babe!” became her biggest hit, climbing to No. 4 on the Hot 100 and scoring two of her six Grammy nods, for record and song of the year. Meanwhile, Dawson scored a breakout hit with “Turn the TV On” and opened on tour for Orville Peck. As Bobetsky says, “Patience is key to getting it right on an artist’s own terms.”
Debbii Dawson (left) and Nick Bobetsky
Ruby Anton
Sam French
Age: 34Company: Mixed ManagementKey clients: Ian, Jasper Harris, bülow, Henry Kwapis
While working in publishing at APG, French “fell in love with the process of connecting writers and producers with artists and having a front-row seat to watching big records come together.” In 2022, he became a partner at Mixed and has since watched that play out time and time again. In 2024, songwriter-producer Jasper Harris worked on Camila Cabello’s C,XOXO, Charli xcx’s brat and more. Meanwhile, newcomer rapper Ian’s “Magic Johnson,” which peaked at No. 1 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100, was among the U.S. Top 10 TikTok Songs of 2024. “There’s a lot of noise right now, and it’s very loud,” French says. “Focus on what you can control and what you believe in.”
Sarah (Muise) Scardilli
Age: 35Company: Muise ManagementKey clients: Shygirl, COBRAH
While studying international business, Scardilli says she “spent 75% of my time partying across the U.K. and making friends with DJs and promoters.” After college, she landed a job with a Bristol, England-based management firm as its first full-time employee: “I was given responsibilities very early on — jetted to Ibiza two days after my first day at work, and the rest is history.” She formed Muise Management in 2019 and watched her artists reach new heights last year, as Shygirl was an opener on Charli xcx and Troye Sivan’s Sweat Tour and COBRAH’s “Brand New Bitch” scored a key synch in Kinds of Kindness. Scardilli describes the latter as “a powerful moment where underground club culture met mainstream audiences.”
Sarah (Muise) Scardilli with Shygirl (left) and COBRAH (right).
Courtesy Shygirl; Axel Ahlgren
Stephen Timothy Nana
Age: 37Company: n/aKey client: Asake
While Asake’s third album, Lungu Boy, spawned the chart-topping “Active,” featuring Travis Scott (which topped Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs), Nana considers Asake’s arena tour, which included stops at London’s O2 Arena and New York’s Madison Square Garden, their biggest success of 2024. “Not because of output, but because of the work ethic and ability of Asake to stay focused, determined and disciplined,” Nana says. “It’s not every day you get creatives who have achieved so much and still be human.”
This story appears in the Jan. 11, 2025, issue of Billboard.
There’s definitely been moments where I wished I could be in two places at the same time,” says Brandon Creed, reflecting on a year filled with culture-defining moments across his company’s roster. He’s gotten close — in early March, he had to be on separate coasts within 48 hours.
On March 8, Ariana Grande released her critically praised seventh album, Eternal Sunshine. On March 9, she was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live in New York — Creed was there. On March 10, Grande presented an Oscar at the 96th annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles, where client Mark Ronson was also performing in the night’s biggest spectacle: a star-studded live debut of Ryan Gosling’s Barbie song “I’m Just Ken” — Creed was there, too.
“It was definitely a tiring weekend,” says Creed, 47. “Thankfully, I think my relationship with all my artists is such that we have a great team so they’re always supported wherever they are.”
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His Good World team is a tight-knit group of savvy managers — including Dani Russin and Tyler Reymore, both of whom have been by his side for over a decade, along with Anika Capozza, Chris Pepe and Emma Anderson (among others). In 2023, when Creed left his position at Full Stop, the superstar management firm his own Creed Company merged with in 2017, his crew followed. After six years, Creed craved the kind of company he had launched his management career with when he had founded Creed Company in 2010 and set out to create the newer, more matured version of exactly that.
In August 2023, Creed established Good World Management with a high-profile roster including Charli xcx (co-managed with Sam Pringle and Twiggy Rowley), Troye Sivan, Ronson and Tame Impala (co-managed with Jodie Regan). His first new signing was Demi Lovato, followed by Grande.
“I was excited by the challenge of it, honestly,” he says of launching a new venture. “Creed Company was born out of [necessity] — I was an executive at a record company and started managing on the side.” With Good World, Creed has much more experience, but the same drive. “We’re trying to keep it familial and small and build accordingly, based on what we need.”
Creed got his start in the industry as music executive Tom Corson’s assistant before becoming one of the first employees of Clive Davis’ J Records, which he describes as “like going to grad school.” From there, he says, “management found me” when he met Bruno Mars and his writing partner, Philip Lawrence. “I watched Clive launch Alicia Keys and position superstars,” Creed says. “What he did and what he looked for, I took it and applied it as best I could.”
Since its beginning, Good World has celebrated one industry-rattling moment after another, from Charli graduating to arena headliner with her and Sivan’s in-demand Sweat Tour to Grande conquering new territory with Wicked. Such year-defining victories have helped Creed and Good World earn Billboard’s first Manager of the Year honor. Here, he and his team reflect on what Creed calls “the longest fastest year.”
Joel Barhamand
When you think back to launching Good World, what stands out?
Brandon Creed: We were in the midst of Barbie summer with Mark, and that was an amazing experience. And Troye had just [released the single] “Rush.”
Dani Russin: It was a show-must-go-on sort of thing. We didn’t have the luxury of pausing. We were grateful that essentially our whole roster came with us, so we just had to keep working. This was a really welcomed exclamation point on the summer.
Anika Capozza: We’ve always been really small and mighty, so when we moved over here, it was all hands on deck on every level. Like, “What snacks are we getting?” Things that you don’t think about at a big company when you walk in and everything is all set up. But it made it fun.
Tyler Reymore: Coming back into a house and it feeling so warm and cozy and down to earth, you take a big breath. That was what Creed Company was years ago.
Russin: In a lot of ways, it feels like we were getting back to how we started.
Dani, you’ve worked with Brandon the longest, since 2009. What drew you to his management style?
Russin: Brandon is very keen. He can read people, he’s a great decision-maker, and he has a very diplomatic management style. In this office, and in every office we’ve worked in, it’s definitely like good ideas can come from anywhere. We’ve always fostered an environment where we promote within. And we don’t really have ranks, but to the extent that we do, it’s been somebody that’s interned with us.
Chris Pepe: I’d actually left management for a bit and was the one person who didn’t come along, and I always looked from afar like, “If I were to ever get back into management, this is the team I’d want to be on.” There’s a lot of trust here.
Capozza: I started as a receptionist and then was an assistant and then a manager, and I’ve really been with Brandon my entire career in the music industry. What drew me the most is it didn’t feel like there was ever a ceiling for any of us. He allows us the ability to grow and take charge and be assertive and have a presence in the room.
Emma Anderson: I started as his assistant and always felt like he trusted me, so that gave me confidence. When we were leaving Full Stop, a lot of my friends were like, “This is a huge risk.” And I was like, “Not really.” I never have felt like I’ve been put in a box here.
Reymore: Brandon has always exuded such a quiet confidence, and it’s something I’ve always admired. When I first started working with him at Creed Company, he was in the living room with the other managers. It makes you want to work harder for someone who really values and sees you peer to peer.
You named the company Good World. What’s a moment this year where, commercial success aside, you felt the positive impact?
All: Sweat.
Creed: It was a scary proposition at first because it’s two of our artists; if it doesn’t go right, that’s high stakes. But they have so much respect for each other, they wanted to build and create something really unique. They dove in and did that.
Russin: Brandon had the idea for Sweat, and it was definitely like, “Avengers, assemble…”
Creed: With some resistance. It took us a while…
Russin: Listen, you said it, not me.
Where was the resistance coming from?
Creed: It was an idea over the last few years [that] just never lined up. And then when we were planning Troye’s tour and talking about Charli’s, we pitched it and…
Russin: It was now or never.
Creed: And there was a lot of blind faith. Each artist questioned whether it was the right thing for them to do in this moment, and rightfully so. We had to move some things and plotted it out and gave the tour time to sell and then everything kicked in with Brat Summer, and it really took off.
Russin: And then how that impacted in the real world, when we would go to these shows and watch [our] friends, their friends, the wider industry enjoy themselves…
Pepe: I remember that video you sent in our group chat. The lights were on after the show ended and the energy on the floor of the crowd beaming, dancing, still having a party. It was one of those “Oh, this is why we do this” moments.
Creed: That’s another thread, and it might be corny, but there is so much positivity and light, especially now when we really need it. It’s an honor to help get that into the world. I mean, Mark on the Oscars. I remember Steven Spielberg walking into the room after and he was like, “I’ve never seen anything like that on this stage.”
How has it felt to watch Charli enjoy her biggest year?
Creed: We’ve been working with Charli since 2018. I remember going to see her at a rave in London and it was like a smack in the face. It was coming off the Pop 2 era, and then we went right into the Charli phase. But to see her grow, it’s so gratifying — and slightly vindicating, just because we knew it. To see the world jump in on this has been a career highlight for me because she deserves it, and to be doing it so unapologetically is just incredible.
Ariana Grande also had a major 2024. When you start working with an artist who is already a superstar, how do you find your rhythm?
Creed: We definitely hold and make space for that. We’re not [a company that’s] going to come in and be like, “This is how we do it,” and change everything. Right before [signing Grande] we had just signed Demi [Lovato], another huge artist that has been around for a long time with a lot of success. It’s really turning on the empath and figuring out how they work and how you fit in and just watching and learning. And Ariana had an existing team around her: Justin Adams, Ray Rock and Grace Segundo. I just fit myself in there and took cues from her and them and we got into a rhythm, but it takes a minute.
Will Good World sign more talent?
Creed: We are extremely discerning with any artists at this stage. We have room, don’t get me wrong, for the right thing, and we would build accordingly. I think the developing-artist space is extremely challenging right now, especially for managers. Especially for a young manager, it’s hard to make money. So our focus is definitely on the more established artists and ones that have built an audience. But, you know, there are no rules.
Would you sign actors to the roster?
Creed: I would absolutely be interested in that. It’s about the person. It’s about being inspired by what they want to do. What we love is all of our artists want to do more than be an artist. Most of them act; Mark is scoring soundtracks and writing a book. [Ariana] got a Golden Globe nomination. That [was] amazing to see her get recognized. Troye and Demi have their own acting credits. I do particularly love the film and TV space. Charli’s pursuing that with a lot of success right now. That is exciting and inspiring to me, getting to be in all these different scenarios.
How do you prepare an artist, and yourselves, for their biggest year?
Russin: We have an extreme amount of patience when it comes to not skipping steps and [having the] “This could take 10 years” conversation. We’re prepared for that. And I don’t know that we feel that there’s as much gratification in the instant moment. We really try to set things up so that we’re building the road to get there along the way. So when it comes, they’ve done their 10,000 hours — as have we.
What challenges do managers face today?
Creed: It’s really hard for young managers. Artists are looking around at what others have and what others are doing, and they’re under a tremendous amount of pressure themselves. So when they feel that, they put the pressure on their person that’s right there — and that’s their manager. So I do think malleability is important and understanding how to shape teams around each artist and support them. And [more] humility and less ego is important.
Pepe: I work across Demi and she’s working on her album right now, and a key thing of our process has been allowing her to take that time that she needed and even encouraging it, because she is used to an industry that wants more and more and more. Encouraging that patience and investment in art, that has been honored this year in a big way after the pendulum swing of TikTok short form.
Creed: Impatience is a real challenge. One of our biggest challenges as well is the toxicity of fandom now. I feel like half the time we are being told how to do our jobs by [social media], and that is an exercise of our patience because our artists are also seeing it — not saying they react to it, but it’s a challenge across the board.
Russin: The sense of ownership over an artist’s body, their being…
Creed: Their decisions… Look, we are grateful for the fans; that’s why we’re all here. But there are boundaries that I think get broken quite often.
What would you tell someone wanting to enter artist management?
Russin: The barrier of entry is actually quite fuzzy. If you want to be a manager, you manage somebody. I’m not saying you’re a good manager… It’s a lot of head down, fly on the wall, behind the scenes, unglamorous, ungratifying work at first. If you don’t have a desire to be of service, this is probably not the area for you.
Reymore: As long as you are focusing on supporting artists and music that you care so deeply about, that’s going to make the late nights and the weekends feel like joy.
Pepe: [Get] as much hands-on experience as you can, even if it’s an artist that is local to your community, especially if you’re talking about someone in high school or college who’s wanting to do this. I didn’t have any connections. I started by working at CAA, and that led me to meeting managers, and that led me to my first management job. Our mindsets these days are quick payoffs. But it’s a lot like, “What are the first things you can do to get to where you want to be?”
Capozza: It’s the same philosophy we use for artists, I’m realizing: not skipping steps.
Creed: I was an intern, I was an assistant. I say this to every intern that comes here: Cultivate relationships with your peers because that’s who you’re going to grow up in the business with. They’re the ones that will be head of the label one day or whatever direction the person goes.
Russin: The assistant mafia… Don’t burn bridges, because everyone sticks around.
Creed: It is real, and you don’t think that when you’re trying to get into the business. You think you got to get to the top man or woman, but it’s really the support group that is going to let you enter — or you find a genius artist and grab on.
Capozza: I remember you saying that when I started: Don’t look up. Look around you.
Looking ahead, what goals do you have for yourself and the company?
Creed: Ariana’s [year] is pretty mapped out. We know where she is going to be and what she’s going to be doing for the majority of the year. Same with Charli; Brat Summer, Fall, Winter is going to continue. Troye is going to be in a creative year, hopefully making his next record. We’re in the planning stages for Tame Impala. Demi hopefully will be starting her next era midway through the year. Mark’s going to hopefully kick off a new artist era; hopefully the book he’s been writing will come out. Nothing is planned, but everyone’s going to be busy. And then we’ll map out 2026… The goal is to continue doing what we’re doing. I’ve been really fortunate to have a breadth of experiences over the years with such incredible artists and artistry and moments in time — that makes it fun. And there’s been times where it hasn’t been fun and I’m like, “Maybe I need to do something else.” And then something clicks and I get reengaged, and that’s what’s happened this year.
This story appears in the Jan. 11, 2025, issue of Billboard.
As wildfires continue to devastate Los Angeles, the Warner Music Group/Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund is stepping in to help. On Sunday (Jan. 12), the organization announced a pledge of $1 million to support fire relief and rebuilding efforts in the region. The funds will be directed to organizations assisting the Los Angeles community, […]
If the Supreme Court upholds a U.S. law that would ban TikTok if its Chinese parent company ByteDance fails to sell it by Jan. 19, it would be bad news for the music industry, including the live events business – which has increasingly relied on TikTok as a marketing engine in recent years.
A decision by the court could be days, even hours, away, and it will have a major impact on dozens of U.S. industries that rely on the site for marketing, including the live music business during one of its busiest marketing months. TikTok’s popularity among concert and festival marketers has increased significantly in the last two years, explains FanIQ CEO Jesse Lawrence, as the event industry shifts to content-based marketing models.
“The music industry is finally getting away from the static lineup ad and embracing storytelling and lifestyle content,” said Lawrence, who notes that the the company is seeing a return of 15 to 20 times its ad spend on TikTok.
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Part of the appeal of TikTok, Lawrence said, is that the learning curve for posting and sharing ads on the platform is fairly simple. Customers are separated into two buckets: upper funnel, which includes essentially new customers who know little, if anything, about an upcoming event, and lower funnel, in which clients have gained awareness and are close to making a final decision on a purchase.
“Our whole approach is about matching upper funnel engagement, based on the user’s interests, with content we’ve created around the festival,” says Lawrence. That includes using beauty and fashion content to find potential customers for a summer country music festival, sneaker content for hip-hop festivals or skateboarding and surfing content to market a punk rock and action sports expo.
“Our videos have a watch time tracker and if someone watches the video for 15 seconds or more, the next video they’ll get is one with specific details about the festival and specific videos instructions on conversion,” meaning buying tickets, Lawrence said. He later noted, “it’s just about knowing where your audience is spending time and putting content in front of them on those platforms.”
A recent content piece FanIQ created for the Oceanfront Festival detailed rapper Key Glock’s extensive sneaker collection, featuring interview snippets with the Memphis rapper.
“That video is getting served to the fan from the festival’s account,” Lawrence said. “The whole idea is that we’re taking content that feels very organic and putting it into paid (content).”
Lawrence encourages his clients to use multiple social media platforms – Snap, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit and Spotify — for their marketing campaigns, noting that each platform is home to a different audience.
FanIQ is one of the new systems that “aggregates performance across every platform,” Lawrence explained. “We want to give them this access so they can easily understand what’s working, do more of it where we’re seeing performance, and scale back where we’re not.”
Will Franklin with UK marketing firm Round says the strength of TikTok as a marketing platform for the live music business comes from its early success helping artists go viral, starting with the release of “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X in December 2018. In 2020, Meghan Thee Stallion’s tracks “WAP” and “Savage” — used in countless dance videos by contributors to the platform — made her the No. 1 most played artist on TikTok that year and helped her land headliner slots at a number of major festivals in 2021 including Lollapalooza.
Franklin also notes that fans are increasingly looking to TikTok for video and content from events, noting that searches for the Boomtown festival in the U.K. soared from 29.5 million in the month leading up to the event to 266.8 million during the festival, creating increased awareness around the band.
Many marketers are holding out hope that TikTok will receive a last-minute reprieve from the Supreme Court, but several news outlets covering the hearing reported that a majority of the court’s justices expressed a lack of support for overturning the current ban. If the site is outlawed in the U.S., Franklin says he believes YouTube Shorts will temporarily fill the void.
“I haven’t seen huge budget shifts from TikTok to YouTube yet, but a lot of my clients are experimenting and spending small allocations on different platforms in case they do have to make a shift,” Franklin explains. “There’s a hesitancy because no other platform has as many Gen Z users as TikTok, but the assumption is that if the site is banned, its user will go somewhere else. For now all we can do is guess which platform that may be.”
If the Supreme Court does not intervene to save TikTok, it will be removed from U.S. app stores on Jan. 19 but remain live on users’ phones, albeit without regular push software updates to fix bugs and glitches. ByteDance might be able to maneuver and keep the platform online for a few months after the cut-off date, but the company hasn’t unveiled any of its contingency plans.
“We’re advising client partners to be cautious but optimistic, and recommending they pause TikTok media spend starting Jan. 18 to avoid any unforeseen investment complications,” said Kerry McKibbin, president/partner at ad agency Mischief @ No Fixed Address, adding that advertisers should familiarize themselves with the shorts platforms on both YouTube and Meta if they are concerned about a TikTok shutdown.
HYBE and JYP Entertainment were among the few music stocks to make gains this week as markets stumbled globally. HYBE, home to BTS and its members’ solo projects, rose 7.2% to 215,500 won ($146.19), its best closing price since Nov. 20, thanks to Friday’s news that BTS member J-Hope willsoon release new music and commence a world tour starting in Seoul on Feb. 28. JYP Entertainment, which has had global success with Stray Kids and ITZY, rose 5.6% to 71,600 won ($48.57) after the company announced it will launch a new boy band, Kickflip, on Jan. 20.
The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) slipped 1.4% to 2,126.33, marketing the fourth time in five weeks the index has lost value. Only five of the 20 stocks finished the week in positive territory. Other than HYBE and JYP Entertainment, only CTS Eventim (up 3.4%), Believe (up 3.2%) and Universal Music Group (up 1.1%) posted gains. Three stocks (Cumulus Media, Deezer and Anghami) were unchanged while 12 stocks had losing weeks.
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Music stocks were dragged down by numerous market forces this week. Stocks fell sharply on Friday (Jan. 10) following healthy employment numbers that investors likely interpreted to mean the U.S. Federal Reserve would not seek to lower interest rates at its meetings in January or March. Also, data from the University of Michigan released Friday showed consumers’ expectations for future inflation rose to 3.3% from 2.8%. In the United States, the Nasdaq composite fell 2.3% to 19,161.63 and the S&P 500 dropped 1.9% to 5,827.04. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 8,248.49. China’s Shanghai Composite Index dipped 1.3% to 3,168.52. South Korea was an outlier as the KOSPI composite index rose 3.0%.
Warner Music Group (WMG) shares dropped 5.4% to $29.33 after three analysts lowered their price targets ahead of WMG’s quarterly earnings release on Feb. 6. Guggenheim lowered its WMG price target to $40 from $44 after taking into account an expected 1.5% foreign exchange impact on the latest quarter’s revenue and a 1.7% impact on revenue for the full fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2025. Guggenheim also dropped its recorded music licensing estimate while maintaining its recorded music subscription revenue growth forecast in the “high single-digit” range. Evercore lowered WMG shares to $35 from $36. UBS lowered WMG to $41 from $43 and maintained its “neutral” rating.
Spotify, which announces fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 4, fell 1.5% to $459.53. Goldman Sachs raised its Spotify price target this week to $550 from $490. Spotify shares have fallen in five of the last six weeks and are 9.3% below the all-time high of $506.47 set on Dec. 4.
Music streaming company LiveOne had the index’s biggest decline, dropping 12.4% to $1.20. Radio broadcaster iHeartMedia fell 11.7% to $1.88. SiriusXM continued its losing streak, sinking 6.8% to $20.83. SiriusXM shares fell 58.3% in 2024 and have dropped 16.4% in the last three months. K-pop company SM Entertainment sank 5.1% to 68,900 won ($46.74).
According to Morning Consult, 57% of people born roughly between 1995 to 2010 aspire to become influencers and earn a living publishing their lives — or a fictional semblance of their real lives — on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. That means there has never been a greater need for simple solutions to license music.
Making synch licensing simple is key to capturing the potential in today’s creator economy, says Wendy Connell, vp of marketing at music synch startup Soundstripe. “How can we guide people through this complicated process and make it as easy as possible, and make sure that they know that they’re covered, it’s legal, and take care of all the complication for them?” she says.
Soundstripe has business customers, too, and its traditional synch (film, TV and movies) rose 87% in 2024. But personal users — influencers, hobbyists, students, etc. — account for 53% of its customers. With evidence growing that content creation is big business, there’s a huge opportunity for companies like Soundstripe that provide them with services — and the need for affordable music licensing could help grow a U.S. synch revenue market that was worth $411 million in 2023 (a number that includes only label revenue tracked by the RIAA) and probably more in 2024.
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The world is awash in content creators — the term for professional, semi-professional and amateur photographers and video makers who flood digital platforms with everything from cooking tips to travel videos to Amazon product recommendations. But making short videos for a living isn’t just an aspiration of the younger generations for whom Mr. Beast is the peak of celebrity and Kim Kardashian is the blueprint for turning fame into wealth. Morning Consult also found that 41% of all adults surveyed would choose the career: Across all age groups, millions of creators already operate at the sub-career level. And a November 2023 report by the Keller Advisory Group found there were 27 million paid creators in the U.S. aged 16 to 54. For a small group of them, being an influencer provides a six-figure annual income, but for most of the 27 million “micro-influencers,” annual income is less than $10,000. Regardless of how much they make, though, influencers are churning out content — much of it requiring music.
This supply of content exists because there is a massive, eager audience for creators’ videos and photos. Young consumers are spending their time on smartphones, not TVs: 60% of American teens spend four or more hours each day on social media on average, and nearly 30% are on social platforms for more than six hours per day. Older age groups also spend time on social media — the 55-64 age group logs two hours per day on average, according to eMarketer — but younger people skew toward short-form videos on TikTok while older consumers bank most of their social time on Facebook.
In the past, TV shows and movies provided a constant source for synch royalties for the use of a sound recording and its underlying musical work. Today, those traditional synch opportunities still exist, but influencers and other content creators are eroding legacy media’s viewing time. In July, YouTube accounted for more than 10% of TV viewing, according to Nielsen, becoming the first streaming platform to surpass the 10% threshold. That was more than Netflix, a TV juggernaut that commanded an 8.4% share, and Amazon Prime, a distant third amongst streaming platforms at 3.4%. All streaming platforms accounted for 41.4% of TV viewing, well ahead of cable (26.7%) and broadcast (20.3%).
But influencers need easy-to-use, affordable licensing options to stay out of legal trouble. Last year, companies such as Marriott, Bang Energy and OFRA Cosmetics were sued by music rights holders for using unlicensed music in influencer marketing. (Sony Music and Marriott ended their lawsuit while Bang Energy lost separate court cases against Sony and UMG in 2022.) While TikTok’s licensing deals allow users to incorporate music into their videos, they stop short of allowing corporations and the influencers they — or third-party firms — hire to use music for commercial purposes. Outside of influencer marketing, there are numerous other instances of companies using music without permission when simple, legal and affordable licensing options exist.
Aside from Soundstripe, platforms such as Epidemic Sound, PremiumBeat, Artlist and, most recently, The Rights provide royalty-free music, typically through a subscription model, that provide a wide range of mostly anonymous production music, though professional musicians and songwriters working under their stage names are largely absent from these platforms. While Soundstripe currently has in-house musicians to build its catalog, Connell says the company is working on bringing in record labels’ catalogs to offer to their customers. That would benefit artists and songwriters whose music isn’t available at Soundstripe and similar platforms and who would otherwise miss out on the rise of influencer culture — and the financial benefits that can come from tapping into it.