State Champ Radio Business
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Universal Music Group (UMG) has purchased a 49% stake in the indie label group [PIAS], expanding on a strategic global partnership that began last year. As part of the deal, [PIAS] founders Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot will retain control of the company, “remain fully independent” and UMG will have no seats on the indie’s board.
In March 2021, [PIAS] rebranded its distribution and services arm to [Integral], bringing on a new managing director to expand its business globally. Three months later, [PIAS] entered into an agreement with UMG that gave the major label group access to the [Integral] platform, which also handles distribution services for more than 100 indie label partners including ATO, Beggars Group and Secretly Group. The newly announced minority investment is said to be an extension of that initial deal.
“We have enjoyed an excellent relationship with the Universal Music Group team since we announced our strategic global alliance with them last year,” said Lambot — who co-founded [PIAS] in Brussels, Belgium, in 1983 alongside Gates — in a statement. “Kenny and I are celebrating our company’s 40th anniversary this year and we are still as ambitious as we were when we started out about growing our global presence and providing a world class service to the independent music community.”
“These days we are competing with finance and tech giants and a partner like Universal Music Group provides the additional support for us to compete and grow,” Gates said in his own statement. “Universal made it clear that they like us, they trust us and they need us, because they can’t do what we do and they value it highly. For Michel and I this is our life’s work and an ongoing journey and I am excited about the prospect of this new chapter in the life of [PIAS]. This move makes us stronger and secures the future of our brand, our staff and our partners while maintaining control of our destiny.”
The expansion of the deal comes at a time when many major labels — Capitol Music Group, Republic, 300, Interscope and more — are increasingly launching or enhancing their distribution offerings for independent artists and labels. This deal with [PIAS] presumably expands UMG’s access to independent distribution moving forward.
“The boldly independent and music-centric culture that Kenny and Michel have built over the last four decades has provided a vital creative network to so many artists,” UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge said in a statement. “While much of the past was focused on ‘majors versus indies,’ it’s clear that today, the important divide in our industry is about those committed to artist development versus those committed to quantity over quality. We share Kenny and Michel’s passion for developing artists and moving culture, and we recognize that a healthy music ecosystem needs companies like [PIAS] who are committed to amplifying the best voices in independent music.”
Al Mair, Canadian Music Industry Legend & Label Founder, Dead at 82 – Billboard Skip to main content ad
Motown Records chairwoman and CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam is stepping down from her position “to pursue new endeavors,” the label and parent company Universal Music Group (UMG) announced Tuesday (Nov. 29). A successor will be announced at a later date.
In a statement, Habtemariam said, “It has been the greatest honor to work with some of the most incredible artists, songwriters and partners in the world. I have always had a clear vision for the talent that I’ve had the privilege to work with, which has led Motown to global success and returned the label to the forefront of contemporary culture. I would not have been able to make that vision come to life without the support of my amazing team at Motown, my UMG colleagues around the world, and Sir Lucian. I am incredibly proud of what we have created during my tenure, and I consider this the perfect finale to my 20 years at UMG spanning publishing and recorded music.”
UMG chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge added, “Under Ethiopia’s leadership, Motown has seen strong growth, continuing its legacy of bringing important new voices to modern culture. Not only has Ethiopia been instrumental in developing and breaking incredible artists, but also she has strategically identified and amplified key partnerships that have been, and will continue to be, cornerstones of the UMG creative ecosystem. While I will miss working with Ethiopia, I know she will achieve great things going forward and she leaves with our enduring love and respect.”
Habtemariam was elevated to Motown chairman and CEO in March 2021 following six years as president, making her just the third woman and only the second woman of color ever to hold that title at a major label. During her tenure, she orchestrated creative and entrepreneurial ventures with partners including a 2015 deal with Quality Control Music, under which Motown helped shepherd the careers of QC artists including Migos, City Girls, Lil Yachty, Layton Greene and Lil Baby.
At the time of her hire as chairwoman and CEO, Habtemariam noted Motown would move forward as a standalone label with some shared services, spinning out from under the Capitol Music Group umbrella. Since that time, the label has put out music from Migos, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Vince Staples, Tiwa Savage, Ne-Yo and Kem, among others. In addition to the Quality Control partnership, under Habtemariam’s leadership Motown has also signed joint venture deals with YoungBoy Never Broke Again and his label; singer and rapper Smino, in partnership with his Zero Fatigue and EQT (Equative Thinking) labels; and Sean “Diddy” Combs and his label Love Records.
Before joining Motown in the dual role of label president and executive vp of Capitol Music Group, Habtemariam worked at Universal Music Publishing Group for more than a decade, rising from creative manager to president of urban music & co-head of creative.
In an internal note sent to her team following the announcement, Habtemariam paid tribute to her Motown colleagues while noting her nearly 20-year run with UMG. During her tenure at the publishing division, she built a team that signed and developed songwriters including Cardo, Childish Gambino, Chris Brown, Ciara, Big Sean, Hit-Boy, J. Cole, Jhene Aiko, Justin Bieber, Miguel, Stacy Barthe and Quavo.
Habtemariam also emphasized her dedication “to bringing a renewed vision of Black excellence to Motown – rooted in the past but connected to today, global in nature and a platform for the future.”
“The business has changed so much over those twenty years but throughout its ups and downs, I’ve always felt blessed to have the opportunity to work in so many aspects of the industry,” she continued. “My hunger to learn and continue to evolve led me to the unique experience of working across publishing and recorded music simultaneously. The fact that I was empowered to this unique position reflects my passion for supporting those that are blessed with the gift of music but also speaks to the incredible opportunities I was offered here and for that I want to thank Lucian who recognized my talent as a creative in publishing and gave me the opportunity to lead at a label as well.”
Habtemariam started her career in 1994 at age 14 as an intern at L.A. Reid‘s LaFace Records, where she worked for four years before moving to Universal Music Group. She has been named to numerous Billboard lists, including the 2022 Power List in January. In September, she was honored with The Clarence Avant Trailblazer Award at the first annual BMAC Music in Action Awards.
You can read Habtermariam’s full note to her team below.
Team:
Some of you may or may not know that the top of 2023 marks my 20th year at Universal Music Group. And, after two amazing decades, I’ve made the incredibly hard decision to leave for my next adventure. I’ll address my future plans soon, but today is all about Motown, UMG and you.
First and foremost, to the Motown team, your commitment to our artists, the legacy of this label, and the community at large is not lost on me. It’s been a privilege and honor to work with each and every one of you and I’m so excited to see how you continue to move Motown forward. Over 60 years ago, Mr. Gordy forged a core for this company – one that respects and celebrates artistry and strongly supports creative entrepreneurship – and this continues to live on thanks to all of you. I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve built.
When I think of my time at UMG, it occurs to me that my career really started at this company. I was a creative manager at UMPG 20 years ago, then by 2010 worked as an A&R consultant and manager while building a creative team at UMPG that signed and developed some amazing songwriters such as Cardo, Childish Gambino, Chris Brown, Ciara, Big Sean, Hit Boy, J Cole, Jhene Aiko, Justin Bieber, Miguel, Stacy Barthe and Quavo among many others. In 2014, I was promoted to the position of President of Urban & Co-Head of Creative at UMPG and appointed to President of Motown Records.
It was a busy time being in dual roles and laying the foundation for what was to come in an industry with an ever-changing landscape. While continuing to build at UMPG, I was also deeply dedicated to bringing a renewed vision of Black excellence to Motown – rooted in the past but connected to today, global in nature and a platform for the future. In 2015, we signed a landmark deal for Motown with Quality Control which included a distribution agreement ensuring support in developing the next generation of global superstars. By 2016, as that strategy brought Motown success with new groundbreaking artists, Motown became my sole focus as we continued to grow the company with artists including BJ the Chicago Kid, Brandy, Kem, Diddy, Erykah Badu, Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, Migos, Sebastian Kole, Smino, Tiana MAJOR9, YoungBoy and Vince Staples among others.
The business has changed so much over those twenty years but throughout its ups and downs, I’ve always felt blessed to have the opportunity to work in so many aspects of the industry. My hunger to learn and continue to evolve led me to the unique experience of working across publishing and recorded music simultaneously. The fact that I was empowered to this unique position reflects my passion for supporting those that are blessed with the gift of music but also speaks to the incredible opportunities I was offered here and for that I want to thank Lucian who recognized my talent as a creative in publishing and gave me the opportunity to lead at a label as well.
But one thing that has never changed is the love I have for music—and the artists, songwriters and producers that make such incredible art. That continues to drive everything I do professionally, and it always will.
This is an exciting time in music and I look forward to exploring new creative and entrepreneurial opportunities. I will share more about my future plans but for now I want to focus on winding down my role as we get to the end of the year.
Thank you for this incredible journey. Know that I will always be here to support you all.
With love, gratitude and respect,
Ethiopia
MILAN — Warner Music Group has hired Pico Cibelli, a Sony Music Italy executive involved in the global breakthrough of rock band Måneskin, to helm its Italian label.
Cibelli, who will be based in Milan, will take over as president of Warner Music Italy, which Marco Alboni led for nine years. Cibelli will start in the role “in the near future” and report to Simon Robson, president of international, recorded music for Warner Music Group, the label said in a press release.
Cibelli spent more than a decade at Sony Music Italy, where he worked in A&R and helped develop the company’s frontline domestic artists. According to Italian media reports, Cibelli’s early involvement with breaking Måneskin could have played a major role in Warner’s decision. While at Sony, he was instrumental in hiring A&R Fabrizio Ferraguzzo, who has acted as Måneskin’s manager since June 2021.
Before joining Sony in 2011, Cibelli spent 10 years at Universal Music Group, first as television marketing manager and dance music A&R, then as A&R manager. Cibelli previously worked in an independent, family-run record store; as a DJ/producer; and later as an executive at local independent distributors Dig It International and Self Distribuzione.
The announcement of Cibelli’s appointment comes in a week when Warner artists hold two spots on Italy’s Top 10 album charts: Trenches Baby by Milan-based trapper Rondodasosa, whom Alboni signed, and The Beatles Songbook from veteran singer Mina.
“The success of artists such as Måneskin,” Cibelli said in a Warner Music press release, “has shown that Italian artists can take the world by storm, something we’ll see more of in the years ahead.”
Robson, in a statement, said that Cibelli “has a proven track record of developing artists and maximizing their potential.”
As a source of domestic talent, Italy is one of the strongest markets in the world. In 2021, Italian acts accounted for 76 % of the annual Album Top 100 compiled by FIMI, the local federation for the recorded music industry with which major companies and some local independent labels are affiliated. The Italian music market regained the No. 10 spot in the world in 2021, according to FIMI, showing an 18.33% increase from 2020 and a turnover of 153 million euros ($170.8 million) in the first half of 2022, with digital sales accounting for 83% (revenues from subscription streaming rose by 13.7%).
Alboni has not indicated where he is heading next, saying only on his LinkedIn page that he will soon start a new job as a music industry executive. He has worked as an artist manager and had prior stints with EMI Music Italy, PolyGram and Virgin Music Italy before being appointed Warner Italy’s chairman and CEO in 2013 when WMG acquired EMI Music Italy.
TikTok is known for compulsively addictive short-form video, and for the past three years, much of the music industry has been hooked. By now, the platform is widely viewed as the most potent driver of streaming activity; marketing strategies often center on trying to harness the app’s users to touch off hits.
Lately, however, there’s been a noticeable shift in the way the music business talks about TikTok. One major-label executive with experience running campaigns on the platform recently mused to colleagues that he thought it was “dead” for breaking new songs. Another calls it “not workable.” “Does TikTok break hits now?” asks an A&R executive. “There’s a bunch of stuff going off there that’s not even a hit. We’re running on the inertia of what it was.”
“TikTok is eating itself,” declares Max Bernstein, who founded the marketing agency Muuser. “It still drives consumption if you get it right, but it’s much harder to maneuver now. Trends are siloed when they used to be community-wide, and influencer media is becoming prohibitively expensive.”
A number of A&Rs and marketers feel similarly, and they are trying to adjust strategies when it comes to signing artists and allocating marketing dollars. It’s the music business’ version of algorithmic anxiety: An industry accustomed to figuring out how to leverage promotional tools to favor its artists is learning that TikTok is increasingly tough to control.
Not everyone agrees, of course. Tyler Blatchley, co-founder of the label Black 17 Media, which has had success on TikTok, calls the idea that the platform is “not workable” “absurd.” The app’s users helped singles like Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” soar on streaming services; at this point, it’s hard to think of a recent hit that wasn’t aided and abetted by TikTok. “The biggest game in town is TikTok,” says Chris Anokute, an A&R exec-turned-manager. “Everyone who wants to tell you otherwise is delusional, they don’t understand it, or they missed the boat.”
But even some of those who believe, as one rap label-head puts it, that TikTok “is the main platform to focus on for marketing,” still acknowledge that the industry’s attitude towards it has shifted. “People are frustrated because they can’t finesse the system so easily anymore,” the hip-hop executive says.
This frustration relates to larger anxieties in the music industry. Managers, A&R executives and marketers say it’s harder than ever to command listener attention, and they believe TikTok’s position as the preeminent music discovery platform is partially to blame. “If we’re asking, ‘how do people find new great artists that they’re going to fall in love with,’ hearing a nine-second snippet of a song is probably not the answer that any of us would give,” says Justin Lehmann, founder of Mischief Management (Aminé, Khai Dreams).
Still, TikTok is where people are spending their time — more than 90 minutes a day, according to the data analytics company Sensor Tower, nearly twice as much as they spend on Instagram. The music industry has no choice but to try to reach those potential listeners. It’s just getting harder and harder to do.
“There are a lot of songs that pop quickly [on TikTok], but it doesn’t have the same effect,” says Talya Elitzer, co-founder of the indie label and management company Godmode. “It’s not the golden era of TikTok by any means,” confirms another veteran digital marketer. “Things aren’t performing the way they used to.”
And executives say the impact of their marketing budgets is waning. According to a recent report by music consulting agency ContraBrand, based on analysis of TikTok’s top 200 from the first half of 2022, “paid-for tactics, such as influencers and ads, accounted for success in under 12% of the platform’s viral tracks.” “You can do your best to manufacture something on [TikTok], but I haven’t seen too many people be super successful,” says Cassie Petrey, CEO of the social media company and management firm Crowd Surf. “There’s an illusion of control people think they have over TikTok because we can pay influencers and push more video usage.”
As awareness of that illusion grows, “a lot of major companies, the savvy ones, are not spending as much on TikTok as they once were,” according to Elitzer. Another marketer says that he’s cut TikTok spending in many cases by more than 50%.
Labels may be shifting their signing strategies around TikTok as well. Whereas record companies have been signing acts off a single viral explosion, hoping for quick returns on their investment, a bevy of one-hit wonders has caused some to contemplate changing course. “I’ve heard a lot more A&Rs that I’ve been speaking with go back to signing artists based on musicality, which is exciting,” says Tim Collins, co-founder of Creed Media, an entertainment marketing agency.
“Too many people got caught with empty bags — labels overpaid for these deals, and the artist never delivered a better song or couldn’t rise to the occasion,” Anokute adds. “People were making multi-million dollar offers without even meeting the artist! The race to jump on everything moving on TikTok has slowed down.”
After a period where the app seemed to overshadow everything in music, executives seem more open to the idea that focusing all resources solely on TikTok may not be a viable long-term strategy. Petrey preaches a zen attitude about it all. “You’ll have moments on social media that are big, and you’ll have other times where you thought that song was the one and it didn’t go,” she says. “Continue to make good work.”
LONDON — The U.K. competition regulator has ruled out making further interventions in the music business and says that low returns from streaming, which songwriters and artists have expressed concerns about, are not being driven by the major labels’ dominance of the market.
In its final 165-page report into the U.K. music business, published Tuesday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) says, however, that it is a matter for policymakers to determine whether current streaming revenue splits are “appropriate and fair” and if “wider policy interventions are required.” To that end, the regulator says it will share its final findings with the British government.
The CMA’s final 165-page report into the U.K. music business shows that consumers have greatly benefited from streaming, with the monthly price of streaming subscriptions falling by more than 20% in real terms between 2009 and 2021 due to not keeping pace with inflation. The monthly cost of an individual subscription to Spotify has remained £9.99 ($12.00) for the past decade.
At the same time, there’s been a huge rise in the amount of music that is available to consumers, from both paid subscription services and free ad-supported streaming, making it increasingly harder for all but the most popular artists to reach large audiences and earn a decent income.
In 2021, more than 138 billion music tracks were streamed in the U.K., yet less than 1% of all artists achieve more than one million streams per month, according to the CMA’s research. That level of streams would earn an artist around £12,000 ($14,500) per year after record company and streaming service deductions, says the regulator. The CMA found that over 60% of streams were of music recorded by only the top 0.4% of artists.
“We heard from many artists and songwriters across the U.K. about how they struggle to make a decent living from these [streaming] services,” says Sarah Cardell, interim chief executive of the CMA. Despite empathizing with creators’ “understandable concerns,” Cardell says the watchdog’s findings show that low returns for the majority of artists “are not the result of ineffective competition” between the three major record labels — Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group – which make up 75% of the U.K.’s recorded music market (independents account for the remaining 25%).
As a result, further intervention by the CMA “would not release more money into the system that would help artists or songwriters,” says Cardell. Therefore, the watchdog will not carry out a ‘phase 2’ full market investigation of the U.K. streaming business over competition concerns, which could have lasted up two years. Instead, it will share its findings with government policy makers for them to consider whether “additional action is needed to help creators,” says Cardell.
The regulator also warned that it may be forced to intervene in the future if the streaming business changes in a way that harms consumers’ interests. Determining factors identified by the CMA include mergers or acquisitions that could lead to a “substantial lessening of competition,” music companies prohibiting innovations that would benefit music fans and significantly higher streaming subscription prices.
The conclusions released Tuesday were a follow-up to an interim report released in July, in which the CMA said that streaming was working well for consumers. The regulator examined the integral role that services like Spotify and YouTube play in the booming music economy — and how those spoils are shared with creators. Just under 50 parties submitted written evidence to CMA officials as part of the study, including all three major labels, Google and independent music companies Believe, Beggars Group and Merlin.
Responding to artist concerns around how little they earn from music streaming, the CMA says its analysis of the market found that “neither record labels nor streaming services are likely to be making significant excess profits that could be shared with creators.”
According to its most recent earnings report, Universal Music Group’s revenue grew 13.3% to 2.66 billion euros ($2.75 billion) at constant currency in the third quarter of 2022. The world’s largest record label reported growth across all segments, including a 10.1% rise in recorded music revenue. UMG’s total revenues for 2021 were 8.5 billion euros ($10.1 billion) with net income of 1.271 billion euros ($1.51 billion) on an adjusted basis.
Sony Music reported on Nov. 1 that its quarterly revenues had risen 5.9% year-on-year to $2.58 billion (¥359.3 billion), with recorded music revenue up 14.2% to $1.62 billion (¥224 billion) in the same period, driven by growth of its subscription streaming income. Last week, Warner Music Group announced its quarterly revenues rose 16% at constant currency (9% as reported) to $1.5 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 30.
Despite the concentrated nature of the market, outcomes for artists as a whole seem to be improving, the CMA says. Between 2012 and 2021, the average gross royalty rate increased from 19.7% to 23.3% and artists now have far greater choice over the type of deal available to them, ranging from traditional label deals to DIY distribution or artist and label service type deals. The CMA report also notes that the proportion of record contracts where labels own copyright of recordings in perpetuity fell from 66% to 26.4% in that same nine-year period.
Reaction among U.K. music trade groups to the CMA’s final report was mixed. A spokesperson for labels trade body BPI welcomed the regulator’s decision not to proceed with a full market investigation and said the study reinforces its view that the future health of the music industry is dependent on labels continuing to invest in artists.
Graham Davies, chief executive of songwriters and composers group The Ivors Academy, took an opposing view, saying that the current music streaming business “is concentrating earnings to an unsustainable extent” and “rewards few music creators.” He said government intervention is needed “to fix streaming.”
A former Atlantic Records talent scout is suing over allegations that label co-founder Ahmet Ertegun sexually assaulted her repeatedly from the 1980s to the 2000s – and that his conduct was enabled by a “boys will be boys” culture at the company.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan court, Jan Roeg said Ertegun (who died in 2006) assaulted her on their first meeting in 1983 and that his abuse then continued for “decades” after that. She says Atlantic had “ample opportunities” to observe his behavior, but “did not act” to protect its female employees.
“The permissive ‘boys will be boys’ attitude that prevailed at companies such as Atlantic Records was not just about having harmless fun,” her lawyers wrote. “Instead, it gave license to powerful figures like [Ertegun] to physically and sexually abuse women with impunity, with no fear of repercussions or opposition from the people who depended on his company for their livelihood and lifestyle.”
Roeg’s lawsuit was filed under the New York’s Adult Survivors Act, a new law that created a one-year window for alleged abuse victims to file long-delayed lawsuits that would normally be barred by the statute of limitations. The statute just went into effect last week, and more high-profile cases in the music industry are expected over the next year.
The complaint contained extensive details of alleged misconduct by Ertegun, who co-founded Atlantic in 1947 and went on to become one of the industry’s most powerful executives. After the first incident, the complaint says he “violently sexually assaulted Ms. Roeg at his Upper East Side home.” On at least two occasions, she says she found him “openly masturbating in his office.”
But she says he made very clear that she could not push back: “Women who wanted to do business with Atlantic had to play along with Mr. Ertegun’s sexual desires, and could not rock the boat with a complaint or lawsuit.”
In addition to naming Ertegun’s estate as a defendant, the case also directly names Atlantic Records, which is a unit Warner Music Group. Her lawyers say the company failed to take action to rein him in – and that the company even took actions to cover up his misconduct.
“Atlantic’s top executives and other management had ample opportunities to observe Mr. Ertegun’s drunken, abusive conduct and hateful attitude towards women, including in Company meetings in which he would openly brag about and recount in detail sexually exploitative escapades he engaged in backstage at concerts and the like,” her lawyers wrote. “Atlantic also is known to have regularly paid money to women accusing Mr. Ertegun of sexual misconduct, both before and after his abuse of Ms. Roeg had begun.”
In a statement to Billboard, a representative for Warner Music Group said the company takes such allegations “very seriously” and stressed that the allegations dated years into the past. As is often the case in such long-delayed lawsuits, Atlantic’s corporate structure, polices and executives have changed dramatically in the years since the alleged misconduct took place.
“These allegations date back nearly 40 years, to before WMG was a standalone company. We are speaking with people who were there at the time, taking into consideration that many key individuals are deceased or into their 80s and 90s,” WMG wrote in the statement. “To ensure a safe, equitable, and inclusive working environment, we have a comprehensive Code of Conduct, and mandatory workplace training, to which all of our employees must adhere. We regularly evaluate how we can evolve our policies to ensure our work environment is free from discrimination and harassment.”
A representative for Ertegun’s estate could not be located for comment. But in a statement released to Rolling Stone, an attorney for the late executive’s widow said the case was “meritless and will be be vigorously defended on her behalf.”
Just a week after Ticketmaster’s disastrous presale for Taylor Swift‘s The Eras Tour, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) are asking the chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) how the agency plans to combat bots in the online ticketing marketplace.
In a letter sent Monday (Nov. 28), Sens. Blumenthal and Blackburn — chair and ranking member of the Senate’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security, respectively — are requesting information from FTC chair Lina Khan about what steps the FTC is taking to enforce the 2016 law known as the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, which was designed to crack down on the kind of illegal bots that have plagued online ticket sales for recent tours by Swift and other major stars.
That law, which “prohibits the circumvention of a security measure, access control system, or other technological control measure used online by a ticket issuer” and the sale of tickets knowingly obtained through those means, grants the FTC and state attorneys general the authority to enforce violations, according to the letter. But since the BOTS Act became law, Blumenthal and Blackburn claim the FTC has taken only a single enforcement action despite numerous incidents involving the use of bots in online ticket sales.
“Given the numerous high-profile incidents in the online ticket marketplace, it would be helpful to understand how the FTC intends to act to address such conduct going forward,” the letter reads.
Monday’s letter follows Ticketmaster’s earlier claim that the Swift debacle was caused in part by tens of millions of uninvited users and billions of bots crashing the Eras presale, forcing the company to shut down the tour’s final onsale after more than 90% of ticketing inventory was snapped up.
In the wake of the fiasco, politicians including Sen. Amy Klobuchar — chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights — and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested Ticketmaster and its owner Live Nation represent a monopoly and cried out for accountability, with the latter directly calling for the companies, which merged in 2010, to be broken up. Last week, Klobuchar and her counterpart on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), jointly announced they would be holding a hearing to examine the effects of consolidation on the ticketing industry. Live Nation and Ticketmaster are also reportedly under investigation by the Justice Department over whether the companies represent an illegal monopoly, though that probe is said to have predated the Swift incident.
In addition to the Swift debacle, in the letter Blumenthal and Blackburn point to various other recent online ticketing mishaps involving bots, including tours for Bob Dylan, Blake Shelton, Bruce Springsteen and Adele.
“While bots may not be the only reason for these problems, which Congress is evaluating, fighting bots is an important step in reducing consumer costs in the online ticketing industry,” the senators continued. They point out that the infiltration of bots, among other factors, creates an unfair environment that prevents regular fans from purchasing tickets, forcing them to resort to secondary sites where tickets are often marked up dramatically. “Some reports have found secondary ticket sales ranging from $1,000 (Bruce Springsteen) to $40,000 (Adele),” the lawmakers added.
Though Swift may benefit from Blackburn’s interest in addressing the ticketing bots issue, the two have not exactly gotten along in the past. The pop star made a rare-at-the-time political statement in 2018, denouncing Blackburn for her conservative voting record and urging voters to choose her opponent in the Senate race that year. She later called the lawmaker “Trump in a wig.” Last year, Blackburn addressed the tiff in an interview, arguing Swift would the “first victim” in a “socialistic government.”
In addition to asking whether the FTC has any “pending enforcement matters before it” with respect to the BOTS Act, Blumenthal and Blackburn are asking why only a single enforcement action has been taken to date; whether there are “obstacles preventing” the FTC from enforcing the law; and whether there are “other solutions that Congress needs to consider” to prevent bots from operating in the future.
You can read the full letter below.
Dear Chair Khan:
We write to ask for information about the steps the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking to combat the use and operation of bots in the online ticket marketplace. As you know, the Better Online Ticket Sales, or BOTS Act, became law in 2016. This law prohibits the circumvention of a security measure, access control system, or other technological control measure used online by a ticket issuer. It also prohibits the selling or offering of an event ticket obtained through a circumvention violation if the seller participated in, had the ability to control, or should have known about the violation. The BOTS Act gives the FTC and state attorneys general the authority to enforce violations as unfair and deceptive practices.
Recently, several high profile incidents arose where consumers encountered serious difficulties purchasing tickets through online ticket vendors, including Ticketmaster and AXS. While bots may not be the only reason for these problems, which Congress is evaluating, fighting bots is an important step in reducing consumer costs in the online ticketing industry. For example, consumers reported trying to purchase tickets to see Bob Dylan at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, only to be told the tickets in their shopping cart no longer existed. Similarly, 22,000 fans preregistered to buy tickets for Blake Shelton, but only a few hundred actually got tickets. Finally, Ticketmaster/LiveNation pointed to online bots as a reason why fans could not get Taylor Swift concert tickets, leading the ticket seller to shut down sales to the general public.
While some consumers opt to purchase tickets on the secondary market, most fans cannot afford to pay thousands of dollars for a single concert ticket. Some reports have found secondary ticket sales ranging from $1,000 (Bruce Springsteen) to $40,000 (Adele).3 Preventing this type of consumer harm is exactly why Congress chose to enact the BOTS Act six years ago and why we both chose to sponsor that bill.
We understand that, in January 2021, the FTC took its first enforcement actions under the BOTS Act. However, given the numerous high-profile incidents in the online ticket marketplace, it would be helpful to understand how the FTC intends to act to address such conduct going forward. We request answers to the following, which may be provided in a confidential briefing if needed:
Does the FTC have any pending enforcement matters before it with respect to the BOTS Act?
Why has the FTC only undertaken a single enforcement action to date using its BOTS Act authority?
Are there obstacles preventing the FTC from exercising its authority under the BOTS Act that Congress should be aware of?
Are there other solutions that Congress needs to consider in conjunction with the BOTS Act?
We appreciate your timely attention to this issue.
Sincerely,
Marsha BlackburnRanking MemberSubcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security
Richard BlumenthalChairSubcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security
Apple Music has released its revamped listening roundup, called Replay, which allows users to access a highlight reel of insights into their listening habits for 2022. This includes their total listening time, as well as their top songs, artists, albums, genres, playlists (both editorial and personal) and radio stations.
Released Tuesday (Nov. 29), Replay is rolling out with an updated color design and shareable assets for the top five of each user’s categories and will include a playlist of each user’s 100 most-played songs of the year. The most dedicated fans will also be clued in if they’re among the top 100 listeners for an individual artist or genre. Despite the fact that it rolls out before December hits, each user’s Replay will continue updating throughout the end of the year.
Apple has also released four year-end charts: Top 100 Global Songs, Top 100 Shazams, Top 100 Most-Read Lyrics and Top 100 Fitness Songs. The top songs for those respective playlists on the platform are The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber’s “Stay”; Elton John & Dua Lipa’s “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)”; “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from the Encanto soundtrack; and Joel Corry’s “Head & Heart” feat. MNEK.
Among the Top 100 Songs, hip-hop still leads the way with 32 entries, though that’s down considerably from the 45 it had on that chart last year; with Apple surpassing 100 million tracks on its platform earlier this year, there is a more even distribution among genres than in years past. Pop came in second with 23 songs on the list, followed by R&B/Soul with 11, Latin with eight and J-Pop with six. Meanwhile, the top 10 Shazams list includes a number of African artists for the first time, including Rema (“Calm Down”) and Ckay (“Love Nwantiti”) in the top 10, while the lyrics chart includes four J-Pop songs. Perhaps predictably, the fitness songs chart was dominated by dance releases and remixes.
Earlier this month, Apple announced that Bad Bunny was its artist of the year, with his Un Verano Sin Ti the most-streamed album on its platform in 2022 and the most-streamed Latin album of all time. His ascension to that spot highlights the growing trend of non-English-language songs succeeding on the platform: overall, 21 non-English songs landed on the year-end Global Top 100, up from just nine last year.
Music business lawyers, songwriters, and other professionals gathered at the University of Georgia in Athens for the Artist Rights’ Symposium on Nov. 15. Hosted by senior lecturer, songwriter and member of band Cracker, Dr. David Lowery, the day-long conference discussed ways for the music industry to better champion songwriters, to address the problem of metadata inaccuracies, and to explain the differences in rate setting across different countries.
The series of panels was bisected by a lunch and fireside chat with Hipgnosis CEO and founder Merck Mercuriadis, moderated by attorney Chris Castle, who explained why he feels the industry is in the “age of the songwriter.” “There has been a massive paradigm shift,” he said. “Forty years ago, the power was in the artist brand,” but now, most songs that top the Billboard charts are written by a larger number of songwriters than ever, meaning the demand has never been higher for good hitmakers. “But songwriters have to have a place at the negotiating table now,” he said, citing that in the United States, rates for mechanicals are set by the government’s Copyright Royalty Board, barring “free market” negotiations. “Let’s face it, [the government controlling rates] is insulting to songwriters.”
Mercuriadis said he’s a supporter of the recent Phonorecords IV settlement, which set the U.S. mechanical streaming rates for 2023-2027, and was formed by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), the Digital Media Rights (DiMA) and Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) banding together earlier this fall for “one main reason:” he believes it will provide the industry with stability for the next five year period. This would contrast the current five-year period (2018-2022), Phonorecords III, in which publishers, rights holders and songwriters have not had a clear idea of what rate they would be paid due to a lengthy appeals process that has tied up royalties.
He detailed an ambitious hope for the future, to “get out of the CRB in the next five years and into the free market.” Mercuriadis’ vision, he said, was inspired by the screenwriters guild — The Writers Guild of America — which has been able to secure fair compensation for those who create the scripts the industry is reliant on through advocation, unionization and bargaining with its titans of industry. Mercuriadis has certainly espoused his vision for a coalition of songwriters in the past and stood by that vision during his chat at the symposium, but he did not reveal many new details of his plans to build it.
“I have tremendous faith,” he said of it happening, despite the challenges and legal roadblocks he faces to achieve this scenario, adding that artists could be a major potential ally to songwriters getting what he thinks of as fair opportunities. As a leader in the catalog acquisition business, Hipgnosis has financial interests that overlap with songwriters regarding compensation rates.
Some panelists who flew in from Europe and South America for the event broadened the discussion beyond the U.S. borders. Crispin Hunt, the former chair of the U.K.’s Ivors Academy, explained how whatever rates are set in the U.S. often act as a benchmark for other countries during their respective negotiations with the same services. Also during the panel, Hunt added that he felt this was “an incredibly critical moment for songwriters,” as traditional offline broadcast income continues to fall and is replaced more with each coming year by digital.
Samantha Schilling of Songtradr brought her perspective from working in Brazil and with a mostly Latin American music business. She pointed out the differing standards that separate her business with that of the U.S. and how the two regions might learn from each other. For example, she said, while commonplace in the U.S., some Latin American countries prohibit work for hire agreements for songs written for TV/film. She said this helps songwriters maintain ownership and secure royalties on the backend. “That was put in place to protect songwriters,” Schilling noted. “Netflix tried to change it… but we were able to fight for songwriters to get that backend income.” In the U.S., some streaming video on demand (SVOD) companies are rumored to be asking songwriters to give up their backend royalties, a crucial component of income for those working at the intersection of music and visual media.
The day ended off with a discussion of the importance of metadata — which is often incomplete or incorrect, causing misallocation of songwriters’ royalties — and registering properly with the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) to collect due compensation. Led by Abby North (North Music Group), Erin McAnally (Artists Rights Alliance), Helienne Lindvall (European Composer and Songwriter Alliance, Ivors Academy) and Melanie Santa Rosa (Word Collections, The MLC), the conversation harkened back to Hunt’s earlier point about the growing importance of digital income streams, which according to CISAC’s 2021 annual report, comprises of $3.62 billion to the worldwide music business, and how the industry can clean up its rocky start to collecting from these sources.
