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The creator of Ibiza clubbing institutions Hï and Ushuaïa has announced the opening a new nightclub on the island in 2025.
The space, called [UNVRS], has been dubbed a “hyperclub,” by The Night League, the group behind the new concept and the other two afrorementioned clubs.
While details are still scant regarding what a “hyperclub” is, what this space will look like or what kind of music it will program, Yann Pissenem, the owner, founder and CEO of The Night League tells Billboard that with the new space, “we’re taking everything we’ve learned from creating Ushuaïa and Hï Ibiza—venues ranked among the world’s best—and pushing the boundaries even further.
“A Hyperclub is the next evolution in global nightlife,” Pissenem continues. “Imagine seeing your favorite artists in a space that offers the best elements of a club, the infrastructure of an arena, and the best hospitality in the world.[UNVRS] is about attention to granular detail, from the finishes across the venue to the unique experiences our guests will never forget. It’s a space that retains the raw energy of a rave, connecting the present and future within the walls of stunning architecture.
The announcement of the club technically began on July 31, when many in Ibiza reported seeing a mysterious object in the sky near Es Vedra, a large rock formation just off the coast of the island’s west coast.
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Today (Aug. 19) that situation was revealed to be a marketing stunt, with none other than Will Smith (an original Man In Black, of course) posting a video of himself to Instagram saying he’d seen the “UFO sighting” and therefore “hit my boy Yann, and Yann is like the king of Ibiza,” with Pissenem then sending Smith a pinned location on the island, which lead Smith to the construction site of the new club. In the video, Smith meets Pissenem at the site, with Pissenem declaring “welcome to [UNVRS]” as the Men In Black them song plays.
With The Night League, Pissenem has made Ushuaïa and Hï destinations for many of the world’s biggest DJs, with this season’s Ushuaïa residents including Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Martin Garrix and Armin van Buuren and Hï hosting heavy hitters like Black Coffee, Eric Prydz, Fisher and many more. The company says that together, these clubs bring in 1.5 million attendees each season.
“Ibiza has always been the epicenter of global club culture, and we feel a responsibility to elevate it again, ensuring it remains at the forefront of the nightlife scene,” Pissenem continues to Billboard. “With [UNVRS], we’re not just preserving Ibiza’s prestige; we’re redefining what’s possible in club culture.”
Christoph Behm has been named the new CEO of Sony Music Germany, Switzerland and Austria (GSA), replacing Patrick Mushatsi-Kareba, who is exiting the company at the end of August.
Berlin-based Behm, who began his career at Sony Music in 2011 and has worked in a number of senior roles for the label over the past decade, including head of streaming and director of digital sales, will report to Daniel Lieberberg, president of Sony Music Continental Europe and Africa.
In a statement announcing Behm’s promotion, Lieberberg said the newly appointed CEO’s “deep understanding of our DSP partners and creativity as a leader will serve him well in his new role.”
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“Christoph has played an important role building and expanding our business across this region during the streaming era,” said Lieberberg. “He has worked closely with our artists to bring their music to new fans in innovative ways and has embraced continuous industry change to create opportunity despite rapidly shifting paradigms and business models.”
Sony Music did not provide any details about Mushatsi-Kareba’s departure from the company. The outgoing CEO has headed Sony Music’s operations in the GSA region since 2018 when he joined the label from Universal Music Germany. Prior to that, Mushatsi-Kareba spent eight years at Apple, where he was responsible for overseeing the tech company’s music business in multiple European markets, including Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland.
Although Sony Music GSA has enjoyed significant commercial success over the past six years, sources with inside knowledge of their relationship tell Billboard that Mushatsi-Kareba and Lieberberg did not always see eye to eye.
Prior to his promotion to CEO, Behm held the role of senior vp of Sony Music GSA’s commercial division, where he oversaw a large team, including the company’s family entertainment business. In the past two years, Behm’s responsibilities grew to also encompass oversight of catalog, sales and streaming departments in the region.
Top-selling frontline Sony artists in the GSA market include Apache 207, Nina Chuba, Rap Larue and Reezy.
“It fills me with pride to now lead the company that I have served in various roles for so many years,” said Behm, who takes up the CEO post on Sept. 1, in a statement. “We are at another exciting time for our industry, and I look forward with great confidence to this next chapter for Sony Music GSA,” he added.
Germany is the world’s fourth-biggest recorded music market in IFPI’s annual rankings behind the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again (aka NBA YoungBoy) will plead guilty to a federal gun charge that saw him held under house arrest for more than two years while awaiting trial, according to new court filings.
In a notice lodged in court Wednesday (Aug. 14), the rapper (real name Kentrell Gaulden) told a federal judge that “I wish to plead guilty to the offense charged” — referring to a single count of possession of firearms by a convicted felon.
It’s unclear whether the guilty plea is the result of an agreement with prosecutors or will result in a more lenient sentence. YoungBoy’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment.
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The rapper was indicted by federal prosecutors in 2021 after he was allegedly found with two guns during a September 2020 incident in Baton Rouge, La. He was charged with violating a long-standing federal law that bans convicted felons from possessing guns — a rule that applied to him because he had previously been convicted in 2017 of aggravated assault with a firearm.
The rapper had finally been set for a trial on that charge this July. But in a March ruling, a federal judge paused the case to await a Supreme Court ruling on a major gun-control case that could play a key role in YoungBoy’s efforts to avoid a conviction. That ruling came out in June, but the case had yet to fully resume when Wednesday’s notice was filed.
While awaiting trial, YoungBoy has been confined to his Salt Lake City mansion — a house arrest that’s lasted more than two full years. In October, his attorneys pleaded that the “long period of social isolation” was harming his mental health and asked that the judge loosen restrictions, including allowing him to travel to a recording studio to create new music. But that request was largely denied in November.
While Wednesday’s plea will resolve the federal gun charge, YoungBoy is facing dozens of newer state charges in Utah after he was arrested in April for allegedly running a “large scale prescription fraud ring” while living under house arrest.
Those charges include identity fraud, obtaining a prescription under false pretenses, forgery, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity and possession of a controlled substance.
YoungBoy was granted release on bond in May; it’s unclear when he might ultimately face trial on the prescription drug charges.
Adidas AG has won a court order dismissing a class-action lawsuit that claims the German sneaker giant violated securities laws by failing to warn its shareholders about Ye’s offensive behavior.
The case claimed that Adidas knew about serious problems with Ye (formerly Kanye West) as far back as 2018 but failed to disclose them, leaving investors facing losses when the company finally ended the partnership in 2022 over Ye’s antisemitic tirades and erratic behavior.
In a ruling Friday (Aug. 16), Judge Karin Immergut said she did not condone Ye’s conduct “erratic, inappropriate, and antisemitic” behavior and said it was “troubling” that it had happened at Adidas, but that it did not rise to the level of securities fraud.
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“The question before this court is not whether to admonish Ye or hold Adidas morally accountable for Ye’s conduct,” Immergut wrote. “Rather, this Court is faced with a precise legal question: has Plaintiff sufficiently pleaded facts showing that Adidas misled investors and thereby committed federal securities fraud? On the current record before this Court, the answer is no.”
Adidas ran a lucrative collaboration with Ye and his Yeezy apparel brand for nearly a decade. But the party ended in 2022, when the sneaker company (and many others) cut ties with the embattled rapper amid a wave of offensive statements he made about Jewish people. In an October 2022 statement announcing the split, Adidas said the rapper’s statements were “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous.”
It’s been a messy breakup for Adidas. The split contributed to a loss of $655 million in sales for the last three months of 2022 and left Adidas holding $1.3 billion worth of unsold Yeezys and facing tricky questions about how to dispose of them responsibly. Adidas also battled Ye in court over millions in company funds and disclosed that it was litigating other aspects of the divorce in private arbitration.
In May 2023, a group of investors took Adidas to court over the breakup, arguing that Adidas executives had been aware for years of the potential harm that could come from the Ye partnership but had failed to publicly share such concerns with shareholders, as required by U.S. securities law.
In particular, the lawsuit cited a November 2022 Wall Street Journal article reporting that Adidas executives feared for years that the Yeezy relationship could “blow up at any moment.” The article reported that West had made antisemitic comments in front of Adidas staffers, including suggesting that an album be named after Adolf Hitler. The Journal story also highlighted a 2018 presentation to then-CEO Kasper Rørsted that detailed the risks of the arrangement and contemplated cutting ties with him.
But in Friday’s ruling, Judge Immergut sided with arguments from Adidas that the company’s disclosure statements had not misled investors about the risk posed by Ye. In one passage, she reminded the plaintiffs that Ye had shown signs of erratic behavior well before the split with Adidas — quoting statements in which he said that “racism is a dated concept” and that slavery was a “choice.”
“This court would be remiss not to note the very public nature of Ye’s behavior before Fall 2022,” the judge wrote. “After all, courts are not required to exhibit a naiveté from which ordinary citizens are free.”
The judge gave the investors one final chance to refile an updated version of their case against Adidas, but she cast doubt on whether they could overcome the problems she had identified in her ruling.
Attorneys for both sides did not immediately return a request for comment.
After Donald Trump posted AI-generated images to social media that falsely suggested Taylor Swift had endorsed him, can the superstar take legal action against the Republican presidential nominee? We asked the experts.
Posted on Sunday (Aug. 18) to Trump’s account on his own Truth Social platform, several of the photos showed women in t-shirts with the slogan “Swifties for Trump” emblazoned on the front. Some of those shots appeared to have been generated by AI, including several originally posted by a satire website.
But the most prominent image showed Swift herself, dressed up as Uncle Sam in the style of a World War II-era recruiting poster, bearing a clear message: “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.” At the top of the post, Trump himself responded to the apparent endorsement: “I accept!”
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The images quickly sparked outrage among fans of the superstar singer, who has long been an outspoken critic of the 45th president. Though she has not yet endorsed a candidate in 2024, Swift supported Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris in 2020 — and she blasted Trump for “stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism” and urged her legions of fans to vote him out of office.
As news of Trump’s post spread across the internet, many Swifties quickly wondered the same thing: Could Taylor take legal action against the former president?
According to Jessica Silbey, a professor at Boston University School of Law and an expert in intellectual property and constitutional law, Trump’s fake endorsement post likely violates Swift’s right of publicity — the legal power to control how your name, image and likeness are used by others.
“Everyone enjoys a right of publicity,” says Silbey, who has written extensively about the internet. “This kind of use — being made to say and seen as believing things you don’t — is at the core of the right.”
As the explosive growth of artificial intelligence tools has made it easier to convincingly mimic real people, lawmakers have scrambled to empower individuals like Swift to better protect their right of publicity. The federal NO FAKES Act, currently under debate in Congress, would make it illegal to publish a “digital replica” of someone’s likeness without their consent, including their voice or their image.
Trump’s post — featuring a photorealistic, AI-generated replica of Swift’s image without her consent — would almost certainly violate that new federal law. But even without the NO FAKES Act, states across the country already protect the right of publicity and would likely give Swift grounds to sue Trump or his campaign. Silbey says Swift might also explore suing him for defamation, claiming the false presidential endorsement harmed her reputation.
Whether the star should do so is a different question. Such litigation would be long and costly and Trump has potential defense strategies, including pinning the blame on the people who originally created the images, or arguing that his posts were free speech shielded by the First Amendment. And even if Taylor won, it’s hard to say whether it would be worth the effort to pull down one post.
“I’m skeptical the juice would be worth the squeeze,” says Woodrow Hartzog, another professor at Boston University School of Law.
Rather than responding with cease-and-desist letters or a lawsuit, Swift might decide that she’s better off fighting Trump’s fake endorsement with a legitimate endorsement of her own, broadcast across social media to her millions of die-hard fans. That’s the kind of remedy that no court can issue — and one that will likely hurt Trump far more than any judge could.
“I think Swift probably has more effective political rather than legal recourse here,” Hartzog said.
08/19/2024
Tracing the rapid ascent of the 30-year-old record executive (and son of UMG’s Lucian Grainge), from his early entrepreneurial ventures to his industry-shaking new role.
08/19/2024
Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Fridayy has extended his publishing deal with Prescription Songs, Billboard can exclusively announce Monday (Aug. 19).
“Prescription feels like home for me,” says Fridayy in a press statement. “Shout out to Eddie [Fourcell, vp of A&R at Prescription Songs]! Without him, who knows where I would be! All I ever needed was an opportunity, and Eddie and Prescription provided that.”
The news arrives days after his “When It Comes to You” single earned platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song, featured on his 2023 self-titled debut album, peaked at No. 29 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and broke into the top 40 of Rhythmic Airplay. It also became Fridayy’s first solo entry on the Billboard Hot 100, reached No. 97.
“From the moment Eddie first played me Fridayy’s music, I knew he was a special talent,” says Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, Prescription Songs founder. “We are excited and honored to extend our publishing partnership with Fridayy and know this next chapter together will be even bigger and better.”
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Fridayy (real name Francis LeBlanc) first signed a deal with Prescription in 2022. Fourcell had sent DJ Khaled a chorus idea that Fridayy created, which led to the creation of the star-studded “God Did,” featuring Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, John Legend and Fridayy. “God Did” earned three nominations at the 2023 Grammy Awards, which closed with the hip-hop heavyweights’ performance: song of the year, best rap song and best rap performance. It also reached No. 17 on the Hot 100 in 2022, marking Fridayy’s highest-charting entry to date. He also co-wrote the 21 Savage-assisted “Calling For You” cut on Drake‘s Billboard 200-topping For All the Dogs album, which hit No. 5 on the Hot 100.
“It’s an honor to work alongside such a great team at Prescription. Six months after meeting my brother Eddie, all our lives changed for the better! If he didn’t send ‘God Did’ to Khaled, none of this is possible,” adds Fridayy’s manager Edgar Cutino. “I want to thank Luke and Rhea [Pasricha, head of A&R, West Coast at Prescription Songs] for empowering a great executive to sign a kid with no placements who was just dope. Shoutout to our team for the months of hard work it took to get this done: my partner Chris Washington, our incredible lawyers Brian Drach and Jason Berger, and the amazing Dayna Gomez, who keeps everything with us running.”
The Museum of Broadcast Communications has revealed eight new Legends inductees into the Radio Hall of Fame for 2024, honoring the talents and work of on-air personalities, programmers and operators who have made considerable contributions to the radio industry, and who have since passed away.
The inductees include on-air personalities Chuck Blore, Alan Colmes, Charlie Douglas, Jim Ladd, Byron MacGregor, journalist Maria Martin, executive Percy Sutton and programming executive/on-air personality Rusty Walker.
The Radio Hall of Fame will honor its 2024 class of inductees at the 2024 Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Omni Nashville in Nashville. 2022 Radio Hall of Fame inductee Lon Helton will serve as the master of ceremonies for the event.
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Dennis Green, co-chair of the Radio Hall of Fame, said in a statement, “These legends of broadcasting may have passed on, but their legacy and what they meant to the radio industry will never die. The Radio Hall of Fame Nominating Committee is honored to award Hall of Fame inductions to each of these individuals. May their contributions be a lasting tribute and inspiration for generations of broadcasters to emulate for years to come.”
Kraig Kitchin, co-chair of the Radio Hall of Fame, said in a statement, “Our nominating committee recognizes the history of our medium and the countless individuals who contributed to the dominant influence of radio for so many decades. Each of these individuals left an indelible mark on the audiences they connected with and the businesses that they were associated with. We’re grateful for their talents, and only regret that they were not able to receive this special recognition while alive.”
Blore served as a disc jockey and program director of several radio stations, launching his career in El Paso, Texas, before moving to Los Angeles in the late 1950s and overseeing KFWB-AM. He was known for identifying stellar on-air talent, including Gary Owens and Wink Martindale. Blore left day-to-day radio duties to form an advertising agency benefiting television networks and motion picture studios, among others with the agency producing thousands of radio and television commercials.
Colmes’s radio career includes years on WABC-AM and WNBC-AM in New York City, before being syndicated nationally on over 100 radio stations via Daynet, a radio syndication company he co-founded with other radio hosts. His program was eventually distributed by Fox News Radio, with Colmes offering a liberal viewpoint on American politics on broadcast radio. Colmes also appeared on television, as co-host with Sean Hannity on the Hannity & Colmes program, and later, as a frequent guest on The Greg Gutfeld Show, both on Fox News.
Douglas created the original all-night radio show for truckers in 1970, after joining WWL-AM in New Orleans. The Road Gang, hosted by Douglas, played country music and offered conversation and companionship for radio audiences that primarily included truck drivers. Douglas launched his career in Louisiana in 1953, and became a program director for the first time three years later in 1956 at KOCY-AM in Oklahoma City. He then worked at Asheville, N.C.; San Antonio, Dallas and Houston among other markets before joining WWL-AM. In 1983, he joined WSM-AM in Nashville as a host of The Music Country Network, before retiring in 1995 to devote his attention to music promotion firm Compact Disc Express. He also served as president of Country Radio Broadcasters for two terms and was inducted into the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame in 1994.
Southern California on-air personality Ladd was dubbed “The Last D.J.” by Tom Petty in 2002. Ladd was part of KNAC-FM in Los Angeles in 1967, before joining KLOS-FM in 1969 and then joined archival station KMET-FM in 1975, until the station switched formats in 1987. He then re-joined KLOS-FM to host an evening program for 24 years. In 2011, he became an on-air personality for SiriusXM, staying on the air until his death in December 2023.
MacGregor is known for many years on-air in Detroit, Mich. MacGregor became news director at CKLW-AM by the age of 22. His career also included time at the CBS Radio-owned all-news station WWJ-AM, where he served as both morning and afternoon drive anchor during his 13 years with the station.
Martin was first heard on the first Latino-owned community radio station in the U.S., at KBBF-AM in Santa Rosa, Calif. She then joined National Public Radio (NPR) and became an editor of their program Latin File. Martin was the network’s first Latin American Affairs Editor on their national desk, and left NPR in 1993 to launch the English-language program Latino USA, to reflect the experiences of the Latino community.
Sutton founded the Inner City Broadcasting in New York City in 1970 and the company purchased its first station, WLIB-AM, in 1972, making it the first Black-owned radio station in New York. The company later acquired WBLS-FM and purchased stations in 10 more U.S. cities. As the stations programmed R&B music and later, urban contemporary music, talk radio programs also played a vial role in the community of listeners. As founder and chairman, Sutton became known as “The Godfather of Urban Radio.” In 1981, Sutton and his investment partners purchased the Apollo Theater in Harlem. The theater was renovated and reopened in 1985 and included a cable television studio that was used to produce the variety show It’s Showtime at the Apollo.
Country music radio personality and radio station programmer Walker served as a country music radio personality and station programmer before founding Rusty Walker Programming Consultants in 1983, and becoming a revered consultant to many country music formatted stations and helping over 500 radio stations with their music selections, on-air personality coaching, promotional support and more. For seven consecutive years, Walker was named Billboard‘s consultant of the year, and in 2024 the Country Radio Hall of Fame inducted Walker, recognizing his industry impact.
The Radio Hall of Fame was founded by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988, and the Museum of Broadcast Communications took over operations of the Hall in 1991.
Maxie Solters, a third-generation entertainment publicist, died unexpectedly Thursday (Aug. 15) in Los Angeles. She was 37. She was also a writer, actor and producer. No cause of death was shared.
Solters followed her father, Larry Solters, and her grandfather, Lee Solters, in the family business. Her grandfather was a legendary press agent, who handled such acts as Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Carol Channing and Frank Sinatra. Larry Solters’ Scoop Marketing represents the Eagles, Irving Azoff and Iconic Artists Group, among other clients.
Solters, who was known for her helpful and friendly demeanor, joined Scoop in 2012, working with such clients as the Kia Forum, the Hollywood Bowl and Music Forward.
Maxie Solters
Solters family
Solters grew up in Sherman Oaks, California, and graduated from Oakwood School and the University of Southern California with a theater degree. Before joining Scoop, she worked in film and television casting and also served as a coordinator for One Billion Rising, the global movement for justice and equality. In addition to acting in a number of theatrical productions, Maxie, who was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, also created, produced and starred in her own comedy web series, including 2016’s Chooch and Adventures in Online Dating and 2017’s Climax! The Series.
Her social justice work also included involvement in V-Day International and work on women’s rights.
Survivors include her father, Larry, and his partner, Carol Greenhut; her mother, Debra Graff; her longtime partner, Dim Dobrin; her aunt, Susan Reynolds; her cousin, Jonah Reynolds; and her dog, Pookie. A celebration of life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Maxie’s name to One Billion Rising, a cause she deeply believed in.
A Missouri woman has been arrested for allegedly attempting to defraud the family of Elvis Presley and steal their ownership interest in Graceland, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday (Aug. 16).
The 53-year-old woman, whose name is Lisa Jeanine Findley but has gone by numerous aliases, has been charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. She faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the former charge and a mandatory minimum of two years on the latter; she made an initial court appearance in Missouri on Friday.
“As alleged in the complaint, the defendant orchestrated a scheme to conduct a fraudulent sale of Graceland, falsely claiming that Elvis Presley’s daughter had pledged the historic landmark as collateral for a loan that she failed to repay before her death,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, in a statement. “As part of the brazen scheme, we allege that the defendant created numerous false documents and sought to extort a settlement from the Presley family. Now she is facing federal charges. The Criminal Division and its partners are committed to holding fraudsters to account.”
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According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Tennessee on Thursday (Aug. 15), Findley allegedly posed as three different people affiliated with a company called Naussany Investments & Private Lending in claiming that Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, had used the famed Memphis mansion as collateral to secure a loan of $3.8 million that she failed to repay. She also allegedly fabricated loan documents and forged the signatures of Lisa Marie and a notary public to file a false creditor’s claim with the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles and a false deed of trust with the Shelby Country Register’s Office in Memphis. The Justice Department also claims that Findley published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in the Memphis daily newspaper The Commercial Appeal announcing that Naussany Investments would auction Graceland on May 23.
The attempted auction was quickly blocked after Presley’s granddaughter and Lisa Marie’s daughter, Riley Keough — who took over as trustee of Promenade Trust, the entity that controls Graceland, following Lisa Marie’s death in January 2023 — won a court order halting it. Shortly thereafter, Findley allegedly wrote to Presley family representatives, the Tennessee state court and the media to falsely claim that the person responsible for the faud was an identity thief based in Nigeria.
“Fame and money are magnets for criminals who look to capitalize on another person’s celebrity status,” said Eric Shen, inspector in charge of U.S. Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations Group (USPIS), in a statement. “In this case, Ms. Findley allegedly took advantage of the very public and tragic occurrences in the Presley family as an opportunity to prey on the name and financial status of the heirs to the Graceland estate, attempting to steal what rightfully belongs to the Presley family for her personal gain. Postal Inspectors and their law enforcement partners put an end to her alleged scheme, protecting the Presley family from continued harm and stress.”