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Between the DOJ’s Live Nation antitrust suit, Sphere’s first year, new leadership at CAA and a slew of acquisitions, it’s been another big year for the concert business.
Burning Man art car Titanic’s End is launching a record label, Titanic’s End Records.
Justin Kan and Nicholas Parasram, co-founders of the label, tell Billboard the project will help fund the annual cost of bringing the art car to Burning Man. 50% of label profits will also go to Big Arts Organization, a registered 501(c) nonprofit created by Titanic’s End to create public art and raise awareness about climate change.
Titanic’s End Records will focus on house, Afro house and global music, with singles coming from the collective of DJs and producers that exist within the community, as well as artists from outside this world. “Success for us is if we help artists to bring the sounds we are listening to to a broader audience in the world,” says Parasram.
Distribution is being handled by the independent label and artist services of Warner Music Group. Coming in January, the first release, coming in January, will be a collaborative track by producers JK, Arabic Piano, ORSO and Maejor.
Kan, a tech entrepreneur who also co-founded Twitch, and Parasram, an artist manager and investor, also recently launched Thin Ice Entertainment, which focuses on talent management, content publishing and distribution. The art car itself is a co-creation of from Kan and entrepreneur Eddie Sellers. Designed in the shape of iceberg, it was built in San Francisco by more than 200 volunteers from the Titanic’s End Burning Man camp and debuted at Burning Man in 2022.
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Known as a Burning Man art car with one of the highest-quality sound systems at the event, Titanic’s End has hosted sets by LP Giobbi, Diplo, Acraze, Tokimonsta, Francis Mercier and many other producers from the global Titanic’s End community.
Like several of the other biggest and loudest art cars at Burning Man, Titanic’s End also hosts events around the world and plans to present label artists at parties currently being planned for 2025. (in October of 2023, it made an appearance at set from Fisher and Chris Lake that took over Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles and drew an estimated crowd of 12,000.)
Kan says “all the activities [outside of Burning Man], from Titanic’s End Records to events that we host ourselves, go to our non profit to fund bringing Titanic’s End to the playa every year.”
The label founders add that the team is also focused on creating opportunities for artists from a variety of disciplines to present their art in the world. “Music is one area,” says Kan, “but we are also excited about large format sculptural and LED art and to build more in-person events that introduce the culture to more people.”
“We are very excited to launch this label,” Parasram adds, “because our community has worked so hard to build Titanic’s End into an symbiotic platform and the label is our final piece of the puzzle for a truly connected [inside/outside Burning Man] experience.”
Village People singer Victor Willis might be threatening to sue news outlets that describe his song “Y.M.C.A” as a “gay anthem,” but legal experts say such lawsuits would likely be a “nonstarter.”
In a social media post on Monday defending President-elect Donald Trump’s use of the iconic disco song at his campaign rallies, Willis also sharply denied that he had intended the track to be aimed at the gay community — calling it a “false assumption” and “completely misguided.”
But he also went a step further than that, warning that next month his team would “start suing each and every news organization” that refers to “Y.M.C.A” as a “gay anthem,” calling such a description “defamatory.”
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“The song is not really a gay anthem other than certain people falsely suggesting that it is,” Willis wrote in the post. “And this must stop because it is damaging to the song.”
Released by the Village People in October 1978, “Y.M.C.A” eventually reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 and was emblematic of the late-1970s disco craze. The buoyant track and its trademark alphabetic dance have become one of music’s enduring phenomenons, blasted for years at sporting events, wedding dance floors and, of late, Trump rallies.
According to The Financial Times, the song has been “widely interpreted as a gay anthem” for years: “This is no great stretch for a song encouraging ‘young men’ to ‘find many ways to have a good time,’” the outlet wrote. Beyond the lyrics, the band’s 1977 debut album made clear references to gay cultural touchstones, and the music video for “Y.M.C.A” was itself filmed in front of the famed New York City gay bar The Ramrod.
“‘Y.M.C.A.’ was more than a hit record,” reads a 2021 article released by the Library of Congress. “It was a cultural milestone: a world anthem built on, for, and about gay life and sensibilities that was, nevertheless, fully embraced by mainstream audiences.”
In an oral history of the song released by Spin in 2008, members of the band argued over whether such interpretations had been behind design — with Randy Jones (the cowboy) saying it was “not intended as a gay anthem” but David Hodo (the construction worker) saying that it “certainly has a gay origin.”
Willis has long denied any such connotation to his lyrics, saying in 2017 that “it was not written to be a gay song because of the simple fact I’m not gay.” And this isn’t the first time he’s threatened to sue to prove it: In 2020, amid a similar dustup over Trump, Willis warned that he would “sue the next newspaper that falsely claim my lyrics are somehow about gay sex.” It does not appear that any case was ever filed.
With such threats now resurfaced, it’s fair to ask: Can Willis really sue news outlets over something like this? Sure — this is America, and anybody can file a lawsuit over just about anything. But top attorneys who specialize in media law say that if he does so, such claims would face serious obstacles in court.
“Mr. Willis’ threatened libel claim would be a nonstarter for numerous reasons,” says Adam I. Rich, a music and free speech attorney at the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine.
“The Media Was Put On Notice To Cut It Out”
In his Facebook post — which has an all-caps header that says the song is “NOT REALLY A GAY ANTHEM” — Willis isn’t entirely clear on exactly what he plans to sue about, or how he plans to do it.
At times, he seems fixated on the “gay anthem” label itself, saying he and his wife will sue any outlet that “falsely refers” to the song as such. At other points, he appears more concerned about the perceived meaning of his lyrics, denying that he wrote the song as a “a message to gay people” and complaining that the lyrics have been misconstrued as references to gay sex or “illicit activity” at YMCAs. Confusingly, however, he also says, “I don’t mind that gays think of the song as their anthem.”
To understand more, Billboard reached out to Karen Willis, Victor’s wife and manager, who will purportedly be filing such lawsuits. In a series of emails, she said that the threatened litigation would target any media outlet that “infers that ‘Y.M.C.A.’ is a gay anthem based on its association with illicit gay activities at the Y,” calling such a statement “defamatory on its face.”
“Victor has a right not to have his lyrics twisted outside of the true meaning of his words, especially in a manner that would bring shame or scorn to him,” she wrote. “This is especially true when he can show that the media was put on notice to cut it out. Stop it.”
Will these lawsuits target any media report that refers to the song as a “gay anthem,” even if it makes no reference to the lyrics and merely cites the song’s well-established place in cultural history? Or will they merely target articles that make direct claims about what Victor intended his lyrics to mean?
Karen Willis wouldn’t exactly say. “I think if they simply said that the song is popular in the gay community, [I] see no liability there,” she wrote. But she also repeatedly argued the only reason the song is considered a “gay anthem” in the first place is a perceived hidden meaning of the lyrics.
“The single basis for the claim that ‘Y.M.C.A.’ is a gay anthem is that the lyrics suggests such,” Willis wrote, before later adding: “If the lyrics are not wrongfully believed to be the source of the gay anthem claim, the song would not be referred to as a gay anthem.”
“Squarely Protected by the First Amendment”
If the plan is to sue for defamation, that means that Willis believes that statements linking his song to the gay community are both factually false and damaging to him. It’s easy to make those accusations in a Facebook post, but actually winning such claims in the American court system is pretty hard, thanks to the U.S. Constitution and its robust protections for free speech.
For starters, to prove such an accusation — also known as libel — Willis would need to show that an offending news outlet had made a statement of fact that’s capable of being proven false, and not merely a statement of opinion that he disagrees with — a form of speech safeguarded by the First Amendment.
While explicit statements about his lyrical intentions might cross a line, experts say that merely describing the song as a “gay anthem” is clearly the kind of broad opinion that’s shielded from defamation litigation. And even if the “anthem” label could be proven false, would Willis actually be able to do so?
“A court would almost certainly find that the label ‘gay anthem’ is nonactionable opinion, squarely protected by the First Amendment,” says Rich, the media lawyer. “And regardless of what Mr. Willis now claims to have meant when he wrote it, he would bear the burden of proving that the song isn’t a gay anthem — that is about as likely as a young man not having a fun time at the YMCA.”
That skeptical view was seconded by Dori Hanswirth, a First Amendment attorney at the law firm Arnold & Porter, who cited the Village People’s “iconic status in the gay community” and the appearance of “a gay landmark in the music video.” In his Facebook post, even Willis admitted that the group’s self-titled debut album, released a year before “Y.M.C.A.,” had been “totally about gay life.”
“Calling ‘Y.M.C.A.’ a gay anthem is an opinion,” Hanswirth says. “To the extent the reference is considered a factual statement rather than an opinion, it is probably true. And truth is a complete defense to any defamation claim.”
Another potential legal roadblock for Willis’ planned lawsuits: Is a connection to the gay community even capable of being legally defamatory? Put another way: Is it really outright damaging if someone says your song was embraced by gay listeners, or that it made allusions to gay culture?
That might have been an easy argument to make in 1978, but after decades of hard-fought progress on LGBTQ+ rights, it’s a harder one to make in 2024. For example, a New York state appeals court issued a ruling in 2021 overturning a decades-old precedent holding that falsely calling someone gay was automatically defamatory, citing a “profound and notable transformation of cultural attitudes.”
“If the songwriter is arguing that it is defamatory to say that he wrote a song that became a gay anthem, I don’t see a basis for a claim there,” Hanswirth says. “It is generally not defamatory to say that someone is gay; thus, it would not be defamatory to say that someone wrote a song that is viewed as a celebration of gay male culture.”
Another, even more basic problem for any lawsuit against media outlets is the fact that Willis is a “public figure” — a status that makes it very hard to win a defamation lawsuit. Under U.S. Supreme Court precedents, he’d need to prove that offending statement (either calling his song a “gay anthem” or claiming a hidden lyrical meaning) was not only factually false, but that the writer knew it was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
That requirement (known as “actual malice”) has long made it extremely challenging for prominent people to sue for libel over anything but the most egregious cases. “That is a very difficult standard to meet,” Rich says. And it’s by design: if not sharply limited, defamation lawsuit could allow government officials, business execs and other powerful people to use the courts to stifle the kind of open exchange of ideas that the First Amendment is supposed to protect.
Of course, none of this is to say that Willis and his wife can’t file lawsuits come January. Everyone is entitled to their day in court, and if he wants to spend the money on lawyers and court fees, he can certainly test out his defamation theories. But experts don’t expect the courts to be sympathetic.
“I think the song has universal popularity and has also become symbolic of gay male culture from the 1970’s. Two things can be true,” Hanswirth says. “Is it a gay anthem? If you think it is, yes.”
In March, Tennessee became the first state to modernize its laws for the age of artificial intelligence. The ELVIS (Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security) Act — which updates the state’s right of publicity and likeness rights to prevent AI companies from creating unauthorized deepfake vocal imitations — represented the culmination of efforts from across the industry, including those of record labels and music publishers. But it was Todd Dupler, Recording Academy vp of advocacy and public policy, who gave the law its distinctly rock’n’roll name.
Coming up with catchy titles for laws is something of an extreme sport in legislative circles — think of the DREAM Act (for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors), or, in music, the CLASSICS (Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, and Important Contributions to Society) Act, which became part of the Music Modernization Act. Like these subjects, AI is complicated, so getting positive attention helps. And “in Tennessee, there’s no better way to capture attention than Elvis,” says Dupler, who has worked in the academy’s policy department since 2012 and was promoted to his current position in September 2023.
Dupler’s role in pushing for the Tennessee law is just one prominent example of how the Recording Academy is increasingly taking its lobbying work for music creators beyond Washington, D.C., to various state capitals. “The ELVIS Act became a model that state legislators and members of Congress looked at,” Dupler says. (Sometimes state laws lead to change in D.C.) “Our focus is to be a high-impact organization, to be a thought leader on issues that matter.”
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Right now, AI is the biggest issue of all. “It’s the issue that most of the community feels the most concern about,” Dupler says. It also involves a range of laws, including both federal copyright law (under which the major labels are suing generative AI companies Suno and Udio for using their recordings to train their software) and state law likeness rights (the legality of creating a “Fake Drake” or a similar vocal imitation). That’s why the academy, along with other music rights-holder organizations, is pushing for stronger statutes in statehouses, plus backing the federal NO FAKES (Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe) Act. (The bill, which has been introduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, now has widespread support; there will be attempts to attach it to must-pass legislation in the current “lame duck” session before Christmas, but it seems more likely that it will be reintroduced next year.)
By the beginning of this year, AI loomed so large that the House Judiciary Committee had a “field hearing” about it in Los Angeles two days before the 2024 Grammy Awards, where country singer Lainey Wilson and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. testified. “We wanted to use the spotlight of the show to draw attention to the issue,” Dupler says. “We embraced this idea of protecting human creativity.” The hearing helped raise the visibility of the Tennessee law, which in turn became a model for other bills around the country.
In February, Mason spoke at a House Judiciary Committee field hearing in Los Angeles on artificial intelligence.
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The academy’s other two advocacy priorities are banning the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials and regulating the secondary ticketing market, especially to mandate transparency. Unlike copyright law, which is federal, both of these issues involve a mix of federal and state legislation. The admissibility of lyrics as evidence can be a matter of federal or state law, depending on the charges; ticketing laws have come from statehouses, as well as Washington, D.C.
The academy launched its advocacy division in the late ’90s, and what began as a modest attempt to help shape policy for the digital age has grown into a significant operation that lobbies for creators, often along with the RIAA and the National Music Publishers’ Association, which represent the recording and publishing businesses, respectively. The academy now runs an annual Grammys on the Hill event to recognize artists and legislators (including, this past year, Sheryl Crow and Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and John Cornyn, R-Texas), and a Music Advocacy Day in which academy members visit the regional offices of national legislators to talk to them about their policy ideas. (This year drew 2,100 members.) In 2024, the academy also organized seven State Capitol Advocacy Days, twice as many as in past years, reflecting the importance of state law to its priorities.
Although the nature of procedural rules for criminal cases isn’t a core issue for the music industry, the academy and other music organizations have pushed to limit the use of lyrics as evidence on free expression grounds. “We engage in issues that affect the music business,” Dupler says, “and members and local chapters bring issues to us.”
In September 2022, California became the first state to limit the use of lyrics as evidence in its Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act, after the practice gained attention in Young Thug’s RICO trial. But bills in other states have stalled, and the federal RAP (Restoring Artistic Protection) Act, which would apply to trials for federal offenses, has yet to pass. “That has to be reintroduced,” Dupler says. “And we’ll continue to focus on both AI and lyrics on a federal level.”
Ticketing — the other big issue for the academy — has become controversial and seems likely to remain so, especially now that Donald Trump’s election has thrown into doubt the future of the Department of Justice’s antitrust case against Live Nation. (The new attorney general will decide if and how to continue that case.) The state ticketing bills the academy is lobbying for are simpler and have more to do with requiring secondary sellers to disclose extra charges and refrain from offering tickets they do not yet own. There’s similar federal legislation, known as the Fans First Act in the Senate and the TICKET (Transparency In Charges for Key Events Ticketing) Act. Dupler didn’t come up with that name — but he’s prepared to spread the word once the bill is reintroduced in 2025.
This story appears in the Dec. 7, 2024, issue of Billboard.
A sustainability initiative focused on festival-wide power use at San Francisco’s Portola in September resulted in the avoidance of using roughly 6,053 gallons of diesel fuel, a rep for the festival tells Billboard. This number is equivalent to taking 3,873 cars off the road for one day, according to AEG.
This was the first year the initiative was implemented at Portola, which hosted its third annual event at San Francisco’s Pier 80 Sept. 28-29. The project was a joint effort by the festival’s producers, AEG and Goldenvoice, along with battery system designer Overdrive Energy Solutions, the Music Decarbonization Project from music industry sustainability advocacy group REVERB and AEG’s longtime energy partner, CES Power.
At Portola, a team made up of reps from each company implemented a cutting-edge hybrid energy system that used solar and grid power in conjunction with advanced battery technology and Tier 4 generators, which are built with emission control measures, to provide power.
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Overdrive deployed 37 battery power-stations across the festival grounds, powering a significant portion of the festival. This project marks a major expansion of Overdrive’s work with AEG/Goldenvoice, with the companies first working together at Coachella 2023 on smaller-scale energy needs.
“It feels like we’ve taken a giant leap forward this year,” Goldenvoice’s vp of festival production Dre Hanna says. “We’ve been doing small bits and pieces for two years, but this year — and the progress I feel like we’re making specifically on this show and proving to our vendors, artists and departments that we can do this and that the show is better for it — I think that [the use of these systems] is going to pick up [across our events] pretty quickly.”
The battery system entirely powered Portola’s Ship Stage for both days of the festival. While many batteries used at festivals must be charged by diesel generators throughout the day, at Portola, use of the Tier 4 generator made it possible to charge batteries for two-and-half hours each day after the festival ended.
This charging required 260 gallons of diesel fuel, which is 2,730 gallons (or 91%) less than that used by standard festival battery systems. Goldenvoice purchased 100% renewable diesel for the generators, with the system ultimately reducing CO₂ emissions at the Ship Stage by 21.1 metric tons, compared to the emissions there would have been if the stage had employed standard generator. CES, meanwhile, provided other more traditional power sources for the event.
The difference wasn’t just in fewer emissions, but the elimination of the diesel fumes that typically emanate from generators. And because these batteries make no sound, they also eliminated the typical backstage noise pollution caused by a generator.
“It is 100% better,” Hanna told Billboard backstage at Portola. “It’s so quiet back here, and our team doesn’t have to fuel a generator each morning.”
According to Overdrive Energy Solutions founder Neel Vasavada, the company’s batteries have 99% fewer emissions than the standard diesel generators that have long been used to power festivals. They also use 90-95% less diesel fuel.
Overall, the project at Portola resulted in the avoidance of 48.8 metric tons of CO₂ emissions, a number equivalent to the amount of carbon annually sequestered by 58 acres of U.S. forest.
As battery technology advances — with the electric vehicle industry helping drive this evolution — batteries are an increasingly popular solution for sustainably powering large-scale music events. In August, Lollapalooza became the first festival in the U.S. to power its mainstage entirely by battery, reporting a 67% reduction in both fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions over prior years, when batteries had not been used.
While Hanna says Lollapalooza’s accomplishment helped increase industry-wide confidence that batteries are reliable enough to use even at the biggest stages, Vasavada notes that the system implemented at Portola was “very different” from those used to power Lollapalooza and other events.
“[This equipment] is not made for rock and roll music events,” he says. “These batteries were built for industry and for disaster relief, but it’s never been optimized for temporary portable power or for situations where you don’t have a grid. That’s what Overdrive has done.”
Overdrive Energy Solutions’ previous festival work includes implementing batteries at two years of Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion near Austin, Tex., along with events including West Virginia’s Healing Appalachia and Maryland’s All Things Go.
Portola 2024
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Hanna reports that Goldenvoice’s use of battery power is expanding. The company’s Harvest Moon, which happened Oct. 5 in Lake Hughes, Calif., was powered entirely by batteries and solar-fed grid power. Goldenvoice’s Camp Flog Gnaw – which happened at L.A.’s Dodger Stadium in November – used a hybridized battery and generator system at two of its three stages, also employing a combination of grid power, batteries and solar to power entire sections of the festival. (That initiative was once again a joint project from AEG/Goldenvoice, CES Power, Overdrive Energy Solutions and REVERB’s Music Decarbonization Project). Hanna calls it “Goldenvoice’s cleanest energy festival to date.”
As battery technology advances and becomes more widely available, the cost of deploying these systems remains a key prohibitor to their widespread adoption. (Energy prices vary between shows based on factors including vendors, owned vs. rented equipment, trucking rates, available grid power and more.)
But Hanna says that generally, improved power planning internally, combined with creativity and collaboration with power vendors, “is already leading to more competitive pricing on battery systems. The data we’re gathering from each show is helping us find efficiencies that prove hybridizing power can be as cost effective as generators and the fuel they consume.”
And given that battery systems provide event producers with precise data about how much power they actually consume and truly require, Hanna says that ultimately “we’re going to be able to be more efficient and cost effective, because at the end of the day we can’t spend more.” REVERB, a 501c3 nonprofit that’s focused on sustainability in the music industry for 20 years, made the 2024 Portola power system possible by subsidizing a portion of its cost. The organization estimates that each year, U.S. festivals burn the equivalent of 46 million miles driven by gasoline powered vehicles.
As far as when these clean energy systems will entirely replace carbon-emitting generators at festivals, Hanna believes that moment is on the horizon. “it’s not next year. But is it in five years? Maybe. We are heading in that direction as quickly and as efficiently as we can.”
Paul Robinson, Warner Music Group’s executive vp/general counsel, will be recognized on Friday, Jan. 31, when the Recording Academy Entertainment Law Initiative (ELI) hosts its annual Grammy Week luncheon at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. Robinson will receive the 2025 ELI Service Award.
“As a part of its mission, the Recording Academy works to advocate for creators, and the Entertainment Law Initiative advances this through legal representation, celebrating the achievements of entertainment law practitioners, and providing year-round educational opportunities to cultivate future leaders in the field,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “Paul exemplifies these values, and we are proud to honor him … for his three decades at Warner Music Group, where he has championed fair practices and guided the industry through transformative changes.”
Robinson joined Warner Music Group’s legal department in January 1995 as associate general counsel. In December 2006, he was appointed to his current role, in which he is responsible for WMG’s worldwide legal, business affairs, public policy, compliance and corporate governance functions. Before joining WMG, Robinson was a partner at the New York City law firm of Mayer, Katz, Baker, Leibowitz & Roberts.
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The Entertainment Law Initiative was established by the Recording Academy to foster discussion on legal issues shaping the music industry. Each year, the recipient of the Service Award is selected by the ELI’s executive committee.
The ELI Grammy Week Luncheon also recognizes the winner and runners-up of the Entertainment Law Initiative writing competition.
Individual tickets, along with a limited number of discounted student tickets, will be available for purchase on Wednesday, Dec. 11. For more information, visit https://www.recordingacademy.com/entertainment-law-initiative.
Grammy Week culminates with the 67th Annual Grammy Awards at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, Feb. 2, broadcasting live on CBS and streaming live and on-demand on Paramount+ from 8-11:30 p.m. ET/5-8:30 p.m. PT. Prior to the telecast, the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony will be held at the Peacock Theater at 12:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. ET and be streamed live on live.Grammy.com and the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel.
Reservoir has acquired the rights to composer Lebohang Morake, professionally known as Lebo M. Lebo, who is best known for his work on The Lion King franchise. From South Africa, the renowned composer, arranger, producer and performer first broke through as a collaborator of Hans Zimmer, who has also sold part of his catalog to Reservoir, on the soundtrack for The Power of One (1992). He then reunited with Zimmer on The Lion King two years later, writing and performing songs like “Circle of Life” for the legendary Disney film. He has also worked on the soundtracks for many of the subsequent films in The Lion King franchise. This includes his soundtrack for the upcoming prequel Mufasa: The Lion King, which was co-composed by Lin Manuel Miranda. His other contributions to film soundtracks include Dinosaur, Back on the Block, The Life of Quincy Jones, Congo, Long Night’s Journey into Day, Tears of the Sun, The Legend of Tarzan, and The Woman King.
OTM Music has announced new publishing deals with Hemlocke Springs, Erick the Architect and Leon Michels, a touring member of The Black Keys and producer for Clairo, Norah Jones and Lee Fields. The company is also bringing on a new U.S. Head of A&R, Emmy Feldman, to the OTM Music team. Launched in 2017 by CEO Alex Sheridan, OTM Music is a fast-growing boutique publisher that serves a diverse array of songwriting talent, including Sudan Archives, Metronomy, Still Woozy, HONNE, Dot Da Genius and Sub Focus.
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Kobalt has signed rising Latin artist Ela Taubert and her longtime producer KEVN to global publishing agreements. Hailing from Colombia, Taubert announced her deal with Kobalt just a month after winning the Latin GRAMMY Award for Best New Artist and performing her hit “¿Como Paso?” with Joe Jonas at the ceremony.
Warner Chappell Music and All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth have signed a joint venture publishing agreement with musician, songwriter and producer Dan Swank. Over the years, Swank has played a crucial role in the writing, producing and mixing of releases by Pale Waves, Knox, Taylor Acorn, Mitchell Tenpenny, Charlotte Sands and more.
Berlin-based Bosworth Music GmbH, part of Wise Music Group, has announced the signing of Janus Rasmussen to a global publishing deal. A producer, composer and artist, Rasmussen hails from the Faroe Islands and is based in Reykjavik. An accomplished producer, composer and artist Rasmussen started his career with the Nordic Music Council Prize-nominated debut album “Vín,” which saw him honing his minimal techno chops into an hour-long exploration of acoustic textures and electronic sound design. Aside from his own music, Janus performs alongside Ólafur Arnalds as one half of Kiasmos. Arnalds was also recently signed to the same company.
The music industry is in constant transformation, driven by the advancement of technology and new forms of artistic creation. Enter All Music Works, a record label based in Málaga, Spain, that exclusively focuses on music and artists developed through artificial intelligence (AI). Founder Carlos Zehr spoke with Billboard Español about their innovative approach, the challenges they face, and how they might redefine the rules of the game in the music scene.
“This project was born out of personal frustration,” says Zehr. “I’ve always been passionate about music. I studied piano from a young age and have been a voracious consumer of concerts and festivals. But when I wanted to produce my own music, I encountered limitations in time, skills, and resources to achieve what I envisioned.” That barrier led him to explore AI tools applied to music production, a path that transformed his perspective: “I achieved results that were not only impressive in quality but also explored sounds and styles that I would like to hear in the current market.”
Zehr has a diverse background combining marketing, technology, and entrepreneurship. A 2014 graduate of the University of Granada, where he studied business administration and management, he has held leadership positions in marketing agencies and video game studios. In 2020, he founded Noname Hub, an agency focused on branding and innovation; and in 2022, he launched Nonoki, a music and video streaming platform that became one of the most popular apps in Spain and South Korea. Both projects are still active today.
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Unlike other projects that have used AI to launch individual virtual artists, such as bands associated with video games like League of Legends, All Music Works proposes a much more ambitious approach: the creation of a collective of artists with their own stories, personalities and musical styles. “We design each artist’s personality, visual style and musical genres from scratch,” says Zehr. “It all starts from a human process, with a detailed study and creative approach that we then augment with AI.”
The initial catalog includes 10 virtual artists from genres as diverse as indie rock, reggaetón, alternative trap and drum & bass. Among them are The Good Dog, a group that fuses Britpop and garage rock, and Cielo Roto, a Madrid-based band that mixes indie, rock and cumbia.
But All Music Works is only just beginning. “From here, we will be launching capsules with three new artists in the coming months, while continuing to push the trajectory of current artists,” says Zehr.
The next step is to bring All Music Works’ virtual artists to the stage. The company is now developing various formats of presentation, from DJ sets to immersive experiences, depending on the identity of each artist. However, its main focus is on hologram technology. “We are collaborating with production companies and advancing in research to implement holograms in our performances,” says Zehr. “We want the experience to be as impactful as it is innovative.”
The goal is not only to generate curiosity but to consolidate the company as a leader in an emerging industry around virtual artists that combines creativity and technology.
Being a pioneer in such a disruptive area is not without its challenges. Zehr acknowledges that, although the concept has generated curiosity and admiration, All Music Works has faced criticism and questions about authenticity and ethics around the use of AI. Being a trendsetter is “positive because we are blazing a trail,” he says, “but it also means being the first to face legal, ethical and creative challenges.”
All Music Works does not intend to replace human talent but rather to expand the creative landscape. “We are offering something that would not be possible without technology, but the human element remains essential,” he says. For him, AI is a powerful tool, not a substitute, because the creative process is still anchored in human intervention, from the conceptualization of the artists down to the most technical details. “We use technology to extend the limits of what we can achieve,” he says.
Being a pioneer in such a disruptive area is not without its challenges. Zehr acknowledges that All Music Works has faced criticism and questions about authenticity and ethics around the use of AI. Being a trendsetter is “positive because we are blazing a trail,” he says, “but it also means being the first to face legal, ethical and creative challenges.”
From the lyrics to the musical arrangements, every piece of music is precisely designed, adjusting details such as key or tempo to convey the desired emotions. This approach not only allows for the exploration of new styles but also ensures the authenticity of the creations.
According to Zehr, the company has generated unexpected interest in the music community. “We’ve received a flood of requests from real composers and musicians who want to work with us,” he says.
The team is also preparing to tackle legal challenges. Operating in as-yet unregulated terrain, the company is helping to set precedents for the industry, hand in hand with expert lawyers. “We are helping to define how these issues will be handled in the future,” Zehr stresses.
According to Zehr, the company has generated unexpected interest in the music community. “We’ve received a flood of requests from real composers and musicians who want to work with us,” he says.
In addition to its catalog of artists, the label is exploring collaborations with brands to develop virtual artist ambassadors. This approach offers an innovative way for brands to connect with their audiences through personalized and creative experiences.
All Music Works is launching at the beginning of what could be a new era in music, challenging established norms and offering new possibilities for artists and the industry. “The question is not whether music will change with technology, but how we are going to adapt to this change,” says Zehr.
As 2024 comes to a close, Billboard looks back at the most consequential music publishing stories of the year.
LONDON — As international president of Oak View Group (OVG), Jessica Koravos has a clear vision of how she wants the U.S.-based facility management and development firm to grow its already rapidly expanding global business.
“We’re trying to be the best venue operators, offering the best entertainment experiences in the world,” she says confidently. “That’s what our goal is.”
Just over six months ago, OVG’s long-planned pivot to international markets took an embarrassing stumble with the repeatedly delayed launch of Co-op Live – the United Kingdom’s biggest indoor music venue and the firm’s first major project outside the United States.
When the official opening for the 23,500-capacity arena, located in Manchester, was pushed back by three weeks following a series of highly publicized delays — including part of a ventilation system falling from the roof just prior to a show by rapper A Boogie wit da Hoodie – Co-op Live became the butt of jokes on social media and generated a slew of negative headlines.
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“It looked worse in the media than it felt on the ground,” reflects Koravos, half a year on from the venue’s troubled launch. “In the grand scheme of things, when you have been working on a project for five years, spent £400 million ($505 million) on it and it’s three weeks late, there’s a long-term perspective that says: ‘This is not the end of the world.’ When you look at it in the context of other big infrastructure projects in the U.K. I don’t think it’s going to go down in history anywhere on the list of problematic deliveries.”
Co-op Live eventually opened its doors May 8 with a headline show by local rock group Elbow. Since then, the venue has quickly become established as a key destination in the European touring circuit, selling over one million tickets and staging over 60 shows to date, including stopovers by Pearl Jam, Nicki Minaj, Liam Gallagher, Keane, Janet Jackson, Charli XCX and the Eagles‘ five-night sellout run – the group’s only U.K. dates on its farewell tour.
A general view of the Co-op Live arena as Elbow performs the inaugural live show at Co-op Live on May 14, 2024 in Manchester, England.
Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage
In November, Co-op Live hosted the MTV European Music Awards (EMAs), featuring performances from Benson Boone, Teddy Swims, Tyla and Busta Rhymes, which had a global digital reach (excluding broadcast) of over 7 billion, according to the venue’s post-event analysis. Upcoming shows at the arena include Paul McCartney, Slipknot, Cyndi Lauper and Sabrina Carpenter.
Co-op Live is one of seven new arenas that OVG has built and opened in the last two years, including the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, UBS Arena in New York and Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Calif. The fast-growing firm, co-founded in 2015 by former AEG CEO Tim Leiweke and ex-Live Nation chairman Irving Azoff, which operates more than 400 buildings globally, also has arenas under development in Nigeria, Canada and Wales, and is “actively looking” for opportunities to further expand its global footprint, says Koravos.
This fall saw the launch of a new division, OVG Stadia, headed by Chris Wright, dedicated to growing the company’s global stadium business. Its remit includes identifying international markets to develop and build new multi-purpose stadiums, as well as expanding OVG’s roster of stadium clients, which includes London’s Wembley Stadium, Scotland’s Murrayfield Stadium, Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego and the historic Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas. The company is additionally pursuing arena development and partnership opportunities in the U.K., Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
“That showcase of Co-op Live is very helpful and we have a lot of other cities [around the world] now saying, ‘Can we have one of those?’” says London-based Koravos, who served as president of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group and formerly held senior roles at AEG Live and AEG Europe before joining OVG.
Ballooning construction costs means “it’s easier said than done,” she cautions, “but we’ll find a way.”
Koravos declines to discuss Leiweke’s publicly stated aim of building a new music arena in London, saying only that there are “announcements to come in the U.K. and continental Europe.”
In the meantime, Oak View Group is looking to grow its share of the live music business by making its full suite of venue services, including hospitality, management, booking, marketing, facility development and sponsorship sales, available to non-OVG affiliated venue owners and third-party operators in Europe, like it already does in the U.S.
To support the rollout, OVG International has bulked up its executive team with recent appointments including former Co-op Live interim general manager Rebecca Kane Burton as executive vice president of venue management and Michalis Fragkiadakis as vice president of hospitality strategy, responsible for driving forward OVG’s food and beverage business following last year’s acquisition of U.K.-based hospitality provider Rhubarb Hospitality Collection. They will be supported by Sam Piccione, international president of sales, Alex Reese, commercial and brand strategy director, and Gary Hutchinson, vice president of booking and commercial partnerships.
“We take pride in the fact that we think about third party business in the same way that we think about our own,” says Koravos. She points to OVG completing “$5 billion worth of naming rights and sponsorship [deals] in the last three years” as evidence of the “industry-leading expertise” that it is offering to venues and live music businesses. Current venue service clients outside North America include football clubs Birmingham City FC, Real Betis and AS Roma, Manchester-based arts venue Aviva Studios and Lloyd Webber Theatres.
“There are lots of facilities, arenas and stadiums all around Europe who would like to host concerts and that’s something that we’re trying to help to see if we can open up more markets for music internationally,” says Koravos. “Our goal is not to win all the contracts and to be everywhere. It’s to be with the right partners that share our values.”