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Carl Cox will no longer appear at Movement 2025. A statement posted to the techno producer’s Instagram Story on Thursday (Feb. 20) reads, “I regret to inform you that due to scheduling complications, my show at Movement has been postponed to 2026. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but I promise to make […]
Sony Music Entertainment is asking a judge to throw out a lawsuit brought against the company by Patrick Moxey‘s Ultra International Music Publishing late last year, claiming the suit was an act of “retaliation” against the major label after it filed its own lawsuit against the publishing outfit two years prior.
Ultra International Music Publishing and Ultra Music Publishing Europe brought the lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment and its subsidiaries — including Ultra Records, which Moxey sold his remaining 50% share of to Sony in 2021 — last November over allegations of copyright infringement, claiming Sony and its affiliates had been using Ultra Publishing’s compositions without a license. Filed in New York federal court, the complaint alleged that Ultra Publishing had conducted an audit finding that Sony had been underpaying royalties to the publisher and its songwriters “for years” — but that after bringing the results of the audit to Sony’s attention, the major label “failed” and “refuse[d]” to pay Ultra Publishing the royalties it was due.
Ultra Publishing claimed that after Sony’s alleged refusal, it ceased granting the music giant licenses to the company’s compositions, but that Sony nonetheless continued uploading tracks featuring Ultra Publishing-owned compositions to streaming services and selling them as digital downloads and physical releases, among other exploitations. The lawsuit concerned more than 50,000 compositions by artists including Ed Sheeran, Madonna, Rihanna and others.
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In its response, filed on Monday (Feb. 17) by attorney Tal Dickstein, Sony Music called the lawsuit “an ill-conceived effort by Plaintiffs — two music publishing companies owned by Patrick Moxey — to retaliate against” Sony Music for an earlier lawsuit it filed against Ultra Publishing for the continued use of the Ultra name. In that complaint, filed in November 2022, Sony attested that Moxey had signed away his rights to the Ultra trademark after selling the company his remaining stake in Ultra Records, which he founded in 1995.
Sony claims Ultra Publishing attempted to justify the “nefarious timing” of its own lawsuit — which allegedly dropped the day before the trial for the trademark lawsuit began — “by claiming this lawsuit stems from an audit of the music publishing royalties that Sony Music Entertainment paid to Plaintiffs.” However, Sony alleges that the audit in question, “which involved payments made by Sony Music Entertainment to Plaintiffs through 2016,” was in fact “settled in principle years ago for a small fraction of the amount claimed, and Plaintiffs never pursued those audit claims any further.”
Sony’s filing goes on to say that it and Ultra Publishing “continued working together after the audit was settled, with Sony Music Entertainment paying publishing royalties on the musical compositions that were the subject of the audit without objection from Plaintiffs, and working to license and pay the corresponding publishing royalties for well over a thousand other compositions owned in whole or in part by Plaintiffs.”
“Sony Music Entertainment’s licensing practices are both appropriate and entirely consistent with the licensing practices of every other leading record label that releases new sound recordings, including record labels that Moxey himself controlled in the past and currently owns,” the filing continues. “Moreover, Plaintiffs’ own songwriters and producers continue to write songs and collaborate with SME artists with the intention and expectation that the resulting sound recordings incorporating the underlying musical compositions will be commercially released — underscoring the obvious question of whether Plaintiffs’ attempted boycott of SME is in their songwriters’ best interest.”
An attorney for Ultra International Music Publishing did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.
The Avicii estate is again opening the vault Friday (Feb. 14), releasing of a new version of the late producer’s 2016 track “Forever Yours.” Titled “Forever Yours – Tim’s 2016 Ibiza Version,” the song comes on the heels of a pair of Avicii documentaries — I’m Tim and My Last Show — released on Netflix […]
This week in dance music: Blond:ish releases her debut album Never Walk Alone today, a week after being announced as Pacha Ibiza’s first female headline resident DJ. Charlotte de Witte, Sara Landry, Horsegiirl and many others were added to the Movement 2025 lineup; EDC Las Vegas announced the lineup for its May event; Winter Music Conference announced the first wave of speakers for its event next month in Miami; Empire of the Sun’s Luke Steele signed a global deal with Warner Chappell Music; Seven Lions signed with management company MLennial and Justice hit the Hot 100 for the first time in the duo’s decades-long career with its appearance on The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow opener “Wake Me Up.”
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And on this day of love, we celebrate our enduring passion for the music with the best new dance tracks of the week.
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Haai, “Can’t Stand to Lose”
Australia-born, London-based producer Haai returns with her first new music since 2023 via “Can’t Stand to Lose.” A reflection on the fast-paced DJ life and the desire to sometimes slow down, the song takes its time unfurling, creating a nuanced depth and mood evoking both solitude and a crowded club. The artist born Teneil Throssell calls the song “a reflection on longing, loss, and the deeply human emotions that accompany them – the nostalgia, the yearning, and the vulnerability. It’s inspired by our rapidly changing world and how it reshapes our lives: opening possibilities that are initially exciting, but are soon met with the realization of what’s lost. It’s a meditation on what we gain and what we leave behind.” Her upcoming U.S. shows include the music cruise Friendship, which sets sail from Miami next week, and back to back weekends at Coachella in April.
Anyma, Argy & Son of Son, “Voices In My Head”
Having played a whole lot of unreleased music during his Sphere residency, Anyma is now in the process of releasing some of it. A standout moment of the show came during the segment when the venue’s screens were filled with thousands of blinking and seemingly sleep-deprived eyes, a segment soundtracked by a song we now know is called “Voices In My Head.” Out today on Interscope Records, the song is a collaboration with Greek artist Argy and Swedish producer Son of Son and further establishes the dark but still widely accessible melodic techno that is Anyma’s signature. Anyma will play his final four dates at Sphere in late February and early March.
Sammy Virji, “I Guess We’re Not the Same”
After blasting through our earholes with 2024’s totally undeniable Interplanetary Criminal collab “Damager,” white-hot U.K. producer Sammy Virji returns with the mellower but equally compelling “I Guess We’re Not the Same.” Out on Astralwerks, the song’s bouncy, singsong vibe juxtaposes with kind of bittersweet lyrics, with the theme also reflected in the track’s undertow of a bassline. Virji’s upcoming U.S. tour includes appearances at Coachella, Lightning in a Bottle, Movement and Bonnaroo.
DJ Minx, “Blocked”
Let us not forget that Valentine’s Day is also about self-love and that self-love is a lot about boundaries, sentiments Detroit legend DJ Minx celebrates today with her latest release. “Delete,” she commands on the track, “unfollow, removed, blocked,” reminding us all that sometimes taking care of ourselves is as simple as pressing a button and eliminating anything and anyone, that is, as she puts it, “f–king with my flow.” The wind up house track gives the whole exercise a commanding and celebratory feel.
Alok & Kylie Minogue, “Last Night I Dreamt I Fell in Love”
Generational dance royalty Kylie Minogue makes another run for the booth with “Last Night I Dreamt I Fell In Love,” her first collab with Brazilian producer Alok. Much like the lovey dreamscape it references, the two-minute track has an ephemeral quality, but like a good dream, is also sweet while it lasts.
EDC Las Vegas will host more than 250 dance acts at the festival this May.
On Thursday (Feb. 13), EDC Las Vegas producer Insomniac Events announced the festival lineup, which is once again stacked with the who’s who of the dance world. The bill features big names including Dom Dolla, Alesso, Afrojack, Alison Wonderland playing b2b with Kaskade, Illenium playing b2b with Slander, Sara Landry, Horsegiirl, Gesaffelstein, RL Grime, Martin Garrix, DJ Snake, Interplanetary Criminal, Rezz, Fisher, Eric Prydz and many, many more.
Happening at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on May 16-18, this year’s EDC Las Vegas will feature 16 stages, the most in the festival’s history. Two of the festival’s key stages, CircuitGrounds and NeonGarden, will feature new designs, with the festival also set to debut a new stage called Ubuntu.
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Created in collaboration with South Africa’s Bridges For Music Academy, which provides young people from underserved communities with access to programs focused on creative entrepreneurship, well-being and music, Ubuntu will feature Afro house, a genre that’s skyrocketed in popularity in the U.S. over the last few years. The stage will host performances from rising students artists and established South African acts.
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In a statement, Insomniac Events says that EDC Las Vegas 2025 is currently sold out. EDC moved to Las Vegas from its original home in Los Angeles in 2011, and in the 14 years since, has established itself as the country’s biggest dance music festival, drawing 125,000 attendees a day.
Get out your magnifying glass and check out the complete 2025 lineup below.
EDC Las Vegas 2025
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Influential French electronic duo Justice has been a staple in the dance/electronic community since the early 2000s, but the pair finally earns its first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 (chart dated Feb. 15) with a new collaboration with The Weeknd, “Wake Me Up.”
Released Feb. 7 on The Weeknd’s new album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, the song opens at No. 45 on the Hot 100 with 10.9 million official U.S. streams, 1.4 million radio audience impressions and 1,000 downloads sold in its opening week, according to Luminate. The set launches at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 490,000 equivalent album units earned in its first week, the largest opening figure since Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department in May 2024.
“Wake Me Up,” the first cut on Hurry Up Tomorrow, interpolates the classic title track from Michael Jackson’s 1982 album Thriller and Georgio Moroder’s “Main Title” from the 1983 film Scarface. The late Rod Temperton, who wrote “Thriller,” is credited as a co-writer of “Wake Me Up,” along with The Weeknd, Justice, Belly, Mike Dean, Johnny Jewel and Vincent Taurelle; The Weeknd, Justice, Mike Dean, Johnny Jewel produced it. Moroder, notably, is credited as a featured artist on Hurry Up Tomorrow track “Big Sleep,” which just misses the Hot 100, opening at No. 3 on the list’s Bubbling Under ranking. He has charted two songs on the Hot 100: “Chase” (No. 33 peak in 1979) and “Reach Out,” featuring Paul Engeman (No. 81, 1984).
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Justice, which comprises Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, first appeared on Billboard’s charts with Cross, which debuted at No. 1 on the Top Dance Albums chart dated July 28, 2007. The project is noteworthy for including hundreds of samples, helping usher in the bloghouse era and, later, the EDM boom.
The duo has charted six additional projects on Top Dance Albums, including four other top 10s: A Cross the Universe (No. 8 peak in 2008), Audio, Video, Disco (No. 4, 2011), Woman (No. 1, 2016) and Hyperdrama (No. 1, 2024).
Justice has also charted three hits on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart: “D.A.N.C.E.” (No. 13 peak in 2013, from Cross), “One Night/All Night,” with Tame Impala (No. 10, 2024) and “Neverender” (No. 8, 2024).
“Neverender” won best dance/electronic recording at the 67th Grammy Awards. It’s the pair’s third Grammy win, joining trophies for best remixed recording, non-classical for “Electric Feel (Justice Remix)” in 2009 and best dance/electronic album for Woman Worldwide in 2019. Cross was nominated for best electronic/dance album in 2008, while its breakout song “D.A.N.C.E.” earned a nod for best dance recording.
Justice’s collaboration with The Weeknd was first teased more than a year ago, when a demo leaked online. In an interview ahead of the release of Hyperdrama, Justice’s longtime manager Pedro Winter told Billboard that the duo had been inspired to partner with collaborators who felt like authentic fits.
“Justice has been a band saying ‘no’ to everything, exactly like when I used to work with Daft Punk,” he said. “They really wanted to focus on their own music. Now it has been a 20-year career, so it’s time to open the door and work with other people,” adding “Of course, a lot of [their fans] will not get the Justice sound … but out of those millions, let’s try to grab the attention and love of some of them.”
Winter Music Conference 2025 has announced a long phase one list of speakers for its March event in Miami.
The dance industry conference, returning to Miami Music Week for the first time since 2019, will feature input from artists including Aluna, LP Giobbi, Hayla, Sydney Blu and more.
Additionally, programming will include more than 60 industry representatives from a wide range of labels, management companies, agencies, publications, streaming services and more. See the complete list of phase one names and companies below.
Panels themes, keynote speakers and more will be announced in the coming weeks, with the event also set to feature mixers, a pool party and workshops, along with the inaugural hybrid awards show from the EDMAs and IDMAs. The Conference and tangential events will happen at Eden Roc Miami Beach Resort on March 26-28. Tickets are on sale now.
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Winter Music Conference is owned by Ultra Music Festival, which kicks off in Miami the same day the conference ends, Friday, March 28. Launched in 1985, Winter Music Conference was held every March in Miami (prior to the pandemic) and is part of the larger event known as Miami Music Week, a marathon of dance music performances and parties. Drawing an estimated 100,000 attendees and 3,500 music professionals from more than 70 countries at its height, WMC hosts a schedule of events, parties, seminars and workshops and serves as one of the largest industry networking events in the dance/electronic music genre.
Though the Ultra Music Festival was originally spawned by the conference, it eventually surpassed it in terms of influence, and its parent company went on to acquire WMC in 2018.
Winter Music Conference 2025 Industry Speakers:
Alex Greenberg – Falcon PRAlex Jukes – Jukebox PR/The TribesAndy Daniell – Defected RecordsAnna Horowitz – WMEBina Fronda – Ultra RecordsBlake Coppelson – Proximity II Kompass Music GroupCameron Sunkel – EDM.comCandace Silva-Torres (p/k/a SiLVA) – KCRWaCarly Peterson – CircaCelena Fields – EVENChris Johnson – SoundCloudChuck Fishman – Soul Clap RecordsConnie Chow – FUGA II shesaid.so AMSCristiana Votta – Alegria AgencyDani Chavez – Good Girl ManagementDani Deahl – BandLabDanny Klein – SPIN Magazine II Robot SunriseDavid Waxman – Ultra RecordsDeron Delgado – EMPIRE Dance/DirtybirdDilini Weerasooriya – Merrill Wealth Management (Bank of America)Dorothy Caccavale – FM Artists/Three Six ZeroEddie Sears – Republic RecordsElyn Kazarian – Women In Visuals/dublabEmma Hoser – Liaison ArtistsEric Silver – Red Light ManagementEryk Puczek – FriendsOfFriends.AgencyGavin Ryan – Big Beat Records/Atlantic RecordsGeorge Hess – G5 EntertainmentGina Tucci – 146 RecordsHallie Halpern – SeriouslyHallie StudiosHarmony Soleil – c895 SeattleHilary Gleason – BacklineJason Adamchak – Calculated Creative AgencyJaye Hamel – 1of1 CustomJeroen te Rehorst – BEAT Music Fund/ArmadaJess Page – RareformJordyn Reese – Do Better For ArtistsKat Bein – Super Kat WorldKatie Bain – BillboardKatie Knight – Can U Put Me On Guestlist PodcastKyle Jones – EDM.comLauren Anderson – LabelWorxLewis Kunstler – 2 + 2 Management II Young Art RecordsLorne Padman – Dim Mak RecordsMatt Sherman – Sherm In The Booth Podcast II Hood Politics RecordsMegan Venzin – DJ MagNicholas Saady – Pryor Cashman LLPOlivia Mancuso – Elevated Frequencies PodcastOllie Zhang – 88risingPaula Quijano – Little Empire MusicPete Anderson – ETP AgencyPeter Slayton – Slayton CreativeSam Mobarek – Major Recordings (Warner Records)Seth Shapiro – Shapiro Legal, PLLCShannon Herber – Wise River ConsultingSilvia Montello – Voicebox ConsultingSimon Scott – Cirkay LTDSonya Okon – Helix Records/Ultra PublishingSteph Conlon – Easier SaidTaryn Haight – WassermanTom Williams – L’Affaire MusicaleVivian Belzaguy Hunter – Ultra Music Festival II Ascendance Sustainable EventsWatse de Jong – Manager, Martin GarrixWill Scott – Helix Records / Ultra Publishing
Lady Gaga debuts at No. 1 on the Feb. 15-dated Hot Dance/Pop Songs tally with “Abracadabra,” becoming the second chart-topper in the survey’s five-week history. Tate McRae’s “It’s Ok I’m Ok” drops to No. 6 after reigning for the list’s first four frames.
All Billboard charts dated Feb. 15 will update tomorrow, Feb. 11. Hot Dance/Pop Songs ranks the most popular current dance/pop titles, separate from Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, which focuses on producers and DJs.
“Abracadabra” and its official music video were debuted during last weekend’s Grammy telecast (Sun, Feb. 2), before appearing in full on digital platforms later that night. Billboard‘s tracking week stretches from Friday to Thursday, meaning that the song’s chart debut was handicapped by its Sunday release. Still, its No. 1 entry was powered by 13.7 million official U.S. streams, 1.3 million radio audience impressions, and 10,000 downloads sold through Feb. 6, according to Luminate.
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Despite its shortened week, “Abracadabra” boasts the highest sales and streaming totals in the chart’s brief history.
Gaga also debuts on the Billboard Hot 100, with “Abracadabra” arriving at No. 29 in its first abbreviated week. Following the chart’s current reigning champ, the Bruno Mars-assissted “Die with A Smile”, and “Disease” (No. 27), her upcoming Mayhem now boasts three top 40 hits on the all-genre ranking before its impending March 7 release, marking her first album to do so since 2013’s Artpop. Overall, it’s her 39th entry on the chart dating back to “Just Dance,” featuring Colby O’Donis, which spent three weeks at No. 1 in 2009.
Gaga’s history in the genre reaches farther back than her No. 1 debut. She crowned the Dance/Mix Show Airplay list four times, reigning for one week with “Bad Romance” and “Born This Way,” for four weeks with “Rain on Me” featuring Ariana Grande, and for a 15-week stretch with “Poker Face.” Plus, her debut album The Fame has logged 193 weeks at No. 1 on Top Dance Albums, climbing back to No. 2 in its 569th week on the chart, 17 years removed from its 2008 release.
Detroit’s Movement Festival has added a crew of heavyhitters to the lineup for its 2025 event. Belgian techno titan Charlotte de Witte has been added as a headliner, with hard techno star Sara Landry, rapper A$AP Ferg, Underground Resistance co-founder Mike Banks, rapper and DJ Zack Fox, Dutch producer Mau P, Nina Kraviz, HAAi, Boys Noize, The Blessed Madonna, Goldie b2b Photek and many others also joining the bill.
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These artists join the previously announced phase one lineup that included John Summit, Carl Cox, Jamie xx, Anfisa Letyago, Carl Cox, Chase & Status, Ela Minua, DJ Minx, Sammy Virji and more.
“Movement is a techno institution in Detroit so for me, it’s like reuniting with an old friend,” Cox says in a statement. “I’m going to make up for the years I’ve missed with a show that’s going to send Detroit to another dimension!”
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The festival will happen at its longtime home in Detroit’s Hart Plaza May 24-26. Tickets are on sale now.
Movement is produced by the Detroit-based Paxahau, which took over the festival in 2006. The event is known for focusing on the city’s homegrown techno genre along with house music, and has long championed rising stars, especially local ones, from each genre.
“One of the great things about [Paxahau’s] culture is we aren’t goal focused, but direction focused,” Paxahau Founder Jason Huvaere told Billboard in 2023. “It’s always been about the trajectory, the journey, the emotion. It’s never been about, ‘I need to get this thing done,’ or ‘I need to get this thing acquired.’ For the future, I just want to preserve that.”
See the complete Movement 2025 lineup below.
Movement 2025 lineup
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Ibiza‘s newest club is aiming to make a big impact, with the club today (Feb. 4) announcing that it will host the newest gargantuan production from Eric Prydz during a 14-week residency this summer.
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The Swedish producer will debut Holosphere 2 at [UNVRS], the new club from The Night League, the group behind the concept along with Ibiza clubbing institutions Hï and Ushuaïa. Shows will begin on June 2 and extend through Sept. 1.
Calling itself “Ibiza’s most technologically advanced venue,” [UNVRS] should prove an apt venue for Prydz, who has long pushed technological boundaries with shows including the much-lauded Holo and the first edition of Holosphere, which debuted in 2019 and found Prydz playing within an eight-ton sphere that was more than two stories tall, big enough that Belgian mega-festival Tomorrowland had to reconfigure its festival grounds to accommodate the structure.
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Holosphere 2 is set to be even bigger, with organizers calling it “the island’s biggest production and most high-tech residency to date.” See imagery from the show below.
“Eric Prydz possesses an extraordinary vision and talent for crafting otherworldly experiences—pushing the boundaries of innovation with every show,” says Yann Pissenem, the owner, founder and CEO of The Night League and Ushuaïa Entertainment. “With Holosphere 2.0, he has reached an entirely new level, seamlessly blending cutting-edge technology with an ambitious scale like never before. I can’t wait to present this new chapter of Eric Prydz at [UNVRS], where audiences will witness something truly unprecedented—transforming this residency into a one-of-a-kind future-forward show that will redefine the global audiovisual experience in 2025.”
With the announcement, Prydz joins a list of previously announced [UNVRS] residents that includes Carl Cox, Fisher and events from the island’s longstanding party company Elrow.
Pissenem announced the opening of [UNVRS] last August, telling 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… 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.”