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Abu Dhabi-based music streamer Anghami led all music stocks this week after gaining 17.6% to $0.82. On Thursday, the company announced through an SEC filing it had received a written notification from the Nasdaq Stock Market regarding its closing share price being below $1.00 for the previous 30 days. The Nasdaq gives companies 180 days to regain compliance or face de-listing from the exchange.
The warning appeared to spur a 16.5% gain on Thursday as investors saw signs the share price won’t remain under $1. In its SEC filing, Anghami stated if the share price remains under the $1 threshold it will “consider available options to cure the deficiency,” including a reverse share split (which would increase the share price by reducing the number of shares outstanding while the market capitalization remains unchanged).
SiriusXM gained 5.7% on Friday (Oct. 13) and finished the week up 11.8%. Its $4.85 closing price was the highest for the satellite radio company since Aug. 9. The typically steady stock has fallen 17% this year as self-pay satellite radio subscribers stagnated at or around 32 million for eight straight quarters. SiriusXM will host a Nov. 8 presentation to unveil a new streaming app and preview upcoming in-car innovations and new programming.
The 21-stock Billboard Global Music Index fell 1.3% to 1,355.65 this week as 13 stocks were in negative territory and only eight stocks gained ground. Year to date, the index has gained 16.1%. Led by SiriusXM’s gain and a 7.6% increase from Cumulus Media, the index’s three radio stocks had an average improvement of 5.5%. Eight record labels and publishers had an average weekly gain of 0.3%. HYBE improved 6.8% while Believe climbed 3.6% and Universal Music Group added 0.6%. Streaming companies were, on average, flat this week.
Live music stocks dropped an average of 4.8%. Shares of Sphere Entertainment Co. dropped 11.1%, effectively offsetting the 11% gain on Oct. 2 following U2’s debut performances at Sphere in Las Vegas. Live Nation dropped 3.9%, MSG Entertainment fell 3.5% and CTS Eventim shares fell 0.7%. If investors are curious what’s next for Sphere Entertainment, clues comes from an interview published Thursday. Executive chairman and CEO James Dolan said the company is “actively pursuing other markets” and “has six different kinds of spheres down to a 3,000-seater.” A Las Vegas-style Sphere may not work in London, where according to reports residents are concerned about the location and light pollution that could arise from a massive external display similar to the Las Vegas venue.
Music stocks underperformed numerous indexes. In the United States, the S&P 500 gained 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 gained 1.4%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 2%.
Stocks faded after the release of consumer sentiment data for October by the University of Michigan showed a decline from September based on “a substantial increase” in concerns about inflation. Expectations for inflation in one year rose from 3.2% in September to 3.8% this month. That’s the highest mark since May 2023 and substantially above the 2.3% to 3% range seen in the two years before the pandemic.
Also a factor in stock prices, the U.S. Federal Reserve expects to raise interest rates one more time, according to minutes released from its September policy meeting. Interest rates have an inverse relationship with equity prices. Higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive and cut down on corporate profits.
For some music companies, 2022 was the payoff for weathering the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. When business returned that year — sometimes in record-setting fashion — these companies rewarded their executives handsomely, according to Billboard’s 2022 Executive Money Makers breakdown of stock ownership and compensation. But shareholders, as well as two investment advisory groups, contend the compensation for top executives at Live Nation and Universal Music Group (UMG) is excessive.
Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promotion and ticketing company, rebounded from revenue of $1.9 billion and $6.3 billion in 2020 and 2021, respectively, to a record $16.7 billion in 2022. That performance helped make its top two executives, president/CEO Michael Rapino and president/CFO Joe Berchtold, the best paid music executives of 2022. In total, Rapino received a pay package worth $139 million, while Berchtold earned $52.4 million. Rapino’s new employment contract includes an award of performance shares targeted at 1.1 million shares and roughly 334,000 shares of restricted stock that will fully pay off if the company hits aggressive growth targets and the stock price doubles in five years.
Live Nation explained in its 2023 proxy statement that its compensation program took into account management’s “strong leadership decisions” in 2020 and 2021 that put the company on a path to record revenue in 2022. Compared with 2019 — the last full year unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic — concert attendance was up 24%, ticketing revenue grew 45%, sponsorships and advertising revenue improved 64%, and ancillary per-fan spending was up at least 20% across all major venue types. Importantly, Live Nation reached 127% of its target adjusted operating income, to which executives’ cash bonuses were tied.
The bulk of Rapino’s and Berchtold’s compensation came from stock awards — $116.7 million for Rapino and $37.1 million for Berchtold — on top of relatively modest base salaries. Both received a $6 million signing bonus for reupping their employment contracts in 2022. (Story continues after charts.)
Lucian Grainge, the top-paid music executive in 2021, came in third in 2022 with total compensation of 47.3 million euros ($49.7 million). Unlike the other executives on this year’s list, he wasn’t given large stock awards or stock options. Instead, Grainge, who has been CEO of UMG since 2010, was given a performance bonus of 28.8 million euros ($30.3 million) in addition to a salary of 15.4 million euros ($16.2 million) — by far the largest of any music executive.
This year, shareholders have shown little appetite for some entertainment executives’ pay packages — most notably Netflix — and Live Nation’s compensation raised flags at two influential shareholder advisory groups, Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, which both recommended that Live Nation shareholders vote “no” in an advisory “say on pay” vote during the company’s annual meeting on June 9. Shareholders did just that, voting against executives’ pay packages by a 53-to-47 margin.
Failed “say on pay” votes are rare amongst United States corporations. Through Aug. 17, just 2.1% of Russell 3000 companies and 2.3% of S&P 500 companies have received less than 50% votes on executive compensation, according to executive compensation consultancy Semler Brossy. (Live Nation is in both indexes.) About 93% of companies received at least 70% shareholder approval.
ISS was concerned that the stock grants given to Rapino and Berchtold were “multiple times larger” than total CEO pay in peer group companies and were not adequately linked to achieving sustained higher stock prices. Additionally, ISS thought Live Nation did not adequately explain the rationale behind the grants.
To determine what Rapino, Berchtold and other executives should earn, Live Nation’s compensation committee referenced high-earning executives from Netflix, Universal Music Group, SiriusXM, Spotify, Endeavor Group Holdings, Fox Corporation, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. and Paramount Global. Netflix co-CEOs Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos were paid $51.1 million and $50.3 million, respectively, in 2022. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslov made $39.3 million in 2022 — including a $21.8 million cash bonus — a year after his pay totaled $246.6 million, including $202.9 million in stock option awards that will vest over his six-year employment contract. Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and executive chairman Patrick Whitesell received pay packages worth $308.2 million and $123.1 million, respectively, in 2021 thanks to equity awards tied to the company’s IPO that year (the received more modest pay of $19 million and $12.2 million in 2022).
Some companies in the peer group didn’t fare well in “say on pay” votes in 2023, though. Netflix, got only 29% shareholder approval in this year’s say-on-pay advisory vote after Hastings’ and Sarandos’ compensations both increased from higher stock option awards while the company’s stock price, riding high as COVID-19 lockdowns drove investors to streaming stocks, fell 51% in 2022. Warner Bros. Discovery’s 2022 compensation squeaked by with 51% shareholder approval.
Minutes from UMG’s 2023 annual general meeting in May suggest many of its shareholders also didn’t approve of Grainge’s compensation. UMG’s 2022 compensation was approved by just 59% of shareholders, and the company’s four largest shareholders own 58.1% of outstanding shares, meaning virtually no minority shareholders voted in favor.
UMG shareholders’ votes could be meaningfully different next year. Anna Jones, chairman of the music company’s remuneration committee, said during the annual meeting that in 2024, shareholders will vote on a pay package related to Grainge’s new employment agreement that takes minority shareholders’ concerns from the 2022 annual meeting into consideration. Grainge’s contract lowers his cash compensation, and more than half of his total compensation will come from stock and performance-based stock options.
Other companies in Live Nation’s peer group received near unanimous shareholder approval. SiriusXM’s 2022 executive compensation received 98.5% approval at the company’s annual meeting. Paramount Global’s executive compensation was approved by 96.4% of its shareholders. Endeavor didn’t have a “say on pay” vote in 2023, but a year ago, it’s sizable 2021 compensation packages were approved by 99% of voting shareholders.
As the radio industry came back from pandemic-era doldrums, two iHeartMedia executives — Bob Pittman, CEO, and Richard Bressler, president, CFO and COO — were among the top 10 best-paid executives in the music industry. It was new employment contracts, not iHeartMedia’s financial performance, that put them into the top 10, however. Both executives received performance stock awards — $6.5 million for Pittman and $6 million for Bressler — for signing new four-year employment contracts in 2022. Those shares will be earned over a five-year period based on the performance of the stock’s shareholder return. Neither Pittman nor Bressler received a payout from the annual incentive plan, however: iHeartMedia missed the financial targets that would have paid them millions of dollars apiece. Still, with salaries and other stock awards, Pittman and Bressler received pay packages valued at $16.3 million and $15.5 million, respectively.
Spotify co-founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon once again topped the list of largest stockholdings in public music companies. Ek’s 15.9% stake is worth nearly $4.8 billion while Lorentzon’s 11.2% stake has a market value of nearly $3.4 billion. Both Ek and Lorentzon have benefitted from Spotify’s share price more than doubling so far in 2023. In September 2022, the inaugural Money Makers list had Ek’s stake at $3.6 billion and Lorentzon’s shares at $2.3 billion.
The billionaire club also includes No. 3 HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk, whose 31.8% of outstanding shares are worth $2.54 billion, and No. 4 CTS Eventim CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, whose 38.8% stake — held indirectly through his KPS Foundation non-profit — is worth $2.25 billion. They, too, have benefitted from higher share prices in 2023. Last year, Bang’s stake was worth $1.7 billion and Schulenberg’s shares were valued at $2.1 billion.
These top four shareholders and three others in the top 10 have one important thing in common — they are company founders. At No. 5, Park Jin-young, founder of K-pop company JYP Entertainment, owns a $559 million stake in the label and agency he launched in 1997. Another K-pop mogul, No. 8 Hyunsuk Yang, chairman of YG Entertainment, owns shares worth $199 million in the company he founded in 1996. And No. 9 Denis Ladegaillerie, CEO of 18-year-old French music company Believe, has a 12.5% stake worth $112.7 million.
Live Nation’s Rapino again landed in the top 10 for amassing a stockholding over a lengthy career, during which he has helped significantly increase his company’s value. Rapino, the only CEO Live Nation has ever known, took the helm in 2005 just months before the company was spun off from Clear Channel Entertainment with a market capitalization of $692 million. Since then, Live Nation’s market capitalization has grown at over 20% compound annual growth rate to $19.1 billion. Rapino’s 3.46 million shares represent a 1.5% stake worth $291 million.
Selling a company that one founded is another way onto the list. Scooter Braun, CEO of HYBE America, has a 0.9% stake in HYBE worth $69.8 million. That’s good for No. 10 on the list of executive stock ownership. Braun, HYBE’s second-largest individual shareholder behind chairman Bang, sold his company, Ithaca Holdings — including SB Projects and Big Machine Label Group — to HYBE in 2021 for $1.1 billion.
These rankings are based on publicly available financial statements and filings — such as proxy statements, annual reports and Form 4 filings that reveal employees’ recent stock transactions — that publicly traded companies are required by law to file for transparency to investors. So, the list includes executives from Live Nation but not its largest competitor, the privately held AEG Live.
Some major music companies are excluded because they are not standalone entities. Conglomerates that break out the financial performance of their music companies — e.g., Sony Corp. (owner of Sony Music Entertainment) and Bertelsmann (owner of BMG) — don’t disclose compensation details for heads of record labels and music publishers. Important digital platforms such as Apple Music and Amazon Music are relatively small parts of much larger corporations.
The Money Makers executive compensation table includes only the named executive officers: the CEO, the CFO and the next most highly paid executives. While securities laws vary by country, they generally require public companies to named executive officers’ salary, bonuses, stock awards and stock option grants and the value of benefits such as private airplane access and security.
And while Billboard tracked the compensation of every named executive for publicly traded music companies, the top 10 reflects two facts: The largest companies tend to have the largest pay packages and companies within the United States tend to pay better than companies in other countries.
The list of stock ownership is also taken from public disclosures. The amounts include common stock owned directly or indirectly by the executive. The list does not include former executives — such as former Warner Music Group CEO Stephen Cooper — who are no longer employed at the company and no longer required to disclose stock transactions.
Big Hit Music, the longtime label home of BTS, announced its plans to sign exclusive agreements with all its members and also “work with the group on their future releases from 2025 onwards.” “With the renewal of their contracts, we are looking forward to supporting BTS’ group activities expected in 2025,” Big Hit’s parent company […]
WeVerse, the social media platform owned by K-pop company HYBE, will add 13 artists from SM Entertainment on Sept. 12, the companies announced Tuesday (Sept. 5). That opens the platform to such artists as NCT 127, Red Velvet, Girls’ Generation, Super Junior, RIIZE and aespa. The partnership was announced in April. “With this momentous occasion, […]
Spotify led a group of high-flying streaming stocks this week by gaining 14.8% to $157.54 per share, increasing its market capitalization by nearly $4 billion to $30.7 billion. The world’s largest streaming company, which boasted 220 million subscribers as of June 30, has clawed back nearly all its losses since its share price dropped 14% […]
The Debut: Dream Academy has arrived.
The first episode of the competition series aired on Friday (Sept. 1) featured all 20 contestants as they watched a conversation between HYBE Chairman Bang Si-Hyuk and Interscope Geffen A&M Records CEO John Janick, as they give advice on what it takes to succeed in a girl group. “If you don’t love music, you won’t succeed,” he explains.
Janick added, “I feel like to be a successful part of this group, it’s going to require a huge amount of creativity and passion. I think with every artist, that’s what we’re looking for.”
The duo then ran down the first mission of the competition series, a showcase that aims to “level up your skills as a global girl group,” in which the contestants are split into two dance teams and two vocal teams. The mission will result in two eliminations. “Team members are crucial business partners, and it’s important to know proper work etiquette with your business partner,” Bang Si-Hyuk explained.
The executives then explained the two other missions of the series. According to an explainer also shared to Dream Academy‘s YouTube page, in the team mission, the contestants will head to Korea to compete before another series of eliminations. The artistry mission will test the contestant’s “ability to pull off unique concepts” before the final girl group is revealed at the live finale on Nov. 17.
Finally, the girls were split into their teams. The first dance team, which will be performing BLACKPINK’s “Pink Venom,” features Daniela, Megan, UA, Adéla and Hinari. The second dance team, which will be performing NewJeans’ “OMG,” features Emily, Ezrela, Marquise, Yoonchae and Mei. The first vocal team, which will be performing a mashup of Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own” and Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever,” features Karlee, Lexie, Iliya, Brooklyn and Manon. The second vocal team, which will be performing Paramore’s “Still Into You,” features Sophia, Lara, Celeste, Samara and Nayoung.
The diverse group of young women were selected from more than 120,000 submissions after HYBE and Geffen announced the joint venture — HYBE x Geffen Global Girl Group Audition — in November 2021.
Watch the full first episode below.
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Justin Bieber‘s and Scooter Braun’s success has been inextricably intertwined since 2008 when Braun discovered the then-13-year-old singer on YouTube, got him signed to Usher’s record label and became his manager. Braun made Bieber’s career, and vice versa, and their once-flourishing business relationship was arguably the catalyst for Braun adding Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, J Balvin, Idina Menzel and many others to the management roster at his SB Projects, and the subsequent sale of its parent company Ithaca Holdings to Korean K-pop entertainment giant HYBE for $1.06 billion in April 2021 and his appointment as HYBE America’s CEO that followed.
But since then, Braun has moved his focus away from his management business and onto growing HYBE, shepherding massive deals like its $300 million purchase of hip-hop company Quality Control in February. That shift is one factor that’s had Bieber actively looking at how he might extract himself from that relationship with the help of his new music lawyer, David Lande, and prompting Braun’s other star clients to exit as well, sources tell Billboard. Grande is also planning to part with Braun on friendly terms, more because she’s “excited to go in a different direction” and because she’s “outgrown him” than because of his C-suite distractions, a source close to her says: “It’s time for something new.” Menzel, Balvin and Lovato departed earlier this year, on good terms as well, sources say.
But even for the world’s biggest superstars, leaving your manager is easier said than done — and Bieber and his lawyer are still exploring all their options, sources tell Billboard, with a full split not guaranteed. Bieber’s latest moves have included firing his agency, CAA, and hiring a new music lawyer — Lande at Ziffren Brittenham — to replace Aaron Rosenberg, whom Braun had helped hire. (Michael Rhodes, a partner at the Cooley law firm remains Bieber’s general counsel.)
Lande, these sources say, has been looking at how to extricate Bieber from the management agreement with Braun, but there’s a major complication: Bieber is still under contract for about four more years, following a series of amendments to their deal made three years ago, sources say, and standard management contracts tend to favor the manager. To get out entirely free of obligations, an artist must often show that their manager breached the agreement — which generally includes acting outside of an artist’s best interests, such as financial impropriety like siphoning funds. And only in the most extreme examples does a manager being unavailable or unreachable count. (Were that the case, Braun’s team at SB projects would likely give him significant cover: Braun’s lieutenant, Allison Kaye, has been running management as president of SB Projects since 2016.) Sometimes there are performance metrics, but given Bieber and Braun’s stature in the industry, that’s unlikely, music lawyers say.
“If you’re talking about a case where the artist is just no longer content with their current manager and wants to get out of their management deal, they have a high bar to clear,” says entertainment attorney Larry Katz. “The only chance an artist would have is if they can demonstrate a well-documented pattern of failure by the manager.”
That said, many managers and lawyers agree that it is not in anyone’s best interest to hold an artist in a contract against their will. “Slavery is not a thing,” says one manager.
A scenario like this usually results in the artist and manager striking a new deal that involves a lump sum paid to the manager; a commission on future monies made from deals in which the manager was involved; a sunset clause that gives the manager a gradually decreasing percentage of earnings from such deals — or, likely, a combination of these.
Perhaps because of these complications, sources familiar with some of Bieber’s business dealings say he is focused on resolving his predicament with Braun and would not begin a serious search for new management until that objective is completed — or may not seek a new manager at all.
Otherwise, Bieber would need to shoulder the cost of paying two managers until his agreement with Braun either expired or was dissolved.
A new manager would also face limited options for finding new income opportunities. Bieber is still under a recording contract with Def Jam as he currently works on his seventh studio album, meaning there’s no new multi-million-dollar label deal on the immediate horizon. He also sold his publishing, artist royalties from his master recordings and neighboring rights to Hipgnosis for over $200 million earlier this year. And he remains under contract with AEG Presents, which has promoted his concerts since his inaugural My World Tour in 2010.
Under that AEG deal, Bieber likely owes the promoter any advances paid for his tours that haven’t been recouped. This would likely include an upfront signing fee paid to AEG to promote Bieber’s tours, as well as a per-show guarantee — some or all of which would be recoupable against the tour’s ticket sales. These financial obligations are usually settled somewhere between the early planning of the tour and while it’s in progress, but Bieber’s situation is more complicated. That’s because he has repeatedly rescheduled or canceled touring plans over the past three years due to the coronavirus pandemic and personal health issues, which could mean that his deal with AEG has yet to recoup its obligations.
Still, sources agree Bieber remains an appealing client, because of the kind of influence that comes with his superstar stature.
As for the status of Bieber and Grande’s relationship with SB Projects, sources close to Braun’s camp say both artists are under contract but are currently working out new deal structures to account for Braun stepping into his larger role as HYBE America CEO. Sources close to Bieber and Grande say they are also working out new deal structures for the many business ventures they undertook while at SB — in preparation for their potential departures.
“It might take several years for Bieber to wrap up whatever deals he has with Braun and SB Projects, but he’s still a very attractive client,” says a major talent agent executive unassociated with the artist. “He’s young, he’s a proven superstar and he’s motivated to work and make money.”
Additional reporting by Dave Brooks and Elias Leight.
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Boosted by K-pop’s growing popularity and artists’ return to concert stages, the four publicly traded South Korean music companies — HYBE, SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment — posted average revenue growth of 71% in the second quarter of 2023, according to Billboard’s analysis of their recent earnings reports.
Sky-high growth rates in recent quarters have helped make the K-pop companies a wise investment in 2023: Through Wednesday (Aug. 16), the four share prices increased an average of 63.6% year to date, adding more than $4.7 billion in market capitalization cumulatively to the companies’ stocks. In contrast, stocks of the two largest standalone music companies, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, have gained 3.6% and lost 6%, respectively, year-to-date through Tuesday (Aug. 15).
In terms of revenue growth, the leader in the second quarter was JYP Entertainment, home to the groups Stray Kids and Twice. JYP’s revenue grew 124% to 151.7 billion won ($115.2 million), with new albums by Stray Kids, Twice and NMixx driving a 298% increase in physical sales to 74.1 billion won ($56.3 million). Republic Records, JYP’s partner in the United States, accounted for 14.5 billion won ($11 million) of physical sales, or about 20% of the total amount. Elsewhere, JYP’s concert revenue grew 44% year-over-year to a record 14.4 billion won ($10.9 million) while merchandise sales climbed 151% to 21.7 billion won ($16.5 million). Domestic streaming revenue grew 18% to 2.2 billion won ($1.7 million) while overseas streaming revenue jumped 82% to 10.3 billion won ($7.8 million).
YG Entertainment boasts the greatest share price gain among the group at 75.6% year to date. The company behind breakthrough girl group BLACKPINK, YG posted revenue of 158.3 billion won ($120.2 million) in the second quarter, up 108% from the prior-year period.
JYP Entertainment’s operating income grew 88% to 45.6 billion won ($34.6 million) but missed its 51-billion won estimate, causing the company’s share price to fall 8.2% the following day. Although its revenue grew 124% in the quarter, JYP was hurt by what it called a “temporary increase in content product costs.” As a result, its cost of goods sold rose 162% while gross margin percentage — gross profit as a percent of sales — declined 1.6 percentage points to 47.7%.
Expenses also grew faster than revenue at HYBE, where cost of sales grew 25% while sales, general and administrative expenses climbed 32%. HYBE’s operating profit declined 8% as a result, while net income improved 19% despite a 21% growth in revenue. HYBE’s share price declined just 0.9% the day after the results were released; with a 38.9% gain year-to-date, its stock boasts the lowest appreciation of the four K-pop companies.
For 2023, Billboard is introducing the R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players’ Choice Award, a peer-voted accolade chosen by Billboard Pro members to honor the executive they believe has made the most impact across the R&B/hip-hop music business over the past year. After three rounds of voting, Billboard Pro members have chosen Pierre “P” Thomas, CEO of Quality Control, to […]