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A massive fire tore through an overcrowded nightclub in North Macedonia Sunday (March 16), killing 59 people and injuring 155 in a chaotic escape during a live concert. The tragedy drew messages of support from around the world but focused national attention on corruption in the small Balkan country as authorities detained 15 people.
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The pre-dawn blaze in the eastern town of Kocani left mostly young people dead and injured due to burns, smoke inhalation and a stampede in the desperate effort to reach the building’s single exit, officials said. People as young as 16 were among the injured, they said.
Videos showed sparkling pyrotechnics on the stage hitting the ceiling followed by scenes of chaos inside the club, with young people running through the smoke as the musicians urged them to escape as quickly as possible.
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“We even tried to get out through the toilet, to find bars (on the windows),” Marija Taseva, 19, told The Associated Press, describing the fire that erupted after watching a local pop group at Club Pulse. “I somehow managed to get out. I fell down the stairs and they ran over me, trampled me. … I barely stayed alive and could hardly breathe.” She suffered an injury to her face.
Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski said 15 people had been detained for questioning after a preliminary inspection revealed the club was operating without a proper license. He said that the number of people inside the club was at least double its official capacity of 250.
“We have grounds for suspicion that there is bribery and corruption in this case,” he told reporters without elaborating.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also sent messages of support. “I wish those who were injured a speedy recovery. Ukraine mourns alongside our (North) Macedonian friends on this sad day,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X.
Health Ministry officials said the government had accepted offers of assistance from several neighboring countries, including Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Turkey, where preparations were being made to receive patients with life-threatening injuries. Paramedics from Serbia and Bulgaria also traveled to North Macedonia to help with the local effort.
Throughout Sunday, relatives gathered in front of hospitals and city offices in Kocani, some 115 kilometers (72 miles) east of the capital, Skopje, begging authorities for more information. Resident Dragi Stojanov was informed that his 21-year-old son Tomce had died in the fire.
“He was my only child. I don’t need my life anymore. … 150 families have been devastated,” he said. “Children burnt beyond recognition. There are corpses, just corpses inside (the club). … And the bosses (of organized crime), just putting money into their pockets.”
In Skopje, officials said the injured were to hospitals around the country, many being treated for severe burns and smoke inhalation. The effort was being assisted by multiple volunteer organizations.
The fire is the worst tragedy in recent memory to befall the landlocked nation, whose population is less than 2 million, and the latest in a slew of deadly nightclub fires around the world.
President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova visited burn victims at a hospital in Skopje and spoke to parents waiting outside the building. “It’s terrible … hard to believe how this happened,” she said, her voice halting with emotion. “We must give these young people courage to continue.”
The fire caused the roof of the single-story building to partially collapse, revealing the charred remains of wooden beams and debris. Police cordoned off the site and sent in evidence gathering teams in an operation also involving state prosecutors.
Pyrotechnics have often been the cause of deadly fires in nightclubs, including the one at the Colectiv club in Bucharest, Romania, in 2015 in which 64 people died.
Based in Los Angeles since 2016, her0ism has carved out a career in the forefront of the global music industry. The Japanese producer and songwriter has produced numerous hit songs on an international scale, and his recent works include tracks for XG and BLACKPINK’s LISA’s “Dream” from her album Alter Ego, which topped Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart and debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. One of the producers on ever.y, his creative team, achieved a major milestone this year when Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal, which the producer contributed to, won the Grammy for best rap album.
her0ism sat down with Billboard Japan and shared his thoughts on the influence of J-pop on Western pop music and elaborated on his recent efforts to establish a new category in the Grammys called the Asian music performance award.
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How was the recent Grammy Awards ceremony?
Doechii’s album Alligator Bites Never Heal won best rap album this year, and Peyote Beats, a producer on our creative team ever.y, had worked on it. I’d been invited to the ceremony every year but this was the first time I was involved in such a close capacity. The award for best rap album was announced at the start of the evening’s proceedings. It was the first time Peyote had attended the event and to be honest, he wasn’t quite mentally prepared. So when the presenter said “Doechii!” he burst into tears. We got up and hugged each other in joy. My goal has been to win a Grammy and I’d worked towards it for a long time, but until that moment, it still felt distant, like something happening on TV.
Peyote Beats is an Armenian-American from Los Angeles. It’s interesting that a producer with such a background is interested in J-pop.
He comes from an immigrant family and I think they went through some hard times. So, yes, it is interesting that someone with that background is interested in J-pop. I’ve also wondered about that, and think he’s drawn to J-pop’s melodies.
Could you elaborate on that?
Hip-hop basically places emphasis on the track, but the songs he writes have counter melodies, with guitars and other instruments singing, and I think that’s largely influenced by the melodic elements of J-pop. I played Fujii Kaze’s music in the studio and he’s been into that recently. And it’s not just him, I’m sensing that J-pop is gradually spreading in the U.S., and that this year will be the starting line for the genre overseas.
Working in the States, I really feel the popularity of XG. They’re promoting a hybrid genre they call “X-POP” and it skillfully combines the melodic aspects of J-pop with the foundation that K-pop has built up Stateside. Their song “IN THE RAIN” that I helped produce is R&B, but the melody is emphasized and it’s recognizable as having Japanese influences. I think that kind of thing is starting to be accepted. I made this song with my partner Shintaro Yasuda, and he also makes hip-hop with a great sense of melody.
Tell us about your current efforts involving the Grammys. I hear there are some new developments.
I’m a Recording Academy voting member, and I’m also in charge of the screening process for the different genres. Recently, I was approached by the Recording Academy about the possibility of creating a new Asian category at the Grammys. When I spoke at a panel discussion at SXSW, I met a guy named Ralph from the Recording Academy at a party and he said to me, “If you’re making so many songs (for Asian acts), why don’t you create an Asian category?” and I was like, “You can make categories?” Ralph asked me to apply for it, and I had to become a voting member to apply. So last year, I applied for it with Mr. Kato from Project Asteri, but we were rejected. And I was like, “Why are we being rejected when we were asked to apply?” But apparently, Ralph needed to let people within the Recording Academy know that this kind of action was being initiated. Once a category is created, judges would be needed, but currently only about 4% of the voting members are Asian. There’s a huge lack of professionals who can make these decisions, so we need to increase the number of Japanese voting members and also need to do some promotional activities to achieve this.
If an award for Asian music performance can be established, it would bring about a huge change. In the same way that music from Central and South America is categorized under “Latin,” the music scene across Asia would become categorized under “Asian.”
Right. Coincidentally, I feel like I’ve finally moved on to the first page of my own career, having worked on a song for LISA and watching XG’s reach spread globally. My music publishing contract has also changed. I’ve signed a worldwide contract with Sony Music Publishing L.A., the American branch of Sony Music Publishing. Apparently, no Japanese person has done this before. Until now, even though we’d received offers, there were differences in the publishing rules between Japan and elsewhere, so it was difficult to make progress. But we’ve finally been able to sign a contract that forms the basis for competing on a global scale, so that also feels like the first page of a new chapter. There’s talk of J-pop spreading globally, and there’s also talk of the potential new Grammy category, so I feel like this year is truly the starting line. A new awards called Music Awards Japan will also take place in Kyoto in May to promote Japanese music globally. The timing is excellent.
What are your hopes and visions for the future?
Personally, I’m still in the middle of my challenge, and just reached the starting line. I want to produce American artists and Asian artists without any distinction. I can share things that other (Japanese) producers don’t have because I’m based in the U.S. I think there’s a kind of J-pop that can only be done because I’m not in Japan, and that there will be more things expected of me because I’m Japanese in the U.S. I want to keep moving forward and build on that over the next ten years. I also think it’s necessary to create an environment where my juniors can follow in my footsteps. I want to continue fulfilling my dreams in the future so I can show that making music is a dream-inspiring profession.
This interview by Tomonori Shiba first appeared on Billboard Japan.
When it comes to the value of music royalties, some artists have an advantage based on where they live.
Nigerian artists earned more than $43 million from Spotify in 2024, according to the streaming giant’s latest Loud and Clear report. A “significant” portion of those royalties came from outside Nigeria, with exports of the country’s music increasing 49% over the last three years. In other words, people in other countries — many of which provide better royalties than are available in Nigeria — are listening to Nigerian artists, effectively sending their money to the West African country.
Spotify’s Loud & Clear report provides good insight into how royalties are split between superstars, merely popular artists and everybody else. In 2024, 71,200 artists earned at least $10,000 in royalties from the streaming service, up from 66,000 in 2023, while 670 artists earned more than $2 million, an increase from 570 the prior year.
Read between the lines of the Loud & Clear data and you’ll see that royalties have different values to musicians in different countries. If you’re a recording artist in India, where free, ad-supported listening dwarfs relatively cheap subscriptions, you’re better off receiving your royalties from a country like the U.S. where subscriptions are many and prices are high. If you’re an Afrobeats artist in Nigeria, a U.S. stream is worth more than a stream at home.
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Economist Will Page found that almost a third of all streams inside the U.S. in 2023 came from artists outside the U.S. The top music exporter to the U.S. was the U.K. — which has roughly the same royalty rates as the U.S. — but the No. 2 exporter was Mexico, a country where a Spotify individual subscription costs the equivalent of $6.49. Colombia, where a Spotify subscription costs the equivalent of $4.12, was No. 6. As Page wrote in his roundup of 2023 global recorded music revenues, Mexican artists’ U.S. streams were worth more than three times what they would have earned had they originated in their home country. For Colombian artists, their U.S. streams were worth more than six times what they would have earned in their home country.
In a global music business driven by streaming platforms, artists can earn more by tapping into more lucrative markets. A Nigerian artist should want more U.S. fans. A Colombian artist gets more from a U.S. stream. It’s a form of arbitrage — buying low and selling high.
In the digital era, choosing where to live is also a form of arbitrage. People with the ability to work remotely are increasingly choosing to live somewhere more affordable. Millions of Americans have moved to states with lower costs of living in recent years, with some leaving the country for safe havens in Europe as political discourse turned sour. States such as Texas, Florida and Tennessee are attractive for the (relatively) cheaper costs of living and lack of state income tax. Digital nomadism goes internationally, too, as people work remotely from faraway places — co-working spaces have sprouted on the Indonesian island of Bali, for example — with a substantially lower cost of living. Dozens of countries offer a digital nomad visa, called a remote working visa.
Musical nomadism isn’t a thing — yet. And this is more of a thought experiment than a serious proposal. Moving to a foreign country would take artists away from a large, lucrative concert market. And unless a musician plans to infiltrate the local music scene in their new home, they would be without the networking and personal connections that foster both creativity and commerce. An artist with children and a spouse would also have to pull deep roots to leave the country. But if an artist only wants to record and release music online, living elsewhere — not just Texas or Tennessee, but a country where the cost of living is far lower than in the U.S. — would improve the economics of music streaming.
Given the value of listeners in mature streaming markets, a stream in the U.S. and U.K. is worth far more than a stream in many other countries. Spotify costs $11.99 per month for an individual in the U.S. In Nigeria, an individual Spotify subscription costs the equivalent of $0.84 per month. And if Nigeria is like other developing markets, ad-supported streaming — which returns less value to artists and rights holders — is far more popular than paid subscriptions.
In Nigeria, $1 in the U.S. has the spending power of over $8, based on the difference between Nigeria’s gross domestic product in nominal dollars and purchasing power parity. In other words, goods that cost $1 in Nigeria would cost $8 in the U.S. Other countries provide similar boosts in spending power. In Indonesia, $1 feels like $3.30 in the U.S. In Colombia, $1 has the spending power of $2.70. In Mexico, having $1 is like having $1.90 up north.
Differences in costs of living would make royalties seem far more valuable. A typical 0.35-cent per-stream royalty would feel like 2.8 cents in Nigeria, 1.2 cents in Indonesia, 0.95 cents in Colombia and 0.66 cents in Mexico. An American artist who earns $5,000 from a synch placement would get more from that income by walking across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Musicians who are hesitant to become digital nomads can find solace in the slowly improving streaming economics in developing markets. Mature streaming markets are driven by subscriptions, while developing markets tend to be driven by ad-supported streaming. But it’s widely believed that subscription uptake will improve over time, making those foreign streams worth more over time. And in the U.S., artist-centric policies, rising prices and upcoming super-premium tiers will bring more value to artists and rights holders. In other words, don’t dig out your passport just yet.
Singer-songwriter YU-KA traveled to Sweden to work with local creators and co-write the songs on her newly released five-song EP, Wild Nights. With songs like “Feel Like This,” the ending theme to part 1 of the Netflix series Beastars‘ final season, the EP has a mellow electronic sound evocative of northern Europe, and YU-KA’s delicate singing voice and expressiveness are in full bloom. She talked with Billboard Japan at length about how her time in Sweden stimulated and inspired her, and how she put those feelings into her music.
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Your new EP, Wild Nights, came out six months after your previous EP, Sunshade. Were the songs on the albums written around the same time?
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I didn’t write the lyrics or put the finishing touches on the songs until after Sunshade‘s release, but I made the actual demos for all of the songs in Sweden last summer. I was there for a little under a week, and while there I wrote a lot of different songs with different writers. The songs on Wild Nights come from the songs I wrote there. The speed with which the Swedish writers worked, and their way of thinking, was a little different than Japanese artists. Even the way they chose sounds was totally different, so it was an extremely stimulating experience.
Actually having gone to Sweden, did you find that it had a unique atmosphere of its own?
In Japan, everything gets lumped together as “Western music,” but the music in Sweden has a different feel than American or British music. Also, even though Sweden and Japan are very far away geographically, the character of the Swedish people is a good fit in many ways for that of the Japanese people. I felt a strange link between the countries. The artists I co-wrote with have also written songs for other Japanese artists, so they had connections with J-pop. I felt an unexpected affinity throughout the songwriting process.
What is the concept behind Wild Nights?
When writing the lyrics afterward, I wanted to make the theme for the EP “night.” Ever since my debut, I’ve been writing and releasing music, so I decided to stop for a second and think about my own artistry and my own strengths. I realized that, in the duality of light and dark, I tended toward the dark side. Other musicians and my vocal coaches often describe my voice as having a “shadowy” feel. Also, a lot of the songs I wrote a long time ago, on my own, were dark songs. So that’s why I decided to make the theme of the EP “night.” The title Wild Nights comes from a poem by Emily Dickinson. I found out about her in university, where I was majoring in English literature. When I was struggling with the decision of whether or not to become a singer, I was inspired by her poetry, and I decided to give music my all. “Wild nights” refers to stormy nights, and I thought that fit perfectly with the EP’s image, so I chose it as the title.
The image of your previous EP, Sunshade, was that of being out in the sun, so the new EP’s title stands in contrast.
The theme of Sunshade was “J-pop.” The songs I wrote in Sweden had a sound that was more like Western music, so before releasing them, I wanted to make an album that embodied my J-pop side. That was Sunshade. That’s also why the lyrics are relatively straightforward, while the lyrics on Wild Nights are a bit more aggressive and wild. In that sense, too, I think the two EPs present a contrast.
“Feel Like This” is the ending theme of part 1 of the Netflix series Beastars final season. Since it’s a tie-up, you’d expect it to go in a J-pop direction, but instead you took a bold approach, going with all-English lyrics.
The anime’s production team asked me to use English lyrics, and I thought it was a good idea. It’s evidence of the fact that anime is watched around the world. I was really happy that they picked me to write the ending theme. When I wrote the song, in Sweden, my vision was to pair it with English lyrics, so I think it was easier to write the lyrics in English than if I’d tried to write them in Japanese. I like lyrics that tie into the work the song is being used for, so I had fun writing them.
Beastars is set in a school, and it’s a love story, but it’s also enjoyable because of its takes on social issues like discrimination and its exploration of identity. What did you focus on when you wrote the lyrics?
The main character, a wolf, is in love with a rabbit, who’s a herbivore. In the natural world, their relationship would be predator and prey, but there’s a romance element, which is one of the key features of the anime. I think that contrast between reason and instinct is really important. The whole anime is a metaphorical depiction of problems in human society, and I think there are themes that apply to everyone. For example, think of what you want to do as being “instinct” and what you have to do as being “reason.” There are a lot of people who sacrifice what they want to do for what they have to do. It’s important not to let your instinct run rampant, but if you go overboard in ignoring your own desires, you’ll eventually come apart at the seams. I’ve felt that in my own life, so I based the lyrics on that idea. The lyrics use the contrast between certain expressions in English, and there’s a sense of playfulness that runs throughout.
I wrote the song “1-2-3” [also on the album] with David (Fremberg), who also worked on “Feel Like This.” Originally, we were just working on “Feel Like This,” but then we realized that if we kept focusing on this one song alone, we wouldn’t be able to come up with anything good. Instead, we figured we should play around with something else for a while and then come back to “Feel Like This.” And that’s how “1-2-3” came to be. We wrote “Feel Like This” and “1-2-3” in a single day.
The new EP has a good balance of English and Japanese lyrics. The last song, “Silent Parade,” is in Japanese, so the message and intent come through really strong.
There’s been a lot going on in the world recently, and perhaps because of that, the sight of people taking a position and asserting themselves has stuck with me. Asserting yourself is an impressive feat, you know. But if you think about it, being a singer-songwriter is similar, in a way. Singer-songwriters start out on their own, but they’re able to keep on making music thanks to the relationships they develop with all kinds of other people, like listeners or staff members. As they go on, that line of people becomes even longer. The question is whether, when you start out as in this silent parade, all by yourself, you can imagine all the people that will one day join in. Whether you can trust that to happen. That’s why it’s “Silent” and not “Alone.” I wanted to encourage people who step forward. They may feel like they’re alone, but when people have their sights set on the future and they keep pushing forward, they’re walking at the front of a long line of the people who will one day join them. When I started out, I thought I was all on my own, but now, as YU-KA, I’m surrounded by staff members and people who support me. Writing the song, I was struck once again by just how precious their presence is, and it made me want to make the YU-KA parade an even bigger one.
This interview by Hiroko Goto first appeared on Billboard Japan.
The details and entries for all 62 categories in the inaugural Music Awards Japan, set for May 21 and 22 in Kyoto, have been announced. Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) has been named the Symbol of Music Awards Japan 2025, the act that personifies the spirit of this year’s MAJ.
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About 3,000 entries were announced, with 256 songs up for Song of the Year, 167 artists in Artist of the Year, 171 albums in Album of the Year, 61 artists in New Artist of the Year, 100 songs in Top Global Hit from Japan and 24 songs in Best Song Asia.
Voting is currently underway among artists and creatives nominated for an award, plus media-related and other music industry professionals from Japan and overseas. The nominees will be announced on Thursday, April 17, and the award winners will be revealed at the ceremony set for May 21 and 22. All of the entries can be viewed on the official MAJ website, and Spotify is currently celebrating the entries with its “museum” playlist. Fans can check out playlists for each category on various streaming platforms including d Hits, Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple Music.
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Atarashii Gakko! took to the stage at the event in Tokyo announcing this year’s entries. The four-member group is slated to perform at the music event called matsuri ’25: Japanese Music Experience Los Angeles on Mar. 16 with Ado and YOASOBI, an event by the Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association (CEIPA) that organizes MAJ.
In addition to the main categories mentioned above, MAJ has a total of 62 categories including: International Special Awards — awarded to songs that have won an award for Best Song or an equivalent prize in music awards in six countries — linked to award events in South Korea, China, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam; the award for Largest Live Audience honoring Japanese artists who attracted the largest crowds in shows; and the Honorary Award in Music Technology, which celebrates Japanese music-tech professionals who have contributed to the music industry on a global scale.
Fans can participate in the selection process for the following five categories: through Spotify’s voting function for the Best of Listeners’ Choice awards for Domestic Song and lnternational Song powered by the streaming platform; the Special Award: Karaoke for J-pop and Enka / Kayōkyoku powered by DAM & JOYSOUND honoring songs sung the most at karaoke; and for the Special Award: USEN Request Oshi-Katsu Request Artist of the Year powered by USEN honoring the song requested the most on the USEN Oshi-Katsu Request Ranking.
Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) has been named the Symbol of Music Awards Japan 2025, the act symbolizing the guiding principle that MAJ aims to achieve. The trio consisting of Haruomi Hosono and the late musicians Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi formed in 1978, sparking a techno-pop craze in Japan and successfully touring internationally. The group was chosen as this year’s Symbol for the way they transcend borders and eras, showing a future that the MAJ strives to aim for. A YMO tribute concert will take place at the Kyoto International Conference Center on May 20, with performing artists and other details announced later.
International Special Awards: This category was established by CEIPA, the organizer of MAJ, in collaboration with music awards and their organizers in six countries: South Korea, China, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. It recognizes songs that have won the award for Best Song or an equivalent prize at music awards in the six countries. The top executives of the music awards in each country, or those nominated by the top executives, will participate in MAJ as overseas voting members. The category aims to connect the countries of the Pacific Rim through music, such as by realizing collaborations between artists from various countries through the collaborations between music awards.
Largest Live Audience: This award honors the artist who attracted the largest number of people to their shows. Based on the research data of the Live Entertainment Research Committee — a group of organizations and companies that surveys the size of the domestic live entertainment market, instances of overseas expansion, etc., and compiles an annual report — the artist who attracted the largest number of people to their live performances in Japan in 2024 will be awarded. This award celebrates the activities of artists who have energized the live music scene that has been on the road to recovery since the end of the pandemic.
Best Radio-Break Song: Radio DJs/personalities, directors and producers from 99 radio stations across Japan, who are at the forefront of the music scene and in direct contact with listeners, will vote as special radio voting members. This category will select songs with innovative appeal that update the music scene through a professional perspective, based on the music airplay data compiled by radiko.
Overseas Voting Members (partial list):Lucian Grainge (Chairman and CEO, Universal Music Group)Rob Stringer (Chairman, Sony Music Group)Robert Kyncl (CEO, Warner Music Group)Lyor Cohen (YouTube & Google Global Head of Music)Annette Barrett (President, IMPF)Hannah Karp (Editorial Director, Billboard)Ellen Lu (Vice President of Regional Festivals at Goldenvoice)Alex Norström (Co-President and Chief Business Officer at Spotify)
After more than 50 years, Saskatchewan’s Regina Folk Festival is saying goodbye.
The festival’s board of directors released a statement announcing the cancellation of a planned 53rd edition for this summer. The board is instead winding down the festival’s operations, explaining that “economic challenges have become insurmountable.”
The longstanding festival had cancelled its 2024 edition in order to take a regrouping year. Last fall, the festival announced a 2025 edition would go ahead. In the months since, however, the board says it has become clear that it’s not financially possible to hold another event.
“Ongoing financial pressures from the pandemic, including stagnant or reduced funding, rising costs, and declining ticket sales, have created obstacles we can no longer overcome,” says the statement.
The festival is the latest Canadian live arts event to shutter, as the industry faces serious challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Montreal’s Just For Laughs comedy festival filed for creditor protection last year, while the Vancouver Folk Festival announced it was shutting down in 2023, before the community — and an injection of funding — saved it.
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The Canada Live Music Association’s Hear and Now report, which measures the value of Canada’s live music industry, highlighted that globally, live music didn’t live up to projected performances in 2024.
“The live music sector in Canada has suffered greatly over the last five years and we are not immune,” the Regina Folk Festival (RFF) board states. “According to Festivals and Major Events Canada, it now costs 30% to 40% more than it did in 2019 to organize a comparable event.”
Like many folk festivals, the RFF is a non-profit. The festival has programmed some of Canada’s best-loved and most acclaimed artists, like Joel Plaskett, Alan Doyle and The Halluci Nation.
Emerging artists often get their first gigs at local folk festivals, and the folk festival circuit is a crucial space for like-minded artists to prioritize community and share best practices. But their grassroots nature also means those festivals aren’t necessarily able to withstand financial shocks.
“For 55 years, the Regina Folk Festival has been more than just a celebration of live music; it’s been a highly-anticipated weekend of community building where lasting memories were made,” the Board message concludes. “We look forward to discovering all the beautiful new events that will sprout in its absence. We encourage everyone to support the arts however they can.”
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As Festival Sponsorships Dwindle, Toronto’s Beaches Jazz Festival Calls On Brands To Support Canadian Arts
One of Toronto’s biggest summer music events, Beaches Jazz Festival, is calling on brands to support Canadian arts.
The free music festival draws 800,000 people a year, programming plenty of local and international musicians.
But as big brands increasingly drop their sponsorship of music events, Beaches Jazz Festival is issuing a direct appeal to Canadian businesses: amidst a wave of Canadian cultural nationalism, champion homegrown talent.
“This call goes beyond just Beaches Jazz,” festival founder Lido Chilelli tells Billboard Canada. “It’s a larger conversation about ensuring that Canada’s cultural events remain strong and independent.”
Even with government funding, festivals often rely on corporate sponsors to operate at a large scale. As the Globe and Mail reports, TD has recently pulled out of sponsoring some of the country’s biggest jazz festivals, including Toronto Jazz Fest and Calgary’s JazzYYC Summer Festival. In January, Vancouver International Jazz Festival, which also recently lost its title sponsor, put out a concerned call for donations.
Chilelli says that Beaches Jazz Festival typically sees strong interest from sponsors early in the year, but conversations have been slower this time around.
“We want companies to recognize that the Beaches Jazz Festival is more than just music — it’s a cultural event that brings communities together, drives tourism and significantly boosts the local economy,” Chilelli explains. “It’s an investment in community and culture.”
Chilelli points out that in a crowded digital landscape, it should be valuable to sponsor events that still provide in-person connection. Without brand sponsorship, though, festivals like Beaches Jazz aren’t able to program as many artists, leading to reduced opportunity for local arts.
Beaches Jazz Festival returns July 4-27, 2025.
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Artists Boycott East Coast Music Awards Following Departure of CEO
At the end of February, the East Coast Music Association announced the nominees for the 2025 ECMA Awards, but it almost immediately faced controversy.
Many prominent nominees have declared that they are withdrawing their nominations following controversy over the recent replacement of former CEO Blanche Israël.
That list includes acclaimed singer-songwriter Mo Kenney, nominated for rock/alternative release of the year, for “Evening Dreams.”
Explaining the move on Instagram, Kenney stated “I was nominated for an ECMA, but I am withdrawing and I will not be attending the conference. I do not agree with the lack of transparency around the sudden firing of former CEO [Blanche Israël], and what I would call essentially online bullying leading up to the firing. Much love and please do better @ecmaofficial.”
Others declining their nominations and boycotting the ECMAs include Indigenous rapper Wolf Castle, New Brunswick rapper Stephen Hero and Outside Music head Evan Newman.
Along with Classified, Juno and Polaris Prize winner Jeremy Dutcher had earned the most ECMA nominations, but he has withdrawn all eight nominations from the East Coast Music Awards in solidarity with other musicians who are boycotting the event.
“We need more than an award show on the East Coast,” Dutcher told CBC. “I hope this is a message to all other arts organizations that when we take on consultation with communities of artists, the artists might actually start to care about what happens … and they might start to get invested.”
A statement from the East Coast Music Association reads, in part: “We recognize that some have chosen to decline their nominations, and we respect their personal decisions. We also acknowledge the concerns that have been shared and remain committed to listening, learning, and fostering open conversations.”
The ECMAs will take place in St. John, Newfoundland, on May 8.
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LONDON — The U.K. jazz scene is in something of a golden period right now. In 2023, scene leaders Ezra Collective became the first jazz act to scoop the coveted Mercury Prize, winning for their album Where I’m Meant To Be. Last autumn, the group headlined the 12,500-capacity Wembley Arena, the biggest-ever jazz headline gig in the U.K. And earlier this month, the group also landed a BRIT Award in the best group category, beating out Coldplay and The Cure, and closed the show with a joyous live performance.
In the last 12 months, there have also been superb LP releases from saxophonist Nubya Garcia and London-based harpist Nala Sinephro, while Emma-Jean Thackray’s “Wanna Die” — released on tastemaker Giles Peterson’s Brownswood label — currently sits on BBC Radio 6 Music’s A-list and London group Oreglo made Billboard U.K.’s artists to watch list in 2025. On the live front, U.K. jazz festivals such as We Out Here in Dorset, East Sussex’s Love Supreme and the London Jazz Festival are pulling bigger crowds.
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But there’s a problem, says new research from Women In Jazz, a community group that celebrates and supports female and non-binary jazz performers in the U.K. The newly released report, based on a survey of 10,000 respondents, says women in the scene are not experiencing the same opportunities as their male counterparts, face barriers within the industry and are shut out of key decision-making roles. Only 16.4% of those surveyed felt that women were “well represented” in the jazz scene, with 55.8% of them saying that they were “very poorly or poorly represented.” That chimes with recent research by The Musicians Union, which says that over half of women in music have faced gender discrimination and that female and non-binary musicians are paid less and have shorter careers.
“There’s a huge amount of work to be done in regards to fair pay, access to opportunities, visibility in the media and more,” Women in Jazz co-founder Lou Paley tells Billboard U.K. “The contributions of women in jazz have always been there, but historically they haven’t necessarily always been recognised, and that’s not just in the U.K., that’s worldwide.”
Women In Jazz was co-founded by Paley and Nina Fine in 2018 to address this issue by hosting live events, jams and workshop sessions to help provide resources for emerging female musicians in the jazz space. And while they say there has been a shift in attitudes in recent years, there is still work to be done. Now, the organization is set to release its first full-length album, a 12-track LP that will showcase some of its members, with a new song being spotlighted every month.
“It was a very organic next step in terms of the Women In Jazz journey,” says Paley. “We’ve done live events, we’ve done mentoring, so there needs to be something that encompasses all of our work and showcases artists at different stages of their journey.”
Rosa Brunello, an artist who features on the compilation, says that being a part of Women In Jazz helped her gain access to Abbey Road Studios for a recording session. With female producer numbers still stubbornly low, the hope is that the opportunity to record in such world-class studios will encourage progress not only for women performers but women producers and engineers as well. The aforementioned research by The Musicians Union indicates that women make up just 29% of DJs, 24% of producers, 15% of live sound engineers and 12% of studio/mastering engineers.
Plumm, another featured artist on the album whose song “The Epic” was released in February, says these backroom roles at record labels, festivals and more will help women be recognised and championed in the same ways their male counterparts are. “I believe that for great talent to succeed, all need to be noticed,” she says. “I think there have always been amazing female artists, and the reason they have emerged more in recent years is because there’s finally more attention towards women.”
Paley, who previously worked at London’s Roundhouse venue as part of its programming team, says that women also need to be in decision-making positions at live events and festivals. Recent research by A2D2 last year indicated that 63% of acts across 10 major UK festivals are male artists or all-male bands, compared to just 21% female solo artists or bands.
“There’s one thing booking artists on a festival lineup, but there has to be more than that. It has to be paired with a deeper understanding or interest in artist development,” Paley says. “Otherwise, it just becomes a kind of tokenistic tick box exercise, which actually can be unhelpful in terms of longevity and might put artists in a position that they’re not potentially ready for.”
The diversity of songs on the record — from Afro-Latin-infused beats to more traditional jazz standards — makes for an enthralling listen. The idea, Paley says, was to set no barriers or expectations for the selected artists, except to fulfill their creative desires — a rarity in today’s results-oriented music industry.
That creative direction was inspired by Paley’s own experiences. She began playing as a teenager in a jazz band, but in addition to being the only woman in the band, she was acutely aware that she was entering a male-dominated scene. She says that this still rings true now, with jam sessions and live performances overwhelmingly dominated by men, making it more difficult for female performers to be recognised equally for their contribution to a session.
“A lot of people felt that there was a lack of collaborative spaces where people can create and network,” Paley adds. An upcoming Women in Jazz jam night in April in Notting Hill, London, will be an early step in bringing artists closer together, while the group also recently held a networking breakfast at the city’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall.
Despite the problems that persist, progress is being made, Paley says. The growing Women in Jazz community is providing resources and support. And in 2024, UK Music reported that the number of female and non-binary musicians is on the rise. However, she adds, everyone in the music ecosystem has a responsibility to help right the gender imbalance that remains.
”Fans, media, radio, press, and platforms all have a role to play in shaping an artist’s career, and the way that artists are framed and covered can have a significant impact on their success,” Paley says. “Everyone in the industry has a responsibility to ensure that all artists are given a fair chance to succeed.”
RCA Records Greater China, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, signed a strategic partnership with Chinese indie label and music collective IRIS Chengdu, founded by Chengdu, China-based producer, DJ and recording artist Andre Grant, a.k.a. HARIKIRI. During his career, HARIKIRI has worked with artists including American rapper Jay Park and Chinese hip-hop group Higher Brothers. Over the next year, five albums will be spawned from the partnership, including new releases from female Chinese rapper Vinida Weng, rapper/singer/songwriter Haysen Cheng and HARIKIRI himself, among others. According to a press release, Chengdu “has been widely regarded as the epicentre of China’s evolving hip hop music scene and touted as the city raising China’s new generation of rappers.”
EMPIRE formed a partnership with automated music marketing and promotion platform un:hurd music that includes an investment in un:hurd to support the development of new tools and will give EMPIRE access to un:hurd’s tools and services. The partnership came amid un:hurd’s ongoing fundraise, which has drawn investors including Willard Ahdritz, Dan Runcie’s Trapital Ventures and Mindset Ventures MusicTech. According to un:hurd CEO/founder Alex Brees, the platform boasts a community of more than 125,000 artists and record labels.
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Bria, a generative AI platform for visual images that claims to be built on 100% licensed data, closed $40 million in Series B funding, bringing its total capital raise to $65 million. The money will be used to scale the company’s visual generative AI platform and widen the application of its patented attribution engine to music, video and text generation. The company says its attribution engine “bridges the generative output and the training dataset, so data owners are programmatically compensated according to their overall influence on each generated output,” according to a press release. In a statement, Bria founder/CEO Dr. Yair Adato added, “Enterprises can use our source code and API platform to integrate visual generative AI inside their products and access previously untouchable premium branded content. By broadening our attribution offering to all types of content, including music, video, and text, we are helping to usher in a truly sustainable creative economy.”
Japanese talent management and production company Asobisystem teamed up with blackx, described as a leader in music investments in Asia, to help expand the J-pop genre globally. According to a press release, the companies “will expand artist portfolios, venturing beyond traditional music to explore innovative IP such as cross-industry collaborations, introducing J-Pop to new global audiences and reinforcing Japan’s leadership in the entertainment sector.” Asobisystem’s roster includes Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Atarashii Gakko!, Fruits Zipper and Yasutaka Nakata.
Synch platform SourceAudio struck a deal with AI-powered music analysis platform Cyanite to integrate Cyanite’s AI music tagging and search capabilities directly into the SourceAudio licensing ecosystem. Through the deal, SourceAudio’s music libraries and content owners can opt in to access Cyanite’s AI tagging and search system within their existing workflows. Cyanite has also chosen SourceAudio as its delivery platform for new and existing customers, meaning all Cyanite users can now benefit from SourceAudio’s hosting and licensing solution, allowing their audio files to be automatically tagged and optimized for search, discovery, pitching and monetization.
Celebrity Coaches, a luxury transportation services provider for the entertainment industry, acquired BandWagon RV Rentals, which specializes in mid-level tour transportation. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition expands Celebrity’s fleet to more than 120 vehicles.
Nightlife and entertainment company Ministry of Sound signed a deal with DICE that will see it leveraging the latter’s mobile-first ticketing technology. Through the agreement, Ministry of Sound will gain access to DICE’s analytics and marketing tools, allowing for real-time insights into audience behaviors, event performance and sales attribution.
The U.K. streaming market rose to record levels in 2024 as it crossed the £1 billion ($1.28 billion) revenue barrier for the first time, according to annual figures from labels trade body BPI published Wednesday (March 12).
Subscription, ad-supported and video-streaming revenue totaled £1.02 billion ($1.3 billion) to make up 68.1% of the country’s recorded music revenue, a rise of 5.7% compared to the previous year. In an accompanying statement, the BPI suggested that the increase is in part the result of multiple streaming platforms raising their subscription prices.
Combined with sales of physical music and digital downloads, along with synch and public performance revenue, the U.K. recorded music market saw total revenue rise 4.8% to £1.49 billion ($1.9 billion), marking a decade of continuous growth. The report notes that since 2014, annual streaming revenue has increased by more than 800% to become the dominant format for recorded music in the U.K.
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The 2024 revenue figure is the highest ever achieved in the U.K. in one year. However, after adjusting for inflation, annual revenue is still hundreds of millions of pounds lower compared to where the music industry should have been in real terms since 2006, the first year when public performance and synch were included in the annual total, reports the BPI.
Breaking down streaming revenue, ad-supported streams enjoyed the biggest annual growth in the market last year with an 8.9% increase to £77.9 million ($100 million). However, paid subscriptions to services such as Amazon, Apple, Spotify and YouTube continue to make up the vast majority of total streaming revenue, bringing in £875.5 million ($1.13 billion) in 2024.
Although the physical market generated more revenue in the U.K. than in any year since 2017, growth slowed last year despite high vinyl and CD sales of new albums by artists including Coldplay (Moon Music), Sabrina Carpenter (Short n’ Sweet) and Taylor Swift (The Tortured Poets Department). Total revenue from vinyl, CD and other physical music formats increased by 1.3% in 2024 to £246.5 million ($317.9 million) after climbing 12.8% the year before. Within this, revenue generated by vinyl LPs rose by 2.9% to £145.7 million ($188.2 million), while CD revenue fell by 0.5% in 2024 to £96.7 million ($124 million).
Despite slowing growth in physical formats, the BPI attributed the continued strength in vinyl partially to the enthusiasm of new generations of music fans. In 2024, eight of the year-end top 10 across vinyl were current records, led by Chappell Roan (The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess), Charli XCX (Brat) and Fontaines D.C. (Romance). In 2014, half of the top 10 sellers were catalogue titles.
At the start of the decade, CD revenue in the U.K. suffered from a series of year-on-year double-digit percentage declines, but over the last three years, it has stabilized. Like vinyl, the CD market is led by new releases.
Elsewhere, public performance revenue climbed 5.6% year-on-year to £161.7 million ($206.5 million), while synch revenue ended the year with a new annual high of £43.9 million ($56.7 million).
In terms of individual songs, four singles generated more than 200 million audio and video streams last year: Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” with 233.1 million streams, Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” with 219.3 million streams, Carpenter’s “Espresso” with 202.8 million streams and Teddy Swims‘ “Lose Control” with 201.6 million streams. Kahan and Carpenter’s tracks each spent seven weeks atop the Official U.K. Singles Chart, while Boone enjoyed two weeks atop the summit. Swims, meanwhile, peaked at No. 2 but earned the most-downloaded single of 2024 in the U.K., with 67,000 units sold.
More than a dozen other tracks scored over 100 million audio and video streams in the U.K. in 2024. These included “Stargazing”, the breakthrough hit by BRITs Rising Star 2025 winner Myles Smith, as well as releases by fellow British artists Cassö, RAYE, D-Block Europe (“Prada”), and Artemas (“I Like The Way You Kiss Me”).
Despite gains in each area of the U.K. recorded music market, Dr. Jo Twist, BPI’s CEO, stressed the importance of raising awareness around the government’s potential future approach to generative artificial intelligence training. At present, a data mining exception to copyright law is being discussed, meaning that AI developers could use songs for AI training in instances where artists have not “opted out” of their work being included.
Last month, over 1,000 artists, including Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, Annie Lennox and Hans Zimmer, contributed to a new “silent” album to protest this proposal. Titled Is This What We Want?, the album featured recordings of empty studios. In an accompanying statement, the use of silence was said to represent “the impact on artists’ and music professionals’ livelihoods that is expected if the government does not change course.”
“After a decade of growth, it is all too easy to take for granted the success of UK recorded music and the vital role record businesses play in this, underpinned by copyright, by investing billions to nurture and promote diverse talent from across the UK,” said Twist in a statement. “But in the face of intensifying global competition, it’s essential they’re empowered by a supportive policy environment to keep British artists on the world’s top step.
“Crucially, this requires the exciting potential of AI to be realised by the government safeguarding the UK’s gold-standard copyright framework and not siding with global big tech at the expense of human artistry and our world-leading creative industries,” Twist continued.
This summer, Bad Bunny is set to transform Puerto Rico’s typically quieter season with a 30-show residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot (a.k.a. El Choli). Choosing not to tour globally, the Puerto Rican superstar will instead showcase his latest album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, exclusively on his home turf from July 11 to Sept. 14. The extraordinary demand for tickets — with 400,000 selling within four hours, half to international tourists — confirms the residency’s global appeal and its potential to substantially enhance the island’s local economy during its sweltering summer months.
This residency concept represents a first for Puerto Rico. Although the Coliseo has hosted multiple back-to-back shows in the past, with artists such as Daddy Yankee and Wisin & Yandel performing on consecutive weekends, the scope and magnitude of Bunny’s residency has never been seen before. This series of 30 shows is unprecedented not only for the number of shows but also for the intensity of the preparation and the international anticipation it’s been generating.
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On Jan. 5, Bunny released Debí Tirar, which reached No. 1 on multiple all-genre charts, including the Billboard 200 and Top Streaming Albums. Reflecting on this success, Benito told Billboard a few weeks after releasing the album, “Man, obviously I’m thankful with the way the world has embraced this album. The thing is, this project… it isn’t mine. It belongs to many people: everyone who worked with me, it belongs to Puerto Rico, my friends, my family. This project belongs to all of us who feel proud of being from Puerto Rico and being Latin.”
In anticipation of the residency, Alejandro Pabón, the Move Concerts promoter behind the residency, details the extensive preparations necessary to accommodate such an unprecedented influx of fans. “We’re expecting around 200,000 people from abroad visiting the island,” he says. “All the local businesses are going to be impacted. All the hotels are sold out. Today [Feb. 13], a local newspaper put out an article saying that for the residency dates, there’s a 70% surge on AirBnB.” While the volume of business will be overwhelming, Pabón mentions that the event’s organization relies on local labor, creating more job opportunities for Puerto Rican residents. “All the hotel staffing are going to have to level up because they’re expecting 100% capacity for those three months,” he says.
Preparing for the residency presents a complex challenge, introducing a level of scale and coordination previously unseen in Puerto Rico’s entertainment history. But it also promises to bring a raft of economic benefits to the island not typically seen during the summer season.
“Traditionally, July is the slowest month show-wise for the venue since forever. So we went and found the slowest period and booked it, which definitely is helping the economy,” says Pabón.
Travel and concierge expert Rob Dellibovi, who serves as founder/CEO of RDB Hospitality, elaborates on the strategic timing of the residency and its benefits to the local economy. “A time where it’s probably 30-40% occupancy, it’ll be like 90% because of all these shows,” he says. “The fact that they’re doing this in July and August is going to be a huge win for the island because nobody’s there at those times [due to the heat]. They’re not displacing any other kind of revenue; they’re just bringing people during the slow season to Puerto Rico.”
Pabón notes that Puerto Rico is well-equipped for major events, boasting a “state-of-the-art arena,” abundant “natural resources, great restaurants, and a lot of hotels.” Unlike typical residencies in cities like Las Vegas that feature international artists, this local showcase will potentially alter perceptions of the island as a global tourist hotspot.
Building on this framework, Coliseo de Puerto Rico has established itself as a rite of passage to Latin pop superstars and beyond. Situated in the heart of San Juan’s Milla de Oro, the venue has held some of Latin music’s most important events of the 21st century. A sold-out Coliseo performance is an affirmation of star power.
The Coliseo De Puerto Rico
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El Coliseo is no stranger to record-breaking events. In 2021, Karol G made history by becoming the first international female artist to set the record for the fastest ticket sales at the venue with two sold-out dates. More than a decade earlier, on March 14, 2010, Metallica became the fastest-selling concert ever at the Coliseo, drawing a crowd of 17,286. However, Bad Bunny has already surpassed Metallica’s record twice: first in March 2019 and again in July 2022. In 2019, Daddy Yankee broke Wisin & Yandel’s record for the most consecutive sold-out shows at the venue with a total of 10 concerts as part of his Con Calma Pa’l Choli tour — a record Benito is now poised to break.
Jorge L. Pérez, the general manager of Coliseo de Puerto Rico, calls Bad Bunny’s upcoming residency a “historic event.” He tells Billboard that in August 2023, Pabón and Noah Assad, Bad Bunny’s manager, unveiled the concept of the residency to him. “I was blown away,” says Pérez, underscoring the complexity of keeping the plans under wraps. “When they started working the room blocks, I got calls from a lot of skeptical hoteliers. They were like, ‘Why are they asking for so many rooms?! What is happening?!’ I was like, ‘I can’t reveal that information, give them all the available inventory that you have. We have a signed contract at Coliseo. This is legit.’”
With the months-long advance notice of 30 sold-out shows, Pérez says the planning becomes much more manageable. Helping matters, he says, is the fact that they are sourcing all concessions products locally, with the venue to feature a special menu highlighting local delicacies such as “alcapurrias and bacalaitos,” embracing Puerto Rican culinary traditions.
“[This residency] will position Puerto Rico as a premier entertainment destination,” says Pérez. “It will open the eyes of visitors who have never come to Puerto Rico. It will create awareness of Puerto Rico as an entertainment and leisure destination.”
Pérez says that growth has been evident in the post-COVID era, as the Coliseo has consistently ranked in the top 20 on Pollstar’s year-end list of highest ticket sales among arenas globally. On Billboard’s 2024 year-end list of Top Venues (15,001+ capacity), Coliseo de Puerto Rico was ranked No. 39, with a gross of $52.5 million and 750,000 tickets sold.
With the Bad Bunny residency and other scheduled events, Pérez says he expects to set a sales record at Coliseo, projecting total ticket sales between 1.3 and 1.4 million for the first time in a single year. He adds that the venue is on track to hold more than 100 events in a single year — another milestone. Because of Bunny’s residency, he says there’s potential for the Coliseo to place among the top five on Billboard’s year-end Top Venues chart. At a minimum, projections show 2025 sales increasing by 73% from last year.
While the venue has hosted residencies before, such as Daddy Yankee with 12 shows in 2019 and Wisin & Yandel with 14 in 2022, this is the first time the Coliseo has accommodated a residency of this magnitude, says Pérez. “The uniqueness about this is a call made by the artist, saying, ‘I released a new album that’s at the top of the charts globally, and I am not going on tour. If you want to see these concerts, you have to come to my island.’ I believe that this call is what makes this residency very special — and the impact it will have on the island’s economy,” he says.
“They’re digging into what the whole Vegas set up is,” says Dellibovi, describing the economic strategy behind such events. “The casinos know that if they have a huge act like Adele, Céline Dion or whoever is doing a residency…people are going to fly in for it — and the casino itself is going to make a ton of money.”
Of the potential ripple effects the Bunny residency might have on the global entertainment scene, Dellibovi hints that it could spawn a new potential trend. “Is Andrea Bocelli going to do an Italian residency? I have no idea,” he says. “I just think it’s super cool that this is going to spark a whole new residency game, in my opinion, where people are going to go to all these places to see the artist in their homeland. Every international artist from any country is going to be like, ‘Oh s—, I’m going to go back to wherever I’m from and have a month of shows and make a lot of money.’ Those cities are going to want it because there are slow seasons. They need it. Everyone’s going to want to support this.”
Echoing this sentiment, Pabón emphasizes the significance of cultural representation and local benefit: “Who wouldn’t want to showcase their hometown or contribute to it in a positive way? It’s not just going to be the Sphere or the MGM [Grand in Las Vegas] doing residences.”
Traveling to Puerto Rico is particularly convenient for Americans, as only a driver’s license is required for entry. Given this ease of access, Puerto Rico is well-positioned to outpace other popular Caribbean destinations such as Mexico and the Dominican Republic in attracting American tourists, Dellibovi points out.
“This is a big trip for people. That’s a party weekend,” he says. “Make sure you’re stocked and make sure your vibe is right. Make sure that you’re ready to deal with a crowd that’s there to have fun. This is not your typical beach crowd. This is going to be people who are in town to party.”
With more than 1.1 million Puerto Ricans residing in the New York metropolitan area, accounting for 6.7% of New York City’s population in 2020, according to the New York Academy of Sciences, the city not only serves as a significant cultural epicenter for the Puerto Rican diaspora but also stands as a primary source of attendees for major events in Puerto Rico. He expects that will be the case here as well.
“New York is the number one [demographic] of people that are going to come visit,” Pabón says. “I’m definitely expecting a lot of second and third-generation Puerto Ricans to come back home. I know that for a lot of them it is going to be the first time that they’ll come visit, because not all of them have had the chance to be here. I know it’s going to be a special [destination] that’s going to let them connect with their island. It was the artist’s idea to create this synergy between them and their island.”
According to the Puerto Rico Report, there are about 5.8 million Puerto Ricans living in the United States, compared with 3.2 million on the Island.
“This is like a pilgrimage, a Hajj for Puerto Ricans,” echoes Dellibovi. “If you’re Puerto Rican, and you love Bad Bunny, who’s not going to want to go to the homeland and see him? It’s the coolest experience ever for actual Puerto Ricans [living abroad].’ He continues, “Bad Bunny is the biggest Latin artist in the world. He is the only Latin artist who can sell out a stadium in any city in the world. He can go to Sweden, Tokyo, Sydney, anywhere. It’s very rare for a Latin artist to be able to do that.”
Pabón emphasizes the deeper motivation behind the residency, reflecting a sentiment shared by his team: “We’re doing this not just for business, that’s secondary. This is done for our country, for our identity, because we really love Puerto Rico. The artist really loves it. Noah really loves it, and all the team. It’s personal. We’re all really excited and happy about this.”