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The Recording Academy is extending its efforts to support music creators on a global scale. The Academy has agreements with Ministries of Culture and key stakeholders across the Middle East and Africa to collaborate on a framework to bolster the Academy’s presence and services in these rapidly growing music regions, the organization announced Tuesday (June 11).
“This is exciting because music is one of humanity’s greatest natural resources,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “It is critical that the people who dedicate themselves to creating music have support, resources and opportunities, no matter where they are from.”
This global expansion marks a significant shift from the Recording Academy’s original charter. The organization was founded in 1957 as the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.
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The Academy is working with the Ministries of Culture in Kenya, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Nigeria, the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), and the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture in South Africa. Additionally, MOUs (memoranda of understanding) have been signed with Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
For the past two years, Academy leaders have traveled throughout these regions, participating in listening sessions, receiving high-level briefings, tours and demonstrations, and obtaining insight directly from both governmental ministries and music creators.
The Academy intends to publish a series of reports highlighting its research and insights into these music markets.
“The Recording Academy is dedicated to supporting music creators around the world,” Panos A. Panay, Recording Academy president, said in a statement. “Our expansion efforts into these fast-growing regions reflect our commitment to fostering a truly global music community, where creators at every stage of their careers and from every corner of the world have the resources and support they need to thrive.”
(Panay was born Panayiotis Andreas Panayiotou in Cyprus, which may be a further sign of the Academy’s increasing global reach. Before joining the Academy, Panay was senior vp of global strategy & innovation at Berklee College of Music.)
The Academy characterizes this exploration into the Middle East and Africa as only the first phase of plans to support music creators abroad. It comes in the same year that the Academy celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Latin Grammy Awards, and seven months after the Latin Grammys were held outside of the United States (in Seville, Spain) for the first time. Last year, the Recording Academy also partnered with the U.S. State Department on an initiative to promote peace through music.
Through these newly-announced collaborations, the Academy looks to explore several key initiatives, including:
Championing music creators at all levels, providing them with a platform and advocacy.
Empowering creators through enhanced training. Through its online learning platform, GRAMMY GO, the Academy will look to provide educational programs and resources specifically tailored to the needs of music creators in these regions.
Producing original content that celebrates the rich musical heritage and dynamic emerging scenes of Africa and the Middle East.
Enhancing support for existing and future members. The Academy argues that cross-cultural learning will benefit all music creators.
Advocating for strong Intellectual Property (IP) legislation and protections for music creators.
Fueling the music economy by collaborating with partners to develop and strengthen the creative economy in Africa and the Middle East.
The Recording Academy supplied quotes from four of its members:
John Legend, a 12-time Grammy winner and a former trustee of the Recording Academy, said: “I’m excited to see the Recording Academy taking these meaningful steps to globalize our mission and reach. Music knows no borders. It’s global and transcends cultural, political and language barriers. I’m so glad that the Recording Academy, the leading organization serving music creators, is evolving to be a more global organization.”
Angélique Kidjo, a five-time Grammy winner and a current trustee of the Recording Academy, said: “The Recording Academy is accelerating its efforts to serve music people everywhere, and Africa is ready with open arms. We are a continent of music and young, passionate music makers. I’m proud to see the Academy forming partnerships with Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, and no doubt, more to come!”
Davido, a three-time Grammy nominee, said: “As an African musician, I’m excited about the Recording Academy’s expansion into Africa and the Middle East. It acknowledges our vibrant talent and the global influence of African music. This initiative offers a platform for creators, elevating our cultural expressions and uniting us through music.”
Kat Graham, actress/singer (The Vampire Diaries, the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic Michael) and a former trustee of the Recording Academy, said: “As a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency, I’ve seen firsthand how interconnected our world is. I applaud the Recording Academy for expanding its activities to Africa and the Middle East, two of the fastest-growing regions. This visionary move will amplify the role music can play as a force for good in the world while showcasing diverse voices and fostering cultural unity on a global scale.”
Almost exactly one year after Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin of K-pop boy band EXO first pursued legal action against their longtime label and management agency, SM Entertainment, over contractual issues, a company established by the trio has now declared “full-on war” on the K-pop giant, according to Korean media reports.
Representatives for INB100, the newly established company Baekhyun founded in 2023 — which signed Chen and Xiumin for their respective solo careers, though all three remain contracted under SM for EXO’s group activities — held what has been described as an “emergency press conference” in central Seoul on Monday (June 10). Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin were not in attendance.
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During the press conference, as reported by Korea JoongAng Daily, three reps for the trio — who also perform together in a splinter unit called EXO-CBX — said that Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin have been in a monthlong dispute over fees and contracts with SM. Cha Ga-won, president and majority shareholder of INB100’s holding company, One Hundred, and one of the representatives to speak at the press conference, claimed a former SM CEO verbally promised in a recorded agreement to charge INB100 only a 5.5% fee for distributing its music releases through Kakao (the current majority shareholder of SM Entertainment), as opposed to the 15% to 20% percent typically charged to companies outside Kakao’s umbrella. But Cha says SM is now demanding a 10% royalty fee for the members’ use of the agency’s intellectual property (such as the members’ stage names, as well as EXO and EXO-CBX) in exchange for the discounted distribution fee.
“We declare a full-on war against SM Entertainment, which has made a promise that it could not keep and committed what could be perceived as fraud,” said Cha during the press conference, during which INB100 representatives also demanded that SM disclose the breakdown of EXO’s earnings — reigniting the same contract issues that were reportedly resolved last June. The representatives additionally claimed that INB100 sent a formal letter of complaint to SM Entertainment over two months ago concerning the fees and the earnings disclosure but had not received a response.
On Monday evening, SM Entertainment refuted the allegations in a press release. According to SM, an outside company imposed the 10% intellectual property fee following court mediation over past issues with previous EXO members who had exited the label while still under contract. (Between 2014-2105, three other EXO members left the group and broke their contracts with SM to focus on the China market.) SM also claims EXO-CBX’s contract is still valid, and that the trio benefits from the EXO brand but are not fulfilling their contractual obligations with SM despite the agency acting in good faith with a lower distribution rate.
SM’s statement also alleges that Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin were “poached” by Cha and MC Mong — a one-time rapper-producer in Korea who fell out of public favor following allegations that he had dodged the country’s mandatory military draft, and who went on to launch agencies of his own, including BPM Entertainment, which now houses ex-SM artist Taemin of SHINee.
SM added that it did not previously respond to INB100’s letter of complaint to avoid distracting from new EPs released by EXO members Chen, D.O., and Suho over the past month. The company concluded its statement by saying that it will respond with legal action as opposed to trying to sway public opinion through press conferences.
The Canadian government has made a major announcement about the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, with implications for artists and music companies at home and abroad.
The CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) has revealed that foreign streaming services with significant revenues will have to make base contributions to Canadian content. Streaming companies with no affiliation to Canadian broadcasters and over $25 million in annual contributions revenues will have to pay 5% of those revenues into specified funds.
Those contributions will be used to boost Canadian content in the music, news and film industries, generating an estimated $200 million in increased funding altogether.
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The decision comes after a consultation process that included public hearings last fall, as well as over 360 written submissions.
The government specified that these contributions will go towards “areas of immediate need,” prioritizing already existing funds in order to expedite the delivery process. Those funds include FACTOR and Musicaction, which industry groups like CIMA and the Canadian Live Music Association say are in need of increased funding.
The Beaches Awarded Group of the Year at Billboard Canada Women in Music Launch Announcement
Billboard Canada and iHeartRadio teamed up to present a big award to a major Canadian group this week.
The Beaches received the first-ever Billboard Canada Women in Music Award for Group of the Year on Wednesday (June 5), honoring the Toronto quartet’s breakout year. The band was on hand for the announcement of Billboard Canada‘s Women in Music celebration event, which is officially set for September 7, 2024.
The band was presented with the award by Billboard Canada CEO Amanda Dorenberg and CCO Elizabeth Crisante. At the event, more Canadian artists (including a few legends of the industry) will be recognized and honored for their artistry and blazing trails as women in the industry.
Receiving the award as part of a livestream performance on iHeartRadio’s YouTube, The Beaches played a stripped-back set of three songs from their hit 2023 album, Blame My Ex. The acoustic set saw drummer Eliza Enman McDaniel with just a shaker, leaving space for Jordan Miller’s powerful lead vocal and light harmonies by guitarists Leandra Earl and Kylie Miller.
After the performance, iHeartRadio’s Shannon Burns did a Q&A with the group, joking about playing pool with them and asking them audience-submitted questions. The band talked about their experiences as women in the music industry, providing some advice for up-and-coming female artists.
“Make sure you do it with your friends,” McDaniel said. The group spoke about how isolating it can be to be a woman in a still-male-dominated — though gradually changing — industry. It’s important to be surrounded by women you trust, they emphasized, whether in your band or on your team.
Watch the full performance and announcement here.
Lowell Wins the First Billboard Canada Non-Performing Songwriter Award
Lowell has won the first Billboard Canada Non-Performing Songwriter Award (presented by SOCAN), which honors a Canadian songwriter making a big impact behind the scenes.
The win was announced at Billboard Canada‘s Power Players event on Sunday (June 2) at the CN Tower. The award was presented to Lowell (Elizabeth Lowell Boland) by SOCAN CEO Jennifer Brown and vp of creative and member relations Cameron Kennedy.
“Songwriters have it really tough,” Lowell said while accepting the award. “We make no money, and then we very silently make other people really famous and then just cry about it at night because no one loves us,” she joked.
“So it’s really nice that you guys are giving me a little pat on the back — I’m going to take this on behalf of all of my amazing songwriter friends that have not gotten that pat on the back, yet.”
Lowell, who has also released music under the same name, was one of five finalists for the inaugural edition of the award — the first in Canada recognizing songwriters’ work for other artists. Other shortlisted writers included Tobias Jesso Jr., Jeremy Fedryk, Ali Willa Milner and Aaron Paris — an extremely strong initial shortlist featuring a crop of writers responsible for songs that garnered Grammy nominations, top chart placements and millions of streams.
Lowell has had a major year, including co-writing credits on “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “Bodyguard,” two of the biggest hits on one the year’s biggest albums, Beyoncé‘s Cowboy Carter. The award considered songs from 2023 before Cowboy Carter was released, but beyond Beyoncé, Lowell has shown a unique ability to help artists break through to a new level.
Lowell additionally co-wrote and co-produced Blame My Ex, the breakthrough album from Toronto band The Beaches, including the Lowell-penned hit “Blame Brett,” which held No. 1 at alternative radio for 17 weeks and is rising at U.S. and Canadian Top 40. She’s also a close collaborator of Lu Kala, the Congolese-Canadian artist who made her Hot 100 debut this past year, co-writing Kala’s emotional ballad “Nothing But Love.”
In her acceptance speech, Lowell highlighted the importance of supporting Canadian talent.
“Some people think I live in L.A. but I don’t, I live in Toronto,” she said, addressing the room full of powerful and influential members of the Canadian music industry. “I like to find talent here, I like to see who L.A. is not looking for and what the world needs, and that’s a lot of people that are here either in this room or working with people in this room. […] My goal is to largely not ignore the real talent which is in this f—ing city,” she continued to a round of cheers.
“I realized that music alone is not a good enough reason; you must have cultural incentives to improve your sound.” Ntitled may have been the one to utter this take during his interview with Billboard Arabia, but the four other young Saudi stars gracing the cover of the May 2024 issue might as well share the sentiment. Looking at their collective huddle on the cover, one might think the five artists are close peers, but in reality, their journeys in the music industry have little in common. Each of them has taken a unique path and shaped a unique experience. From genres and musical taste to breakthroughs, plans and projects, each of the five Saudi talents has gone his or her own way.
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Perhaps the only common factor in their journey is their identity as young individuals who grew up in the same culture and witnessed the recent historical shift in Saudi Arabia. Just as the five artists launched into their careers, new horizons for arts, media and society as a whole were opening up in Saudi Arabia at an unprecedented scale. Though this change impacted the lives and experiences of the entire Saudi society, we could trace in our conversations with these young artists the specificity of this impact on the path that each one of them chose to make music that influences and is influenced by Saudi culture.
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While the spark for Abdulaziz Mane and Jori Kattan’s music careers were talent shows, their determination to prove their strong sound and unique talent is what got them to stardom. Now they stand before a different kind of challenge: using their sound and talent to deliver delightful pop music experiences. As they launched their first releases, new horizons opened up to them. Soon after Jori composed her first track a few years back, she found herself yearning to pour herself into the melodies again and compose her own music. For his part, the young Abdulaziz Mane’s experience in theater quickly made him realize the versatility of his artistic identity.
The same goes for Hams Fekri, who won the first season of Saudi Idol, where she dazzled the giants of Arabic pop music with every performance. When we delve into Hams’ journey, we understand that her path to stardom was inevitable, what with the incredible talent of her mother, Amani Al-Shafei, running in her veins. And, like her mother, Hams is a master of the Shaabi pop genre. Today, whichever genre Hams chooses to embrace, she imbues with her original voice and that refined sound of artists rooted in the melodies of their environment.
For Ntitled and Tamtam, the challenge lay not in singing tarab or following the rules of Arabic composition to reach the masses. Instead, they went for a more diverse experience, delivering local sounds wrapped in international genres. They are not afraid to pepper their tracks with a dash of English, or other languages, even, says Tamtam, who plans on mixing in some Spanish in one of her upcoming tracks, before carrying on with what she describes as her year of Arabic releases.
Besides music, Tamtam finds joy in writing. As in her debut, Gender Game, many of the singer-songwriter’s tracks revolve around similar themes (empowering women to raise their voices and conveying her own experiences), her writing style a testament to her bold and rebellious personality. Tamtam cares more about her growth as an artist than the size of her discography or the long stretches of time between her releases.
Ntitled, for his part, has successfully etched his name on the Saudi hip-hop scene, despite his young age. In a short period of time, he has established strong partnerships in the regional music scene, including “Ween Yabu” with Dafencii, “Adan” with Moayad & Kali-B, and “LkLk” with the producer Khayyat, as well as several experiments of his own as a producer. His talent caught the attention of Swizz Beatz during one of his first visits to Saudi Arabia, who discussed his collaboration with Ntitled in an interview with Billboard Arabia, which Ntitled confirmed in his interview will be released soon.
Mexican influencer and singer Yeri Mua has signed a contract with Sony Music Mexico for the recording of her first album. The signing, exclusively announced by Billboard Español, comes after Mua released four songs in the last year that positioned her among the most influential urban artists of the moment. Previously known for her fashion, lifestyle and makeup […]
At European collective management organizations (CMOs), the hits just keep on coming. On Wednesday (June 5), SACEM announced record results for 2023, with collections up 5% to €1.49 billion ($1.6 billion based on the 2023 average euro-to-dollar conversion rate) compared to the previous year and distributions rising 17% to €1.23 billion ($1.33 billion). The French CMO also announced that its board has voted unanimously to extend Cécile Rap-Veber’s term as CEO.
The results come amid a thriving period for European CMOs. In April, GEMA, the German collecting society, announced that revenue rose 8.4% in 2023 to €1.28 billion ($1.4 billion). PRS for Music in the United Kingdom followed at the end of May, disclosing 14.2% revenue growth to £1.08 billion ($1.34 billion). However, in both of those cases, as well as SACEM’s, the results followed years of more substantial growth fueled by music fans eager to get back to seeing live shows in the wake of the pandemic. A year ago, for example, SACEM announced that it had taken in €1.41 billion ($1.54 billion) in 2022 — 34% more than it did the prior year.
Slower growth seems to be bringing with it a focus on controlling costs, and SACEM’s ratio of expenses to revenue collected is 10.76%, the lowest in its history. “What matters to me is the best value for our members,” SACEM CEO Cécile Rap-Veber tells Billboard. She adds that a more efficient disbursement of royalties boosted growth in distributions beyond that of revenue, saying: “We are distributing faster and faster.”
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The biggest source of revenue for SACEM was online, which rose 13% to €557 million ($602.67 million). The second biggest source was general royalties — a category that includes places where music is central, such as concerts, as well as places where it’s not — which was up 18.5% to €388 million ($420 million). Finally, broadcast rights, including TV and radio, brought in €318 million ($344 million).
Over the past few years, Rap-Veber has helped modernize the French CMO with an initiative known as “SACEM 3.0,” with a focus on delivering results at a reasonable cost.
“2023 was a year of confirmation in the implementation of our major strategic priorities,” Rap-Veber said in a statement. “We continued our transformation into Sacem 3.0 and worked to improve efficiency, ensuring the sustainability of our management account and optimising both our collections and the amount distributed to our members.”
More than ever, CMOs are competing for online rights — but also, on some level, for bragging rights. ‘Competition,” says Rap-Veber, “has forced a lot of us to improve.”
As Canadian Music Week kicks off its 42nd anniversary, the festival and conference is undergoing a big change.
The major music event, which brings artists and industry to Toronto every year for a week of performances and panels, is changing hands. Festival founder and president Neill Dixon announced his retirement today (June 3) at the welcoming address for the CMW conference, with Toronto mayor Olivia Chow in attendance.
The festival has been acquired by Toronto-based Loft Entertainment and American hospitality and sports company Oak View Group, who plan to expand its offerings while maintaining Dixon’s vision.
Recently named one of Billboard Canada’s Power Players, Dixon was on hand at the June 2 inaugural Power Players event, presenting Gary Slaight with the Power Players Impact Award as his final public appearance before announcing retirement.
Under his leadership, CMW has grown into a major hub for industry events, hosting the Live Music Industry Awards, The Indies awards, Jim Beam National Talent Search, Radiodays North America and more.
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“It has been an incredible journey to see Canadian Music Week grow from a small gathering of music lovers to one of the most influential music festivals and conferences in the world,” Dixon says.
Loft Entertainment and Oak View Group (OVG) will keep the event’s headquarters in Toronto, as they look ahead to its future. Loft is a new venture from industry titan Randy Lennox, former Universal Music Canada CEO and Bell Media President, launched in 2023.
The creative services company’s partnership with OVG on the acquisition boosts the latter’s expansion into Canada. OVG already has partnerships with Canadian sports organizations Canada Basketball and Great Canadian Gaming, and is currently leading a major renovation of Hamilton’s FirstOntario Centre. (It was also recently entangled in the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust complaint against Live Nation).
With an American partner on board, it seems likely Canadian Music Week will look to grow its international footprint, while remaining a home for Canadian music activity. Details for the 2025 edition, the first under the new ownership, are coming soon.
CMW is on now, until June 8. Find festival and conference programming on the event website.
This article was originally published by Billboard Canada.
When it comes to music, Canada punches above its weight. Artists like Drake, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber and Alanis Morissette have spent the last few decades among the biggest in the world – a feat for a country that pales in population to its neighbour down south. In boardrooms, too, Canadians are well represented in positions of influence.
That’s evident in Billboard Canada’s 2024 Power Players list, the first expansion of the Power Players and Power 100 to Canada. The list features music executives who are working on the world’s biggest tours, managing the industry’s most valuable song catalogues, and breaking artists from all over the world.
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One of the country’s biggest strengths when it comes to music is cultural fluency and a seemingly innate ability to globalize. As Punjabi music, K-pop, Latin music, Afrobeats and more global genres become ever more popular, Canadians are ready to both export talent across borders and capitalize on trends others might not even know about yet.
This year’s set of submissions and nominations were extremely competitive. The Power Players list recognizes achievements across the board but highly prizes impact in Canada and breakthroughs by Canadians on the international and world stage, especially those that can be clearly measured and substantiated.
The Leaderboard features executives from Live Nation, Warner Music Canada, Reservoir Media and more. Find the whole list here.
Canada’s No. 1 Power Player: Arthur Fogel
The industry icon behind many of the biggest world tours of the last year started out at a punk venue in Toronto.
Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour topped Billboard’s 2023 Boxscore list as the highest-grossing tour of the year and one of the biggest of all time. U2’s opening residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas redefined big-stage sound-and-vision spectacle and became the fastest-grossing residency in Boxscore history. And Madonna culminated her career-spanning Celebration Tour with a massive, record-setting concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, attended by more than 1.6 million people.
Arthur Fogel was instrumental in all of them.
Fogel is the Chairman of Global Music & President of Global Touring CEO of Global Touring at Live Nation. He’s stationed at the company’s Los Angeles headquarters, but he’s one of several high-powered Canadian executives in their boardroom. Michael Rapino, Live Nation’s President and CEO, is also from Canada.
And, Fogel notices, like they are on big stages, Canadians are overrepresented in some of the most important positions in the music industry.
“I don’t think the Canadian industry gets enough credit on any number of levels. If you look at the artists that have come out of Canada over a number of years and generations, it’s pretty incredible how much talent that has come out of a country this size,” Fogel says. “The same holds true for the business side.”
Read a wide-ranging Q&A with Fogel in Billboard Canada’s latest digital cover story.
Shortlist Announced for the Billboard Canada Non-Performing Songwriter Award
Five impressive songwriters have been shortlisted for the inaugural Billboard Canada Non-Performing Songwriter Award, presented by SOCAN.
These songwriters each had a banner year in 2023, penning memorable songs with indelible melodies that garnered Grammy nominations, top chart placements, and millions of streams.
They are recognized for their work as songwriters for other artists, making an impact from behind the scenes – a first for an award of this kind in Canada.
Here are the nominees, with the winner being announced at Billboard Canada’s Power Players event on June 2 at the CN Tower:
Elizabeth Lowell Boland
Lowell is a singer, songwriter and producer known for her collaborations with Madison Beer, Charli XCX, Tate McRae, Charlie Puth, Lennon Stella, Hailee Steinfeld, bülow, Lu Kala and many more. With two songs on Beyoncé’s critically acclaimed new album – the international smash “Texas Hold’em” and upcoming single “Bodyguard” – Lowell has become a trusted collaborator for the legendary artist. She also wrote “Blame Brett,” the breakout hit for Toronto band The Beaches.
Aaron Paris
Aaron Paris is a songwriter, record producer and composer from Toronto. Having worked with artists including Ariana Grande, Kanye West, Drake, DJ Khaled, Russ, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Kali Uchis, NAV, Charlotte Cardin and more, Aaron has built a strong international reputation as a musical composer and collaborator. In 2023, Aaron co-wrote over 70 major artist releases and received five Juno nominations and 2 Grammy nominations for songs he co-wrote.
Tobias Jesso Jr.
Tobias Jesso Jr. is a North Vancouver-born, L.A.-based songwriter and two-time Grammy-winner. In 2023, he earned the first-ever Grammy Award for Songwriter of The Year for his work on releases by Harry Styles, Adele, FKA Twigs, Orville Peck, King Princess, Diplo and Omar Apollo in addition to taking home Album of The Year for his contributions to Harry Styles’ Harry’s House. He was also a major contributor on Dua Lipa’s most recent album Radical Optimism co-writing on multiple tracks including the big single, “Houdini.”
Jeremy Fedryk
Jeremy Fedryk – a.k.a. Sarcastic Sounds – spent much of 2023 immersing himself in the budding folk-pop scene. The year was highlighted by his writing contribution to David Kushner’s international smash “Daylight,” which accumulated over 1 billion Spotify streams and reached multi-platinum status in every major market. His success continued with the release of Chance Pena’s “I am not who I was,” which has amassed over 170 million Spotify streams and reached the top 20 of Billboard’s alternative chart.
Ali Willa Milner
Fresh off a Grammy nomination for her work with The Knocks and Dragonette, Ali Willa Milner found herself part of six Juno nominations for her work in 2023. Her writing led to nominations with Rêve, Katie Tupper, and multiple nominations for Aysanabee who won two, including Songwriter Of The Year.
A Seoul court has barred K-pop giant HYBE from dismissing Min Hee-jin as CEO of its ADOR subsidiary label following HYBE’s internal audit and subsequent police report against the executive last month. The decision will keep Min in her role as CEO, by extension allowing her to stay in control of the label’s sole artist, girl group NewJeans.
As Bloomberg cites from local Korean coverage, “The Seoul Central District Court said HYBE’s evidence and rationale were not sufficient to back the company’s case for Min’s dismissal.” Despite HYBE’s 80% stake in ADOR (where Min has an 18% stake, with the last 2% retained by other executives), the company cannot vote to dismiss Min, which it was expected to do at a company shareholder meeting scheduled for Friday (May 31).
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“We urge HYBE to respect the court’s decision,” Min’s attorney said in a statement, per Bloomberg. “If Hybe takes any action to remove Min from her position as CEO, it will be in direct violation of the shareholders’ agreement.” The legal reps shared their hope that Min’s leadership team at ADOR would also stay intact.
In its own statement, HYBE acknowledged the court’s decision and said it would not utilize its voting rights but vowed to “follow up within the framework of the law.” The company noted that the court admitted Min had sought ways to weaken HYBE’s control over ADOR — efforts that could have led to Min independently running ADOR, taking NewJeans out of the HYBE system or pressuring HYBE to sell its shares in the subsidiary label. The company say sit still plans to pursue its breach of trust case after finding “substantial evidence to prove that Min deliberately led the plan to take over management control of the subsidiary.”
In the meantime, the 2023 Billboard Women in Music honoree will be able to continue directing NewJeans following ADOR’s release of two new singles from the group: “How Sweet” and “Bubble Gum.” The group’s debut Japanese single, “Supernatural” — which reportedly reinterprets a ’00s Pharrell single — is set to drop in June.
Despite the court ruling, the ongoing K-pop power struggle is hardly resolved, and in fact has only widened since HYBE’s initial audit in April.
Following HYBE’s request for her to exit her role as ADOR CEO, Min held an emotional two-hour press conference in which she detailed her concerns and struggles with other teams in the HYBE LABELS system. AsThe New York Times‘ Seoul reporter Jin Yu Young noted in her report, Min’s “pushback against HYBE and its founder, Bang Si-Hyuk, has resonated widely in South Korea, where corporate life can be punishingly hierarchal.”
Last week, HYBE label BELIFT LAB announced it had submitted a letter of complaint for obstruction of business and defamation against Min stemming from Min’s claims that BELIFT girl group ILLIT had copied NewJeans music, style and creative concept. The conflict has also involved the parents of NewJeans members, who have voiced worries about Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein’s reputation and treatment in a letter.
The court order follows last Friday’s release of new material from NewJeans and fellow HYBE artist RM, both of whom will likely make substantial bows on the Billboard charts next week.
On a recent trip to New York, I spoke on a panel discussing the state of the global music industry. During the Q&A, someone asked, “When will the day come that Taylor Swift isn’t the biggest artist in the world?”
Answer: She already isn’t.
Now, maybe it’s a matter of perspective. From a Western vantage point, it’s a valid question. Given Swift’s ubiquitous media coverage, it’s hard to imagine a day when she isn’t at the top of our industry. In the past year alone, she has broken records, won awards, and inspired fans. But her achievements are only one slice of the global picture.
The music industry is increasingly interconnected, with content moving across markets and access to that content expanding in ways many do not see. With that comes the opportunity to reach massive populations from emerging markets, whose focus rests on domestic artists and local language content. I think a future where the next big global star arises from somewhere other than the U.S. is barreling towards us, and they won’t be singing in English.
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My confidence here is informed by my home, the United Arab Emirates, which sits at the intersection of Asia, Africa, and Europe, and has a population representing over 200 nationalities. I am deeply embedded in this region and its music industry, and I have firsthand exposure to music’s evolution in these markets, watching the increasing dominance of local language music and recognizing how it is reshaping pop culture. That change is happening quickly across listenership, subscription growth, access to music and more.
Evaluating a superstar from the West against a superstar from the East is not an apples-to-apples comparison. There is important context missing from the raw numbers, particularly in available streaming metrics, which fail to fully represent the consumption in the East or the potential for monetization in the years to come.
The multinational streaming platforms have thoroughly established themselves as the leaders in monetization. For example, Spotify has carved out a reputation as the market leader with over 602 million monthly active users globally, 236 million of which are paying. However, those multinational platforms are relatively new to the MENA region and other emerging markets and are still building a user base. In contrast, domestic streaming platforms in the wider region have had longer to build a strong user base (e.g., India’s Gaana boasts 200 million monthly active users), but their monetization hasn’t caught up yet.
However, if we look at the sheer market size, the opportunity in emerging markets is undeniable. The populations of the U.S. (330 million) and the U.K. (67 million) are dwarfed when compared to India (1.4 billion), MENA (489 million people), Pakistan (243 million), or Nigeria (227 million). Music consumption in some of these markets is already outpacing the West (in rate of growth) and will soon surpass the West (in volume).
The data is there. Emerging markets have been the major driver of global subscription growth since 2021, and Goldman Sachs’s 2024 Music in the Air reports their contribution is expected to reach 70% by 2030. In Luminate’s 2023 report they highlighted that India’s streaming volume increased by nearly half a trillion streams year-over-year vs. 184 billion for the U.S. At that rate, particularly as the U.S. reaches a point of saturation, we could see India surpass the U.S. in consumption this year.
You might think that the increased availability and monetization of streaming platforms in emerging markets would translate to the Taylor Swifts of the West reaching even more listeners. The truth is those listeners increasingly care more about their own domestic stars and regional music culture than what the West exports to them.
YouTube launched globally in 2005 and has long been the established service for streaming and discovering music, thereby more adequately reflecting music listening preferences in the region. If we look specifically at Swift, there is no denying she is massively popular on the platform. On YouTube’s Global Music Charts for April 19-25 (the week her latest album dropped), she sat squarely at #1. However, eight of the Top 10 songs that week were actually non-English releases by artists from around the world. How many of you know the Bhojpuri hit “Maroon Color Sadiya” (which was #3 that same week)? Expand that to the Top 40, and only eight songs are in English. This is only on YouTube; consider the impact of additional domestic streaming platforms, which are even more skewed toward local language artists in each market.
Local language matters; the era of pop music being defined as “Anglo-American” is over. Looking at streams per day in India in 2023, Statista found Hindi represented over 40% versus English’s 25% share. What’s more, vernacular language and regional music, which made up the remaining 34%, was notably the fastest-growing genre from 2020 to 2023. In its 2023 report, Luminate highlighted how the share of English language music declined by 12% globally since 2021, while the share of Hindi music has essentially doubled. Even in the U.S., the share of English language content is down 3.8% since 2021.
The global diaspora which is consuming Arabic, Hindi, and other global languages is in the West too, augmenting the shift I’m describing. The meteoric transformation of K-pop into a global phenomenon is a particularly strong example of this expansion, thanks to groups like BTS, BLACKPINK and Stray Kids. In addition to its huge following in Korea, the genre has swept the West, with Korean being the 3rd biggest language by consumption in the U.S. in 2023, according to Luminate.
So, is Taylor Swift really the biggest artist in the world? Given the change I’ve described in streaming adoption across emerging markets, the importance of domestic platforms, and the sheer fact that on a country-by-country level domestic acts reign, the answer is no. Last time I checked, India, Pakistan, the Middle East, China and most of Africa have their own superstars — and they represent most of the populated world. There’s no telling how high those local artists will climb before their stars eclipse the likes of Swift in ways that become much more obvious to the rest of us.
Spek is the founder/CEO of PopArabia & ESMAA and the executive vp of international & emerging markets at Reservoir. He was recently named to Billboard’s International Power Players 2024 list, having previously appeared on the list in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
