International
Page: 50
LONDON — The 2023 Brit Awards drew its biggest television audience in three years with 3.9 million viewers watching the show on Saturday Feb. 11, a rise of more than 1 million on the previous year, according to U.K. broadcaster ITV.
The 43rd edition of the Brits, the U.K.’s biggest music awards show, featured live performances from Harry Styles, Stormzy and Sam Smith & Kim Petras, among others, and was staged on a Saturday night for the first time in the Brits’ history.
The move from the Brits’ traditional mid-week slot to the weekend had the positive impact organizers were hoping for with the show — hosted by Mo Gilligan and broadcast live from London’s The O2 arena — drawing an average audience of 3.3 million viewers over its two-hour running time, peaking at 3.9 million. ITV says another 780,000 people watched the show via its on-demand streaming app ITVx.
In comparison, last year’s ceremony was watched by 2.7 million television viewers in the U.K., down from 2.9 million in 2021 — the Brits’ lowest-ever TV audience, according to industry publication Broadcast.
Despite this year’s ratings upturn, Saturday’s show is still the Brits’ third-smallest TV audience, failing to surpass the 4.4 million viewers that watched in 2020, and some distance behind the ceremony’s peak popularity at the turn of the millennium when around 9 million people would regularly tune in.
There are, nevertheless, positives that labels trade body BPI, which organizes the Brits, can take away from this year’s event. Saturday’s broadcast – where Styles enjoyed a clean sweep, winning all four awards for which he was nominated – attracted a 53% audience share of 16-34 year-olds, up from last year’s 33% share, according to ITV.
Music performances and show highlights streamed on the Brit Awards 2023 official YouTube channel have additionally generated around 3 million views in total in the 24 hours after the event, according to Billboard’s calculations.
The Brit Awards’ other digital partners include Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube Kids, Vevo and fan engagement platform Filmily, while Saturday’s show was live-streamed internationally on YouTube. BPI is due to release its digital audience figures later this week.
BERLIN — Universal Music Group Germany made a distribution deal with the rock band Weimar — then dropped it this week after an article in German magazine Der Spiegel revealed that the group has ties to the right-wing scene in Germany and that at least one of its members previously performed in a neo-Nazi band.
The group’s lyrics refer to violence and portray the media as “bought puppets” as well as wolves and rats — echoing anti-Semitic imagery used by the Nazis. At least one member of Weimar previously played in a band with outright racist and anti-Semitic lyrics, according to Der Spiegel. Another member, Christian P., has been accused of illegally possessing weapons and spreading neo-Nazi propaganda, according to Der Spiegel. Universal has said that Christian P.’s name wasn’t on the band’s recording contract and his exact role in the group is unclear — partly because the band often performs and poses for photographs in masks.
The group’s album came out in May and went to No. 5 on the German albums chart, and its website lists spring tour dates. The band did not respond to an inquiry from Billboard sent to its Twitter account.
“Based on the information we recently learned from a journalist’s inquiry, we terminated our relationship with Weimar, which consisted of distribution of one album,” Universal Music Group says in a statement. “That has been stopped with immediate effect. The information that has come to light made clear that any relationship with the band was absolutely unacceptable to us and inconsistent with our values. We feel deceived by the band. If we knew then what we know today, we would never have released the album in the first place.”
UMG’s decision comes one week after The New York Times revealed how German label BMG signed a rapper known to have Holocaust-denying and anti-Semitic lyrics, Freeze Corleone, to a one-album deal in 2021 and then abruptly terminated the relationship the day before BMG was due to release the project’s first single. BMG executives had debated internally the pros and cons of signing the French artist and had known that UMG had signed and then dropped Corleone in 2020 after distributing his previous album, La Menace Fantôme (The Phantom Menace), for a week. BMG executives in Berlin ultimately overruled their French team after thoroughly reviewing his older music.
In the case of Weimar, several members come from the neo-Nazi scene in the state of Thuringia, according to Der Spiegel. Konstantin P., who Der Spiegel says goes by the name Till Schneider in Weimar, was previously in Dragoner, a neo-Nazi band that recorded songs that denied the Holocaust.
Dragoner was watched by the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution, a domestic intelligence organization charged with protecting German democracy. Steffen P., who Der Spiegel says goes by the name Kurt Ronny Fiedler in Weimar, came to the attention of Thuringian law enforcement when he attended a right-wing concert in 2005.
It’s unclear what Christian P’s role in the group is, but Der Spiegel says he has known both Steffen P. and Konstantin P. for years, and that they previously played together in the group Uncore United, which has songs that sound similar to those of Weimar. Christian P. has been accused of illegal weapons possession and “forming armed groups.” Der Spiegel says that in 2002 he released an album under the name Murder Squad that featured a swastika on the cover and included anti-Semitic lyrics that denied the Holocaust took place — both of which could make it illegal to distribute in Germany.
Weimar’s relationship with Universal was a one-album distribution deal through the band’s label, Harder Entertainment. The article in Der Spiegel suggests that the deal might have been made by the manager of Frei.Wild, a band from South Tyrol, Italy, that has been associated with right-wing imagery but has distanced itself from right-wing politics. UMG did not comment on this at publication time.
LONDON —Throughout its five-decade history, the Brit Awards, the U.K.’s biggest music awards show, have produced many headline-grabbing moments — from Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker wiggling his butt at Michael Jackson in 1996 to Adele flipping the bird at TV executives for cutting off her acceptance speech in 2012 — and featured unforgettable performances from Amy Winehouse, Stormzy, Dave, Kanye West and the Spice Girls.
But like other entertainment awards shows, such as the Grammys and Academy Awards, the Brits are being forced to radically reinvent themselves to combat falling TV ratings and retain relevance with young music fans. Last year’s ceremony was watched by 2.7 million television viewers in the U.K., down from 2.9 million in 2021 — the Brit’s lowest-ever TV audience, according to industry publication Broadcast.
To try to arrest that slide, this year’s show at London’s O2 Arena takes place on a Saturday night for the first time in the Brit Awards’ 46-year history.
Organizers are hoping the move will breathe new life into the iconic ceremony, which this year has weathered controversy over a lack of female nominees; it will feature performances by Lizzo, Harry Styles, Lewis Capaldi, Stormzy, Sam Smith and Kim Petras.
“There’s been a desire [within the industry] for the Brits to be on a Saturday night for some time,” says Sophie Jones, chief strategy officer and interim CEO of labels body BPI, which runs the Brit Awards. “This year the pieces of the jigsaw fell into place, and it feels like a very exciting premium place for us to be.”
As in previous years, the two-hour show will be broadcast live on ITV in the U.K. The U.K. version of The Masked Singer, which is broadcast in the slot that precedes this year’s Brit Awards show, attracted 6.3 million viewers to last year’s season finale, according to ITV.
Outside the U.K., the 43rd edition of the show (The first ceremony took place in 1977, though the Brit Awards didn’t become an annual event until 1982) will be livestreamed internationally on YouTube for the 10th consecutive year, while a 60-minute red carpet show hosted by Nella Rose and Michelle Visage will be streamed on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The Brit Awards’ other digital partners include TikTok, YouTube Kids, Vevo and fan engagement platform Filmily.
Social media and digital platforms have enabled the Brit Awards to reach a far larger and younger global audience than it has ever reached on terrestrial television, says Jones. She points to 44 million views on the Brit Awards’ official YouTube channel for 2022’s performances and highlights, with more than 1 million people watching the accompanying red carpet show — marking a 25% jump from the previous year. Last year also saw 1.6 million visitors to BRITs World on Roblox.
The show’s continued importance to the U.K. record industry is illustrated by the spike in sales that winning acts and performers often experience. In the four days following 2022’s event, audio streams of songs performed on the night collectively increased 55% with 3.3 million additional streams, according to BPI data tracking. The highest uplift was for Ed Sheeran’s “The Joker and the Queen,” which saw a 699% increase in post-show streams.
“The shared experience moments that awards shows create are really special and the Brits still does that,” says Jones. “It’s a really important calling card for how much talent there is in the U.K.”
Lack Of Female Artists Sparks Backlash
In addition to battling falling TV viewership, the Brit Awards have increasingly found themselves caught up in controversies of their own making. This year’s nominations provoked a fierce backlash from artists and fans when they were announced on Jan. 12 because no female artists were named in the gender-neutral best artist category.
BPI says the lack of female nominations is a result of the strict eligibility criteria and relative shortage of high-profile British female stars putting out new music in 2022. The Brit Awards scrapped best male and best female awards last year in favor of gender-neutral prizes.
To be eligible for the best artist prize, an artist must have achieved at least one top 40 album or two top 20 singles in the U.K. over a 12-month period. Out of the 71 U.K. stars eligible for the award, only 12 were women — a list that includes Charli XCX and Florence + the Machine.
From that 71, a panel of around 1,200 voters — made up of artists, industry executives, journalists and retailers — pick their top five in order of preference. This year’s five nominees are Harry Styles, George Ezra, Stormzy, Central Cee and Fred Again.
“Clearly, it’s disappointing not to see any women nominated in the new gender-neutral category [but] it’s important we recognize the process by which those decisions are made,” Jones tells Billboard. She says that compared to 2022, when Adele won best artist and women or female-fronted acts won 10 out of 15 awards, the past 12 months have “seen fewer high-profile female artists within the release cycle and that has played itself through in the qualification list.”
In the wake of this year’s backlash, Jones says BPI will conduct a post-show review of its nominations criteria, eligibility thresholds and voting processes “looking at different potential approaches… to make sure that the awards are fully representative and celebrate success.” She says there are no plans to return to male and female categories for the best artist award but adds that nothing is “off the table.”
“Everything is in the mix, and it would be right and proper of us to think about this from all angles and make sure that we are making the right decision, whatever that might be,” says Jones.
Despite the all-male best artist list, organizers point to the high number of female artists in the running for other prizes on Saturday night. They include alternative rock band Wet Leg, who received four nominations; Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, both nominated in the international artist and international song categories; and Nova Twins, who are competing against Arctic Monkeys, The 1975, Bad Boy Chiller Crew and Wet Leg for best group. In total, 42% of this year’s nominations went to female artists or female-fronted bands, compared to 46% last year, says BPI.
The London-based organization previously became embroiled in controversy in 2016 when no Black artists were nominated in any major categories, provoking the viral hashtag #BritsSoWhite. Since then, BPI says there have been widespread changes to its voting academy, which this year was made up of 52% women and 31% from Black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds.
A nine-person Brits Committee — made up of two-thirds women, highlights BPI — oversees the Brit Awards. This year, Damian Christian, managing director of Atlantic Records U.K., makes his bow as committee chair, replacing Polydor’s Tom March who held the role in 2022. (Each of the three major labels takes turns leading the committee, rotating every three years.)
Those structural reforms have helped make the event far more representative of the U.K. music scene, say organizers, with recent editions seeing hip-hop stars Stormzy, Dave and Little Simz take home major prizes and deliver some of the event’s most-talked-about live performances.
HYBE, the company behind K-pop groups BTS and TOMORROW X TOGETHER, has acquired a leading stake in competing K-pop company SM Entertainment, home to artists including NCT 127, Super M and Aespa. According to a regulatory filing posted Friday (Feb. 10) in Seoul, HYBE acquired shares in the company worth 422.8 billion won ($334.3 million), making it the company’s largest shareholder.
HYBE purchased 3.5 million shares from SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man, SM Entertainment’s largest shareholder. The deal gives HYBE a 14.8% stake in the publicly traded music company, which has a market capitalization worth roughly $1.8 billion. HYBE’s market capitalization is worth roughly $6.5 billion.
Lee, who is currently embroiled in a power struggle with SM Entertainment’s management, had owned roughly 18.5% of SM Entertainment’s outstanding shares, according to the company’s investor relations website. Following the sale to HYBE, he is left with roughly 869,000 shares and a 3.7% stake. Lee has a put option to sell his remaining shares one year after either HYBE’s purchase or the date of the business combination, whichever comes first, according to the filing.
Korean tech company Kakao, the owner of the music streaming service Melon, announced on Tuesday it would acquire a 9.05% stake in SM Entertainment, making it the company’s second-largest shareholder. Lee opposes Kakao’s investment, however. According to a report, Lee intends to called SM Entertainment and Kakao’s plan an “act of illegality against the commercial law and article of association” in which SM Entertainment would issue new stock and convertible bonds.
The investment in SM Entertainment is HYBE’s second major deal in as many days. On Wednesday, HYBE America announced it had purchased QC Media Holdings, the parent company of Atlanta-based hip-hop label Quality Control Music. The $300 million deal adds artists including Migos, Lil Baby, Lil Yachty and City Girls to HYBE’s roster and puts the Quality Control roster under the leadership of HYBE America CEO Scooter Braun.
Sanremo 2023 started with an unprecedented honor. Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, appeared among the audience of the Ariston Theatre, the first time a president had ever appeared at the festival. Accompanied by his daughter Laura, he seemed visibly touched by actor Roberto Benigni’s monologue in tribute to the 75th anniversary of the Italian constitution.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The first night of the event was full of highlights – both great and questionable — from Chiara Ferragni’s debut as co-host, to Blanco’s angry reaction to a hearing problem, to Pooh’s excessively long medley. Then, of course, there were the performances of the first 14 contestants. Here is a recap of the memorable moments of the first night of Sanremo 2023.
The Best Moments
President Mattarella and Roberto Benigni Pay Homage to the Italian Constitution
Amadeus and Gianni Morandi (host and co-host of the show) saluted Mattarella. Accompanied by the orchestra, Morandi sang the Italian national anthem with the audience of the theatre.
Then Benigni joined them on stage. He celebrated the importance of the Sanremo Festival as a prime expression of Italian popular music, which is not always safeguarded by political institutions. Since Amilcare Rambaldi founded the event in 1951, Sanremo “has been holding a fundamental place in our society,” Benigni said.
“This edition is particularly special: We are celebrating the 75th anniversary of our constitution,” the actor went on. “You must be asking yourselves, ‘What’s the relationship between that and Sanremo?’ Well, they both celebrate freedom.” Benigni proceeded to quote Article 21 from the Italian constitution, his personal favorite, as it guarantees freedom of the press and expression of thought.
Mahmood and Blanco Sing “Brividi”
Mahmood and Blanco, winners of Sanremo 2022, attended the event as guest artists. After a memorable year — “Brividi” (“Shivers”) was Italy’s No. 1 song of the year, according to FIMI — they went back to where it all began, moving the audience with a touching performance. “It’s weird to come back a year later and feel the same emotions,” said Mahmood before leaving the stage. “This place is like home for me.”
The Best Competition Performances
Marco Mengoni arrived, sung impeccably, received well-deserved applause and left. Almost like in an old fashioned Sanremo. He handled the stage with the ease of someone who did not need to prove anything — he won in 2013 with “L’essenziale” (“The Essential Thing”) — and “Due Vite” (“Two Lives”) highlighted his great vocal versatility, ranging from almost rap-like verses to his unmistakable high notes in the chorus.
Coma_Cose stared into each other’s eyes and said that “farewell is not a possibility.” The duo, who are also a couple in real life, was about to break up after their huge success at last year’s festival, where they participated with “Fiamme negli Occhi” (“Flames in Your Eyes”), but that did not happen. Their performance of “L’Addio” (“The Goodbye”) was flawless. Elodie’s performance was among the most awaited. When she walked down the stairs in a total black look, she proved to be a real diva once again. On first listen, “Due” was maybe less memorable than her other singles, but her trademark smoky voice caught the audience’s attention from the first notes.
In a career spanning more than 50 years, pop act I Cugini di Campagna never participated in Sanremo — until this year, when they showed up with a great song, “Lettrera 22,” written by La Rappresentante di Lista, and silenced their haters’ comments.
The Flops
Pooh’s Long Medley
Roby Facchinetti, Dodi Battaglia and Red Canzian took full control of the stage of the Ariston Theatre and started a medley of their own classics that lasted 25 minutes. The nostalgia effect was guaranteed. But the living members (drummer Stefano D’Orazio died in 2020; a video of him singing was projected for a virtual duet on “Uomini Soli” [Lonely Men]) were not flawless, especially Facchinetti’s weird high notes and Battaglia’s playback-guitar shredding. Original member Riccardo Fogli joined them on stage and bassist Red Canzian tried to set the bar high, but it was not enough.
Salmo on the Cruise Ship
Cameras captured rapper Salmo next to a pool on the Costa Crociere cruise ship, which is anchored in front of Sanremo. While he does not need to prove his talent, he could have taken advantage of the opportunity to reach a new audience. Still, he sung a medley of his “Russel Crowe” and “90 Minuti,” surrounded by people dancing and drinking cocktails. He wore slippers and jumped into the pool at the end, still holding the microphone. It was too many rap clichés all at once.
Blanco’s Anger
The silliest moment came around midnight. Blanco hit the stage again to sing his new single “L’Isola delle Rose” (“The Island of Roses”), but he did not hear his own voice in the ear monitors. He lost his mind. He started kicking the roses that were placed as scenic design for his performance. Not the best behavior, but he revived the show with his punk attitude. At one point he stopped singing and just kept destroying the flowers. The audience did not appreciate it and started booing. Amadeus returned and said, “Come on, don’t we want to hear Salmo’s song?” General laughter. Then, Gianni Morandi was seen cleaning the stage with a broom. “Well, we can’t leave it like this,” he said.
The First Ranking
Accredited members of the press voted on the performances of the first night of Sanremo. Marco Mengoni, Elodie and Coma Cose pushed into the lead, while Anna Oxa occupies the last position. Here is the first partial ranking:
Marco Mengoni
Elodie
Coma_Cose
Ultimo
Leo Gassmann
Mara Sattei
Colla Zio
Cugini di Campagna
Mr.Rain
Gianluca Grignani
Ariete
gIANMARIA
Olly
Anna Oxa
Gianni Morandi’s love for Sanremo shines through when he tells anecdotes from the past or shares reflections on the importance the festival has regained over the last few editions. That love became a real thing for the first time in 1972 with his debut at Sanremo as a contestant. That started a tight connection that is about to renew itself once again, after 51 years.
In between, everything changed: music, the festival itself, society. Sanremo did not always manage to portray it all accurately, as reflected in declining television ratings from 2000 to 2018— but the last few editions reversed the trend.
In this context of rediscovered artistic relevancy and sociocultural implications, Morandi will hit the stage of the Ariston Theatre once again to flank Amadeus as co-host. Billboard Italy spoke with him right before the start of the festival.
You have participated in many editions of Sanremo in several different roles. The festival itself is different now. Amadeus’ touch is effective, starting from the selection of artists. How are you preparing for this new edition?
I’ve seen every single edition of Sanremo since 1958, when Domenico Modugno sang “Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu.” To me, Sanremo is a fantastic opportunity, a great stage. I like the fact that I became such a frequent presence here. Amadeus added something, for sure. He has a great knowledge of music and he’s also an innovator; he really opened the doors to new music trends. He’s a forward-looking kind of guy. The results of the last three editions prove it. What makes Sanremo great is the songs that stay — that people don’t forget and keep on singing. And in the last three years, the hits were many. Starting from Måneskin, who became a global success. They are extraordinary on their own, but they started from Sanremo. Amadeus greatly improved the festival. Now it’s also followed by a younger audience.
It’s also more in line with contemporary trends of Italian music, and it promotes artists that are not necessarily known by everyone. How do you see today’s music scene? Did you ever get to know an artist better because of Sanremo?
Well, yes. Take La Rappresentante di Lista, Coma Cose, Colapesce and Dimartino, Rkomi: They were probably popular enough before, but Sanremo gave them the extra boost, and now they are powerhouses. Those times when Sanremo was not so influential, I used to think: “It’s a shame that we don’t value this opportunity of visibility for Italian music in the world.” Because the festival is followed internationally — ask those artists who reached international recognition thanks to it. Like Eros Ramazzotti. He participated in Sanremo and became a global star. Same thing for Laura Pausini or Andrea Bocelli. And so many songs of Sanremo were reinterpreted by great international artists, even Elvis did that [“You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” was his rendition of “Io Che Non Vivo Senza Te”]. So I’m happy that the festival went back to reflecting the trends of Italian music. And nobody turns up their nose anymore. This year, the lineup is full of big names but also young artists — Amadeus encourages them a lot.
Sanremo saw you as a contestant, then as a host, then as a contestant again. Your last participation was just last year, and now you’re hosting the event. How did this transition happen?
I’ve always had a great feeling with Amadeus. We hosted a New Year’s Eve celebration together, back in 2020. We should have done it in Terni, but we ended up doing it in Rome in an empty studio where we stayed for five or six hours. He told me that he wanted me as a co-host last year, too. But then he saw that I submitted the song Jovanotti had written for me. So he didn’t expect me to participate as a contestant. This year, he just fulfilled a wish he expressed two years ago.
So much of your life and many of your hits are bound to Sanremo. What are some special memories?
I remember going to Sanremo to see it up close when I was 16 or 17. I was already singing with a band from Bologna, but I hadn’t even released my first record back then. A friend and I decided to go see how that dream-like city was, since Domenico Modugno’s performance in 1958 had moved me deeply. It was not even the period of the festival when we went. Then I always followed it. In the golden years of Sanremo, I participated in several editions of Canzonissima, another very important TV event of that time. The program used to start in September and end on Jan. 6, so going directly to Sanremo after that seemed a bit too much to me. But I had great occasions. Franco Migliacci had written “Che Sarà,” but Ricchi e Poveri ended up singing it instead of me. Same thing with “La Prima Cosa Bella.” When I finally approached Sanremo, it was probably not my best moment, nor with the best song. I participated with “Vado a Lavorare” (“I’m Going to Work”]. I received a telegram [that said]: “So you’re finally going to work! It was time,” signed by [popular comedians] Cochi and Renato. I never understood whether it was a joke or a serious call.
Knowing them, it could have been both. But besides the songs, there’s the competition, which also paves the way to an international opportunity such as Eurovision. How much is that perceived by the artists? And what feelings do they share during that week?
Over those days you develop relations and see people you haven’t met for a long time. I think there is some sort of solidarity among the artists, even if the competition is still there. But they share a lot of things, and no one gets mad if they lose. If an artist hits that stage and sings a good song, the audience will notice it, regardless of the final ranking. Take Tananai, for example: He ranked last in 2022, but then he had a big success [with “Sesso Occasionale” (“Casual Sex”), which has 37 million streams on Spotify]. The audience knows how to pay you back.
What do you wish for this edition of Sanremo?
I hope to see at least 15 or 20 hit songs. That’s the success of Sanremo: when songs last for decades. Eros Ramazzotti’s “Una Storia Importante” (“An Important Story”) is almost 40 years old now. Amadeus selected a great lineup this year. There’s a bit of everything, even big comebacks such as Anna Oxa and Cugini di Campagna, but also new talents such as Olly, gIANMARIA, Madame and so many others who represent today’s music. Sanremo is shining again. It started with Claudio Baglioni [who was Sanremo’s artistic director in 2018 and 2019], but Amadeus brought it to the next level.
Even at 9:30 a.m., Amadeus’ voice still sparkles with life. “He only drinks chamomile, while I order a hundred cups of coffee,” his publicist says. “I don’t know how he holds up.”
This year marks Amadeus’ fourth as main host and artistic director of the Sanremo Music Festival. Italian broadcaster Rai already confirmed him for 2024, which was an easy decision: Under his direction, the show’s TV ratings skyrocketed, sometimes drawing more than 80% of Italian viewers.
The Italian music industry is dominated by songs that competed at Sanremo. The trend started with the previous artistic director, Claudio Baglioni, but Amadeus pushed it even more. Just one example: The No. 1 song of 2022 in Italy was “Brividi” by Mahmood and Blanco, which also won at Sanremo that year.
There were others. Colapesce and Dimartino were not well known when they participated in Sanremo 2020, and Amadeus was criticized for choosing them. Their song “Musica Leggerissima” nevertheless became a radio hit and kept going strong for the rest of the year.
Then there was Måneskin, which also participated in 2020. Back then, no one bet on the band. The members proved everyone wrong by winning Sanremo, winning Eurovision and becoming global stars.
Since then, the Italian music industry started growing again. In 2021, Italian music exports grew by 66% year over year, with revenues of 332 million euros ($356 million), according to FIMI/GfK. Italy became the 10th-largest music market in the world, up from No. 12 in 2020, as calculated by IFPI in its Global Music Report. Could Italy’s surge also be the result of Sanremo?
Billboard Italy spoke with Amadeus a few days after a private listening of the 28 songs competing at Sanremo. Critics have already published their reviews.
What song was understood the least, in your opinion?
I don’t like to judge someone else’s opinion. Everyone has the right to speak their mind. The [quality] level this year is really high, and everyone understood this. Songs need to be listened to many times. In a month from now, maybe, one will be able to say whether he or she really likes a song or doesn’t. That’s why I don’t like harsh criticism. You could rate a song eight out of 10 if it struck you on an emotional level. But if you rate it two, that’s a risk! I mean, there were so many songs that were criticized at first but then became hits on radio and streaming platforms — they even won the festival sometimes. I remember bad reviews received by Måneskin, Diodato, even Mahmood and Blanco.
This year, you decided to “promote” six talents of the Sanremo Giovani contest to the main competition. Why so many?
This world needs to trust the young, both in music and entertainment. People my age often reject their ideas, but they’re wrong. It’s us who need to adapt and enter their world, also because they spontaneously fall in love with the past. That’s why I want them to have their space. I often mention Tananai as an example. Last year, many people criticized his song and my choice to have him at Sanremo. But despite finishing last, over the course of one year his popularity grew exponentially — everyone can see that. So, we must give the young their time. I’m sure that the six artists I’m bringing to Sanremo 2023 will have a future. It’s just like soccer: You can’t train the boys and then keep them in the bleachers. They must play and have the chance to do wrong. It’s the only way to find the real champions.
They say that it’s impossible to be truly passionate about new music after your twenties, but you’re a living example of the opposite. Don’t you ever stop listening to new releases?
Never. Because of my job, I’m inclined to listen to a bit of everything, even if it doesn’t belong to my generation. Also, my children, who are 25 and 14 years old, help me understand why a singer is liked or not. But music can make you relive your memories, at any age. Everyone should listen to it.
Everyone can see that you don’t select the lineup based on label representation: Like, six artists from Universal, five from Sony, four from Warner, and so on.
Absolutely not. Sometimes a label is not represented at all, and they complain about it.
Every artist told me that they really don’t know whether they are participating or not until the last minute.
That’s right. Not even their labels [know].
Rumor has it that before announcing the lineup, you stay at home for three days with your wife and your 14-year-old son and then decide.
It’s not exactly like that. I’m very reserved and jealous about the songs they propose to me. To put it simply, if I made others listen to them, even people from my own team, I would be too affected by their judgment. I just need to relax over the last three days. No one else knows the songs.
Not even Giovanna and José (Amadeus’ wife and son)?
Maybe they are the only ones, together with my trusted writer Massimo Martelli. But not even he knows everything, because I really seek solitude the last few days. My wife and son hear the songs for a simple reason: I play them on speakers. Clearly, I’m interested in their opinion to better understand a woman’s and a young boy’s points of view. They are usually right. But I try not to get conditioned too much.
Do you look for the song that could impress the most onstage or for the one that could work better on streaming and radio?
Precisely the second case. To me, the stage dimension is relative. If they tell me, “Look, this band kicks [butt] in concert,” that doesn’t modify my judgment at all, if I don’t like the song. I try not to choose based on my personal taste only. A song — of any type, be it a ballad or up tempo — has to move me. I try to imagine its future. That’s why I like to select the songs when I’m driving. If they make me want to listen to them again, that’s it. But sometimes they can tire you.
Rap doesn’t have much representation this year, except Lazza and Madame. Didn’t successful artists such as Rondodasosa, Vale Pain, Paky, Rhove apply? Would you have called them?
No, they didn’t. I would have liked to have them. They are cool and I love rap. Even if he represents a different shade of it, I’m happy to have [Articolo 31 vocalist] J-Ax. I invited him for past editions, but he didn’t have a project suitable for Sanremo.
What decision of yours had the strongest impact internationally, in your opinion? Choosing Måneskin is the first thing that comes to my mind.
Måneskin’s formula was just perfect. They became a global success precisely with the song someone criticized. But I chose it without asking for any modification, and now they are a band with unprecedented [awards and achievements]. Sometimes I’m glad to go against the trend. Even Diodato’s victory at my first Sanremo [in 2020] was kind of unexpected. He was appreciated but unknown to many.
And we all know what happened next. Not to mention Dargen D’Amico: He was followed by a niche [audience, but] now even my 80-year-old mother knows him.
Can we say that Sanremo’s new direction contributed to the resurgence of the Italian music industry on a global scale?
That’s the goal of the festival. It was certainly the case 40 or 50 years ago, when our music was exported internationally and people from abroad wanted to come here to sing in Italian. The important thing is that Sanremo remains open to any genre and any target. It must liberate itself from preset schemes. One should consider the quality of the song, regardless of the artist, the label, the genre. That’s the only way to reach international success. But we still have a lot to do. That’s why I want three stages, because I want everyone to be present at Sanremo. When we launched the stage in Piazza Colombo, many people criticized it at first, but it was a huge success, like it will be this year, too. And if I bring Guè on the ship (the popular Italian rapper will perform on a Costa Crociere cruise ship anchored in front of Sanremo), that’s because I want him to have such a good time that he joins the competition next year.
You managed to bring to the festival many big names that — until recent years — would have performed only as guests. For example, Marco Mengoni and Giorgia.
It’s important to be part of the competition. They understood that Sanremo has changed and that they’ll have much more relevancy in that role. Clearly, we’ll celebrate the careers of our guest artists, such as Al Bano’s or Pooh’s. That’s maybe for a more mature audience, but I’m not so sure. My daughter, for example, is really curious to see these tributes.
Did you ever regret inviting someone?
No, I don’t. The artists who joined the competition in recent years allowed me to create festivals of the highest level. There are still many artists I’d like to include.
Like whom, for example? Tiziano Ferro, maybe?
They are too many. If Tiziano Ferro had a song to present, I’d be happy to listen to it. But my list would be endless. The big artists of Italian music that I’d love to have at Sanremo are so many, and it would be unfair to name just a few of them.
BMG signed a Senegalese rapper from Paris that Universal Music Group had dropped because of Holocaust-denying and antisemitic lyrics — but executives in Berlin ultimately pulled the plug on releasing his music at the last minute, according to a report in The New York Times published Friday (Feb. 3).
In internal documents obtained by The Times, in 2021 BMG’s French division weighed the financial benefits of signing the rapper, Freeze Corleone, against his history of hate speech, and decided to sign him so long as his connection to the German label would remain secret. In previous songs, the rapper had questioned the Holocaust and compared himself to Adolf Hitler. In one 2018 song featuring Corleone, “KKK,” he raps about “Nazi vehicles” and says he’s “determined with lotta ambitions nigga, like the young Adolf.”
In 2020, Universal Music France released Corleone’s La Menace Fantôme (The Phantom Menace), which went double platinum in France and included lyrics in songs like “Tarkov” that mention a “fraternity like Aryans” (though with no explicit mention of Jews). Despite the album’s success, a week after it began distributing LMF, in September 2020 the label said it was cutting all ties with him because the album had “revealed and amplified unacceptable racist statements.”
After UMG dropped him, the 30-year-old rapper, whose real name is Issa Lorenzo Diakhate, Tweeted “finally free.”
Then in 2021, BMG’s French team proposed signing Freeze Corleone, who was becoming increasingly popular in the Parisian hip-hop scene. In internal emails and memos reviewed by The Times, French label executives at BMG noted the artist was “France’s fastest growing artist in the last 2 years” and would thus “really help us meet our revenue target.” But the executives, Sylvain Gazaignes, the French operation’s managing director, and Ronan Fiacre, the head of A&R, also noted the controversy around the 2020 UMG release.
“In order to mitigate the risk of possible controversy,” BMG executives wrote in an internal memo reviewed by The Times, their contract would ensure the label had the right to approve his lyrics. The memo also said the contract should keep BMG’s involvement with the rapper’s career hidden. There should be “no BMG logo anywhere on the release,” Dominique Casimir, BMG’s chief content officer, said in an email she sent to a BMG lawyer and other executives, according to The Times.
BMG signed a one-album deal with Freeze Corleone worth about $1 million in October 2021, according to The Times. About three weeks after signing the deal, Casimir decided to cancel the contract the day before the release of “Scellé part. 4,” Corleone’s first single from the album, titled Riyad Sadio. The decision came after Casimir’s German team had completed a review of Freeze Corleone’s past lyrics and told the French team they needed to end the relationship with the artist, a person familiar with the matter confirms to Billboard. (An undisclosed settlement was paid to Freeze, the source says.)
Freeze Corleone has two entries on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart — “Freeze Rael,” which spent one week on the chart in September of 2020 at No. 176, and “Mannschaft,” billed as SCH featuring Freeze Corleone, which landed at No. 167 in April of 2021.
In a statement sent to Billboard, BMG says “today’s New York Times story confirms that as soon as senior BMG executives became aware of the historic allegations against the artist, it ended their relationship. No record was released. BMG stands firm against anti-Semitism and hate.”
For Berlin-based BMG, the incident is the second such situation in the past five years involving an artist known to have music containing antisemitic lyrics. In 2018, a controversy exploded over an album BMG released by two German rappers, Kollegah and Farid Bang. The album, Jung Brutal Gutaussehend 3 (Young Brutal Good-Looking 3), contained lyrics like “make another Holocaust, show up with a Molotov,” but nevertheless became a hit.
Antisemitism is a particularly sensitive issue for the label’s parent company, media giant Bertelsmann, which in 2002 apologized for its past ties to the Nazi regime after an independent commission of academics the company hired found it had thrived during World War II by producing antisemitic material and Nazi propaganda. Bertelsmann previously had claimed to have played an active role in the Nazi resistance.
Casimir, who was promoted in May to the CCO post and given a seat on BMG’s board (and was recently named to Billboard’s 2023 Power 100 list), also oversaw the signing of the controversial German rappers as managing director for Germany at that time.
After BMG decided to drop him, Freeze Corleone released his album independently. Two employees in France involved in the Freeze Corleone signing — who “believed in the artist” – have since left the company but were not fired, the source familiar tells Billboard. Gazaignes remains a top executive in the French division.
Digital music piracy still plagues global music creators, with criminals employing new tactics like “bulletproof” internet service providers, but it is not as much of a problem as copyright infringement of film and television content, according to a new report from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).
The USTR’s annual report on “Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy” (NML) lists seven websites that pose a threat to music industry creators, the same number as in 2022. Those websites engage in stream-ripping, torrent hosting or illegal downloading of pre-release or newly released digital albums.
The latest USTR report highlights new infringement tactics and growing concerns about how social networking sites like Russia’s VKontakte (VK) and Tencent Music Entertainment’s WeChat in China are facilitating the sale of copyright-infringing or counterfeit products.
While the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented spike in online piracy — music, film, television, publishing and software all saw higher levels in 2022 compared to 2021 — music experienced the lowest increase, according to a study by Muso, a U.K. company focused on measuring global piracy, which the USTR highlighted in its report.
Data from Muso determined that from January to August 2022 there were 141.7 billion visits to piracy websites, a 21.9% boost over the same eight-month period in 2021. The most dramatic increase came from film piracy, which grew 49.1% year-on-year. Music saw the lowest increase at 3.87%.
The USTR stresses, however, that while progress has been made in forcing some sites to remove pirated content, the introduction of streaming platforms and their widespread adoption has changed the way media is consumed and done little to stem overall piracy levels, especially for audiovisual works.
“Despite expectations that streaming would help combat piracy, the illegal distribution and consumption of high-quality video content has remained prevalent,” the NML report states.
Reacting to the Notorious Markets list, Mitch Glazier, chairman/CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), said it “shines a much-needed spotlight on the devastating impact of copyright theft on American creators.” He adds that “copyright enforcement is necessary to protect livelihoods.”
New to this year’s report are concerns about an increase in piracy sites utilizing “bulletproof” Internet service providers (ISPs) to facilitate their infringing activities. Bulletproof ISPs are characterized by terms of service that often explicitly advertise leniency in allowing their customers to upload and distribute infringing content.
While right holders have expressed concerns about bulletproof ISPs for several years, in 2022, several submissions noted that the growing reliance by pirate sites on such ISPs made it increasingly difficult for right holders to remove infringing content.
Among the bulletproof ISPs being used by music piracy operations is Amarutu, which provides offshore hosting for criminal activity and ignores takedown requests, the USTR says. The dedicated server page of Amarutu’s website advertises that “DMCA messages will be forwarded to the client for resolution but in most cases action is not required.” Amarutu reportedly has an office location in Hong Kong and is registered in Seychelles, with data centers in the Netherlands, the USTR says.
While most of the sites impacting music creators were the same this year, the USTR notes that MP3juices, a stream-ripper, relocated to host Cloudnet in Singapore last year. The website extracts audio from YouTube videos and allows users to download an mp4 file of the audio, often an unlicensed copy. Right holders say MP3juices has attempted to subvert their efforts to demote it in search engine rankings by creating new domain names that reappear at the top of search results.
The USTR once again included Russian social networking and music streaming site VK in its notorious markets report. VK, Russia’s most-visited website, reportedly facilitates the distribution of copyright-infringing files, including thousands of videos and e-books identified by the U.S. film and publishing industries each month. The site allows users “to easily upload video files, including infringing content” and to stream it through an on-site video player, the USTR says.
As Billboard reported in December, following the pullout of most of the global music industry from Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine last year, VK has returned to pirating music. Dozens of albums from Western artists, including from Taylor Swift (signed to Universal Music Group’s Republic) and Red Hot Chili Peppers (on Warner Music Group’s Warner Records), have become available for download.
Complicating matters, last month Belarus adopted a law that essentially legalizes piracy of music and other forms of copyrighted entertainment, which could make it a hotbed for piracy well beyond its borders — and possibly encourage Russian lawmakers to pass a similar law there.
In this year’s report, the USTR also highlights NewAlbumReleases, which previous NML reports said ran out of the Czech Republic but which uses reverse proxy services to mask its location. The website makes its infringing content available for download on “cyberlockers” like Rapidgator, another “notorious market,” according to the USTR.
Also making the list again is FLVTO, a stream-ripping site known to be operated by Russian national Tofig Kurbanov, which has been a thorn in the side of U.S. labels and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). A U.S. district judge last year approved an order for Kurbannov to pay $83 million in damages for circumventing YouTube’s anti-piracy measures and infringing copyrights of audio recordings, but he has appealed the judgment.
Rounding out the list of music-creator threats are torrent sites Rarbg, known to have operated out of Bulgaria, and 1337x, which utilizes reverse proxy services to mask the location of its hosting servers. Variants of 1337x have been subject to blocking orders in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Portugal and the U.K.
This year’s NML report identified a new issue, stating that over the past three years, it has identified a growing concern from rights holders about the proliferation of counterfeit sales facilitated by “social commerce platforms” (social media platforms with integrated e-commerce ecosystems). The concern has coincided with the continued growth of e-commerce and the increased movement of many physical sellers to predominantly online platforms.
Rights holders state that while certain social commerce platforms have taken steps to implement anti-counterfeiting policies, many others still lack adequate anti-counterfeiting policies, processes and tools such as identity verification, as well as effective notice and takedown procedures, proactive anti-counterfeiting filters and tools and strong policies against repeat infringers.
While not calling out music specifically in this newer trend, the USTR names Tencent’s WeChat as one problematic platform. Although described by Tencent as a “social communication tool and information publishing platform,” WeChat provides an e-commerce ecosystem that facilitates the distribution and sale of counterfeit products to users of the overall WeChat platform,” the USTR says in its report. Central to the issue is the growing popularity of WeChat’s short video function, “Channels,” to advertise counterfeit goods directly to consumers, who can purchase the counterfeits featured in the videos via a “shopping cart” functionality in the WeChat app.
Tencent’s efforts to combat counterfeiting with respect to WeChat “have been inadequate,” the USTR says. Rights holders have complained to U.S. officials about the lack of cooperation from WeChat in supporting criminal investigations of counterfeit sellers. “WeChat points to collaboration with law enforcement and regulatory authorities but asserts privacy and data security laws prevent certain disclosures of information,” the USTR says in the NML. (Tencent owns Tencent Music Entertainment, which licenses Billboard China).
The Beatport Group has acquired a majority stake in the International Music Summit, the electronic music and culture platform known for its flagship industry conference, IMS Ibiza, Billboard can exclusively reveal.
This partnership is intended to secure the growth of IMS, which has happened annually in Ibiza since 2007 (minus the two years it rolled out online during the pandemic) and has over the years produced additional summits in Los Angeles, Shanghai, Singapore and Malta.
Via this partnership, IMS has plans to again expand its global footprint, with details forthcoming. IMS will continue to operate under the direction of its co-founders, with full support from The Beatport Group. (The Beatport Group currently encompasses digital electronic music store Beatport, open format DJ community Beatsource, Loopmasters, Loopcloud and other platforms.)
Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
IMS Ibiza was founded in 2007 by five partners including dance scene pioneer Pete Tong and industry exec and artist manager Ben Turner, with the intention to create a hub for conversation and progressive change within electronic dance music.
“We are very proud of what we’ve built at IMS over these past 16 years, driving the narrative and agenda of the culture forward from the genre’s spiritual home of Ibiza,” IMS’ founding partners say in a joint statement.
“Aligning with Beatport, who have been supporters of IMS from our inception,” the statement continues, “will enable us to action many of our ideas on how to continue to grow the platform all year round; to further educate and mentor the next generation; and to help focus the industry’s attention on the issues that matter. It will help increase our ability to have more impact for the genre.”
The next IMS Ibiza summit is set for April 26-28 at the island’s luxe Destino Pacha Ibiza resort. This three-day conference will again feature keynotes, seminars, performances, masterclasses, mentorship, health and wellness initiatives, parties and much more. A pillar of the conference is its annual presentation of the IMS Business Report, the annual valuation of the global electronic music industry presented in conjunction with data and analysis on myriad aspects of the business. IMS Ibiza 2023 will once again be hosted by Tong and fellow BBC Radio 1 presenter Jaguar.
“IMS has become one of the most impactful gatherings for the global DJ and dance music industries, and everyone at Beatport is excited to take this brand to the next level,” Beatport CEO Robb McDaniels says in a statement. “We look forward to partnering with Pete, Ben and the entire IMS team to broaden the IMS footprint as a major component of our plan to expand the Beatport brand around the world through community, education, and thought leadership initiatives.”