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Following Billboard’s exclusive announcement of TITAN CONTENT’s “next-generation” K-pop act this summer, three new members of the highly anticipated girl group AtHeart have arrived for fans to get to know.
Meet Seohyeon, 16, from Korea, Katelyn, 17, from the Philippines, and Aurora, 15, from Japan, who join the previously introduced members Sorin and Michi, helping create a diverse ensemble poised for global appeal. The five future stars join AtHeart, which TITAN says will reveal their full lineup soon before debuting in early 2025.
With talent handpicked from global auditions this past January, TITAN emphasizes members’ personalities and musical abilities while allowing fans to familiarize themselves with each member via individual social media accounts — a rarity for K-pop artists in training. @seohyeonatheart, @katelynatheart, and @auroraatheart all launched today on Instagram and TikTok.
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“Over the past year, the TITAN team has seen remarkable growth, assembling an all-star group of experts across various fields,” Dom Rodriguez, CBO at TITAN CONTENT, tells Billboard. “Our commitment to delivering exceptional music, creating a new paradigm for K-pop on the global stage, and pushing the boundaries of innovation remains stronger than ever. We’re thrilled about the incredible talent of the AtHeart members and are excited to show the world what they have been working on, so stay tuned!”
In a press statement, TITAN CONTENT CEO Katie Kang highlighted the new group members’ skills and teased AtHeart’s upcoming full lineup announcement.
“We are confident that AtHeart will lead the way into a new era of K-pop,” the former SM Entertainment manager and casting recruiter said. “Seohyun stands out with her captivating vocal tone and diverse range of exceptional talents. Katelyn was cast at the Manila global audition and has vibrant energy and a bright smile that brings joy to those around her, along with her singing and rapping abilities. Aurora, with her enchanting brown eyes, is full of bright, positive, and loving energy, just as her name suggests, and incredible vocal and dance skills…the full lineup is now complete, and we’ve been gradually unveiling the members since July with the remaining members to be announced very soon.”
TITAN’s Chief Visual Officer, Guiom Lee, says the newly revealed “Second Heart of AtHeart” concept video hints at the group’s style, sound, and potential number of members, noting the “visual and playful elements that are distinct from the first concept video. And speculating about how many members will be in the group adds another layer of excitement.”
Backed by former SM Entertainment CEO Nikki Semin Han alongside a creative team of international K-pop movers and shakers, TITAN CONTENT has positioned itself as the first major U.S.-based K-pop agency, aiming to introduce multiple groups and several solo acts by 2028. AtHeart’s 2025 launch kicks off a powerful new chapter for both TITAN and the global K-pop industry.
Check out the newly revealed photos of AtHeart’s Seohyeon, Katelyn and Aurora below:
Seohyeon
COURTESY OF TITAN CONTENT
Katelyn
COURTESY OF TITAN CONTENT
Aurora
COURTESY OF TITAN CONTENT
Earlier this summer, avant-garde musical pioneer Laurie Anderson stopped by Billboard’s first-ever Indie Power Players event at the Soho Grand Hotel in Manhattan to accept the Indie Icon Award. When I bring it up to her over Zoom a few weeks later, Anderson laughs off the idea of being hailed as one of the GOATs. “That was a little embarrassing – or a lot embarrassing,” she demurs. “Yeah. Icon. But you know, it’s flattering. It was sweet.”
She’s clearly retained some of that Midwestern humility from her childhood in the suburbs of Chicago. But if Laurie Anderson isn’t an indie icon, then who is? After making waves in the New York City art scene since the ‘70s, she brought her uncompromising, idiosyncratic vision to one of the major labels, Warner. Bros., with 1982’s Big Science. A heady, funky mélange of minimalism, electronica and art-pop, the trailblazing classic enjoyed improbable crossover success thanks in large part to its single “O Superman (For Massenet),” which became a No. 2 hit in the U.K. Over the ensuing decades, Anderson has become an influential force in exploring the ways music, technology and performance art intersect. Plus, she’s done everything from voicing a Rugrat to directing films to winning a Grammy.
The lattermost came thanks to Landfall, her 2018 album with the Kronos Quartet. On Friday (Aug. 30), Anderson returns with Amelia, a Nonesuch release that delves into legendary aviator Amelia Earhart’s ill-fated final flight. But while questions such as “what really happened to Amelia Earhart?” and “where did her plane crash?” have recurred throughout popular culture for nearly 90 years, Amelia isn’t interested in answers, or even asking questions. Instead, Anderson – through her indelible mixture of storytelling, sing-speak and dizzying soundscapes – takes us into the cockpit with Earhart throughout the course of her flight, drawing on flight logs, diary entries and contemporary interviews to give a sense of the frightening vastness of the ocean, the thrill and loneliness of exploration and the othering of female pilots in the 1930s. Like much of her work, it’s soothing, unsettling and thought-provoking.
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“They called her Lady Lindy, they didn’t even take her seriously,” Anderson says. “But she was doing this really dangerous thing. She was very hands on, unlike Charles Lindbergh, who was a white gloves pilot in many ways. She really was working with the guys under the hood.” It’s that element of Earhart’s life that makes her story feel “super timely” to Anderson, who notes that “girls still aren’t really encouraged to do engineering” nearly 100 years later.
Below, Anderson walks Billboard through this project’s roundabout gestation, why collaborator ANOHNI is perfect “for every project” and her work on a “doomsday comedy” that will serve as Part V to her groundbreaking magnum opus from 1983, United States Live.
When you arrived at Billboard’s Indie Power Players event in June, you gave a surprise performance with this little handmade electronic device in your mouth. How long does it take you to make something like that?
Oh, you know, it’s sorts of time depending on what you’re making. I’m making a few things now for a big show in the fall. Right now, the project that I’m doing called ARK is mind-boggling. There are so many pieces to it that it’s just weird.
What’s ARK?
ARK is a big thing with music pictures and electronics on a stage in a big theater [Factory International] in Manchester, which is going to open in the fall [Nov. 12-24]. And it’s something about the end of the world.
I mean, we could be facing that soon.
Well, it’s kind of in the back of people’s minds. And I really like what’s in the back of people’s minds. It influences you even though you’re not necessarily talking about it. So that’s why I wanted to do that. It’s also — it sounds really stupid — but it’s like a doomsday comedy.
How else does one approach doomsday?
Exactly. That’s what I think. Yeah, yeah.
So Amelia is your new album, but I gather you’ve done this piece before – in 2000 at Carnegie Hall.
That was its distant cousin, let’s say. That was a very long time ago. Those pieces don’t really sound like each other at all. That was something that I was commissioned to do for Carnegie Hall, and then it was kind of horrible, actually. Really. It’s really pretty bad. So I stopped working on it. Then a few years later, the conductor [Dennis Russell Davies] said, “You know, I really liked that piece.” And I said, “You did?!” He said, “Yeah, let’s just do it for string orchestra.” So we did and it sounded pretty cool. Then, in the pandemic, he got back to me again and said, “Let’s record that.” And I really like this conductor a lot. He’s really supportive and cool. So we recorded it, and then I thought, “Okay, I’m gonna put some other stuff on top of this.” And that’s what this record is.
So did Carnegie Hall specifically commission it to be about Amelia Earhart, or was that your choice?
No, they just wanted something about flight, so I chose Amelia. I really got very fond of her working on it. She was she always talking to women — she was like the original blogger, first of all. She was talking to reporters at every stop, she would send telegrams at every stop, and she would write in her pilot’s log and in her diary. She was very conscious of her public. She also married her press agent, which tells you a lot. What I liked the most about her was she said, “You know, if I survive this trip” — and she wasn’t sure if she would — she said, “I want to start shop for girls.” At that point, boys in school took shop, which was like engines and motors and metal and woodworking, and girls took cooking and cleaning. I was like, “Whoa, that’s very cool.” She said, “Girls should find out how engines work, too.” She didn’t live to make that happen. But it was I was very impressed with that because her plane crashed like 87 years ago, on July 2 [1937], and you look at what’s going on now: Girls still aren’t really encouraged to do engineering or government, medicine, politics. It’s just kind of weird that women haven’t made more progress, I think. So anyway, that was an important story to hear now.
It’s timely.
Super timely, especially when we virtually just elected a president who kind of thinks women are stupid. It’s crucial to look at people who did really amazing things. And she was a great pilot. People were very patronizing when she was doing it: they called her Lady Lindy, they didn’t even take her seriously. But she was doing this really dangerous thing. She was very hands on, unlike Charles Lindbergh, who was a white gloves pilot in many ways. She really was working with the guys under the hood. And I really admire that about her. People are always asking me, “How do you work with technology?” And it’s not like it’s so amazing. It’s still [seen as] weird for women to be working with technology.
I hadn’t heard she was called Lady Lindy ‘til I listened to the album. That’s doubly a shame, since he was a racist.
He’s a pretty odd character. And pretty, I think, horrendous in the end. Just a really scary, weird guy. And what a story that he actually killed his son – did you go for that story?
The baby thing?
Yeah, the baby thing and trying to get the organs for his sister. I was like, “Whoa, that’s the weirdest story ever.”
That dovetails a bit with something I wanted to ask. Like the Lindbergh baby, people are still coming up with theories and evidence about the Earhart crash. Not that long ago, someone said they might have found her plane. Did that ever make you think, “hmm, maybe I should address this in the project?”
Oh, no, no. I think some of those are sort of credible but most of them aren’t really. They’re pretty iffy. The very last one? Maybe. I don’t know and it doesn’t matter to me.
After immersing yourself in her world and travels, do you ever get the urge to visit some of these places – Howland Island, New Guinea – for research? Or have you?
If I could go anywhere, I’d go to the Galapagos. Just to see what that would feel like. But no, I never really felt like going to look for her plane. I’d rather write about certain things than go there. Although that’s not to say that wouldn’t be really, really fun to do.
The album features guest vocals from one of my favorite singers, ANOHNI. What was it about ANOHNI that made her make sense for this project?
She makes sense for every project. I just love her singing. I got to hear her new show a couple weeks ago. So beautiful. I’m just a complete fan. She’s singing in ARK as well; she’s singing the part of the Buddha. It’s so inspiring to work with her.
So Amelia is a “distant cousin” of something you started in 2000. Last year, I saw you perform your Let X=X show at BAM in Brooklyn, and it was absolutely incredible. Similarly, that found you revisiting some of your older work, with Sexmob as your backing band. When you revisit this material, how do you balance the urge to tinker with it and make it different, as opposed to staying true to the spirit of the original piece?
Really good question, because that’s something I’m doing in this project called ARK now, which is subtitled The United States Part V. It’s basically what I see as the empire falling, in a way. But you never know; there are complex ways that things fall apart and then come back into shape, so you never know. There are a couple of things that refer to earlier pieces. Sometimes I think I’m the only one who’s going to notice that but sometimes other people do. It’s a wild project to be doing. But anyway, with Amelia I was very happy with how the orchestra seemed to be almost the ocean in it or the wind. It had this wildness to it that was really fun to work with. I did this backwards, actually. I did the orchestra and then I did drum and bass overdubs. Which is crazy. Tony Scherr, the bass player, I just said, “I want you to improv over the whole thing.” I didn’t play it for him [before]. He just did his part live. He’s an incredible player and he did some really intuitive things. It felt very spontaneous. I loved what he did.
When you’re working on these things, are you a one-take, two-take person, or do you obsess over tweaks and changes?
One hundred percent obsession. It goes on forever. It’s never right. Oh yeah. I love it. I love sitting in the studio and sampling things and playing around and that’s kind of how I put it together. Just a long time alone in the studio. It’s a lot of fun for me to do it like that.
After having a seven-album deal with Warner Bros. back in the day, you’ve been with Nonesuch for a while. Being on an indie must jibe well with your tendency to take your time, as opposed to being forced to hit deadlines to deliver albums.
That’s probably true. Although they didn’t bother me about that at Warner. They didn’t say, “Crank them out, come on!” The time I was [at Warner] there were some real music lovers, and they were just really interested in what I was doing. And at Nonesuch, I feel the same. For me, it depends more on the people than on the actual label. So I didn’t really feel that kind of pressure.
You’ve done a number of performance pieces that haven’t made it to a recording studio. I’m thinking of your 1999 piece Songs and Stories From Moby-Dick. I’ve always been curious, do you ever think about going back to those pieces and making a proper document of it on an album?
No, I don’t. I want to move forward. If there’s a point in incorporating it into anything then I would, but not just to go back and set the record straight.
Not sure if you’ve noticed, but “here’s the thing” has become an overused thing. The old expression is suddenly the go-to for anyone from influencers to politicians to news correspondents trying to make a point. “Here’s the thing,” like “at the end of the day” or “wait, whaaat? before it, has become a hackneyed verbal tic. But here’s the thing: “Here’s The Thing” also happens to be the title of a strong contender for Greatest Song of 2024. It’s the rip-snorting third single from Romance, the glorious fourth album from Fontaines D.C., out Friday (Aug. 23), on which the Irish post-punk band breaks with its past in almost every way.
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“I think change was just generally a very enticing thing for us,” says Grian Chatten, Fontaines’ poet-cum-frontman, who in only a half a decade has become one of the most compelling figures in rock. “We wanted to really indulge in something new, and we didn’t want to risk it being only a half-step. And I think the more changes there were around us, the better.”
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It’s early May, and I am sitting on the patio of a hotel in Brooklyn with Chatten — who is sporting a city-appropriate Yankees jersey and wraparound shades — after he suggests we talk outdoors so he can smoke a couple roll-your-owns over the hour. The band is in town to do a one-off underplay gig to jump start the record’s cycle, and to play the television debut of “Starburster,” the LP’s biting, driving first single, on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Launching into an animated mid-morning chat, the singer is palpably pumped to be starting up the Fontaines engines once again – maybe more so than in years, as this time the band is riding on a very different vehicle. Yes, Conor Curley and Carlos O’Connell’s alternately chime-y and crunchy guitars are still there; bassist Conor Deegan III and drummer Tom Coll have lost none of their drive; and Chatten is still there with his supple voice, wordplay and can’t-look-away presence.
But everything about Romance feels breathlessly bolder, eclectic and carpe diem, caution to the wind and all that. They’ve changed producers (James Ford, in place of Dan Carey), labels (XL Recordings, rather than longtime home Partisan), and aesthetics, with a series of arresting music videos underscoring the new era.
“There’s an element that feels maybe a little like playing a character,” Chatten concedes. “But with this record and everything around it, we’re drawing a lot from the inspirations we had when we were really young. For me, it was always very theatrical bands like The Cure. It was a very complex and very rich world. Almost Tim Burton-esque. And I think that drawing from that is something that feels genuine, but it also has the fun that comes with playing a role.”
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Shaking things up, no matter the risk, felt like an imperative in 2023 to Fontaines D.C. While the band had made leftward moves over three albums — from the spitfire of their 2019 debut Dogrel through a dreamier A Hero’s Death in 2020 and toward something more internal on 2022’s Skinty Fia — there’s nothing gradual about the creative leap taken on Romance. “We always think that we’re pushing the boat out, or taking some new turn, with each record,” Chatten explains. “And I think probably the reality is that it was a lot less of a turn than we thought. But this time, I feel good about it being a full f–kin’ turn.”
Surely the most significant change on Romance was bringing on James Ford as producer. Post-punk A-lister Dan Carey had become synonymous with Fontaines over the band’s first three LP’s; he helmed Chatten’s debut solo LP, 2023’s warts-and-all thriller Chaos For the Fly; and Chatten admits Carey was disappointed by news of the split. But the band had been suggested Ford as a collaborator several times, and after a studio session intended to record only one song ended up yielding two and a half, the die was cast. “It just worked really well,” Chatten says. “It was just such a fluid and easy process that it just made sense.”
Ford’s production resume includes nearly 50 albums in 20 years by the likes of Foals, Klaxons, Blur, Gorillaz and Depeche Mode. But he is most indelibly associated with Arctic Monkeys, and Ford’s facility with bands “expanding” their sound is evidenced on the Monkeys’ recent LPs. Soon after coming off the road opening for Arctic Monkeys last fall, Fontaines D.C. went into the studio with Ford, and there are places on Romance that are signatures of the producer, including the string-filled drama of centerpiece “In The Modern World.”
As it happens, Monkeys frontman Turner was one of the boldfaced names in attendance when, two nights after my interview with Chatten, Fontaines D.C. played to a packed-out Warsaw Ballroom in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, delivering a set that included a handful of Romance tracks. Watching Chatten command a stage with more confidence than ever – certainly more than in Fontaines’ early days – it reminded me of the way that Turner, too, was initially an onstage introvert and very much grew into (or adopted) a rakish onstage swagger over the years. Chatten doesn’t dispute the comparison.
“In my experience, it can be frustrating to be reading yourself saying the same answers over and over again in interviews in that reserved way,” he offers. “And I feel like I’ve been doing that a lot over the past couple of years where it got to be a habit. I just got bored with what I was saying. So, you know, to allow a little bit of a character in, maybe, to change the way you present yourself, it makes it more interesting for yourself. So I totally relate to him leaning into that. And in terms of the singing thing, I think I just like my voice more now than I used to. I think I was probably quite uncomfortable with it, but I like it more now.”
Fontaines D.C.
Deanie Chen
Chatten uses that voice in more varied ways than ever on Romance – bright and melodic, droll and sardonic, dreamy and reflective, desperate and urgent. It’s all in service of a record that does have a specific thesis, expressed in the last line of the title track: “Maybe romance is a place for me, and you.” The tracks “Desire” and “In The Modern World” first gave Chatten the idea for the album title; a touchstone that inspired the latter song was the 1988 cyberpunk anime classic Akira.
“I think I really wanted to write a song that felt like the romance that blossoms in that film,” he explains. “That dystopian, everything crashing around you, and drifting further and further away apparently from a sense of humanity. But still therein blossoms a relationship, a romance. A romance that is necessary to cling onto something, and not give up hope in a world like that. I really related to that. Especially these days, you know?”
He’s quick to add, though, that it’s a form of denial as well. “I’ve always been interested in the argument, or the perspective, of seeing delusion and romance as one and the same,” he says. “And I think the place of romance that I spoke about, in the title track, it’s that place, it’s that refuge. And I think there’s a denial, maybe, involved. You’re dressing your life up in this romantic way. And I think there’s a line to blur between madness and this denial, which is necessary in order to get on. The world is absolutely f–ked, and it’s difficult to know which way to turn.”
Though Chatten tends not to write too on-the-nose about his own life experiences, they are woven throughout the new LP. The sweeping “In The Modern World,” which was written during a sabbatical to Los Angeles, opens with the line “I feel alive” then alternates calling it “the city that you like” and “the city you despise.” The first word that comes to my mind about the song, and the whole album, is “cinematic,” though I tell Chatten I hate to be reductive. “That’s okay!” he assures me with a laugh. “It is! You can reduce the record!” “I find it interesting,” he adds of the City of Angels. “And that’s as close as I get to saying I really like a place: I find it interesting and it intrigues me and stimulates me creatively. Which L.A. can do, at least in short bursts. I think I wrote that maybe with something like the ghost of Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard, or maybe Lana Del Rey’s voice was ringing around in my head as well. I don’t know, but maybe it’s a song to Lana Del Rey?” He chuckles. “I don’t know.”
In marked contrast to that song’s grandeur is “Horseness Is the Whatness,” a sweet late album gem with a fractured lump-in-the-throat innocence, which asks plaintively, “Will someone / Find out what the word is / That makes the world go round / ‘Cause I thought it was love.” The track’s childlike quality is no accident, Chatten says, explaining that it was written by Fontaines guitarist Carlos O’Connell, an occasional guest lyricist.
“I think that’s the second time someone’s said that to me!” Chatten says when I express affection for the song. “It’s Carlos’ line, and I’m really glad his lyrics are getting that kind of attention, ‘cause I think they’re incredible. And it’s a really vulnerable song in that way, which I think partly comes from him having a child and seeing the world through their eyes.”
Chatten has no kids of his own, but he is nearly six years into a relationship, and says of his girlfriend, who manages bands and sang on Chatten’s solo LP, “We’re good,” though by his own admission he can be “a lot” to deal with. The singer has spoken candidly in the past about serious struggles with anxiety that intensified in 2022 as Fontaines D.C. toured Skinty Fia. That album’s harrowing “Nabokov” remains emotionally challenging to perform live, while “Starburster,” the first single from Romance, was inspired by a devastating panic attack that the singer experienced in London’s St. Pancras Station during a period when such episodes were frequent.
“I was having like three, four a day around that time,” he recalls. “It got really out of hand for a while. And I got a handle on it when I got my ADHD diagnosis. Things gradually became a bit easier. And the upshot, I think, is that I’ve become a better friend and a better partner to my missus, and a better son to my folks. And if I have 10 minutes now between trains, I’ll give someone a ring and ask them how they are. Because – I’ve always wanted to know, but I’ve always had my head up my ass, do you know what I mean? So that’s the real benefit for me. Now being in a better place, I get to extend my concern to other people.”
Fontaines D.C.
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Still, being in a long-term relationship seems to have surprised even him. Two tracks on Romance, “Bug” and “Death Kink,” seem to refer to what a challenging partner he can be. The latter tune opens with “When you came into my life I was lost / And you took that shine to me at what a cost.” “I can be a bit of a freight train, in a way that I can be unchangeable,” he admits. “I’m very rigid in what I like and what I don’t like. And I think that song ‘Bug’ is somebody who doesn’t yield, or is just leaving a trail of destruction, and that is how I feel sometimes. But we’ve been together five and a half years, and we’re incredible happy. We’re in a really good place. But I am inclined to be independent, just generally speaking, but it just so happens that I fell in love. So it’s difficult for me to divert from the path.”
Chatten is remarkably open-hearted throughout our chat. He’s a touch acerbic and is not above some good-natured teasing of a journalist he’s just met. But for the most part, he’s warm, thoughtful and seemingly principled. “I’m a sensitive little soul,” he says by way of explaining why he can’t marinate in the awful news that the world dishes out daily. In other words, to me at least, he’s quintessentially Irish, giving something not unlike the vibes I got when I twice talked to the late great Sinéad O’Connor. We lost O’Connor in July 2023, just months before the passing of another Irish legend, Shane MacGowan. Both artists were fierce, suffer-no-fools forces of nature who lived their lives at 11, and MacGowan was one of Chatten’s longtime heroes.
“We were in the middle of recording the album when Shane died,” he recalls. “And I had to f–king take a break. I was really, deeply affected by it. Partly because he enhanced my relationship with my family! You know, he connected me to my Irishness maybe in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to do without him.” As for Sinéad, “I was a big fan,” he says. “I feel like she gave an awful lot more than what was required of her, in her life. And I really respect and admire that. It means a lot. My mom is a massive Sinéad O’Connor fan, and many is the time that she had a few glasses of wine, and she would try and sing one of her tunes. In a quiet room of largely polite people!”
Romance feels destined to propel Fontaines D.C. to yet another level of attention and acclaim: the band’s fall North American tour will play mostly 1500-3000 capacity rooms, followed by European dates that includes arenas. More significantly, it’s an explosion of lush, bold new colors. Hopefully the Fontaines day ones, rowdy as some may be, will be open to the expansion. If some still long for the ragged punk of early favorites like “Liberty Belle” or “Boys In the Better Land,” those songs are out there. “I mean, if somebody wants to listen to ‘Boys In the Better Land’ for the rest of their life,” Chatten says with a shrug. “Then I envy their ability to find something that interests them for so long!”
Whatever comes next, he doesn’t plan on making the same music at 50 that he made when he was half that age. “I wouldn’t be comfortable doing it, and I probably wouldn’t be that interested in listening to it,” he flatly states. “I accessed that part of myself very thoroughly around the time that we wrote it, so I don’t know if I will be hungry to access that kind of thing, in the same way, ever again. But who knows? I am skeptical about the idea of going into grandiosity and wider themes and deeper into yourself, and then snapping back into social commentary that’s like a snappy 4-4 punk beat. I’m not sure it’s an artist’s right to do that after going so deep. So I think, stay basic for as long as you can, and then maybe get more complicated.”
Singer-songwriter K. Michelle has signed with BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville, home to artists including Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson and Jason Aldean, the company announced today (July 29).
Tennessee native Michelle grew up absorbing the music of artists ranging from Whitney Houston to The Judds. She’s released six albums so far, including her 2013 debut Rebellious Soul and 2016’s More Issues Than Vogue, both of which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200. With 2023’s I’m The Problem announced as her final R&B project, Michelle has begun the process of releasing her debut country album, and putting her full expanse of musical artistry on display. She then issued songs including “Tennessee” and introduced her alter-ego, Puddin.
Michelle’s signing to BBR/BMG Nashville comes as several Black country artists continue to reach new career heights. Most notably, Shaboozey‘s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” recently topped Billboard‘s country radio-focused Country Airplay chart, and has logged multiple weeks atop Billboard‘s all-genre Hot 100, and also topped the charts in multiple radio formats. Shaboozey was among the country artists featured on Beyoncé‘s country-influenced Cowboy Carter project, which heralded both Black country music trailblazers including Linda Martell, as well rising Black country artists Willie Jones, Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy. Beyoncé’s own “Texas Hold ‘Em” dominated the Hot Country Songs chart for 10 weeks.
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K. Michelle was recently featured on the project A Tribute to the Judds last year, singing the Judds’ signature “Love Can Build a Bridge” with Jelly Roll and the Fisk Jubilee Singers. They also performed the song live at the 57th annual CMA Awards in November. Last month, Michelle also performed at CMA Fest for a second time, making her Nissan Stadium debut as well performing at the Chevy Vibes Stage.
“When we first met K. Michelle, she radiated her passion for country music,” said Katie Kerkhover, vp of A&R at BMG, in a statement. “It’s the fabric of who she is because the lyrics represent truth. She’s built an incredible fanbase with her unique vocals anchored with storytelling at its heart and that is what transcends genres.”
“I have been ready. I am grateful for this moment,” Michelle said in a statement. “Rebels and Real Outlawz, it’s time! I am excited and want to thank my BMG Team. I am happy to finally sing the music I grew up on. I am a country girl at heart and can’t wait to share my country music with you.”
Less than nine months after Nikki Semin Han organized what the former SM Entertainment CEO called “the Avengers of the K-pop community joining forces to redefine the industry” in TITAN CONTENT, the newly-launched venture is officially beginning to roll out its first-ever artist.
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Billboard can exclusively reveal the first details on TITAN CONTENT’s forthcoming girl group AtHeart, which is set to officially debut in the first half of 2025.
Beginning with the reveal of AtHeart’s first two members Sorin and Michi, the upcoming act will share all its members in the coming months as the future stars develop individual online presences and connect with fans while preparing for their K-pop debut via individual Instagram and TikTok accounts. TITAN CEO Katie Kang says, “The members will be sharing their daily lives and unique personalities through their social accounts, showcasing their journey to becoming AtHeart together. TITAN will reveal all members of AtHeart sequentially with special content this year.”
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Both 17 years old, Sorin and Michi hail from South Korea and Hawaii, respectively, and begin the structure of what TITAN describes as a girl group that “will appeal to audiences around the world.”
Simultaneously revealing a new K-pop group’s members and launching their individual social media accounts is unconventional in the Korean-entertainment industry. Most new-artist startups are kept secret — even if pre-debut social media accounts are launched for a group, individual member accounts tend to launch years after establishing themselves on the scene. (For example, BLACKPINK’s four members launched their individual accounts less than two years after debuting, but it took more than eight years for the BTS guys.)
However, as CEO Kang adds, the strategy is a part of the group’s overall vision toward more connected K-pop idols.
“The name ‘AtHeart’ speaks to this group’s genuine nature and the connection and love they will build with their fans by empowering them to be their authentic selves,” Kang tells Billboard. “TITAN has been scouting and holding global auditions since the beginning of 2024 and we were captivated by the incredible talent we discovered. These members are so uniquely charming and they embody the next generation of K-pop. I know fans around the world will resonate with their genuine personalities and I am so excited for all the global fans to listen to their songs and watch their performance.”
“As the first K-pop company established in the U.S., TITAN will take an innovative and disruptive approach to creating, marketing, and promoting the content and artists we produce,” adds Han, Chairman at TITAN. “Working with powerhouse executives, creators, and producers from both East and West, we will break the mold by targeting global markets simultaneously from the start.”
Chief Business Officer Dom Rodriguez describes the Los Angeles–based company as “an artist-first and fan-first company,” touting its prodigious goals can be met with TITAN’s deeper involvement in the musical and personal processes of developing K-pop stars.
“We are relentless in our pursuit of innovation and creativity,” the CBO adds. “We prioritize the needs of our artists, the exceptional songwriters and producers who are integral to our success, and the dedicated fans who drive the K-pop phenomenon. Our hands-on A&R process is meticulously designed to elevate the next generation of K-pop artists, maintaining the highest standards of musical greatness. Collaborating with accomplished writers and top music producers worldwide, we’re committed to upholding excellence and shaping the future of music.”
“AtHeart marks the beginning of an exciting journey built upon the connection between K-pop idols, their dedicated fans, and music, with a commitment to upholding everything that makes K-pop unique and special,” says TITAN Chief Visual Officer Guiom Lee. “Backed by a team of industry experts who share a profound love and understanding of the genre, we will display innovation across all facets of AtHeart, pushing the limits in today’s ever-changing digital landscape. From top-tier visuals and fashion to captivating musical performances, we are excited to unveil AtHeart to a global audience.”
As previously reported, the team making up TITAN has experiences with K-pop artists across generations, including chart-topping names like BoA, Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, EXO, TWICE, Monsta X, ITZY, The Boyz, and more. Beyond artist development and management, TITAN plans to produce music festivals and revealed plans to combine “traditional K-pop training and artist development with Web3 and metaverse innovation.” The company also announced today that it will soon open an upcoming platform where “AtHeart will communicate with global fans with new and diverse content through a K-pop fandom platform that combines various innovative technologies such as Web3 and AI.”
Get to know Sorin and Michi in these first-look images below and by following the future AtHeart members on social media. Look out for more from the group via its official website
Sorin
Courtesy of Titan Content
Michi
Courtesy of Titan Content
The following is an excerpt from the newly published book Rockin’ the Kremlin: My Incredible True Story of Gangsters, Oligarch, and Pop Stars in Putin’s Russia written by David Junk with Fred Bronson, out now on Rowman & Littlefield. David Junk was the first CEO of Universal Music in Moscow, helping promote artists from Elton John to Mariah Carey in Russia and signing t.A.T.u. and Alsou to Universal. Junk also opened the first Universal Music office in Kyiv, Ukraine, and developed music reality shows for TV in Ukraine. Fred Bronson is a journalist, author and regular contributor to Billboard. He has written three books about the Billboard charts and covered American Idol and Eurovision for Billboard extensively.
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Adapted from the book Rockin’ the Kremlin: My Incredible True Story of Gangsters, Oligarch, and Pop Stars in Putin’s Russia by David Junk with Fred Bronson. Used by permission of the publisher Rowman & Littlefield. All rights reserved.
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The Kiss Heard ‘Round the World
I knew the Moscow-based duo t.A.T.u. was going to be my international breakthrough from the first moment I saw their controversial video.
I loved their music. The dynamic vocals were haunting and the music had an infectious dance beat. The lyrics were provocative. There was no act like them anywhere in the world. But I had to convince my Russian marketing and sales team to support me. An act like t.A.T.u. was going to be a risk for everyone. Russia was still a very intolerant society, despite the Soviet Union being long gone. This band would be pushing boundaries.
I gathered the team in my office, plugged t.A.T.u.’s VHS tape into my TV hanging on the wall, and we watched it together. Everyone’s mouth dropped watching the infamous scene when Julia and Lena kiss. “No! You cannot sign them. Are you crazy, David?” Asya, my very wise marketing director stood up and shouted. “We are going to catch so much hell for this, from everybody!” I argued, “Don’t you love how they’re rebelling against authority? That’s all that kiss is. They’re teenage symbols of a new Russia, leaving the past behind.” That’s when my excellent radio promoter Sasha Rodmanich spoke up. “The song is a hit.” At a record label, that’s all that matters. So with Sasha’s promise the song would be a hit at radio, I was able to rally the team, including Asya, who would have to carry most of the burden. We were going to pursue signing t.A.T.u. But she was right to be cautious, since I was taking Universal into uncharted territory.
Homosexuality was a crime in the old Soviet Union and under Russian law, promotion of LGBTQ issues was considered propaganda, punishable with time in prison. Gay Russians have always been treated as outcasts and subversives by the authorities. So when Julia and Lena openly embraced gay rights and kissed in their first music video, I knew I had to make a quick decision that could change my music career forever: should I sign the most exciting new music act in Russia (and maybe the world) to Universal, even if it meant risking my visa status as an American working in the country or even possible jail time because I angered the two most powerful institutions in the country – the government and the Russian Orthodox Church?
Both frowned on all things LGBTQ. Or should I shy away from the controversy and miss the best opportunity I would ever have to promote a Russian act around the world, perhaps achieving my wildest dream, being the first record executive to promote a Russian band in America? There was no way I was going to pass on this. I kept my fingers crossed that I wouldn’t end up in a Russian prison.
To sign t.A.T.u., I had to deal with Ivan Shapovalov, a high IQ provocateur in the mold of Sex Pistols manager Malcom McLaren. He was a manipulative, edgy person, whose eyes would pierce you while you were in conversation. The band was his idea, and he brought in songwriters to craft the anarchistic message. He auditioned many girls and ultimately chose two Moscow teenagers: Lena Katina, a firey redhead with a head of wild curls, considered the reasonable one; and Julia Volkova, the sassy brunette manga comic-looking foul mouthed and funny one. Both had worked in television and music projects as child actors.
I didn’t know what to expect from Ivan because negotiations in Russian show business were never predictable. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia was chaotic, corrupt, and dangerous, like Chicago was in the 1930s when Al Capone was declared the FBI’s public enemy No. 1. Russia was the wild, wild east, and their music industry had no rules or standards.
Common Western business practices like royalty payments and songwriter copyrights were foreign concepts. Payola was rampant. The government didn’t support the music industry or musicians’ rights.
The biggest obstacle was that 90 percent of all music sold in Russia was printed on counterfeit compact discs, while music legally released by record companies accounted for the other 10 percent. Musicians only made money from sales of the official releases, so this situation made it nearly impossible for artists to survive financially. The pirates who made the bootleg CDs sold them in illegal outdoor markets and kiosks throughout the country while local authorities turned a blind eye to all of it. Worse yet, the pirates were controlled by organized crime groups that used the proceeds from counterfeit sales to fund a host of illegal activities, including selling weapons to terrorists and sex trafficking.
Ivan was a tough negotiator, and he knew how badly I wanted to sign the band. My rival Sony Music had caught wind of my efforts and started courting him while I was trying to close the deal. I knew I had to play to his ego, so when he arrived at our Universal office to discuss a record contract I made sure Asya gave him a tour of our marketing and sales department where large cut-out posters of Elton John, U2, and Bon Jovi’s new album releases were hanging on the wall along with dozens of other posters of Universal’s vast roster of superstars, demonstrating that we were an international label, not a small Russian one. That was my best leverage for negotiations. “Why should I give you the rights to t.A.T.u.?” Ivan asked, staring at me with his wild eyes. “I don’t need a record label; the pirates will steal the music from you anyway.” He was right about that. Piracy would limit our sales. I told Ivan, “If you sign with me I guarantee that t.A.T.u’s album would will be promoted by Universal not just in Russia but also internationally.” That persuaded him. Universal was one of the most prestigious American brands in the world and the largest record company, and he wanted t.A.T.u. to be associated with the best Western artists.
Ivan demanded $100,000 for the rights to t.A.T.u., which would have made it the biggest record deal in Russian show business history. He was adamant that he couldn’t accept anything less. I didn’t believe him until I discovered that he had already sold the rights to the first single to a record label controlled by Russian gangsters and they had already manufactured it.
I got angry with Ivan, and he told me that he had made a mistake, that he was new to show business and didn’t know anything about song rights. The gangsters had initially paid him $5,000, but now that he was in talks with Universal, they wanted significantly more to give the rights back. I didn’t have much choice because this wasn’t just any song. This was the hit single with the notorious music video that would launch t.A.T.u. internationally and top music charts worldwide. If I didn’t get the single rights back from the gangsters at that exorbitant price, there would be no t.A.T.u.
I had to keep my bosses at Universal’s headquarters in the dark about some of the unsavory aspects of the deal. Luckily, they thought I had done a good job selling American rap and hip-hop music in Russia, with Eminem being my biggest success.
Still, $100,000 was outrageous for an artist from that part of the world and would be the biggest payout in Russian and Eastern European history. None of my colleagues who ran Universal subsidiaries in Eastern Europe had ever requested that much. Ultimately, my London bosses agreed to the amount, and I used the money to pay Ivan, who paid off the gangsters.
With Universal Russia behind the duo, t.A.T.u.’s debut album, 200 Po Vstrechnoy, got wider distribution and became a phenomenal success in every Russian city and former Soviet republic, including Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Ukraine. Julia and Lena topped the charts everywhere in the region, and t.A.T.u.’s first song and video hit No. 1 simultaneously on pop radio and MTV in 2000.
Their music first appealed to gay and lesbian youth, then spread to a much larger audience of disaffected teens. They took off like a wildfire throughout the former U.S.S.R. Stadiums were sold out and crowds of fans were worked up into a frenzy with Julia and Lena’s provocative performances. It was Russia’s version of Beatlemania. My Eastern European colleagues took notice of that because they all had sizable teenage Russian-speaking populations in their countries and sensed a hit for their markets. On that score, t.A.T.u.’s album delivered, topping the charts in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland.
We were getting ready to release 200 Po Vstrechnoy in Germany, but I knew that t.A.T.u. would never go beyond Russian-speaking audiences in Eastern Europe unless they recorded in English for Western markets.
We needed a partner to help make a t.A.T.u. album in English. We needed to rewrite and re-record the songs, and we needed a bigger, more powerful partner ally inside of our parent company Universal Music Group to shepherd us through the process. I wanted Universal’s full weight behind the release.
I went on a road tour of all of all the company’s offices in search of help. We told everyone that t.A.T.u. was on the way up, selling out concerts everywhere and climbing the charts in Bulgaria, Poland, and Hungary. If they had an English-language release, I said, they could become a global act. Unfortunately, nobody was interested in partnering with us.
Wherever we went – Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, London, anywhere Universal had an office – the answer was always no. When people from the label saw footage of them kissing on stage, it made them uncomfortable, and when Lena and Julia invited boys onstage to do the same, my colleagues were too nervous to support us.
Another issue for the executives was my goal of breaking t.A.T.u. into the American market. They would have to compete with American pop stars like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, boy bands like the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC and big pop acts from the U.K. My colleagues arrogantly dismissed the potential for a band not from America or the U.K. to have a hit in their markets.
My road tour was a bust, so I went back to Moscow and mailed packages with the Russian album and videos out to all the remaining labels in the Universal Music Group that we hadn’t visited. We kept getting turned down. It felt like we would never find a partner – until suddenly I received a phone call from Interscope Records in Los Angeles, a subsidiary label of Universal and the hottest record company in America.
I was surprised that Interscope was interested. Their roster included No Doubt, Marilyn Manson, the Black Eyed Peas, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Nelly, and Blink-182 – some of the most popular acts in the world. They really didn’t need us. Still, I had done well selling their artists in Russia, so there was already a symbiotic relationship in place.
I had sent our package to the label’s co-founder, Jimmy Iovine. He was the most powerful record executive in the world, and before forming the label, he had produced some of the most prominent artists of all time, including Tom Petty, U2, and Stevie Nicks. He sent t.A.T.u.’s Russian-language CD to British producer Trevor Horn, who had helmed very successful records for artists like Seal and Yes. He had also been in the Buggles, whose “Video Killed The Radio Star” was the first video ever shown on MTV.
He loved the t.A.T.u. CD and was very enthusiastic about working with Julia and Lena. He had been a ground-breaking pioneer in the U.K. music industry, producing the openly gay act Frankie Goes To Hollywood. I suspected that t.A.T.u. breaking through boundaries in Russia and Eastern Europe hit a nerve with him. He just had one question: “Can they sing in English?”
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“Don’t let no one tell you what you cannot do!”
So declared Ronald “Slim” Williams as he and his brother, fellow Cash Money co-founder/co-CEO Bryan “Baby” Williams, accepted YouTube Music’s Leaders and Legends Award. His comment also reflected the vibe that resonated throughout last evening (June 27) as the music industry celebrated the venerable label’s 30-year (and counting) legacy.
Guests arriving at Hollywood’s nya Studios West for YouTube’s second Leaders and Legends gala were greeted by a lively five-piece band (including a tuba) in homage to the brothers’ New Orleans roots. Black tie was in full effect as attendees imbibed specialty drinks like the tequila-laced Hurricane and visited a couple of booths featuring various mementos including Cash Money-logoed bank bags with T-shirts inside. To enter the venue itself, guests walked through a replica of a back-in-the-day record store featuring Cash Money “records, tapes and goods.” A huge, glittery Cash Money dollar sign was positioned on one wall behind album crates, while album covers chronicling the label’s storied history adorned another wall.
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Kicking off the festivities inside was a string of video montages that colorfully depicted Cash Money’s evolution from a fledgling disruptor to Southern hip-hop icon. Integrated in between were tribute clips featuring Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Sir Lucian Grainge (who values the Williamses’ “loyalty, warmth and humor”) as well as onstage salutes from the likes of producer/friend Polow da Don, BMI vp of creative Catherine Brewton, longtime Cash Money attorney Vernon Brown and UMG general counsel/executive vp of business and legal affairs Jeffrey Harleston. After noting that Cash Money is the “longest-running Black-owned label ever,” Harleston added that Baby and Slim taught him three important lessons: “Never forget where you’re from, never forget who your people are and bring them along on your journey.”
While Lil Wayne was spotted in the house along with LL Cool J, among others, there were no live performances. But music was a central force during the evening thanks to a rousing pre-dinner interlude helmed by DJ Trauma as the audience danced and rapped/sang along. They also took home Cash Money Forever cassettes and keychains (that when placed on cell phones provides a link to the music). The 25-track playlist features hits by Lil Wayne, Juvenile, Drake, Nicki Minaj and more.
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Just as rousing were the salutes paid by Republic Records’ chief executives Avery and Monte Lipman plus YouTube’s global head of music Lyor Cohen. Avery’s comments addressed Cash Money’s success over the years: more than 300 Hot 100 hits, with 41 top 10s and seven No. 1s, plus 80 Billboard 200 albums, including 15 No. 1s. He also reflected on his and Monte’s long relationship with Baby and Slim, saying in part, “The Lipman brothers started about the same time as the Williams brothers and we kind of thought we were hot stuff. Then along came Baby and Slim … These guys revolutionized the industry, music culture and even changed our vocabulary by having the word ‘bling’ added to the Webster dictionary. I also saw firsthand their true superpowers: how they could literally manifest things into real life without any fear hesitation and always with a clear intention.”
In his remarks, Monte noted, “The lessons we’ve learned from both Birdman and Slim as our mentors is forever in our DNA and have become part of our daily culture … I can’t remember having one conversation with Slim where he didn’t ask me, ‘What do you think?’ He always crystallized the importance of curiosity, patience, flexibility, and the value of saying no. Baby to this day continues to reinforce the importance of artist integrity, strategy, timing. He’s the consummate field general. But undoubtedly one of my favorite lessons from Birdman was simply never forget that we’re in show business.”
Cohen, who presented the award to the brothers, opened by saying, “A lot of people don’t understand how difficult it is to actually build a business, a sustainable business. But you have to do the work. That’s it. That’s what Leaders and Legends is all about: actually doing the work … Everybody thinks that you can do a shortcut to fame and fortune; [there’s] no such thing. You have to have really great music and you have to put in the work. That’s why I’m so thrilled to invite you, Baby and Slim, to the stage to accept this honor. And would everybody in this room please stand up and pay some f–king respect?!”
Indeed, the audience stood up for the entirety of Baby and Slim’s acceptance speeches, heartily applauding at various intervals. After thanking the room, Baby began by recalling his and Slim’s childhood in New Orleans. “Life wasn’t easy for us; living in every project in New Orleans. I was a real lost youngster trying to find a way because I’d been in and out of homes, in and out of jail, jumped in the streets at 12 years old; at 14 years old, I was wearing two Rolexes. I met some youngsters and didn’t want them to go my route, right? [Cash Money rapper] B.G. was hitting that route, and I saw that [Lil] Wayne looked like he was going that route too. I wanted to save their lives. My whole mission was to try to spare a life. And I needed help too because I was reckless. The only person that I respected enough to spare my life was my brother. And my way of saving their [B.G., Lil Wayne] lives was putting them in the studio. The studio was going to be the new streets.”
Continuing, he added, “But all due respect to Jay-Z, I remember when he said he retired and Wayne shot a video and said since the best rapper retired, I’m the best rapper alive. And a lot of sh-t changed for us from that moment. At the same time n—as were saying hip-hop is dead. And we’re like honestly, what the f–k is they talking about? We ain’t know nothing about that type of sh-t. So we felt like this was our time to take over hip-hop. That’s when the birth of Young Money came, Nicki and Drake came. We kind of held hip-hop down. We survived the warfare in New Orleans. Now we’re surviving in life, and we did a great job at it. [When] we started, all I thought about was saving four lives, and we end up saving thousands of motherf–kers’ lives. I give all gratitude to my brother, who was like my father, for saving my life.”
Picking up where his brother left off, Slim said, “I want to say that I’m so proud of Juvenile, Wayne, [Mannie] Fresh because I saw them when they was in that studio. They were in friendly competition with each other. We started off doing two songs and would end up doing five songs a night. They were there competing like a basketball player for real. But what really makes me so proud that they’re going on in their careers with generational wealth, doing other things outside of music while keeping music going. My brother and I went through a lot to get to this point. Someone once told me growing up that I ain’t never going to be sh-t and ain’t worth a quarter. But you’ve got to do better than that to break me down. I ain’t breakable like that.”
Slim continued, “It made me want to go hard and work hard, so I’ve got a few more quarters now” as the audience laughed. “Don’t let no one tell you what you cannot do! You do your thing. That’s the only way you’re going to win.” Shouting out several names including Polow da Don, Mannie Fresh, Juvenile, Jeezy, Turk and Wayne, Slim concluded, “I love y’all. Ain’t nobody else alive going to do what we’ve done — ever.”
Kevin Liles, Co-founder & CEO, 300 Entertainment, Lyor Cohen, Global Head of Music, Google & YouTube and LL Cool J attend YouTube Music Leaders and Legends at Nya Studios on June 27, 2024 in Los Angeles.
Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for YouTube
Lil Wayne and Bryan “Baby” Williams attends YouTube Music Leaders and Legends at Nya Studios on June 27, 2024 in Los Angeles.
Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for YouTube
Lil Wayne, Lyor Cohen, Global Head of Music, Google & YouTube and Bryan “Baby” WIlliams attends YouTube Music Leaders and Legends at Nya Studios on June 27, 2024 in Los Angeles.
Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for YouTube
In the mid-2000s, indie rock was booming, and major labels swooped in to sign many of the genre’s biggest acts. Two decades later, MGMT,The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse, among others, have emerged from those deals into a wildly different music industry. For artists who are coming out of long contracts, “it’s a whole new era,” says Kirk Harding, a longtime manager and co-owner of label and management company Bad Habit.
Recording contracts changed drastically between 2004 and 2024. There is also a new set of players for artists to choose from — not just the major labels and prominent indies, but a number of distribution companies that offer some level of services. “You can cherry pick what you want to be in your contract to some degree,” says Scott Brooks, the longtime manager of The Flaming Lips, which is currently without a label contract after fulfilling their deal with Warner Records. (Paramore is also a free agent.)
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“If we end up signing,” Brooks adds, “it’ll be a different kind of record deal than what we would have signed even a decade ago.”
Throughout the 2000s and into the 2010s, the majority of major label acts signed low-royalty deals and typically gave up ownership of three to five albums for a long period (often forever). On top of that, many agreed to what are known as “360 deals,” in which the label also participates in income from merchandise, sponsorships, ticket sales and more.
In those days, labels could get these kinds of terms because it was difficult, if not impossible, for artists to get national exposure without a record company’s help. Now, artists can build a global presence before partnering with any label. That means they have the negotiating power to ask for, and sometimes receive, terms that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. As a result, industry expectations around deal-making have shifted.
“I don’t think I’ve done a deal with anybody in the last few years where the artist hasn’t had at least 50% of the profit,” Harding says. “The new wars to wage are making sure that the deals and the reversions are short term, so that the artist can get through the deal and get back these new recordings quickly.” (If a band licenses its album to a label for 10 years, for example, after that time, the album reverts back to the band, usually conditional on recoupment of the deal.)
All that said, an artist’s leverage in record deal negotiations stems in large part from their ability to generate streams. And this doesn’t always work out in favor of veteran rock bands; rock is the fifth most popular genre when ranked by percentage of current streams, according to Luminate. “There aren’t as many options as one would think right now given what’s going on with rock music and streaming,” says Jordan Kurland, who manages Death Cab for Cutie.
Still, these acts have mostly proven that they can build and maintain an audience — especially on the road, a challenge for many artists who came of age in an era of passive streaming engagement. And some of them have a level of cultural cachet that’s attractive to labels, who always have to think about what will entice the next generation of signings. Friendly deal terms help, as does having artists on the roster that young acts look up to.
Whenever an artist who signed a traditional contract with a major label completes the deal, their old record company typically still has one hook in them because they still likely own the act’s previous sound recordings. “If the label wants you to stay, they have the power to say, ‘We can adjust the royalty rate on your catalog,’ or in rare cases, take your recordings out of perpetuity and set reversions so you eventually get them back,” Harding says.
“That always comes up now in renegotiations,” adds an executive at a prominent indie label. “Artists say, ‘Cool, we’ll re-sign with you, but we want those recordings back in 10 years.’”
This leverage is conditional, of course, on the label wanting to keep the band. In the case of The Flaming Lips, “after American Head, we started the conversation of, was Warner gonna sign us again?” Brooks recalls. “Is Warner even interested? It really came back that they weren’t, to be honest.”
Some veteran bands might still want to find a major label partner for particular services. While radio’s influence continues to diminish, promotion remains expensive, and the majors still have the most radio muscle. “Radio is still a big part of the Death Cab picture,” Kurland says. During “the last Death Cab campaign in ticket sales, for example, if you look at markets that no longer had an alternative radio station, it [negatively] impacted our shows.”
“Could you sell less records and keep more of the money?” Kurland asks. “Yes. But are there other aspects of your business that might suffer by doing that?”
Gandhar Savur, an entertainment attorney who represents Built to Spill and other bands, asks a similar question — but he’s more optimistic about the answer. “If they’re doing really good business as a band, they can sell less records but retain the lion’s share of income and make so much more money,” he says. “That’s why you’re seeing a lot of bands go into situations where they’re no longer doing major label deals or even your standard 50-50 indie deal. They’re looking for something that’s more akin to a label services deal — which is a distribution deal with some services added for publicity and promotion.”
This is the route taken by The Decemberists, who previously released five albums on Capitol, including The King Is Dead, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. For its upcoming album, the band opted to sign with Thirty Tigers, which is distributed by Sony’s The Orchard and offers some services, including radio.
“We found an option that provides label investment and infrastructure without compromising on ownership, and that gives the band and their team real autonomy with the marketing,” says Jason Colton, who manages the band, via email. “It’s a lot of responsibility for a larger release, but ultimately, it’s more investment, more control and outright ownership than we were going to find in a more traditional deal.”
Outside of the majors and major-owned distributors, indie label executives say they have also seen an uptick in interest from veterans leaving majors in recent years. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs signed a deal with Secretly Canadian in 2022 after years of working with Interscope, for example, while PJ Harvey released an album on Partisan in 2023 after a 20-plus-year affiliation with Island Records. MGMT’s new album Loss of Life came out in February through Mom + Pop.
Potential label partners have their own calculations to make. “It’s hard for any label if you only have the new record and someone else has all the catalog, because a new record always drives catalog listening, but you’re not participating in the income,” the indie label executive says. “But there’s always been a thing where labels need and want important artists, even if they’re expensive, to attract other artists.”
“A lot of these bands are in a good position so they can get favorable terms,” the person continues. “Maybe they only do a one-record deal. The hope is we do a good job, the artist is happy, and we renew that contract. Over time, we work with them long term.”
Additional reporting by Melinda Newman.
BBR Music Group senior vp of promotion Carson James and senior director of A&R Chris Poole have exited the company as part of a global restructuring at BMG, which eliminated their positions, Billboard has confirmed. Country Aircheck first reported the news of their exits.
Earlier on Thursday (Nov. 30), BMG revealed a new structure for its global staff, which BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld stated is part of “a strategy for future growth” and “local where necessary, global where possible.” The restructure moves BMG’s catalog, sales and marketing teams in its recorded division into global roles, joining the already global purview of its investments, technology, rights and royalties functions. In local markets, artist relations and marketing campaign managers will have access to these global teams for analytics, content creation and media planning/buying, the company’s announcement noted.
James joined BBR in 2009, having previously spent nine years with Curb Records in a similar role. Prior to his work at Curb, James programmed country station WLWI in Montgomery, Ala.
Poole joined BBR in 2018 and previously worked at CTM/Writer’s Ink, where he served in artist development. Poole initially launched his career working in artist management at Paravel Management, which he co-founded in 2013.
James noted to Billboard in a statement, “I’m honored to have had such an amazing run.”
BMG’s restructuring announcement also outlined a new, Los Angeles-based global catalog team, as well as a “recalibration” of its presence in continental Europe as part of its local-global emphasis, which will focus on “functional centers of excellence within Europe.” This is in addition to the aggregation of budgets and expertise, the further acceleration of its investments in tech and the myBMG system for artists and the clarification of roles/structures, which the company says will make it “more accountable to its artist and songwriter clients.”
“Fifteen years after the emergence of streaming, music is going through another tectonic change,” Coesfeld said in a statement. “It is vital we now reengineer our business to make the most of that opportunity. BMG has challenged the conventions of the music industry ever since we began, bringing music publishing and recordings under one roof with a distinctive service-orientated and transparent approach. Now new ways of creating and consuming music and looming changes in streaming economics are challenging us to do even better for our clients.”
BBR Music Group’s artist clients include reigning CMA Awards entertainer of the year Lainey Wilson and new artist of the year winner Jelly Roll, as well as “Try That in a Small Town” hitmaker Jason Aldean, Dustin Lynch, Elvie Shane, Parmalee, Blanco Brown and Brooke Eden.
Aluna is one of the dance world’s strongest voices for the representation of Black artists, and this week she’s continuing the mission with the launch of her own label, Noir Fever.
Launched in partnership with Empire, Noir Fever will be a home for dance music created by Black artists, with a focus on Black women and LGBTQ+ artists.
“I started Noir Fever records as a key component to my 360-degree strategy of making sustainable and effective change to the future of Black dance music, an idea which was birthed as a response to my own letter to the Dance music industry in 2020,” Aluna said in a statement.
“Investment in the recording side is essential to fostering emerging talent, and by focusing on black women and the queer community I can ensure that everyone is being uplifted,” the statement continues. “This label will work in tandem with my events company so that those who I am opening doors for are not simply walking into another closed door, I’m trying to create a path not an opportunity to slip through a crack.”
The label’s first release is “Pain & Pleasure,” a vibey jam from Moonshine, a Montreal collective of musicians, DJs, dancers and visual artists. The track features the Juno Award-nominated, Somali-Canadian artist Amaal Nuux, Portuguese-Angolese artist Vanyfox and Aluna herself. Listen to it below.
Noir Fever has also appointed Adam Cooper as creative director. Cooper is a strategist, creative director and DJ based in Los Angeles, born in Trinidad & Tobago and raised in Caracas/Venezuelaas well as Brooklyn.
Of the launch, EMPIRE Dance’s director of operations/A&R Deron Delgado said in a statement: “Beyond her extraordinary achievements and remarkable talent, Aluna has consistently championed diversity and inclusion in the music industry, principles that have been ingrained in the very fabric of EMPIRE since our inception over a decade ago. Our shared values and objectives align seamlessly, making this collaboration a natural synergy that promises to elevate music, events, and art to a broader global audience. We are truly excited to be part of showcasing the exceptional talent that Noir Fever is bringing to the masses.”
The label launch follows the release of Aluna’s second solo album, MYCELiUM, released this past July via Mad Decent.
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