Management
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Big Sean has signed a new management deal with Brandon Silverstein’s S10 Entertainment, Billboard has learned. The Detroit rapper was previously managed by Roc Nation, with whom he had been for a decade.
“Brandon shares the vision, understands where I’m headed, and I’m incredibly excited to work with him and the S10 team,” Sean said.
The news comes on the heels of another major announcement: the Grammy-nominated artist recently revealed his sixth solo full length will arrive on Aug. 9 and is titled Better Me Than You. The album follows a return to the charts for Sean, who earlier this month hit No. 24 on the Hot 100 thanks to his feature on Eminem’s “Tobey” alongside BabyTron. It became his 55th entry on the chart.
“Big Sean is an incredible talent who, even after topping charts, breaking records, winning awards and headlining across the world, is just getting started,” says Silverstein, S10 founder and CEO. “I can’t wait for fans to hear the new music.”
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As the artist wrote on social media after sharing the album’s release date: “Its Been a journey i cant wait to share with you all.”
Over on the Billboard 200, the rapper has charted seven albums in the top 10. His last three solo albums — 2015’s Dark Sky Paradise, 2017’s I Decided and 2020’s Detroit 2 — all topped the chart.
So far, Big Sean has released the lead single “Yes,” on which he dismisses critics, rapping: “Would rather give y’all my soul, I don’t have to sell it.” He’s keeping busy outside of his own rollout as well, and last week appeared alongside Rick Ross and Lil Wayne on a new DJ Premier track titled “Ya Don’t Stop.”
Silverstein currently manages Myke Towers. His previous management clients include Anitta and Normani. The company’s publishing division, S10 Publishing, boasts chart-topping clients including Jasper Harris (Tate McRae), Harv (Justin Bieber), Kavi (Tommy Richman) and more.
Public relations company Sacks & Co is entering the management space with SacksCo Creative, an agency that will represent creative professionals. Among its first clients are Imogene Strauss, who spearheaded Charli XCX’s instantly iconic Brat album cover, and Molly Hawkins, Harry Styles’ longtime creative director.
Other clients include creative directors Dannah Gottlieb, who works with Sabrina Carpenter, and Payton Newcomer, whose projects have included work with Weyes Blood and Suki Waterhouse.
SacksCo Creative is led by Sacks & Co. founder Carla Sacks and Los Angeles vp Reid Kutrow, who has helmed PR campaigns for Florence + the Machine, The xx and Kamasi Washington, among others. Kutrow will oversee the existing roster and recruit new clients.
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“We are extremely excited to have this opportunity to start this new agency with Imogene, Molly, Dannah and Payton,” said Sacks in a statement. “Their work is gorgeous, brave and transformative on behalf of their clients. It’s our goal to build a very supportive and creative firm, much like we have at Sacks & Co. A thoughtfully curated roster of world class talent with endless possibilities for all.”
Added Kutrow, “Sacksco Creative is intended to complement our longstanding work at Sacks & Co. We are grateful and lucky to be working with these enormously talented creative directors whose work augments each artist’s vision, much as we aim to do in our jobs as publicists.”
In her work with Styles, Hawkins oversaw all creative concepts around his Grammy album of the year winner, 2022’s Harry’s House, as well as conceptualized and directed his Love on Tour outing. She has also worked with The xx, FKA twigs and more.
Strauss, who is currently working on Charli XCX’s tour with Troye Sivan as a show director and designer, has also handled projects for Honey Dijon, Waterhouse and FKA twigs.
Sacks & Co’s PR clients include Chris Stapleton, Luke Combs, Lake Street Drive, HARDY and Joy Oladokun.
Given the multitude of distribution, streaming, promotion and marketing options and expectations, the business of becoming an established artist has turned into a seriously heavy lift for music acts and their managers. It’s one reason that Mick Management partner Jonathan Eshak says, “We don’t like to refer to ourselves as a management company anymore. We’re a music company. What we do more than anything else is brand development, artist development — world-building … We’re not just trying to keep the train on the tracks.”
Eshak and his partner, Michael McDonald, the company’s founder, got into management after immersing themselves in other sectors of the business. McDonald served as Dave Matthews Band’s tour manager before co-founding ATO Records in 2000 with Matthews; his manager, Red Light founder Coran Capshaw; and Chris Tetzeli, who went on to start 7S Management. He opened Mick the following year with John Mayer as one of his first clients and, in 2004, brought on data savant Eshak, who worked at Universal Music Publishing Group (and is the twin brother of Island Records co-CEO Justin Eshak). Jonathan became a partner in 2015.
With a staff of approximately 20 in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville, the duo has built a boutique firm — with its own record label, Mick Music, distributed by Believe — that represents Maggie Rogers, who released the critically praised Don’t Forget Me in April; Leon Bridges and Ray LaMontagne, who will both release albums later this year; The Walkmen and the solo career of their frontman, Hamilton Leithauser; Sharon Van Etten; Brett Dennen; Mandy Moore; My Morning Jacket; and The Marias.
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In a fragmented culture where “it’s very hard to find water-cooler moments,” according to Eshak, Mick’s team excels in building committed fan bases for a roster of individualistic artists who punch above their weight. “Artists all define success differently, and we understand that,” he adds. “We understand that there’s no one way of doing it anymore.” Their bespoke approach has resulted in some notable recent successes. In August, Rogers will embark on an international arena tour — including two shows at Madison Square Garden — though she has yet to achieve platinum sales with an album. In 2018, Leithauser began a five-night residency at the swank, 100-capacity Café Carlyle in New York, playing to “a few die-hard Walkmen fans and some fairly confused business travelers,” as Eshak puts it. This year, Leithauser sold out 12 nights, and the concept will be expanded with potential notable guests in 2025. And in June, The Marias celebrated the release of their new album, Submarine, with a secret pop-up show in downtown Los Angeles for approximately 5,000 fans. Eshak says 38,000 RSVP’d.
“What each of those things speak to is us finding interesting ways that the artists appreciate and superserve fan bases,” McDonald says.
Eshak saw his first concert in the late 1980s when George Strait and his band headlined the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Houston Astrodome. “Thirty-plus years later, I was given this belt buckle by the rodeo when Leon Bridges headlined,” he says. “Truly a full-circle moment.”
Michael Buckner
What are the challenges of running an artist management company today versus 25 years ago?
Jonathan Eshak: When I first started with Michael, the sky had started to fall on the recorded-music business. This was the dawn of file-sharing companies like Napster and Kazaa. It was attractive to join Michael for that very reason. He was coming from building a world that was unique, not just to the ebbs and flows of the success of recorded music but also, how do you do things well in touring, merchandising, etc. He understood the creation of cultures, having worked with Dave Matthews and Coran.
Like the Grateful Dead, Matthews built a culture around his music.
Eshak: The Dead were the godfathers of that, and Mick’s ethos effectively starts there. While the challenges of the industry have evolved, the code of building an artist’s career remains the same. Which is, how do you focus on building a meaningful, long-lasting relationship with your fan base? We always say, “How do we make the artist the hit and not just the songs?” Music is just part of the cocktail. It’s also, how are we creating a dynamic of connectivity between the artist and the fan? How are we merchandising with them? How are we creating live shows that are meaningful, that evolve? There’s been a lot of lip service about artist development throughout the history of recorded music.
Michael McDonald: There were fewer breakthrough moments then, whereas today, because of the way technology and culture has evolved, it’s been democratized. The upside is that more people can succeed. The downside is there are fewer channels that create that star-turn moment.
Eshak snagged this copy of the run-of-show for Saturday Night Live on Nov. 3, 2018, when Rogers appeared as musical guest. “It’s an honor each time our acts receive the invite,” he says.
Michael Buckner
Maggie Rogers seems to be a prime example of someone who has grown through connectivity with her fans.
Eshak: Maggie has understood the importance of connectivity from the start. She had this moment of Pharrell-ity, for lack of a better word, and instead of sitting back and working that, she understood the importance of going around the world and connecting with her fans face-to-face. To your point, she’s doing two nights in Madison Square Garden without a platinum record. Now, she obviously wants that and we want that for her, but people who are in are in. Even as she’s grown, the No. 1 thing on the checklist is, what are we doing for that audience?
What’s an example of that?
Eshak: When we were announcing the fall arena tour, we created pop-up shops in all the markets where people could line up to buy exclusive merchandise and, most importantly, reduced-price tickets. She was hearing from unsettled fans about ticket prices, so we tried to create solves. Fans could walk [into the pop-ups], point at a seat map and get a ticket that was going to cost less than if they paid for it online. Because of that, her fans understand that she sees them.
What questions do you ask before signing an artist?
McDonald: Most importantly, “Do we love the music? Do we feel like we can really grow this career?” And then, “Do they, will they, work hard?” We can’t want it more than they do. Some of this is research you can do before you meet the artist. Much of it we do through conversations, but there’s also data that’s crucial. We’ve had great success following our passion and guts, but to not use the tools at our disposal to help make those decisions would be foolish. Data is a great strength of Jonathan’s and why we’ve evolved in using it to inform decisions but never to unequivocally make decisions. If we did, we never would have signed some of the artists we have.
Why did you partner with Firebird?
McDonald: Firebird brings us resources that a company our size doesn’t have. There’s a data department and an analytics department of 10 to 15 people. There’s a finance department. There are all sorts of things that allow us to double down on the data and free us up to stay focused on our artists.
McDonald celebrated “turning 50, 20 years of sobriety, raising nearly $500,000 for MusiCares and crossing something off my bucket list” by participating in the 2019 Iron Man World Championship. “It was an epic journey and one of the greatest days of my life,” he says.
Michael Buckner
What’s your pitch to artists you want to sign?
Eshak: It really comes down to having a shared code, so it’s important that we take the time to sit down with artists and say, “What are your life goals in addition to success in recorded music?” This is such a deep relationship that we talk all the time. We talk on weekends. We’re there with them for very big life stages, and it’s really important for us to have at least a common set of goals because it takes a lot out of everybody. Where we do a good job is acting almost as coaches now. It’s our job to be highly informed about how people are having success, distilling that and applying it to the artists that we represent, who are all quite different. In other words, how can we do this with you so that you remain true to yourself? We can’t do that for a thousand artists. It’s not the business model that Michael and I have elected to build.
You have a label.
Eshak: We have a label, and we’re working with some of our artists whose repertoires are returning to them and they need a mechanism to put music out. Some of it is also identifying artists that we like and helping them put music into the world.
Do you encourage your artists to own their masters?
McDonald: One hundred percent, whenever possible. Today, we would be hard pressed to pursue a deal that started with perpetuity music being somewhere else. There’s always a chance that it’s going to happen, and ultimately, it’s an artist’s decision. If they feel like this is their shot and they’re willing to give that up — absolutely. But one of the reasons we created the label was to say, “All right, let’s have an easy mechanism where we can control the deal terms. Let’s put music out and try to build on that. Then, if a great licensing option is not available today, let’s take a year and try to build something.” Ray LaMontagne’s album Trouble reverted to him in May after 20 years. So it’s not always a three-year or five-year reversion. But 20 years ago, we were able to take a long view and say, “Let’s take whatever percentage less today so at least there’s the option to sell those recordings X number of years later.”
Are your agreements with artists traditional percentage deals or partnerships?
McDonald: It varies. We have a lot of traditional deals, but any time we’re in true partnership, where we’re sharing [intellectual property] with an artist, it’s fully above board and clear with everyone’s legal teams. There is an evolving way that artists are going to get into business with different companies. We welcome that as things evolve.
A friend of McDonald had this box made for him. “It’s where I keep my most cherished and memorable notes and small keepsakes from artists, family and friends.”
Michael Buckner
“Our approach to managing artists is ‘Let’s create the world that the music becomes connected to,’” says Jason Murray, president of full-service boutique talent management firm Vector Management, who has helmed the long-running company since January 2023.
Vector was founded in Nashville by music biz powerhouse Ken Levitan 1998, with Jack Rovner joining as co-founder in 2003. Over the years, Vector has grown to approximately 40 staffers guiding the careers of nearly three dozen artists across its roster, including Charley Crockett, John Hiatt, Allison Russell, Peter Frampton and Hank Williams, Jr.
Following a stint at BMG Canada as head of Canadian operations, Murray joined Vector in 2022, before officially becoming president in January 2023, charged with overseeing new business and operations. At that time, the Canadian indie label/management company Murray co-founded, Black Box Music, merged with Vector. Levitan and Rovner remain at Vector as founding partners.
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Vector also guides the careers of such established artists such as Brian Kelley, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and newcomers including Chase McDaniel and Americana artist Bella White, whose song “Burn Me Once” was featured on the soundtrack for Hunger Games: The Ballads of Songbirds and Snakes.
In recent weeks, the artist management company, which has offices in Nashville, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto, has also added Yung Gravy, The Aces, Jack Harris and 3OH!3 to the roster.
Vector has found particular success within the Americana and roots genres, thanks to clientele that includes musical troubadour Crockett and blues-rocker Marcus King, as well as Grammy winners Russell and Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway. This year, Russell’s “Eve Was Black” won best American roots performance, while Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway earned best bluegrass album for City of Gold. Tuttle & Golden Highway are among the leading nominees for this year’s International Bluegrass Music Association Awards.
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“If you look at the just the Americana and roots space — artists including Molly, Charley, Allison, Nitty Gritty [Dirt Band] — it is, without question, 85% of our revenue,” Murray says. Still, upon joining the company, he immediately identified ways to further heighten awareness for his stable of performers.
“There was a very strong footprint in circles like Americana, but it hadn’t hit that Renaissance yet,” Murray says. “I was like, ‘Okay, this is a company with three decades of quality control, and that goes to the people within the company, how we treat our partners, and the type of artists, whether that’s a John Hiatt, an Emmylou [Harris], a Hank Jr. How do I add value to this?’ It’s in the mechanics of releasing music and marketing. It’s the same ethos, but different tools in the toolbox.”
In terms of newer artists, Murray calls the art of breaking an act “the hardest thing to do,” especially given today’s streaming and content-centered music landscape.
“I look at that and think, ‘What feels intuitive to a manager?’ We need advocacy and awareness at DSPs for starters. We’re not putting out 100 records a week — we’re not in a spreadsheet at a major label — so how do we go tell the story and create true connectivity to our artists? We live in the era of content, and content creation is very different now than it was four years ago; it’s all short-form. So we built out our marketing team, looked at merch and e-commerce to make sure it feels focused and that we have the tactical tools we need.
“The marketing and all those other things are done on the back of creating something we are really passionate about,” Murray continues. “For us, it’s a full end-to-end ecosystem. We get involved on the creative level at whatever capacity the artist needs, but we’re there early enough that it allows us to immerse ourselves in the world that the record is becoming the soundtrack to. The more we understand the fibers and little idiosyncrasies that make the album special to the artist, it allows us to go into this amazing marketing team we have built here over the past two years and elevate that project.”
Crockett’s social media, leaning into his reputation as an observant musical troubadour, is filled with videos chronicling his day-to-day life on the road, from jamming with fellow Texas singer/songwriter Vincent Neil Emerson to numerous concert photos tracing his travels. The company’s marketing approach also offers space for artists to focus on issues they feel passionate about, whether that is King’s recent music (which addresses his struggles with drugs and alcohol) or Russell’s advocacy for human rights. Over the past year, Russell not only released her second album, The Returner, and embarked on her headlining tour of the same name this year — but in 2023, Russell organized the All-Star benefit concert Love Rising at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, in response to a slate of Tennessee anti-LGBT+ legislation.
“I give [Vector’s West Coast leader] Nicki Loranger a lot of credit. She had a vision that aligned with Allison and has supported Allison’s goals as a spokesperson, an artist, an advocate, a storyteller, a performer and helped put that in motion, and all these things to surround Allison’s mission,” Murray says.
King is among the artists who joined Vector under Murray’s tenure. In August 2023, Murray began an eight-month lead-up to what would become King’s 2024 album Mood Swings. What started with King sending Murray a Dropbox folder of 12 songs he had worked on with Rick Rubin, including “F—k Up My Life” and “Delilah,” soon became a quest to take the songs’ emotional arcs and translate them to visuals. Murray recalls creating a Pinterest board of color palettes, fonts and fashion colors that would represent the album. The ideas kept flowing, evolving into the idea of an album trailer visual to give fans an entry point into the record. They also set up an album listening event at the planetarium in Nashville, offering a space for King to play the music and discuss the songs.
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The neon red, cursive scrawl of “Mood,” and a collection of face emojis bearing cowboy hats and various facial expressions, became signifiers for the album — a throughline from album art to merchandising. “When he’s out touring the world for a year, it all ties back together,” Murray says.
In recent years, artists such as Zach Bryan and Noah Kahan have seen meteoric rises, selling out arenas and stadiums and dominating not only Billboard’s Americana chart, but the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. Last year, Bryan’s self-titled album spent two weeks atop the Billboard 200, while Kahan’s song “Stick Season” rose to No. 9 on the Hot 100 this year. Murray has seen the growth fuel the entire Americana genre.
“I feel like the ceiling just raised about 13 floors in terms of what the genre means,” Murray says. “We’ve built a rich history here in Americana and it’s about great songs, great stories, and great live shows. I think those pieces mean more now to a listening audience than ever before, so it’s a bit of a perfect storm. The counterculture has become the culture. You look at the history of all music genres — rock in the ‘70s, hip-hop, punk rock… you don’t know it’s coming until you’re in it.”
Upon joining Vector, Murray (along with Levitan) signed singer-songwriter Crockett, who Murray calls “a phenomenal artist, great songwriter.” His music draws on a deep knowledge and respect for music history in a variety of styles, melding them with vivid lyrics and a commanding vocal.
Though the genre does have radio stations and shows dedicated to its artists, as well as playlists such as Spotify’s Indigo and Amazon Music’s Fresh Folk & Americana, touring remains the bedrock for building an enduring career within Americana and roots music. Crockett has assembled a reputation as a rollicking live performer and Levitan and Murray capitalized on that by issuing his first live album, last September’s Live From the Ryman, and a concert film of his Ryman concert, which aired in February on PBS.
Crockett also released his $10 Cowboy album in April (via Son of Davy/Thirty Tigers) and has embarked on a tour that includes some of his biggest venues to date including Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre, Colorado’s Red Rocks, and two nights at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. He also paid homage to some of Texas’ most iconic venues, performing a slate of shows at places like Austin’s Broken Spoke and Houston’s Armadillo Palace.
The prolific Crockett recently announced $10 Cowboy Chapter II: Visions of Dallas (coming Monday, July 22), which follows April’s original $10 Cowboy. For Murray, the goal is marketing his artists year-round, regardless of how often projects are released.
Murray isn’t concerned about flooding the market. “When it comes to off-cycle or on-cycle, that was a system put in place by the labels, and it’s not how people consume,” he explains. “I use the analogy of Starbucks — they market all year long, and they still have their tentpoles, like the pumpkin spice latte or the peppermint latte. But what you do throughout the year is important. When we think about oversaturating the market — I don’t think that exists. I think it’s more quality control. Charley’s one of the best out there, and everything he puts out is so refined and thought out.”
The 360-degree approach to management has allowed the company to craft customized strategies for realizing each artist’s career vision.
“That’s part of what gets me excited about what we do here at Vector,” Murray says. “We’re not a volume business — we look at it more as a powerful boutique with attention to detail.”
Marcus King and Jason Murray
Courtesy of Jason Murray/Vector Management
Morgan Wallen has signed with his longtime booking agent Austin Neal for management via Neal and Wallen’s newly formed firm, Sticks Management, Billboard has confirmed. Wallen will be the firm’s only client. Wallen was previously managed by Big Loud partner/CEO Seth England alongside K21’s Kathleen Flaherty, who will now serve as executive director of the […]
Singer-songwriter Josiah Queen recently accomplished a relatively rare feat in the CCM space when his first album, The Prodigal, debuted atop Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart for the week dated June 8: the 21-year-old Florida native reached the chart’s pinnacle without the help of a record label with his self-released album.
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Additionally, the album’s title track is in the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart and has earned more than 45.7 million on-demand official U.S. streams, according to Luminate. Queen also has three additional songs on the Hot Christian Songs chart. Meanwhile, Queen has seen his Spotify followers mushroom over the past year or so to over 2 million monthly followers, thanks to his acoustic-based, folk-tinged sound — which also stands out on CCM radio among sleeker, pop-oriented fare.
“I think since [the] COVID [pandemic], people have been drawn to a raw-sounding, folk sound. People just love to feel something,” Queen tells Billboard via Zoom.
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Like many Gen Z singer-songwriters in the pop, hip-hop and country spaces, Queen began releasing his music and initially built his following through social media, but he also spent years performing at worship conferences around the country.
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Queen released his first batch of songs on TikTok and Instagram at age 16, starting with “God of Miracles” in 2020, and has followed with a steady stream of new music ever since — including 2022’s “Use Me” and “Grave Clothes,” and his breakthrough 2023 songs “I Am Barabbas” and “Fishes and Loaves,” which musically recounts the Biblical story of Jesus feeding 5,000 people with fish and bread.
A year ago, a TikTok clip for “I Am Barabbas” went viral, earning nearly two million views. It was around that time Queen began working with co-managers Matt Reed (Hyphen Media Group) and Devin Poindexter (Mad Jack Management). The song also marked Queen’s first entry on Hot Christian Songs in April, peaking at No. 38.
“He would tease songs before they would release, sometimes up to four or five weeks before and kind of test the songs to see which ones would get traction,” Reed tells Billboard.
When Queen released “The Prodigal” this year, he instinctively knew the power of continuing to place the song in front of audiences on social media, further building listeners’ familiarity and engagement with the song.
“’The Prodigal’ had nearly 40,000 uses on Instagram by the end of the year, when Josiah had the idea to do a year-end video recap that utilized the song, and it earned another 15,000 uses,” Reed says. “I think [it’s about] just finding new ways to talk about a song and giving people the opportunity to insert themselves into what the song represents.”
According to Luminate data, the Christian/Gospel genre is the fourth-fastest growing music genre in the U.S. in 2024 in overall consumption (following pop, Latin and country), having grown 8.9% in overall consumption so far this year. Luminate research shows that a developing younger audience is one driver of this growth, with research showing that the share of listeners that are millennial and younger has grown from 39% of overall genre listenership in 2022, to 45% in 2024.
“I think God has used these songs to reach my age demographic,” Queen says. “That’s the biggest dream come true, because there are so many people that are my age that are underserved with Christian music. Seeing the people at the live shows and the fan base that was sharing the music with friends through word of mouth — not even just through social media — it wasn’t a planned thing.”
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Recent Luminate data also highlights the word-of-mouth growth in Gen Z (those born between mid-1990s and early 2010s), with Gen Z audiences being 20% more likely to cite friends and family as a music discovery source than the average consumer of Christian/Gospel music.
Reed says approximately 72% of Queen’s fan demographic is within the 13-24 year-olds demographic, below CCM radio’s typical core demographic of 24-54 year olds listeners.
“When you look at CCM music, it typically is ages 30 or 40 and up,” Reed says. “Josiah’s music is on the front line of all these other Gen Z artists making music for their peers. It’s not that CCM hasn’t had young artists, but typically they’ve made music for radio specifically. But I think [for] Josiah’s music and who it’s connecting with, he is on the front lines of creating music for his generation.”
Queen says he initially wrote songs that he hoped would appeal to labels and radio before he realized the need to shift toward music that simply felt personal. “I think so many people write music because they think getting a record deal is what you need to do to make it,” Queen says. “I was doing that for a while, but I realized it wasn’t working — so I just started making music I genuinely believed in.”
His acoustic-based, Americana-leaning sound first gained early support on Spotify’s folk-oriented playlists. Now, his music is found not only on playlists such as Spotify’s Top Christian Contemporary and Christian Road Trip playlists, but remains on the acoustic-oriented Homegrown and Indie Spirit playlists. He’s also been featured on Amazon’s Folk for Summer and Divine Summer playlists.
Once Queen began releasing music, he says Amazon Music’s Lauren Stellato and Apple Music’s Steve Blair reached out to him directly, based on his growth on the platforms and on social media. This year, Queen was the only Christian artist who was part of Amazon’s Artists to Watch program. “It does feel like we’re in that space where the music is going beyond the typical CCM/Christian market, and DSPs have been really helpful in getting us exposure in other avenues,” Reed says.
A team of independent radio promoters signed on to work Queen’s music to radio, including Grant Hubbard, formerly a vp at Capitol Christian Music Group for many years, as well as Jen Mouttet, Rick Steimling and Hyphen Media Group’s Tamara Moore. But even prior to bringing the team on board, Queen says CCM radio giant K-LOVE already had reached out to him directly, saying that they would be adding his song into rotation—a tide change that led him to reconsider his stance on signing with a label.
“Even from my earliest interviews, the question was always ‘Why aren’t you with a label?’ It’s so strong in the industry, the ties to radio and the labels, so taking these songs to radio comes with its challenges,” Queen says. “Around December [2023], we were like, ‘Should we sign?’ and we decided not to at the time. Then, I got a direct message from the people at K-LOVE, and they said they were going to add my song. That was in January, and it changed my whole trajectory.”
Reed notes that though Queen hasn’t yet signed with a label, they are in discussions with multiple labels.
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Queen, who is repped by Jeff Roberts Agency for booking, wrapped his headlining The Prodigal Tour earlier this year. Starting in July, he will open shows for another rising young CCM hitmaker, 29-year-old “Good Day” singer Forrest Frank, alongside plans for Queen to launch another headlining tour in the fall.
“We didn’t know what to expect on the spring tour when we put it on sale, so the capacities and venues were a little scattered,” Poindexter says. “We had some 250-300 [capacity shows] that we had to add shows for, and then we did three or four shows that were over 1,000 capacity. We did about 23 shows total and every single one sold out.”
Meanwhile, Queen and his team aim to keep expanding upon the success of The Prodigal with his folk-tinged sound.
“The name of the game is building onto each song. One song has its moment and, hopefully, people love it, then you build onto that with the next song.”
David Furnish felt a rush of endorphins wash over him. It was a warm June evening in 2023, and the surging crowd of over 120,000 had gathered to witness the first-ever Glastonbury Festival set — and, at least for the time being, the last public concert in the United Kingdom — by Elton John. That crush of concertgoers was screaming for Furnish’s star client — who also happens to be his husband.
“Even the concession stands in the back closed down so that they could watch the show,” Furnish recalls, still flabbergasted nearly a year later. “The crowd just filled in around the stands and along the entire north barrier. It was a sea of joy.”
The performance would break records for the annual festival: Along with that in-person crowd, John’s performance garnered 7.3 million overnight viewers on BBC One, making it the most-watched Glastonbury set in history. And if not for Furnish, it never would have happened.
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“Elton and I have been talking about it for years. He would say, ‘I just don’t know if I’m right for Glastonbury,’ ” Furnish tells Billboard over Zoom today as John chuckles next to him at their home in Windsor, just outside of London. “I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? You’ll go down really, really well.’ And sure enough, it was overwhelmingly wonderful on every level.”
While Furnish, 61, has been a part of John’s life for just over three decades — the couple began dating in 1993, entered a civil partnership in 2005 and officially tied the knot in 2014 — he has spent the last nine years working as the icon’s manager, bringing his years of experience in advertising to preserving John’s legacy, reestablishing him as a legendary singer and revitalizing his brand. That meant taking an aggressive approach to telling John’s life story through a tell-all memoir (Me) and blockbuster feature film (2019’s Rocketman), introducing his music to a younger audience through strategic partnerships and closing out his touring career with a record-setting farewell outing that was the highest-grossing trek by any artist prior to Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour.
“I cannot think of anybody in the world who would have done a better job than David has over the last nine years,” John says. “This man has done the most incredible job with my career, and what’s more, he has helped me enjoy it even more than I thought I could.”
Jack Alexander
Born and raised in Toronto, Furnish didn’t imagine a future where he would be working behind the scenes for an entertainment legend. After graduating from high school, Furnish says he originally dreamed of becoming “a musical theater-type actor.” But on his family’s advice, he instead pursued a business degree at the University of Western Ontario, where he graduated in 1985. Recruited out of college by storied advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather, Furnish thrived, becoming the youngest director at the company by the time he was 30.
“At the end of the day, I’m more of a creative than a businessman. That’s just the dominant side of my brain,” he explains. “I chose advertising because it was the most creative business I felt I could get into.”
But after meeting John in 1993 at a dinner party hosted by a mutual friend (they began dating shortly thereafter), Furnish found himself in need of something a bit more flexible. Leaving advertising behind, he pursued a career in film, producing multiple movies, including 1999’s Women Talking Dirty and 2006’s It’s a Boy Girl Thing, through John’s own cinematic imprint, Rocket Pictures — where he also made his directorial debut with the singer’s 1997 tell-all documentary, Elton John: Tantrums & Tiaras.
During that time, Furnish noticed that his husband’s career needed further direction. “I was trained to understand how you start at the beginning of a journey and then figure out what steps to take with the audience to get them from point A to point B,” Furnish explains. “I also knew the most important thing for Elton was keeping his songs alive and relevant for the next generation. So the rest came rather naturally.”
Taking over as the star’s manager in 2015, Furnish devised a business plan to reinvigorate John’s career — an approach the singer points to as a marked improvement from his past management. “Before David started managing me, our relationship with the record company [Universal Music Group] was just my former manager saying, ‘Let’s go in there and ask them for more money.’ And that is a terrible attitude to have,” John says with a laugh. “Now I have the best relationship with my record company because [David] came in with a plan to get us in better shape.”
Elton John and David Furnish with party attendees (clockwise, from left) Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Lucien Laviscount, Andrew Watt, Charlotte Lawrence and Brandi Carlile at the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s annual Academy Awards Viewing Party in March.
Michael Kovac/Getty Images
After sharing his plan with John, Furnish says he immediately sent the strategy to UMG CEO Lucian Grainge, aiming to show the label that “things were going to be different.” That open line of communication led to a groundbreaking deal between Rocket Entertainment and UMG in 2018, in which the two companies signed a global partnership spanning recorded music, publishing and licensing rights for the rest of John’s career.
Furnish explains that, with John’s label contract set to expire in 2018, it felt right to begin renegotiations with UMG as soon as he signed on. “To do any negotiation, you want to have the most robust environment, and you want to do it at the right time,” he says. “We didn’t go in and say, ‘Here’s the new plan, so we want a new deal.’ It was a simultaneous conversation, and we all walked away happy with the results.”
With negotiations at UMG squared away, Furnish set his sights on bolstering John’s reputation among younger audiences. The first step in that direction came with Apple Music. Meeting with co-creator Jimmy Iovine “back when it was still called Beats Music,” Furnish pitched him on John as an asset for what would become Elton John’s Rocket Hour, now one of Apple Music’s longest-running programs. “We just took what Elton naturally does in his everyday life — he listens to everything — and found a passionate vehicle for it,” he says. The strategy worked: Along with burnishing John’s reputation among young listeners, the show has also championed vibrant new talent like Lil Nas X, Rina Sawayama and, most recently, Chappell Roan.
Another cornerstone of Furnish’s plan came to fruition with the 2019 release of Rocketman, the award-winning musical biopic starring Taron Egerton and covering the early years of John’s career. The film scored John his second Academy Award win for best original song — with longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” — and introduced John’s catalog to an eager, younger audience.
As John puts it, “Things really started to change with the film.” Its themes of “self-love, addiction, familial love and acceptance” helped make the living legend’s career more accessible for less-familiar viewers, Furnish says. In the years since Rocketman’s release, he reports, 58% of John’s streams have been generated by 18- to 35-year-olds.
Elton John (left) and David Furnish onstage at the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s annual Academy Awards Viewing Party in March.
Michael Kovac/Getty Images
With more youthful listeners hearing John’s music, he and Furnish ensured that he would keep their attention with a pair of hit remixes: 2021’s “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix),” featuring Dua Lipa, and 2022’s “Hold Me Closer,” featuring Britney Spears. The tracks returned John’s music to the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in over 20 years, with both songs putting him in the chart’s top 10 for the first time since his 1997 No. 1, “Candle in the Wind 1997/Something About the Way You Look Tonight.”
The active effort to bolster John’s audience reflects the pair’s shared interest in holding on to his legendary catalog. While other legacy artists have sold off their song collections to companies like Primary Wave or Concord, Furnish and John remain steadfast in their desire to maintain control.
“To be the custodians of that legacy that Elton and Bernie built is more important to us than anything. Elton’s catalog is about as blue chip as I would want an investment to be,” Furnish says. “Look at the disruption that has happened with Hipgnosis [Songs Fund]; I can’t think of anything more worrying than selling your catalog to a group you liked and then suddenly, it’s in the hands of somebody else. That’s heartbreaking, especially after spending your life protecting it.”
With their two sons, Zachary (now 13) and Elijah (11), reaching school age, John and Furnish enacted the final component of their plan: ending the singer’s touring career. “It was never a question whether I wanted to stop, because I knew I needed to be with our boys. I had been on the road since I was 16, 17 years of age,” John says, sighing. “Of course, I’ve enjoyed it all, but you have to know when to quit. And I wanted to quit at the top.”
Starting in September 2018 and running through July 2023, John achieved his goal with the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. Across 330 shows spanning five continents, the trek grossed a whopping $939 million in ticket sales, according to Billboard Boxscore, becoming the first tour in history to surpass the $900 million mark.
That figure is a point of pride for both John and Furnish, especially considering all the work they had invested in making John’s departure as spectacular as possible. “Elton put the most extraordinary foundation in place at the beginning of his career, and I got such a greater sense of appreciation for how hard he worked throughout this tour,” Furnish says. “As a businessperson, I knew how to chart a path that could get him to where he deserves to be. When you put those together, it’s a winning combination.”
The tour also secured John a prestigious honor held by only 18 other creatives — an EGOT — thanks to an Emmy win for outstanding variety special (live) for his Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium special on Disney+. “It was such an important moment for Elton professionally and for us as a family,” Furnish says of the November 2022 performance, John’s last in North America. “To have it honored that way, and preserved in time forever, is really beautiful.”
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Yet despite pulling together an unheard-of string of accolades in his husband’s career, Furnish also speaks with unparalleled passion about his work as chairman for the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Throughout his conversation with Billboard, he regularly mentions the organization’s work in Johannesburg, the southern United States and elsewhere to improve community access to standard HIV testing and treatment, reduce the stigma surrounding the spread of the virus and raise millions of dollars to help end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
It’s important, Furnish points out, to translate the success of both his and John’s careers into actionable, meaningful change in the world. “You need the other side of life to keep your feet on the ground, to take the gifts that you’ve been given and the opportunities that you’ve been given and help other people,” he says. “We both work incredibly hard, but we also realize we’re incredibly lucky. We have an obligation to give back.”
With so many career-defining victories over the last decade, John says he feels privileged to share them with his companion — in no small part because their partnership is what helped make those victories happen. “The complete trust that we have in each other is a godsend,” he says. “Looking at this from a completely egotistical point of view, I’ve always been a big artist. But what David has done lifted me into the echelon of artists like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Paul McCartney. That’s how good he is.”
Furnish quickly interrupts to correct his husband: “No — that’s how good you are.”
This story will appear in the June 22, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Lasso has inked a management deal with WK Entertainment, the company tells Billboard.
The signing entails a comprehensive 360 contract — supporting the Venezuelan singer-songwriter in touring, brand partnership strategies, A&R and marketing at a global level — under the leadership of WK Entertainment GM Andres Gomez.
“I have always been a fan of the artists that WK manages,” Lasso (real name: Andres Vicente Lazo Uslar) said in a statement. “I’ve always thought of it as a far reached goal and to be able to form part of their roster is still unbelievable. I’m very excited for everything that is to come, for all the changes for my music and my career.”
“I am thrilled to be able to work with Lasso and support his creative vision in this new chapter,” Gomez added. “He is an artist who has become one of the industry’s most respected live performers — a singer-songwriter who will continue to push the boundaries of the contemporary pop genre for years to come.”
Kolm added, “We are very excited to be a part of this new phase in his career.”
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Lasso simultaneously unveiled the dates for his first U.S. tour dubbed Quedarse Solo Para Siempre (translation: “staying alone forever”). Promoted by Live Nation, the 15-date stint kicks off Sept. 11 in San Francisco and wraps Oct. 26 in Houston (see more below). General tickets go on sale on June 19 at 10 a.m. local time via LassoMusica.com.
In addition, Lasso revealed that his fifth studio album is set to release this fall. Its 13 tracks will include the previously-released singles “Bilingües” with Mau y Ricky and the Micro TDH-assisted “No Escuches Esta Canción.”
Recognizing Lasso’s talent and versatility, Hans Schafer, senior vp of global touring at Live Nation, added, “We see a bright future for him […] and are excited to develop a tour showcasing his unique sound to his dedicated followers and new audiences.”
Lasso released his debut album, Sin Otro Sentido, in 2012. In 2021, he was nominated for best new artist at the 2021 Latin Grammys; the following year, he entered the Billboard charts for the first time with “Ojos Marrones.” The feel-good pop tune peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and No. 39 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart. The single also won him best pop rock song at the 2023 Latin Grammys.
Lasso
Courtesy Photo
Scooter Braun announced his retirement from artist management on Monday (June 17), officially putting a cap on a 23-year run during which he guided the careers of some of the biggest pop stars of the 21st century, including Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, J Balvin, Carly Rae Jepsen, The Kid Laroi and others.
“I have been blessed to have had a ‘Forrest Gump’-like life while witnessing and taking part in the journeys of some of the most extraordinarily talented people the world has ever seen,” Braun said in a statement issued on social media. “I’m constantly pinching myself and asking ‘how did I get here?’ And after 23 years this chapter as a must manager has come to an end.”
Braun sold Ithaca Holdings, the parent company of his management company SB Projects, to South Korean entertainment conglomerate HYBE in 2021.
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Braun will continue his work as HYBE America’s CEO.
A good portion of Braun’s 1,300-plus word send-off is spent recalling some of his fondest memories as a manager, including seeing Andrew Wyatt win a producer of the year Grammy, watching Quavo succeed as an entrepreneur, seeing Dan + Shay “go from local Nashville writers to sold out headliners,” and enjoying “brother Usher dominate the Super Bowl this year.” He also said he was “Kanye’s ‘gateway drug to business’ as we had amazing years of success when I was once able to call him my friend.”
He made sure to single out his two crowning clients — Bieber and Grande — “a 13 year old kid busking in Canada” and “a young actress on Nickelodeon” when he signed them.
“To see them both come up to be the legends they are today will forever be one of my greatest honors,” he said. “As we change our working relationships now, I will continue to root for them with the same passion that I did at each of their humble beginnings… There will never be a day where I don’t take great pride and honor in what we accomplished together.”
Read Braun’s full announcement:
23 years. That’s how long I have been a music manager. 23 years ago a 19 year old kid started managing an artist named Cato in Atlanta, GA and my journey began. Along the way I have had so many experiences I could never have dreamt of. I have been blessed to have had a ‘Forrest Gump”-like life while witnessing and taking part in the journeys of some of the most extraordinarily talented people the world has ever seen. I’m constantly pinching myself and asking “how did I get here?” And after 23 years this chapter as a must manager has come to an end.”
It’s a strange feeling because I think I have wanted this for a while, but I was truly afraid to answer the question “who would I be without them?” I was really just 19 years old when I started. So for my entire adult life I played the role of an artist manager on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And for 20 years I loved it. It’s all I had known. But as my children got older, and my personal Iife took some hits, I came to the realization that my kids were 3 superstars I wasn’t willing to lose. The sacrifices I was once willing to make I could no longer justify. It was time to step into a new role.
In this next chapter I have been honored to join as a board member of Hybe and serve as the CEO of Hybe America. My brilliant partner these past 3 years, Chairman Bang, has a vision I truly believe in. But even beyond that he has become a true friend who understands where I must be in my life these days. And that is a father first, a CEO second, and a manager no more.
Over the past 2 years I have been heading towards this destination, but it wasn’t until last summer that this new chapter became a reality. One of my biggest clients and friends told me that they wanted to spread their wings and go in a new direction. We had been through so much together over the last decade, but instead of being hurt I saw it as a sign. You see, life doesn’t hand you YOUR plan, it hands you GOD’s plan. And God has been pushing me in this direction for some time. I have nothing but love for those I have worked with over the years, and as we develop a different working relationship, I will always be in their corner to consult and support them whether it be directly or from afar. Every client I have had the privilege of working with has changed my life, and I know many of them are just beginning to see the success they deserve. I will cheer for every single one of them.
I have gotten to see my friend Andrew Watt win the Grammy for Producer of the year. I have laughed and cried as Lil Dicky truly became DAVE. I have witnessed an angel of a human Tori Kelly win Grammys and star in films. I have seen J Balvin live out his dreams of breaking boundaries, and Demi show kindness and grace that few megastars have. I have been moved as Zac Brown Band raised our flag and delivered the hits. I was excited the first time I heard Animals with Martin Garrix, and learned a new world with David Guetta and Steve Angello. I have danced to Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe and smiled ear to ear as PSY brought us Gangnam Style. I have watched Quavo grow to be an entrepreneur, and served as Kanye’s “gateway drug to business” as we had amazing years of success when I was once able to call him my friend. I have marched with YG and flown to Australia with Laroi to see the hometown kid rock an arena. I have seen Dan Shay go from local Nashville writers to sold out headliners and award winners. The list of artists goes on and on over 23 years. So many stories it would take me forever to name. From those first years with Asher Roth to watching my partner and brother Usher dominate the Super Bowl this year, it is truly overwhelming.But it was this past Christmas Day when Ariana and Justin became the biggest male and female in the history of the Spotify Billions club that I just smiled and thought “what a ride.” Justin and Ariana were both young teenagers when I began with them. Justin a 13 year old kid busking in Canada and Ariana a young actress on Nickelodeon. To see them both come up to be the legends they are today will forever be one of my greatest honors. As we change our working relationships now, I will continue to root for them with the same passion that I did at each of their humble beginnings. I remember the pranks and the water park shows with Justin, and the first time Ari opened an arena tour and her excitement side stage. I remember as they both stepped up for others and I got to witness them each change the world and make history. There will never be a day where I don’t take great pride and honor in what we accomplished together. The same can be said for so many I have had the pleasure of once being called “manager”.
There has been a lot said about what is happening in our company… and in my career. When we had success I smiled, and when we were attacked I tried to always take the high road. But for the last 3 years I have begun to feel that taking the high road has created confusion and ambiguity as to who we are. I may have left my role in management, and my business relationship with many clients will alter and change, but this does not mean we as a company are leaving. Both Allison Kaye and Jennifer McDaniels are more than capable to lead and as we combine new resources the opportunities with their leadership are endless. These two incredibly powerful women will now step into a role that I know will grow into the most impressive women-led management business our industry has even seen. While my name may have been on the door all these years, the truth is there is no one as brilliant as Allison Kaye, and few who can manage with the grace and poise of Jen McDaniels.
We at Hybe will continue to grow. With the addition of QC to Hybe America and our existing business at Big Machine, we will continue to add amazing execs and artists to the roster. Our WeVerse platform and growing gaming unit is something the whole industry can celebrate and join. Getting the opportunity to A&R and Executive Produce the solo career of Jung Kook last summer, and work with the other members of BTS as we break worldwide records, has been an absolute honor. With new acts like NewJeans, TXT, LE SSERAFIM, Seventeen, ILLIT, The Scarlet Opera, Ava Max, and many other new artists and ventures, the future is bright. I’m honored to join Chairman Bang and Jiwon Park as we grow HYBE from the multi-billion dollar publicly traded company it is today to the worldwide multifaceted entertainment platform it is destined to be.
With Hybe going strong I am also looking forward to continuing to invest in a new generation of entrepreneurs and serve as a national board member of Make A Wish and help individuals and communities through our family’s Braun Foundation. Between all of this and coaching my kids I’m not worried about being busy 🙂
So yes, it’s been 23 years. And yes, this chapter has come to an end. But the great Berry Gordy once told me “young man, it never ends the way you wanted, but it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.” That wisdom has proven to be correct. I never saw how this chapter would end, hell, I never even saw it happening. But it did. And I will cherish every moment of it. I made my plan… but it turns out I like God’s plan better. Cheers!
Rauw Alejandro, in the midst of touring and releasing new music, has assembled a new core management and business team, Billboard has learned.
Leadership includes his longtime attorney and business manager José Juan Torres and his longtime personal manager Matías Solaris.
In addition, sources confirm Alejandro has brought in Jorge “Pepo” Ferradas, founder of and CEO of FPM Entertainment, to head overall strategy of his career moving forward.
Rauw Alejandro was previously managed by Eric Duars, who signed him in 2017 and with whom he split last year.
“It’s a different vision, a different perspective,” Alejandro told Billboard last week about his new team during the Governors Ball music festival, where he was performing. “What we did together was great,” he said about working with Duars, and added: “I have a great team right now. I’m 31 years old, a grown ass man. I feel really happy at this moment of my life. I feel in control of my whole career. I know what I want to do. I have my notes. I learned. It’s just part of growing.”
Ferradas is Camilo and wife Evaluna’s longtime manager, and also co-manages Rels B along with Fede Lauria of Dale Play. Prior to launching FPM, Ferradas’ management experience includes managing Colombian star Shakira in all Spanish-speaking markets as well as overseeing her deal with Live Nation. Ferradas later helped found and develop GTS, Universal’s tour and management company, and was president of music at Univision.
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In the crowded world of reggaetón acts who came up in the mid-to-late 2010s, Rauw Alejandro (born Raul Alejandro Ocasio Ruiz) stands out as an artist who also performs dazzling choreography and experiments with genres like dance. That mix has continued to yield hits; to date, Alejandro has placed 53 songs on Billboard’s Hot Latin songs chart, including 11 top 10s, among them “Santa,” with Rvssian & Ayra Starr, which peaked at No. 8 in May. Thanks to his combined touring, streaming and sales numbers, Alejandro ended 2023 at No. 6 on Billboard’s year-end Top Latin Artists chart.
Alejandro is currently signed to Sony Music U.S. Latin.