News
Page: 143
Winter Music Conference is returning to Miami Music Week in 2025.
Organizers today (Dec. 12) announced that the three-day conference will happen during the annual dance music industry gathering in Miami this March, with the conference taking place March 26-28 at the beachfront Eden Roc Miami Beach hotel.
This will be the first time since 2019 that the conference, which has a history going back 35 years, will be part of Miami Music Week, as the 2020 conference was cancelled due to the pandemic.
The 2025 event is set to focus on myriad facets of dance music business and culture through educational panels, keynotes and networking sessions. Specific topics will be announced in the coming months, with conversations to focus on agency dynamics, licensing, streaming, publicity, A&R, emerging social media platforms, brand longevity and more. Registration for the conference is open now.
WMC 2025 will end with a March 28 awards show, which will be the first ever hybrid event from the Electronic Dance Music Awards (EDMAs) and the International Dance Music Awards (IDMAs). This show will feature live performances and award presentations.
Trending on Billboard
Winter Music Conference is owned by Ultra Music Festival, which kicks off in Miami the same day the conference ends, Friday, March 28. The three-day festival will again happen at its longtime home in Miami’s Bayfront Park, with the 2025 lineup thus far featuring artists including Armin van Buuren, Carl Cox, Afrojck, Tiësto, Martin Garrix and Hardwell, along with pairings like the previously announced Anyma b2b Solomun set and Pendulum playing both solo and back to back with Deadmau5, with the latter artist also performing his first ever career-spanning “retro5pective” set.
Launched in 1985, Winter Music Conference was held every March in Miami (prior to the pandemic) and is part of the larger event known as Miami Music Week, a marathon of dance music performances and parties. Drawing an estimated 100,000 attendees and 3,500 music professionals from more than 70 countries at its height, WMC hosts a schedule of events, parties, seminars and workshops and serves as one of the largest industry networking events in the dance/electronic music genre.
Though the Ultra Music Festival was originally spawned by the conference, it eventually surpassed it in terms of influence, and its parent company went on to acquire WMC in 2018.
Winter Music Conference
Courtesy Photo
12/12/2024
See which is the No. 1 track of the year, according to Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors.
12/12/2024
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Source: Jeff Swensen / Getty
The manifesto and online posts of the accused UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter Luigi Mangione have left many on social media taking constant notice.
The man alleged to have shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Luigi Mangione, has captivated the public since the incident last Wednesday (December 4) and more so as his social media history and manifesto have been revealed. Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein published the manifesto through his Substack on Tuesday (December 10), which he shared in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Klippenstein would later chastise major outlets for not attempting to publish the manifesto in another post.
https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/status/1866587110641188940
The 262-word letter addressed to “the Feds” was found on Mangione by law enforcement officials who detained him in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Monday (December 9). Mangione called out the United States for having the “most expensive healthcare system in the world,” but being only ranked 42nd in life expectancy across the globe. He attacked UnitedHealthcare in the document, stating that it was the “largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart.” While not naming Thompson, Mangione went on to apologize for any ripple effect of chaos but wrote, “These parasites simply had it coming.” The 26-year-old would go on to say that he respected law enforcement for what they do, and stressed that he worked alone. Mangione ended the manifesto by writing that it was “not an issue of awareness at this point, but clearly power games at play” — and declared that he’s simply “the first to face it with such brutal honesty.”
Mangione’s social media history has come under scrutiny since his apprehension, primarily on X, formerly Twitter, with some highlighting his first string of posts upon joining the platform back in 2016. Another user named BabsGrey highlighted a connection with books he read on Goodreads and an X-ray of someone getting spinal fusion treatment as his header on X, writing that “he must have gone through some kind of personal hell with insurance.”
Luigi Mangione’s twitter header has this X-Ray and his goodreads has these books…he must have gone through some kind of personal hell with insurance. pic.twitter.com/pJ3366zb5D
— Babs Gray (@BabsGray) December 9, 2024
Another user pointed out that Mangione’s last Goodreads review was of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, where he left five stars. “[H]is last Goodreads log being the Lorax is so funny. he said right that’s enough,” wrote the user named Rocky.
his last goodreads log being the lorax is so funny. he said right that’s enough pic.twitter.com/Il90Qrvzlo
— rocky (@WAYSTIAR) December 9, 2024
Today (Dec. 12), Daft Punk’s 2004 anime film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem is screening in more than 800 theaters in 40 countries. While some of these theaters will host additional screenings over the weekend, this cinematic event is largely a one night only affair.
And in the numerology-centric Daft Punk universe — the group announced its breakup on 2/22/21 and livestreamed Interstella 5555 on Twitch exactly a year later, 2/22/22 — this screening happening on 12/12/24 is obviously not accidental.
“I think it’s a just a fun way to find a date to release something,” says Pedro Winter, who managed Daft Punk from 1996 to 2008. “Most of the time we do things for fun.”
Trending on Billboard
A quarter-century ago, creating an animated companion piece to the duo’s 2001 Discovery seemed like one such fun idea. The project would, however, also become an expensive, multi-year process that was a huge undertaking in an era when animation was still done by hand and resulted in a film that was only seen in full by a select few.
“I let you imagine the face of the accountant when you tell him you want to produce 14 videos that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars each,” says Winter.
Animated by legendary Japanese anime artist Leiji Matsumoto in collaboration with Japan’s Toei Animation studio and scored by Discovery, Interstella 5555 was created as a series of music videos set to each of the album’s 14 perfect songs. (See an exclusive clip of the remastered film’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” section below.)
Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo conceived of the idea for the project, which tells the story of an evil music industry tycoon who kidnaps and brainwashes an alien rock group, transforms them into cookie cutter pop stars, brings them back to Earth and weasels them to the top of the charts. (The film “was written 25 years ago…. and it’s so relevant in 2025,” says Winter.)
While his memories of the creation process are reasonably hazy 25 years on, Winter says he’s pretty sure Bangalter and de Homem-Christo “produced the music first and then wrote the film around it. They needed the sound as a skeleton.” Once they had the script, they had to get Matsumoto onboard, knowing the artist – whose manga series Space Pirate Captain Harlock had been turned into an animated show the Daft Punk members watched as kids – might get their vision.
“While on a promo trip in Japan they met with Leiji Matsumoto, the legendary creator of the Space Pirate Captain Harlock anime to discuss their project with him,” says Emmanuel de Buretel, the founder of Because Music and former head of Virgin Records who signed Daft Punk to the latter label. “He was excited and quickly agreed to work with them on a manga movie inspired by Discovery.”
Daft Punk – Interstella 5555
Courtesy of Trafalgar Releasing
The project would be expensive, but Bangalter and de Homem-Christo had the will to make it happen and “pitched the concept themselves to Virgin Records,” recalls Winter. “Luckily the head of Virgin at the time was de Buretel, the only major label’s CEO who could understand Daft Punk’s vision… He was the one who fought and managed to get the approval from the whole EMI group.”
Ordering 14 custom-made anime music videos from one of the world’s great masters of the style may have seemed like a flight of fancy to the accounting department — but then again, at one point the idea of two guys playing electronic music while dressed as robots probably did too.
“Great artists are rare,” says de Buretel. “Great, hardworking and humble artists are even rarer. Visionaries like these are few and far between, and you can’t help but be inspired and motivated by their vision and work ethic.”
Bangalter and de Homem-Christo initially planned to finance the film themselves, although Virgin ended up fronting the money for a project that de Buretel says “very quickly became highly complex and costly, since they had to fly to Japan every month to finish editing, while also promoting the project. We, at Virgin, decided to help them finance it to finish quickly — that was a result of really believing in the project and their vision.” (Winter says “Virgin records was putting up the money, but at the end it was Daft Punk who paid the bill.”)
There was also one major benefit to Virgin helping with the financing: “They also made a very nice concession to do another album,” says de Buretel. (2005’s Human After All would complete Daft Punk’s three-album run on Virgin.)
Once financing was sorted, work on Interstella began in Japan, where Matsumoto worked in collaboration with animation studio Toei Animation. “We all went to Tokyo in early 2000,” recalls Winter. “We met Leiji Matsumoto at his place. It was magical, for real. He was a living legend. We grew up with his characters on French TV. He loved the robot characters of Daft Punk. They were speaking the same language; it was just amazing to see the band and Leiji getting along so well.”
A group of creators who may have seemed worlds apart found they actually had a lot in common. De Buretel calls the film “a blend of two cultural movements exploding at the same time, electronic music and anime. The modernity of the concept: using science fiction to explore themes of artists’ exploitation, could only have been done by such powerhouse thinkers as Leiji and Daft Punk.”
Daft Punk – Interstella 5555
Courtesy of Trafalgar Releasing
Daft Punk creative director Cédric Hervet soon joined the team to help develop the screenplay and the characters. While the idea was to launch the film at the same time as the album, that was not to be, with the film ultimately released two years after Discovery came out in February of 2001. (The album spent 30 weeks on the Billboard 200 across spans in 2001 and 2015.)
“Animation is such a long-term process,” says Winter, who recalls “receiving faxes from Toei Animation every week” with updates. “I loved the way the characters evolved, how the whole story took life,” he says.
Clips for the album singles “One More Time,” “Aerodynamic,” “Digital Love,” and “Harder Better Faster Stronger” were released first, and the complete film screened at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, along with a limited run in approximately 30 French theaters. A DVD of the full project them came out in late 2003. (“The animated House Musical,” the DVD’s cover reads.)
Daft Punk – Interstella 5555
Courtesy of Trafalgar Releasing
But until now, Interstella 5555 has never had a wide cinematic release in its full, hour-long form. The screenings are happening in partnership with Trafalgar Releasing, which specializes in special event cinema distribution and also worked on the 2023 cinematic releases of Taylor Swift‘s The Eras Tour concert film and Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.
The remastered version showing globally today has been, de Buretel says, “upgraded to fit current standards and give all fans the opportunity to engage in it.” He adds that this global event is an opportunity for fans to “discover and re-discover the group’s magic artistically and sonically,” to celebrate Matsumoto, who passed away last year at age of 85, and to stir up some fun and celebrate a work that, like so much of Daft Punk’s output, was ahead of its time.
“The project seemed difficult 24 years ago,” says de Buretel. “It probably seems straightforward today, but it was very risky and hard to wrap your head around at the time. I think that’s why it is a cult movie now.”
While Afrobeats has been hailed as Africa’s biggest cultural export, its growth on the continent is also cause for celebration.
The 2023 and 2024 IFPI Global Reports revealed Sub-Saharan Africa was the fastest-growing region in the world, with this year’s report documenting a 25% rise in music sales largely driven by increased adoption of paid subscription services (up by just under a quarter). And no other streaming service has been as innovative and effective at expanding their reach on the continent as Audiomack.
The company has been applauded for bolstering artists with user-friendly promotional and analytics tools while providing fans with a solid discovery experience, and its unparalleled work in Africa has been critical in the rise of Afrobeats and other genres on the continent. Audiomack opened its first African office in Lagos, Nigeria in 2020 and made three key hires, including Charlotte Bwana, who officially joined the company as head of media and brand partnerships and has since risen to vp of marketing, EU, Africa & MENA.
Bwana had been living in Nigeria at the time and working in Audiomack’s ambassador program, where she met with and onboarded artists onto the platform and continued expanding its Afrobeats division through social media marketing, idea generation, playlist curation and outreach to major labels, artist managers, booking agents and more. Once travel was allowed after the pandemic, Bwana “literally backpacked across Africa – Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa – doing Audiomack masterclasses, meeting artists and teaching them Audiomack one-on-one but also about the entertainment business,” she tells Billboard. “Somebody said to me, ‘A lot of companies are companies in the cloud, but you are a company that exists, we can actually meet you and shake your hand and call you on the phone. The difference between you and many other streaming companies is your availability.’”
Trending on Billboard
Bwana emphasizes that that “human touch” element has significantly helped scale Audiomack, which is the No. 1 music streaming app on Apple’s App Store in 22 African countries — including Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe — and the No. 1 music streaming app on the Google Play Store in Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. According to the company, in Nigeria alone Audiomack boasts 15.3 million monthly active users and 4.9 million daily active users and has racked up 58 billion total Afrobeats streams since 2020.
While the streamer hasn’t added more offices on the continent outside of its Lagos headquarters – which now has 12 people across its social media, graphic design, curatorial, business development and content operations departments – it has deployed ambassadors in additional countries like Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Those ambassadors help Audiomack better navigate the African market with “ideas of which artist is popping, which sound is buzzing in this territory, what the scene is like [and] what artists should we be focusing on,” Bwana explains.
Audiomack has also had to focus on tackling two key issues that hinder the platform’s mission to democratize streaming on the continent – the first being accessibility. “In Africa, before we talk about affordability of music, we have to talk about accessibility. A lot of people couldn’t access music in the first place, and Audiomack opened that door… and reshaped the landscape of the African music industry,” Bwana says.
In 2021, the streaming service partnered with MTN Nigeria, the fastest 5G network in West and Central Africa, to introduce the Audiomack+MTN Data Bundle program. Through the program, the company offered the more than 76 million MTN subscribers tailored data bundles, allowing them to stream unlimited music and access Audiomack content without the hassle of data charges. This year, the partnership expanded with the Audiomack+ subscription program, which offers MTN subscribers seamless access to premium Audiomack content – including uninterrupted streaming and offline downloads – through three flexible subscription plans. “We have a monthly subscription, a weekly subscription and a daily subscription, because we figured that people sometimes just buy premium for the day,” says Bwana, adding that 41% of Audiomack users use MTN. “They don’t need it for a month, or they can’t afford to pay that for the month. But if a big artist drops an album today, and they just want to listen to the album, they just pay for premium for the day.”
Still, Africa’s low internet penetration rate poses a problem for users without MTN coverage. According to the International Telecommunication Union’s Facts and Figures 2024 report, just 38% of the continent is able to use the internet, while only 11% have access to a 5G network. Bwana notes that offline downloads are “everybody’s favorite feature” on the app, with Audiomack reporting 1.9 billion offline downloads since 2020. “You’re able to listen to the music on the go whenever you’re not connected,” she says. “This is a premium feature for many DSPs, and for us, it’s a feature that you still can access on the ad-based tier.”
Charlotte Bwana
Courtesy of Charlotte Bwana
This gets to the second major hurdle Audiomack has been tackling: payment. While the company is making sure its different subscription models are suitable for African users’ limited internet access, it’s also ensuring the payment methods are just as convenient. “In Africa, [there are] 54 different countries, and you’re working with many currencies. As you’re scaling a business, you have to figure out how to accommodate the entire continent,” says Bwana. “Seventy percent of the population [in South Africa] is banked, so they have access to credit and credit cards, and they can pay for stuff online. Then you go to Kenya, where everybody uses mobile money. With every country that I’ve been to, not only am I talking to the artists to market them and create content, but I’m also talking to telcos and fintechs and trying to figure out payment systems so we can make it seamless for people to pay for music.”
Last year, Audiomack partnered with Flutterwave, Africa’s largest payment network, to leverage its expertise in secure and reliable payment processing so artists can “monetize their art effectively,” Audiomack CEO/co-founder David Macli said in a press statement. Audiomack can reach even more users in Africa via seamless payment options, including bank transfers, local cards and mobile money. This year, the company also partnered with Carry1st, Africa’s leading mobile games and digital content publisher, to tap into its proprietary payment solution, Pay1st, so consumers can purchase their subscriptions using local payment methods including mobile money, popular digital wallets and bank transfers. “A lot of people on Audiomack are Gen-Z, they’re in that age where they’re discovering music but they’re also gaming,” says Bwana. “We were thinking of how do we bridge the gap between music and gaming, and also, how do we make sure that the artists are earning more royalties and being discovered even by the gamers.”
Outside of accessibility and affordability, artist discovery is another one of Audiomack’s priorities. The platform has been identifying the continent’s rising stars before they gain global recognition through Keep the Beat Going, an annual campaign that focuses on amplifying artists’ profiles and introducing them to new global markets through billboards in major cities, playlists, digital ads, creator workshops and more. Since its launch in 2022, Keep the Beat Going has highlighted 72 artists from Ghana, Tanzania, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya, including Ayra Starr, Burna Boy, Rema and Uncle Waffles.
Aside from artists, Audiomack is also keeping its fingers on the pulse of new trends coming out of the continent. Bwana believes Nigerian street pop is the “next big thing,” as evidenced by Asake and Seyi Vibez’s success on the platform. The latter is the most streamed artist in Nigeria, accumulating 1.4 billion plays on Audiomack since 2020, while the former is a close second with 1.2 billion plays. To date, Asake’s 2023 album Work of Art is the most streamed Afrobeats album on the platform with 476 million plays, while his hit “Lonely at the Top” from the album is the most streamed Afrobeats song on Audiomack with 87 million plays.
“We have a lot of people achieving their first hundred thousand or million streams on Audiomack,” says Bwana. “[We’ve] accommodated both listeners and artists, and this is what really sets us apart from a lot of the other streaming platforms.”
Host Tetris Kelly talks to some of the Billboard Music Awards finalists, including Tyla, Shaboozey, SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids and so many more! These artists share what fans can expect from some of their performances, play games, and so much more.
Who are you excited to see on tonight’s show? Let us know in the comments below!
Fuerza Regida:
Hey, yo what’s cracking? Fuerza Regida.
Tyla:
Hey, Billboard, it’s Tyla.
SEVENTEEN:
We are SEVENTEEN and this is the Billboard Music Awards pre-show yay!
SEVENTEEN:
What’s up party people? It’s Tetris, and it’s pre-show time. The Billboard Music Awards are going down tonight, and we’re giving you a sneak peek at the hottest performers and some of the biggest finalists ahead of the show, starting with one of my faves, it’s k-pop sensation. My boys SEVENTEEN. I am so happy to be hanging out with you guys again. It’s been a long time, but you’re here for the Billboard Music Awards, and you guys took over the Santa Monica Pier. You guys are also doing SEVENTEEN THE CITY there, so how did that feel?
SEVENTEEN:
About six months ago, I visited Santa Monica while traveling, and hearing that we’ll be performing in that same space is truly exciting. I feel like it’s going to be a unique experience.
I mean, I know it’s gonna feel different for you. Mingyu, but Joshua, you’re basically the king of LA. You grew up walking these streets. So how was that for you as well?
SEVENTEEN:
I mean, Santa Monica in general, is like the place that I used to hang out the most with my friends, like on the weekend. So it means a lot that we’re gonna be able to perform there and to have a studio event at Santa Monica Pier.
Keep watching for more!
After two weeks away from No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Maps” is atop the survey yet again, zooming 5-1 on the Dec. 14-dated tally.
The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States based on creations, video views and user engagement. The latest chart reflects activity from Dec. 2-8. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50.
“Maps,” released in 2003 as part of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ debut album Fever to Tell, initially reigned on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 for seven weeks between the surveys dated Oct. 12 and Nov. 23. It fell to No. 10 on the Nov. 30 chart, but just when it seemed like its rule was over, it rebounded to No. 5 last week, followed by its latest coronation.
Trending on Billboard
In all, “Maps” now boasts eight weeks at No. 1, second most since the chart began in September 2023 behind the 10-week run of Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” this year.
Despite the rebound, the trends driving “Maps” remain the same as they did upon its initial ascent. The song’s chief driver is a dance, often set to a sped-up version of the tune. A variety of different mixes of the song, including a Jersey club one, also exist, generally using the sped-up vocals. While the dance represents most of the high-performing uploads these days, creators have also used “Maps” to soundtrack a trend where they use a filter to remove their facial features and then have them cascade back down onto their face.
“Maps” reigns over a brand-new entry on the chart in the I’ll Take You There Choir’s version of “Like a Prayer,” recorded for the movie Deadpool & Wolverine. A choir version of Madonna’s three-week No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1989, the sound has been used in a variety of edits (often to make a scene more dramatic), while a more recent trend tells a story while slowing zooming in on the face of Pepe from The Muppets.
Tyler, the Creator’s “Like Him,” featuring Lola Young, jumps to a new peak of No. 3 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, while Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” breaks into the top five for the first time this holiday season, rising 7-4. “Like Him” initially bowed at No. 6 on the Nov. 9 ranking and experienced a previous best of No. 4 the following week. More recently, creators have also used the sound to recap their 2024s, while another cuts in dialogue from the Spider-Verse franchise.
Besides “Like a Prayer,” one other song debuts in the top 10: Malcolm Todd’s “Chest Pain,” which starts at No. 6. The newly released song (Dec. 4) was teased on TikTok for weeks prior to its official premiere, and many of the top-performing uploads feature creators showing off their loved ones. The song racked up 557,000 official U.S. streams in just two days (Dec. 4-5) of its first Billboard tracking week.
Ariana Grande’s “Sweetener” also hits the top 10 for the first time, leaping 15-10 in its second week on the tally. The title track from Grande’s 2018 album (No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a week that September) has a dance-related trend attached, with two people trading off different moves. It helps drive “Sweetener” to a 74% gain in listens to 1.1 million streams.
See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here. You can also tune in each Friday to SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio (channel 4) to hear the premiere of the chart’s top 10 countdown at 3 p.m. ET, with reruns heard throughout the week.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Matt Reeves / Twitter/@mattreevesLA
Following the success that The Penguin series experienced on the HBO network, DC seems to be willing to roll the dice on another Batman villain that has yet to make his live-action debut.
According to Deadline, DC Studios has just greenlit a Clayface project as they look to further expand their Batman universe in preparation for the highly anticipated The Batman 2 which is set to release sometime in 2026. The news comes a year after writer Mike Flanagan pitched the idea to DC Studios and it seems like they’ve decided to give it a shot. Known for his work on the reboot to The Exorcist, Flanagan had publicly expressed his interest in creating a movie centered around the shapeshifting Batman villain and it seems like fans are about to get their wish as Flanagan wants to make the film a “horror/thriller/tragedy.”
Per Deadline:
In March 2023, our sources told us that Flanagan’s take on Clayface will not feature the character as a villain, after the writer had a meeting with DC Bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran, who took over at DC Studios in 2022.
Although Flanagan wasn’t pitching the character to be part of Matt Reeves’ DC elseworld, other sources have said that Clayface is a big addition to Reeves’ The Batman 2.
Clayface got his DC introduction as part of Detective Comics #40 in June of 1940. While there would eventually be a number of shape-shifting DC antagonists using that alias, the original Clayface was a moderately successful actor who adopted the identity of a character he’d portrayed in a horror pic after turning to crime. He’s a frequent adversary of Batman with a body seemingly made out of clay who has appeared over the years in numerous films, television series, animated works, video games and other forms of media, being portrayed on the series Gotham(The CW) and Pennyworth (Epix/HBO Max) by Brian McManamon and Lorraine Burroughs, respectively. The rationale behind Clayface’s appearance emerged in comics of the 1970s, which evolved the character into a scientist with hormone irregularities.
While previous live-action Batman villains such as The Joker, Penguin and Bane have been more of the grounded variety, Clayface is a bit more sci-fi as the villain is able to literally change his facial and bodily features at a moments notice. That being said, there are rumors that The Batman 2 will also feature Mr. Freeze, so maybe Matt Reeves is ready to take the live-action Batman franchise to a science fiction plane when the highly-anticipated sequel goes into production come 2025.
What do y’all think about Clayface making his cinematic debut? Which actor and director would you like to see take part in the project? Let us know in the comments section below.
Wicked and Conclave tied for the most nominations in this year’s Critics Choice Association Awards – 11 each. Dune: Part Two and Emilia Perez were closed behind with 10 nods each.
Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are nominated for best actress and best supporting actress, respectively. The film is nominated for best picture and best acting ensemble.
The film is already the second-highest grossing film based on a Broadway musical (just behind Mamma Mia!). The soundtrack album has so far reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
Trending on Billboard
Selena Gomez failed to receive a supporting actress nod for her work in Emilia Pérez, though “Mi Camino,” which she performs in that film, was nominated for best original song. The film is nominated for best picture and best acting ensemble.
The Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown is nominated for best picture. In addition, star Timothée Chalamet is nominated for best actor, while Edward Norton is nominated for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Pete Seeger.
The six nominees for best original score were exactly the same as those nominated for Golden Globe Awards on Monday: Volker Bertelmann for Conclave; Daniel Blumberg for The Brutalist; Kris Bowers for The Wild Robot; Clément Ducol and Camille for Emilia Pérez; Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for Challengers; and Hans Zimmer for Dune: Part Two.
There was just one difference in the nominations for best original song between the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes. “Harper and Will Go West” from Will & Harper by Sean Douglas and Kristen Wiig is nominated for Critics Choice, whereas the Globes nominated “Forbidden Road” from Better Man (music and Lyrics by Robbie Williams, Freddy Wexler, Sacha Skarbek).
The other five nominees are the same for both shows: “Beautiful That Way” from The Last Showgirl, “Compress/Repress” from Challengers, “El Mal” from Emilia Pérez, “Kiss the Sky” from The Wild Robot and “Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez.
“This year brought us an incredible wealth of storytelling and performances, leading to indescribably close races for nominations,” Critics Choice Association CEO Joey Berlin said in a statement. “We are honored to be able to celebrate our landmark 30th year of the Critics Choice Awards with this talented group of nominees and are thrilled to bring viewers our best show yet. Knowing how close the balloting for nominations was, we anticipate an exciting evening of high drama on January 12.”
The 2025 Critics Choice Awards take place on Sunday, Jan. 12, beginning at 7 p.m. ET and will air this year on E! Chelsea Handler is set to host.
Here’s the full list of nominations for the 2025 Critics Choice Awards.
Best Picture
A Complete Unknown
Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing
The Substance
Wicked
Best Song
“Beautiful That Way” – The Last Showgirl – Music by: Andrew WyattLyrics by: Andrew Wyatt, Miley Cyrus, Lykke Li“Compress/Repress” – Challengers – Music by: Trent Reznor, Atticus RossLyrics by: Trent Reznor, Luca Guadagnino“El Mal” – Emilia Pérez – Music by: Clément Ducol, CamilleLyrics by: Clément Ducol, Camille, Jacques Audiard“Harper and Will Go West” – Will & Harper – Sean Douglas, Kristen Wiig
“Kiss the Sky” – The Wild Robot – Music & Lyrics by: Delacey, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Maren Morris, Michael Pollack, Ali Tamposi“Mi Camino” – Emilia Pérez – Music & Lyrics by: Clément Ducol, Camille
Best Score
Volker Bertelmann – Conclave
Daniel Blumberg – The Brutalist
Kris Bowers – The Wild Robot
Clément Ducol & Camille – Emilia Pérez
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Challengers
Hans Zimmer – Dune: Part Two
Best Acting Ensemble
Anora
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Saturday Night
Sing Sing
Wicked
Best Actor
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
Daniel Craig – Queer
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Hugh Grant – Heretic
Best Actress
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez
Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths
Angelina Jolie – Maria
Mikey Madison – Anora
Demi Moore – The Substance
Best Supporting Actor
Yura Borisov – Anora
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce – The Brutalist
Denzel Washington – Gladiator II
Best Supporting Actress
Danielle Deadwyler – The Piano Lesson
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor – Nickel Boys
Ariana Grande – Wicked
Margaret Qualley – The Substance
Isabella Rossellini – Conclave
Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez
Best Young Actor/Actress
Alyla Browne – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Elliott Heffernan – Blitz
Maisy Stella – My Old Ass
Izaac Wang – Didi
Alisha Weir – Abigail
Zoe Ziegler – Janet Planet
Best Director
Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez
Sean Baker – Anora
Edward Berger – Conclave
Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
Jon M. Chu – Wicked
Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
RaMell Ross – Nickel Boys
Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Two
Best Original Screenplay
Sean Baker – Anora
Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David – September 5
Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold – The Brutalist
Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain
Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
Justin Kuritzkes – Challengers
Best Adapted Screenplay
Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez
Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox – Wicked
Greg Kwedar, Clint Bentley – Sing Sing
RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes – Nickel Boys
Peter Straughan – Conclave
Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts – Dune: Part Two
Best Cinematography
Jarin Blaschke – Nosferatu
Alice Brooks – Wicked
Lol Crawley – The Brutalist
Stéphane Fontaine – Conclave
Greig Fraser – Dune: Part Two
Jomo Fray – Nickel Boys
Best Production Design
Judy Becker, Patricia Cuccia – The Brutalist
Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales – Wicked
Suzie Davies – Conclave
Craig Lathrop – Nosferatu
Arthur Max, Jille Azis, Elli Griff – Gladiator II
Patrice Vermette, Shane Vieau – Dune: Part Two
Best Editing
Sean Baker – Anora
Marco Costa – Challengers
Nick Emerson – Conclave
David Jancso – The Brutalist
Joe Walker – Dune: Part Two
Hansjörg Weißbrich – September 5
Best Costume Design
Lisy Christl – Conclave
Linda Muir – Nosferatu
Massimo Cantini Parrini – Maria
Paul Tazewell – Wicked
Jacqueline West – Dune: Part Two
Janty Yates, Dave Crossman – Gladiator II
Best Hair and Makeup
Christine Blundell, Lesa Warrener, Neal Scanlan – Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Hair and Makeup Team – Dune: Part Two
Hair and Makeup Team – The Substance
Frances Hannon, Sarah Nuth, Laura Blount – Wicked
Traci Loader, Suzanne Stokes-Munton, David White – Nosferatu
Mike Marino, Sarah Graalman, Aaron Saucier – A Different Man
Best Visual Effects
Mark Bakowski, Pietro Ponti, Nikki Penny, Neil Corbould – Gladiator II
Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, Paul Corbould, David Shirk – Wicked
Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, Gerd Nefzer – Dune: Part Two
Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft, Peter Stubbs – Better Man
Visual Effects Team – The Substance
Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story, Rodney Burke – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Best Animated Feature
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
Best Comedy
A Real Pain
Deadpool & Wolverine
Hit Man
My Old Ass
Saturday Night
Thelma
Best Foreign Language Film
All We Imagine as Light
Emilia Pérez
Flow
I’m Still Here
Kneecap
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
You better believe Nick Cannon knows all about the magic of Christmas. The host of The Voice was, after all, married to the Queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey, for six years. Plus, with a dozen children on his nice list, shopping for holiday gifts is probably a part-time job for the always-hustling radio/TV star. He […]