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The U.S. Copyright Office posted a notice of inquiry on Monday (Feb. 10) in the Federal Registrar, requesting more information about issues related to American-based performance rights organizations (PROs).
More specifically, the Copyright Office is requesting public comment on “factors that may be contributing to the formation of new PROs”; whether there have been “increased financial and administrative costs imposed on licensees associated with paying royalties to additional PROs”; and “how to improve clarity and certainty for entities seeking to obtain licenses from PROs.”
The inquiry is a response to the House Judiciary Committee’s letter to the Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, six months ago, which requested an examination of “concerns” and “emerging” issues in the PRO sector. The letter was signed by the committee’s chairmen, Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Darrell Issa, and member Rep. Scott Fitzgerald.
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“It is difficult to assess how efficiently PROs are distributing general licensing revenue based on publicly available data,” the letter read. “For example, it is difficult to determine how accurately lesser known and independent artists as well as smaller publishers are being compensated compared to widely popular artists and major publishers.”
The letter added: “Licensees [like bars, venues, restaurants and small businesses] have reported receiving demands for royalties from new entities claiming to represent songwriters… Licensees are concerned that the proliferation of PROs represents an ever-present danger of infringement allegations and potential litigation risk from new and unknown sources.”
The Copyright Office’s notice of inquiry addressed this so-called “proliferation” of PROs as well, noting that for decades, ASCAP, BMI and the smaller SESAC were the only PROs in the U.S. However, in the last dozen years, this market has doubled in size with the introduction of Global Music Rights (or “GMR”) in 2013, PRO Music Rights in 2018 and AllTrack in 2019.
Around the world, most other countries only have one PRO representing all local rights holders’ interests — many also handle mechanical (or reproduction) rights as well — making the U.S. an especially unique and complex market for licensees.
Written comments concerning these matters must be turned in to the Copyright Office by April 11. After that, there will be a “reply comment” period that has a submission deadline of May 7.
It looks like Kai Cenat and Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) are back on the outs again. On Friday (Feb. 7), the popular streamer — who was on the cover of Billboard magazine in January — told his fans that he’s no longer going forward with a planned Japan stream with the troubled rap […]
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Grammy Award-winning rapper Pitbull is about to turn up at the 2025 Daytona 500 pre-race show, and race fans are in for a treat. Known for his party anthems like “Give Me Everything” and “I Know You Want Me,” Pitbull’s high-energy performances are the perfect fit for the massive event. As the Daytona 500 is one of the biggest races in motorsports, having Mr.Worldwide on stage will bring the heat and set the tone for an epic day.
Pitbull, a global icon who blends hip-hop, pop, and Latin vibes, knows how to rock a crowd, and his presence at the pre-race show will have the entire stadium on their feet. The Daytona 500 isn’t just about racing—it’s about bringing culture and excitement to the fans, and Pitbull’s performance is going to be one of the highlights of the day. His ability to get the party started and keep the energy up makes him the perfect artist to kick things off before the green flag drops.
Fans at the 2025 Daytona 500 can expect to hear Pitbull’s biggest tracks and feel the hype before the real action begins. Whether you’re into racing or music, the Miami superstar’s performance is gonna add that extra layer of excitement to the day, blending motorsport and music in a way only he can. The pre-race show is about to go off, and Pitbull’s bringing the fire to make it a day to remember.
Ariana Grande was put through the ringer as a young star — and now that she’s older, she’s advocating for change in the entertainment industry so that the people who follow in her footsteps have an easier time.
On the latest episode of WTF With Marc Maron posted Monday (Feb. 10), the singer-actress said that therapy should be a “non-negotiable” part of record-label contracts for young signees, while reflecting on the whiplash of finding fast fame as a Nickelodeon actress-turned-pop star in the early 2010s. “I was 19 when all of that nonsense started happening to me,” she began of the immediate public scrutiny she faced in the spotlight. “It started when I was so young with my body or rumors about my relationships or about my team or about my mom or about people I love. There was just no limit.”
“It’s so important that these record labels, these studios, these TV studios, these big production companies make [therapy] a part of the contract when you sign on to do something that’s going to change your life in that way, on that scale,” Grande continued. “You need a therapist to be seeing several times a week.”
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Adding that big entertainment companies “should be responsible for protecting” young creators from the mental turmoil that’s almost guaranteed when they become globally famous in a short period of time, the Wicked star again said that counseling “should be non-negotiable” in contracts. “To be an artist, you are a vulnerable person with your heart on your sleeve,” she said. “So the same person who is meant to do art is the exact same person who is not meant to deal with that s–t.”
Grande’s comments echo what she previously said on Penn Badgley’s Podcrushed in June, when she revealed that she was “reprocessing” her time on the shows Victorious and Sam & Cat after allegations of sexual harassment and toxic workplace conditions from other former child stars came to light in the documentary Quiet on Set. At the time, the Oscar nominee said, “I think that the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting, and I think there should be therapists … I think there should be parents allowed to be wherever they wanna be.”
The topic is also newly prevalent considering Chappell Roan’s much talked-about best new artist speech at the 2025 Grammys, which sparked debate between the Midwest Princess — whom Charli XCX, Halsey and Noah Kahan later backed up — and former music industry executive Jeff Rabhan. In her speech, Roan had called on labels to “offer a livable wage and healthcare” to signees, “especially for developing artists.”
Later, after Rabhan called her take “wildly misinformed” in an op-ed published in The Hollywood Reporter, Roan clapped back by donating $25,000 to funds for struggling artists and wrote on Instagram Sunday (Feb. 9), “Sharing my personal experience at the Grammys wasn’t meant to be a crowdfunded bandaid but a call to action to the leaders of the industry to step up, help us make a real change and protect their investments in a sustainable way.”
Listen to Grande open up about the importance of therapy for young stars below.
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Source: PA Wire – PA Images / Getty / Ledisi
As expected, the MAGA contingent was once again BIG MAD at the Black National Anthem being sung at the Super Bowl.
Will this be an annual thing, or will the Orange Menace, aka Donald Trump, sing one of his useless executive orders ordering all American sports leagues only to perform the National Anthem and sporting events?
Even though the NFL has gotten rid of the “end racism” signage in the back of endzones for the Super Bowl, they still kept the singing of “Lift Every Voice” ahead of kickoff, a move the league adopted in 2020 in the wake of protests following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police.
The song was adopted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and is commonly called the Black National Anthem.
Louisiana-born singer Ledisi performed the song in New Orleans ahead of Super Bowl LIX in front of Felon 47 Donald Trump, and the performance was magnificent.
Unfortunately, like last year, the MAGA cult was BIG MAD at the idea of the hymn being used as a separate anthem in a league that features predominantly Black players.
Right-wing commentators such as Charlie Kirk sounded off on the performance. “Only our actual national anthem should be performed at the Super Bowl,” Kirk wrote.
“Black National Anthem’ is a racist relic left over from the BLM era. Get rid of it,” the lame account End Wokeness said on X, formerly Twitter.
Another crappy account R T wrote, “Just muted the Black National Anthem. There’s one national anthem for this country and that ain’t it. We’re all Americans, not divided by Race, Creed, Sex or Religious Preference.”
Black Xitter Loved Ledisi’s Performance
Thankfully, Black Xitter loved seeing MAGA all butt-hurt about the performance of the hymn.
“Yes, the Black National Anthem does deserve to be a part of the Anthems we sing at the Super Bowl. Why? Because Black History is American History,” one post on X read.
Another post read, “Baby, #Ledisi sang the Black National Anthem from her soul and pit of her stomach! The ancestors are proud!”
They can honestly stay mad. The NFL better not let these people influence them into taking out the Black National Anthem.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
2. Yes, yes it was
4. Oh they were big mad
5. It was Black as hell, and we loved it.
7. Never fails
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Source: YouTube / Youtube
Ye aka Kanye West purchased another ad to air during the Super Bowl, but its limited outreach plus the bizarre display by the rapper made some uncomfortable.
On Sunday (February 9), Super Bowl LIX took place at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana complete with all of the advertisements that rivaled the game for attention. But one ad bought by Ye aka Kanye West surprised people by its bizarre presentation. The commercial features West staring up at the camera, from a dentist’s chair while wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and wraparound sunglasses. “So what’s up, guys, I spent, like all the money put a commercial on these new teeth. So once again, I had to shoot it on the iPhone,” he said, flashing a set of grills. He then finished with a stammer in his voice, “Um… um… go to yeezy.com.”
The ad wasn’t aired nationwide, only in the Los Angeles area. It was a repeat of what West did last year when he bought a local advertisement for yeezy.com, but it reportedly wasn’t aired in New York or Los Angeles. The setting of the ad is a potential reference to claims by his former associate and ex-chief-of-staff Milo Yiannopoulos, who alleged that a celebrity dentist named Dr. Thomas P. Connelly had gotten West addicted to nitrous oxide to “extract millions of dollars from him.” Yiannopoulos would supply text messages between himself, Connelly, and West where the rapper would request more nitrous oxide from Connelly.
Those who visited the “No More Parties In L.A.” rapper’s site after seeing the ad reported that there was only one item for sale – a t-shirt with a swastika emblazoned on it. The disturbing content comes after West’s hours-long rant on X, formerly Twitter, that was filled with him declaring “I’m a Nazi,” along with other antisemitic comments such as calling Hitler “so fresh”. He also stated that he was “never apologizing for my Jewish comments.” The rant would see him also attack plus-size women and make other wild claims such as allegedly sleeping with Ivanka Trump. His account would be deactivated on Monday morning (February 10), though it was unclear if he took that action or if X did in response to West violating its policies which state that users cannot “directly attack other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability or serious disease.”
New York Dolls co-founder and punk icon David Johansen has revealed that he is battling a brain tumor and stage four cancer. The news came via a Sweet Relief Fund in his name seeking to raise money for the singer’s ongoing care in which his daughter, Leah Hennessey, revealed the extent of her 75-year-old father’s health issues.
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“Five years ago at the beginning of the pandemic we discovered that David’s cancer had progressed and he had a brain tumor,” Leah wrote. “There have been complications ever since. He’s never made his diagnosis public, as he and my mother Mara are generally very private people, but we feel compelled to share this now, due to the increasingly severe financial burden our family is facing.” She noted that in a further blow, the singer known for his outrageous, high-energy stage persona, fell down a flight of stairs after Thanksgiving and broke his back in two places.
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Following a week-long hospital stay and a successful surgery, Leah said her dad has been bedridden and incapacitated since then and “due to the trauma, David’s illness has progressed exponentially and my mother is caring for him around the clock.” Given the multiple health crises, Leah said that in order to continue treatment and give her dad the best chance at a full recovery he will need full-time assistance.
“As hilarious and wise as David continues to be, he is physically debilitated and his care exceeds what we are capable of providing without specialized professional help,” she wrote, adding, “David has worked continuously as a singer and actor for the better part of six decades, to the delight of his fans all over the world. However for the past five years, David has been unable to work as a performer. “
The non-profit Sweet Relief Musicians Fund was initially founded by singer Victoria Williams in 1994 to help her pay medical bills after a multiple sclerosis diagnosis and has since grown into a 501 (c)(3) that has helped raise funds for professional musicians in need of health or financial assistance.
In a statement, Johansen said, “We’ve been living with my illness for a long time, still having fun, seeing friends & family, carrying on, but this tumble the day after Thanksgiving really brought us to a whole new level of debilitation. This is the worst pain i’ve ever experienced in my entire life. I’ve never been one to ask for help but this is an emergency. Thank you.”
The organization’s executive director, Aric Steinberg, added in a statement, “Our Directed Artist Funds can provide a meaningful solution when the community rallies around the recipient, and we anticipate that David’s community will be eager to help here. His influence on the musical landscape with the New York Dolls is indelible, and his career as an actor and an artist has touched many people around the world. He’s been knocked down but we’re here to help him back up with the help of his family, friends and wider community of supporters.”
The family said that their most immediate needs are for full-time nursing, physical therapy and funding for day-to-day vital living expenses, aimed at helping Johansen regain “some mobility and independence.” Supporters can donate to the David Johansen Fund here, or buy a “luv” shirt benefitting Johansen’s fund here.
Johansen has long been a beloved figure on the New York scene, beginning with his time as the lead singer and provocateur of the gender-bending New York Dolls. That band — which also featured guitarists Johnny Thunders and Sylvain Sylvain, bassist Arthur Kane and drummer Jerry Nolan — emerged from the fertile underground New York rock scene in the early 1970s, releasing a pair of albums in 1973 and 1974 that helped set the template for the punk revolution and, later, inspired the lipstick and Aqua Net late 1980s hair metal scene.
After drugs and weak sales pushed the band’s members apart, Johansen went on to start his own solo band and then reinvent himself in the 1980s as the smarmy lounge lizard Buster Poindexter, through which he explored his love of the blues, jazz, swing and Latin music on such radio hits as “Hot Hot Hot.” He later formed the Harry Smiths, a group dedicated to early folk, blues and country music gathered by music historian Harry Everett Smith in the Anthology of American Folk Music.
In addition to the occasional reunion with the Dolls over the years, Johansen also hosted a freewheeling Sirius satellite radio show, David Johansen’s Mansion of Fun and acted in projects including the HBO series Oz and the movies Scrooged, Let It Ride, Freejack, Mr. Nanny and others.
Johansen was the subject of the 2020 Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi-directed Showtime documentary feature Personality Crisis: One Night Only, which told the singer’s life story and chronicled one of his freewheeling shows at New York’s Café Carlyle.
“My mother’s favorite acronym for God is ‘Grace Over Drama,’” Leah Hennessey wrote. “Together we have endured crisis after crisis, but with the support of our community we hope to carry on laughing and loving our way through this most trying of times. Thank you for embracing our family, and for your love and generosity.”
Check out some of Johansen’s most beloved moments below.
02/10/2025
Check out the music moments you might have missed if you weren’t in the building on Sunday.
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As proven by his expansive resume, Travis Scott is always open to collaboration. Whether he’s teaming up with The Weeknd or Beyonce, Scott’s imagination never runs dry. In his latest cover story with Billboard, the Utopia superstar rattled off names that are currently piquing his interest creatively. “It’s this band called Khruangbin I want to […]
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LiAngelo Ball is enjoying plenty of success from his “Tweaker” single but it appears that the hooper-turned-rapper has been tweaking for another woman after he got exposed by his ex-girlfriend. Taking to social media, LiAngelo Balls’s ex and mother of his children claimed that GELO left her and their family while sharing he got another woman pregnant.
Nikki Mudarris, 34, also known as MissNikkiBaby on social media, took to her Instagram page in a now-deleted post and put LiAngelo Ball, 26, on complete blast.
“I see everyone has been sending me @gelo cheating on me. I want to clear this up and speak my truth. I am just as surprised as you are. We spent 3 ½ years together, and last week he decided to walk out on his kids and tell me he got someone else pregnant (allegedly) and now is creating a new life with her,” Mudarris wrote on her page last Saturday (Feb. 8).
She added, “The ultimate betrayal is not even the word. My daughter is not even 2 months old, and dealing with this and postpartum is very hard. Please pray for me and my healing because I will get through this. I have to be strong for my kids, but I have absolutely no words.”
Via her Instagram Story feed, Mudarris showed off a new fit and a hairdo, along with messages that make it clear she’s only focused on herself and the former couple’s young children, both of whom are under the age of 2. According to social media, Ball’s new girlfriend, Rashida Nicole, is all over social media addressing Mudarris while GELO has reportedly posted images of the pair online in a show of apparent defiance.
So far LiAngelo Ball, who is slated to perform at NBA All-Star Weekend, has yet to respond to Nikki Mudarris or her missives.
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