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12/10/2024
Our editorial staff’s 2024 list of the Greatest Pop Stars from the year that was gets underway with the 10 artists who just missed the cut.
12/10/2024
Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox have broken up again, according to TMZ and Us Weekly. The news comes just over a month after the pair shared that the Jennifer’s Body actress is expecting her first baby with the musician. Both publications reported that the pair broke up in late November. Trending on Billboard Billboard […]
Nearly one year after launching a new streaming app, SiriusXM Holdings announced on Tuesday it is moving away from streaming and doubling down on the people who pay for its music, news and podcasts in cars.
Sirius has become the dominant provider of audio entertainment subscriptions in vehicles in the recent years in the U.S. but concerns over softening subscriber revenue and an eagerness to attract more younger subscribers pushed the launch of a streaming app last December.
While their $9.99 subscription for streaming on your phone will still be available, the company will focus resources on keeping and selling more services to the 33 million people with SiriusXM subscriptions—90% of whom listen in their cars.
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“We are focusing on … our strong core subscriber base, our unique position in vehicle, and our unrivaled, curated content — and taking steps to drive profitability and cash flow as we face marketplace headwinds impacting the company’s growth trajectory,” SiriusXM chief executive Jennifer Witz said in a statement.
SiriusXM’s stock price was down more than 10% at $25.81 just before 1 p.m. in New York. Witz is expected to speak about the new strategy at an investor conference later on Tuesday.
Streaming, which is already sold as a companion to the in-car subscription for $24.98, will be considered a “companion” offering, the company said, through partnerships with companies like Tesla. But it is shifting “marketing and other resources away from high-cost, high-churn audiences in streaming to focus resources on core revenue-generating segments.”
The company also named Wayne Thorsen the company’s chief operating officer in charge of product & technology, corporate strategy and parts of the commercial business. Thorson is charged with tracking “the return on marketing and technology investments.” A former Google and Viacom executive, Thorsen previously oversaw product management, engineering and business development for home security company ADT. Thorsen’s appointment coincides with the departure of chief product and technology officer Joseph Inzerillo, who played a pivotal role in modernizing SiriusXM’s technology platform and launching the streaming app.
SiriusXM invested two years and millions of dollars into updating its technology and developing the streaming app, which it unveiled last December, along with a new logo. The new app came with new channels run by John Mayer, Kelly Clarkson, Shaggy and Smokey Robinson, as well as a weekly show by James Corden and a new true-crime channel from Crime Junkies podcast host Ashley Flowers.
The company’s investments in podcasting and new technology has driven years of belt-tightening and at least two rounds of layoffs, which resulted in around 650 jobs being cut in 2023 and 2024. Having cut costs by $200 million this year and $150 million in 2023, executives said Tuesday they are aiming to achieve an additional $200 million in cost savings next year.
During its most recent quarterly earnings, SiriusXM lowered its 2024 revenue goal to $8.675 billion from $8.75 billion due to lower subscriber revenue and softer-than-projected advertising revenue in the second half of this year.
The company reported gaining 14,000 self-pay subscribers in the third quarter this year. However, subscriber revenue was down to $1.645 billion in the third quarter 2024 from $1.729 billion during the third quarter 2023.
SiriusXM reaches around 150 million listeners through SiriusXM, Pandora and its growing podcast service.
Nearly a year ago to the day, 4batz released his “Act II: Date @ 8” single, which went on to power the Dallas native’s rise with a boost from Drake, who hopped on the remix and helped Batz earn his first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
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Ye (formerly Kanye West), SZA and Robin Thicke were just a few of the stars to lend co-signs to the R&B singer while fans seemingly had something to say at every step of Batz’s ascension, whether that be his signature Shiesty look, the duality of his street persona matched up with his airy vocals and some even falsely accused him of being an “industry plant.”
The 21-year-old looks to build on his Rookie of the Year campaign with his Thank U, Jada project, which is expected to arrive at the top of 2025.
“I want people to know I’m uncut. I’m a regular n—a. I don’t give a f–k, but at the same time I do for the right things,” Batz tells Billboard News. “I want people to know that I’m an honest person and I feel and I want to bring an evolution to music and start my own little thing.”
Last year, 4batz pulled up to one of Drake’s shows — his first concert ever — and got some advice from the 6 God when it comes to being a prolific performer.
“I asked him, ‘Bro, how do you perform like that?’ He said, ‘Look up House of Blues by 2Pac.’ I looked that up and I studied him,” Batz recalls. “I bring energy. If I’m turning up, they gonna turn up … That’s one of the things he told me.”
Batz added to his list of star-studded collabs when Ye hopped on the remix to “Act III: On God (She Like).” He called West the “smarted person” he’s ever met in his life thus far.
“Genius. He actually the smartest person I ever met in my life,” Batz says. “[Ye] drove me two hours to Santa Barbara. It’s just me and Bianca. I’m like, ‘Huh? I’m really in a car with Kanye West.’ And he’s recording me. I’m in the backseat and he’s playing his music.”
Growing up in Dallas, 4batz felt his options were limited to the streets, school, basketball and rap, but he refused to be boxed in while taking a risk in being emotional with his music. Partly inspired by heartbreak and losing his father, Batz began singing.
“I kinda got tired of the same spectrum of everybody has to be this type of person,” he added. “Where I’m from, being emotional ain’t the coolest thing in the world. You don’t get no cool points for that. My whole thing was I got my feelings hurt and I was like I don’t have nothing else to lose.”
Watch the entire interview with 4batz above.
Jade Thirlwall had auditioned for The X-Factor twice as a teen and was just not feeling it when the third time came around in 2011. Luckily, her older brother pressed her to give it one more try, which led to the 31-year-old singer being grouped with her future Little Mix bandmates, launching her into global superstardom.
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“I couldn’t be bothered because I was with a crappy boyfriend, and I was like, ‘Oh, I just want to hang out with him.’ I just didn’t know if it was realistic anymore,” Thirlwall told People magazine about last shot at the Factor when she was 15. “I was going to do an art degree for theater production and stuff. Then, my older brother was like, ‘Just go one more time. You never know what’s going to happen. You’ve got nothing to lose.’ I was like, ‘Fine.’ I went, and then I got put in Little Mix, so thank God.”
It was in that season that she was teamed up with Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson, with Little Mix going on to become one of the most successful winners in the show’s history and landing five No. 1 singles on the UK charts along with 19 top tens. The group went on hiatus in 2022 so that the members of the Brit Award-winning act could pursue solo projects, and Thirlwall told the magazine that she if fully ready to present her new vision to the world.
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The singer — who goes by Jade for her solo work — is off to a good start after landing a top 10 hit in the U.K. with her propulsive dance pop debut solo single “Angel of My Dreams” this summer, followed by kink-celebrating disco track “Fantasy” and the electro grinder “Midnight Cowboy,” co-written by RAYE. All three songs will appear on Jade’s upcoming, as-yet-untitled debut solo album, which is due out net year.
“You can really hear through the tracks that I’m trying to find who I am as an artist on my own,” she said. “I wanted to let fans in on that experience because it’s the truth.” Thirlwall said the inspiration behind her new single “Fantasy” was simple: “sex, darling.” The original idea was to write a love song, but in her own unique way, which led to the track on which she sings, “Passion, pain/ Pleasure, no shame/ If you like it weird, I like it strange/ It’s a fantasy, babe.”
“I wanted this liberating concept of feeling like you’ve found the right person that you can explore all your sexual fantasies with, a safe space for whatever you’re into. I’ve not seen much of that, actually, especially from a woman,” she said of the song that “heavily references” her 1970s disco-era sheroes Diana Ross and Donna Summer, but reflected in her own unique disco ball fashion.
Feeling more liberated and able to lean into more overtly sexy themes than in the innuendo-trafficking Little Mix, Thirlwall went all-in on the song’s promotion, releasing a line of “kinky merchandise” that she expected her team to reject. “Thankfully everyone was onboard,” she said, noting that the line of edible underwear, lubricant and sex toys was also originally going to include condoms, before she worried that it was too risky if, for some reason, they failed during use.
Thirlwall said she wanted the three songs released so far to reflect the “chaos of the record,” explaining, “You would not expect each song to come after the next. That’s definitely the vibe. I just want to show everyone a little taste of each part of me before the album comes next year.” She described the full LP as “quite experimental,” saying you can hear her trying to find her solo artistic groove on them. “I wanted to let fans in on that experience because it’s the truth. I’ve spent three years writing an array of so many different kinds of songs, and I want the unexpected twists and turns along the way,” she said. “I only get one debut solo album. Why not just do whatever I want?”
While she’s still putting the finishing touches on the album, Thirlwall said she can’t wait for her fans to hear it. “I’ve lived with it for a long time, so it kills me when fans are asking online, ‘What’s this clip? I’ve heard this might be the title of a song.’ I just want to blurt it all out and tell everyone, but I can’t,” she said. At press time a release date had not yet been announced for the album.
4Batz sits down to share details about his new project, Thank You, Jada, which continues the story from U Made Me a St4r. He discusses meeting Drake, the creation of “Act II: Date @ 8,” and its rise into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, he talks about spending time with Ye, the inspiration behind “Hood Grammy,” how he initially never envisioned a career in the music industry and more!
Michael Saponara:What’s going on, everybody? Welcome to another episode of Billboard News. You let me host another one. I’m Mike Saponara. We have the guy with us, the Heartbreak Kid. Can you believe it? 4Batz in the building.
4Batz:Your boy in the middle, what’s up?
How we feeling? Good?
Amazing, blessed.
In New York.
In New York.
How’s your trip treating you?
Beautiful. It’s always a trip. It’s always a good trip.
Well, we love that you’re here, bro. You got your project coming on the way, Thank You, Jada. How do you want to set this up that differentiates from your first project, U Made Me a St4r?
Honestly, I want to continue the story. You know, I look at my life like a story. I look at my life like I think it’s always been interesting like a book. You know, that’s why I named them. The first was acts, chapters, you know, it’s a story. I’m just trying to continue with it.
Like we’ve heard you say, Thank You, Jada, before that was the tour and everything. Why’d you want to continue, I guess, with that theme?
Because it’s going to be just one continuation to the story. But also, you know, a lot of people didn’t see, you know, a lot of people know the tour. See the tour before, right? So the tape is kind of showing like, you know, you made me a star. Thank you, Jada. That’s why I thank you. After this, I don’t know, it might be over with. You know, you gotta talk to the author about that.
Keep watching for more!
Country crossover sensation Shaboozey and regional Mexican band Fuerza Regida are set to perform on the 2024 Billboard Music Awards, which is set to air Thursday, Dec. 12, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX and Fire TV Channels.
They will join SEVENTEEN, Teddy Swims, Tyla, Coldplay, Jelly Roll, Megan Moroney and Stray Kids, who were previously announced as performers on the show.
Shaboozey is a finalist for six BBMA awards: top new artist, top song sales artist and four awards for his megahit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” That smash, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-tying 19 weeks, is a finalist for top Hot 100 song, top streaming song, top selling song and top country song.
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Shaboozey will deliver a special performance from W Hollywood, part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio. The crossover star’s third studio album, Where I’ve Been Isn’t Where I’m Going, debuted and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in June.
Fuerza Regida’s seventh studio album Pa Las Baby’s y Belikeada entered the Billboard 200 at No. 14 in November 2023 and has been a fixture on the chart for 58 weeks. Its follow-up, Pero No Te Enamores, debuted and peaked at No. 25 in August. The group has amassed 11 Hot 100 hits, including three that have made the top 30 – “Bebe Dame,” a collab with Grupo Frontera, “Sabor Fresa” and “Tu Boda,” a collab with Óscar Maydon.
Hosted by actress and comedian Michelle Buteau, the 2024 BBMAs presented by Marriott Bonvoy is set to air on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX and Fire TV Channels, and on-demand on Paramount+, with performances also rolling out across Billboard.com and via @BBMAs and @Billboard social channels.
As previously announced, Zach Bryan, Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen and Sabrina Carpenter are the leading finalists for the 2024 Billboard Music Awards.
This marks the show’s return to FOX, which carried the show from its 1990 inaugural broadcast through 2006. In addition, Paramount+ will provide on-demand streaming of the show, while the free Fire TV Channels app will provide one-click access to fans using Amazon devices (Fire TV smart TVs and streaming media players and Fire Tablets).
The BBMAs will celebrate music’s greatest achievements with exclusive original performances, artist interviews, and award celebrations taking place from global locations and in the midst of sold-out tours. Additional performers and special guests will be announced soon.
The BBMAs honors the year’s biggest artists, albums, songs, producers and songwriters across multiple genres, as determined by year-end performance metrics on the Billboard charts. The eligibility dates for this year’s awards are aligned with Billboard’s Year-End Charts tracking period, which measures music consumption from the charts dated Oct. 28, 2023 through Oct. 19, 2024.
The Billboard Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Corporation. PMC is also the parent company of Billboard.
The show is presented by Marriott Bonvoy, Marriott International’s travel program and portfolio of more than 30 hotel brands. For more information, visit MarriottBonvoy.com
BMI honored Graham Lyle with the BMI Icon Award at the 2024 BMI London Awards. The private event, held at The Savoy in London on Monday, Dec. 9, was hosted by BMI president and CEO Mike O’Neill.
As part of the tribute, Rich Soul Ensemble performed a medley of some of Lyle’s most popular songs including “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” both originally performed by Tina Turner, and “Just Good Friends,” originally performed by Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder.
Upon receiving the award, which was previously announced, Lyle thanked people who have supported him over the years, including his longtime co-writer Terry Britten; his former McGuinness Flint bandmates Hughie Flint and Tom McGuinness; and Paul McCartney. He then played acoustic renditions of “Heart on My Sleeve,” originally performed by Ringo Starr, and “Something Beautiful Remains,” originally performed by Turner.
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“Creepin,” written by Enya, Nick Ryan, Roma Ryan, Carlos “Lo” Jones and Mario Winans, was named London song of the year. This award is given to the most performed song of the previous year in the BMI repertoire by UK or European writers.
“Creepin,’” performed by Metro Boomin, The Weeknd and 21 Savage, reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart in December 2022 and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 2023. The song is a partial remake of Winans’ 2004 hit “I Don’t Want to Know,” featuring Enya.
During the ceremony, BMI Million-Air Awards were presented to the songwriters and publishers whose works have achieved the rare feat of surpassing one million broadcast performances on U.S. radio, or multiples thereof. Among the hit songs honored were “Every Breath You Take” written by Sting with 19 million performances, “Another One Bites The Dust” by Queen (10 million), “Here I Go Again,” by Bernie Marsden of Whitesnake (9 million), “I Melt With You” by Modern English (8 million), “Listen to Your Heart,” by Roxette (7 million), “Islands in the Stream” written by Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb (6 million) and “Someone You Loved,” written by Tom Barnes and Sam Roman (5 million).
Awards for the most-performed pop, film, television, cable and streaming songs were also presented throughout the ceremony. For pop, LiTek and whYJay accepted an award for “Doja” performed by Central Cee; Blush Davis and Chris James were honored for “Like Crazy” by Jimin of BTS; and Ari PenSmith, Believve, Jack LoMastro, Olmo, rayo and Sammy SoSo were presented an award for “Water” by Tyla.
Among the composers honored, Atli Örvarsson won six BMI Network Television Awards for his work on Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago P.D., FBI, FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted. Tom Howe received three awards for his work in streaming in both film and TV series categories for The People We Hate at the Wedding and Apple’s Shrinking and Ted Lasso, respectively.
A complete list of 2024 winners will soon be available on the BMI London Awards’ website.
Just as she prophesied on Cowboy Carter‘s “Protector,” Beyoncé is watching her kids shine on their own.
Following the premiere of Mufasa: The Lion King starring Blue Ivy Carter in the leading role of Kiara, the superstar posted a heartfelt message dedicated to her 12-year-old daughter on Instagram Monday (Dec. 9) and wrote that she “could not be prouder” of her hard work. “My gorgeous baby girl,” Bey began, sharing photos of Blue modeling a gold Christian Siriano ballgown on the Mufasa red carpet. “This is your night.”
“You worked hard and you did such a beautiful job as the voice of Kiara,” added the “Break My Soul” singer, who also stars in the film as Nala. “Your family could not be prouder. Keep shining.”
The new live-action Mufasa comes five years after the 2019 remake of The Lion King, which also found Bey voicing the character of Nala and contributing a self-curated soundtrack album titled The Gift. The LP reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and earned a Grammy nod for best pop vocal album.
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Half a decade later, the vocalist is now sharing the cinematic spotlight with Blue, whom she joined on the red carpet Monday along with Jay-Z and Tina Knowles. The next day, Good Morning America aired a behind-the-scenes clip of the mom-daughter duo recording their parts for the movie — in which Bey’s firstborn at one point asks her mom to stop staring at her, to which the Destiny’s Child alum responds, “I can’t help it — you’re just too beautiful.”
“Seeing Blue as Kiara and hearing her voice come out of that character … it’s really hard to focus and do my job after that,” Bey says in a sit-down interview portion, tears welling up in her eyes. “I can’t believe that’s my baby.”
Blue Ivy adds, “This is just a great experience for me, and I’m really happy that girls who look like me all around the world are able to watch this movie and hear and see themselves in it.”
Bey — who also shares 7-year-old twins Rumi and Sir with the Roc Nation founder — has worked with her eldest daughter before. Blue joined her mom on some of the Renaissance Tour in 2023, performing choreography for “My Power” and “Black Parade” on stage on certain dates of the world trek — an opportunity Bey says the tween had to do some convincing in order to secure.
“She told me she was ready to perform, and I told her no,” the superstar said in last year’s Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé, before noting that the resistance only made Blue train harder.
Mufasa: The Lion King hits theaters Dec. 20. Watch Bey and Blue on GMA below.
It was a très joyeux occasion for Paris and the world beyond this past Dec. 7, when the city’s Notre-Dame Cathedral reopened its doors after a five-year closure, which followed a 2019 fire which burned through the building’s roof. After years of rebuilding and renovations, the 860-year old Gothic cathedral has been restored to new glory.
This past weekend, celebrities and politicians including First Lady Jill Biden and President Elect Donald Trump traveled to Paris for the reopening of Notre-Dame, which included prayer, religious rites and speeches, including one from French President Emmanuel Macron.
Also, there was techno.
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A series of musical performances featured artists including Pharrell (who sang his 2013 hit “Happy”), French singer Garou, famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and French electronic producer Michael Canitrot. His 10-minute set in front of the soaring cathedral included his own tracks “Light Odyssey” and “Niteroi,” along with an unreleased production called “Icon” and a remix of Moby‘s 1991 classic “Go.”
“It was incredible, you could feel the emotion in all the artists,” Canitrot tells Billboard. “And as an electronic music artist, it was also a great opportunity to meet other artists like the violinist Gautier Capuçon or Pharrell, who played just before me with a 60-strong choir.”
See video and exclusive photo from the performance below.
Canitrot is well-acquainted with playing in the presence of historic buildings. His ongoing performance series, Monumental, has included sets in front of structures like the Eiffel Tower, the Notre-Dameof Laon cathedral in northern France and nearly 20 other architecturally and culturally signifiant buildings, largely in France, with some funding by the French National Commission for UNESCO.
With these shows, Canitrot presents historic monuments in futuristic ways, using electronic music, lights and video mapping to create immersive experiences that Canitrot says “resonate with both electronic music audiences and the wider public.” His track record with conceptualizing and pulling off these shows “certainly played an important role in securing the Notre-Dame gig,” he says.
He and his team from Monumental, made of roughly 30 visual designers, lighting experts, technical producers and more, worked for months to make this show perfect. The focus was, he says, “on paying tribute to the greatness of Notre-Dame while offering a show that highlights electronic music and heritage.”
The pressure was high for the show, especially as Canitrot had to play it without rehearsing, given that his rehearsal was cut short by heavy winds the night prior. “That’s always quite stressful on such an important and technical show,” he says, “but in the end everything went well.”
Although his performance was relatively brief, Canitrot accomplished a lot in ten minutes. His performance was sequenced into visual and sonic chapters that went through themes of architectural renaissance and honoring builders from the past and present, then nodded to life and elevation via plant-inspired visuals, then paid homage the the cathedral’s new reliquary before shifting to a message of universal peace. These visuals were created in collaboration with Canitrot’s teams at Monumental Tour, AVExtended, and frequent collaborators Jérémie Bellot, and François Deretz, who altogether brought created music and visuals that bathed the famous cathedral in swirling lights and lasers.
With this performance, Canitrot not only added a globally significant performance to his resume, but helped expose electronic music to those who may not often hear it.
“I’ll always remember the moment when, at the end of my set, one of the church officials came to congratulate me,” he says. “To be able to play [electronic] music at such a moment was really important for me, it puts it on the same level as all other music and continues to democratize it for a wider audience.”
Michael Canitrot at Notre-Dame
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Michael Canitrot at Notre-Dame
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Michael Canitrot at Notre-Dame
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