State Champ Radio News
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Lola Plaku, founder of Girl Connected, sits down with Courtney Stewart, CEO of Right Hand Co. (Khalid’s management team), to talk about what it really takes to build and sustain a global superstar. From the early vision to building Khalid’s career with purpose and impact, this conversation offers rare insight into the behind-the-scenes strategy and […]
Billboard Canada hosted its second annual Power Players celebration at Toronto’s Illuminarium on June 11, and the event brought out many of the most influential executives in Canadian music.
All three Canadian heads of the major labels were present, including Universal Music Canada’s Julie Adam, Sony Music Canada’s Shane Carter and Warner Music Canada’s Kristen Burke. Live Nation Canada’s Erik Hoffman and Melissa Bubb-Clarke — who, along with Riley O’Connor, were this year’s Power Players of the Year — were also at the event.
Derrick Ross of Slaight Music took to the stage to present the Impact Award. The honor was presented to Remix Project co-founder and October’s Very Own CEO Derek “Drex” Jancar, who was promoted to the role last year and continues to make a lasting impact in the business world, informed by his community impact.
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In addition to the award, the Slaight Foundation and Billboard Canada also presented Drex with a cheque for $10,000, representing a proud donation to the Remix Project.
Sony Music Canada’s Carter took to the stage to present the International Management Award to Courtney Stewart, Khalid’s manager and the founder of Right Hand Co. He recalled first meeting Stewart at one of Khalid’s shows and being instantly impressed by his drive and work ethic.
“Courtney has all the qualities that it takes to be not just a good manager, but a great manager and a great parent — two roles that are actually quite similar. For those of you who are managers, you have to be patient, kind, protective and unselfish,” Carter said.
“I am truly grateful for being recognized tonight, and I want to thank Billboard for all the great work that they do in the lives of artists,” Stewart said. “I am winning an award tonight, but the real win is what we’re doing for others. Uplifting other people, being a blessing to other people, uplifting other communities — that’s the real win. This win is not just about recognizing me, it’s about recognizing my right-hand team that’s so amazing and all of you out here because we have to come together to win — not for ourselves, but for other people.”
Hoffman and Bubb-Clarke were present to accept the Power Players of the Year Award, which also went to O’Connor, Live Nation Canada’s chairman.
“This is a crazy business we work in,” Hoffman said. “A lot has changed in the world of live music, but the one thing that’s remained consistent is that it is ultimately all about the artists and their fans. If we continue to work towards collective goals with that in mind, I think the world of live music will just continue to grow.”
Earlier that day, in the same venue, Billboard Canada hosted its first Managers to Watch event.
Billboard Canada national editor Richard Trapunski introduced the Billboard Canada Manager of the Year Award, which is given to a manager who exemplifies the vital work of the profession. “It’s a very special award,” he said. “It honours a manager who really takes things to a new level.”
Trapunski introduced The Beaches to present the award to their manager, Laurie Lee Boutet. This was prefaced by a speech from band member Jordan Miller, who reflected on how Boutet helped the group navigate the major obstacle of being dropped from its label and offered a different paradigm by not telling the band the same things every label did.
“She highlighted our strengths as four strong wild women, because that’s what she is too,” Miller said. “You are so much more than a manager. You are our sister and the fifth Beach.”
Boutet was moved by the speech and walked up teary-eyed to accept the award, first giving a nod to her peers in the room. “It’s an honour to be in front of all these people that I constantly text for advice,” she said. She described her experience managing the Beaches as the honour of her life, adding that they built something “feminine, genuine and really cool as f–k.”
Find all the Billboard Canada Power Players highlights here and Managers to Watch highlights here.
Daniel Caesar, Khalid and The Beaches Stun at Billboard Canada THE STAGE at NXNE
NXNE’s 30th edition was one for the ages. The long-running Toronto festival hosted the first edition of the Billboard Summit featuring A-list talent like deadmau5 and Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh, as well as Billboard Canada’s first edition of THE STAGE.
Daniel Caesar played his first major headlining show at Mod Club in 2016. Returning to the same legendary venue after having reached arena headliner status, he treated the intimate show like a true homecoming. The Billboard Canada THE STAGE at NXNE show was by far the hottest ticket in town on Saturday night (June 14), and the lucky 500-plus fans in attendance were treated to something truly special from the hometown R&B star, who now lives in New York. It felt like something that could only happen once, at this particular time and this particular place, at this particular festival.
Instead of his full arena-style concert, Caesar opted for an acoustic set, sometimes with just him and his guitar and sometimes with accompaniment on keyboards or keys and drums. There was a spontaneity and looseness that connected him deeply to the audience, who knew every word to every song. It was reminiscent of Neil Young at Massey Hall in 1971, showcasing an artist who’s reached the heights of their career reconnecting with the true spirit of their early days with just a guitar, their beautiful aching vocals and the fans who’d been with them from day one. Though Caesar had worked out a large setlist (traded around on Reddit after the show), the singer-songwriter was clearly deciding which songs to play on the fly. He took requests from the audience, including rarities he hasn’t played in years.
Caesar even debuted a new song, “Moon,” which ached with the same tender vulnerability as his best music. When he first played the venue, he was in his early 20s. Now he’s 30: “Not young anymore,” he said but happy to see all the young fans in attendance. He was worried he was going to sob on stage, but instead got it all out of his system on the way to the venue, he admitted, passing all the pivotal spots of his youth.
Khalid filled up Sankofa Square on June 12 for a concert during which his fans showed up in droves to sing along loudly to several of his biggest hits. With four dancers in tow and a set full of undeniable bangers, Khalid put on a true standout performance in the heart of downtown Toronto at Billboard Canada THE STAGE at NXNE, which doubled as the festival’s 30th birthday.
From “Location” to “Young Dumb & Broke,” Khalid excited the packed square with songs from throughout his career. He even swiftly caught a friendship bracelet that was tossed to him by a fan and proceeded to make a heart gesture back at them.
Khalid was all smiles throughout his performance and received a roaring response upon asking if there were any day one fans in the crowd who have been following him since his breakthrough debut album, American Teen.
The Beaches are about to graduate to arena status, playing their hometown Scotiabank Arena this fall. But first, they had a special concert to play for more than 500 people at the Mod Club. It was a true hometown show for the band; as Eliza Enman-McDaniel put it, “I live a seven-minute walk away.” It also served as a full circle moment for Leandra Earl, who first saw the group’s previous incarnation, Done With Dolls, at the venue well over a decade ago before joining the band herself.
The viral success of The Beaches’ 2023 hit “Blame Brett” was not a one-off. The Toronto band has used it to propel themselves towards major rock stardom, and you could tell at this show. Taking turns on a platform onstage, they flexed their arena moves and propelled their songs with a particular new wave rhythm. The band’s Sunday night (June 15) show was one of the last of the festival, and its single “Last Girls at the Party” off the upcoming album No Hard Feelings felt particularly fitting. As the fans chanted along with the countdown in the lyrics, it felt like a catharsis to the whole week of NXNE.
Find all of the NXNE 2025 highlights here.
In his first English-language interview, global superstar Diljit Dosanjh speaks with Panos A. Panay, President of the Grammys, about breaking language barriers and bringing Punjabi culture to the world. This powerful fireside chat explores Diljit’s rise, his connection with international audiences, and his cultural mission from India to sold-out arenas in Canada and beyond.
Polo G has settled a legal dispute over a planned European tour he cancelled in 2023, ending dueling contract and intellectual property theft claims between the Chicago rapper and a Dutch concert booking agency. The rapper (Taurus Bartlett) was in the middle of exchanging evidence via the legal discovery process with booking agency J. Noah […]
Drex, CEO of OVO, takes audiences through his journey from The Remix Project to leading one of Canada’s most influential brands in conversation with Tyrone Edwards. In this compelling talk, Drex reflects on pivotal moments including a life-changing call from Noah “40” Shebib and shares what it takes to grow from grassroots creative to CEO. […]
As demand for concerts appears strong heading into the busy summer months, Live Nation led nearly all music stocks this week by jumping 7.7% to $148.87. On Friday (June 20), the concert gian surpassed $150 per share for the first time since Feb. 25, and its intraday high of $150.81 was roughly $7 below its all-time high of $157.49 set on Feb. 24. Earlier in the week, Goldman Sachs increased its price target on the stock to $162 from $157, implying Live Nation shares have an 8.8% upside from Friday’s closing price.
The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI), which tracks the value of public music companies, finished the week ended June 20 down 2.4% to 2,853.13, its second consecutive weekly decline after nine straight gains. Despite large single-digit gains by Live Nation, MSG Entertainment and SM Entertainment, the index was pulled down due to losses by its two largest components: Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG). The week’s decline lowered the BGMI’s year-to-date gain to 34.3%, though it’s still well ahead of the Nasdaq (down 0.9%) and the S&P 500 (up 0.4%) on that metric.
Markets sagged in the latter half of the week as investors expressed concerns about tensions in the Middle East and thepotential impacts on global oil supplies and gas prices. The tech-heavy Nasdaq finished the week up 0.2% to 19,447.41 while the S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 5,976.97. In the U.K., the FTSE 100 dropped 0.9% to 8,774.65. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index jumped 4.4% and China’s SSE Composite Index dipped 0.5%.
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New York-based live entertainment company MSG Entertainment rose 5.6% to $38.44, bringing its year-to-date gain to 7.1%. Elsewhere, SM Entertainment stock saw a 4.5% improvement, taking its 2025 gain to 90.4% — the best amongst music stocks save for Netease Cloud Music, which has seen a 111.2% year-to-date gain.
With streaming stocks posting the biggest gains of the year, Spotify shares reached a record high of $728.80 on Wednesday (June 18) but stumbled over the next two days and finished the week down 0.5% to $707.42. That decline took Spotify’s year-to-date gain down to 51.6%.
UMG shares fell 4.2% to 26.73 euros, marking its largest one-week decline since falling 9.2% in the week ended April 4. At the same time, Bernstein restarted coverage of UMG shares this week. Analysts believe it’s a “best in class” music company, which “implies predictability, a capital allocation framework consistent with industry trends, and steady operating leverage,” analysts wrote. Bernstein set a 33 euro ($38.03) price target, implying 23% upside over Friday’s closing price.
Shares of music streaming company LiveOne fell 6.5% on Friday and finished the week down 10.0% after the company released earnings results for its fiscal fourth quarter and year ended March 31. Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue fell 37.6% to $19.3 million due primarily to a decrease in Slacker revenue. For the full year, revenue slipped 3.4% to $114.4 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 18.7% to $8.9 million.
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Given the enormous stakes at play, when business leaders talk about AI, people listen.
In May, Dario Amodei, CEO of AI firm Anthropic — who stands to personally benefit from companies’ widespread adoption of his technology — gained widespread attention after he predicted that AI will wipe out half of all entry-level jobs within five years. And in music, Sony Music CEO Rob Stringer, in an annual presentation to investors, said the company is “going to do deals for new music AI products this year” and that it has “actively engaged with more than 800 companies” on various AI-related initiatives.
Perhaps most notable, at least on the music front, are the comments made about AI in various interviews given by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek in recent years. In them, he’s provided insights into how Spotify, the most valuable and important music platform in the world, approaches the technology. Ek’s comments carry weight: While generative AI platforms such as Suno and Udio have stirred the greatest amount of fear over AI’s ability to undermine human creativity, the largest music platforms will play a huge role in how both creators and listeners engage with it.
Understanding Spotify’s approach to AI doesn’t always require reading tea leaves. Some of its products that use AI are out in the open. For example, in 2023, the company launched two major products that utilize the technology: a personalized AI-powered DJ and a voice translation tool for podcasters that can translate recordings into other languages. Still, given that the company’s attitudes and approaches to AI will affect Spotify’s 678 million monthly users and millions of creators, it’s worth examining Ek’s statements to see how Spotify intends to incorporate AI, embrace opportunities and address concerns. To that end, this author examined 10 podcast interviews, numerous online articles and a 2024 open letter Ek penned with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to get a better sense of how he views the technology. The one aspect about AI that Ek has talked about most often is its ability to help Spotify deliver to listeners the right audio — whether it’s music, a podcast or an audiobook — at a particular moment. He has described a mismatch between supply and demand, and how using new innovations can help better connect listeners and creators. Right now, Spotify users can search and find what they want 30% to 40% of the time, Ek told the New York Post in May, adding that he believes AI can improve that number. “So, we still have some ways to go before we’re at that point where we can just serve you that magical thing that you didn’t even know that you liked better than you can do yourself,” he explained. Most germane to people reading this article, the interviews show that Ek has consistently voiced a respect for creators and a belief that AI should enhance creativity, not replace it. That may not reassure songwriters who are receiving fewer royalties after Spotify adopted a lower royalty rate afforded to bundles in the U.S. Ek’s stated respect for artists also contrasts with the criticism Spotify has attracted — as detailed in the book Mood Machine and news reports — for paying flat fees for music tagged with fake artist names and inserted into playlists in order to reduce its royalty obligations. (Spotify denied claims that it’s created fake artists.) But in his public comments, Ek’s support for creators doesn’t waver, and there’s no indication that Spotify will follow in the footsteps of Tencent Music Entertainment, which offers music-making generative AI tools — it incorporates Chinese AI company DeepSeek’s large language model — and allows users to upload the resulting songs to its QQ Music platform. But AI can aid the creative process without stepping on creators’ rights, and Ek has talked with excitement about how AI tools can help lower barriers to entry and help musicians bring their visions to life. Although making music no longer requires learning and mastering an instrument, there’s still some technical know-how involved in producing music on digital audio workstations (DAWs). AI tools can reduce the complexity of DAWs and increase creators’ productivity. “We’re most likely going to have another order of magnitude of simplicity,” Ek said on the Acquired podcast in 2023. At the same time, Ek admits there are some frightening potential applications for AI. In 2023, he told CBS Morning that AI can make experiences in every field “better and easier,” while admitting that the notion that AI will be smarter than any human is “daunting to think about what the consequences might be for humanity.” And despite the potential for AI to unleash untold amounts of creativity, Ek admits that the ultimate outcome for creators is difficult to ascertain. “We want real humans to make it as artists and creators, but what is creativity in the future with AI? I don’t know,” he said in May at an open house at Spotify’s Stockholm headquarters, according to AFP. Just as lawmakers and music industry groups are pushing for legislation to protect artists’ names and likenesses, Ek has revealed concern about AI’s ability to replicate a musician’s voice. “Imagine if someone walked around claiming to be you, saying things that you’ve never said,” he told Jules Terpak in 2024. Spotify wouldn’t allow it on the platform without the artist’s permission, Ek said, citing Grimes — who launched a project in 2023 allowing fans to replicate her voice to use in their songs and evenly split the royalties — as an example of permissible use of an AI-generated name and likeness. “Of course, we will let her experiment, because she’s fine with it,” Ek said. Now that Spotify is in the audiobook business, the company’s use of AI will impact a wider swath of creators than just musicians. As Ek told The New York Post, Spotify “can play a role” in getting more books converted into audiobooks using AI — specifically smaller authors who can’t afford the expense of hiring someone to read them. Such affordable text-to-voice tools already exist and are offered to authors who would otherwise be locked out of the audiobook market. It makes sense: Just as Spotify was built on providing listeners the long tail of music, it doesn’t want its audiobook selection to be limited to major titles. If Spotify builds or buys such a tool, it could vastly increase the number of audiobooks available to its listeners. In the interview with CBS Morning, Ek quoted Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to explain how he finds inspiration in innovation. “He says that the future is already here,” Ek said during the 40-minute talk. “It’s just not evenly distributed.” What Ek means is that he looks around the world, sees what others are doing with technology and then considers how he can bring those innovations to a wider audience. And as the CEO of the world’s largest and most influential audio streaming service, how he chooses to approach AI will go a long way in determining — for better or worse — how millions of people create, consume and profit from music, podcasts and audiobooks in the future.
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Summer has officially arrived, and to celebrate the three-month long season, this year running from June 20 to Sept. 22, Billboard has curated the ultimate Latin playlist. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The nearly two-hour list has 35 songs that have been released in 2025 so far […]
Join Billboard Canada Woman of the Year (2024) and Billboard Canada’s Global Woman of the Year (2025) Charlotte Cardin in an intimate conversation with Tara Slone about breaking barriers in the music industry. From her early days on La Voix, to representing Canada as a bilingual artist on the global stage, Charlotte opens up about […]
Tyla talks about hosting the Kid’s Choice Awards, loving KATSEYE’s “Gnarly” and her excitement to watch their performance at the show, performing at Coachella, what fans can expect from her new music, why she wanted to be a part of The Smurfs soundtrack and more!
Tetris Kelly: Tyla is hosting the Kids Choice Awards, and before the big show, we got her to talk about new music and so much more.
Tyla: This is my first time not trying to think about it too much. Like, I’m literally just gonna be my vibe. You know, Tyla vibe. Fun, I love partying, so this is a warehouse party, so it’s my lane, so I’m just gonna have fun with the kids.
I’ve actually met [KATYSEYE]. Like, a while ago, I was shooting for Vogue, and they came to me, and they’re like, “Hi, we are new group, KATSEYE,” and they wanted to sing “Water” for me. And, like, they literally the cutest group … So, yeah, they’re cute. I’m excited to see their performance.
Coachella was insane. It was my first time performing there, so that was really fun. Like, especially the second week, I was vibing, yeah, and now I have some more in Europe and everything.
I literally love The Smurfs and Rihanna being Smurfette. So I’m happy that I’m a part of that one.
Keep watching for more!
