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21 Nov 2023

Anthony Brown & Group Therapy Earn Fifth Gospel Airplay Leader With ‘Speak Your Name’

Anthony Brown & Group Therapy reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Gospel Airplay chart (dated Nov. 25) with “Speak Your Name.” The single increased by 2% in plays during the Nov. 10-16 tracking week, according to Luminate.

Brown solely wrote the song and co-produced it with Justin Savage.

“Every artist creates music with the hope that their song will make impact, that it will reach the ears and hearts of those who support us,” Brown tells Billboard. “Having a No. 1 single at Billboard is such a big deal. It never gets old. Thank you to every radio partner across the country that helped us to reach this milestone again. I am grateful beyond words.”

Brown & Group Therapy add their fifth Gospel Airplay No. 1 (among nine top 10s), as well as the act’s fourth in a row. It follows “Help!,” which led for a week in August 2021; “This Week” (two weeks, July-August 2020); and “Blessings on Blessings” (three, September-October 2019).

Brown & Group Therapy first led with “Worth” for 24 frames starting in September 2015. It’s the seventh-longest-leading No. 1 in the history of the chart, which launched in March 2005. (Marvin Sapp’s “Never Would Have Made It” ruled for a record 45 weeks starting in August 2007.)

With four straight Gospel Airplay No. 1s, Brown & Group Therapy tie Tamela Mann for the third-longest active streak of uninterrupted leaders. Todd Dulaney has logged six straight and counting, while Jonathan McReynolds is up to five.

Brown & Group Therapy are currently touring with Fred Hammond, Deitrick Haddon and Dulaney. They’ll stop next in Houston on Nov. 30.

21 Nov 2023

J Balvin Is Finally Sharing What Happened at That Dinner With Britney Spears

It’s been a month since J Balvin and Maluma had the Internet buzzing when they posed for an Instagram photo with Britney Spears at a New York City restaurant.

“We told her how proud we are about her,” the Colombian singer revealed to E! News this week of his and Maluma’s time with the pop star. “You know, like she’s part of us, and we were in love with her. No matter what position you are in music you gotta give respect for what they have done.”

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He continued, “I saw her in really good spirit.” J Balvin also noted that he’d “absolutely” get in the studio with Spears to record a collaboration.

“Who else is like me in love?” Maluma captioned his October snap in Spanish. Balvin, who hugs Spears in the photo, responded in the comments: “Oh God hahahahahahahaha I can’t get over it.”

Spears, meanwhile, didn’t immediately recognize the duo. Included in a video of her trip to New York City, the 41-year-old pop star shared the photo of her seated at a table with two so-called strangers. “Quick trip to NY… I had no idea who these boys were at this restaurant,” she captioned the since-deleted post.

“HOLY S–_ it just hit me,” Britney later captioned a selfie of the trio together “I can’t believe I met these 2 !!! Holy smokes.”

Spears is also fresh off the release of her long-awaited memoir The Woman in Me. You can order the memoir at various retailers including Amazon (also available on Kindle), Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart and Bookshop.

21 Nov 2023

Inside Spotify’s Plans to Grow Its Share of the Multi-Billion Dollar Music Merch Business

Over the last several years, artists, record labels and streaming services have been doubling down on one of the longtime staples of the music, and particularly live music, business: merch. And there’s good reason for that: As Spotify’s global head of music, Jeremy Erlich, tells Billboard, the company estimates that the music merch business is worth around $8 billion globally. And with streaming now far and away the dominant form of music consumption, merchandise has increasingly become the go-to way to express fandom at a time when purchasing music has become a decidedly niche activity.

In recent months, Amazon Music has been doubling down on its merch efforts, partnering with the likes of Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Rauw Alejandro and Doja Cat on exclusive merch related to tours (and, in Carey’s case, the year-end holidays). Over the past month, Spotify has also expanded deeper into the merch business — both with a new, dedicated hub for artist merch, which it announced earlier this year, and a new capsule collection that debuted in the past few weeks featuring exclusive one-off drops by the likes of Peso Pluma, Rosalía, Daft Punk, Tyler, the Creator and Tems.

This marks the latest foray into the merch space for streaming market leader Spotify, which has offered artists various ways to promote their own merchandise on their artist pages for several years via partnerships with Merchbar and Shopify. The capsule collections, which are being white-labeled through a partnership with Sony-owned merch company Ceremony of Roses, represent the latest evolution of the Spotify strategy: Erlich tells Billboard they’re “part of a pyramid of merch offers and services that we can provide for artists and fans,” aligning with the company’s stated goal of helping artists make a living from their work.

“Now that we have the merch hub, there’s a destination for people to go [to], and what we’re testing out now is the ability to create unique pieces for the fans and super fans, which have elements of streetwear culture with drops and limited quantities and more ways for people to feel they’re getting a unique experience and a unique product,” Erlich says. “This is step two of a multi-step journey; it’s a pretty limited drop with only five artists, limited quantities, but it’s also helping us really learn the best ways to partner with artists, but also the best ways to contact our users and help them enjoy this.”

The capsule collection was intentionally limited to five artists, all of whom (with the exception of Pluma) had a pre-existing relationship with Ceremony of Roses. That allowed Spotify to test-drive the new feature in a limited capacity with a collection of artists who have a distinct image and track record in the fashion-merch world. Spotify is also using its Fans First tech to drive the drops, which allows an artist’s biggest fans, in terms of listening engagement, first dibs at the exclusive collections — a tactic the company has employed with ticket offerings and other exclusives in the past. Erlich says the company is trying to establish how to use, but not over-use, the Fans First feature “to find out what works in what ways.”

The collections were jointly designed through a collaborative partnership between the artists, Spotify and Ceremony of Roses, the latter of which handled the logistics of production and shipping. As Ehrlich noted, they’re also tapping into the rarities and exclusives elements of streetwear culture, which he acknowledges is “not necessarily native to what Spotify does normally.” It’s what he sees as part of the learning process as Spotify continues to deepen its forays into the merch space.

“Our plan is to go do this again in Q1 with another set of artists, maybe in a more fashion-facing line, and we’ll have learned a lot by then,” Ehrlich says. “It’ll become our primary method to drop exclusive merch throughout 2024 while we find ways to integrate commerce better in-platform. In 2025, hopefully, you’ll see much more integrated and seamless commerce on-platform around merch. And from the moment that we do that, then we can turbocharge the scale with which we do it.”

For Spotify, the merch space offers an additional revenue stream for both artists and itself, as it builds on the back of its first quarterly profit in over a year in Q3, as price hikes and user growth helped tip it into the black. Adding more integration into its sales offerings — ironic as it is for a company that is so associated with helping the music business move on from a music sales model — is what Erlich sees as the present and future of the hybrid model.

“Whether it’s tickets, concerts, physical goods, fans want to express fandom in different ways and that’s a great thing. And the ability to use our streaming platform and data to identify fandom and be much more targeted in what you’re offering is the competitive advantage that we have given our scale and knowledge,” he says. “So I’m excited for us to do more a la carte, but it’s around this expression of fandom rather than access to music.”

21 Nov 2023

Bun B, Scarface & More Talk Houston’s Honeyland Festival

Honeyland Festival

Source: iOne Digital / Urban One

Houston’s Honeyland Festival went down November 11 & 12 in Crown Festival Park and it was a heaping helping of Black excellence in the food, beverages, music, and art industries.

Urban One was proud to be an Official Media Partner and was on the ground to document the festivities that included Texas rap legend Bun B on hand to serve up his Trill Burgers to attendees.

“Everybody here is a Black vendor, on some level. It’s targeted for our demographic, but it’s by our demographic,” said Bun B of the festival.

Some of the acts who performed included Coco Jones, Tobe Nwigwe, Summer Walker, Miguel and Chlöe Bailey. Urban One spoke to a few Hip-Hop legends including Scarface, Slim Thug and Z-Ro, and Paul Well, besides the aforementioned Bun B.

Watch them discuss participating in the Honeyland Festival and what it means to put on for Houston in the video above.

21 Nov 2023

Back to December: 12 Songs About the 12th Month of the Year

Featuring Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, George Michael and more.

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift performs on stage at the 2010 American Music Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on November 21, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.

Mazur AMA 2010/WireImage

Christmas music pretty much has a monopoly over the December song market, meaning songs that don’t necessarily scream “Fa la la la la” can be overlooked during the final month of the year.

But December is so much more than the holiday season, and there’s a treasure trove of music to prove it. There’s Sara Bareilles’ “December,” on which she sings about the all-too-familiar end-of-year loneliness many folks face as the new year approaches. On “Back to December,” Taylor Swift poetically wishes she could turn back time to the month she broke a certain someone’s heart, her own heart having defrosted too late from the winter cold. Side note: many of music’s biggest legends were born in December — including Bareilles and Swift as well as Jay-Z, all three of whom are featured on this list.

That’s not to say there’s any shame in the Christmas song game, though. The commercial holiday is rightfully a staple of the calendar year’s 12th month, which is why Xmas hits continue to dominate the December charts year after year. So in the good name of mistletoe, gingerbread and chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Christmastime odes to December from the likes of Ariana Grande and the late George Michael are also included.

Whether you need a break from “All I Want For Christmas” or “Jingle Bell Rock,” or you’re just looking for something more subdued to celebrate the final month of the year in all its cold, contemplative glory, keep reading to see Billboard‘s top December song picks below:

21 Nov 2023

WAR Declares 50th Anniversary Celebration of ‘The World Is a Ghetto’: ‘We Shot Rhythms and Harmonies’

Among the music gems being released on Record Store Day Black Friday (Nov. 24) is WAR’s The World Is a Ghetto: 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition. Billboard’s top-selling album of 1973 has been remastered and repackaged as a deluxe, five-LP boxed set curated by founding WAR member/lead singer Lonnie Jordan, the band’s longtime producer Jerry Goldstein and Jeremy Levine. 

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The boxed set — limited to only 4000 copies — is comprised of the original 1972 album, featuring the gold-certified Hot 100 hits “The World Is a Ghetto” and “The Cisco Kid,” six previously unreleased session bonus tracks and unreleased “the making of” recordings that reveal the origins of the album’s six tracks. The original album (which topped the Billboard 200 and R&B charts) and bonus tracks are pressed on two gold-vinyl LPs; the making of tracks on three black-vinyl LPs. “War Is Coming,” one of the bonus tracks, will also be available digitally on Black Friday. The entire project is being released through Rhino and Avenue Records/Far Out Productions.

The 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition is a fitting insight and tribute to one of the most seminal bands in music. Hailing from Long Beach, Calif., the multi-racial group’s visionary fusion of R&B, funk, rock, Latin, jazz and reggae was embraced by producer Jerry Goldstein and the Animals’ frontman Eric Burdon. The latter joined WAR on its first two albums in 1970, Eric Burdon Declares “War” (spinning off the group’s first Hot 100 hit “Spill the Wine”) and The Black-Man’s Burdon. The band etched its solo status in 1971 with the All Day Music, charting the top 20 R&B hits “Slippin’ Into Darkness” and the title track. Then came The World Is a Ghetto.

“They practically invented their own genre while addressing race, class issues and more,” noted Extra senior music correspondent Adam Weissler when he recently moderated “An Evening with WAR” with Jordan and Goldstein at the Grammy Museum. “They had people on their feet every night.”

“They had a great version of [the Rolling Stones’] ‘Paint It Black,’” recalled Goldstein of first hearing the band play in the late ‘60s. “But I didn’t know what to do with them.” That’s when Goldstein called Burdon and said, “But I have a hunch that you might. And Eric got it right away.”

Lonnie Jordan, Jerry Goldstein, Adam Weissler, An Evening With WAR

Lonnie Jordan and Jerry Goldstein speak with Adam Weissler at An Evening With WAR at The GRAMMY Museum on October 25, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.

Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images

Another Goldstein hunch also proved prescient for the 50th anniversary set. “I learned to record these guys every time they jammed,” he added. “They were the original super jam band.” Further into the museum chat, Jordan and Goldstein shared that the vibe while recording the original The World Is a Ghetto was “incredible,” with only 29 days elapsing between playing the first note to mastering the project.

Along with The World Is a Ghetto and All Day Music, WAR counts 17 gold, platinum or multi-platinum albums in its catalog. Those include Deliver the Word (“Me and Baby Brother”), Why Can’t We Be Friends? (“Low Rider,” the title track) and Platinum Jazz (“War Is Coming,” “L.A. Sunshine”). The aforementioned “War Is Coming” and “L.A. Sunshine” are among the previously unreleased bonus tracks featured in the anniversary package that later evolved into future WAR songs.

Describing WAR as a “universal street band,” Jordan noted that the group “refused to be political. We just wanted to let people know what was going on outside of their box. We were their internet then.”

Over the years, WAR’s music has been sampled or covered by a diverse range of artists. For example, “The Cisco Kid” has been sampled by Janet Jackson (“You”) and Method Man, Redman and Cypress Hill (“Cisco Kid”) and covered by Willie Nelson and Los Lonely Boys. The Geto Boys sampled “The World Is a Ghetto.”

Currently, three of WAR’s surviving original core members — Howard E. Scott, Lee Oskar and Harold Brown — perform as the Lowrider Band. Jordan continues to perform under the WAR moniker. 

“It’s still enduring music,” Jordan told the Grammy Museum audience. “What’s happening now happened back in the day. We were waging war against war, but we didn’t shoot bullets. We shot rhythms and harmonies.” 

21 Nov 2023

Bill Burr Clowns MAGA Trolls For Crying About His Wife Flipping Off Donald Trump

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Bill Burr Defends His Wife After Flipping Off Donald Trump

Source: Jason LaVeris / Getty / Bill Burr / Nia Renée Hill

Bill Burr had time for the MAGA trolls BIG MAD that his wife blessed Donald Trump with the middle finger at a UFC event in NYC.

Spotted on Crooks & Liars, comedian/actor Bill Burr discussed the MAGA faithful still whining about his wife, Nia Renée Hill, flipping off the disgraced former president at UFC 295 on a recent episode of The Rich Eisen Show.

Bill Burr defended his queen, noting, telling the same MAGA trolls who always say “F*** Joe Biden” they can’t have it both ways.

“Those Trump guys — they’re always going, ‘Ah, You’re snowflakes, F your feelings,’ and all of that,” said Burr. “And then you make fun of Trump, they’re like, ‘Oh my God, it’s so disrespectful!’ You’re saying, ‘F Joe Biden!’ It’s like, you can’t have it both ways!”

Burr also broke down what happened in his own words, “The guy walked in the arena. Everybody cheered. She gave him the finger. Nobody got arrested. That’s why this country’s great. Everybody expressed themselves. Can we all be adults? I mean, I don’t know about you, but I came here to go to the fights. I didn’t know I was going to the Republican National Convention.”

Everyone Loved Seeing Nia Renée Hill Flipping Off Trump

Burr’s wife, Nia Renée Hill, was garnering plenty of praise after hitting the twice-impeached president with the middle finger.

“Didn’t watch UFC last night, but I’m pretty sure Bill Burr’s wife, Nia Renee Hill, won,” a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, read.

Another X user wrote, “Shout out to actress, writer, & producer Nia Renee Hill @niasalterego married to comedian @billburrTrumpers, your misogyny, racism, & hypocrisy are showing. You love your ‘Fuck Biden’ flags on lawns & trucks in front of kids. But complain when a woman does this?” 

Salute to Bill Burr for standing up for his Black queen.

—

Photo: Jason LaVeris / Getty

21 Nov 2023

Daddy Yankee to Livestream His Farewell Tour’s Final Show

Daddy Yankee is closing out his farewell tour, La Última Vuelta, with a series of four back-to-back shows, dubbed “La Meta,” in his beloved Puerto Rico kicking off Nov. 30. The last show, however, will be live-streamed globally.

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Taking place Sunday, Dec. 3, at the Coliseo, the final concert, which, according to a press release, will be a “totally new show,” will be able to be streamed by fans who purchase a $20 ticket. The live stream event will be powered by streaming company Kiswe with a “state-of-the-art technology will guarantee that fans worldwide experience the passion and thrill of Daddy Yankee’s final show.”

Yankee’s La Última Vuelta trek, which kicked off last year following his retirement announcement, landed at No. 13 on the Top 40 Tours of 2022 with a total gross of over $125 million, according to last year’s Year-End Boxscore charts.

The Puerto Rican hitmaker announced March 2022 that he was retiring and would culminate his decades-long career with a world tour and his new album Legendaddy, which he dropped that same month. The set peaked at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Latin Albums chart (dated April 9, 2022).

“This career, that has been a marathon, I finally see the finish line. Now I get to enjoy what you all have given me. They say that I made this genre global but it was you guys that gave me the key to open the doors to make this the biggest genre in the world,” Daddy Yankee said in a statement then. “I confess that it’s the biggest treasure I can have in my career. I always worked so I didn’t fail you, so I didn’t get into problems, with much discipline, to inspire the new generation to be leaders. Today, I’m announcing my retirement from music by giving you my best production and my best concert tour.”

Born Raymond Ayala, his career exploded with 2004’s breakthrough hit “Gasolina,” launching a genre that altered the sound and business of Latin music and became a global phenomenon.

“This historic night will mark the end of a three-decade journey for one of the most iconic Latin American artists of our time,” said Glenn Booth, CEO of Kiswe. “We are thrilled that we have been chosen to help millions of fans experience Daddy Yankee’s final performance on a touring stage and witness his heartfelt farewell.”

21 Nov 2023

Tracy Chapman, Hillary Lindsey, George Clinton & More 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame Nominees (Full List)

Less than two weeks after she won a CMA Award for song of the year for her classic “Fast Car,” Tracy Chapman was nominated to join the 2024 class of inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF). Twelve performing songwriters and 10 non-performing songwriters are nominated. Three songwriters from each of those categories will be inducted at the 2024 SHOF Induction & Awards Gala in New York City in June 2024.

Hillary Lindsey, who was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022, is nominated here, as is Dean Dillon, a 2002 inductee into the Nashville SHOF.

Seven of this year’s SHOF nominees are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – George Clinton (Parliament/Funkadelic went into the Rock Hall in 1997); Donald Fagen & Walter Becker (Steely Dan was honored by the Rock Hall in 2001); Debbie Harry, Chris Stein & Clem Burke (Blondie got the Rock Hall nod in 2006); Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills & Michael Stipe (R.E.M. was honored by the Rock Hall in 2007); Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson (Heart was saluted by the Rock Hall in 2013); Chuck D and Flavor Flav (Public Enemy went into the Rock Hall in 2013); and Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons & Michael McDonald (The Doobie Brothers got the Rock Hall nod in 2020).

Becker, who died in 2017, is this year’s only posthumous nominee.

Kenny Loggins and Dean Pitchford, who collaborated on Loggins’ 1984 smash “Footloose,” a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, are separately nominated.

Fourteen songwriters are nominated as individuals. Five two-member teams are nominated, as are two three-member teams and one four-member team (the former members of R.E.M.)

A songwriter with a notable catalog of songs qualifies for induction 20 years after the first significant commercial release of a song. Eligible voting members have until midnight ET on Dec. 27 to turn in ballots, with their choices of three nominees from each category.

Here’s the complete list of SHOF’s 2024 nominees. The SHOF supplied the five song titles that are listed after each songwriter’s name. The organization stresses “Please note that the five songs listed after each nominee are merely a representative sample of their extensive catalogs.” In many cases here, that’s an understatement.

Performing Songwriters

Bryan Adams – “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” “Heaven,” “All For Love,” “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?,” “Summer of ’69”

Randy Bachman & Burton Cummings – “These Eyes,” “American Woman,” “Laughing,” “No Time,” “No Sugar Tonight”

Debbie Harry, Chris Stein & Clem Burke p/k/a Blondie – “Call Me,” “Heart of Glass,” “Rapture,” “One Way or Another,” “Sunday Girl”

Tracy Chapman – “Fast Car,” “Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution,” “Give Me One Reason,” “Baby Can I Hold You,” “Sing for You”

George Clinton – “Atomic Dog,” “Flashlight,” “(Not Just) Knee Deep,” “P-Funk,” “Give Up the Funk”

Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons & Michael McDonald p/k/a Doobie Brothers – “Listen to the Music,” “Long Train Runnin,’” “What a Fool Believes,” “China Grove,” “Black Water”

David Gates – “Everything I Own,” “Make It With You,” “Baby I’m-a Want You,” “The Guitar Man,” “If”

Ann Wilson & Nancy Wilson p/k/a Heart – “Barracuda,” “Crazy on You,” “Dog and Butterfly,” “Straight On,” “Even It Up”

Kenny Loggins – “Danny’s Song,” “Footloose,” “Celebrate Me Home,” “Return to Pooh Corner,” “What a Fool Believes”

Carlton Douglas Ridenhour p/k/a Chuck D, William Jonathan Drayton p/k/a Flavor Flav, p/k/a Public Enemy – “Fight the Power,” “Bring the Noise,” “Don’t Believe the Hype,” “Can’t Truss It,” Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos”

Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills & Michael Stipe, p/k/a R.E.M. – “Losing My Religion,” “Everybody Hurts,” “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” “Radio Free Europe,” “The One I Love”

Donald Fagan & Walter Becker p/k/a Steely Dan – “Reelin’ in the Years,” “My Old School,” “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” “Black Friday,” “Kid Charlemagne”

Non-Performing Songwriters

L. Russell Brown – “Sock It to Me – Baby!,” “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree,” “C’mon Marianne,” “Knock Three Times,” “Use It Up and Wear It Out”

Dean Dillon – “Tennessee Whiskey,” “Ocean Front Property,” “Here For a Good Time,” “The Chair,” “I’m Alive”

Dennis Lambert & Brian Potter – “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got),” “Don’t Pull Your Love,” “Nightshift,” “One Tin Soldier (Theme from Billy Jack),” “We Built This City”

Hillary Lindsey – “Jesus Take the Wheel,” “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” “Girl Crush,” “Always Remember Us This Way,” “Million Reasons”

Tony Macaulay – “Baby Now That I’ve Found You,” “Build Me Up Buttercup,” “Don’t Give Up On Us,” “Last Night I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All,” “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)”

Timothy Mosley p/k/a Timbaland – “Sexy Back,” “Get Yer Freak On,” “Pony,” “Big Pimpin,’” “The Way I Are”

Roger Nichols – “We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Rainy Days and Mondays,” “I Won’t Last a Day Without You,” “Out in the Country,” “Times of Your Life”

Dean Pitchford – “Footloose,” “Fame,” “Holding Out for a Hero,” “All the Man That I Need,” “Let’s Hear It for the Boy”

Maurice Starr – “Candy Girl,” “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever),” “Is This the End,” “Step by Step,” “Popcorn Love”

Narada Michael Walden – “How Will I Know,” “Freeway of Love,” “Who’s Zoomin’ Who,” “I Don’t Wanna Cry,” “I Shoulda Loved Ya”

21 Nov 2023

Spotify Plans to Pay 80% Less For Rain Sounds and White Noise

Functional content — think rain noises, whale sounds, recordings of wind rustling the leaves and the like — will be significantly devalued under Spotify‘s new royalty system: Plays of this audio will generate one fifth of the royalties generated by a play of a musical track, according to a source with knowledge of the streaming service’s new policy.

In response to a request for comment, a Spotify spokesperson pointed Billboard to the streaming service’s blog post from Tuesday (Nov. 21). The blog notes that, “over the coming months,” Spotify will “work with licensors to value noise streams at a fraction of the value of music streams.” The blog does not say what the fractional amount will be. 

Spotify’s decision to count functional content at 20% of the rate for music tracks is the culmination of nearly a year’s worth of bad press for rain sounds and the like. While this type of audio is often used for the seemingly innocuous purpose of relaxing after a long and stressful day, Spotify wrote on its blog that the space is “sometimes exploited by bad actors who cut their tracks artificially short — with no artistic merit — in order to maximize royalty-bearing streams.”

This initiative, says Spotify’s blog post, is intended to free up “extra money to go back into the royalty pool for honest, hard working artists.”

As a result, some of the most powerful executives in music have launched a sustained assault on rain and its various non-musical cousins over the course of 2023. “It can’t be that an Ed Sheeran stream is worth exactly the same as a stream of rain falling on the roof,” Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl told analysts in May. 

Two months later, Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge told analysts that streaming services must ensure that “real artists don’t have their royalties diluted by noise and other content that has no meaningful engagement from music fans.” He later amped up the rhetoric by describing companies that upload this content as “merchants of garbage” that were “flooding the platform with content that has absolutely no engagement with fans, doesn’t help churn, doesn’t merchandise great music and professional artists.”

When UMG rolled out a new royalty system with Deezer in September, the streaming service said it would replace “non-artist noise content” with its own functional music, while also excluding this audio from the royalty pool. “The sound of rain or a washing machine is not as valuable as a song from your favorite artist streamed in HiFi,” Deezer CEO Jeronimo Folgueira said. Deezer said plays of rain, washing machines and other non-music noise content counts for roughly 2% of all streams.

Spotify did not provide a comparable number in its blog post. It is taking one other step to limit the impact of functional content on the royalty pool: To generate royalties, a functional audio track must be longer than two minutes.

“These policies will right-size the revenue opportunity for noise uploaders,” Spotify wrote. “Currently, the opportunity is so large that uploaders flood streaming services with undifferentiated noise recordings, hoping to attract enough search traffic to generate royalties.”