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08 Nov 2023

TikTok Can Boost Streams — But Can It Jump-Start Ticket Sales, Too?

When artists announce a new tour, ticket sales tend to exhibit a pattern: An initial surge of fan enthusiasm followed by a gradual decline in interest. 

So, Tim Collins, who manages the Swedish artist Benjamin Ingrosso, was surprised to see demand for tickets to see his client increase throughout his summer tour. “At the beginning of the tour, we hadn’t sold out,” Collins says. “With every show we did, interest in him became bigger. And it was mainly because of how TikTok talked about him throughout the tour.”

TikTok marketing has been a central part of promoting music for more than three years at this point, almost entirely reshaping record labels’ strategy. When the platform started to regularly mint hit singles in 2020, however, the concert business was mostly shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic and shows didn’t get the same sort of attention. 

This year, though, TikTok has become the new frontier for marketing tours. “Traditional promoters are starting to really wake up to it,” says Sanu Hariharan, co-head of music partnerships at Creed Media, a marketing company focused on Gen Z. 

“It’s opened up a new revenue model for me,” adds Johnny Cloherty, co-founder of the digital marketing company Songfluencer. “A lot of the heavier touring acts are interested in, ‘I’ll pay a handful of creators to come to my VIP section to film content with me backstage to help sell tickets.’ We can get influencers to talk about the merch and do promotion that way.”

What took so long? “In general, live music lags behind the rest of marketing,” according to William Van Orsdel, chief growth officer of the live promotions company Breakaway.  “Larger companies out there can’t change the way they’ve been doing things because they’ve always been doing them that way” — relying on tried-and-true techniques like print advertisements, billboards and posters. 

Sure enough, Cloherty says when he pitched live music companies on using modern TikTok marketing techniques in 2019 and 2020, he “got laughed out of the room.” “People were like, ‘No way are you going to do this,’” he recalls. But, Van Orsdel continues, “you can’t market in just one silo and expect to be successful.” 

The saturation of the post-COVID touring market has also spurred artist managers and event promotion companies to try new concert-marketing techniques. Prices are high; competition for fans is fierce. “The interest in seeing shows is bigger than ever before,” Collins says. “But at the same time, the financial situation is worse than ever before in regards to what you actually can afford to go to. To win a fan, you really have to stand out.”

On top of that, labels have started to see that a tour with buzz leads to streaming gains for the artist on the road, which ultimately helps the record company’s bottom line. Labels don’t participate in artists’ touring income — unless the artist has signed a “360 deal” — which often disincentivizes them from investing in their acts’ live business. “What they’ve realized is that there’s a correlation between having a tour or a set of shows that are relevant and streaming,” Hariharan says. 

“Touring goes hand in hand with cultural significance,” adds Andy Serrao, president of Fearless Records. “The moments that are created on touring or in festivals, those don’t just happen and go away. We don’t participate in our artists’ touring revenue, but what we can do to drive the rest of our marketing going into releasing new music is huge.”

Those “moments” from a show depend a lot on the charisma of the artist on stage, of course. “If people are seeing you live and not filming you, that’s a bad sign,” Serrao says. 

But marketers can work to make sure that anything exciting that happens is talked about by as many people as possible. “Having influencers at the show is the most important piece of it, because they are really essentially megaphones for the tour,” says Laura Spinelli, digital marketing manager at Shopkeeper Management. “Within the past year, this has become something that we’ve devoted a more significant budget to” for artists like Miranda Lambert and Tenille Townes. 

Creed Media recently ran a two-week campaign in Europe for the group Chase Atlantic, using influencers to “create and convey a sense of hype and FOMO around the experience of going to their show,” Hariharan explains. “We wanted to do this early in the tour so that we’re getting consistent relevance and engagement as the tour progresses.” The most successful post — about a guy who takes his girlfriend to see Chase Atlantic — earned nearly 3 million views. 

Demand for this sort of marketing is on the rise. “It feels very similar right now to a few years ago when we were trying to convince our label partners to really see the value in influencer marketing for their releases,” Hariharan. “Talking about what we can do for live and touring is a fresh new thing.” 

“I’ve gone to a lot of country labels and management companies with this,” Cloherty adds. “Entering 2023 marketing anything without an influencer plan doesn’t seem like it’s very holistic, and that’s especially true if you’re trying to get a younger audience.”

08 Nov 2023

How Gospel Music’s Message of Hope and Unity Could Define the 2023 CMA Awards

Think of it as three chords and the gospel truth.

The most interesting, and most under-recognized, thread among finalists for the 57th annual Country Music Association Awards, airing tonight (Nov. 8) on ABC, is the sound of gospel choirs. For the first time in history, the single of the year category features two such groups: The historic Fisk Jubilee Singers appear in the background of Jelly Roll’s song about a spiritual crossroads, “Need a Favor,” and a makeshift choir arranged by Nashville soul singer Jason Eskridge underscores the power of redemption in the back half of HARDY’s murder ballad “wait in the truck,” featuring Lainey Wilson.

In addition, The War and Treaty, whose sound is loaded with church-y timbre, picked up their first nomination for vocal duo of the year. The genre, it appears, is circling back to its unbroken origins and reclaiming the sound of gospel at a time when society is particularly divided.

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“I think most people inside their hearts are crying out for something to ease all of the anger,” says producer Brent Maher (The Judds, Dottie West). “How it all lined up for this [awards] show — that could be coincidence. But I don’t think there’s any doubt that there is a need for that.”

Maher has had a hand in country’s gospel trend. As producer of A Tribute to the Judds, he enlisted BMI executive/arranger Shannon Sanders to assemble the Fisk Singers for Jelly Roll’s closing duet with K. Michelle, “Love Can Build a Bridge.”

But there’s plenty more spiritual sound to go around. Miko Marks and the Resurrectors employ the Fisk ensemble on “Jubilee”; Elle King’s album Come Get Your Wife features a pair of songs with an Eskridge-led choir, “Try Jesus” and “Love Go By”; Cody Jinks’ “Outlaws and Mustangs” slides a choir into its final minute; and producer Tony Brown (George Strait, Reba McEntire) compiled a Gaither Tribute album, paying homage to late Southern gospel icon Bill Gaither in a 10-track project that has Ronnie Dunn leading a choir on “Because He Lives.” For extra emphasis, The Oak Ridge Boys have launched their farewell tour, preparing to cap a successful country career that hinged on harmonies founded in their gospel origins.

In country’s formative years, the genre’s artists tended to include gospel segments in their shows, or record entire faith-filled albums. That approach offset the drinking and cheating themes that were also prominent in the format’s lexicon, demonstrating the push and pull at work in its creative soul. “Country music and R&B have never shied away from the fact that the dark and the light always run close to each other,” Brown says.

That’s apparent in both “Need a Favor” and “wait in the truck,” which feature desperate characters dealing with addiction and murder, respectively. It’s appropriate that the Fisk Singers are part of this moment: the group was established over 150 years ago to raise money and awareness for the historically Black Fisk University, established during Reconstruction. The Fisk group existed decades before the country format coalesced, and its foundational role in Nashville’s development as a music center is one of the reasons why Jelly Roll chose to perform with them on the single, as well as on “Love Can Build a Bridge.”

“He really wanted that to happen,” says Sanders. “It meant something to him to be a son of Music City, to have the Fisk Jubilee Singers — that was on his creative bucket list. That’s what made it that much more satisfactory.”

Adding to the satisfaction of the moment is the subtle message rendered by the nominations. Morgan Wallen’s 2021 incident in which he used a racial slur, and Jason Aldean’s current single, “Try That in a Small Town,” with a video that led many to view the song’s vigilante message as bigoted, contributed to a widespread belief that country is unwelcoming. Mickey Guyton, Kane Brown and Darius Rucker have all fielded racist attacks on social media, and in 11 Minutes, a Paramount+ documentary about the massacre at Las Vegas’ Route 91 Harvest festival, Black concertgoer Jonathan Smith recalled another attendee dismissing him: “I didn’t know your kind liked this music.”

But that message runs counter to the stated interests of the industry at large, which has signed more artists of color and developed several programs to more quickly boost minority creators and executives. The choirs provide aural support for that position. “Country’s evolving to this more inclusive place,” Sanders says.

Eskridge — who has toured with the likes of Lyle Lovett, Zac Brown Band and blues artist Jonny Lang — agrees. “I’ve been the only Black dude in a group of 60,000 people, and those groupings of people are not indicative of the negativity that you’re seeing. It’s always been primarily a very loving and a very accepting atmosphere,” he says. “The negativity always gets the loudest voice, but I don’t necessarily believe that that’s the norm.”

The recording industry marketed country and the blues separately beginning in the 1920s, but the two forms grew out of the same Southern soil. Black performers — particularly Country Music Hall of Fame member DeFord Bailey — helped create the informal, back-porch sound of early country, and country artists such as Hank Williams, Bill Monroe and Johnny Cash were trained by Black musicians. The late Carl Perkins, who can be heard singing and playing on the Judds tribute album, recalled gospel figuring into life as a sharecropper in racially blended West Tennessee.

“It wasn’t a whole bunch of white people picking cotton together in one field and all kinds of Black people in another field,” Maher says. “They were all mixed together. And, he said, when [they] would take a quick lunch break, it’s not like ‘I’m going to my house, you go to your house.’ They would just congregate somewhere, and pretty soon, somebody started singing a tune. They’d all be singing, and most of them were gospel songs.”

The gospel story is one of transformation, and the return of gospel’s sound to country is a natural reaction to division, outward evidence of a desire to heal long-held grievances and to bolster community. Gospel allows people to hear pain from the past, asserts The War and Treaty’s Michael Trotter Jr., “in the voices that [have] long been gatekeepers of the soul.”

But, he adds, it also helps them “remember the feeling of surety, peace, love — and that feeling, above all, that encourages us to drive on, which is hope! Hope belongs in country music, and that’s what Tanya and I are here for.”

It’s not a mistake that the sound of gospel is most evident in quartets or full-blown choirs. The message seeks out harmony, and harmony only comes through multiple voices working together.

“Our world is a crazy place these days,” says Eskridge. “I think anytime something promotes or echoes unity, I think people are probably drawn to it a little more.”

That’s enough to explain the current rise of gospel. “Need a Favor,” “wait in the truck” and “Love Can Build a Bridge” all represent individuals aspiring to a higher calling, and the choirs bring that home. “Putting a gospel choir on something is like putting strings on a song to make it sound bigger,” Brown says. “It represents something bigger than you.”

08 Nov 2023

BTS’ Jung Kook Stops Traffic For Spirited ‘Today Show’ Performance of Solo Hits ‘Seven,’ ‘3D’ and ‘Standing Next to You’

BTS‘ Jung Kook took his solo act to the Today Show on Wednesday morning (Nov. 8), stopping traffic all around the plaza outside the show’s New York studios for a live performance of songs form his just-released debut solo album, Golden. The program’s hosts said JK drew one of the biggest crowds they’ve ever had, just short of the massive 15,000 who turned out for Karol G in July. And, in keeping with ARMY’s dedication to the K-pop superstar’s members, some in the crowd had begun queueing up for the morning gig on Monday to secure a good spot.

After getting a personal walk-on to the Citi stage from show co-host Hoda Kotb — who noted that ARMY had packed the streets outside the Today studio from 48th Street to 51st — Savannah Guthrie showed off the look of the day: a signature pink Cooky headband spotted on many in the crowd who were shouting “JK! JK!” in anticipation.

Wearing a sparkly jacket over a black shirt and matching pants Jung Kook made his debut on the Today stage with a live band for a spirited run through is Jack Harlow collaboration “3D” to a sea of uplifted cell phones as the rapper’s pre-recorded verse was enthusiastically shouted back to JK by the largely female audience.

The singer also shouted out the audience saying, “thank you so much for coming early in the morning, you are the best.” He then wished them a “Golden day” before dipping into the uptempo rock-edged track “Standing Next to You,” which opened with a flourish of rocking guitar and crashing drums before dipping into the singer’s sky-high falsetto verses. At one point, JK moved to a thrust stage in the middle of the crowd and pulled off a series of impressive dance moves as ARMY members shouted and held out their hands to get a high five from their pop idol.

After losing a ring during the slaps, Jung Kook exchanged “I Love you”‘s with a crying girl in the crowd celebrating her 10th birthday and offering her a happy birthday greeting before returning for his third song, “Seven,” the smash Latto collab that recently became the fastest song to reach 1 billion Spotify streams.

Check out video of the performances below.

08 Nov 2023

Kevin Durant Stars In Drake’s New NOCTA Campaign

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Drake Nike NOCTA Basketball Collection

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Drake’s Nike collection, NOCTA, has been a hit amongst his hardcore fans. While the same can’t necessarily be said about professional basketball players, a new addition to the NOCTA family might change all of that.

Drake Nike NOCTA Basketball Collection

Source: Nike / NIke

Taking to his Instagram account to announce some exciting news, Drake revealed that none other than Kevin Durant would be the new face of the NOCTA family just days before the Nov. 8 release of the new NOCTA collection. With pictures of Kevin Durant surrounded by stacks of cash (American currency too, not that Canadian ish), Drake announced in the caption, “EASY MONEY ? NOCTA Basketball, on and off court performance apparel. Launching midnight tonight EST on NOCTA.com and 11.8 on SNKRS and select neighbourhood doors.”

Now we wait and see if NBA players begin rocking NOCTA sneakers out on the hardwood floor. We know KD will at some point.

As for the collection set to drop Nov. 8, the latest offering from NOCTA will feature a travel jacket, headbands, briefs and even a engineered knit sleeve with a NOCTA branded elbow pad. Hella fancy.

Will y’all be coping any pieces from Nike’s new NOCTA collection? Let us know in the comments section below.

Drake Nike NOCTA Basketball Collection

Source: Nike / NIke

08 Nov 2023

Yvonne Orji Confirms She’s Still A Virgin, Reactions Ensue

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Yvonne Orji

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Actress Yvonne Orji recently discussed what it’s like to be a virgin at the age of 39, prompting a slew of reactions online.

The comedian and actress Yvonne Orji, best known for her Emmy-nominated role as Molly Carter on the hit HBO series Insecure, joined Chelsea Handler on her Dear Chelsea podcast on iHeart Radio. During the interview, Handler asked Orji offhandedly if she was still a virgin. “I am,” Orji responded strongly.

Handler would burst into laughter as she replied, “Oh my God, I love this. This is the most original guest we’ve ever had on.  And what are you, 39? Oh my God. That dam is going to break one day, baby.” Orji greeted that with mirth. “Pray for him, whoever he is, there’s a lot of pent-up energy up in here with me,” Orji said. Handler ran with the energy, telling Orji “You’re going to hit your sexual peak when you start having sex, so yeah, you’re going to need a couple of men, probably.” Orji burst into laughter after that, replying: “Yvonne went from being a virgin to polyamory.”

The reactions online to the interview, which took place in September were primarily supportive of Yvonne Orji and her choice to remain a virgin until marriage. A look at Instagram comments from a recap of the story by The Jasmine Brand showed as much, with one commenter by the name of Britneyyamyaa saying, “That’s commendable, that’s how it was intended to be. I don’t understand the outrage.” And another, Vanessa Anyauke, wrote, “She ain’t missing a thing ❤️”

The A Black Lady Sketch Show alum has been forthright in past interviews about her decision to remain a virgin until marriage, citing her Christian faith as the foundation for her choice. In a PEOPLE interview from 2017, she explained that “I’m grounded in who I am.” Elaborating further she said: “I can inform your curiosity, as opposed to everyone being in the dark and just sort of creating their own narrative about it.”

08 Nov 2023

Tekashi 6ix9ine Stuck In Dominican Republic After Catching An Assault Case

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Tekashi

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A few weeks ago Tekashi 6ix9ine got himself into some hot water in the Dominican Republic when he allegedly assaulted some music producers in a jealous rage, and now the embattled rapper can’t leave the island until the legal issue gets resolved.

According to HipHopDX, the “Fefe” artist is stuck in the Dominican Republic as he awaits his day in court for putting hands on two producers with the help of five other men on October 16. After jumping the two men, Tekashi tried to hop on the first flight out of DR, but was stopped by authorities who then took him into custody. Following the arrest, Tekashi spent a few days behind bars before being released much to the delight of many adoring fans who stood outside the police station hoping to catch a glimpse of the rainbow haired rapper. After getting sprung from the bing, Tekashi took to his IG page to thank his fans and even authorities for showing him love while he went through the system.

Well, it seems like Tekashi tried to make another go for his freedom, but was once again stopped by police dead in his tracks and is now on the run.

HipHopDX Reports:

According to immigration attorney Felix Portes, the rapper (real name Daniel Hernandez) tried to depart the Dominican Republic on a private jet not too long ago. However, when he got on the plane, he triggered what was known as an “alerta migratoria,” or “immigration alert.”

Portes further claimed that this immigration alert forced the grounding of his plane, and 6ix9ine is now allegedly on the lam in the Caribbean country. A warrant has also been issued for his arrest for attempting to flee.

All of this because Tekashi got mad that the two producers were spending too much time with his current girlfriend, Yailin.

No word on when he’ll be able to resolve this issue and get back to the States but at least he has fans in DR. The same can’t be said about Puerto Rico where police told Tekashi it wasn’t safe for him to visit as the people of Puerto Rico don’t take to kindly to famous snitches roaming on their land.

What do y’all think of Tekashi 6ix9ine being stuck out in DR? Let us know in the comment section below.

08 Nov 2023

Lainey Wilson, HARDY Are Early 2023 CMA Awards Winners

Lainey Wilson and HARDY are already winners heading into tonight’s (Nov. 8) 2023 CMA Awards.

This morning, the Country Music Association revealed that HARDY and Wilson’s dramatic murder ballad, “Wait in the Truck,” picked up trophies for musical event of the year and music video of the year.

“Wait in the Truck” was produced by HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt and Derek Wells, while Justin Clough directed the music video.

These mark HARDY’s first CMA Awards wins, while Wilson took home new artist of the year and female vocalist of the year during last year’s CMAs. Part of the song’s strength is the charismatic vocal interplay between the two singers, as well as the message tackling domestic abuse.

“You rarely hear songs like this that bring light to heavy situations that people are really scared to talk about,” Wilson previously told Billboard of “Wait in the Truck.” “I feel, in my heart, that our job is to sing about the things that people are afraid to talk about. It’s a song that definitely starts a conversation.”

Co-producer Moi also previously noted, “When somebody’s had the guts to write something completely alternative and also make it sound completely mainstream at the same time, it’s a unicorn-type song.”

Heading into this year’s ceremony, Wilson leads the nominees with nine total nominations (including entertainer of the year and female vocalist of the year), while HARDY picked up four nods. “Wait in the Truck” is also up for both single of the year and song of the year.

The 57th annual CMA Awards will air tonight on ABC from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Wilson and HARDY are both slated as performers, as well as Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Luke Combs, Dan+Shay, Jordan Davis, Alan Jackson, Jelly Roll, K. Michelle, Little Big Town and more.

The 57th Annual CMA Awards is a production of the Country Music Association. Robert Deaton is the executive producer, Alan Carter is the director and Jon Macks is the head writer.  

08 Nov 2023

Lori Harvey & Damson Idris Split, X Is Reacting As Expected

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Celebrity Sightings In Paris - September 30, 2023

Lori Harvey and Damson Idris appeared to be the power couple of everyone’s dreams and displayed what all thought was a loving union that would last forever. However, the streets are whispering that the pair have officially split and fans on social media are sharing their observations of the breakup.

After rumors persisted online in 2022, Lori Harvey and Damson Idris made their relationship Instagram official at the top of this year. From there, the couple showcased their moments together via their respective Instagram pages. Idris also shared a birthday Instagram Story picture and post with Harvey, calling her “Nunu” in the message.

Beyond photos and the like, Harvey and Idris didn’t speak much about their relationship, opting to keep much of their dating life private. That said, both of the stats attracted a flurry of attention whenever a hint of them together online appeared with their fans rooting for this relationship to last.

The Hollywood Reporter obtained an exclusive joint statement from Harvey and Idris, which we’ll share below.

From THR:

“We are at a point in our lives where our individual paths require our full attention and dedication. We part ways remaining friends with nothing but love and respect for each other and the time we shared together.”

As expected, the news of the breakup has folks dropping all manner of comments. Some are applauding Harvey for choosing herself while others are making light of Idris and his feelings.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, fans are reacting to the news of Lori Harvey and Damson Idris breaking up. The reactions are all over the place and we’ve featured some of them below.

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Photo: Getty

08 Nov 2023

Coco Jones Named MTV’s Global PUSH Artist for November

Coco Jones could be enjoying a very special Friday once 2024 Grammy nominations are announced, but she and her fans can kick off their celebrations a little bit earlier: Billboard can exclusively reveal that Coco Jones will be MTV‘s Global PUSH Artist for November.

The announcement comes less than a week after Jones marked the one-year anniversary of What I Didn’t Tell You, her debut EP with Def Jam. That project and its accompanying North American headlining tour helped the powerhouse vocalist transition from Disney star to award-winning R&B dynamo. In the past year, Jones has picked up best new artist honors from both the BET Awards and the NAACP Image Awards, as well as a whopping six nominations at the upcoming Soul Train Music Awards (Nov. 26), including album, song and video of the year.

What I Didn’t Tell You houses Jones’ very first Billboard Hot 100 hit, “ICU.” The DJ Camper-helmed ballad spent 20 weeks on the ranking, peaking at No. 62. The track, which also received a remix from fellow Disney alum Justin Timberlake, topped both Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and R&B Digital Song Sales.

“‘ICU’ really fell into my lap, I feel, because I was so surprised… what I ended up doing that day in the studio… I heard this track by Camper, and I could not skip it,” Jones says in a press release announcing the PUSH news. “Then I had to get really vulnerable and tell this story that I feel like people can relate to: when you love someone and they didn’t do anything wrong to you but you guys are just wrong for each other.”

“ICU” marked a new frontier for Jones’ career, becoming her first RIAA Platinum single and introducing her to scores of new listeners. The song’s success also gave way to the deluxe edition of What I Didn’t Tell You, which arrived earlier this year (Jan. 20) and featured three new songs in addition to the previously released “Simple” (with Babyface).

“I think my favorite line is the first line ‘something about your hands on my body’ because I just feel like it snaps people’s attention… I feel like it gives me a southern twang,” Jones says. “It reminds me where I’m from and it surprised people that I could go that low. It is just a really good line to me. It’s really solid.”

As MTV’s featured Global PUSH Artist for the month of November, Jones will partner with the entertainment iconoclast all month to discuss her roots, the stories and memories behind her music and the artists and eras that inspire her. For Jones, The Cheetah Girls were a formative part of her childhood, specifically the song “Cinderella,” which she hails as a “girl power anthem.” “I was the biggest Cheetah Girls fan,” she gushes. “That was my first concert ever actually and I thought they asked me to come up on stage, but my mom said no.”

Jones is also set to debut two exclusive performance videos for “ICU” and “Double Back,” the latter of which she credits to the “Brandys, Aaliyahs and Destiny’s Childs” of the ’90s and describes as “one of the best songs to get [her] makeup done to or to do [her] makeup to.”

The MTV PUSH initiative aims to connect fans across the globe with a new music artist every month through live performances, exclusive broadcast premieres of music videos, interviews and video content. Previous MTV PUSH artists include Lizzo, Doja Cat, Billie Eilish, SZA, Chloe X Halle, H.E.R., Jack Harlow, Jorja Smith, BROCKHAMPTON and more.

Watch an exclusive clip of Coco Jones performing and talking about “ICU” above.

08 Nov 2023

How Lauv Used AI to Translate His Latest Single Into Korean

Korean artist MIDNATT made history earlier this year by using AI to help him translate his debut single “Masquerade” into six different languages. Though it wasn’t a major commercial success, its seamless execution by the HYBE-owned voice synthesis company Supertone proved there was a new, positive application of musical AI on the horizon that went beyond unauthorized deepfakes and (often disappointing) lo-fi beats.

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Enter Jordan “DJ Swivel” Young, a Grammy-winning mixing engineer and producer, known best for his work with Beyonce, BTS and Dua Lipa. His new AI voice company Hooky is one of many new start-ups trying to popularize voice cloning, but unlike much of his competition, Young is still an active and well-known collaborator for today’s musical elite. After connecting with pop star Lauv, whom he worked with briefly years before as an engineer, Young’s Hooky developed an AI voice model of Lauv’s voice so that they could translate the singer-songwriter’s new single “Love U Like That” into Korean. 

It’s the first major Western artist to take part in the AI translation trend. Lauv wants the new translated version of “Love U Like That” to be a way of showing his love to his Korean fanbase and to celebrate his biggest headline show to date, which recently took place in Seoul. 

Though many fans around the world listen to English-speaking music in high numbers, Will Page, author and former chief economist at Spotify, and Chris Dalla Riva, a musician and Audiomack employee, noted in a recent report that many international audiences are increasingly turning their interest back to their local language music – a trend they nicknamed “Glocalization.” With Hooky, Supertone and other AI voice synthesis companies all working to master translation, English-speaking artists now have the opportunity to participate in this growing movement and to form tighter bonds with international fans.

To explain the creation of “Love U Like That (Korean Version),” out Wednesday (Nov. 8), Lauv and Young spoke in an exclusive interview to Billboard. 

When did you first hear what was possible with AI voice filters?

Lauv: I think the first time was that Drake and The Weeknd song [“Heart On My Sleeve” by Ghostwriter]. I thought it was crazy. Then when my friend and I were working on my album, we started playing each other’s music. He pulled out a demo. They were pitching it to Nicki Minaj, and he was singing it and then put it into Nicki Minaj’s voice. I remember thinking it’s so insane this is possible.

Why did you want to get involved with AI voice technology yourself?

Lauv: I truly believe that the only way forward is to embrace what is possible now, no matter what. I think being able to embrace a tool like this in a way that’s beneficial and able to get artists paid is great. 

Jordan, how did you get acquainted with Lauv, and why did you feel he was the right artist to mark your first major collaboration? 

Jordan “DJ Swivel” Young: We’ve done a lot of general outreach to record companies, managers, etcetera. We met Range Media Partners, Lauv’s management team, and they really resonated with Hooky. The timing was perfect: he was wrapping up his Asian tour and had done the biggest show of his life in South Korea. Plus, he has done a few collaborations with BTS. I’ve worked on a number of BTS songs too. There was a lot of synergy between us.

Why did you choose Korean as the language that you wanted to translate a song into?

Lauv: Well, in the future, I would love to have the opportunity to do this in as many different languages as possible, but Seoul has been a place that has become really close to my heart, and it was the place of my biggest headline show to date. I just wanted to start by doing something special for those Korean fans. 

What is the process of actually translating the song? 

Young: We received the original audio files for the song “Love U Like That,” and we rewrote the song with former K-Pop idol Kevin Woo. The thing with translating lyrics or poetry is it can’t be a direct translation. You have to make culturally appropriate choices, words that flow well. So Kevin did that and we re-recorded Kevin’s voice singing the translation, then we mixed the song again exactly as the original was done to match it sonically. All the background vocals were at the correct volume and the right reverbs were used. I think we’ve done a good job of matching it. Then we used our AI voice technology to match Lauv’s voice, and we converted Kevin’s Korean version into Lauv’s voice. 

Lauv: To help them make the model of my voice, I sent over a bunch of raw vocals that were just me singing in different registers. Then I met up with him and Kevin. It was riveting to hear my voice like that. I gave a couple of notes – very minor things – after hearing the initial version of the translation, and then they went back and modified. I really trusted Jordan and Kevin on how to make this authentic and respectful to Korean culture.

Is there an art to translating lyrics?

Lauv: Totally. When I was listening back to it, that’s what struck me. There’s certain parts that are so pleasing to the ear. I still love hearing the Korean version phonetically as someone from the outside. Certain parts of Kevin’s translation, like certain rhythm schemes, hit me so much harder than hearing it in English actually.

Do you foresee that there will be more opportunities for translators as this space develops?

Young: Absolutely. I call them songwriters more than translators though, actually. They play a huge role. I used to work with Beyonce as an engineer, and I’ve watched her do a couple songs in Spanish. It required a whole new vocal producer, a new team just to pull off those songs. It’s daunting to sing something that’s not your natural language. I even did some Korean background vocals myself on a BTS song I wrote. They provided me with the phonetics, and I can say it was honestly the hardest thing I’ve ever recorded. It’s hard to sing with the right emotion when you’re focused on pronouncing things correctly. But Hooky allows the artist to perform in other languages but with all the emotion that’s expected. Sure, there’s another songwriter doing the Korean performance, but Lauv was there for the whole process. His fingerprint is on it from beginning to end. I think this is the future of how music will be consumed. 

I think this could bring more opportunities for the mixing engineers too. When Dolby Atmos came out that offered more chances for mixers, and with the translations, I think there are now even more opportunities. I think it’s empowering the songwriter, the engineer, and the artist all at once. There could even be a new opportunity created for a demo singer, if it’s different from the songwriter who translated the song. 

Would you be open to making your voice model that you used for this song available to the public to use?

Lauv: Without thinking it through too much, I think my ideal self is a very open person, and so I feel like I want to say hell yeah. If people have song ideas and want to hear my voice singing their ideas, why not? As long as it’s clear to the world which songs were written and made by me and what was written by someone else using my voice tone. As long as the backend stuff makes sense, I don’t see any reason why not.