Podcasts
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The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) announced on Tuesday (Feb. 4) that it would issue takedown notices to Spotify for 2,500 podcast episodes on the platform that allegedly contain “unlicensed musical works” from 19 NMPA member publishers.
“Spotify has thousands of unlicensed songs in its podcasts, which it has done nothing to remedy. This takedown action comes as no surprise, we have warned of this issue for some time,” says NMPA president and CEO David Israelite of the takedown notices. According to the NMPA, this is just the start of the takedown requests, and the demands will continue to roll out.
This is the latest of many retaliatory actions the NMPA has taken against Spotify since last March, when Spotify significantly cut payments to NMPA’s members for premium subscriptions. By adding audiobooks into its premium subscription tiers, Spotify argued it qualified for a discounted royalty rate, known as “bundle,” given it would now have to pay for books and music from the same price tag that was once just for music. Israelite said at the time that he would “declare war” on Spotify for this move, and launched a number of actions to fight back.
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This included sending cease and desist notices for podcast and video content on its platform that were allegedly infringing on music IP; a legislative proposal, asking for the overhaul of the statutory license; complaints to the FTC and nine state attorneys general; and more. Around the same time, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) also fought back by filing a lawsuit against Spotify for the move to bundle premium subscriptions, calling it “unlawful.”
On Sunday, Jan. 26, the Spotify bundling issue was brought back into the headlines when Universal Music Group announced a new direct deal with Spotify which included changes both to the recorded music and publishing royalty rates. This marked the first direct deal between Spotify and a publisher since the passage of the Music Modernization Act (MMA), and sources close to the deal say that the agreement included improved remuneration for UMG’s publishing company, Universal Music Publishing Group, and its songwriters.
Still, all other publishers, most of which are members of the NMPA, remain on the baseline bundle rate. The NMPA told Billboard at the time that the deal was “good news for the entire industry” and that “a rising tide lifts all boats, and this signals that Spotify is coming back to the table,” but the organization also added it had no plans to stop any of the actions it had already set in motion against Spotify, and neither did the MLC.
A few days later, on Jan. 29, the MLC’s lawsuit against Spotify was dismissed, with a federal judge saying that Spotify’s move to bundling was supported by “unambiguous” regulations. The judge is not giving the MLC a chance to refile and said the law is clear. Still, if the MLC wants to, it can challenge the ruling at the federal appeals court.
These takedown requests make it clear that the NMPA is not ready to bury the hatchet with Spotify. Among the 2,500 takedown requests are podcasts that allegedly contain unlicensed musical works from publishers like ABKCO, Anthem Entertainment, Big Machine Music, BMG, Concord Music Publishing, Downtown Music Publishing, Hipgnosis Songs Group, Kobalt, Mayimba Music, peermusic, Primary Wave Music, Reservoir, The Royalty Network, Inc., Sony Music Publishing, Spirit Music Group, Ultra Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, and Wixen Music Publishing.
Israelite adds: “Podcasts are a growing source of revenue for songwriters and publishers, and it is essential that podcasts provide lawfully produced entertainment. This is not hard to do, and Spotify knows, and has known, how to fix this problem for their users. We hope podcast hosts will stand up for their fellow creators and demand that Spotify do better. Spotify will stop at nothing to undervalue songwriters on behalf of its bottom line. Look no further than its recent bundling scheme and its ill-conceived appeal of songwriters’ rate increase in CRB III. We will not stop until the platform fixes its podcast problem, and all other areas where songwriters are not earning what they deserve.”
On February 8, 2015, nearly everyone in attendance at the Staples Center in Los Angeles expected the top prize at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards to go to Beyoncé. The pop and R&B superstar had changed the game 14 months earlier with the surprise drop of her self-titled album, topping the Billboard 200, drawing unanimous raves and dominating the culture for the entire year to follow. But when it came time for Prince to announce the winner for album of the year that night, a different solo “B” name was called – confusing many in the crowd and watching at home, infuriating one easily excited fellow superstar, and setting into motion many of the narratives that continue to define the Grammys a decade later.
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This week, on the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, we debut our Great Moments in Pop History series, looking at some of the pivotal moments throughout the decades that have come to define our perception of pop music, pop culture and pop stardom. On the precipice of the upcoming Grammys – airing this Sunday (Feb. 2), with one of the most loaded nominee classes in recent memory – we flash back to 10 years earlier, when one of 2025’s preeminent nominees (and the biggest overall winner in Grammy history) lost an album of the year race she was the heavy favorite to win, with Beck’s acclaimed-but-less-impactful Morning Phase instead taking home top honors. It’s a snub the Recording Academy still has not yet made good on, with Beyoncé being nominated and losing in the category twice in the years since.
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Host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard executive digital director (and Pop Shop Podcast co-host) Katie Atkinson – who was in the building that memorable night – to recall everything there is to recall about the 2015 Grammys. We start with everything else of note that happened during those Grammys – like Sam Smith’s early-career-peak night of dominance, the cavalcade of pop megastars performing (but somehow playing zero of their signature hits) and an A-plus-list trio of legends united for one time only. We also run through some of our favorite less-starry performances of the night, including Hozier with a towering Annie Lennox, and Sia with both a wig and Kristen Wiig.
And then, we dig into the nitty gritty of Beck beating Beyoncé – and Kanye nearly crashing the stage in protest – and the impact it all ended up having on the Grammys’ next decade. We remember the double-shock of Beck’s longshot victory combined with Kanye’s oh-no-not-again fakeout, and give context for how bizarre it was (and remains) that Beck, of all people, became the face of Grammy-approved establishment rock. Then, of course, we set our sights on the 2025 awards – where Beyoncé is once again an album of the year nominee, for 2024’s Cowboy Carter – and ask: Is it finally time for the Queen to take home the crown? (And if she finally does this year, will it actually be… kinda weird?)
Check it out above — along with a YouTube playlist of some of the most memorable moments from the 2015 awards — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!
As we near the 2025 Grammy Awards this Sunday, predicting what will happen in the Big Four categories — album, record and song of the year, along with best new artist — feels more challenging than ever. Could Chappell Roan sweep the Big Four? Or could it be Beyoncé’s time to notch her first win […]
After more than a yearlong hiatus, season four of the Rock & Roll High School With Pete Ganbarg podcast launches Thursday (Jan. 23) with an interview with Chaka Khan.
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This season’s other guests include Tony Orlando, Squeeze’s Chris Difford, Randy Bachman, Al Stewart, Tears for Fears’ Curt Smith, Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian and America’s Gerry Beckley. New episodes will debut every other Thursday and are available on all major streaming outlets and the podcast’s website.
Pete Ganbarg started Rock & Roll High School, named after the beloved Ramones’ punk classic, several years ago as president of A&R at Atlantic Records when he realized that a number of the younger A&R staffers at Atlantic were unaware of the roots of popular music. At first it was an in-person lecture series, and he then began bringing in guests, including Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice and iconic record executives such as Clive Davis and Seymour Stein.
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When the pandemic hit and everything shut down, at the request of Warner Music Group, Ganbarg went virtual with the series and expanded attendance to anyone working at the company. Then in April 2021, the series launched as a full-fledged podcast available on all streaming platforms.
Chaka Khan
Nick Nelson
Two-time Grammy winner Ganbarg left Atlantic last fall and now has 100% ownership of the podcast.
“We started this podcast a few years ago with the goal of having the history of contemporary music told first-hand — in their own words — by the people who helped create it,” Ganbarg said in a statement. “This new season is our biggest yet with close to 20 new episodes already recorded. We’re honored to be joined by an incredible, diverse array of singers, writers and producers — all of whom have helped to build the foundation of so many songs that have been the soundtrack of our lives and all of whom have fantastic stories to tell.”
Ganbarg patterned the podcast after James Lipton’s Inside the Actor’s Studio and Off the Record, a series of interviews the late Capitol Records president Joe Smith conducted with many music luminaries to create an oral history of popular music. Guests can come from any facet to the music world but must have played a role in creating music from 1955 on.
In addition to the podcast, Ganbarg, whose 35-year tenure in the music industry includes working with such artists as Santana, Twenty One Pilots, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Donna Summer and dozens more, is president of Pure Tone Music, whose signings include Forest Blakk and Joe Jordan. He also runs operates Songs With A Pure Tone and Margetts Road Music, joint ventures with Warner Chappell Music. He is nominated for two Grammys this year for his work on the cast albums for Suffs and The Notebook.
Since the fall of 2023, the Las Vegas Sphere has hosted U2, Phish, Dead & Company, Anyma and a current residency from the Eagles. And last week, Kenny Chesney was announced as the arena’s first country headliner. The announcement has the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast asking: When will we see a pop star at the […]
Skillet’s John Cooper has a good sense of humor about some of the hard lessons he’s learned about the music business in nearly three decades as a musician. The outspoken, gregarious singer, fresh off the release of a new album (Revolution) and a European tour, laughs heartily when asked what lessons he wish he learned early his career.
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“I would go back to my younger self and say, ‘They call it the music business for a reason,” he tells Billboard’s Behind the Setlist podcast. “That part — ‘business’ — actually matters. Because when you first start — I mean, I don’t know if everybody’s like this, but I certainly was like, ‘No, no, it’s not a business, it’s art. It’s no business involved. It’s just what I want to sing about. It’s all about me and my feelings and my artwork, and I’m never gonna let anybody bastardize my art.’ And you just end up making a bunch of dumb decisions because you don’t realize that, yes, it is about art, but you still got to pay bills. And you’re in the van in the middle of the night — if anybody’s in a band out there, they’re going to know what I’m talking about — you’re driving the van, and all of a sudden you feel something. You look out the side as you’re driving and you see one of the wheels from the trailer going past you [and] it flies off in the middle of the night. And I’m sitting there going, ‘I don’t care. It’s all about my art.’ That’s not real! You’ve got to pay for that, man!”
It took Cooper a few years to realize he needed to be more hands-on and not expect others to handle his business the way he wants. “If you want it done right, you have to get involved,” he insists. “That’s not to say [my manager and business manager] didn’t do their job, but they’re never going to do it the way you want it done. And it’s easy to complain about it, but just get your hands dirty.”
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The need to be more involved in the business side of his career “really hit home” early in Cooper’s career when the person preparing his taxes asked to see his taxes for the band’s first four years. “And I said, ‘Well, we lost money for the first four years, so I didn’t turn them in,’” Cooper recalls. “He’s like, ‘Well, you’re gonna pay for that now. You’ve gotta pay a fee for not doing it right.’ And so I would go back and just say [to my younger self], ‘Hey, yes, it’s about the art, but you can’t be a moron. You’ve got to grow up.’”
Over time, Cooper has learned the business side of music from a variety of people, including a manager that arrived six years into his career and his business manager. He also took inspiration from Mötley Crüe bass player Nikki Sixx, who Cooper says “understood it’s about art, but you got to take care of your business. You want to be around for 30 years? You better get it in gear, son!”
The lessons Cooper learned will help now that Skillet is independent and self-releasing its music. After nearly two decades with Atlantic Records — 99% of which was positive, Cooper says — the band released Revolution on its own Hear It Loud imprint. While Atlantic Records helped Skillet find mainstream success (“Awake and Alive” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Active Rock chart in 2011) there was more bureaucracy than Cooper would have preferred. “A lot of red tape,” he says. “A lot of people having to approve the songs.” Now, Skillet now has greater creative control and can release music more frequently.
“We wrote 11 songs for this record, and I loved it,” he says. “I loved making the project. It was so much fun. We wrote, recorded and released this album in 13 months. And I’ll tell you what, it was so fun, and I love the music.”
Listen to the entire interview with Skillet’s John Cooper using the embedded Spotify player below, or go to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Amazon Music, Podbean or Everand.
As wildfires continue to threaten Los Angeles and surrounding areas, organizers behind awards shows and related events are figuring out how to pivot to best support the community. Should they move forward and become fundraisers for relief efforts? Or is it best to cancel or postpone to a later date? Explore Explore See latest videos, […]
Many bands that rose to prominence in the ‘80s have turned into oldies bands, tied to a moment in history and profiting from fans’ love for nostalgia. Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith of Tears for Fears haven’t fallen into the stagnant rut that has captured so many of their contemporaries. More than four decades after forming in Bath, England, in 1981, Tears for Fears is producing some of its best material.
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Orzabal and Smith began their creative resurgence in 2022 with their first studio album in nearly 18 years, The Tipping Point, which reached No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Album Sales and Top Alternative Albums charts. In October, the band continued its hot streak by releasing four new songs as part of a live album, Songs for a Nervous Planet.
“It’s because we care,” Smith tells Billboard‘s Behind the Setlist podcast when explaining the caliber of the band’s recent songwriting and recordings. “We don’t want to do bad work. We still have a desire to get better. I don’t think that’s ever going to leave us. We look at other artists and still wish we were that good. That will never leave us, because we’re never going to become that good, I don’t think. There’s always going to be someone that’s better than us, without question. So when you still have that desire, you’re going to continue to do good work because you are continuing to try and achieve something better than you’ve done before. And that’s what keeps us going.”
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Songs for a Nervous Planet is the audio complement to a live concert film, Tears for Fears Live (A Tipping Point Film), that was given a brief release in theaters in October before being made available online. Recorded at the FirstBank Amphitheater — a former quarry that provides a spectacular backdrop — in Franklin, Tenn., the film captures the band performing at the top of its game. “Everyone that had come to see the show said it was amazing,” says Smith. “We get a limited view of it because we’re looking the other way. So we agreed to record it. And the reason being that we felt the band was the strongest they’d ever been — or we had ever been, should I say. And we were playing great. We sounded great. We were singing better than we ever had, playing better than we ever had. So it seemed like a good time to do it.”
The four new songs make Songs From a Nervous Planet, as Smith puts it, more like an EP with 18 live bonus tracks rather than a live album with a few new songs. “The record company wanted us to do a couple new tracks,” says Smith. “We felt that was kind of a way of saying, ‘Add some throwaway tracks.’”
Instead, they went into the studio and emerged with “four tracks that we felt really strongly about,” says Smith. The Songs for a Nervous Planet opener, “Say Goodbye to Mum and Dad,” perfectly captures the political and environmental tension of the day (“It’s no life, this island of fear/ When tomorrow comes, we’ll brave the wild frontier”). “The Girl That I Call Home” is a love song for Orzabal’s wife with a catchy melody (“Princes adore you/ They cower before you/ You’re the girl that I call home”). The stirring “Emily Said” is classic Tears for Fears: a complex song structure that doesn’t distract or become superfluous.
To Orzabal, the new songs “hold up brilliantly” to the band’s deep catalog of beloved songs that includes “Mad World” from the 1983 debut The Hurting and “Shout” from the U.S. chart-topping 1985 album Songs From the Big Chair. He’s particularly proud of “Astronaut,” a song that mixes disillusionment with a space travel theme (“I don’t belong here/ I got one eye on a different world”), which didn’t make the cut for The Tipping Point. “It didn’t quite fit, for whatever reason just didn’t feel right,” says Smith. “A lot of these things are not easy to articulate, because it’s just a feeling you have of what works, what doesn’t work.”
But “Astronaut” was “perfect” for Songs for a Nervous Planet, says Orzabal. “The whole imagery of the astronaut and the field of sunflowers [seen on the album cover], the continuity in the videos with the astronaut and his girlfriend, always featuring them, is superb.” In a couple decades, he adds, “Astronaut” will be “a huge hit for someone — not us, but for someone.”
Listen to the interview with Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith in the embedded Spotify player below, or listen at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeart, PodBean or Everand.
At her Christmas Day halftime performance, Beyoncé officially kicked off Cowboy Carter‘s live era by performing nine songs from the 2024 country album for the first time. Could a tour announcement be next? On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are discussing what Bey might reveal on Jan. 14, a date she […]
Song Exploder, Questlove Supreme, Popcast, The Wonder of Stevie and The Joe Budden Podcast are vying for best music at the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards, in partnership with South by Southwest (SXSW). The annual event will take place live on March 10 at 7 p.m. CT at ACL Live at The Moody Theater in Austin, Texas. In addition to the in-person show, the ceremony will also be live-broadcasted on select iHeartMedia Radio Stations, on the iHeartRadio app and on iHeartRadio’s YouTube Channel.
New Heights With Jason & Travis Kelce is among the nominees for best sports. Travis Kelce has become a household name since he began dating pop superstar Taylor Swift. The other nominees in that category are The Herd with Colin Cowherd, The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz, The Bill Simmons Podcast and All the Smoke
Winners in each category will be determined by a panel of podcast industry leaders and creatives. Each year, podcast fans help decide the winner of the podcast of the year award by voting online at the awards’ website. Fan voting will begin Tuesday, Jan. 7, and runs through Feb. 16.
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The 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards will also present three icon awards. Sarah Spain, host of Good Game, will be honored with the 2025 social impact award for her role in championing equity in sports coverage, equal pay for female athletes and better investment in women’s sports infrastructure. Dan Taberski will be honored with the 2025 audible audio pioneer award for his influence in the podcasting landscape, including his latest podcast Hysterical (nominated for podcast of the year and more). The 2025 innovator award will honor Daniel Alarcón, a Peruvian-American journalist and novelist, for his work on The Good Whale (nominated for podcast of the year), which revisits the life of Keiko, the orca who gained fame as the star of the 1993 film Free Willy.
“Following our in-person return to SXSW last year, we’re thrilled to be bringing the iHeartPodcast Awards to an even bigger stage in 2025,” Conal Byrne, CEO of iHeartMedia’s Digital Audio Group, said in a statement. “Podcasting is growing in both scale and influence every year, and SXSW brings a level of innovative spirit and excitement that makes it the perfect setting to celebrate the very best of our industry.”
“We’re thrilled to once again partner with iHeartMedia for the return of the Podcast Awards, amplifying its impact within an even larger footprint at SXSW,” said Peter Lewis, SXSW chief partnerships officer. The iHeartPodcast Awards will be open to select SXSW badge holders for the first time.
Executive producers for the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards are John Sykes, Tom Poleman, Conal Byrne and Bart Peters for iHeartMedia. Audible is a sponsor of the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards.
Here’s a full list of 2025 iHeartPodcast Award nominees across 29 categories.
Podcast of the Year
Normal Gossip
Three
Giggly Squad
Call Her Daddy
Las Culturistas With Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Hysterical
The Telepathy Tapes
Who Killed JFK?
Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD
The Good Whale
Best Overall Host
Alex Cooper (Call Her Daddy)
Jamie Loftus (Sixteenth Minute (of Fame))
Sabrina Tavernise (The Daily)
Mel Robbins (The Mel Robbins Podcast)
Dan Taberski (Hysterical)
Best Overall Ensemble
We Can Do Hard Things
My Favorite Murder With Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
Handsome
Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard
The Breakfast Club
Best Music
Song Exploder
Questlove Supreme
Popcast
The Wonder of Stevie
The Joe Budden Podcast
Best TV & Film
Films to Be Buried With With Brett Goldstein
Two Ts in a Pod with Teddi Mellencamp and Tamra Judge
How Did This Get Made?
The Rewatchables
Blank Check with Griffin & David
Best Pop Culture
Las Culturistas With Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
The World’s First Podcast With Erin & Sara Foster
Still Processing
Keep It!
Pop Culture Happy Hour
Best Sports
New Heights With Jason & Travis Kelce
The Herd With Colin Cowherd
The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz
The Bill Simmons Podcast
All the Smoke
Best Kids & Family
Good Inside With Dr. Becky
Koala Moon – Kids Bedtime Stories & Meditations
Smash Boom Best: A Funny, Smart Debate Show for Kids and Family
Story Pirates
Wow in the World
Best Comedy
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Fly on the Wall With Dana Carvey and David Spade
Normal Gossip
The Joe Rogan Experience
Call Her Daddy
Best Spanish Language
Radio Ambulante
Duolingo Spanish Podcast
Leyenda Legendarias
Mija Podcast
Escuela Secreta
Best Business & Finance
Planet Money
How to Money
Networth and Chill With Your Rich BFF
Money Rehab With Nicole Lapin
The Ramsey Show
Best Crime
Three
Betrayal
Up and Vanished
CounterClock
Something Was Wrong
Best Food
Gastropod
Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio
Be My Guest With Ina Garten
The Recipe With Kenji and Deb
The Sporkful
Best Wellness & Fitness
Huberman Lab
The Mel Robbins Podcast
10% Happier With Dan Harris
A Slight Change of Plans
We Can Do Hard Things
Best History
The Rest Is History
Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD
Throughline
American History Tellers
You’re Wrong About
Best News
The Journal.
The Daily
Up First from NPR
Pivot
Today, Explained
Best Fiction
Hello From the Magic Tavern
Welcome to Night Vale
Impact Winter
The Magnus Archives
Midnight Burger
Best Science
Hidden Brain
StarTalk Radio
Stuff To Blow Your Mind
Ologies With Alie Ward
Science Vs
Best Technology
All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
Hard Fork
Better Offline
Darknet Diaries
Ted Radio Hour
Best Ad Read
Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (Sometimes)
My Brother, My Brother and Me
SmartLess
Office Ladies
Best Political
Native Land Pod
The NPR Politics Podcast
Pod Save America
The Megyn Kelly Show
Breaking Points With Krystal and Saagar
Best Advice/Inspirational
Wiser Than Me With Julia Louis-Dreyfus
On Purpose With Jay Shetty
The Mel Robbins Podcast
Life Kit
Savage Lovecast
Best Beauty & Fashion
Naked Beauty
The goop Podcast
Glowing Up
Breaking Beauty Podcast
Lipstick on the Rim
Best Travel
Travel With Rick Steves
The Atlas Obscura Podcast
Zero to Travel Podcast
Women Who Travel
JUMP With Traveling Jackie
Best Green
Unf–king the Future
Environmental Insights: Conversations on Policy and Practice From the Harvard Environmental Economics Program
Green Dreamer: Seeding Change Towards Collective Healing, Sustainability, Regeneration
Threshold
TED Climate
Best Spirituality & Religion
Elevation With Steven Furtick
Oprah’s Super Soul
WHOA That’s Good Podcast
Bible in a Year With Jack Graham
Transformation Church
Best Branded Podcast
Nerdwallet’s Smart Money Podcast
Into the Mix (Ben and Jerry’s)
Symptomatic: A Medical Mystery Podcast (Nova Nordisk)
You Can’t Make This Up (Netflix)
Mind the Business: Small Business Success Stories (Intuit Quickbooks)
Best Emerging
Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce
So True With Caleb Hearon
Hysterical
Wild Card With Rachel Martin
Shell Game
Best International
The Business of Doing Business With Dwayne Kerrigan – Canada
Mamamia Out Loud – Australia
Between Two Beers Podcast – New Zealand
The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett – United Kingdom
Las Alucines – Mexico