Publishing
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The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) has announced its new Supplemental Matching Network, which consists of five companies that specialize in data matching. This is aimed to help The MLC continue to up its match rate, which is currently at 90%. (According to The MLC, the match rate is defined as the percentage of total royalties processed that were able to match to a registered work in its database.)
The first five companies included in the Supplemental Matching Network are Blokur, Jaxsta, Pex, Salt and SX Works (a SoundExchange company). The list of companies that are part of the network may grow in the future to continue to bolster The MLC’s matching process. The MLC conducted qualitative evaluations of these vendors before choosing to partner with them, including testing the products through pilot programs as well as a “Request for Information.” This is the same process that The MLC has used for other strategic vendors.
While these five vendors will all provide key data to The MLC, the companies do not specifically address the most difficult songs to match: those created by DIY, unsigned songwriters, many of whom are still unaware of The MLC.
“We conducted an extensive due diligence process to select the initial set of vendors for our Supplemental Matching Network,” says Andrew Mitchell, head of analytics & automation at The MLC. “These vendors bring complementary technologies and capabilities that can be effectively leveraged to serve our members. This network reflects our ongoing commitment to evolve in innovative ways to best achieve The MLC’s mission.”
The MLC is a non-profit organization based in Nashville. It was formed as part of the Music Modernization Act (MMA), a landmark law that created a new blanket license for musical work mechanical royalties that greatly simplified the music licensing process for digital services like Spotify, Apple Music and more. It passed in 2018.
Previously, the industry operated on a piecemeal licensing system that was complicated for the services and also the music business, leading to a pool of over $400 million in unallocated streaming royalties because the compositions’ owners couldn’t be found. (This is colloquially known in the business as “black box” money, although The MLC uses the term “historical unmatched royalties.”) The MLC was tasked to implement and administer this new blanket license and distribute the money in this stagnant royalty pool. It officially opened its doors on Jan. 1, 2021.
Learn more about the five new vendors below:
Blokur
A music data and licensing platform that works with music rights owners and online platforms to connect music and companies providing online experiences. It is built on data matching and rights identification technology to ensure accurate payment.
Jaxsta
Jaxsta is a database for music credits, sourced from the official owners of that data. This includes record labels, distributors, publishers and industry associations. It provides recording matching services for PROs, MROs, CMOs and publishers, helping identify recordings to their underlying musical works. They assist in collecting payment for mechanical, performance and synch royalties.
Pex
Pex specializes in content identification and UGC data powering copyright compliance. Pex’s music recognition technology (MRT) is designed to identify works at scale, including modified audio, live versions and cover versions, so rightsholders can capitalize on all of the content they own.
Salt
Salt is a digital royalty collection platform that helps music societies streamline their disjointed music rights and royalty systems into one global network. Salt processes usage, matches ownership and calculates distributions, providing societies with matching and royalty–processing infrastructure
SX Works Global Publisher Services
SX Works Global Publisher Services, a SoundExchange company, provides administration solutions to music publishers, self-published songwriters and organizations who own, represent and/or engage with music to manage their repertoire across the music ecosystem. SX Works’ team and technology provides partners with access to metadata designed to ensure that musical works can be accurately licensed, identified and paid for their usage.
Hal Leonard has combined with Muse Group, which is home to digital music tools like MuseScore, Ultimate Guitar and Audacity. Hal Leonard is known as one of the world’s leading brands in sheet music and music education materials. As part of the deal, the two brands will retain their respective headquarters in the USA and Cyprus and their distinct operations. The deal was supported by Francisco Partners, an investor who recently purchased Kobalt and AMRA and has also invested in Native Instruments, iZotope, JKBX and more. Now, musicians can look forward to digitized and interactive formats of Hal Leonard’s arrangements and content via Muse platforms.
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Universal Music Publishing Group has signed Danny L Harle to a global publishing administrative agreement. News of the deal comes just after the release of “Houdini” by Dua Lipa, which he co-wrote and co-produced alongside Kevin Parker, Dua Lipa, TK. He is also a trusted collaborator of Caroline Polachek, Charli XCX, Flume, Clairo, Rina Sawayama, PinkPantheress, Lil Uzi Vert, Nile Rogers, Elton John, Shygirl and more, and is up for his first Grammy this year for his contributions to Desire I Want To Turn Into You by Polachek.
Pulse Music Group has joined with Dan Wilson (Adele, Taylor Swift, Weezer, Celine Dion, Nas, Panic! At the Disco, John Legend, Keith Urban) to launch Supermoon Songs. A publishing joint venture, Pulse co-CEO Scott Cutler and vp a&r Annie Aberle played key roles in facilitating the partnership. Wilson’s manager Jim Grant and business partner Rick Markowitz are also co-founders with Dan in Supermoon Songs. The first signing is artist Paul Dally.
Reservoir and Mushroom Music have jointly signed grentperez to a global publishing deal, including his full catalog and future works. Reservoir will work collaboratively with the leading Australia/New Zealand music publishing on all creative and administrative aspects of grentperez’s writing career.
Primary Wave has acquired the master royalties and writer’s share of publishing royalties from Marillion’s Derek “Fish” Dick in a new deal. Best known for 80s hits like “Kayleigh,” “Lavender” and “Incommunicado,” dick was the band’s primary singer and lyricist.
Jody Williams Songs and Warner Chappell Music have jointly signed Driver Williams to a publishing agreement. A songwriter for Eric Church, Luke Combs, Jason Aldean, Morgan Wallen, Jon Pardi, Lainey Wilson, Jackson Dean and others, Williams is also a talented guitarist, holding the position of Church’s lead guitarist since 2005.
Kobalt has signed New Zealand artist and producer 9lives to a global publishing administration deal, including sync and creative services for his existing catalog and future releases. A favorite of artists like Trippie Redd, Rico Nasty, JELEEL!, and more, his production has earned him two No. 1s on Spotify’s viral songs chart.
Universal Music Publishing Group has formed a joint venture with DnB Allstars, a London-based label and events company that specializes in drum and bass music. Notable artists to emerge from DnB Allstars include Vibe Chemistry and Alcemist, and the new JV will include writers like Grace Barton, Elipsa, and Tsuki.
Next Era Music Publishing will now partner with Downtown Music Publishing to streamline the collection and administration of its clients. Representing 45 songwriters and over 7000 titles, Next Era’s catalog will use Downtown for admin globally, apart from Korea and China.
Warner Chappell Music has signed Conexión Divina (Liz Trujillo, Sandra Calixto, and Ashlee Valenzuela), a Gen Z all-female sierreño group, to a global publishing agreement. The news comes just after Conexión Divina’s nomination for Best New Artist at the 2023 Latin Grammy awards.
Brill Building Publishing has signed artist and songwriter Brando to a co-publishing agreement. An independent publishing outfit out of Los Angeles, helmed by executive Benjamin Groff, Brill Building’s signees are administered through Kobalt.
Exactly 65 years ago, Ross Bagdasarian‘s “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” — a novelty song featuring weird, high-pitched voices augmented in a recording studio — kicked off what would become the multimillion-dollar Alvin and the Chipmunks brand. Three weeks after its Dec. 1, 1958, release, the track topped the Billboard Hot 100, then went on to win three Grammy Awards and sell millions of records.
“They were born from a No. 1 song, which is unusual for most cartoon characters,” says Ross Bagdasarian Jr., whose father — the creator of Alvin, Theodore, Simon and their long-suffering host, David Seville — died in 1972.
The potent holiday-season earworm evolved over the decades into a cartoon empire, encompassing blockbuster films and their soundtracks, animated TV series, Taylor Swift-style re-recordings, one platinum-selling album (the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie soundtrack), one gold-selling album (the Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel soundtrack), concerts, musicals and dozens of branded toys, blankets, party favors and video games. Beginning with 2007’s Alvin and the Chipmunks, the four theatrical live-action Chipmunks films have grossed a combined $656 million, according to Box Office Mojo. “It wasn’t just that it was a song,” says Bagdasarian, who, with his wife, Janice Karman, produced the films and voiced some of the chipmunks. “It created characters and personality.”
The senior Bagdasarian had been shrewd enough to initially retain all the rights to the shockingly lucrative holiday tune: master recording, publishing and product licensing. (He relinquished the master rights in the late ‘60s.) Billboard estimates the holiday track that started it all brings in $300,000 in annual revenue for the master recording and publishing. It has racked up 112.4 million total on-demand U.S. streams, more than half of which have come in November-December of the last five years, according to Luminate. Last December alone, the track streamed 10.4 million times. Plus, “The Chipmunk Song” has sold nearly 665,000 digital tracks, according to Luminate, and Bagdasarian says the Chipmunks have sold 50 million albums in their history, from 1965’s Chipmunks A Go-Go to 1980’s Chipmunk Punk.
Along with Karman, Bagdasarian — who has a law degree from Southwestern Law School — runs Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Bagdasarian Productions, which they started in 1981. Early on, the couple intended to make original films and shows, but they moved in the Chipmunks direction with Chipmunk Punk.
“And here we are, almost 50 years later, trying to come up with the next new idea for Alvin and the Chipmunks, from TV shows to movies to another TV series that we just finished last year,” says Bagdasarian, 74, in a phone interview marking the song’s 65th anniversary.
What do you hear in “The Chipmunk Song” that nobody else does?
I am pulled back to 1958, with my brother and sister and I being called into my dad’s den, where he would record these demos before he went into the studio to do a more polished version. We would hear not only the charm of the song but the personality of Alvin, talking back to him, as only a four-or-five-inch tiny chipmunk could do to a large man. Parents understand how frustrated and exasperated Dave would be with Alvin, and kids love identifying with Alvin because he’s got that spunk and that sass and he’s not afraid to go, “Hold on a second.” Just that little rebellious, mischievous nature.
Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks.
CBS via Getty Images
How much did Alvin empower you to be more rebellious as a kid?
I was more of the Simon character. Very dutiful. I was the one [who] really wanted my dad to be proud of me. So if there was a chore to do, let me wash his car or something. My younger brother Adam was the rebellious one. But I think he might have been rebellious on his own. I don’t know if he needed any prompting from Alvin.
Your family owns the entirety of the rights to the song — publishing, recording, licensing, etc. Right?
Yeah. True.
How did that come to be?
My dad was one of the first folks — you’re talking about in the ’50s — that not only owned the publishing rights to the song but he also owned the master itself. That was something that no artist was really doing back then. And Berry Gordy [Jr.], when he founded Motown, he had mentioned over the years [in private], “Well, when I found out that Ross Bagdasarian could own his own masters, I went from writing songs for people to developing a record label so I could own those masters, as Ross Bagdasarian had done.”
I didn’t realize the connection between your dad and Gordy.
Yeah. In the late ’60s, when he had decided he had done everything with the Chipmunks he wanted to do, he gave back [to] then Liberty Records, now Capitol-EMI, the phonograph rights to those masters. But he retained for himself — obviously, we still own these master-recording rights for movies, television, toys, commercials. The one area that we don’t control the master recording is simply in the phonograph-recording area. Which obviously is not what it was 10, 15 years ago, when you could actually really sell a lot of albums. “The Chipmunk Song” is still a wonderfully valuable song.
[embedded content]
So if anyone streams “The Chipmunk Song,” the master royalty goes to Capitol-EMI, now owned by Universal Music Group, not to your family?
That’s right. Fortunately or unfortunately, these days, 8 billion [plays] on Spotify would still amount to 17 cents. So it’s not a payment we actually miss. [Editor’s note: 8 billion Spotify plays would amount to about $38 million, according to Billboard’s royalty calculator.]
The most important revenue is in licensing songs for movies, the movies you make as part of the franchise, and publishing — right?
As far as the song is concerned, that is fair to say. The song has probably sold 20 million records, maybe more, because it sold 4.5 million records in the first seven weeks back in 1958.
Does your family own all the publishing — publisher share and artist share?
Yeah. My wife and I.
What do you remember about what your dad taught you about the music business?
It wasn’t as much about the music business as it was just life lessons. The most important thing that my dad ever said [was], “Listen, your word is all you will ever really have.” Had he lived a little longer, he would have added a caveat: “Your word is your bond, but don’t expect that from everybody else that you meet.” We’ve had times when we’ve made what we thought were various deals with record companies, only to have them say, “If you don’t have it in writing, you don’t have it.” They didn’t get that part of the story that my dad told me, evidently.
Want to give examples?
No! [Laughs.] I don’t think I want to. But they know who they are.
Any final thoughts about what it’s like to hear “The Chipmunk Song” everywhere this time of year?
Honestly, I am so thrilled every time, because it brings back my dad. I get to hear his voice.
Ed Christman contributed to this report.
CTM Outlander, a partnership between Texas-based Outlander Capital and Dutch-based music entertainment company CTM, has signed singer-songwriter Sam Hunt in a go-forward publishing deal for his future works, in addition to acquiring Hunt’s publishing catalog.
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Georgia native Hunt has earned nine No. 1 Country Airplay hits, including “Breaking Up Was Easy in the ’90s” and “Take Your Time.” Hunt’s single “Body Like A Back Road” recently obtained RIAA Diamond-certification (10x platinum), and currently sits at 11x Platinum-certification.
As a songwriter, he’s also contributed to hit songs recorded by Kenny Chesney (“Come Over”), Keith Urban (“Cop Car”), Billy Currington (“We Are Tonight”) and William Michael Morgan (“I Met a Girl”). Derek Crownover, Willie Jones, Megan Pekar and John Rolfe of Loeb and Loeb handled the transaction on behalf of Sam Hunt.
“Discussing the sale of some of my catalog took a while and I am glad that it did, as I got to know André and his CTM Outlander team better and better. They continued to meet with me and my team over the last several months to discuss what working together might look like. I appreciate their diligence and belief in what I am doing as an artist, and more importantly, as a songwriter. I believe we will have a productive partnership both internationally and here at home,” Hunt said in a statement.
André de Raaff, CEO of CTM Outlander, said in a statement: “Sam has been on our radar for a long time, and we were very eager to work with him. Since we landed in Nashville, we signed some of the most prolific songwriters like Shane McAnally, Natalie Hemby, Ross Copperman and Michael Tyler. By adding Sam to our roster, who is not only one of the most respected songwriters in town but also a global superstar and touring artist, we feel we can service the community even better. We are truly honored that Sam, after being in talks with us for a long time, decided to sign with our company. Sam is an example of an artist and songwriter that we can help move forward in the international market; his body of work doesn’t only dominate the U.S. radio waves and streaming world but also travels throughout the world.”
Mike McKool, director at CTM Outlander, added, “We’re thrilled to add a singer-songwriter with the stature of Sam Hunt to the CTM Outlander family. Not only is he the type of artist that we want to be in business with, but more importantly he’s the type of person that we want to invest in. Sam has clearly experienced an immense amount of success, and our goal at CTM Outlander is to provide Sam with the resources he needs to achieve all his future endeavors.”
Earlier this year, CTM Outlander acquired songwriter Shane McAnally‘s catalog (the deal included a global admin agreement for SMACKSongs and SMACKBlue). The company also acquired Dutch music label and publisher Strengholt Muisc Group, with a catalog containing more than 100 Dutch No. 1 hits including works composed by Boudewijn de Groot, Lennaert Nijgh, Ramses Shaffy, Pierre Kartner, and more.
By now, you’ve heard the news that BMI is selling its interests to a shareholder group assembled by the private equity firm, New Mountain Capital. The sale has come with questions and consternation from songwriter advocacy groups — including the Music Artist Coalition, where I am a board member — and U.S. music attorneys. These songwriter advocates asked for (1) transparency about the sale and (2) a window of time after the sale that would allow unhappy songwriters to leave.
Most questions remain unanswered, and BMI has not opened a window for songwriters to leave. But the sale seems to be proceeding anyway, subject to “regulatory approval.” Given that, here’s what you should watch out for as a songwriter, a songwriter representative or someone who benefits from administration or co-ownership of a songwriter’s songs.
1. What Does This Mean?
In short, it means that BMI, which has been a not-for-profit organization since its founding in 1939, has turned into a for-profit organization and sold to a private equity company. Private equity companies acquire companies that they believe are undervalued in hopes of realizing a significant return on their investment in a relatively short period of time. This is called a “holding period.” While some private equity periods fall outside the average, in 2023 the average “holding period” for a private equity fund with a company it buys is just over seven years, which is the longest it has been in over two decades (in 2022 it was just under 6 years).
According to press reports citing sources, BMI in its first year as a for-profit entity has generated about $130 million in earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). In order for the shareholder group to be successful, it will need to continue to grow profits or EBITDA from where they are today. To do that, they have to increase revenue and/or decrease expenses. The concern underpinning the sale is that BMI has historically grown revenue in order to pass it on to songwriters and publishers. The only revenue BMI traditionally held back was to cover its overhead. Turning to a for-profit model with private equity owners means that BMI’s shareholders will expect to participate in the profits BMI generates (through distributions or leveraging BMI), which may mean that less of the revenue generated will be distributed to the writers and their publishers.
2. How Does This Compare With My Other Options?
That is one of the unanswered questions. BMI’s goal is that there will be no negative impact to writers and publishers. BMI says they have a “goal” (not a guarantee) not to withhold more than 15% of revenue for three years for profit and overhead, but this doesn’t apply to revenue from any new business lines the company now enters.
Without more specificity, it is hard to determine how this will be possible and whether songwriters will be negatively impacted. It would be great if BMI provided more details about how they will increase distributions and increase profits at the same time. Ideally, BMI would give their affiliates an audit right, so that songwriters and publishers can monitor whether BMI reaches its goal. Otherwise, it should continue to release its financials showing collections, distributions and EBITDA.
3. How Will I Know?
Unfortunately, transparency is an issue. BMI’s latest public filing contains very little information on the state of the company and its revenue. In fact, they provide far less financial information than they did just a few years ago. Larger market players (like music publishers) may be able to compare and contrast the revenue they receive from one PRO vs. another and compare it with general growth trends of the music business and growth in the particular market segments that pay for performance (radio, film/TV, streaming, bars/restaurants, etc.).
We hope that songwriter advocacy organizations, in conjunction with music publishers, will be able to create and provide some level of transparency in the future for all songwriters. As a board member of the Music Artists Coalition, we have determined to make this a priority. Information is power, and songwriters who signed up for BMI under the premise of it being a non-profit should work to get as much information as possible. Ultimately, what matters is what you make as a songwriter – so watch your statements.
4. Do BMI Writers Share in the Sale Proceeds?
A little. In response to pressure from advocacy groups, BMI said that $100 million will be shared with its affiliates. BMI, in its sole discretion, will determine who gets it and how much, but it has agreed to use prior payment principles to do so. Affiliates includes both songwriters and publishers, and how much of the $100 million will be distributed to each of those two groups has not been disclosed.
The rest of the estimated $1 billion goes to BMI’s shareholders, which are broadcasters. For some broadcasters, this is a rebate of the performance royalties they have paid over the last few decades. This may seem particularly gruesome to songwriters who are also recording artists in the United States, which is one of the only countries in the world where broadcasters do not pay performance revenue on recordings.
5. What Do I Do Next?
If you’re a BMI member, stay informed. Ask questions, read your statements, follow the news and watch for reports on distributions starting after the second half of 2024. Talk to your co-writers at other PROs and compare payments. It takes four and a half months from the end of a quarter until you receive your accounting.
Check your agreements to understand when you can terminate membership, and when you can withdraw your songs. If you are unhappy with the results of the sale, you have the right to leave, but it can be tricky. BMI (like ASCAP) has one window during which you can resign as a writer (often every two years), but a separate, often completely different window (often every five years) during which you can terminate your publishing entity. You have to watch your windows and send your notice in advance, adhering to the timeframes allowed for resignations and terminations. And don’t forget that your songs stay with BMI while they are subject to “licenses in effect,” meaning that even when a songwriter leaves, their catalog stays behind for the term of existing licenses.
6. What Does Google Have To Do With All This?
We aren’t really sure, other than the fact that CapitalG (Alphabet’s independent growth fund) is listed at the end of the press release announcing the sale. Google owns YouTube, which has a history of underpaying songwriters — at least for its ad-supported tier. We will be watching this one closely.
Jordan Bromley leads Manatt Entertainment, a legal and consulting firm providing services to the entertainment industry for over 45 years. He sits on the Board of Directors for the Music Artists Coalition, an artist first advocacy coalition established in 2019.
BMG has extended its global publishing deal with Pitbull. He first signed to the company nearly a decade ago, and under this renewed partnership, his back catalog of hits and future songs will be administered by the BMG team. Warner Chappell Music has signed singer-songwriter Dido to a new publishing deal, including her back catalog […]
BMI is being sold to a New Mountain Capital-led shareholder group in a deal that is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2024, a company spokesperson confirmed with Billboard.
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While terms of the deal were not disclosed, the buyer announced that as part of the deal BMI’s current shareholders will allocate $100 million of the sale’s proceeds to songwriters and publishers affiliates “in recognition of [their] creativity.” That planned payout will adhere to BMI’s distribution methodologies.
The deal still needs to be approved by the broadcaster shareholders that have long owned the performance rights organization and will also need regulatory approval.
“Today marks an exciting new chapter for BMI that puts us in the best possible position to stay ahead of the evolving industry and ensure the long-term success of our music creators,” BMI president and CEO Mike O’Neill said in a statement. “New Mountain is an ideal partner because they believe in our mission and understand that the key to success for our company lies in delivering value to our affiliates.”
As part of the agreement, New Mountain is reserving additional capital to fund growth investments and technology enhancement to help BMI’s long-term plan to maximize distributions for its affiliates and improve the service it provides to songwriters and publishers.
“BMI has been a trusted guide and champion of music creators from the beginning, and we are privileged to work with the company and its 1.4 million affiliates to build on that incredible legacy,” New Mountain managing director Pete Masucci said in a statement. “There are numerous growth opportunities ahead for BMI with significant potential to generate more value for the work of its songwriters, composers and publishers. We look forward to working together alongside Mike and his team to capitalize on those opportunities for the benefit of all BMI stakeholders.”
In emphasizing the buyer’s commitment to investment in next generation technology platforms, New Mountain director Mike Oshinsky said in a statement, “There is tremendous opportunity to modernize this critical part of music infrastructure and ensure that long term royalty collections for songwriters, composers and publishers continue to grow. With our support, BMI is ideally positioned to drive this transformation as the only PRO in the world to combine an open-door policy to all music creators with the innovation and commercial drive of a for-profit business.”
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as financial advisor to BMI and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP served as its legal advisor. Moelis & Company served as financial advisor to New Mountain, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP served as its legal advisor. As part of New Mountain’s investment, CapitalG will also invest a passive minority stake in BMI.
Suhel Nafar understands the impact that music can have around the world.
Born in Lod — a city about 25 miles from Jerusalem — to Palestinian parents, Nafar learned English by listening to Dead Prez, 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. The influence of these artists was so strong that in the late 1990s, he — along with his brother Tamer Nafar and their friend Mahmoud Jreri — started the first Palestinian hip-hop group, DAM.
“Listening to hip-hop and seeing music videos of artists being chased by police and feeling their oppression and their anger without knowing what they were talking about because I didn’t speak English — I felt they were talking about me,” Nafar tells Billboard over Zoom from Lod in late October.
He spent 20 years touring the world with DAM, whose lyrics focused on such topics as inequality and oppression. Through his travels, he saw a need in the market and is now working behind the scenes to fill it.
“There aren’t enough of us,” Nafar says, “Arabs, Muslims, brown people and people of color in the music industry to support the artists in the region and around the world.”
Nafar started working on videos, films and other jobs that focused on artists in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region, which includes the Middle East, and helped its music scene coalesce. He moved to the United States in 2013 and taught as an artist in residence at New York University and, in 2018, began a three-year stint at Spotify. There, he helped establish WANA content on the platform and worked in its artist and industry partnerships division.
As vp of strategy and development at EMPIRE, where Nafar started in early 2021, he is leading the company’s expansion into the WANA region, which is rich with talent. Nafar says the generation of musicians he is fostering can help heal “the wound” inflicted by the conflicts there and their far-reaching repercussions.
He sees “glocalization” — global music genres such as pop and hip-hop adapted to WANA cultures — as the ideal delivery system and cites “Rajieen,” a direct response to the crisis featuring 25 WANA artists as an example. Nafar says the song and its powerful video have reached almost 10 million streams across all platforms.
What is EMPIRE’s West Asia and North Africa strategy?
I decided to move to EMPIRE because I felt that the technology of Spotify is great but that artists needed more behind-the-scenes support. [I needed] to be closer to artists and work with them on strategy. As a person that had the artist background, the [digital service provider] background and the content creation background, I thought I would help artists more from the label side.
At EMPIRE, I handle the strategy and development for the region. It means working with a lot of artists on signings and signing labels as well. I’m also developing the market. There’s a gap [in the WANA region] because we don’t have enough people behind the scenes. We don’t have enough managers. We don’t have enough labels.
How does EMPIRE’s independent approach to business influence your efforts?
My whole idea was how I could create a more independent mentality for others so that they could create their own EMPIREs and build their own rosters and executive teams. We signed a lot of labels from the region, along with good people who love music and are just missing skills, or people who have the skills but are missing people to be on their team. We’re providing this infrastructure to a lot of people here.
You’re saying that you’re building the industry itself, to a certain extent.
It’s supporting to amplify what’s already there more than building, I would say.
Nafar says he received this relief of Handala, a national symbol of the Palestinian people, “from a group of kids who attended one of my music and film workshops,” which he conducted in impoverished neighborhoods and refugee camps in Palestine.
Amir Nafar
What have been your biggest successes so far?
The number of female artists we have is amazing. We had at least four Arab female artists on Spotify’s Times Square billboard. My team and I are supporting voices of females from Morocco, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and the diaspora. This type of excitement inspires other female artists to grow. I’m really proud of that.
Who are some Arab artists you’re most excited about?
Maro is a half-Lebanese, half-Ukrainian artist who speaks Arabic, English, French, Ukrainian and Russian and can sing in every language. He was raised in Beirut, where he grew up playing guitar in the streets as a busker. When there was violence in Lebanon, he had to move to Norway … We got an opportunity to bring him to the U.S., where he’s living now.
What about hip-hop artists?
MC Abdul, a 15-year-old kid from Gaza, is a genius who started rapping when he was 9. He learned English from hip-hop and speaks it better than a lot of Americans I know. A few months ago, we finally got him out of Gaza and flew him and his dad to San Francisco on an artist visa. He performed an amazing show there for over 20,000 people. He was in the studio and taking meetings to start his album rollout and was supposed to come back to Gaza [a few] weeks ago. Then the whole situation started, so he couldn’t go back to his family.
Another artist I love is Soulja, a rapper from Sudan. When the war in Sudan happened, we had to help him escape from Sudan to Egypt, and now he’s in Saudi Arabia. His recent release, “Ayam,” is a breakup song where he’s telling his love he doesn’t want to see her anymore, but his love is actually Sudan. He wrote it the day he escaped and was almost killed.
Name one of the women artists you’re supporting.
Nai Barghouti is another amazing artist. She’s a traditional Palestinian folk artist who recently did a song with Skrillex, “Xena.” Her vocal skills are unbelievable. Sometimes we’re like, “Are you human?” Because sometimes it feels like her voice is just an instrument. We’re working on a few projects with her.
Developing Arab artists and promoting the region globally must feel like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
There are people who’ve been in this field before me that did a lot of great work and other cultures that inspired us a lot. My days at Spotify inspired me so much because I worked closely with the Latin team, the Afro team, the Desi team. I watched how K-pop started from the early stages. I just localized what I learned from all those different cultures.
Amir Nafar
How have things shifted since the recent conflict started? What are your workdays like?
Artists are not feeling like they want to release music. That’s the biggest hit. The department I’m running [went from releasing] at least 20 songs a week to almost no songs. The first week, it was the shock of “What the fuck is going on?” and then canceling shows. A lot of festivals all around the Arab world were canceled.
As an artist myself, this is not the first time I’ve gone through it. There have been many times when we were about to drop an album, then Israel invaded Gaza, or there was some protest, or people were getting killed. We learned how to maneuver in these unfortunate situations.
What’s the first move in that maneuvering?
Before business is people. A lot of it is mental support because many artists are going through a lot of emotional pain right now. Everyone knows someone in Gaza. Every family knows a family. I know a hip-hop producer in Gaza that lost his entire family.
If this becomes a long war, how do you foresee it affecting your business?
Music is like history books. The artists will be the ones telling the stories. They will document what’s happening better than the Western media. They will do better songs than Taylor Swift and not do a post about Taylor Swift’s bodyguard. I just hope this won’t get to a point when it’s normalized and [people] will forget about it.
The story of Taylor Swift’s bodyguard returning to Israel to serve in the Israel Defense Forces was widely covered by the media, including Billboard. What are your thoughts on that story?
From my perspective, showing how cute this bodyguard is [who is] going to join the army is not something to make cool at a time when thousands of kids are being killed. [Humanitarian organizations] consider the IDF an illegal army that has done a lot of illegal activities. We as people who are working for music and culture should be uplifting the voices that would heal this wound and not say, “Look at this Taylor Swift bodyguard.”
Is there anything else you would like to say?
I wish this interview was in a different time [with me] talking more about the business. I actually almost canceled because it’s overwhelming watching my family and friends going through genocide. I want to represent the new generation and the music that is fucking amazing; not the situation where there’s an oppressor bombing families as we speak.
I also want to say that from a music and culture perspective, we’re entering a very unique era of the glocalization of a new generation. The culture is morphing. There isn’t one culture anymore. There’s no one genre anymore. This is the voice that I would like to amplify more than anything.
Amir Nafar
Sony Music Publishing ruled the Top Radio Airplay, Hot 100 Songs and Country Airplay publisher rankings for its third consecutive quarter of 2023, and Warner Chappell Music surged to No. 2 on the Hot 100 Songs chart — the first time it has held the position since the Hot 100 ranking began in 2019.
For the period spanning July through September, all of the big three publishers benefited from shares in the Afrobeats radio hit “Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez. Sony also benefited from stakes in “Last Night” by Morgan Wallen, which hit No. 5 on the Top Radio Airplay chart, and Taylor Swift’s surprise hit “Cruel Summer,” which reached No. 3 on the quarter’s Hot 100 Songs ranking, four years after its initial release due to its placement as the opening song of Swift’s The Eras Tour.
Last quarter, Tracy Chapman’s Purple Rabbit Music publishing company broke into the Hot 100 and Top Radio Airplay charts (ranking No. 7 and No. 10, respectively) for the first time, thanks to Luke Combs’ cover of her 1988 song “Fast Car.” This quarter, her market share as a publisher/songwriter grew even higher. Chapman finished the quarter as the top songwriter on all three charts, propelling Purple Rabbit Music to No. 5 on Top Radio Airplay and No. 6 on both Hot 100 Songs and Country Airplay.
But she wasn’t the only self-published songwriter to make the charts this quarter. As the sole writer of “Rich Men North of Richmond,” Oliver Anthony Music’s publishing company, Christopher Anthony Lunsford Pub Designee, placed at No. 8 on Hot 100 Songs with a 1.49% market share, surpassing such top 10 perennials as Downtown and Reservoir. Like Chapman, Anthony is the sole songwriter of his breakthrough song.
This is the first time that two independent songwriters have broken into the Hot 100 Songs chart at the same time.
Warner Chappell rose to No. 2 on the Hot 100 ranking for the first time in 19 quarters. Previously, it often ranked third or fourth. “Last Night” by Morgan Wallen, “Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez, and 49 other Hot 100 Songs hits accounted for its strong showing of 18.18% of the market share. The publisher held steady in third place on the Top Radio Airplay chart with 15.87% of the market share, and ranked second on the Country Airplay chart with a 26.2% share.
Universal Music Publishing Group took second place on Top Radio Airplay — where its song placements increased to 52 from 49 in the second quarter — and third on Hot 100 Songs. Combs’ “Love You Anyway,” No. 3 on Country Airplay; “Cruel Summer”; and “Calm Down” were UMPG’s highest-ranked songs.
Kobalt held fast to No. 4 on both Top Radio Airplay and Hot 100 Songs but slid to No. 5 on Country Airplay behind BMG. The latter publisher’s share in Jelly Roll’s “Need a Favor” helped it edge past Kobalt’s 4.59% market share with 4.93%.
BMG and Big Machine Music both climbed in the ranks on the Country Airplay charts this quarter. BMG rose from fifth to fourth ranking, thanks to its share of 12 songs on the chart this quarter, including Jelly Roll’s “Need a Favor.” BMM climbed from eighth last quarter (2.57%) to seventh this quarter (2.97%), thanks in part to Luke Bryan’s “But I Got a Beer In My Hand.”
Concord finished 10th on Top Radio Airplay with 1.37%. That percentage might rise in the fourth quarter due to its acquisitions of Round Hill Music and Mojo Music & Media in September. If Concord’s third-quarter market share was combined with those of Round Hill and Pulse, which Concord also owns but lists separately, it would have finished at No. 5 on Top Radio Airplay with 4.96% and at No. 7 on Hot 100 Songs with 3.1%.
Rounding out the top 10, Reservoir fell to No. 8 on Top Radio Airplay with 1.82%, though it improved on its No. 7-ranked second-quarter share of 1.62%. It rounded out the Hot 100 Songs top 10 with 1.17%. Hipgnosis (1.76%) and Downtown (1.44%) finished at No. 9 on Top Radio Airplay and Hot 100 Songs, respectively.
Additional reporting by Ed Christman.
Up-and-coming Mexican singer/songwriter Angel Sandoval has signed a multi-year global publishing agreement with Kobalt. This will be the first publishing agreement for the 23-year-old artist, who earlier this year, won his first SESAC Latin Music award for “Si Ya Hiciste el Mal,” which was recorded by Luis R. Conriquez and Jessi Uribe. Explore See latest […]