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Neon Gold and Avenue A Records have joined together to create Futures Music Group, a tech-forward collective of indie labels with an artist-first mentality.
Distributed through Virgin, Futures was co-founded by Neon Gold’s Derek Davies (Charli XCX, Tove Lo, Marina & The Diamonds, Passion Pit, Matt Maeson) and Avenue A’s Dave Wallace (Barns Courtney, Blossoms, Palace, Self Esteem) in early 2024. When the label group’s first release as Futures, “Home” by Good Neighbours, quickly went viral in January, the song quickly put the band on the map and served as a proof-of-concept for the Futures model. Perhaps the biggest debut single by any artist this year, “Home” was certified platinum in less than nine months.
The Futures roster also includes Phantogram, The Knocks, Barns Courtney, Palace and Mt. Joy, the latter of which was signed through a joint venture with the band’s own Bloom Field Records. (Good Neighbours first EP, including “Home,” are also through Futures until the band’s deal with Capitol/Polydor kicks in January 2025).
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Over time, Futures Music Group will grow to include more indie labels (and artists) under its umbrella. It also intends to build an internal team for digital marketing, sync licensing, sales, content production and more that can be shared between the individual labels.
At Futures, artists are signed to license-based deals, keeping master ownership in the artists’ hands, and the royalty split is kept equitable between the label and artist. In some instances, the split moves further into the artist’s favor after certain profit thresholds are met. This allows for what Davies calls “maximum incentive alignment” between both parties, and it rewards the artist for success.
The deal terms and options are “shorter and less onerous than most competitors,” Davies adds. “Our thing is if we do a great job, then we hope people will just keep rolling through and working with us,” says Wallace. “Keeping artists happy is the name of the game. We don’t want to work with an artist who is only working with us because of a contract. There are not many successful record campaigns that come out of a relationship where the artist is unhappy,” adds Davies.
The company also wants to do right by songwriters. The label group has pledged from now on to give points on every master to any non-producing and non-performing songwriter from the label’s share. (Exact deal points for this are handled on a case-by-case basis).
Along with their commitment to artists, Davies and Wallace of Futures have also spent the last few years studying and investing in how new technology will disrupt the music business. Davies, for his part, co-founded the start-up Medallion, which helped artists like Santigold, Greta Van Fleet, Tycho and more build and own direct relationships with their most passionate fans using web3 technology. The co-founders have also been strategic investors in Big Effect, a digital marketing platform founded by Spotify and UMG alum Mike Biggane, and Notes.fm, a royalty management platform from Stem co-founder Tim Luckow.
“We believe the future of the music industry has never been brighter for artists and the independent sector,” says Davies. “The industry has reached what we believe to be the largest inflection point in the history of the label system, as we are moving into a new music economy that is rightly trending towards artist ownership. We believe there’s a meaningful opportunity for a well-financed and resourced label group with a proven track record to deliver major results for artists on indie terms, which is what we’ve set out to build with Futures.”
The founding team includes: Davies (co-CEO), Wallace (co-CEO), Sarah Kesselman (CMO, general manager), Nicky Berger (COO) and Jeff Lin (CFO).
Attorneys for Jay-Z are now sparring with lawyers for New York City over whether he can use copyright termination to retake control of his debut album Reasonable Doubt – a crucial question ahead of court-ordered auction of Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash’s one-third stake in the label.
The city’s child services agency, which wants to collect the more than $193,000 that Dash owes in unpaid child support, warned a federal judge in court filings last week that Jay-Z was using “false” threats of an approaching termination to drive down the price of Dash’s stake in his company.
“Jay-Z’s statements to the press have poisoned the environment for the auction,” wrote Gerald Singleton, an attorney for the city. “Those statements are false and extremely damaging to the City’s interests in ensuring that the auction will generate sufficient funds to satisfy all existing child support arrearages and secure future child support payments.”
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But on Monday, longtime Jay-Z lawyer Alex Spiro fired right back on behalf of Roc-A-Fella, saying neither the rapper nor his company had issued any such statements and that there was “no merit to NYC’s accusations.” But he also confirmed that Jay-Z was in fact seeking to use termination to take back the album, Reasonable Doubt, in 2031 – and that prospective buyers could make up their own minds about what that means.
“Potential bidders have every right to assess whether they believe the notice of termination would be effective in 2031,” Spiro told the judge.
As early as next month, the U.S. Marshals Service will sell off Dash’s 33.3% interest in Roc-A-Fella Inc., an entity whose only real asset is the sound recording copyright to Reasonable Doubt. Though the court-ordered auction was originally intended to pay off an $823,000 judgment in a civil lawsuit, New York City jumped into the case over Dash’s child support debt. The state of New York later did the same, claiming Dash owes more than $8.7 million in back taxes and penalties.
The owners of the other two-thirds of Roc-A-Fella — label co-founders Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) and Kareem “Biggs” Burke — have already attempted to stop the auction, including making changes to the company’s bylaws and intervening in the lawsuit. But a federal judge rejected such opposition in February, and the sale could take place as early as Oct. 21.
As the auction approaches, a minimum purchase price has been set at $3 million. But it has remained unclear what exactly a potential winner would be buying.
Streaming and other royalties from Reasonable Doubt would likely provide a buyer with a revenue stream; since its 1996 release, the album has racked up 2.2 million equivalent album units in the U.S., according to Luminate, including 21,500 units so far this year. But the eventual buyer also would be a minority owner in a company controlled by hostile partners, with little ability to perform typical due diligence on the asset they’re about to purchase.
Another key question mark for buyers – and the source of this week’s dispute with NYC – is just how long Roc-A-Fella will continue to own its only real asset.
The termination right, a provision created by congress in the 1970s, empowers authors to reclaim ownership of copyrighted works decades after selling them away. If Jay is eligible for it, termination would allow him to win back the rights to his sound recording of Reasonable Doubt roughly 35 years after he released the album, meaning 2031.
But in their court filing on Friday, attorneys for New York City child services said Jay-Z was not, in fact, eligible for termination. They argued that he had created the album as so-called “work for hire” under a written contract with Roc-A-Fella – meaning the company had always been the legal owner of the copyright, and there were no rights to Jay to take back in the first place.
“He has claimed that he has a termination right under the Copyright Act and that the rights to Reasonable Doubt will revert to him in six years,” wrote Singleton, the NYC attorney. “In fact, he has no such termination right and RAF is entitled to the renewal term [and] will own the copyright rights until the year 2098.”
To address the problem, the city asked the judge to issue a definitive ruling on whether Jay-Z is eligible for termination – and to postpone the auction until he does so.
But in his response Monday, Spiro argued that the city “has no right to seek such a ruling.” He said the demand was premature, since Jay-Z will not formally take back the album until 2031, and that a city agency had no legal standing to raise such questions in court.
“Put simply, this is not the appropriate time, forum, or case to litigate any issues relating to Jay-Z’s notice of termination,” Spiro wrote. “This Court should therefore reject NYC’s request for an impermissible advisory opinion as to the effectiveness of Jay-Z’s notice of termination.”
Tucker Wetmore has inked a record deal with UMG Nashville, in partnership with Back Blocks Music. Wetmore is managed by Back Blocks Music and is signed to WME for global booking representation.
Earlier this year, Wetmore broke through with the hits “Wine into Whiskey” and “Wind Up Missin’ You.” “Wine Into Whiskey” earned Wetmore his Billboard Hot 100 debut in March, while both songs reached the top 20 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart.
He follows with his latest release “What Would You Do?” while “Wind Up Missin’ You” will go to country radio with an impact date of June 10, via EMI Records Nashville.
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“Before I moved to Nashville, I sat down and made a list of goals for myself,” Wetmore said in a statement. “And for the last four years, I have been working toward them every single day. Today I have checked off one of the biggest I set for myself… signing a record deal. My new family at UMG Nashville checked all of my boxes. The drive, dedication, love and respect we all have for each other outside of music is the real reason why I’m so proud to now call them partners, along with my team at Back Blocks Music. With the fire that has already been started, I couldn’t pick better people to pour gasoline on it. I couldn’t be more excited and confident about this next chapter in my career. I love you all, thank you for continuing to make my dreams come true. God is so good.”
“The world has only seen a glimpse of what Tucker is going to do for country music,” UMG Nashville Chair & CEO, Cindy Mabe, said in a statement. “His strong connection to his purpose shines a light on what has helped build him: his family, his faith, his team and his fans. Representing country music from the Pacific Northwest, Tucker’s distinctive sound, soulful lyrics and his instantly likable personality bring the perfect ingredients to nurture and grow a lasting career. UMG Nashville is so honored to work with Tucker, Rakiyah and Back Blocks Music in building the next era of country music history.”“I’m honored to continue working with Tucker as he expands his team with the brilliant minds at UMG,” shared Back Blocks Music founder/CEO Rakiyah Marshall. “What Tucker and our Back Blocks team have built together in less than three years has been incredible, but it’s just the beginning. I am blown away by the character, talent and work ethic that make up who Tucker is as an artist and human, and am so thankful to be on this ride with the newest UMG Nashville artist.”
Wetmore, who was named Billboard‘s Country Rookie of the Month for May, recently opened shows for Kameron Marlowe‘s Strangers Tour and is set to join Luke Bryan‘s Farm Tour in September. Wetmore also has two songs featured on the soundtrack to the movie Twisters, including “Already Had It” and “Steal My Thunder” (with Conner Smith).
Country music duo LOCASH has launched Galaxy Label Group in partnership with Studio2Bee Entertainment, founded by veteran Nashville music executives Skip Bishop and Butch Waugh.
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BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville will distribute the label, Billboard can reveal.
LOCASH’s Preston Brust and Chris Lucas celebrated the newly-announced venture on Wednesday evening (Feb. 28) during an event in downtown Nashville, just as radio programmers descended on Music City for the annual Country Radio Seminar.
“We’re all blessed to be part of this music business and we have a chance to do what our passion is, and to have Skip and Butch back on the team with us, it’s great,” Lucas tells Billboard during a Zoom call with LOCASH and Bishop.
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In launching the label, LOCASH, who formed in 2008, draw on nearly two decades of experience as artists and writers. In 2016, they earned a top 5 Country Airplay hit with “I Love This Life,” and followed with the chart-topper “I Know Somebody,” top 20 song “Ring on Every Finger,” and in 2019, earned another top 5 Country Airplay hit with “One Big Country Song.”
“We’ve talked about doing a label for years,” Lucas says. “Some of the best success we’ve had was when were have been more hands-on with it.”
Bishop and Waugh had previously worked on the campaign for “I Love This Life,” and the full-fledged staff that Studio2Bee has with marketing and radio reps, “seemed like a perfect match,” Bishop explains.
A nod to the label’s name, Brust says the ideal artist roster will include genres beyond country, though they haven’t signed additional artists just yet. The hard lessons LOCASH has learned along the way as artists and songwriters influence the business model for the new label.
L-R: PETER STRICKLAND, GENERAL MANAGER, BMG; KATIE KERKHOVER, VICE PRESIDENT, A&R, BMG; SKIP BISHOP, STUDIO2BEE ENTERTAINMENT; PRESTON BRUST, LOCASH;
CHRIS LUCAS, LOCASH; JON LOBA, PRESIDENT, FRONTLINE RECORDINGS, NORTH AMERICA, BMG; QUINN BAUDUCCO, SENIOR MANAGER, BUSINESS & LEGAL AFFAIRS, BMG; JOJAMIE HAHR, EVP, RECORDED MUSIC, BMG NASHVILLE
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“The main thing that we’ve seen on some bigger labels is that sometimes some artists would be to the side because another artist was hot at that moment,” Brust says. “We’ve always talked about that and how it’s not fair, because there is so much talent in this city.”
Galaxy Label Group will also serve as home to LOCASH’s new music; BMG Nashville’s Wheelhouse imprint had previously released their albums. The duo has been in the studio working on their upcoming album, with their first single, “Hometown Home,” expected to release in the spring.
“This song just stepped into the roots of what Locash is about,” Lucas says. “It’s about hometown love and being the guy who says, ‘We could go anywhere in the world and start a new life together, but if you want to stay here in our hometown, that’s good with me too, because I just want to be with you.’ It’s one of those messages that is relatable and hits you in the heart.”
Beyond signing artists, Galaxy Label Group aims to aid songwriters. The duo says Galaxy Label Group will give songwriters a percentage of the master royalties (out of the label’s share) on every recording for the label, including Locash’s upcoming album. The commitment could mean a boost for songwriters, whose incomes have seen significant, negative impact in the steaming era. When physical albums sold regularly, songwriters would be paid on each album sold, earning a solid income regardless of whether their song was picked as a radio single. But with streams comprising the bulk of music consumption, songwriters are increasingly dependent on radio hits, losing out on the valuable income avenue physical records once provided.
The commitment follows in the footsteps of some smaller indie labels such as Facet Records and Good Boy Records, as well as individual artists such as Kip Moore, who in 2017 pledged an annual bonus for songwriters.
“We want to be fair,” Lucas says. “It’s one of those things where if we sit down and before the album comes out, we say, ‘This [percentage] seems fair.’ We could get down the road and if the single just goes into another realm, who knows? We could change a percentage at that point.”
Ultimately, Brust says, they hope to “create new revenue streams in this the industry.” He adds, “Nashville is built on the song. The best songwriters in the world—I would put us up against anyone. Nashville has it, period. There’s no one better than that. We want songwriters to have a fair chance. If someone’s getting 700 million streams and the songwriter’s barely seeing a dime, that’s not fair. We want to get a part of this ahead of the game and get a fair percentage for them. That’s what we’re most excited about right now—giving back to the community that has been there for us.”
On Friday (Jan. 5), the band’s fans began expressing concern online upon noticing that its website and socials had been wiped clean. As a source confirms to Billboard, the fresh start follows the expiration of the band’s 20-year contract with Atlantic Records in late December, meaning the Hayley Williams-fronted group is now a free agent. […]
Kevin “Chief” Zaruk and Simon Tikhman, co-founders of entertainment and talent management company The Core Entertainment (TCE), have partnered with Universal Music Group (UMG) to launch the global label venture The Core Records. The label venture will sign and develop new artists, working with UMG’s global network of labels. Tikhman and Zaruk, who were both […]
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Nicki Minaj plans to level up on an executive level in 2023. The Queens rapper has announced she is launching her own record label.
As spotted on Complex the rapper’s return to Queens Radio not only released her newest single “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” but also made a major reveal. While sharing some updates she said “there’s a big announcement coming. Well, I have a record label now,” she explained. “I believe so strongly in loyalty, and because I’ve spend my whole life giving to others that turn around and sh*t on me.”
She went on to give some detail on her conversation with Republic Records’ co-president Wendy Goldstein who she was texting during the show. “I said, ‘Wendy, we got to do this big. I’m a female; you a female, mamma. You got to do this right. We gotta do it right. I don’t want no little itty-bitty ting ting. I want to do it right,” Nicki Minaj said. The “Bang Bang” MC also made it clear that her unnamed label will be very diverse and confirmed her starting artist roster of Nana Fofie, Tate Kobang, Rico Danna, and London Hill.
In discussing her newest venture she recalled her early days at Young Money Records and how that pushed her to start a label. “When I came in this game, I didn’t have no paperwork with Lil Wayne” she said. “But he had us on tour, he had us in a studio, he was getting on my mixtapes.” She added, “I understand the importance of having somebody else doing the heavy lifting for you. I understand why people are coming out and they’re so, you know, microwaveable and they’re here today and gone tomorrow, because there’s no structure.”
At this time there is no date on when she will release the label’s first project.
Photo: Bernard Smalls
Nicki Minaj is officially launching her own record label.
The superstar rapper announced the big news during her Queen Radio show on Friday (March 3), revealing that the new label’s artist roster includes Nana Fofie, Tate Kobang, Rico Danna and London Hill.
“I have a record label now,” Minaj said, teasing that the company’s name will be revealed at a later date. “When I get behind an artist, y’all know how I do s— for people that’s not even signed to me. Imagine what I’ma do for the ones that’s signed.”
Minaj said that her longtime affiliate Patty Lauren (aka Patty Duke) will serve in an A&R role at the new label.
The Queen of Rap’s first single of 2023, “Red Ruby Da Sleeze,” dropped Friday through Young Money/Republic. It marks her first solo song since last year’s Billboard Hot 100-topping smash “Super Freaky Girl.”
On Friday’s Queen Radio show, Minaj told listeners that she was texting with Republic Records co-president Wendy Goldstein, who was encouraging her to make the label announcement during the program.
“I said, ‘Wendy, we got to do this big. I’m a female; you a female, mamma. You got to do this right. We gotta do it right. I don’t want no little itty-bitty ting ting. I want to do it right,’” the rapper said.
Minaj added that her new record label will feature a variety of musical acts. “Don’t think my label is just rap, or Black, or anything,” she said. “We got some other genres of music.”
Minaj also touched on the influential role Lil Wayne played early in her career, and how she hopes to do the same for up-and-coming artists on her label.
“When I came in this game I didn’t have no paperwork with Lil Wayne. But he had us on tour, he had us in a studio, he was getting on my mixtapes,” she said. “So I understand the importance of having somebody else doing the heavy lifting for you. I understand why people are coming out and they’re so, you know, microwaveable and they’re here today and gone tomorrow, because there’s no structure. There’s no real person that believes in them. That’s like, ‘Nah, I’m gonna make it my business to see you shine.’”
Listen to a replay of Queen Radio through Amp, and check out in-studio photos from Friday’s show on Minaj’s Instagram below.