Record Labels
Texas rapper BigXthaPlug has carved out a nice career for himself over the past half-decade, amassing 16 hits and three top 20s on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, a handful of appearances on the back half of the Hot 100 and a successful touring base, emerging as one of the more distinctive voices of his generation of hip-hop artists. But he was always more than just a rapper, and his multi-genre Southern roots first came to the fore with his 2022 song “Texas,” the video for which saw him decked out in full cowboy regalia as he rapped about his home state over a country-inflected acoustic slide guitar.
The song, among other things, proved BigX’s versatility. But it also opened the door to something else: the country music community. And now, as his latest single “All The Way” featuring Bailey Zimmerman spends its second week in the top 10 of the Hot 100 after zooming in with a No. 4 debut last week, BigX has a bonafide smash hit country single, with a full country-infused project on the way.
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It’s a huge moment for BigX as he explores his country interests, and also a big pop moment for the Texas MC as well, representing far and away the biggest hit of his career so far. But it’s also a big moment for UnitedMasters, the company founded in 2017 by veteran record executive Steve Stoute that releases his music — and scored its own biggest hit so far with “All The Way,” too. (The song is officially credited as BigXthaPlug/UnitedMasters/Atlantic.) And it helps UnitedMasters vp of music/head of A&R Mike Weiss earn the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
Here, Weiss talks about what went into making the record, BigX’s country “side quest,” the crowded distribution space of the music business and how UM has helped develop BigX by following his vision. “The plan is simple: stay true to BigX, lean into organic collaborations and let the music speak,” Weiss says. “We’re not mashing together genres for the sake of it. We’re building something that reflects all sides of who he is as an artist and a person.”
This week, BigXthaPlug and Bailey Zimmerman’s “All The Way” spends its second week in the top 10 of the Hot 100, at number eight. What key decisions did you make to help make that happen?
This record didn’t happen overnight. It took a complete team effort to get us here with a vision for an overarching artist plan, rather than one single. My partner David Melhado and I sat down a year ago with the idea to start mapping out a course for a country-inspired BigX project. We knew from the start that authenticity had to be the foundation. If BigX didn’t feel it, it wasn’t going to happen and that filter guided every decision we made.
Around that time, BigX started spending time with a number of country artists who had become fans after his breakout single “Texas.” We knew there was an opportunity here. We have an amazing team of core producers in Charley Cooks, Tony Coles and Bandplay. They started working on ideas for a country direction that stayed true to BigX’s roots. The initial demo to “All the Way” was Ben Johnson’s vocals over a guitar that hinted at something special. We knew it needed to be “BigX-ified,” so Bandplay built a sound that was unmistakably BigX. We have an amazing A&R team that played it for BigX. He loved the record, and cut it immediately. BigX has some of the best instincts. He trusts his gut and doesn’t miss.
The song exploded out of the gate, debuting last week at No. 4 on the Hot 100 and soaring in at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs, Digital Song Sales and Hot Country Songs charts and at No. 3 on Hot Rap Songs. Why did the song have such a huge immediate impact?
Back in February, BigX teased an early version of the record on Instagram. There was no set release date at the time, but the response was immediate and explosive. Within days, fans ripped the sound from the Instagram post and flooded TikTok with tens of thousands of videos. It was clear we had something special on our hands.
Even with that momentum, we resisted the urge to drop the record prematurely. There was external pressure to release it fast and not “lose the heat,” but we knew that a moment this big deserved a proper runway. We took the time to create the right content, shoot the music video and prepare a full rollout that matched the energy we were seeing online. We were also mindful that this was the first single off the project, and once we launched, we needed to be ready to move with full force.
That patience and discipline paid off. By the time the song dropped, there was such pent up demand that the record exploded.
With a song like that with so much immediate interest, what can you guys do to keep the momentum going?
Our priority is building sustained momentum for BigX as an artist, not just capitalizing on a single moment. From the beginning, our focus has been longterm artist development, and this moment is just one chapter in a much bigger story that BigX is telling with this country-inspired project.
We have an incredible body of work lined up, and we’re deep in the process of mapping out the next singles and the full rollout. Consistency is everything. With BigX, we take the approach of always being on cycle. We’re keeping our foot on the gas and continuing to invest in the music, visuals and storytelling that got us here, while building towards the next big moment.
After landing 16 songs on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, this is BigX’s first song that touches the country genre. What are your plans to make sure that his crossover there works?
Our intention isn’t to fully cross BigX into country. This project is more of a creative “side quest” that allows him to showcase his versatility and explore new territory without abandoning his core. It’s about expanding, not switching lanes.
This isn’t a trend-chasing move, it’s rooted in who BigX is. Back in 2022, we released “Texas,” a country-inspired hip-hop record where he was literally in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat in the video. That record sparked early interest from the country community and planted the seed for what we’re doing now. This moment is a natural evolution of that foundation, not a sudden shift.
The plan is simple: stay true to BigX, lean into organic collaborations and let the music speak. We’re not mashing together genres for the sake of it. We’re building something that reflects all sides of who he is as an artist and a person.
This is the biggest song in UnitedMasters’ history so far. What does that mean for the company?
This is an exciting moment for the company and for our team. We’ve been a partner to BigX for four years with a deep belief in artist development and doing what’s best for our artists. This shows that we can compete with anyone. We touched every aspect of the A&R process, rollout, marketing, digital and overarching strategy. This win further affirms that our model works. That independent artists with the right support can not only compete, but lead.
Just last year, we had a major global success with FloyyMenor’s “Gata Only,” the fastest Latin song in Spotify history to hit a billion streams. That was a global moment. But with “All The Way,” we’ve shown we can dominate domestically, too, and drive immediate, culture-shifting impact in the U.S. market. Delivering on both fronts shows that our approach scales. The exciting part is we’re still just getting started.
The distribution space is getting crowded. How do you make sure UnitedMasters stands apart from the competition?
We don’t see ourselves as just a distribution company, and we don’t operate like one. At UnitedMasters, we’re aiming to reimagine what a modern music company can be. Our mission is to reshape the industry by building something that lives at the intersection of a forward-thinking label, a tech-driven platform and a premium distributor.
What sets us apart is the ability to support artists at every stage of their journey, from emerging creators to global superstars, with a tiered system that scales alongside their growth. We’ve invested in world-class technology and paired it with an elite label services team that delivers across A&R, marketing, strategy and beyond. We’re not focused on just getting music to DSPs, we’re focused on building careers.
Veteran record label executive Gina Tucci has launched a new independent dance label, 146 Records. Today’s launch happens in conjunction with the label’s first release, “Sunrise,” by rising Swedish producer Discrete.
146 Records is based in New York City and currently has a team of four. Distribution is being handled by Virgin Music Group, where, Tucci says, “we benefit from their extensive industry expertise, global reach and robust distribution capabilities to effectively launch and scale our artists’ music.”
“For years, I’ve envisioned an electronic dance music label that nurtures artists with a song-first approach, prioritizing the music above all else,” she continues. “At 146, we provide artists the necessary time, resources and attention to produce their best work. My goal is to discover and develop the next generation of dance music talent, crafting the kind of hits that become classics, hits that resonate decades from now. I want 146 to feel like a creative home — a place artists can experiment, collaborate closely with me and our team, and leverage cutting-edge technology. The goal is to build enduring music catalogs that sustain lifelong careers.”
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Prior to founding 146, Tucci was the longtime head of Atlantic Records’ dance imprint Big Beat Records, the label founded by Atlantic Records CEO Craig Kallman in 1986. Here, Tucci helped lead the label’s 2010 relaunch and over the next 14 years broke acts including Skrillex, Clean Bandit, Icona Pop and Joel Corry, bringing dance music to new levels of visibility in tandem with the genre’s early 2010’s explosion in America. In the role she also led A&R creative for Galantis, Martin Solveig, Cash Cash, The Knocks, 100 gecs, Tiësto and more. Tucci has appeared on myriad Billboard Dance Power lists through the years.
“I bring to 146 the rigorous standards and global perspective I developed running Big Beat at Atlantic Records under Craig Kallman for over a decade,” Tucci says. “At Big Beat, I learned firsthand the intricacies of successfully launching and breaking dance records globally, recognizing that each rollout requires a uniquely tailored strategy. Dance music has always thrived on global connectivity, and I’m adept at leveraging data-driven insights to map out precise, effective release strategies that connect deeply with audiences worldwide.”
Today’s release from Discrete begins a weekly release schedule where, says Tucci, “we’re diving headfirst into exploring the new sound designs and grooves, but the art of great melodies will always remain paramount.” Discrete’s upcoming tour dates include May shows at Elsewhere in New York City and EDC Las Vegas.
“A lot of today’s tracks flash moments of brilliance but don’t fully ignite,” Tucci continues. “At 146, we’re closing that gap. We’re committed to sweating every detail, inspiring our artists to leave no creative stone unturned. It’s about elevating dance music from disposable moments into timeless anthems.”
Universal Music Group Nashville is undergoing a rebranding under CEO Mike Harris and chief creative officer Dave Cobb. The company will now be known as Music Corporation of America (MCA).
Harris and Cobb came aboard in early February following the departure of UMGN CEO/chairman Cindy Mabe in January. For Harris, it marked a return as he had served as COO/executive VP at UMGN until his departure last September.
“With the popularity of country music and the tremendous impact that it continues to make in popular culture, we recognize the importance of Nashville and the impact it has always made in America,” Harris said in a statement.
Cobb adds “I want to let the art lead, embrace community, and approach the business with intention. We show up, work hard, and put artists, songwriters, community, and fans first. We want to get this right for them. That’s what this is all about.”
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A number of staffing changes have also been made that reflect the changes. Katie McCartney, former GM of the recently shuttered Sony joint venture Monument Records, has been named EVP/General Manager and Tom LaScola is head of artist and audience strategy, through an expanded alliance with his company, The Trenches. The digital promotion and marketing firm formed a partnership with Republic Collective last October.
Under Cobb, the company has also formed a creative strategic alliance with award-winning songwriter Jessie Jo Dillon as the newly minted Song Buddy, a position that highlights the company’s commitment to the vital role songwriters play in the Nashville’s creative ecosystem.
MCA will continue to operate is frontline labels, Mercury Nashville, EMI Nashville, Capitol Nashville and MCA Nashville along with the newly launched Lucille Records, founded by Cobb.
Lucille Records will be lead by Cobb and Austin Jenkins, senior vp of A&R for MCA and Head of Lucille. Its diverse inaugural roster includes Lamont Landers, Landon Smith, Isabel Dumas, and Sons of Habit.
“The incredible staff of these labels will operate with a sense of independence and autonomy, but with a pursuit of excellence and healthy competition as a shared agenda,” Harris said.
In addition to the full resources provided by the Nashville headquarters, MCA artists also leverage the support of the REPUBLIC Collective in the U.S. and UMG globally.
The newly rebranded MCA’s roster includes Alan Jackson, Brothers Osborne, Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, George Strait, Jon Pardi, Jordan Davis, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Maddie & Tae, Parker McCollum, Priscilla Block, Reba McEntire, Sam Hunt, Tyler Hubbard and Vince Gill.
It’s an overcast Saturday afternoon in Miami, and Axel Hedfors seems in his natural habitat while eating sushi on the patio restaurant of a luxe beachside hotel. Hours from now, the producer — known to most as Axwell — will play the main stage at Ultra Music Festival, a show he’s been prepping for in his hotel room since arriving in Florida.
This set will contain classics from Axwell’s solo catalog, along with his work with Swedish House Mafia and the catalog of his namesake label, Axtone. It will also be the first time he’s played Ultra as a solo artist and his first Ultra set since selling the Axtone catalog to Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment in January.
This sale included approximately 200 songs spanning the last 20 years, including hits by Supermode, Steve Angello, Laidback Luke, Don Diablo, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, CamelPhat, Kölsch and big room-classics like Ivan Gough & Feenixpawl’s “In My Mind” and Axwell’s era-defining remix of this same song. Pophouse, which also acquired Swedish House Mafia’s master recordings and publishing catalog in 2022, has acquired both Axtone’s back catalog and the label itself, with Axwell staying on permanently as its founding partner and creative advisor.
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While Axwell and his team decline to disclose the sale price, the congratulatory handshakes he gets from acquaintances at the restaurant indicate the deal was a good one.
Axwell says the cash infusion from Pophouse has enabled him and his team to operate with “more muscle.” He cites the Axtone & Friends pool party that happened a few nights prior down the street in South Beach as something Pophouse helped pay for, allowing for a splashier event than they might have otherwise been able to afford.
“I know before that we would have been a bit more on a budget,” he says, “and now we were less on a budget, which is nice. There’s opportunity [with Pophouse]. If we have ideas and want to do something differently, we can with their help.”
The sale also made sense given Axwell’s longstanding relationship with Per Sundin, the CEO of Pophouse and former president of Universal Music Nordics. “It’s not some anonymous fund,” Axwell says. “This is somebody we know, and that made me feel like this was worth exploring. Per appreciates music, so he’s not just going to destroy it. He’s going to be respectful about it.”
The sale happened at a good time for Axwell, who acknowledges that he and the team were “kind of maybe stuck in the old routine” of signing records. Given that generating hits has become harder for labels of all genres in the streaming and TikTok eras, Axtone had, like so many other labels, become more focused on volume than Axwell might have liked.
“It’s a small company on a budget trying to make every release recoup and work out financially,” he says. “Then we picked up the pace a little bit, and obviously not all records get noticed in today’s climate. A lot of records don’t do anything, because it’s so much harder these days to get them noticed. Then a lot of records become a project you just do for love, rather than earning. You have one record that pays for 20 other records.”
This strategy had evolved significantly since Axwell launched Axtone in 2005 as a way to untether himself from other peoples’ timelines. “I was tired of dealing with other labels,” he says. “Back then you had to send the CD, and they were like, ‘Maybe we can release it in three months.’ I was fed up with not releasing ourselves, so starting the label was an amazing move.”
This move proved especially prescient as Axtone clocked hits that distinguished Axwell’s taste as a curator and skills as a solo artist as he rose in tandem with the Swedish House Mafia rocket. He says many classics from the Axtone catalog, like Supermode’s “Tell Me Why” (which samples Bronski Beat’s “Small Town Boy”), still generate roughly 100,000 streams a day, partially because they’re featured on big Spotify and Apple Music playlists — placement that almost assures they’ll never fall below a certain daily stream rate.
This, no doubt, made the Axtone catalog especially attractive to Pophouse, a company focused on using acquired music in new IP and brand development. The company’s success stories include the long-running ABBA Voyage show in London, which is set to the music of the famous Swedish disco pop quartet, who appear during the performance in hologram form. ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus is also a co-founder of Pophouse, which announced in March that it raised a total of 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to invest in catalog acquisitions and create entertainment experiences around those music rights.
“Obviously, I wouldn’t mind them doing an ABBA kind of thing with dance music,” says Axwell. “A show [that features] not only my music would be great, because obviously Pophouse also has Avicii’s music, Swedish House Mafia’s music. It could be something interesting.” (Pophouse acquired a 75% stake in Avicii’s recordings and publishing catalog in 2022.)
Axwell is consulting with Pophouse on any projects Axtone music might be involved in, with the business partners currently planning a box set to commemorate the label’s 20th anniversary this year. The package feels particularly well-timed given that, as Axwell says, “what we’re noticing is that a lot of the old catalog means a lot to the new generation.”
“When you put on ‘Calling’ or ‘Reload’ or my ‘In My Mind’ remix, they just go,” he says, referencing EDM era hits he was involved with and adjacent to. “Some old records don’t continue to work; they kind of fade out. But these still pack a punch. It’s amazing that we managed to do something that lasts.”
This point is proven extremely true a few hours later, when thousands of people stand in front of a fire-spitting Ultra main stage and sing along to classics including Axwell’s edit of Swedish House Mafia’s 2011 hit “Save The World,” the 2017 Axwell / Ingrosso smash “More than You Know” and inevitably and blissfully, the trio’s all time classic “Don’t You Worry Child,” which he follows with their 2022 hit “When Heaven Takes You Home” and 2010’s “One (Your Name).” “That was fun,” he tells the audience while standing on the decks at the end of the set, “and you are beautiful.”
This is Axwell’s first time playing the festival’s biggest stage as a solo act, though he has a long history at this site through his work with Swedish House Mafia. The group’s Ultra mythology includes ending their massive farewell tour here in 2013, then reuniting at the festival five years later. When asked if he feels any kind of way about playing Ultra Miami on his own, Axwell says he feels “like Seb and Steve are always with me, because of the songs.”
Beyond this psychospiritual connection, Axwell spent time in the studio with Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello fairly recently as the trio continues hashing out new Swedish House Mafia music. Last November, Angello told Billboard that the trio scrapped the second album they’d been working on as a follow-up to their 2022 LP Paradise Again.
Axwell confirms that while he’s “super proud” of Paradise Again — the first Swedish House Mafia album after an earlier run of monster singles — the guys aren’t currently working on an LP “because that’s a heavy process. I think it was something we wanted to do to have that in our lives. But now I think we want to go back to the spontaneousness of just doing one song and getting it out [when we want to], not in 12 months when the album is ready.” (He notes that Paradise Again was not included in Pophouse’s acquisition of the Swedish House Mafia masters, given that the 2022 deal was retroactive.) He also says that the trio will eventually “probably come back” to play Ultra Miami again, as the urge to do so “tickles after a while, you know?”
Axwell is also currently tinkering with his own forthcoming solo work. Famously meticulous — he’s been known to spend months on a single high hat sound and calls himself “the slowest person on earth” when it comes to making music — he says a lot of what he’s working on is roughly 80% finished. The final 20% of each song will take some time, he says, although he’s not sure how long. (One new song samples SNAP’s “The Power,” although he’s thus far had a difficult time clearing one of the samples used in the 1990 club anthem. He assures, however, that “I’m not giving up.”) When his music is finally complete, he foresees releasing it as a series of singles.
In the meantime, Axwell’s life will remain, as he tells it, “a s—storm” of logistics that involve his own touring, flying around Europe with his wife for their kids’ competitive car races (one son is 11 and races go carts, while his 16-year-old competes in F4), and prepping for Tomorrowland 2025 dates with Swedish House Mafia and as a solo act. All in, life will continue on the same dance world megastar trajectory as it did before the Axtone sale, but now with a bit more financial padding and space to focus.
“The good thing for me is that I still make music,” he says, “so even though we sold the label, it’s not like this is a goodbye to my whole life.”
Anjula Acharia remembers when the one person who had set her up for success told her she was going to fail. And Jay-Z was there, too.
In 2008, Acharia and Interscope Geffen A&M’s then chairman, Jimmy Iovine, were sharing breakfast at a New York hotel. Iovine — who had partnered with Acharia’s South Asian music/news hub, Desi Hits, to develop a Universal Music Group-backed imprint — remembered her previously telling him how much “Beware of the Boys,” Jay-Z’s 2003 remix of Panjabi MC’s bhangra single, had meant to her as the kind of cross-continental exchange that she hoped Desi Hits would foster. So when Acharia stood up to leave the breakfast, Iovine asked her to stick around for a few more minutes… at which point Jay made his surprise entrance.
Acharia, who was in her 30s at the time, geeked out, gushing about her love of “Beware of the Boys” and asking the rap superstar about how the remix had come together. Then Iovine pulled the rug out from under her. “While I was sitting with him and Jay-Z, Jimmy told me that Desi Hits was going to fail,” she recalls. “His words were, ‘I know pop culture, I know a visionary, and this is just way too early. This would be right in 10 to 15 years.’ ”
Anjula Acharia. Styling by Kristina Askerova. Hair and Makeup by Shayli Nayak. Versace dress and jewelry, Paris Texas shoes.
Harsh Jani
A Punjabi kid and die-hard music fan born to South Asian immigrants, Acharia grew up in Buckinghamshire, England, devouring music that fused styles from around the world and dreaming of creating a platform that spoke to both Eastern and Western demographics. She was a senior partner at a London-based executive search firm who co-founded Desi Hits Radio as a popular early podcast in the mid-2000s; then Iovine backed Desi Hits in 2007 as a stateside label for South Asian artists after she moved to New York. The pair helped engineer a crossover hit in 2009 with “Jai Ho,” A.R. Rahman’s Academy Award-winning Slumdog Millionaire theme that was remade for U.S. listeners with The Pussycat Dolls added to it.
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“She was so talented and passionate about the music,” Iovine reflects today, “but sometimes things just don’t come together.” And by the early 2010s, Acharia admitted her mentor had been correct: The world wasn’t ready. “We didn’t have streaming platforms, social sharing or an ecosystem to support the industry,” she explains. “It was just very segmented back then and really hard for things to travel.” She wondered aloud why Iovine had invested in Desi Hits if he had doubted the idea. “And he says, ‘Because you’re an album, not a single.’ ”
On roughly the timeline Iovine predicted, the industry has changed drastically — and Acharia, who spent that intervening time outside of music, is returning to it with an entirely new album, so to speak. She and Warner Music Group exclusively tell Billboard that they have launched 5 Junction Records, a joint-venture label under WMG, as a pipeline for South Asian artists to reach North American listeners, much like a modern Desi Hits but with significantly more established talent and infrastructure. That talent includes its flagship pair of artists: Bollywood mainstay and pop triple-threat Nora Fatehi and ascendant Indian singer-rapper King. Both already have multiple hits and millions of streams overseas, giving them the ideal foundation to take the first crack at establishing North American footholds.
“It’s always been in our mind to promote this music to the world,” King says. “That has always been the fight, but now, I feel like we are at the right time and right spot. The next five years are looking bright.”
King. Styling by Nikita Jaisinghani. Hair by Javed Sheikh and Makeup by Swapnil Haldankar. Versace jacket and shirt, Brune & Bareskin shoes, Amrapali necklace.
Harsh Jani
Nora Fatehi. Styling by Meagan Concessio. Hair and Makeup by Marianna Mukuchyan. David Koma dress, tights and shoes.
Harsh Jani
Acharia believes that a cultural wave is about to crash down on the U.S. mainstream, similar to how Korean pop, Latin music and Afrobeats all made an impact on top 40 radio beginning in the late 2010s. Based on the South Asian market boom over the past decade — by the end of 2023, India had become the second-largest on-demand streaming market in the world, behind only the United States — and the English-language artists who have made overtures in the hemisphere through touring and studio team-ups, she’s not alone in that prediction.
“The best way to think about it is, what are your next billion-user markets?” WMG CEO Robert Kyncl says. He notes that the South Asian industry has been top of mind for him for over a decade: As vp of content at Netflix in the early 2000s, Kyncl saw firsthand the scope of demand for Hindi shows, and as YouTube’s chief business officer in the 2010s, he spent every year in the region, developing partnerships that he believes are paying off today. “You have to invest,” he says. “If you don’t, you’ll wake up five, 10 years from now and realize you just missed this whole new growth era.”
Kyncl has been friends with Acharia since his Netflix days (when he first discovered Desi Hits in the course of researching Hindi shows) and has followed her career closely. After leaving Desi Hits in 2014, Acharia stayed in the entertainment space by managing Priyanka Chopra Jonas, whom she originally signed as a Bollywood star trying to kick-start a music career and now helps steer as a global superstar. Acharia also joined the venture capital company Trinity Ventures before launching her own fund, A-Series Management and Investments, where she was an early investor in companies like ClassPass and Bumble.
Yet unfinished business gnawed at her. “Music is a place that makes me feel like I’m home, and fusion music makes me feel like I’m being seen,” she says. Acharia spoke to other labels last year about the idea for 5 Junction, but Kyncl personally convinced her to bring the project to WMG. She will work closely with Warner Records CEO Aaron Bay-Schuck and COO Tom Corson, as well as GM Jurgen Grebner, who steered international marketing at Interscope for over 20 years, and Alfonso Perez-Soto, who served as WMG’s emerging markets leader before recently becoming executive vp of corporate development.
Although Acharia was removed from the major-label world for years, some of its most prominent executives believe she’s the perfect steward for this ocean-spanning endeavor. Corson describes her as “a powerful force who is extremely well-connected across the world. We hit it off from the jump, and we’re thrilled to be in business with her.” Kyncl says that, if he were to describe the “ideal entrepreneur,” that person would resemble Acharia. “You have a vision, you’re strategic about it and you won’t stop until you win,” he says. “She has it. It makes absolute sense for us to partner with her, and she’ll make us better by pushing us.”
From left: Fatehi, Acharia and King.
Harsh Jani
Her ties to Kyncl aside, Acharia says that WMG made the most sense as a home for 5 Junction because the label group is “way ahead” in the scene. Since WMG created Warner Music India five years ago, the label has partnered with Diljit Dosanjh, a Bollywood superstar with 25 million Instagram followers who has headlined North American arenas; Karan Aujla, a former songwriter turned singer/rapper/YouTube behemoth; and Kushagra, a 20-year-old indie-pop newcomer whose single “Finding Her” is currently one of India’s biggest streaming hits.
When Jay Mehta became managing director of Warner Music India in April 2020, he was a team of one; now, the label has 34 employees. Part of that growth had to do with timing, as the market quickly expanded globally. Last decade, “India was dominated by Indian streaming services, which did not have a global footprint,” Mehta explains. “Spotify launched in India in 2018, and it took until 2021, 2022 for them to become the leaders [in the country]. We needed Spotify and YouTube to have massive presences in India in order to take artists global.”
Acharia also points out that subtle cultural shifts in North America helped fuel opportunities. “Think about all the foreign-language content on Netflix and other streaming platforms that people have watched — especially during COVID, where people were stuck at home,” she says. “And then, with vertical video, people are watching things with subtitles all the time … Everything affects each other. We’re more used to hearing foreign languages, so we’re more OK to listen to it in our music.”
Harsh Jani
Harsh Jani
At 5 Junction, Acharia will work closely with Mehta’s Warner Music India team, which has utilized streaming data to identify artists who can transcend international borders and songwriting camps to supply them with global hits. Fatehi, a Toronto native of Moroccan descent who moved to India and became a marquee Bollywood act, signed a deal with WMG in early 2024 to help her level up as a singer, dancer and actor. “The larger goal was always to go global, to let the whole world know my story,” she says. When she met Acharia, Fatehi told her that she wanted to become a cross-cultural entertainer along the lines of Jennifer Lopez, and Acharia told her, “Yes, let’s do it together.”
Fatehi says she has never met anyone more persuasive than Acharia. “I feel like our hungers align,” she says. “It’s hard to take a vision and sell it to someone else, because most people don’t have an attention span to listen to you for more than five minutes. But when [Anjula] opens her mouth and starts her pitch, you somehow have FOMO — you feel like you’re going to miss out if you’re not paying attention.”
In January, Fatehi released the Jason Derulo collaboration “Snake,” a thumping dance track built around East Asian melodies. It has earned 18.5 million official on-demand streams globally, according to Luminate; one month after its release, Aujla was featured on “Tell Me,” a OneRepublic collaboration that has earned 28.8 million global streams.
More than two decades after Jay-Z and Panjabi MC linked up, Acharia still believes these types of collaborations are key for breaking South Asian artists in North America. “The strategy that I had 15 years ago was cross-pollination, but we didn’t have the infrastructure to support that,” she says. Now creative borders are easier to cross. For instance, Fatehi and Derulo met up in Morocco to film a music video for “Snake” that combined hip-hop and Bollywood choreography. And after King recruited Nick Jonas for a new version of the former’s smash “Maan Meri Jaan” in 2023, King made a surprise appearance during the Jonas Brothers’ performance at Lollapalooza India in 2024 to perform it, a “cinematic” moment that he says he still can’t believe actually happened.
Harsh Jani
At the same time that Western artists are paying more attention to India as a touring market — Coldplay performed in the country for the first time in January, grossing $30.5 million across five shows in Mumbai and Ahmedabad, according to Billboard Boxscore — South Asian artists are more clearly identifying North American territories where thousands of fans will show up to their shows. Acharia name-checks New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Austin, but also says that Canadian cities have demonstrated “huge” ticket demand. After Dosanjh scored his first top 10 album in Canada with 2023’s Ghost, his Dil-Luminati tour last year became the highest-grossing North American tour by a Punjabi music artist in history, thanks in part to sold-out stadium shows at Vancouver’s BC Place and Toronto’s Rogers Centre.
Perez-Soto sees Toronto, where the metro area had a South Asian population of more than 1.1 million as of 2021, as a crucial gateway for the rest of North America. “South Asian music through Toronto, like Latin music was through Miami, has established an important bridge between the local origin of the music and the second generation,” he says. “They have this hybrid vision of culture, where things are getting mixed up and mutually enriched.”
Kyncl has kept WMG focused on these macro-trends for years. “It’s not like we’re just starting,” he says. “It’s just that Anjula is adding an additional element, which is bringing talent here.” Under her guidance, Fatehi is spending most of April in the recording studio and will issue the follow-up to “Snake” by the end of the month, with a mix of releases aimed at Eastern and Western markets throughout the year. Meanwhile, King says he is “working on an EP and some collaborations” to follow his January single “Stay,” in addition to multiple Bollywood projects.
Mehta believes that an Indian artist will make an impact on the U.S. mainstream charts in 2025. “We saw it with Hanumankind, on the back of a viral moment,” he says, referencing the Indian rapper’s 2024 track “Big Dawgs,” which exploded on TikTok and peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. “But we want to make a consistent way of bringing a lot of these artists onto the charts. The U.S. is extremely competitive, but if we get the right sound representing the culture and the right artist, with Anjula’s strengths, we should be able to make something big happen.”
Acharia knows this will take time, but for her, the personal stakes are worth the investment. She was once told that Desi Hits wouldn’t last; now, 5 Junction could define her legacy. “It’s something that I started, and I want to finish it,” she says. And for his part, Iovine is proud that the world has finally caught up to her vision.
“I’m not surprised at all at any of her success,” Iovine says, “and I’m glad she’s doing this now.”
This story appears in the April 19, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Billboard
Leading rock label Better Noise Music has announced a raft of new signings, including iconic pop-rock band Yellowcard, which will release its new album on the label later this year.
The as-yet untitled LP, which will be produced by Travis Barker, who also played drums on the album, marks something of a comeback for Yellowcard, which hasn’t released an album of new material since its self-titled set dropped in 2016 via Hopeless Records. The group is known for mid-aughts hits including “Ocean Avenue” and “Lights and Sounds” — the title tracks off the group’s two most successful albums, released in 2003 and 2006, respectively.
Also signing to Better Noise is Swedish power metal band Sabaton, which has racked up 4 billion streams on Spotify alone, according to a press release. The group has released a total of 10 studio albums, most recently on Nuclear Blast with its 2022 LP The War to End All Wars. Sabaton has landed four albums on the Billboard 200.
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Better Noise additionally signed American rock band In This Moment, which is currently in the studio working on a new album and set to drop new tracks later this year. The band has scored four entries on the Billboard 200, with its 2014 set, Black Widow, peaking at No. 8.
Finally, Better Noise signed The Rasmus, the popular Finnish rock band that has a new album set to drop in 2025.
“We are beyond excited to welcome Yellowcard, Sabaton, The Rasmus, and In This Moment to the Better Noise family,” said Better Noise president/COO Steve Kline in a statement. “These exceptional bands showcase the diversity and creativity that define our rich roster of rock and alternative artists. Each brings a proven global track record and a distinctive approach to rock music. We look forward to partnering with them and taking each band to the next level and beyond.”
The Better Noise roster also includes Five Finger Death Punch, The Funeral Portrait, Asking Alexandria and The Hu, among many others.
For Alex Warren, it’s been a long, steady ascent to get to this point. After first coming to prominence through videos on TikTok and other social media platforms and as a co-founder of the Hype House content creator hub, the young singer started releasing music in 2021 before signing to Atlantic Records the following year. Since then, a steady stream of singles led to increasingly positive returns, and Warren made his first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 last fall with “Burning Down,” which peaked at No. 69 in October.
But then came “Ordinary,” his latest single, initially released Feb. 7. The song quickly flew onto the Hot 100, debuting at No. 61, and picked up steam on social media — and the steady ascent began. With several television appearances, including on Jimmy Fallon and a Love Is Blind reunion episode, the song began climbing the charts, not just in the U.S., but internationally, reaching No. 1 in the U.K. (where it has remained for four weeks), Australia and Canada. This week, it rose into the top 10 of the Hot 100 at No. 7 — helping Atlantic Records vp of A&R Michael Parker earn the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
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Here, Parker talks about Warren’s journey as a songwriter since signing him three years ago and what has made “Ordinary” such an extraordinary breakout hit. “Alex saw the whole path forward from moment one on that song,” Parker says. “He had the vision, the drive and he knew exactly how to finish it and promote it. So naturally, the record took off on this amazing path and immediately connected with his fans.”
This week, Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” reached the top 10 of the Hot 100 for the first time, after a nine-week climb. What key decision did you make to help make that happen?
Of course, it starts with the music. I’m a firm believer that every artist needs the right people they connect deeply with around them, and that they have access to all of the tools to help realize their vision. “Ordinary” was a track made during recording sessions late last year with his closest collaborators. It was one of those songs that the second you hear it, you just know. Alex saw the whole path forward from moment one on that song. He had the vision, the drive and he knew exactly how to finish it and promote it. So naturally, the record took off on this amazing path and immediately connected with his fans.
The amazing group of people who have worked alongside Alex deserve a shoutout: Adam Yaron, Mags Duval, Cal Shapiro, who have written and produced the album with Alex. Brian Sokolik, the best manager, and the incredible teams at Atlantic and Wasserman.
You first signed Alex in 2022. How have you seen him develop since then, and what role have you played in that?
Since we first signed Alex, he’s truly continued to raise the bar song after song. My job is to keep that bar held up and to never let it fall. Alex has earned the trust of everyone he works with over that time span because we know that if he has a vision for it, he will make it happen. That confidence in himself and his music is infectious to the rest of us, and it’s been amazing to see that develop over the years. Every artist I work with needs support in different ways, and I look to do so by piecing together the right team and being their musical confidant, and that’s exactly what I aim to be for Alex.
He got his start in the public eye as an influencer. How did that affect his career? Did it help or hurt?
Alex has always been a musician first. Connecting with people came naturally to him, and using his platform helped him to do so. Just by being himself and sharing music with his fans, he was able to do what he loves and have a deep connection with them. It’s been great to watch the wonderful interaction between Alex and his fans.
This song is not just blowing up in the U.S., but it’s also hit No. 1 in several countries in Europe, including the U.K., as well as places like Australia and Canada. Why do you think it’s resonating so much around the world?
Alex makes really universal music. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, what age you are, how much money you have, what you believe in. Alex’s songs are personal and powerful, and all true stories ripped right out of his life that most can relate to. It’s also a huge testament to our U.S. and international teams working closely together to achieve global success. It’s incredible to see the global reach that Alex and his music are having.
How have you guys helped to continue to promote this song over the course of the year so far?
We try to amplify every step along the way. Incredible content, syncs, new versions, new performance opportunities. Each thing that came in has propelled it a little bit further. A first-ever Love is Blind live reunion performance that sent the already soaring song off like a rocket ship, as well as making his late-night TV debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon!
In this era where it can be harder than ever to break an act, what is your approach to A&R?
Alex really changed my perspective in that regard. His work ethic makes all the difference. Now, all I care about are artists or projects that want to approach this industry in a different way. As long as the artists I’m working with are equally or more passionate than me, I know they won’t quit on that dream.
Los Angeles-based Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA) Records has set down roots in Nashville with the relaunch of the iconic Lost Highway imprint.
Former Thirty Tigers executive Robert Knotts and Universal Music Group Nashville (UMGN) executive Jake Gear will serve as co-heads and executive vps of the resurrected label.
“Lost Highway carved out a special place in the remarkable musical legacy of Nashville. It was a left-of-center label with one-of-a-kind artists who, at their core, were great songwriters and moved culture,” John Janick, chairman/CEO of Interscope Capitol and IGA, said in a statement. “Similarly, Interscope has always been a beacon to artists who don’t fit into a box yet are destined to inspire what comes next. With this new chapter in Lost Highway’s history, we are devoted to empowering the next generation of trailblazers, both artists and executives.”
The revered label, which takes its name from the song made famous in 1949 by Hank Williams, had been dormant for 13 years after being launched by then-UMGN head Luke Lewis in 2000, who retired in 2012.
From the start, Lewis and his team curated a tasty roster focused on roots-leaning music from artists including Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, Ryan Bingham, Hayes Carll, Mary Gauthier, Lyle Lovett and Kacey Musgraves, who signed with the label in 2011, shortly before it was folded into Mercury Nashville.
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Lost Highway was also home to soundtracks, including the T Bone Burnett-produced, Grammy-winning O Brother, Where Art Thou.
Lost Highway
Courtesy Photo
Janick says he picked Knotts and Gear because their musical aesthetic matches the imprint’s storied history. While at Thirty Tigers, where he rose to senior vp of artist and label services, Knotts worked with such artists as Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Sturgill Simpson, Turnpike Troubadours, Muscadine Bloodline and more.
“Over the course of my career, my goal has always been to operate in service to the artist’s vision while understanding the emotional connection to their art. It is with this same spirit that Lost Highway left a lasting impact on the Nashville community — providing a home for artists who aren’t defined by genre and recognizing that the artist’s vision ultimately shapes culture itself,” Knotts said. “I am honored to carry that approach forward alongside one of my closest friends, Jake Gear. With John Janick’s guidance, and support from the entire Interscope team, we have an incredible opportunity to combine an artist-first mentality with Interscope’s remarkable ability to help build worlds around an artist’s vision.”
Gear was most recently vp of A&R at UMG Nashville, where he signed and/or developed upstarts Tucker Wetmore and Vincent Mason and A&R’d projects by Parker McCollum, Dierks Bentley, Jordan Davis, Sam Hunt and Brothers Osborne, among others.
“Lost Highway has a rich history. Many of these releases and artists were formative in developing my own appreciation of the craft of songwriting,” Gear said. “The label was a pioneer in taste, representing an ethos of artistry first, an openness to taking creative risks and shining a light on artists who drifted on the fringes of the major label defined ‘mainstream.’ Together with my friend, Robert, and with the backing of John Janick and Interscope, I look forward to curating the roster.”
Lost Highway was briefly resurrected earlier this year by UMG Nashville’s chair/CEO Cindy Mabe, who exited the label in February, in partnership with iconic producer Burnett. Their first release under the revamped Lost Highway was Ringo Starr’s country album, Look Up, which came out Jan. 10. Burnett will now work with the IGA iteration, including on a 25th anniversary edition of the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack. A release date on the reissue, artists on the roster and staffing are expected to be announced shortly.
Warner Music Group announced on Monday (April 14) that Armin Zerza will join the company as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective May 5, reporting to CEO Robert Kyncl. Zerza, who previously served as CFO of Activision Blizzard, brings extensive global financial, commercial and operational leadership experience.
Bryan Castellani, the current executive vp and CFO, will serve until May 5 and then act as an advisor to ensure a smooth transition.
Armin Zerza
Zerza has three decades of experience across the entertainment, technology and consumer goods sectors. At Activision Blizzard, the game publisher behind Call of Duty and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, he held roles as CFO and chief commercial officer, playing a pivotal role in the company’s acquisition by Microsoft. Before joining Activision Blizzard in August 2015, Zerza spent over 20 years at Procter & Gamble, serving in various senior leadership roles across North America, Europe and Latin America. He managed multibillion-dollar businesses such as P&G’s European Baby Care and Latin America divisions and was part of the global M&A team.
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CEO Robert Kyncl praised Zerza’s 30 years of global experience and his track record of delivering results through innovation and financial discipline, adding, “He’ll help us evolve our long-term strategy and build WMG for the lasting benefit of our artists, songwriters, investors, employees, and partners.”
“I am thrilled to join WMG, a dynamic and innovative leader in the music industry,” said Zerza. “I believe the business has tremendous potential and look forward to working closely with Robert and the talented team at WMG to help deliver its ambitious vision for innovation, growth, and long-term value creation.”
Castellani joined WMG in August 2023 after nearly 30 years at The Walt Disney Company, rising to CFO for Disney Entertainment & ESPN. Prior to that, he held such roles as evp of finance for Disney Media, where he oversaw its distribution, ad sales and networks businesses, and previously he was evp and CFO of ESPN proper. Castellani succeeded longtime CFO Eric Levin.
“It’s been a rewarding experience to contribute to the ongoing evolution of this great company,” he said. “There’s so much we achieved at a pivotal time for the industry. I thank Robert, the Board of Directors, and everyone at WMG, especially the global finance team.”
For much of the past decade, the British metal band Sleep Token has been quietly building its own universe: anonymity, masks and cloaks, band members identified only by Roman numerals, a dearth of interviews or explanations of any kind. It has led to a mystique that has drawn in fans just as much as the music; the group’s followers comb through Easter eggs and hunt down clues — in website source code, for instance, or by linking QR codes scattered around Los Angeles, or through the lunar eclipse live stream from Griffith Observatory — looking for hints at what is to come, and what the band might do next.
Lately, that has ratcheted up, as the group signed to RCA and began releasing singles on a major label for the first time ahead of their upcoming album, Even In Arcadia, set for a May 9 release. It started with a detailed campaign ahead of the release of the single “Emergence,” which began with the group’s first-ever TikTok video, led to a website where fans were instructed to choose between two coats of arms, involved competing Instagram accounts and instructions released in Morse code and a numerical cipher that spelled out the name of the single — and even that is an oversimplification of the campaign. But the scavenger hunt that ensued, of course, was only part of the story of the song’s success: it became the band’s first-ever Hot 100 entry, and is now spending its third straight week at No. 1 on Hot Hard Rock Songs.
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Building on that was the release of the followup single, “Caramel,” teased in part by WRAL Raleigh, North Carolina weatherman Chris Michaels during a news broadcast, which also helped introduce the band’s next step, which is forthcoming — with “Caramel” jumping out to an even bigger streaming debut so far than “Emergence” had. “It’s truly a marketer’s dream project,” RCA Records’ vp of marketing Aaron Stern says — and the creativity and success so far helps earn Stern the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
Here, Stern helps break down some of the work that went into the campaign, and what’s to come for Sleep Token. “The future is about building community,” Stern says. “If there’s anything to take away from this campaign and what this band has created it’s how you build that sense of fellowship and that’s what I’ll take with me as a focus going forward with all of my projects.”
This week, Sleep Token’s “Emergence” spent its third week at No. 1 on Hot Hard Rock Songs, and a few weeks ago became the band’s first-ever single to appear on the Hot 100, when it debuted at No. 57. What key decision did you make to help make that happen?
Before we could approach the rollout plans for Even In Arcadia, it was critical to me that everyone who would be tied to the project deeply understood and respected the profound and expansive world the band created to surround its artistry long before this record. Sleep Token set a best-in-class standard for how an artist can cultivate an audience of fans that sincerely immerse themselves in the music and surrounding visual identity. My role was to take the entirely new creative vision the artist had for this album and help bring it to life on a broad scale with intriguing fan intersection points to build demand for new music from the band.
Mapping the timing and cadence of when and how the music rolled out was key. We knew it would be vital to create meaningful inroads to the new world of Even in Arcadia for fans long before the first note of music was heard, so that just before “Emergence” dropped, the anticipation and excitement for what was coming was at a fever pitch. It was so important to us that we honor the vision and support the foundation that Sleep Token had been building for years leading up to this, and we had the expertise of their long time manager Ryan Richards at Future History Management to serve as our compass and one source of truth.
This is the biggest commercial moment for the band in its near-decade history. How did you set this up to both engage their existing fan base and also introduce them to more of a mainstream audience?
The strategy for this rollout was rooted in energizing and activating the existing Sleep Token fan base with hidden clues to draw them into the new world of Even In Arcadia — and then giving them something shareable to bring others in. We leaned into the mystery and the lore that exists innately with the identity of Sleep Token and created an entirely new realm with many different touchpoints fans could explore. We knew that if we hit a critical mass of excitement and conversation within this core fan base, it would then spill over into a larger mainstream space and get potential new fans intrigued and engaged. We believed it was only a matter of time for Sleep Token to break through if the fan base was equipped to go out and share their excitement about the new album broadly.
Following the success of “Emergence,” RCA released second single “Caramel” to even bigger streams so far. How have the two songs worked together to boost the band overall?
These are some of the most incredibly crafted songs the artist has released to date, and they were recorded with so much depth and nuance, so I’m not surprised to see these songs have resonated so deeply. We knew stepping out with “Emergence” would immediately resonate with their fans, and sonically nodded to their past successes — but also branched out with genre-bending spirit that gave a glimpse into what Even In Arcadia could be for a much larger audience. “Caramel” then further solidified the statement of true ambition for where this band is headed and further proof that there is no sonic highway they won’t explore. Credit to the artist along with A&R gurus Dan Chertoff and Daniel Schultz for plucking these two songs from the brilliant album as the introduction of what’s to come. The success we’re seeing is not just that people are listening, it’s that they are listening and they’re invested enough in what they hear to go online or out into the world to share their experience with others. In a time of so much polarization, this music and the immersive world connected to it is uniting people and offering a space for people to come together.
There has been an intricate marketing plan for these singles. What were your favorite moments, and how did you want to bring the fans into the experience with them?
We’ve had so much fun rolling this one out. It’s truly a marketer’s dream project. It all started with the visual creative for this record that would become the initial touchpoint for fans to be drawn in. That came to life through the vision of the artist in collaboration with the incredible minds of Niki Roberton, Shoshana Reist and Leo Araujo from the RCA creative team. Once we established this beautiful palatial world of exquisite flora and fauna, seemingly run by a lone black flamingo, we focused on ways to bring people into it. By seeding cryptic messaging, puzzles and scavenger hunts for fans to discover and explore, we leaned into immersive storytelling.
As an exuberant community of worshippers across the globe dove deeper and deeper into this world, a local weatherman from Raleigh, North Carolina started adding clues in his weather reports, which added to the buzz on TikTok and Instagram. Sometimes it’s hard to put into words how it all falls into place, but with the combination of the visual creative and its strategic placement, coupled with the mystery built and the passion of the fan base, set the tone for a highly anticipated launch. Tarek Al-Hamdouni, Christian Edusada and Bird Cooley from the RCA digital marketing team have done a fantastic job of having the pulse of the fans online and have played an integral role in the strategy of getting the message out there. We also can’t forget that Sleep Token is one of the greatest live bands in the world. Lexi Vaganos, my marketing partner in crime at RCA, and I worked closely with our friends at AEG to extend the world of this record into the teasing and announcement of their now sold out U.S. arena tour this fall. I love that we found ways for the marketing of the album to extend into every component of what this band does and where it exists, going far beyond any other standard project roll out.
Why is this happening for them now?
There’s no stopping a great vision whose time has come. Simultaneously, and thankfully, we’re also seeing a resurgence in rock music, in part due to the cyclical nature of music trends but also driven by a collective desire for the authenticity that the genre stands for. The continuous growth of streaming, as well as social media trending topics like the elder-emo subculture over the past few years, have contributed to exposing younger generations to rock music, sparking new interest in the genre.
What have you learned from the unorthodox campaign here that you feel can be applied to other artists?
I’ve learned that people really want something to unite on and something that can help them escape from reality. I realize that this isn’t new and music has always been this way for most of us, but the way we rely on a creative escape ebbs and flows with the happenings of the world — and we are in a moment where a retreat from our real world is desired. The future is about building community. If there’s anything to take away from this campaign and what this band has created it’s how you build that sense of fellowship and that’s what I’ll take with me as a focus going forward with all of my projects.
How do you continue to push this forward with future singles as you approach the band’s album release?
We’ve got such an amazing plan ahead and so much to Do thAt I think is really going to shake things up and set fans up for an epic experience of Even In Arcadia. This is one of the MOst intelligent and exCited fan bases I’ve ever seen. They often know what’s coming with even the LittleESt kernel of information that’s put out there, so I’ll keep it to that.