Record Labels
Page: 51
Universal Music Group has elevated Manusha Sarawan to oversee its efforts and market-leading label roster across southern and eastern Africa. In her new Johannesburg-based role as managing director, Southern and East Africa, Sarawan will continue to work closely with Adam Granite, UMG’s evp of market development, who said she was “ideally suited” for the role. Sarawan was […]
In January, three months before Reservoir Media put rap group De La Soul’s first six albums on streaming services for the first time, the company began taking pre-orders for reissues of classic albums like 3 Feet High and Rising and De La Soul is Dead, as well as De La Soul merchandise. The rap legends’ recordings came to Reservoir Media through its 2021 acquisition of Tommy Boy Music. Negotiations with Tommy Boy owner Tom Silverman over taking the albums to streaming services had stalled in 2019 over a royalty dispute — but not only did Reservoir quickly hash out a deal with De La Soul to reintroduce the world to its Tommy Boy catalog, it also planned a marketing campaign with the group to create exclusive merchandise and launch a slate of LPs, CDs and cassettes.
Selling directly to De La Soul’s biggest fans has meant 30% of its physical product sold worldwide has gone through the group’s website, wearedelasoul.com, says Rell Lafargue, Reservoir Media COO/president. In the process, Reservoir was able to tap into a consumer group of rising importance in today’s music business: superfans. “Twenty percent of wearedelasoul.com customers are repeat customers in just the first six months of the store opening,” says Lafargue, “and we see superfans fill their carts with multiple copies and color variants of vinyl, shirts, hoodies and more at check out.”
De La Soul fans are part of a trend shaping the U.S. music business in 2023: Superfans’ purchases of CDs, LPs and cassettes to help support their favorite artists helped drive increases in all physical formats in the first six months of the year, according to Luminate’s 2023 midyear report released Wednesday (July 12).
Luminate says 15% of the general population is made up of superfans — a group of passionate music consumers with a propensity for discovering new music, connecting with artists on a personal level and being part of a community, or “fandom,” that artists provide. They’re valuable, too: Superfans spend 80% more money on music each month than the average U.S. music listener.
While the average consumer may subscribe to a streaming service, stream for free or listen to the radio, superfans purchase physical formats like it’s 1999. Buyers of CDs, vinyl LPs and cassettes are 128% more likely to be super fans, according to Luminate. They also skew young. U.S. millennials and Gen Z music listeners spend 22% and 13% more on music than the average music listener.
The power of superfans helps explain why U.S. physical album sales improved drastically in the first half of the year. Vinyl LP sales were up 21.7% through June 30 — well above the 1% gain in the prior-year period — and CD album sales grew 3.8%, a huge improvement from the 10.7% decline a year earlier.
Direct-to-consumer sales increased 20% to 4.4 million units, with vinyl sales specifically improving 25% to 3.6 million units and CD sales growing 15% to 1.7 million. Over 60% of direct-to-consumer sales are current releases — defined as titles 18 months or younger. That number rises to 75% for direct-to-consumer sales for both CDs and cassettes.
Golda Bitterli, vp of sales at Revelator, maker of a technology platform for labels and distributors, attributes the trend to the fans’ access to artists online, particularly on social media. “Fans are becoming more active participants in the artist’s career, including involvement in the creative process like we see on TikTok, as well as direct access to artists through platforms like Telegram,” she says. “This gives the fan a greater sense of connection and stock in the artist’s career and leads to more consumption through streaming, downloads, ticket sales and more.”
K-pop superfans are in an entirely different category. According to Luminate, K-pop fans spend 75% more on music than the average U.S. music listener, with much of that spending going to physical products. K-pop fans are 46% more likely to have purchased a CD in the last 12 months, while almost a quarter have purchased a cassette in the past 12 months.
K-pop superfans are on a different level of fandom than the typical fan, organizing and supporting their favorite artists at levels rarely seen elsewhere in music. They buy multiple copies of albums, snap up merchandise and purchase the clothing artists are seen wearing on social media, says Kristine Kim, GM of Korea for business-to-business platform Surf Music. In Korea, fans will even rent out cafes to gather with other fans and purchase billboards to wish their favorite artists a happy birthday. “The investment, the time investment, the energy that they put in — emotionally, physically — and the money that they put in, it’s pretty incredible,” says Kim.
In the United States, superfans’ influence can be seen in the uptick in album sales in the first half of the year. K-pop albums, usually made available in multiple versions and formats so superfans can buy more than one copy, accounted for six of the top 10 physical albums and 16 of the top 50 physical albums, according to Luminate. The only artist to outsell K-pop artists Tomorrow X Together, Stray Kids, TWICE and Seventeen was Taylor Swift, who replicated the K-pop approach by offering over 20 different versions of her album Midnights.
For the upper strata of superfans, buying albums goes beyond merely collecting items or listening to music. “What drives these fandoms and CD sales is they just want to support the artists,” says Kim.
Republic Records jumped out to a huge lead early on in the market share rankings this year among current releases (those released within the past 18 months), and maintained a 12.46% current share across the first half of the year — more than four points higher than the next-closest label, Interscope Geffen A&M (8.08%). But […]
At the midyear mark of 2023, there’s one over-arching theme: so far, it’s the year of Morgan Wallen. The artist’s album One Thing At a Time is the most-consumed album of the year so far by far, racking up 3.312 million equivalent album units in the U.S. since its March release, while its single “Last Night” gobbled up the most U.S. on-demand audio streams of the year so far, with 588.7 million.
That helps explain a huge leap in country music market share so far this year, with the genre growing to 8.36% of the U.S. market, from 7.83% at the halfway point last year. Overall, in terms of current consumption units — those derived from albums released within the past 18 months — country music increased by 4.5 million equivalent album units over the same period in 2022, the highest among all 15 genres tracked by Luminate in 2023 so far.
But that’s just one of the big takeaways derived from combing through the data six months into this year. Here are four other observations from the first half of 2023.
Why is Rock so big? Catalog.
Overall, rock has grown most of any genre year over year in consumption units, with 11.2 million more units in 2023 over 2022. That growth, however, is almost entirely from catalog — 10.3 million of it, compared to 900,000 units of growth from current releases. It’s the second-largest growth metric among genres in terms of catalog, just behind R&B/hip-hop in raw numbers (11.2 million), though because R&B/hip-hop actually declined in current releases (more on that later), rock saw the biggest overall growth in unit terms.
It’s a testament to the enduring value that exists in classic rock recordings — and a reason those catalogs continue to be valued, bought and sold at such high figures — and helps explain why it still represents such a large part of the market, despite rock not generally being represented in the highest echelons of the charts. Rock’s catalog share of 23.31% is behind R&B/hip-hop’s 27.15% in the rankings, but is much higher than that of pop (12.91%) and country (7.69%), the next two genres in share.
Courtesy Photo
Consider the rankings in terms of current share: rock (10.32%) slides to third place, behind pop (10.69%) and barely ahead of country (10.16%), with Latin coming in fifth at 7.84%. And its current unit growth year over year of 900,000 is significantly behind country (4.5 million), world music (3.3 million) and Latin (2.5 million), although at least it’s still growing, while R&B/hip-hop and pop is not.
R&B/Hip-Hop: The Elephant In the Room
The drumbeat has been growing louder over the past year when it comes to what, exactly, is going on with R&B/hip-hop from a market share perspective. But despite concern that the genres’ grip on the public consciousness is getting diluted, a few things have remained consistent: it remained the largest genre in consumption units, it was still growing the most in raw numbers (if not percentage-wise), and R&B and hip-hop artists were continuously topping the charts dictating the culture.
Some of that dominance, however, has begun to slip. There is the biggest one — in the first half of the year, no hip-hop album had yet topped the Billboard 200, a distinction that finally ended in the first week of the third quarter with Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape this week. And in terms of year over year unit growth, R&B/hip-hop slipped to second at 13.01% of the market’s growth, behind rock (17.71%) and just ahead of country (12.35%). And as consumption overall grew by 13.4%, R&B/hip-hop remained stagnant at 6.3% — the same mark it had at the midway point of last year. Still, it’s been a weird year; R&B/hip-hop actually accumulated more growth in raw units in the first half of 2023 (8.3 million) than in the first half of 2022 (7.8 million).
Yet there are signs for concern — and not necessarily just because of gains in other genres. R&B/hip-hop’s overall market share has slipped from 27.64% halfway through 2022 to 25.92% halfway through 2023, more than a point and a half. Its share of on-demand streaming has dropped from 29.39% to 27.31% — more than two percentage points. Overall album sales growth — huge for rock (45.85%) and pop (30.99%) — was just 2.53%, though growth at all in that metric is still positive. Even more concerning are its current numbers, which we’ll get to in a second. So, with R&B/hip-hop’s market share at its lowest point since 2018, is it just a cyclical, first-half blip due to domination by the likes of Morgan Wallen and Taylor Swift so far this year? Or something deeper?
Current Share Tells the Story of the First Half
The three genres that experienced the biggest growth over the first half of 2023 also tell the story of the first six months of the year, and they’re undeniable on several metrics. In terms of overall percentage growth year over year, World Music — which encompasses ex-U.S. genres like K-Pop and Afrobeats — was up 42.5%; Latin was up 21.9%; and Country was up 21.1%. Each managed to grow their overall share of the market significantly over the same period last year: Country, the fourth-biggest genre, rose from 7.83% to 8.36%; Latin, in fifth, grew from 6.25% to 6.72%; World, in seventh, grew from 2.20% to 2.76%. In comparison, the top three genres — R&B/Hip-Hop, Rock and Pop, in that order — all ceded share of the market at least somewhat year over year.
Looking at the current share illustrates where those gains came from. The country genre came in 4.5 million units higher than at the same point in 2022, boosting its current share from 7.98% to 10.16%. world music added 3.3 million units, vaulting over dance/electronic into sixth with a 5.22% share of the current market, up from 3.29% at this time last year. And Latin added 2.5 million units over last year’s total, increasing from 6.86% to 7.84% this year.
The flip side of that is the current percentage drops from the other leading genres. Current R&B/hip-hop share fell from 27.50% halfway through 2022 to 22.62% this year, an almost 5% decline, and dropped 8.0% in consumption units year over year. Pop slid from 12.87% to 10.69% in share, dropping 7.1% in consumption units year over year. Rock’s slip in share was more modest (10.83% to 10.32%), but also still fell, though its unit count actually grew (the slide in share is due to larger gains elsewhere). It’s a reflection of how the first half of the year has gone in terms of impactful releases in the market.
World Music’s Growth Isn’t Slowing Down
World music now accounts for 2.76% of the overall market in the U.S., up from 2.20% at the midway point last year. It’s not huge, but by percentage, it’s far and away the fastest-growing genre (up 42.5% year over year) in the industry; by raw consumption unit growth, it’s sixth-highest, having increased by 4.4 million units over its midyear 2022 mark. And it’s up by huge percentages in just about every metric: overall album sales (71.3%), physical album sales (76.4%) and on-demand streaming (38.2%) growth all far outstrip the industry overall.
Some of this is just a function of how percentages work: a smaller number that’s growing quickly will naturally have a higher percentage growth than a larger number that, while growing at a larger volume, is growing at a slower rate. But these percentages continuing getting higher, not smaller: in 2020, it grew 8.0% over 2019; in 2021, the metric was 18.9%; in 2022, it was 26.4%. From the first half of 2019 through the first half of 2023, world music is up 131.3%.
So far this year over midway through 2022, K-pop consumption is up 154.9%, and Afrobeats consumption is up 143.8%. They’re still small in terms of actual consumption numbers — K-pop’s numbers compare most directly to those of children’s music for the first half of the year, for example — but they no longer exist in the realm of the potential. The industry has spent the past few years pouring money and resources into these areas and hoping to boost these artists in the States. The metrics are no longer about what the future may look like: it’s here now.
In 2023 so far, what’s happened in the last three months of the year largely mirrors the first when it comes to U.S. record label market share: the top two albums of the year — Morgan Wallen’s One Thing At a Time (Big Loud/Mercury/Republic) and SZA’s S.O.S. (TDE/RCA) — are still dominating the top two slots among consumption albums through June 29, according to Luminate. But while that may come as little surprise to industry chart-watchers, the rest of the top five points to a relatively surprising level of domination by one record label in particular: Republic Records.
In the first quarter of the year, Republic — which encompasses Island, Big Loud, Mercury, Cash Money and indie distributor Imperial — put up a current market share (defined as albums released within the past 18 months) of 12.45%, nearly five percentage points higher than second-placed Interscope Geffen A&M’s 7.75% (Interscope also encompasses Verve Label Group). At the end of the first half of the year, Republic’s current share stands at 12.46% — a remarkable level of consistency that shows the staying power of Republic’s current big releases, even as IGA has tightened the gap a bit, posting an 8.08% mark of its own to remain in second place.
Republic’s 12.46% current share at the midway point is also a significant leap from where it stood at the halfway mark in 2022, when it posted a current share of 8.92%, good for third place behind leaders Atlantic Records (9.92%) and second-placed Interscope (9.36%). Republic releases — chiefly Wallen’s album, but also Taylor Swift’s Midnights (one week) and Stray Kids’ 5 Star (one week) — spent all 13 weeks of the second quarter at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, part of a run of 17 straight weeks that only ended with Lil Uzi Vert’s new album Pink Tape.
Both Republic’s consistency and Interscope’s growth helped propel parent company Universal Music Group to a 34.48% current market share at the midyear mark, an improvement over both its first quarter current share (33.59%) and its current share at the midyear mark of 2022 (33.18%). Sony Music, in second place at 27.54%, dipped slightly from its huge Q1 current share of 28.46%, though it is still up significantly from the midyear mark in 2022, when it posted a 26.01% current share. And the Warner Music Group, in third among the major corporations, grew to 17.26% at the halfway mark of the year in current share, up from Q1’s 16.81% and 2022’s 15.33%. The collection of indie labels came in at 20.72% in current share at midyear, down from 21.15% in Q1.
Atlantic, in third among current share, grew to 7.34% at the midyear mark from 7.22% in Q1, though still down from the leading 9.92% it had midway through 2022. (Atlantic includes the combined 300 Elektra Entertainment Group.) But Capitol Music Group — which includes Motown/Quality Control, Blue Note, Astralwerks, Capitol Christian and indie distributor Virgin Music — surged from sixth place in Q1 2023 (5.56%) to fourth at the midyear market (6.00%), up significantly from the 4.31% it posted at the midway mark of 2022. Fifth-placed Warner Records (encompassing catalog label Rhino, Warner Latin and the bulk of Warner Nashville) also jumped two slots, from seventh in Q1 to fifth at midyear, to put up a 5.62% current share, up from 5.23% in Q1 and a 4.63% mark halfway through 2022.
Those two jumps from Capitol and Warner mean that Columbia (which includes some labels from indie distributor RED) and RCA Records slide down to sixth and seventh among current share, respectively. Columbia dipped from 5.85% in Q1 to 5.16% at the midyear mark in 2023 — though down significantly from the 6.65% it had at midyear 2022 — while RCA dropped from 5.76% in Q1 to 4.98% at the halfway point this year, a mark which is improved from the 4.31% it posted midway through 2022.
Rounding out the top 10 among current share is a trio of Sony labels, including two that made large strides: Sony Nashville, in eighth, at 2.55%, which grew from 2.30% in the first quarter and 1.72% midway through 2022; and Sony Latin in ninth, at 1.95%, up from 1.92% in Q1 and 1.22% halfway through 2022. Epic Records, at 1.82%, came in 10th in current share, dropping from 2.06% in Q1 and 2.24% at this time last year.
But current market share — while a strong indicator of recent performance for any label — does not tell the whole story, particularly at a time when Luminate reports that catalog (albums older than 18 months old, or the bulk of many major labels’ repertoire) share has increased again in 2023 so far, to 72.8% of all consumption from 72.4% in 2022, with a corresponding drop for current from 27.6% to 27.2%. And when taking into account all consumption, Interscope actually leads the U.S. industry in overall market share, posting a 9.48% mark at the midway point of 2023, up from 9.44% in Q1 and slightly down from its leading 9.80% mark halfway through 2022. That nudges Republic into second, ever so slightly, at 9.34% in overall share, a number that is also up from its Q1 mark (9.16%) and a significant increase from midyear 2022, when it posted a 7.96% share and came in third.
Outside those top two labels, the next handful of slots in the top 10 remain in the same order as their current share rankings, with Atlantic (8.31%) equalling its Q1 mark despite falling from the 9.30% it had in 2022; and Capitol also remaining static over Q1, posting a 6.70% (from 6.68% in Q1 and 6.06% in 2022). Warner (6.55%), in fifth, swapped positions with Columbia (6.23%) from their respective Q1 showings, while RCA (5.27%), in seventh, dropped from its 5.50% in Q1 but improved on its 4.92% mark from midway last year. Epic (2.54%), Sony Nashville (2.13%) and Def Jam (1.88%) rounded out the top 10 in overall market share.
Among the major label groups, UMG grew from 37.25% in overall share at the midpoint of last year to 37.98% this year, while Sony grew a full percentage point, jumping to 27.34% from last year’s mark of 26.34%. Warner Music Group, meanwhile, jumped significantly from 16.26% midway through 2022 to 18.75% halfway through this year, largely at the expense of the Indies, which fell from 20.15% to 15.93% in overall share this year.
With a refreshingly fearless attitude in their self-crafted smash singles, one of which was the No. 1 K-pop song of last year as chosen by Billboard critics, (G)I-DLE has become creative leaders in the latest generation of South Korean–pop acts. Now, the girl group takes another big step to stay ahead of the pack.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Billboard can exclusively reveal a new partnership between Asian-focused music and media company 88rising and K-pop mega-label and management agency Cube Entertainment that officially begins via a new single from the latter’s chart-topping girl group.
Releasing this week, “I DO” comes as the K-Pop Stars to Watch‘s first-ever original English single. The heartfelt mid-tempo strikes a noticeably different chord than the group’s recent string of brash and bold bangers like “Queencard,” “Nxde” and “Tomboy” and shines via a sweet, emotional and easy-to-sing-along-to vocal performance from members Soyeon, Minnie, Miyeon, Yuqi and Shuhua. Cube and 88rising confirm that “I DO” is the first track off HEAT, the name of (G)I-DLE’s upcoming EP co-executive produced by 88rising via the collaboration.
“We’re very excited about the release of HEAT, which will be our first EP fully in English,” says Woohyung Ahn, CEO of Cube Entertainment, to note the company’s first original English-language project in its nearly 17-year history. “HEAT is all about being confident and bringing the spirit of an endless summer with you wherever you go. We hope that the release of HEAT will allow us to bring the message and mission of (G)I-DLE to the whole world.”
“We’ve been a fan of (G)-IDLE for a long time because, creatively, they are so in tune and involved with the music and stuff they put out,” adds 88rising CEO and founder Sean Miyashrio. “That was something to me that was refreshing about the group that I always felt. I was just like, ‘Wow, they really know what they want to do which is really important—it makes the process so much more meaningful when there is such a firm belief and point of view the artists have and I felt really honored that they would be open to collaborate with us.”
88rising executive vice president John Yang shares, “When we met (G)I-DLE members, they were just so full of excitement and positivity; their energy is contagious—it’s something I haven’t experienced before and, naturally, we just got really excited about what we could do together.”
Cube noted 88rising’s “in-depth knowledge about the music industry” and strength in “A&R and creative infrastructure” throughout the collaboration process, while Yang specifically highlighted (G)I-DLE’s 24-year-old leader and primary songwriter and producer. “Soyeon knows what she wants and thinks of every member in so much detail for every song from the delivery of the vocal to the tone and the overall cadence of the song—she truly is a genius.”
While 88rising has bulked up its roster with signings from the K-pop space like LØREN, Jackson Wang, BIBI, Chung Ha and Seori in recent years, Miyashrio notes this EP has been in the works for a year after their initial introduction.
“Just like I need to have a real connection with the artists and projects we work on…we just got to work, simple as that,” the 88rising CEO and founder says. “(G)I-DLE are super confident and have a great understanding of who they are and what they want to do. At the end of the day, we just want to support what already is such a force however we can; that’s what makes all of this fulfilling.”
“I DO” drops on Thursday, July 13, at 8 p.m. ET (Friday, July 14 at 9 a.m. KST) alongside an official music video. Meanwhile, HEAT releases globally on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 8 p.m ET. Pre-order for the record will go live alongside the release of “I DO.”
When introducing myself as the vp of marketing and wellness at Guin Records, a title that doesn’t conform to the usual melody of the music industry, I’m often met with raised eyebrows and intrigued inquiries. This blending of roles — pairing the vibrant, creative world of marketing with the crucial, human aspect of wellness — might seem unconventional to most in our industry. Yet, this combination isn’t just possible. It’s essential and, I would argue, long overdue.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The responsibilities of my role involve walking the line between two worlds. I champion and promote the music our artists create, steering the narrative to connect deeply with new audiences and core fans. Simultaneously, I cultivate an environment that nurtures the mental and emotional well-being of our artists and staff.
At Guin Records, we embed wellness into the very fabric of our ethos and values. We recognize that the creative process, while exhilarating, can also be emotionally taxing. We acknowledge the highs and lows, the euphoria and the vulnerability that come with artistic expression. Therefore, we prioritize the well-being of our artists, empowering them to create and share their music in a sustainable and healthy way.
Why is this important? Because music is profoundly human. The music that touches our souls, the lyrics that resonate with our experiences and the performances that captivate our senses — all are born from the hearts and minds of individuals. Artists, like all of us, require support, care and an environment conducive to their growth and well-being.
How do we accomplish this? By acknowledging that an artist’s well-being is not a peripheral concern but a core element that directly impacts their art as well as our bottom line. As a concrete step, we offer non-recoupable wellness stipends to our artists. This financial support allows them the freedom to invest in their mental and physical health without burden.
Moreover, we maintain a strong alliance with non-profit entities like Backline, ensuring our artists and team members have readily available mental health resources. We’ve proudly signed the “Breaking The Barriers” pledge, committed to helping knock down long-standing roadblocks that often keep BIPOC communities from getting the mental health care they need. To further our investment in our team’s well-being, we’ve instituted a “Mental Health Day Policy.” This grants our employees the liberty to take much-needed breaks for personal rejuvenation; fostering a culture of prevention against burnout. After all, in nurturing our people, we nurture the music.
So I call on my industry peers to turn the volume up on this crucial conversation. Let’s recognize that a healthy artist creates better music, and a team that feels supported performs better. Let’s shift our industry narrative to one that doesn’t just produce beautiful music but also upholds the well-being of the beautiful minds behind it.
By prioritizing wellness, we’re setting the stage for a more sustainable, empathetic and human-centered music industry. By championing the music we love while investing in the well-being of those who create it, we pave the way for a sustainable industry that supports everyone involved. It’s not just about the end product but about the process, the people and the passion that fuel it all.
Brandon Holman is vp of marketing & wellness at Guin Records, whose artist roster includes Asha Imuno. Holman is also co-founder of The Lazuli Collective, an experiential wellness agency that delivers wellness and mental health programming to audiences around the world through events, music and consultancies including the Coachella Arts and Music Festival.
300 Entertainment continues to bolster its roster of young talent with the signing of newest act BlakeIANA, a Midwest-based rapper on the rise for her song “BING BONG.” “When I heard BlakeIANA, I was impressed and definitely excited by the sound,” 300 Entertainment co-president Selim Bouab tells Billboard. “Once I sat down with her face-to-face, […]
Nigerian DJ/producer Spinall has officially signed with Epic Records, the company tells Billboard.
“Spinall is one of the continent’s best musical exports. A preeminent curator and driver of culture. His collaborations have the potential to take music from Africa to new heights globally, and we are extremely energized about our partnership with him here at Epic,” says Ezekiel “Zeke” Lewis, president of Epic Records, in a statement to Billboard.
“It’s really, really tough when you’ve been independent for a minute. But after discussing with Sylvia [Rhone, CEO/chairwoman of Epic Records] and Zeke, they gave me the most confidence that I would ever need — bringing me on, speaking to me and listening and being so sweet. Sylvia and Zeke convinced me in the first meeting that I’m home,” he tells Billboard.
“They have a proven record of doing amazing partnerships with different talents from all over the world. So I’m super excited, and there’s gonna be a lot of good music. I’m excited to be working with a set of people who genuinely love music. We just want to spread the gospel of good music all around the world.”
Spinall (real name Oluseye Desmond Sodamola) is already spreading the word through his new single “Loju” featuring Wizkid, which he released today (June 30) as his official Epic debut. “It’s a very special record because of our history together as partners in making some of the best Afrobeats records,” he says of his frequent collaborator, with whom he’s worked on “Nowo,” “Opoju,” “Dis Love” (with Tiwa Savage) and more. “Wizkid is someone I respect a lot. He has done collaborations with everybody on the continent, and he’s still doing it. Every time we link up, the energy is just different. Our friendship is beyond the music.”
“Loju” arrives four months after he released his sixth studio album, Top Boy, on Feb. 17 via his own record label/management company, TheCAP Music. Top Boy — which was featured on Billboard‘s 50 best albums of 2023 (so far) list — contains hit singles “Sere” featuring Fireboy DML (and 6lack on the remix) and “Palazzo” featuring Asake, the former of which has 16.3 million official on-demand streams in the U.S. and 71 million official global on-demand streams.
“Palazzo” peaked at No. 6 on Billboard‘s U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart, while “Power (Remember Who You Are)” featuring Summer Walker, DJ Snake and Äyanna — which was originally featured in The Flipper’s Skate Heist short film and then added to Top Boy — peaked at No. 16 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs.
“A lot of amazing records on the tape. The whole goal behind that is to spread the music and spread the entire culture of what we do in Africa,” he says.
After receiving his BSc degree in electrical and electronics engineering at Olabisi Onabanjo University in Nigeria’s Ogun State, Spinall attended several DJ schools to hone in on his musical talent. In 2014, he launched TheCAP Music, which stands for “TheCrazyAzzParty” and also symbolizes the traditional Yoruba caps he wears, and signed producers Killertunes and Stunna the following year. He had previously signed an international record deal with Atlantic Records U.K. and a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music U.K. Spinall has released all six of his albums through TheCAP Music.
Last year, he opened for Bruno Mars in Sydney, Australia for two nights and DJed at Jay-Z‘s Oscars Gold Party. “My work speaks for itself…. I’m not new to the big stage,” Spinall says. “There’s no other goal than making happy music. If you look at my discography, that’s what I’ve done over the years and that’s what I’ll continue to do till the day I die!”
For management, Spinall is represented by Tolulope Shodamola, COO/general manager of TheCAP Music, as well as LVRN’s Tunde Balogun (president/co-founder), Amber Grimes (executive vp/general manager) and Justice Baiden (head of A&R/co-president).
Universal Music Group Nashville has named Charlene Bryant as senior vp of business development & strategy.
Bryant brings with her a track record of experience and success in genres including country, Christian and hip-hop. The Ohio native and Belmont University graduate previously spent five years leading artist management company Riveter Management, which she founded in 2018. Bryant was named one of Billboard‘s R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players in 2020 and 2021 and was part of CMT and mtheory’s inaugural equal access development program.
“Charlene has spent her career in artist development and learning to merge cultures of Christian, R&B, Hip-Hop and Country music,” says UMG Nashville chair & CEO Cindy Mabe. “She’s had success at major labels and independents, as well as success as an entrepreneur. As Universal Nashville is investing deeper to expand our growth in partnering in innovation with entrepreneurs, the independent label sector as well as our sister labels, Charlene is the perfect person to help merge those worlds and cultures to help build the next era of Universal Music Group Nashville. I could not be more excited to have Charlene Bryant help build our vision.”
UMG Nashville’s latest hire comes under the leadership of Mabe, who officially took the chair/CEO reins of the label in April. In a memo to UMG Nashville staffers at the time, Mabe laid out a vision for the company going forward. Among her plans are to “dramatically expand our partnerships with independent labels and entrepreneurs.” Mabe added, “Inspiration and new ideas are coming from everywhere. Much of that innovation is coming from the independent sector, but by the same token there is so much more they could do if they partnered with us in key areas. Universal Nashville will actively take a role to position ourselves as the best partners to expand their growth and help develop and support these artists.”
As Mabe continues to build the leadership team at UMG Nashville, the company is also pulling from other industry sectors. In May, Chelsea Blythe was appointed as executive vp of A&R for UMG Nashville. Blythe previously served as senior vp of A&R at Def Jam, leading A&R efforts for artists including Armani White and 26AR. Blythe also worked at Columbia Records, signing artists including Baby Keem and developing artists including The Kid LAROI.
In the memo to UMG Nashville staffers in April, Mabe said the company also aims to “collaborate even closer (and more creatively) with our label colleagues around the world where we can leverage each other’s strengths to break artists who are either signed to their rosters or ours. There’s so much more we can do together.”
As part of that work with UMG Nashville’s sister labels, the label also recently announced its partnership with Capitol Christian Music Group to release new music from Grammy-nominated artist Anne Wilson (“My Jesus,” “Sunday Sermons”).