Record Labels
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Pick a lane. How many times have you heard that? For me, I’ve lost count. I’ve never been one for labels, boxes, or genre assignments. I feel that extends to every vertical of my life – down to how I live, work, love, and find joy.
In some ways, I took the whole “dances to the beat of my own drum” as far as I could. Just call me an Avril Lavigne lyric, because I am “anything but ordinary,” honey! Maybe that has stifled some of my success, but I would argue that it’s helped me more than it’s hurt me. I am resourceful, adaptable, resilient, and I relate to so many different human experiences – which in my line of work(s) has been nothing short of an asset.
For example I’ve been a songwriter for over 19 years professionally, a performer since the age of three, a major label signed artist at the age of 19, and I’ve worked behind the scenes as an industry professional since 2014. That being said, even as someone with years of professional experience it took me years to land a mid-to-senior level role working for a reputable music company. No one wanted to hire me, because I didn’t have a college degree and I never worked as a coordinator. For some reason that never applied to the men I used to tour with, but that’s a story for another day.
The question is… why aren’t we looking at future employees with a holistic viewpoint? Why are we assigning only one genre tag and then disregarding their potential because we can’t place them?
When I pitch music, the more metadata tags the better; I want to know the song can fit many opportunities, not just when all the stars align. Why are we afraid when a future teammate offers layers? Often in my interview process, I would get asked if “being an artist” was going to get in the way of my prospective job. It’s such an odd question to me, because as a freelancer most of my life was and is about time allocation. No one is more mindful of how I spend my time… than me. There’s also no one way to be an artist.
I see a lot of fear when it comes to hiring in the music industry. Hands-on experience in the creative music space is a huge asset and shouldn’t be looked at as a liability. Often, a potential employee goes to college, scores an internship, lands an assistant gig, and then shoots up the ladder… but they’ve never been to the factory. They don’t know how the product is made.
Here’s the thing – traditional music industry folk can’t empathize with the talent, because they have never lived it. They don’t speak the language.
When we don’t understand each other, can’t relate to each other’s experiences, and have no visibility in the day to day functions of each other’s jobs it can become a breeding ground for miscommunication.
Miscommunication is the enemy of progress and productivity aka the enemy of getting sh*t done.
Not to say there’s anything wrong with taking a traditional route to the top of the music business, but it shouldn’t be the only path and at the very least… go to the factory y’all!
When I received the opportunity to work for other companies (not just my own) – I jumped at it! To me, it’s just another tool in my arsenal. I had a front row seat to look into how the other side strategizes, rationalizes, moves mountains, and builds winning campaigns on behalf of their roster.
I got to hear the worst and the best from peers and senior executives that would have never kept it real with me as the talent/creative. I listened to everything intensely. What I heard motivated me to get to work. I saw how both sides need each other, that it’s a marriage and that marriage is rocky at best.
How do we save this union? Like anything in life… we seek to understand and we find better ways to communicate effectively. A strong tool I can offer you? Hire a former creative or active creator. Let them help fix what’s not working – they know how to. They’ve been small businesses for years. They’ve been on the road, they’ve had the odds stacked against them and they still got on that stage and SERVED. That’s someone I want on my team. The show must go on and they know how to deliver the goods.
As a songwriter I listen, internalize, and then externalize. I aim to understand and have others find themselves in the work. I create. I am a little big problem solver, so why would this be any different in behind the scenes business?
Open up your doors to creators and allow them to bring the positive tension this industry desperately needs. We only grow when we allow ourselves to be uncomfortable, so embrace the fear.
Creatives are builders, let them build. They may show up with big dreams, but they’re going to have the know-how to see it through. Give them a chance to bring home the bacon. They’ve been singing for their (YOUR) supper anyways, now let them sit at the table.
Jessica Vaughn is the head of sync at Venice Music and president of Head Bitch Music. Before breaking into the business side of the industry, Jessica began her career as an artist under the name Charlotte Sometimes, releasing a debut album on Geffen Records and later appearing on season 2 of NBC’s hit series The Voice.
Urbano star and reggaeton veteran Chencho Corleone has launched a “new musical phase” by signing a global record deal with Sony Music Latin, the company tells Billboard. The agreement comes on the heels of Chencho’s upcoming debut album as a solo artist; he was previously one-half of the duo Plan B, who rose to fame in the early 2000s.
“I’m very happy with what we’ve been creating and what’s coming up,” said the Puerto Rican hitmaker in a statement. “I’m sure my fans will enjoy this new musical phase, adding another milestone in my career.”
Corleone is set to drop the first single from the set, “Un Cigarrillo,” on Thursday (May 4) along with a music video directed by Jessy Terrero. “I had the opportunity to sit down with production and the team to create a visual concept that projects and marks the new solo path at the beginning,” Chencho added in his statement.
The deal comes amid a career spike for Corleone. Last year, he scored his first No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Latin Songs chart thanks to “Me Porto Bonito” with Bad Bunny, which ruled the tally for 20 weeks. He also notched his first No. 1 on Billboard‘s Latin Airplay chart with his feature on Rauw Alejandro‘s “Desesperados.”
About the signing, Sony Music U.S. Latin president Alex Gallardo, added, “We’re extremely happy to welcome Chencho Corleone to the Sony Music family. Chencho has proved to be one of the leaders in his genre with his distinctive style and powerhouse collaborations, reaffirming his position worldwide. We are committed alongside his team to take his career to new levels and establish him as one of the biggest names in the music.”
After netting a No. 2 debut on the Billboard 200 with his first album Wasteland, Brent Faiyaz solidified his standing as a critical cog in the R&B circuit, so much so that a year later, he and UnitedMasters agreed on an unprecedented partnership to form a new creative agency as a hub for his upcoming endeavors.
A source close to the situation tells Billboard that the deal is rumored to be valued at close to $50 million.
“Brent Faiyaz is one of the most prolific independent artists today, and we are extremely excited to embark on this new partnership with him,” UnitedMasters founder Steve Stoute tells Billboard. “It’s been inspiring to watch his journey as an artist over the years, and with this partnership we look to further amplify his creative vision and support his entrepreneurial ambitions.”
Along with his new partnership, Brent Faiyaz will embark on a world tour later this summer. Titled F–k the World, It’s a Wasteland, the multi-date trek will arrive in major markets, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Paris, and Milan. Presale tickets will be available on Spotify through May 3 and open for the general public on May 5.
Faiyaz keeps momentum from his 2022 effort by releasing his latest visual, “Rolling Stone.” Channeling classic film noir elements, the video is presented as a cinematic thriller with black and white coloring. I still got demons from my younger days. “I wish I could shake ‘em, but they follow me,” he sings in the clip.
Check out video for “Rolling Stone” and the tour dates for F–k The World, It’s a Wasteland below.
TOUR DATES:
7/16 Landover, MD forthcoming
7/25 Denver, CO The Mission Ballroom
7/28 Chicago, IL The Salt Shed
8/1 Toronto, ON History
8/6 New York, NY Central Park Summerstage
8/9 Boston, MA MGM Music Hall at Fenway
8/12 Miami, FL James L. Knight Center
8/16 Orlando, FL Dr. Phillips Center
8/19 Sacramento, CA forthcoming
8/22 New Orleans, LA Orpheum Theater
8/23 Houston, TX 713 Music Hall
8/24 Dallas, TX The Factory Deep Ellum
8/31 San Francisco, CA The Masonic
9/1 Oakland, CA Fox Theater
9/3 Las Vegas, NV The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas – Chelsea Theater
9/15 Los Angeles, CA YouTube Theater
10/16 Leeds, UK O2 Academy Leeds
10/19 Manchester, UK O2 Apollo
10/21 Glasgow, UK O2 Academy Glasgow
10/23 Birmingham, UK O2 Academy
10/25 London, UK Eventim Apollo
11/1 Utrecht, Netherlands TivoliVredenburg
11/3 Stockholm, Sweden Banankompaniet
11/5 Copenhagen, Denmark Vega
11/8 Oslo, Norway Rockefeller Music Hall
11/10 Berlin, Germany Tempodrom
11/12 Milan, Italy Fabrique
11/14 Barcelona, Spain Razzmatazz
11/17 Cologne, Germany Palladium
11/19 Paris, France Elysee Montmartre
11/20 London, UK Eventim Apollo
Growing up in East Los Angeles in the 1980s, George Prajin could see music in the making. His father was Antonino Z. Prajin, owner of Prajin One-Stop, a music retailer and distributor in Huntington Park, Calif., that sold to over 3,000 stores in the U.S. and Mexico and had 26 warehouses throughout Southern California. At that time, the music known as regional Mexican — comprising subgenres like banda, norteño and mariachi — dominated U.S. Latin music sales.
At the Prajin brick and mortar record shop that catered to mostly Mexican and Mexican-American buyers, “I always noticed that Mexican-American youth would buy hip-hop and regional. And I always tried to mix the two,” says Prajin today. “I tried to come up with a fusion of the two sounds.”
It took 25 years, a lot of money and a lot of heartbreak, but Prajin has finally found his sound with the artist known as Peso Pluma, the only act signed to his indie Prajin Records, and distributed via The Orchard. While Regional Mexican music is definitely having a moment — this week, 13 Regional Mexican tracks are on the Billboard Hot 100, a record for the genre — the current wave is led by the 23-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico.
Of those 13 tracks, an astounding eight are his, including “Ella Baila Sola,” his smash hit with California quartet Eslabón Armado, which reached No. 5 on the chart, marking the first time ever a Regional Mexican track, in Spanish, reached the top five — or the top 10, for that matter. The song also reached No. 1 the Billboard Global 200 chart (dated April 29). It’s the first leader on the list for each act, as well as the first for the regional Mexican genre. And it helps make Prajin Billboard‘s Executive of the Week.
The importance of the moment is not lost on Prajin, who grew up following the Billboard charts and who in the 1990s launched an independent record label for the first time. When the recording industry’s bubble burst at the onset of the digital download age in the early-mid-2000s, Prajin closed shop, studied law and established a practice — alongside veteran music entertainment lawyer Anthony Lopez — representing athletes and musicians. In 2019, when streaming numbers started to soar, he decided to give the music industry another shot as a record executive and launched Prajin Records. This time, the timing was right. Among the different projects that were shopped to him, one was Peso Pluma, a young Mexican singer and rapper who was living in New York and had been discovered through social media.
“Ella Baila Sola” is not only a Peso Pluma track; it was released on another California-based indie, DEL Records, whose founder Angel Del Villar was also an Executive of the Week when Eslabón became the first Regional Mexican act to enter the top 10 of the Billboard 200 last year.
This week’s achievement, says Prajin, was not just the result of DEL and Prajin’s strategy with “Ella Baila Sola.” Instead, he says, “it’s been a strategy with the project overall.”
Peso Pluma arrives for the 8th annual Latin American Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 20, 2023.
ROBYN BECK/AFP via GI
What was it about Peso Pluma that you found interesting?
I saw how he flowed on the tracks. He could do it all: He could rap, he could do regional, he could do reggaeton. But he was very stubborn that he wanted to do everything independently of each other. He said, “I want to rap on a rap song, I want to sing reggaeton on a reggaeton song.” I realized there is a way to do it and it’s how Peso envisions it, by staying in each lane and killing it in each genre but giving people what they want. I always recognize his base audience is regional and that’s actually the music he loves the most. But because Peso can do all these genres, and when they [he and his cousin Tito] write songs, they [incorporate] all these influences.
You met Peso Pluma through your former artist, Jessie Morales (El Regional de la Sierra). Jessie wanted you to sign Peso, but you actually turned him down the first time, even though as an attorney you represented several prominent Regional Mexican artists and labels at that point. What happened?
At the time, I didn’t want to compete with my clients, even though I felt the kid had a lot of talent. He ended up signing with Herminio Morales, Jessie’s brother. Fast forward 2021, Herminio got really sick and called me up and asked me if I could help with Peso. You don’t get two bites of the apple very often, and I was restless. I wanted to produce more music. And at that time nobody was really interested in Peso, because it wasn’t really a successful project.
Once you started with Peso, what would you say was your breakthrough track?
Because no other label was interested, I didn’t feel I was competing with anybody [so I would experiment]. He had an album already recorded and one song attracted my attention: “El Belicón.” He gave me permission to work on the track and we ended up taking the guy that was there off the track and putting in [singer] Raul Vega. We mixed the song — I have an amazing engineer — and we put it out on TikTok. We saw that there was a spark and we put in promotion and made an inferno. We made sure the video was like Call of Duty because we really wanted to target the kids. We threw all our efforts into making the song as big as we could. And we got to the level where we got people’s attention.
You did tracks with more urban acts like Nicki Nicole from Argentina and Ovy on the Drums from Colombia. Were you aiming for a more international sound?
I feel we started in regional but at the same time we were expanding regional. It’s like when rock n’ roll got into grunge. Peso’s saying, “We’re not regional; we’re Mexican.” When we saw the fusion going to the top of the charts, that’s when we invited others. The goal was to expand the international Latin scene. And what’s really, really cool is they all want to jump on Peso’s sound.
I feel that has really expanded the Mexican market. He wanted to do reggaeton and rap, we’d be in talks with major artists in other countries and we’d usually say, “Lets do a reggaeton song,” but they’d say, “Let’s do a regional song.” When we saw these artists wanted to do something regional, we started to double down.
When did you realize there was another audience interested in this guy?
I pay a lot of attention to the analytics. I’m always looking at the numbers and looking at what countries we get engagement. I saw we were getting a lot of engagement in the countries we were targeting but also in places like Japan and Germany. And then, obviously, the global charts. When we broke into the Billboard Global 200 and then we became the No. 1 song, and then we get interest from Jimmy Fallon, that’s when you see something that is global. As an executive I take everything and say, “How do we double down?”
Peso Pluma & Blessd
Cristhian Álvarez Suarez
And, how do you double down?
We’re Latin and we’re keeping our base. We’re opening offices, we’re doing a global tour, but like when we first started at the top of the charts in Mexico we doubled down on our infrastructure, and now that we’re global we’re going to make sure we can double down and have boots on the ground and make sure we’re touring individual countries.
“Ella Baila Sola” is originally an Eslabón Armado track. What is it about that song?
It’s a combo of a good sound, and Eslabón has a really good U.S. base which is something we were on the verge of entering. At one point our streams were 80% in Mexico and 20% in the U.S. Now I think we’re 50-50. But I feel this momentum was coming and we had been focused on international development. The audiences were looking for another regional track from Peso Pluma and it just so happened we were releasing with Eslabón. [Lead writer and singer] Pedro Tovar is an amazing talent. And the song was produced to be in line with Peso’s sound.
You hit a historic top five on the Hot 100. Were you aiming for that?
Nobody knows what’s going to be a hit. But the way it came out with the numbers it did overnight and on a weekly and monthly basis, I knew this song was going to be massive. I’d never seen those numbers with a regional song before. DEL released that track and they’ve done a lot to support the success of the track.
What’s next for you and for Peso Pluma?
Peso just launched WP Records. He’s the CEO and he’ll be producing a lot of the tracks. The first single came out 4/20. We’ll finally be releasing a Peso Pluma album before summer and that will be the focus in the next two to three weeks. I give all the credit to my artist. I’m an executive. I’m involved in every single aspect. But I give leeway to my artist and I trust him so much that we created a label.
Previous Executive of the Week: Cindy James of Virgin Music
Sony Music Entertainment notched one of its most profitable years on record in 2022, as strong growth in streaming subscriptions and a favorable exchange rate propelled the company’s revenue from chart-topping artists like SZA, Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus.
SME’s reported revenue rose by nearly 24% to 1.38 trillion yen ($10.16 billion) and operating income rose nearly 25% to 263 billion yen ($1.94 billion) for the fiscal year 2022, making it the most profitable of the six companies under Sony’s umbrella.
“We have steadily improved our ability to continuously create hits,” Sony chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki said on a webcast, calling out Cyrus’ Flowers release in January. “In Recorded Music, an average of 43 songs ranked in the Spotify weekly global top 100 songs in FY22, increasing our market share significantly year-on-year.”
For the most recent quarter, Sony reported that overall revenues rose 19% to 341.89 million yen ($2.5 billion). Recorded music streaming revenue grew by 23% to 148.9 billion ($1.093 billion) from a year ago. Publishing income rose by 22% to 65.96 million yen ($485 million). SME’s revenues also benefitted from an exchange rate during that period that favored its Japanese parent company’s accounting in yen.
“In recorded music and music publishing, we aim to continue to grow faster than the market and maintain a higher growth rate and profit margin than our competitors by strengthening relationships withinfluential artists, discovering and nurturing new talent, expanding our lineup through The Orchard and AWAL, and growing our business in emerging markets,” said Totoki, who also serves as Sony’s president and chief operating officer.
Executives said on Friday they expect revenues in Sony Music to grow by 2% overall to 1.41 trillion yen ($10.37 billion) for the fiscal year 2023.
LONDON — French music company Believe’s recent investments in Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa helped boost digital sales across its key markets and drive overall revenues up 22% from January through March, despite a slowdown in ad-funded streaming revenue.
The company reported Thursday (April 27) that revenues grew 22.2% to 198.6 million euros ($218.9 million) compared to the prior year’s quarter. The Paris-headquartered company’s premium solutions business — which includes label services, marketing, distribution, promotions and sync — rose 23% year-on-year to 186 million euros ($205 million), while its automated solutions, which includes the TuneCore distribution platform, increased 11.2% to 12.7 million euros ($14 million).
Digital revenue also grew by 22.2% during the quarter, with non-digital sales up 21.8%. Believe didn’t provide financial figures for either market segment, nor an indication of overall net profit or loss for the quarter. The company’s shares, traded on France’s Euronext, fell 2.41% on Thursday to close at 9.70 euros ($10.70).
The company said ad-funded streaming revenue slowed to single digit growth at the start of the year — in line with the challenging global advertising market — but didn’t report financial values or the percentage increase.
Non-digital revenue benefitted from merchandising, branding and live activities in France and India, as well as a film project in Turkey, which Believe said collectively offset the fall in physical sales, most notably in Germany.
Growth of Believe’s core digital business, which focuses on markets and music genres where artist promotion and marketing are predominantly online, was driven by the global rise in paid music steaming and the company’s expanding international portfolio of artists and labels, CEO and founder Denis Ladegaillerie said during Thursday’s earnings call.
Recent investments include partnerships with Filipino label Viva Music and Artists Group (VMAG), India-based imprints Think Music and Panorama Music, French pop label Structure and Germany-based Madizin Music. Last month, Believe acquired U.K.-based publisher Sentric from Switzerland-based Utopia Music in a €47 million ($51 million) deal that marks the French company’s first major entry into the publishing industry. (Sentric is expected to add about 3% to annual revenue growth, the company said Thursday.)
Notable Believe artist signings cited include Thai acts TimeThai and Reinizra, Belgian rapper Hamza and a new multi-album deal with French hip-hop star Jul.
Globally, revenue from Asia Pacific and Africa, which Believe groups together in its earnings report, grew 40% year-on-year to 56.1 million euros ($61.8 million), representing 28.2% of the company’s earnings, compared to 24.7% in the first quarter of 2022.
Within the Asia Pacific and Africa region, Believe said it recorded strong growth in India, Greater China and Southeast Asia, driven by its growing roster of local artists and labels, sustained investment in on-the-ground teams and the rollout of its full label and artist solutions offer in most markets.
Europe, excluding France and Germany, recorded a revenue increase of 21.1% to 54.4 million euros ($60 million), representing around 27% of total revenue.
Believe’s operations in the Americas rose 25.2% to 29.4 million euros ($32.4 million), representing 14.8% of all income, with the company saying that it had a particularly strong sales quarter in Latin America, most notably in Brazil.
The company’s two strongest individual markets, France and Germany, also grew by 13.2% to 32.1 million euros ($35.4 million) and 3.7% to 26.6 million euros ($29.3 million), respectively. France generates 16.2% of the company’s total revenue, while Believe said its performance in Germany was impacted by a “strong decline in physical sales linked to the lowered exposure to physical sales-heavy contracts.”
Over the past 12 months, Believe has made significant moves into the dance music sector with the launch of global label solutions brand b:electronic, which has signed deals with electronic music imprints Hospital Records and Rinse in the U.K.; Big Top Amsterdam, Blackout Music and Mixmash in the Netherlands; and Cercle and Roche Musique in France.
On Wednesday, the company announced that its TuneCore distribution platform had teamed up with Beatport, enabling TuneCore artists to distribute their songs on the world’s largest electronic music platform for working DJs.
“This great start to the year, marked by strong operational milestones and solid organic performance, shows that we are well on track to deliver another year of profitable growth,” Ladegaillerie says in a statement. Believe’s increasing global reach combined with a “successful investment strategy” was enabling “artists and labels to thrive in the digital ecosystem,” he says.
Ladegaillerie says the company is looking to make further acquisitions in the year ahead. Believe, which operates in more than 50 countries and has over 1,600 employees worldwide, says it expects to generate positive free cash flow for the full year and expects to record organic revenue growth of around 18% in 2023. The company says it will “monitor its investment pace and focus on improving efficiency” to reach an adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest and taxes, depreciation and amortization) margin of 5% for fiscal year 2023.
The board of Warner Music Group (WMG) announced Thursday (April 27) that it’s elected Val Blavatnik, son of WMG’s controlling shareholder Len Blavatnik, to a seat on the board of directors as well as the company’s executive committee.
Val Blavatnik replaces Len’s brother Alex Blavatnik, who’s served as a director on the WMG board since Access Industries acquired WMG in July 2011. Len Blavatnick currently serves as a director and vice chairman of WMG’s board.
Val Blavatnik has worked on the investment team at LionTree, covering the media and tech industries, since 2021. He has also been a production executive at the New York-based film and TV production company Eden Productions. He serves on the executive committee of Access Industries and previously worked in the music industry, primarily as an artist manager, according to a press release.
“We’re pleased to welcome Val to the WMG Board,” Michael Lynton, WMG’s board chairman, said in a statement. “His experience working with a variety of companies as well as directly with artists makes him well suited to his new post. He’ll also bring a fresh perspective as we chart the future of WMG. We’re incredibly grateful to Alex for his wisdom, guidance, and enthusiasm over the past 12 years, as the company has grown and thrived in the streaming era.”
“I’m excited to be joining the Board during this dynamic, transformational time at WMG, with so many innovative opportunities ahead for artists and songwriters,” Blavatnik said. “I’ve previously worked on artist projects with the senior team, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with the impressive group of leaders on the Board.”
Corey Taylor, the frontman of Grammy Award-winning and multiplatinum-selling metal band Slipknot, has signed a “global recordings agreement” with BMG to release his second solo album, Billboard has exclusively learned. The project, called CMF2, will arrive later in 2023.
“I wanted to work with BMG because they came in super hot wanting to work with me, and they’ve been keeping the fires burning for rock, punk and metal over the last few years,” Taylor tells Billboard.
CMF2 will be released on Taylor’s label imprint, Decibel Cooper/BMG, and apparently, he has an eye on helping other talent as well. He explains, “Decibel Cooper will not only allow me to release my own music and art worldwide, but it also gives me a solid way to help bolster any rad new acts I want to put on the roster. BMG is going to help me put my money where my mouth is — giving a boost to the next generation.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Corey Taylor to the BMG family,” executive vp of New York/senior vp of international marketing Jason Hradil said in a statement. “His new album is an extension of the incredible body of work he’s assembled over his career, and we can’t wait for fans around the world to hear it later this year.”
Thomas Scherer, BMG president of repertoire and marketing, Los Angeles and New York, added, “We were completely blown away after hearing Corey’s new album. His music is absolutely brilliant with the marketing skills to match. It is an honor to be the partner for such an inspiring artist and entrepreneur like Corey Taylor and amplify his vision globally.”
Taylor delivered his first solo album, CMFT, in 2020 through Roadrunner Records. It debuted at No. 44 on the Billboard 200, No. 6 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums, and No. 3 on the Top Hard Rock Albums charts. To date, it has earned 52,000 equivalent album units, according to Luminate. Lead single “Black Eyes Blue” earned him his first No. 1 as a solo artist on Mainstream Rock Songs.
When asked how CMF2 will differ from its predecessor, he described it as “bigger, better and harder than CMFT in almost every way: The songs are sick, the music is gigantic, and the risks were off the charts. CMFT was where I came from; CMF2 is where I’m going.”
Taylor, one of metal’s best-known personalities, has a multifaceted career within and beyond the music industry. Six of Slipknot’s studio albums have reached the top three of the Billboard 200, with three of those titles debuting at the peak. The group has earned 12.1 million equivalent album units and has also logged 4.7 billion official on-demand U.S. streams and 8.3 million downloads. The nine-piece band, whose sinister, evolving masks have become one of the genre’s most identifying symbols, will tour Europe throughout June.
Taylor also fronts multiplatinum hard-rock band Stone Sour, which has been on hiatus after releasing six studio albums between 2002-2017. He penned a four-issue companion comic book to Stone Sour’s House of Gold & Bones, Part 1 and 2 projects and is a New York Times bestselling author of four nonfiction books, the latest being 2017’s America 51. He has several acting credits, including roles in the horror films Rucker and Bad Candy.
For the next entries on his résumé, “I’ve always got a ton of things going on,” says Taylor. Having acquired the Famous Monsters horror brand in late 2022, he says the enterprise is “firing up, on print and digitally,” for he is relaunching its namesake zine and intends to create toys, films and festivals under the banner. “Still in [pre-production] for Zombie Vs. Ninja, the first of the movies I’ve written; still toying with the ideas for my fifth book. You know me — can’t get rid of me!”
On April 18, BMG announced it would combine its new-release and catalog recordings businesses, in recognition of how streaming is blurring the line between catalog and front-line music. In March, the company reported that, in 2022, it enjoyed its best year in its 15-year history, with revenue up over 30% due to strong growth in publishing and recorded music, as well as its $500 million-plus investment in music catalogs and artist signings.
Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge took aim at artificial intelligence again on Wednesday (April 26), this time blaming AI for the “oversupply” of “bad” content on streaming platforms and pointing to user-centric payment models as the answer.
AI tools have exploded in popularity in recent months, and Grainge has been an outspoken critic of generative AI being used to mimic copyrighted works, as with the song “Heart on My Sleeve,” which used AI to generate vocals from UMG artists Drake and The Weeknd.
In fervent comments Grainge made during a call discussing UMG’s earnings Wednesday, the executive said AI significantly contributes to a glut of “poor-quality” content on streaming platforms, muddies search experiences for fans looking for their favorite artists and generally has “virtually no consumer appeal.”
“Any way you look at it, this oversupply, whether or not AI-created is, simply, bad. Bad for artists. Bad for fans. And bad for the platforms themselves,” Grainge said.
The head of the world’s largest music company specifically called out the role of generative AI platforms, which are “trained” to produce new creations after being fed vast quantities of existing works known as “inputs.” In the case of AI music platforms, that process involves huge numbers of songs, which many across the music industry argue infringes on artists’ and labels’ copyrights.
Grainge argued that “the flood of unwanted content” generated by AI could be reduced by adopting new payment models from streaming platforms. UMG is currently exploring “artist-centric” models with Tidal and Deezer, while SoundCloud and Warner Music Group also announced a partnership on so-called user-centric royalties last year.
“With the right incentive structures in place, platforms can focus on rewarding and enhancing the artist-fan relationship and, at the same time, elevate the user experience on their platforms, by reducing the sea of ‘noise’ … eliminating unauthorized, unwanted, and infringing content entirely,” Grainge said on Wednesday.
While UMG continues exploring alternative streaming payment models with partners Tidal, Deezer and others on what form alternative streaming payment models should take, an analyst on Wednesday’s call asked Grainge if, in the meantime, the company would ever consider licensing songs to an AI platform.
“We are open to licensing … but we have to respect our artist and the integrity of their work,” Grainge said. “We should be the hostess with the mostest. We’re open for business with businesses that are legitimate and (interested in) partnership for growth.”
Universal Music Group’s revenues rose 11.5% to 2.45 billion euros ($2.71 billion) last quarter, as sales generated by Morgan Wallen, Taylor Swift, TOMORROW X TOGETHER bolstered results in both recorded music and music publishing.
The world’s biggest music company reported revenue from its recorded music division rose 11.7% to 1.92 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in the quarter ending March 31 compared to the same period a year ago. Revenue from subscriptions and streaming rose by nearly 10% to 1.33 billion euros ($1.47 billion) and physical revenue rose a whopping 32% to 313 million euros ($346 million), while revenue from downloads and other digital revenue — the smallest line item in the division — fell by 19.1% to 55 million euros ($60 million).
The publishing division’s overall revenues rose 13.3% to 425 million euros ($469 million), with digital revenue contributing the most, increasing by nearly 21% from a year ago to 231 million euros ($255 million). Synchronization revenue rose around 11% to 69 million euros ($76 million), while performance revenue slipped 1% to 90 million euros ($99 million).
“Our strong start to the year demonstrates our consistency in developing great artists and introducing their music to fans around the world,” UMG chairman and chief executive Lucian Grainge said in a statement. “We look forward to building on this momentum and furthering our track record of transforming disruptive technologies into opportunities to accelerate our business for our artists, fans and shareholders.”
Overall earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the quarter fell by nearly 43% to 261 million euros ($288 million), driven primarily by equity-based compensation expenses UMG began rolling out in the fourth quarter of 2022. Stripping out those compensation expenses, UMG reported adjusted EBITDA rose 14.7% to 522 million euros ($576 million) compared to the year-ago quarter, and adjusted EBITDA margin grew 0.6 percentage points to 21.3%.
UMG’s Earnings Highlights:
Revenue rose 11.5%, or 9.3% in constant currency, to 2.45 billion euros ($2.71 billion) versus the year ago quarter.
EBIDTA fell 42.5% to to 261 million euros ($288 million)
Adjusted EBITDA rose 14.7% to 522 million euros ($576 million)
Adjusted EBITDA margin grew 0.6 percentage points to 21.3%
Recorded Music Division Highlights:
Recorded music revenue overall rose 11.7% to 1.92 billion euros ($2.1 billion)
Subscriptions and streaming revenue rose by nearly 10% to 1.33 billion euros ($1.47 billion)
Physical revenues rose 32% to 313 million euros ($346 million)
License and other revenue rose 9.2% to 226 million euros ($250 million)
Downloads and other digital revenue fell by 19.1% to 55 million euros ($60 million)
Music Publishing Highlights:
Music publishing revenues overall rose 13.3% to 425 million euros ($469 million)
Digital revenues rose by nearly 21% from a year ago to 231 million euros ($255 million)
Performance revenues slipped 1% to 90 million euros ($99 million)
Synchronization revenues rose around 11% to 69 million euros ($76 million)