Record Labels
Page: 69
HYBE founder and chairman Bang Si-hyuk said his company is only getting started in its bid to grow into a global music powerhouse that can rival the three major labels.
The South Korean company’s two U.S. acquisitions — Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings and QC Media Holdings, parent company of hip-hop label Quality Control Music — are “just the beginning,” Bang said Wednesday at Gwanhun Forum in Seoul. The executive behind supergroup BTS insisted HYBE must have a “sense of urgency” and look outside of Korea to continue to grow.
“We are living in an era where everything we do in the content industry resonates beyond geographical boundaries,” Bang said. “At the same time, K-pop has become a global industry that can only continue to grow by targeting both domestic and international markets.”
At home, Bang said HYBE and its Korean rivals can’t do it alone. In his speech, he called on the South Korean government to support the K-pop companies in their bid to take on the global majors – Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group — by helping them become national champions in the way that electronics companies Samsung and LG have become global powerhouses with government support.
While K-pop built HYBE into a powerhouse, the company might have only a brief window to capitalize on its global success. “K-pop is in crisis,” the HYBE chief said, asserting that by most measures the genre is in decline in Southeast Asia, other than growth in China and spending per consumer. In the United States, 53% fewer K-pop tracks charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022 than the previous year, according to Bang. He attributed the K-pop slowdown to BTS’ hiatus as a group in 2022 and said he doesn’t believe the group’s eventual comeback will bring back the lost revenue.
When Bang talks about exporting K-pop around the world, he isn’t referring to just a genre of music. To him, K-pop is “a culture that encompasses music-oriented systems such as music and content production, distribution, marketing, communication with fans, and other systems of music.” In HYBE’s “multi-label” structure, he added, the Korean headquarters provides guidance to its labels and disperses the risk so its subsidiaries can operate “in a healthy competition that drives each other to improve.”
For HYBE to make inroads in the United States, the world’s largest music market, it needs “a strong network and infrastructure … to minimize the cost of trial and error” involved in exploring an unfamiliar landscape, Bang added. In the U.S., Braun leads HYBE America, the umbrella organization for SB Projects’ management clients, Big Machine Music Group and Quality Control. HYBE also has a joint venture in the U.S. with Universal’s Geffen Records to develop a girl pop group for the domestic market.
While Bang didn’t say which companies HYBE is targeting for further acquisitions, in a press conference after his speech he noted HYBE’s interest in Latin labels. The company certainly has the resources to buy additional record labels, artist management firms or tech platforms to further fuel its expansion: HYBE had cash and cash equivalents of 903 billion won ($689 million) as of Sept. 30, 2022, the latest date for which data is available. The goal, said Bang, is to achieve scale “that can’t be ignored.”
Even though HYBE dominates K-pop and generated revenue of $1.4 billion in 2022, Bang described his company in biblical terms: He is David, the three major labels are Goliath. Major K-pop companies account for less than 2% of the global music market, he said, while the majors own 67.4%.
Looking around the world, Bang sees “alarming trends,” including K-pop commanding fewer chart positions in 2022 than in the previous year. “In this context, the existence of global K-pop artists without a dominant global entertainment company inevitably leads to concerns about the industry’s ability to be on the lookout for future uncertainties,” he said.
What will it take for HYBE to turn from David into a sustainable Goliath? Bang wants more scale and stronger distribution partners to give K-pop additional bargaining power to negotiate more favorable distribution rates. In that way, he said, HYBE can improve its financial performance “and enable the company and our artists to grow.”
Further entering the U.S. market will require building “a strong network and infrastructure,” Bang said. “Through this, we need to minimize the cost of trial and error caused by situations that are difficult for us to change, or due to our unfamiliarity with the local conditions, and secure an equal level of presence and influence in the mainstream market equivalent to local companies.”
Breaking artists isn’t a matter of “luck or sheer intuition,” the HYBE founder added. Rather, success is the result of a management process that can be systemized and replicated in other markets. HYBE’s multi-label structure demonstrates this approach, Bang said: “It is a system that has been meticulously established based on experience, trial and error, and contemplation to enable the company’s success.”
Additional reporting by Jeyup S. Kwaak
It is time for all music industry professional to reflect on the ways in which our industry has perpetuated a system that benefits a select few at the expense of marginalized communities. It is time for us to embrace a new paradigm, one that values skill and merit over relationships and aristocratic privilege.
In today’s rapidly changing world, the music industry finds itself on the brink of disruption. We must recognize that our long-standing history of exploiting disenfranchised groups is incompatible with our espoused values of social justice and inclusivity. The hesitance to be proactive and embrace change is no longer acceptable. The data clearly shows the consequences of our delayed reaction. We must act now to ensure that the pendulum swings in the right direction.
Our participation in an aristocracy-based system allows white men with access to rights ownership to hijack black and brown stories. This approach is no longer effective in today’s music economy. As independent artist services have grown, ownership has increasingly been placed in the hands of artists, and a focus on “artist-preneurship” has emerged. This growth in the independent sector has led to decentralized systems that cut out middlemen and gatekeepers, promoting transparency and accountability.
We must recognize that the music industry is no longer a playground for profit-driven oligarchs who lack leadership skills and contribute to revolving door politics, loss of job fulfillment, and opportunities. In every other industry, a minimum level of skill, education, or experience is required to advance. It is essential to evaluate how the music industry holds its leaders accountable.
Aristocracy drives a wedge between culture and progression, and limited access to BIPOC at both the creative and executive levels makes the industry slow to change, perpetuating a “boys club” culture. The top 1% of the industry often rely on DEI consultants to meet an “optics quota,” promoting performative change rather than real progress. We must recognize that diversity and inclusion are not just buzzwords. They are essential for driving revenue and ensuring long-term success.
The statistics show that black and brown stories are highly valued in the music industry, with 48% of all artists being from underrepresented groups and Hip-Hop and R&B being the top-streamed genres. By embracing diversity and promoting inclusion, the industry can tap into a vast market of music consumers who are eager to hear authentic and diverse voices. It is not only the right thing to do, but it is also a sound business strategy that can result in increased revenue and success for music companies.
Despite the economic disadvantages they face, women of color are a value add, possessing a strong educational background, resourcefulness, and fundamental understanding of the music business. In producing the first research study on intersectionality in the music business, ‘A Seat at the Table: A Perspective on Women of Color in the Music Business’ (2022), we found that 87% of all WOC in the music biz have earned at least a Bachelor’s or higher degree of education, yet they remain the most underpaid demographic. The majority of WOC in the music business enter into student loan debt, while also entering into the music business via unpaid internships. Over 86% were hired without direct relationships or industry connections. Imagine how much progress would be made if resources were properly invested.
Therefore, I urge us all to shift from an aristocratic hierarchy to a meritocratic one. By valuing skill and merit over relationships and privilege, we can ensure true diversity, equity and inclusion in the music industry. We must commit to deliberate action, such as hiring more BIPOC at the senior level, committing to paid internships, and funding black-owned music businesses. These steps are crucial towards creating a more equitable and profitable music industry.
Let us embrace the future with open hearts and minds, committed to creating a music industry that is truly inclusive and reflects the diversity of our world.
Janishia Jones is the CEO and founder of Fresh N Sassy Productions. Earlier this year, she launched the music tech consultancy company ENCORE Music Tech Solutions.
On Wednesday, March 15, fast-rising rapper blxst and his business partners, manager Victor Burnett and attorney Karl Fowlkes, opened up to Billboard’s Heran Mamo during one of SXSW’s 2023 featured sessions: How Music, Entrepreneurship, & Independence Intersect.
While the three discussed everything from how they first connected to what’s coming up next (“I’m cooking up something big right now,” teased blxst), the conversation primarily focused on the artist’s multi-faceted entertainment company Evgle.
Launched as an independent label in 2018, with Burnett and Fowlkes joining as co-founders, Evgle has since expanded to be all-encompassing – a reflection of blxst himself, who compares his many skills including production, graphic design and more to the feeling of constantly playing a video game – and always leveling up.
Most recently, blxst – who was named Billboard’s 2022 R&B/Hip-Hop Rookie of the Year – released a sequel EP, Just For Clarity 2, through Evgle’s partnership deal with Red Bull Records. Here are the insights he and his tight-knit team shared about how to be a successful entrepreneur and maintain your independence along the way.
1. Build With People Who Share Your Goals.
As Mamo pointed out during the conversation, Fowlkes is the rare forefront lawyer – and, much like blxst and Burnett, never wanted to confine himself to just one role. As he put it, “Lawyers have a vantage point in so many aspects of the business, we all view ourselves as dynamic people… we don’t just do one thing. We’re the type of people who want to run a business, be a lawyer, be a professor… so having those aspirations, it was easy to connect with [blxst and Victor] because of common themes of generational wealth and building something really special.”
And while blxst added, “I always had a vision of making this bigger than me, and having other artists eat as well,” perhaps Burnett best summarized why this trio works so well. “One thing that made us like each other was: we want to own everything.”
2. Hire Believers.
When asked how they built the 10+ person team at Evgle, the three said they sought people who have specific traits: self-sufficient, already working in their craft, and able to walk into an opportunity they may not think they are capable of handling at first. “You have to hand things off and trust, that’s the base of it,” said Burnett.
Added Fowlkes, “People don’t view music companies as start ups, but this is a start-up. So we needed people who believed. Creating a culture where people believe is super important when you’re building any company at the ground stages.”
3. Learn Your LOMO.
Blxst said the debate between remaining independent and signing to a major is a case-by-case scenario, but as it pertains to him, “I wanted to build my own leverage first, I understood the importance of bringing something to the table.”
Fowlkes, speaking like a true attorney, then revealed the acronym LOMO: length obligation money and ownership. “Coming into any partnership you should know those things,” he said, noting that Issa Rae talks about the concept often. “If you want to come in at the highest point of ownership, there’s a lot you have to [do first].”
4. Make Noise.
Burnett, who has a masters in PR and media development, shared his advice for young independent artists looking to break through on their own terms. He recalled something his professor told him that stuck: “Keep your channel noisy. Stay in front of your consumer with merch, pop-up shops, activations. Make sure the consumer is always interacting with your brand.”
5. Start Now.
“Don’t wait 20 years into your career to worry about what’s next,” cautioned Fowlkes. “Jay-Z, Nas, so many have created these channels for themselves, but later in their career. The cultural currency that [blxst is] developing… If you can strike when you’re hot, when you’re at your peak, if we can capitalize at that moment, it’s [game] over.”
6. Manifest Your Goals.
Early in the session, blxst discussed where the idea for the company name came from. “I always had confidence issues growing up,” he confessed. “The eagle is one of the highest-flying birds, but doesn’t fly in flocks … That represented confidence.”
Alex Coslov rises to executive vp of marketing strategy at Republic Records and head of marketing at Mercury Records, a dual role and a reward for leading the campaign for Morgan Wallen’s One Thing At A Time and other hits.
Based in Republic’s New York City headquarters, the marketing exec is a past 40 under 40 honoree in Billboard, and he’s had a hand in a growing list of wins. His professional highlights include Wallen’s blockbuster One Thing At A Time, which recently blasted to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with over 501,000 equivalent album units in its debut frame, this year’s best single-week tally; and Glass Animals’ slow-burning Billboard Hot 100 leader “Heat Waves.”
Coslov continues to lead marketing for frontline releases for Wallen, Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder, Greta Van Fleet, Florence + The Machine, Noah Kahan, James Blake and Yung Gravy, reads a statement issued today (March 16).
“Alex intimately understands his artists at a core level,” comments Republic co-president Jim Roppo. “He speaks their language and immerses himself in their respective worlds for every single release. This is his superpower. By doing so, he develops innovative campaigns that reflect their identities and, simultaneously, engage audiences from a fresh perspective. It’s an honor to announce his promotion.”
Adds Mercury president Tyler Arnold, “we are thrilled to officially welcome Alex to the Mercury family. He is one of the most innovative and forward-thinking executives in our industry and has already played an integral role in the success of our artists’ careers. We cannot wait to shape this next chapter of Mercury Records together.”
Coslov joined Republic Records in 2017 as vp of marketing strategy, and has served as senior vp of marketing strategy since 2021. That five-year run has yielded four CLIO Awards, the annual award program that celebrates excellence in advertising, design and communication. Prior to that, Coslov chalked up four years with dance music brand Ultra Music, where he led its marketing department. Earlier roles included internships with SESAC, Epic Records and Red Light Management.
Mammoth WVH, the hard rock band led by Wolfgang Van Halen, has signed a global record deal with BMG for its forthcoming second studio album. The band has also signed a publishing deal with BMG.
“The Mammoth team and I are so excited to now be a part of the BMG family,” Van Halen said in a statement. “The entire team have welcomed us with open arms and have been nothing short of wonderful. I couldn’t ask for better partners for the future of Mammoth.”
The BMG release, coming this summer, will follow Mammoth WVH’s 2021 self-titled debut on EX1 Records. That set reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums and Top Rock Albums charts, as well as No. 12 on the Billboard 200. It also included two No. 1s on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart — “Distance” and “Don’t Back Down” — while a third song, “Epiphany,” reached No. 9. The group became the first act to send its first two songs to No. 1 on that chart since The Glorious Sons in 2019.
At the time of the debut album’s release, Van Halen, who played every instrument on the effort, told Billboard, “I’m so proud of this record and have never worked harder on anything in my life. This is only the beginning. Thank you for being a part of this journey with me.”
Van Halen, the son of late rock god Eddie Van Halen, previewed the new album at Los Angeles’ 5150 Studio in Los Angeles March 6-7. The group’s name comes from the original moniker for his father’s band, Van Halen.
Dan Gill, BMG executive vp of recorded music, said in a statement, “It is rare to come across an artist with such exceptional musical abilities and Wolfgang is that shining example. His new album firmly establishes himself at the forefront of the genre and is destined to become the torch bearer for the new generation of Rock artists.”
Emi Horikawa, BMG vp of creative, added, “From our very first listen to Mammoth WVH, we knew this was something truly exceptional. Wolfgang’s songwriting and sense of melody, coupled with his ability to reinvent the elements of Rock’s power and energy, is sheer talent. We are proud to represent his music publishing and now call BMG his label home.”
Morgan Wallen’s new album, One Thing at a Time, didn’t need 36 songs to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated March 18)— but the sprawling tracklist certainly didn’t hurt. The country singer’s third studio album notched 501,000 album equivalent units in its first week of release, according to Luminate, the biggest week of 2023 and one of the largest debuts in recent months.
One Thing at a Time undoubtedly benefited from its stats-padding length, but it still would have dominated the Billboard 200 had Wallen and his label, Big Loud Records, opted for an average length. With the bottom 18 tracks accounting for 36% of the album’s total on-demand streams, if One Thing were a single-CD, 18-track release, Billboard estimates it would have moved about 360,000 units last week — putting it well ahead of the No. 2 album, SOS by SZA. The 10 most popular tracks amounted to 41.8% of the album’s streams, with the track “Last Night” alone accounting for nearly 9% of the 36 tracks’ aggregated streams.
In fact, an 18-track One Thing at a Time would have bested most recent No. 1 albums in their debut weeks, including Lil Baby’s It’s Only Me (216,000 units), SOS (318,000 units), Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains (185,000 units) and Tomorrow X Together’s The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION (161,000 units). (That’s assuming One Thing at a Time would have sold the same number of CDs and digital albums with half as many songs.) Only two recent albums, Her Loss by Drake and 21 Savage (404,000 units) and Taylor Swift’s Midnights (1.58 million units), had better debut weeks than the hypothetical, 18-track One Thing at a Time.
One Thing at a Time is part of a curious paradox in current recorded music, as the widespread adoption of streaming services has caused artists to release single tracks more often while releasing increasingly lengthier albums, too. While the album is waning in popularity, it remains a vital artistic statement and commercial event.
The trend of longer albums runs counter to the experimentations of the early days of digital music. When Napster arrived in the late ’90s, many people believed file-sharing marked the death of the album format. In the ’00s, as consumers increasingly purchased individual tracks at online stores like Apple’s iTunes, labels experimented with the new paradigm. In 2005, Warner Music Group and Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman launched a digital-only label, Cordless Music, that released music exclusively in “clusters” of three or more songs instead of albums or singles. In 2010, country star Blake Shelton released two six-song EPs — called “six paks” — rather than a single 10- or 12-track album.
Today, streaming dominates music consumption and impacts how artists and labels package music. Album sales are lower than ever, but album lengths have never been longer. Because fans can stream an unlimited amount of music for a fixed price, artists can add songs knowing that a longer album equals more streams. And because streams tend to account for far more of an album’s chart position than downloads and purchases, artists have an incentive to keep people listening.
The result has been “track creep,” a consistently rising number of songs on popular albums. In 2022, the top 10 albums on the year-end Billboard 200 chart averaged 19.1 tracks and 69.9 minutes. The top album, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, has 23 tracks and runs 81 minutes. Un Verano Sin Ti is a product of the streaming age: Physical album sales account for just 1.1% of its album equivalent unit sales compared to 97.5% for streaming. Track creep is made easier considering that many albums, such as SOS and Drake’s 21-track Certified Lover Boy, don’t have physical versions.
Changes in how albums are counted for the Billboard 200 can probably help explain some of the track creep: In 2014, the year Billboard began incorporating streams into the Billboard 200 chart, the top 10 albums averaged 13.2 tracks and 51.9 minutes, meaning album lengths have increased by about six tracks and 18 minutes in the last eight years. (Here, Billboard counts only studio albums and excludes soundtracks and Broadway cast recordings, which are filled with score and instrumental tracks.)
In 1992, when CD sales began to dominate recorded music revenues, the top 10 albums averaged 11.9 tracks and 51.1 minutes. Garth Brooks had two of the four 10-track albums in the top 10 — Ropin’ the Wind and No Fences — and the longest, Totally Krossed Out by hip-hop duo Kriss Kross, had just 15 tracks. Albums — particularly in the country genre — often topped out at ten tracks, a limit set by record labels for paying mechanical royalties to music publishers.
In 1977, when the vinyl LP ruled the industry, the top 10 albums averaged 10.3 tracks and 45.1 minutes, and half of them had fewer than 10 tracks. The longest, Stevie Wonder’s double album, Songs in the Key of Life, had fewer tracks — 17 — than half of 2022’s top 10 albums. The top album of 1977, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, ran only 39 minutes — a full half-hour shorter than the average length of 2022’s top 10 albums. (In the 1977 top 10, Billboard included the soundtrack to A Star Is Born, which had only 11 tracks. That’s compared to 32 tracks for the Frozen soundtrack, the top album of 2014.)
One Thing at a Time might not need 36 tracks to top the Billboard 200, but having more songs means the album gets more streams and generates greater royalties. The least-popular 18 songs amassed 170.3 million on-demand streams in the album’s debut week. If those 18 tracks were released as a separate album — similar to the way Guns N’ Roses released Use Your Illusion volumes 1 and 2 simultaneously in 1991 — it would have been the No. 2 album of the week. Additional tracks provide diminishing returns but can contribute meaningfully to a successful record. Wallen’s previous album, the 32-track Dangerous: The Double Album, has received about 22% of its total track consumption — streams plus downloads — from its less-popular half. For a label that invests heavily in marketing and promoting an album, track creep can improve the return on each release.
Something the One Thing album has that single tracks and EPs lack is the oomph surrounding their marketing and promotion. In the wake of Napster, people may have underestimated the album’s ability to be an event unto itself. Single tracks get the attention of both fans and streaming services’ algorithms, but neither has the promotional impact of releasing a full album. As long as a label is driving awareness to a new release, why not give fans a few more songs?
Plus, artists don’t release albums as frequently as they used to. In the late ‘70s, artists often put out an album every year. Today, an artist will take two or three years — and often longer — between albums. Putting out longer albums could help labels make up for these widening gaps, with the caveat that only superstar releases tend to merit the kind of sprawling length seen in the form of recent releases by Wallen, Drake and others.
This kind of full-court press also serves to prolong — and boost — the success of individual tracks that would fade more quickly without an album attached. Eight of the 36 tracks on One Thing at a Time were released prior to the album’s street date and putting up strong numbers on their own. Still, their streams increased 89% the week of the album’s release. Four of the 8 tracks ended up in the Billboard Hot 100. In its sixth week on the Hot 100, Wallen’s single “Last Night” shot from No. 5 to No. 1 after a 53.5% jump in streams. Three other previously released tracks — “One Thing at a Time,” “You Proof” and “Thought You Should Know” — broke into the top 10 of the Hot 100.
Miranda Lambert is leaving her longtime label home at Sony Music Nashville, the singer-songwriter revealed in a social media post.
“Since I was 19 years old, Sony has been my home in Nashville. Over the last 20 years together we have released albums that allowed me to share my story with the world, and we’ve reached heights I’d never even dreamed were possible,” Lambert said. “I’m so thankful for our time together and everything they made possible for me, yet I wouldn’t be true to myself if I wasn’t constantly looking for the next challenge and a new way to stretch my creativity. With that in mind, I’ve decided to say goodbye to my Sony family. I can’t wait to see what the next adventure holds.”
A representative for Sony Music Nashville had not responded to Billboard‘s request for comment by press time. Lambert’s manager, Marion Kraft, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lambert’s statement caught Sony executives off guard, according to sources.
During her time with Sony, since the release of her debut major label album Kerosene in 2005, Lambert has taken seven albums to the top of Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and seven songs to No. 1 on Country Airplay as a solo artist or collaboration. The reigning ACM Awards entertainer of the year (and a coveted ACM Triple Crown winner) has won 37 ACM trophies, the most of any artist.
Lambert has also won Grammys in the country album of the year category for her projects Wildcard and Platinum, while her song “The House That Built Me” won a Grammy for female country vocal performance.
Annual revenues for French music company Believe grew 31.8% to 760.8 million euros ($723.5 million) in 2022 as the company capitalized on investments and expansion in Europe, India and China. Digital sales accounted for 92% of Believe’s revenue while non-digital sources represented just 8%.
The company’s premium solutions segment grew 31.6% to 712.6 million euros ($677.7 million). Automated solutions, which includes the TuneCore distribution platform, improved 34.5% to 48.2 million euros ($45.8 million). TuneCore’s launch of an “unlimited pricing” plan in 2022, which allows artists to distribute an unlimited amount of music for a fixed annual fee, was “extremely successful and translated into an acceleration of growth,” CEO Denis Ladegaillerie said during Wednesday’s earnings call.
“We ended 2022 strongly delivering above our IPO commitments both operationally and financially for the second year in a row,” Ladegaillerie said in a statement. “In 2022, as we have done each year since 2005, we did what we said we would do … or better. We grew our market share; we improved profitability; we generated significant cash flow from our operations.” Free cash flow was 52 million euros ($49.5 million), an improvement from negative 30.7 million euros in 2021.
Believe also revealed that it invested in French pop label Structure, which it called “a new French pop label partnering with two successful producers, behind the recent success of several multi-platinum French pop artists.” It additionally noted an investment in Madizin Music, “a German well-known brand managed by two renowned producers, composers, and entrepreneurs,” as well as an exclusive partnership with Panorama Music, a new Indian label founded by a Bollywood film producer.
Digital revenues improved 34.7% organically as Believe served an additional 200,000 artists, to 1.3 million, either directly or through record labels. In France, Believe was the second-largest music company in digital local repertoire in 2022. Believe was the third-largest recorded music company in Germany “on local repertoire in the streaming market,” and the market’s second-largest company in hip-hop. The company pointed to the chart success of TuneCore artist Theo Junior and Milky Chance, who amassed 1.2 billion streams in 2022 on the strength of the track “Stolen Dance.”
In Asia, Believe has invested in India and Southeast Asia and now has about 80 people spread throughout five offices in China. “The level of activity remained sustained throughout the year as the digital monetization increased in Greater China, which led to the signings in Premium Solutions of more than 300 labels and above 250 artists directly,” the company said.
Looking forward to 2023, Believe expects to post organic revenue growth of 18%, improve its adjusted EBITDA margin to between 5% and 7% and again be cash flow positive. “In 2023, we will continue our profitable growth strategy: invest in our teams to grow market share, innovate in audience development products for our artists and labels, and further drive operational efficiencies through technology and scale to increase profitability,” said Ladegaillerie.
Universal Music Group has acquired the British indie classical label Hyperion Records, the company announced Wednesday (March 15).
The 43-year-old label — which is home to artists like Marc-André Hamelin, Angela Hewitt and Stephen Osborne and represents a catalog of 2,5000 recordings, some of which date back to the 12th century — will operate as a standalone label within Universal Music U.K. alongside Decca Classics. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Hyperion will now join Decca Classics and Deutsche Grammophon in UMG’s classical portfolio, while Simon Perry — who has overseen the label for more than 20 years, after taking over from his father, Hyperion founder Ted Perry — will remain as managing director.
“I’m thrilled to bring Hyperion to Universal Music Group, a company that shares Hyperion’s commitment to bringing the most distinctive and brilliant musicians to as wide a public as possible,” Perry said in a statement. “By being part of UMG, while keeping our artists and staff together, we can continue to build on my father’s legacy and that of everyone who’s been part of the Hyperion family over the past 43 years. My debt to all of them is huge and I look forward to leading this incredible label into an exciting new chapter.”
Hyperion is next set to release Vaughan Williams’ Sinfonia Antartica and Symphony No.9 with BBC Symphony Orchestra, a series it says is dedicated to the Masses and Magnificats of Cristóbal de Morales, as well as recordings from the London Haydn Quartet and Stephen Layton and the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, among others. In a statement, UMG president/CEO of global classics and jazz Dickon Stainer called Hyperion “a jewel of a label,” adding that “we are committed to continuing the magnificent work done by the Perry family and to preserving and building on the special place Hyperion occupies in the hearts of artists and music fans alike.”
The acquisition comes amid a veritable wave of news spilling from the world of classical music lately. In November, Deutsche Grammophon launched a new standalone streaming service, Stage+, catering to its own catalog and that of Decca Classics. And earlier this month, Apple Music announced its own standalone streaming app, Apple Music Classical, which will roll out later this month and stems from its August 2021 acquisition of Primephonic.
“We are enormously proud that Hyperion has joined Universal’s family of classical labels to sit alongside Decca Classics in London,” Decca Label Group co-presidents Tom Lewis and Laura Monks said in a statement. “Simon and his father have created a very important recorded classical catalogue that serves a dedicated global audience. And the label continues to work with artists who are the best of the best. We are determined to celebrate the label’s legacy and continue its extraordinary story.”
Nigerian Afropop singer Adekunle Gold has officially signed with Def Jam Recordings, the company tells Billboard.
“I’ve been following Adekunle Gold since I first heard his record ‘Sade’ in 2016. Over the years, everything in AG’s world has elevated — his songwriting has refined, the scope of his artistry has widened, his vocals have strengthened, his approach to fashion is more distinct, and his showmanship and performance ability have grown exponentially,” says Def Jam CEO/chairman Tunji Balogun in a statement to Billboard. “He’s stepped into stardom on his own terms and is completely comfortable being his true self.”
Balogun added, “When I started at Def Jam, I knew I wanted to bring the label into the Afrobeats space tastefully, with the right artists and partnership. Adekunle felt like the perfect fit – he’d already done so much work on his own to build a base, but I knew that we could scale his audience to an even bigger level if we combined our energies and worked together.”
Gold (real name Adekunle Almoruf Kosoko) describes his signing as a “full circle moment” after Balogun tried signing him years ago, prior to the executive’s 2022 arrival at Def Jam. The “5 Star” singer said that because he and Balogun share Nigerian roots, “he understands it, so signing to Tunji makes sense. He’s like my studio buddy that just comes everywhere I go. The day he doesn’t have time to be there, I know he must’ve been like stupidly busy. He’s great.”
When it comes to signing with Def Jam, Gold continued, “The track record is there. The history is there. They break artists, and they have niche, unique artists like me, so I think it’s the right move for me. All of the things that I’ve done for myself already, they know already and that’s why they’re on board.”
Balogun was in Lagos, Nigeria, says Gold, when he and fellow Nigerian singer Zinoleesky were writing and recording “Party Dey no Stop,” Gold’s new single featuring Zinoleesky that marks his Def Jam debut. “When we started to make the music, it was so easy for me to go in and just attack the song. I wrote my verse, I wrote the chorus, and it was a rap. I knew from then that this song was a jam,” Gold says of the track.
“Party Dey no Stop” arrives ahead of Gold’s fifth studio album due in June. In support of the project, he’ll embark on a four-month world tour that’s set to kick off in North America in September and run through the United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America and the Caribbean through next year.
Gold first rose to fame in 2015 with the single “Sade,” a highlife love song that samples instrumentals from One Direction‘s 2013 hit “Story of My Life.” “Sade” went on to win best alternative song at the 2015 edition of The Headies, a Nigerian music awards show. Gold eventually signed his first record label deal with Olamide‘s YBNL Nation and released his debut studio album, Gold, in 2017. It peaked at No. 7 on Billboard‘s World Albums chart.
After Gold’s YBNL Nation contract expired, “I didn’t quite know what to do,” he says. “I was signed for two years, fresh off the industry. I was just thinking, ‘What am I going to do from here?’ [And] I’m like, ‘You know what? I got this. Let me just start my own thing.’”
The Afrobeats star then started his own label, Afro Urban Records — “one of the best decisions I’ve made,” he says — and put out two albums: 2018’s About 30 and 2022’s Catch Me If You Can. He released his 2020 album, Afro Pop, Vol. 1, under EMI.
In a previous Billboard interview, Gold explained why he switched labels and the benefits of working with distributor Platoon, which helped with the rollout for his last album, Catch Me If You Can, featuring Davido, Lucky Daye, Fatoumata Diawara, Fousheé, Ty Dolla $ign and Stefflon Don. “When I was fully Afro Urban Records and no distribution label, me and my manager [Elizabeth Sobowale] had to do a lot of work. Platoon has the best hands in everything from PR to marketing,” he said at the time. “All I had to do was work on the music and they’re ready to take the rest upon themselves.”
After his groundbreaking success with Wizkid and Tems during his tenure as executive vp of A&R at RCA, Balogun has been playing a monumental role in bolstering Def Jam’s roster with more talent from the African diaspora. In September 2022, the label signed an exclusive worldwide joint venture with Native Records to develop African artists.
“I think AG is a truly global artist, and a rightful ambassador for Nigerian music and the emerging Afrobeats scene,” Balogun says. “He has the talent, virtuosity, focus, work ethic and temperament required to be a worldwide superstar. I’m excited to work with him and the Def Jam team to bring more fans into his world.”
“Hear it from me,” Gold says. “Afrobeats is taking over the world.”