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The holiday season is usually a wash when it comes to new music releases: the charts are dominated by the likes of Brenda Lee, Mariah Carey, Michael Bublé and Bing Crosby, and carols are dominating the radio on just about every channel. But this year has been different: while the top 10 of the Hot 100 has been full of the usual suspects, the Billboard 200 has been dominated by SZA’s S.O.S., the first album by the alt-R&B singer/songwriter in five years that roared out of the gate upon its Dec. 9 release with the fifth-biggest debut of 2022 and that has ruled the Billboard 200 for three straight weeks, bridging the gap between the holiday season and the opening of 2023. (And the Hot 100 found room for 20 songs from the album for good measure.)
The success of that release has been no accident. SZA’s fans have been patiently — or not so patiently — waiting for the follow up to her critically and culturally acclaimed 2017 album CTRL for years and, over the course of 2022, have been eating up each single that SZA has released, with “I Hate U,” “Shirt” and, lately, “Kill Bill” all seeing huge success not just at streaming but also at radio as the release date crept nearer. And the payoff was worth it: S.O.S. is now the first R&B album by a woman to spend three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in a decade, since Beyoncé’s self-titled album accomplished that feat in 2013. And it helps make TDE president Terrence “Punch” Henderson Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
Here, Punch breaks down the rollout of the album, the way that both RCA and TDE helped build anticipation for the release and how the quality of SZA’s music helped push a hotly-anticipated album into commercially-successful and universally-acclaimed territory once again. “S.O.S. is what the fans have been waiting on and they’ve shown that. It’s been so much love and support since it dropped,” he says. “But it literally takes an army to make this whole thing work. It starts with SZA — she wrote and sang these songs with her whole heart and mind and soul and pain and life and her whole being. She put everything she had into it.”
This week, SZA’s S.O.S. spent its third week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. What key decisions did you make to help make that happen?
The key decisions were picking the songs and literally putting them out. The people have been waiting for SZA’s next offering for a long time. It takes time to create quality art that will last and really stand the test of time. That’s what we aim to do every time. Once it got to a comfortable space, we put it out and the people responded.
It’s been more than five years since SZA’s last album. How did you roll this out differently, with how much things have changed in that time?
Everything is the rollout. Every time we drop a single we attach another record to it just to keep people engulfed in what’s to come next. That’s something we’ve been doing since 2014. Once we got the album concepts pretty much locked in, I wanted to start sending out some clues for the core fan base. So we loaded the “Shirt” visual with a bunch of bread crumbs hinting at what’s to come. Then the Morse Code thing to further the conversations surrounding the album. Mix that with the amazing promo videos that SZA shot, and it was a good recipe. Even the spats online. Though they be real — and a bit out of context [Laughs] — it’s still all about the conversation surrounding the album.
December is traditionally a tough month to release an album, given the holiday music that often dominates. How did you set this up before its release to help it cut through the holiday noise?
There was talk of possibly pushing to January for that very reason. But personally, I’m not scared of the holiday season at all. To me, if everyone is thinking the same thing about NOT dropping during the holidays, that just means it’s wide open. [Laughs] We dropped “Good Days” on Christmas! The main issue was radio during that time, but with streaming it’s different; you don’t have to wait on programming, etc. The furthest I would’ve pushed it to was Dec. 30th. And that’s because it was mentioned in Billboard that we were dropping in December. Once a date is said, I’m sticking to it.
“I Hate U,” “Shirt” and “Kill Bill” all succeeded on both streaming and on radio. What did you do to help those songs cut through?
Again, the main thing we can do is provide the music. It does what it does after that. The streaming team and radio team do a great job at pushing the records, but they need the records first.
How have you been able to keep the album’s momentum going through the New Year and keep it atop the charts?
Most of the work comes in the setup and it carries over from there. First, you have to have great records and then you have to know where you can get the records from. You have to know that the album is out. [RCA execs] Zay [Isiaih Bonds] and Tío Matty [Matt Bernal] have to be engaging the DSPs. Jordan [Blaugrund] has to have a sales strategy. Baby Sam [Selolwane], Keith [Rothschild], LG [Lori Giamela] and Inca [Kevin Valentini] have to be on the phones with radio people. Camille [Yorrick] need to be speaking to directors and producers to make sure we good to shoot visuals through the holiday season. Ashley [Monae] has to be on with photographers and videographers and BTS people to make sure the images are right for exclusives, etc. I know it’s a ton of people I’m missing who played a role in this, but all of these things and people were in place to deliver the record.
S.O.S. is the first R&B album by a woman to spend three weeks at No. 1 in a decade, since Beyoncé’s self-titled project in 2013. It also had the fifth-biggest debut week of all of 2022. What is it about her, and this project, that have made those stats a reality?
S.O.S. is what the fans have been waiting on and they’ve shown that. It’s been so much love and support since it dropped. But it literally takes an army to make this whole thing work. It starts with SZA — she wrote and sang these songs with her whole heart and mind and soul and pain and life and her whole being. She put everything she had into it. Then you have all of the producers involved laying the soundscape. You have MeLisa Heath on the management side of things making sure everything is streamlined and running how it’s supposed to run. The whole TDE staff and the whole RCA staff on the front lines. The executive branch with [RCA’s] Peter [Edge] and Fleck [John Fleckenstein], Top [Dawg] and myself. Miss Carolyn [Williams] overseeing everything. Theola [Borden] overseeing press and TV, etc. And the fans. It literally takes an army of people. It’s also a full circle moment being that Beyoncé was the first person of that caliber to reach out to SZA and have her come in to work. Now to be mentioned in the same breath as her is truly amazing.
BRISBANE, Australia — It’s closing time for Sanity, the once-great Australian music retail specialist which confirmed it would close all its bricks-and-mortar stores in the coming months.
In a statement issued Wednesday (Jan. 4), Sanity announced plans to close its remaining 50 stores by the end of April 2023, in line with the lease expiry of each outlet.
It’s a sad end to a music and entertainment chain which, like so many brands in the business of racking physical soundcarriers, has been left behind as consumers move to streaming platforms.
“With our customer shifting to digital for their visual and music content consumption, and with diminishing physical content available to sell to our customer, it has made it impossible to continue with our physical stores,” explains Sanity CEO and owner Ray Itaoui.
Despite the “challenging and ever evolving entertainment landscape,” the Sanity business has “prospered and remained successful for many years, quite an achievement in the fast-changing retail space,” Itaoui adds.
Founded by retail guru Brett Blundy, Sanity began life in 1980 with just one store. The retailer grew to become Australia’s leading music and retail chain, a status which has later challenged by JB Hi-Fi.
With Blundy at the helm, his Brazin company entered the U.K. in the early 2000s with the purchase of 77 Our Price branded stores from Virgin Group. The experiment ended in 2003 when Brazin sold its 118 Sanity Entertainment U.K. stores to an investment firm for an estimated £12 million ($16.67 million).
A consortium led by Itaoui acquired the business from Brett Blundy Retail Capital (BBRC) in 2009, when the Sanity chain boasted 238 stores across Australia, including Sanity and the domestic branches of U.K. High Street brands Virgin and HMV.
In the late 2000s, Sanity launched what it claimed was Australia’s first online music subscription service, LoadIt, at a time when the business had an estimated 23%-25% share of Australia’s physical music retail market. LoadIt shut down in early 2009.
Digital platforms, and streaming, in particular, is how Australians consume music in the 2020s.
The recorded music market in these parts expanded by 4.4% to A$565.8 million ($421 million) in 2021, for the third successive year of growth, according to trade body ARIA. Subscription services, contributed $377 million ($281 million) that year, up 4.1% from A$317 million ($236 million) in 2020.
Sanity’s online business will continue to operate, and the team is currently working to dispatch all over-the-counter orders, including pre-orders.
“There is so much to be proud of,” adds Itaoui. The Sanity brand “became synonymous with the go-to place to get anything that mattered in the world of music: from vinyl, to CDs and DVDs, hardware, accessories, and of course face to face advice on everything musical.”
Former Atlantic Records employee Dorothy Carvello lost her bid for a seat on Warner Music Group’s board of directors last month after failing to comply with certain requirements in the company’s bylaws, spokespeople for Carvello and the record label said on Tuesday (Jan. 3).
Under a new rule passed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last year that makes it easier for minority shareholders to wage campaigns for board seats, Carvello sought to nominate herself for a seat on WMG’s board, to be voted on at the next shareholder meeting. The activist and author, who alleged in her memoir, Anything for a Hit: An A&R Woman’s Story of Surviving the Music Industry, that she was subjected to sexual abuse and misconduct while working at Atlantic from 1987 to 1990, plans to run again next year, according to her spokesperson.
Carvello’s odds of being elected by WMG investors to a seat on the company’s board were slim because a sizeable chunk of the record label is owned by WMG vice-chair Leonard Blavatnik, the Financial Times reported earlier on Tuesday. Still, Carvello’s novel attempt could set the stage for future bids by activists aiming to bring attention to causes not often discussed in the staid corporate arenas of annual shareholder meetings.
“While this is an unfortunate attempt by the corporation to block an important mission, she will continue to seek to have her name placed on the ballot next year,” a spokesperson for Dorothy Carvello wrote in an email.
Carvello submitted her nomination notice to WMG in early December, but it failed to meet certain requirements in the company’s bylaws, including that Carvello be a registered shareholder, a spokesperson for WMG wrote in a statement. Because Carvello bought her WMG shares through the online brokerage Robinhood, the brokerage’s name was on the shares, not Carvello’s.
WMG said it gave Carvello additional time to resolve the issues but the documents ultimately did not fulfill company requirements.
“We value the input of all shareholders, and anyone desiring to nominate director candidates must satisfy the standard requirements of WMG’s Bylaws, including being a registered shareholder,” WMG said in the statement.
Requiring that investors be registered shareholders to submit proposals or board nominations at annual meetings is a common corporate rule. However, it presents a complication for retail investors who most frequently purchase stocks through brokerages.
Carvello has gained attention in recent months for a letter sent by her lawyer to WMG board members requesting records relating to the company’s investigations into previously-reported sexual misconduct claims and royalties accounting at the label. And last month, Carvello filed a lawsuit against Atlantic Records and the estate of its late co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, along with WMG and two former Atlantic executives, alleging she was “horrifically sexually assaulted” by Ertegun and Morris and that Atlantic, WMG and Jason Flom (whom the suit says was an Atlantic vp at the time) enabled the abuse.
In its statement, WMG said its board and management “have made significant enhancements to our policies and procedures and take any allegations of misconduct seriously and are consistently working toward eliminating all forms of discrimination and harassment.”
On Monday (Dec. 19), Sony Music Entertainment (SME) shared a recap with the company’s artists and earnings participants on the progress of its Artists Forward initiative, which encompasses SME’s legacy unrecouped balances initiative, healthcare assistance, advances on projected earnings and more.
Notably, the recap offers never-before-reported stats on Sony Music’s artist portal and real-time insights platforms. Introduced in 2019, the features offer music creators and their teams “best-in-class” payment capabilities and real-time updates on consumption of their music and audience engagement data. According to the company, artists and other earnings participants have withdrawn nearly $50 million combined from both the cash-out feature, which allows users to cash out payable monthly account balances, and the real-time advances feature, which allows users to receive advances on qualifying projected earnings.
Newly announced as part of the recap is Sony Music’s recent introduction of healthcare advocacy services for on-roster and legacy artists in the United States, designed to make it easier for artists to navigate the process of obtaining and utilizing healthcare coverage, finding a doctor, managing healthcare bills and more. Since launching in the fall, the program has helped U.S.-based artists realize hundreds of thousands of dollars in healthcare cost savings, according to the company.
The label first introduced the Artists Forward initiative in June 2021 with its legacy unrecouped balance program, which waives the unrecouped balances of artists who signed to Sony Music prior to 2000 and have not received advances since that same year. The following month, the program was expanded to include songwriters, and this past May, Sony Music began offering eligibility on a rolling 20-year basis — meaning artists not initially covered by the program will become eligible once they hit the 20-year mark of signing with the label. According to the Dec. 19 recap, eligibility notifications recently began going out to the first group of qualifying artists and participants under the new criteria (those who signed with the label prior to 2001) in select markets around the world.
In September 2021, the company further expanded Artists Forward by launching “Artist Assistance,” an initiative covering mental health services for its artist roster. According to the Dec. 19 recap, over 100 artists globally have since been provided with information and support related to the program, with dozens across more than 12 countries having utilized these services to establish recurring sessions with a licensed therapist or receive in-the-moment support to deal with “acute issues.”
You can read the full recap here.
TOKYO — A new Japanese rock supergroup called The Last Rockstars is taking aim at the international market with a deal with Universal Music Group and a mission statement “to preserve the spirit of rock music.”
The group – drummer-pianist Yoshiki (X Japan), singer-songwriter Sugizo (Luna Sea, X Japan), vocalist Hyde (L’Arc-en-Ciel, Vamps) and guitarist-actor Miyavi — has signed a global distribution deal with Ingrooves, which is part of UMG’s Virgin Music Group. It begins with the quartet’s debut single, “The Last Rockstars (Paris Mix),” which is scheduled to be released on Dec. 23, a spokesperson for the group tells Billboard.
The Last Rockstars announced their formation in November in Tokyo. Speaking to Billboard, Yoshiki says the four artists discussed making a new band together before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We all wanted to aim at the international market, beyond Japan,” he says. “During the pandemic, we talked even more about it and decided to go for it because we all had the same dreams and goals.”
The Japanese artists bonded around the mission to “preserve the spirit of rock music,” Yoshiki says. “Hip-hop and pop have really taken over in recent decades,” he says. “[Rock is] there, but not standing out like it should be.”
While noting that contemporary groups such as Italy’s Maneskin are carrying the genre’s torch, Yoshiki says The Last Rockstars can also help stimulate the global rock scene — which is why they chose their provocative moniker to leave an impression. “I came up with it, and surprisingly the other members didn’t hesitate in choosing it,” Yoshiki says.
The Last Rockstars will make their live debut at a series of four shows in Tokyo from Jan. 26 to Jan. 30, before coming to the U.S. with two shows at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom (Feb. 3 and 4) and Los Angeles’ Hollywood Palladium (Feb. 10).
The individual members of The Last Rockstars have all cultivated strong followings outside of Japan, with each having played shows in North America. Yoshiki and Sugizo’s X Japan have performed at Coachella and Lollapalooza, while Hyde’s L’Arc-en-Ciel became the first Japanese band ever to headline Madison Square Garden in 2012. Miyavi, who as an actor appeared as a psychotic prison guard in Angelina Jolie’s drama “Unbroken,” has recorded in Nashville and toured internationally in at least 30 countries, including the U.S.
Hyde and Sugizo are signed to UMG for solo work. Miyavi is tied to Purple One Star and Yoshiki is currently unsigned for solo projects, a spokesperson for the group tells Billboard.
Yoshiki’s 2013 album Yoshiki Classical peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Classical Albums Chart. Hyde saw his 2019 full-length album Anti top the Billboard Japan Download Albums Chart, with the songs “Who’s Gonna Save Us,” “After Light” and “Fake Divine” landing on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 at No. 17, No. 24 and No. 20, respectively. Subsequent 2020 singles “Believing In Myself” and “Let It Out” charted on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 at No. 43 and No. 50, respectively.
Miyavi’s had a smattering of singles on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, highlighted by his 2011 collaboration with rapper Kreva, “Strong,” which peaked at No. 15.
“I have enormous respect for each member,” Yoshiki says. “I’m really honored to be working with these three amazing rockers, and I think we can make some kind of miracle happen.”
There are few more sacred spaces in the music world than the recording studio, and fewer still that evoke the kind of emotional reaction that Abbey Road Studios in London does. Inextricably linked with The Beatles, the studios have been the recording home for the likes of Pink Floyd, Aretha Franklin, Buddy Holly, Radiohead, Frank Ocean and Adele and has been one of the most storied places in music history since its inception in 1931.
Now, 90 years after Abbey Road first opened, Universal Music Group’s Mercury Studios is releasing If These Walls Could Sing, out today (Dec. 16) on Disney+. Directed by Paul McCartney’s daughter Mary McCartney, the documentary is a love letter to the studio that helped birth one of the greatest albums of all time and nurtured one of the most significant acts in music history. The release of the documentary helps earn Mercury CEO and co-president Alice Webb the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
Here, Webb discusses the making of the film, her three-year tenure atop the UMG-owned studio and the evolution and explosion of music documentaries over the past several years, with artists seemingly releasing a companion documentary to each major new album. “Much has changed in how fans consume content over the past few years that has enabled us to elevate the medium of music documentaries,” she says. “I think there is a diversity in the documentaries being made more now than ever before — from issues-led projects to ones that are easily consumable but offer great insight and information.”
This week, Mercury Studios released If These Walls Could Sing, the Abbey Road Studios documentary directed by Mary McCartney. What key decision did you make to help see this come to fruition?
Every decision starts with the story, and with this one we had a hefty responsibility to do it justice. Recruiting Mary McCartney, who is the heart of this film, was an incredibly easy decision to make given her unique perspective having grown up at Abbey Road. She is an amazing talent and as this was her feature directorial debut, our job was to build the best team to support her vision and the story of this magical place. If These Walls Could Sing is the result of a myriad of considered decisions — every film is a carefully crafted work of art and there’s no cookie cutter approach to breathing life into it. In the end, I think the key consideration is, are we doing right by the story, the artists and the fans around the world?
How did this project come together?
This was a story that had to be told and a project that had been gestating for several years, in several different incarnations, before I became involved. So, it was about putting the pieces together in the right way. My co-president, Marc Robinson, along with John Battsek and Ventureland, were key to building the foundation, along with Mary at the helm. When all of those elements came together, we felt confident to greenlight the feature.
What makes this topic in particular so important, both in general and for Mercury?
Abbey Road Studios is like nowhere else on earth. The walls rattle with stories; the magic of what was created within the studios still lingers all these years later. This year marked the 90th year of Abbey Road Studios. Looking back at the roster of artists including The Beatles, Celeste, Depeche Mode, along with scores such as Star Wars, was incredibly special; the music that was made there still connects with fans everywhere.
Part of the promise of the studios is the unconditional freedom provided to artists to find their sound — to be their unvarnished authentic selves. Doing justice to the artists, technicians and producers who’ve accomplished their best work at Abbey Road Studios is both an honor and a pressure that we felt keenly. With Mary’s vision and judging by the overwhelming support from luminaries such as Paul McCartney, Elton John, Roger Waters, Ringo Starr and others who attended the premiere this week, I think we may have pulled it off.
This film is being released with Disney+. How do you choose which distributor to go with, and which films see a theatrical release vs. a streaming one?
Your films are a bit like your children. Heaven knows some of them take as long to create as children do growing up. For that reason, you want these projects to go to the best home, which is why we couldn’t be prouder to have Disney+ as our partner for If These Walls Could Sing. In our experience Disney+ cares about artists, creators and storytelling — which is very much in line with everything we do at Mercury. And of course Disney+ has a massive global footprint. As soon as they knew we were making the film, they wanted it. They made it clear it mattered to them, just as it matters to us. That’s a persuasive combination, which as a filmmaker is what you hope to find in your distributor: someone who is as passionate about your film as you are and who will treat it like they made it themselves.
You’ve been running Mercury for three years now. Which projects have stood out for you that you’ve worked on during that time?
If These Walls Could Sing is an obvious highlight for the reasons I’ve already mentioned, but so is My Life As A Rolling Stone, the premium limited series we produced this year. It was an intimate, first-hand account of life as a Rolling Stone by Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ronnie and was special to me because I don’t think anyone thought there was anything left to say about these titans of music. But we knew different, and our faith was rewarded with four captivating films that were enjoyed by audiences in 96 countries. At the other end of the spectrum, I’m extremely proud of Mars, the short film we made with Yungblud. It’s about the life of Charlie, a transgender teenager growing up in the north of England. Not only was it a heartwarming film about self-acceptance and youth, but we made sure the story was told — on and off screen — by people whose lived experiences were LGBTQI+. We were dedicated to and deliberate about authenticity and although there were challenges, I wouldn’t change anything. Mercury Studios is driven by our values, and we’re proud to wear them on our sleeves, in the stories we tell and the way we make our films.
There seems to have been an explosion in artist documentaries in recent years, often produced by and in conjunction with the artists themselves. How has the music doc world changed during your career?
I think the fact that music documentaries have always been special is a reflection of the timelessness of music stories. Some of the best directors of our lifetime have committed their passions to this medium. Documentaries have always been a popular format to tell stories; there’s a rich history of storytelling from VH1s Behind the Music to our own series, Classic Albums, and so much more. Much has changed in how fans consume content over the past few years that has enabled us to elevate the medium of music documentaries. I think there is a diversity in the documentaries being made more now than ever before — from issues-led projects to ones that are easily consumable but offer great insight and information.
Great examples are our recent film, Shania: Not Just a Girl on Netflix and Interscope Films’ Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me on Apple+. There’s a level of honesty and authenticity in music documentaries that resonates with audiences. We’ve also been able to indulge in huge feasts of musical testimony with the likes of Amy, The Defiant Ones, Get Back, Moonage Daydream, in recent times. I’m excited to see how documentary projects continue to evolve.
What are your dream music projects with Mercury?
It’s endless. Mercury Studios’ core has very much been unscripted productions, but that’s starting to change. We’ve just announced our scripted co-production with Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, SAS: Rogue Heroes) and Kudos (Broadchurch, Utopia, Spooks) which will bring This Town to our screens in 2024, and you can expect to see more scripted projects from us soon. Just as you can expect to see more premium audio projects, like our recent Audible limited series Crush Hour. It’s jam packed with characters, story, original new music, and is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. I’d say that’s definitely a dream project.
The stories about Casablanca Records are legendarily insane. Some center around the tall tales of the wildly successful independent label founded by producer Neil Bogart in 1973 that briefly shot to global dominance during the disco era thanks releasing landmark albums by everyone from Kiss to Donna Summer, the Village People, George Clinton’s Parliament and Cher. They also, invariably, lead to equally bonkers accounts of shady accounting, mountains of debt (and cocaine) and wild accounts of the lengths Bogart would go to promote his acts.
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Sounds like a movie, right? Well, on March 31 that biopic, Spinning Gold, will hit theaters with an all-star cast of characters re-telling the improbable tale of Bogart’s rocket ride to the heights, and depths, of the music business. The film’s official trailer dropped on Thursday (Dec. 15) and it gives just a little taste of the whirlwind ride Bogart took the industry on while providing sneak peeks at Wiz Khalifa as Clinton, Jeremy Jordan as the label boss, Ledisi as Gladys Knight, Jason DeRulo as Ronald Isley, Pink Sweat$ as Bill Withers and Tayla Parx as Summer.
The trailer for the film directed and written by Bogart’s’ son, Timothy Scott Bogart, opens with Casablanca’s jaw-dropping sales figures (200 million records), while showing a frizzy-haired Jordan strutting through the label’s chaotic offices while ticking off a list of the famous roster, including Summer (born LaDonna Adrian Gaines), who blanches at her new bosses’ decision to change her name because “everything is hotter in the summer.”
With Kiss’ 1975 hit “Rock and Roll All Nite” blasting in the background, the fairy tale story quickly begins to unravel, though, as Bogart is seen facing more than $7 million of red ink, which, of course, inspires him to punch out the bearer of bad news, as one’s boss does. There are briefcases full of cash, threats of a hit put out by rival Motown Records, phone calls to the mafia to ask for a little help with that whole situation and Bogart placing a giant bet on a couple of kids from Queens (Kiss’ Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons) who had dreams of being the biggest rock stars in the world.
“Their mix of creative insanity, a total belief in each other and the music they were creating, shaped our culture and ultimately defined a generation,” reads a description of the film. “In a story so unbelievable that it can only be true, comes the motion picture event of the musical journey of Neil Bogart and how his Casablanca Records created the greatest soundtrack of our lives.”
Watch the Spinning Gold trailer below.
It’s a Wednesday afternoon in early December, and Monte Lipman is running late, but with good reason: Journalist, activist and feminist icon Gloria Steinem has been in the Republic Records offices in midtown Manhattan for the past two hours, speaking to the staff about equal rights. “It’s amazing — the woman is 88 years old, sharper than ever, and she was just kind of sharing her thoughts,” Lipman says when he comes to the phone. “The Q&A was dynamite and everyone was just geeking out about her.”
Lipman has had plenty of reasons to be in a great mood of late. The chairman/CEO of Republic saw his label land the No. 1 spot on each of Billboard’s year-end label rankings: Top Labels, Billboard 200 Labels and Billboard Hot 100 Labels, the second year in a row the company has topped the trio of charts, and the sixth time in the last eight years it has finished at No. 1 on the Top Labels ranking. Republic ended 2022 with five of the top 10 albums of the year — the second year in a row it has done so — and with 23 albums having reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200, including five No. 1s: Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) and Midnights, Drake’s Honestly, Nevermind (released via OVO Sound/Republic) and Stray Kids’ ODDINARY and MAXIDENT (JYP/Imperial/Republic). (This week, it added a sixth: Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains.)
But Republic has also spent the past year in expansion mode, having either launched or strengthened several new initiatives. One was the new independent distribution subsidiary Imperial, which quietly opened last year and quickly caught fire with the release of Bo Burnham’s Inside (The Songs), but then landed two No. 1s through its distribution of Stray Kids, under the leadership of executive vp/president Glenn Mendlinger. Another was the relaunch of both Mercury Records, with A&R execs Tyler Arnold as president and Ben Adelson as GM, and Uptown Records with co-presidents Saint Harraway (executive vp A&R at Republic) and Marleny Reyes (executive vp marketing strategy at Republic) and Republic senior vp of business and legal affairs Khelia Johnson at the helm. There is also a new Kids division, overseen by vp of marketing and operations Bree Bowles, announced in August; and Federal Films, a new film and TV division that will allow the label to expand into Hollywood beyond soundtracks and music licensing, run by Republic executive vp Danielle Price, executive vp of film & television Dana Sano and senior vp visual content and production Devon Libran. And finally, Republic opened a new recording studio in Manhattan this fall, run by senior vp A&R Ken “Duro” Ifill as operations manager and executive vp of brand partnerships Kerri Mackar.
With another year of honors in the books, Lipman spoke to Billboard about Republic’s expansion into new areas of late, the reasons why the label is moving into film, children’s content and distribution, and the benefits of relaunching an iconic label brand rather than starting anew. “We’re not in the business of good or bad, we’re in the business of whether or not we can make a difference, whether it’s working with a new artist or an established artist,” he says. “We’re thrilled with the artists we work with, with the projects and campaigns, and I could bore you with all the milestones that we’ve reached and the impact that they’ve made. But it’s about what’s next.”
How would you describe the past year for Republic?Listen, when you have certain releases by the biggest artists in the world — including Taylor Swift, Drake, Post Malone, The Weeknd — what’s there not to be excited about? And then this past week we just dropped Metro Boomin, which is tracking to be No. 1. [Ed. Note: Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week.] And through Imperial we had two No. 1s this year with Stray Kids, which is a K-Pop act. For us, I always say that if we don’t win the pennant, we’re not having a good year. And metaphorically, we won the pennant here. So that part of it feels good. But it’s really about what’s next, what does 2023 look like, what are we preparing for, etc. A part of myself and this company and our DNA is we’re never satisfied. And that’s what keeps us going and grinding as hard as we can.
You mentioned Imperial. Why did you want to launch a distribution company?It’s another option, another alternative. There is a community of artists, DIY or independent, who have chosen not to align themselves with a major label because for whatever reason they feel more comfortable staying independent. And this is an option that we created for them. Because Republic came from the independent marketplace, and for a long period of time we were fiercely independent and just liked the idea of operating with a certain amount of autonomy. You know, it’s smaller, historically, but from time to time, a band like the Stray Kids, through our alliance with JYP, there are opportunities where you can land at No. 1 on the charts.
How do you decide what makes an act right for Imperial as opposed to Republic itself?It really starts with the artist and it’s based on conversation, the artist proposition, what they hope to accomplish, their expectations, how much input they want and what kind of partnership they want. So it’s just another option, another dynamic to the relationship. But Imperial is independent; it operates with full autonomy and the idea is to align ourselves with those entrepreneurs and artists that have proven to be resourceful. In our business, resourcefulness is an incredible, valuable trait among the artist community. That doesn’t mean you have to run it through Imperial and be independent, because with the biggest artists in the world, my feeling when I met them and started working with them was just how resourceful they are, which is a large part of their success.
Was launching Imperial a response to how the industry has shifted in the past several years, towards a distribution model for some artists?Well, I think the difference is there has always been independent distributors — in fact, that’s the core of our business. The difference now though is I think the point of entry into the music industry is with a lot less friction than there’s ever been, because when you think about it, an artist can basically wake up in their pajamas, flip open their laptop, record a vocal, cut a beat and in the same 24-hour period make the music available to the world. So technically, in that moment, they have become an independent artist. But things these days just move so much quicker, and I tend to believe there’s more companies out there now that are responsible and supporting ingestion. Glenn Mendlinger, who is leading the initiative, is somebody who is a forward-thinker and constantly challenging the status quo. He’s a remarkable executive and someone we really appreciate working with.
You mentioned that artists now can record music in their bedrooms. Why did you want to open a new recording studio in New York City?That’s the magic — that’s where it all happens. We’ve had a studio in Los Angeles for many years now and it’s incredibly successful, and it’s not just about dollars and cents and financial reasons, it’s also culture and our home, so to speak, because that’s where we have a lot of our meetings and social gatherings and listening sessions. And it just reminds us that it all starts and ends with the music. With that in mind, we saw a great opportunity here in New York City, a studio became available, and it was the perfect time and we went for it. It was a bummer that COVID held us back from a grand opening and moving on it quickly, but where it stands now it’s officially opened, we’ve got an Atmos room that is world class, we’ve had some of the most important artists in the world come in there for Atmos mixes. That room’s going nearly 24/7. And what’s also neat with a lot of artists or potential partners, or even our mentorship program in bringing kids to the studio is, it’s just the vibe. You’re physically surrounded by the music and the production facilities and it makes a difference.
Did you see a need for that in the city? There have been a lot of studio closures in recent years, and COVID-19 did nobody any favors there, either.Well first of all, you’re talking to one of the strongest advocates of New York City; it’s something that’s near and dear to my heart. I grew up here. The world headquarters of Republic Records is in Midtown, and it’s something that I feel very strong about. Investing in the community, investing in the city — New York City, for a long period of time, had been the epicenter of the music industry around the world, and one can argue that no longer exists. And the point is, we want to bring it back.
I talk to the artist community, and what I can tell you is, right now, if you go downtown where a lot of the studios are, most of the studios are filled, are at capacity. There’s a certain energy, there’s a certain vibe that has returned to New York City, and that’s something we’re excited about. There’s a fellow by the name of Duro who runs the studio for us in New York, and a woman named Kerri Mackar, who also works for us, and she’s very involved in the operations, some of the social gatherings, events, staging things at the studio. But it’s a world class operation down there.
You guys also launched Federal Films. Why did you want to get into film and TV?The writing is on the wall of where all things are heading. And so much of what we do involves visual content, and it just makes perfect sense given that, we’re one of the market leaders in the world of soundtracks. And from time to time I find myself getting a bit frustrated, just because I felt like there may be more opportunity for us to participate in the creative process and not just be the soundtrack company or the music label. So we’ve done some amazing alliances with some of the artists, with some of the studios, producing a documentary, or a feature in certain cases, or even a series.
We have program called A2K, which stands for America to Korea. That’s something we’re doing with JYP, and we’re in the middle of production, and there will be more announced at the top of the year in terms of releases. We’re also doing a series with Nick Cannon called Classics in Session. Nick came into my office and the conversation started with a band that he was excited about, and ended with us coming up with the idea of Classics in Session. It’s a high-level interview with legacy artists just having a conversation about their classic album, or in some cases the catalyst album that launched the biggest artist in the world. It’s shot live at HBCU schools around the country. We did that intentionally because we wanted to have a dynamic of being in a room together vs. a Zoom or podcast or Webinar. It’s really about going deep in the process of making the music and the point of view and where the artist’s head was at the time, the lyrical content, and so on and so forth.
Is running that a different type of skill set for you guys, or do you see it as another outlet for creative expression?It’s a great question, because when you talk about creative expression, that’s an easy aspect of it. When you think about the amount of music videos we’ve made over the years, and the production, none of it is necessarily difficult and none of it is anything we haven’t done before. The difference, though, is in the world of Hollywood we are sailing in uncharted waters. The positive in that, and what I love about it, is we don’t necessarily know the rules. So with that in mind, we’re willing to take certain chances that others may not want to take.
Do you see Federal as producing a lot of music-related programming, or do you want to go beyond that?Everything associated with Federal Films, there’s a music connectivity to it. So are we gonna do a horror film? Unless it’s a musical, no. [Laughs] But right now, we’ve invested in a brand new film with Billy Porter called Our Son, and it’s something we feel very strong about, and music is part of the narrative and is critical to the film. Documentaries, obviously, make perfect sense, whether it’s Reggaeton, which highlights Daddy Yankee’s career, or the documentary about Donna Summer. Those are simple enough. But we’ll also get involves as producer for a feature like They Cloned Tyrone, which right now is with MACRO and Netflix, and we are the music partner in that. Same thing with Marlowe, which features Liam Neeson and is with Open Road Pictures. So we’re open.
You guys also this summer launched Republic Kids & Family. Why did you want to get into that?Our saying with Republic Kids is very simple: “We don’t make kids music, we make great music.” It’s run by a woman named Bree Bowles, who has been here now for a little over a year, and she’s incredible — her energy, her excitement, her dedication to kids music. The focus is zero to 12, obviously with their moms and dads; any opportunity to engage in educational or exploratory type of content, we’re all about. We’ve made some great partnerships, including Nickelodeon. We launched in August of this past year, and right now we’re tracking more than 100 songs per month, and that’s only going to grow. But again, it’s different properties like Blue’s Clues, Nickelodeon, Jojo Siwa we’re in talks with right now. Can’t forget The Bubble Guppies. [Laughs] I’ve got three kids, two are much older but I’ve still got an eight-year-old in the house. His new thing is SpongeBob — we’re not involved in SpongeBob necessarily, but there’s more to come. It’s early days, but we’re excited.
Did the recent successes of Encanto and Frozen inspire that?Oh, yeah. The success ratio in the music industry is a single digit or so; I heard the riskiest business out there apparently is kids toys, which I understand is over a 99% failure rate, because you never know what kids are going to respond to. You just don’t know. But when it hits, it hits big. The two you just mentioned, more than just a movie or a soundtrack, those are rides at theme parks now, and then there’s the merch and the rest of it. But more importantly, it’s giving back to the rest of the community and supporting our community. Educational [content] is a lightning-rod of interest for us. And it’s just about working to make the world a better place.
You also relaunched two iconic record label imprints this past year, in Mercury Records and Uptown Records. Why?Uptown, going back to our commitment to New York, they were the premier New York label, the label that inspired me and made an impact. You can’t talk about Uptown Records without talking about the founder, Andre Harrell. He was showbiz, and I remember early in my career watching him operate, the narrative, what Uptown stood for, it was the coolest, hippest label, and the acts that came from there, including Mary J. Blige, continue to make an impact in popular culture. And we had the opportunity to relaunch Uptown, working with Andre’s estate and being incredibly respectful of the legacy. To his credit, it was Saint Harraway who came to me and said this is something that’s near and dear to his heart, and he’s also New York born and bred. We recruited Marleny Reyes, who runs it with Saint, and there’s a third wheel in there, Khelia Johnson, and between the three of them they’ve done an incredible job and they’re off and running.
There’s tremendous passion in this initiative, and it’s still early days, but we’re very proud of what we’ve already accomplished with Coi Leray, who is a premier act on Uptown; we made a deal with Ciara, who we love and we’re very excited about the new music, and we’ve got a hit song on the radio right now. And there’s a band that’s coming over from the U.K. and I’m telling you right now they’re going to blow up big, and that’s a band called FLO. That’s where Uptown is now, and it’s very recent — we just flipped the switch, so there’s a lot more to come in 2023.
And then Mercury, again another legacy label, and one that I as a kid grew up with some of my favorite acts coming through Mercury. And when I took the idea to Tyler Arnold and Ben Adelson, they jumped at it. When we spoke about the idea, their first question was, “Tell me more about Mercury.” It wasn’t a vanity play or anything like that, they took a real interest in the legacy of Mercury and did the research and we had many conversations about what Mercury stood for and what they’re known for. But what I explained to them was, by reactivating this, this is now within your vision. This is a company under your watch. And you can make it whatever it needs to be.
And to their credit, they’ve come out of the blocks hot because of pre-existing relationships: Tyler Arnold signed Post Malone, he made a strategic alliance with Morgan Wallen and Big Loud Records; and Ben Adelson signed Stephen Sanchez and Noah Kahan, two of the biggest breakouts of ’22. And it’s still early days; we’ve got a lot of work to do. But Elton John called me himself to lend his support to Stephen Sanchez, and the last time he did that was with Amy Winehouse. So that’s what’s happening with Mercury. They also signed AJR, and we’ll have new music from them in 2023, but that’s a multi-platinum, arena-size act coming off a monster smash, and if the new music is any indication, they’re going to have a great year.
What do you see as the value of relaunching some of these iconic brands vs. starting a new label or imprint?It’s two things. It’s embracing the entrepreneurial spirit, and it’s essentially encouraging ownership. Because again, now there’s a sense of responsibility with Saint, Marleny and Khelia on behalf of Uptown. There’s a sense of responsibility and ownership with Tyler and Ben. And that’s where you get the best out of people, when you empower them and give them this ownership and encourage a sense of autonomy and independence and free-thinking. Because I don’t want to find myself in a position of micro-managing people. If that happens, we all lose. We can’t do it. So you need people to really take on these added responsibilities and know that at the end of the day, they’ve got to do the job. You could say the same thing about Federal Films, and the Republic Kids initiative.
How do all these new initiatives enrich what you are doing at Republic?Well, Republic started as an independent. And I report to somebody named Sir Lucian Grainge, who empowers me and allows me to operate with an entrepreneurial spirit, with a sense of autonomy. And that’s how you get the best out of Monte Lipman. So just applying that rulebook is something that, culturally, is important. We want to house and align ourselves and partner with true entrepreneurs. And when you look at the success of this company and what we’ve accomplished and achieved, much of it comes from these strategic alliances: Cash Money Records and all the success we’ve had with them over the years, and XO Records with The Weeknd, or OVO Records with Drake — you can go down the line. That’s the nature of our industry, it’s built on the entrepreneurial spirit. So the idea is to celebrate it, enhance it, support it and just make sure that people have that spark of excitement and opportunity.
What are you looking forward to in 2023?I think about that every day when I wake up. The short answer is we want to make the world a better place. How do you do that? We are very fortunate because we represent the biggest, most important artists in the world and we help provide a platform, we provide incredibly valuable label services so their voice can be heard in every corner of the world, so to speak. And we want to make a difference with every artist we work with, and we want to be able to make an impact.
There’s much to be said about the deep lineage connecting the symbiotic worlds of basketball and hip-hop. Former NBA star Zach Randolph is looking to write a chapter in that book and add to his own decorated legacy with his NLess Entertainment record label.
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Going on his fourth team in as many seasons, the power forward affectionately known as Z-Bo arrived in Memphis in 2009 as a polarizing 28-year-old with a chip on his shoulder. The blue-collared city wrapped its arms around the burly Randolph, who became the face of Memphis’ Grit N’ Grind era.
After stops in Portland, New York and Los Angeles, Randolph helped lead the Grizzlies to seven straight playoff appearances in the 2010s. His jersey now hangs in the FedEx Forum rafters after the franchise retired his famous No. 50 last year.
A few years before closing the book on his NBA career, Randolph already had his next endeavor lined up with the launch of NLess Entertainment in early 2016. The Michigan State alum co-founded the independent label alongside Marcus “Head” Howell, and made Memphis rap staple Moneybagg Yo its inaugural signee.
Z-Bo and Head bonded over their love for exotic cars, and they now own a used car dealership together in Memphis. They initially met through a mutual friend and Memphis native by the name of Qyntel Woods, who was drafted in the first round by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2002, a year after Randolph joined the West Coast team as a heralded rookie out of Michigan State.
Moneybagg Yo was creating a buzz for himself around Memphis in the mid-2010s, and a local DJ by the name of Larry brought the neophyte to Z-Bo and Head’s car dealership in late 2015 to gauge their interest in potentially signing him.
The NLess heads weren’t completely sold, until heading to a Thanksgiving weekend concert where Moneybagg rocked the stage opening for Young Jeezy and had the entire crowd shouting every lyric to his Relentless mixtape trap anthem “I Need A Plugg.”
“When I came to the show, everyone in the whole club was singing his ‘I Need A Plugg’ song word-for-word,” Head recalls. “I got back in the car and told Zach, ‘We need to sign this kid tonight.’ He’s like, ‘You sure?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, we need to.’ I had him come back to the [car] lot the next morning and we drew up the paperwork. Moneybagg pulled back up, and we got the business part done and we was a family.”
There wasn’t much hesitation on Bagg’s part in putting pen to paper on a deal with Z-Bo and Head to run the three-man weave at the top, as he felt the spirit was “genuine” from the start since their initial meeting at the car lot office.
“I felt the vibe,” Moneybagg states on Zoom. “I’m good with people’s intentions, and they had nothing but the best for me. Even before teaming up with Gotti, this situation happened off mutual relationships with each other.”
With the label finally taking shape, the NLess Ent. execs suddenly had to deal with a pair of devastating losses. Bagg’s right-hand man Muhammad “ELO” El-Amin, along with Z-Bo and Head’s close friend John “King Fish” Jones, were both murdered within weeks of each other in December 2015. The tragedies only made the bond between the NLess bosses that much stronger to power ahead.
Moneybagg Yo kept his foot on the gas, and he continued his ascent in 2016 by flooding the streets with another four mixtapes, and pledged his allegiance to the Collective Music Group family by year’s end when Yo Gotti planted $200,000 in cash in front of him.
Head, Z-Bo and Moneybagg Yo were all complimentary of Gotti sharing his secrets to success when it comes to navigating the cutthroat music business. “[Yo] Gotti took me all around the world and under his wing and showed me a lot about the music business,” Howells adds. “I understood the game through Yo Gotti.”
Of course, Zach Randolph wanted to show off having one of the hottest rappers in the city signed to his label, so he’d often bump Moneybagg Yo’s music before games on the team’s speaker system — but not all of his Memphis Grizzlies teammates were impressed. Some (like defensive stalwart Tony Allen) were non-believers, and often tried to turn off the hometown rhymer’s tunes. (“Ay Z-Bo, did you tell ‘em when you used to bump me in the locker room they would turn that off?” Bagg reminds Randolph matter-of-factly on the video call.)
While he’s now a proven commodity and pre-game playlist favorite for plenty of hoopers league-wide, the trio can laugh off the early doubters filling the Grizzlies’ locker room. “I used to put it in their face, and a couple of the guys like [Tony Allen] and a few more [didn’t like him],” Z-Bo remembers about trying to put his teammates on. “They wouldn’t get out of line with me, so whatever I wanted to do, I did. I knew he was so talented listening to him. The sky’s the limit for him — and you see what he’s doing [now].”
Moneybagg Yo has developed into a bonafide rap titan, and has played an integral role in Memphis’ streaming era renaissance over the last five years or so. Bagg’s even bossed up in his own right, with the creation of his Bread Gang label imprint, in addition to his NLess and CMG affiliations.
The 31-year-old cemented his star status with 2021’s Billboard 200 chart-topping set A Gangsta’s Pain, powered by hits such as the platinum-certified “Time Today” and “Wockesha.” Both records are produced by Tennessee-bred beatmaker Turn Me Up YC, who signed to NLess and Warner Chappell Music in a joint partnership in late 2021.
“My brothers Marcus ‘Head’ Howell and YC along with the whole NLess Entertainment crew have been incredible partners, and we look forward to continuing to rack up the hits with this incredible team,” Warner Chappell Music President Ryan Press relays in a statement.
The budding label has continued to add a mix of talent with a roster that currently consists of BIG30, who signed in partnership with Interscope Records, Big Homiie G, Dee Mula, Lonely Girl, SouljaaOnGo, Leebo, and Mud. Randolph and Head have also beefed up the NLess staff, with a pair of new hires in executive roles. Kemario Brown will serve as the General Manager/Senior Vice President of Business Operations while publicity wizard Breon Robinson joins the team as the Senior Vice President of Branding.
Being a fan of Jay-Z and signed to his Roc Nation Sports agency, Z-Bo is looking to manifest a business meeting with Hov in 2023, where he can soak up endless gems to apply back home at NLess.
“I’m supposed to be having a meeting with Hov next year to pick his brain and get to chop it up with him,” he says. “I’ll take some gems and some advice. I want to grow this thing internationally and do it big like a Roc-A-Fella.”
Randolph chuckles when the “dinner with JAY-Z or $500,000” debate is brought up. “I’m sitting at the dinner, I don’t need the $500,000,” Z-Bo confidently answers, as someone who made nearly $200,000,000 in on-court earnings throughout his 17-year NBA career.
All three of the NLess honchos tease a banner year in store as Randolph hopes to eventually get the sports agency branch of the business off the ground in 2023 too. The low-post bruiser believes his reputation and relationships around the NBA will allow him to build a strong client list and compete with the premier agencies.
“Just having a relationship with all these young guys and being a guy in the league that treated everyone with respect, I get a lot of respect back,” Z-Bo explains. “Just knowing I’m a man of my word and 100 percent genuine, so we hang our hat on loyalty and integrity.” (Moneybagg Yo saluted Randolph last year for his being a man of his word, gifting Z-Bo’s daughter a Mercedes-AMG for her sweet 16.)
The Memphis rapper is readying a new album as well, which he has penciled in to arrive in “January or February,” after setting the tone with his Outkast-sampling “Quickie” single earlier this month. “We gon’ be the biggest for sure,” he boldly predicts of his label ventures. “All of our labels. 2023 gonna be the year that I really see this.”
Going back two decades, when a young Randolph suited up for Portland’s “Jail Blazers” era, it would be tough to predict he’d evolve into the ultimate selfless teammate and a beloved franchise player, but he did just that — so he shouldn’t be doubted in his second career here.
“Memphis is on top,” he proclaims. “Teamwork makes the dream work, and the sky’s the limit for us.”
BRISBANE, Australia — Universal Music Australia taps Sean Warner for the top job, which will vacated by the incumbent George Ash at year’s end.
Announced Tuesday (Dec. 13), Warner is promoted to president, Universal Music Australia & New Zealand, with effect from Jan. 1, 2023.
The incoming chief is a UMA stalwart with 15 years’ experience leading the company’s commercial business, both physical and digital.
Warner joined UMA in 2007 as national sales manager and has served on its senior management team in recent years, most recently as senior vice president of commercial, with duties for the commercial growth, innovation and digital development for UMA & New Zealand.
During his time with Universal, Warner has overseen the commercial strategy in Southeast Asia (SEA), launched the Bravado merchandise and licensing interests on both sides of the Tasman, and developed UMA’s eCommerce activities.
Prior to joining the music major, Warner held senior roles with BMG Interactive, Sony PlayStation, DMX Music and Foxtel. Also, he serves as chair of the AMTD fundraising committee for the music industry charity organization Support Act.
“Sean’s deep understanding of the Australian market combined with his operational experience and the respect he has earned from his UMG colleagues and artists—both domestic and international—makes him the ideal executive to take on the role of president,” comments Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO of UMG.
“I’m confident he will expand our track record of creative and commercial success in a market that so culturally important.”
Warner will succeed UMA’s long-time leader Ash, who, as previously reported, plans to retire from his position at UMA.
Ash, who led the company as president since 2010, marked the end of an era in the Australian music industry when he announced his departure on Monday (Dec. 12).
“The time is right for me to step down from Universal,” Ash explained in a separate statement. “I feel confident that with the brilliant leadership group we have now, the organization will continue to grow and thrive.”
As previously reported, Ash last year initiated an investigation into workplace culture at UMA, and engaged Darren Perry at law firm Seyfarth Shaw to conduct the probe.
“As the region’s leading music company, we will continue to innovate and evolve our businesses,” says Warner in a statement, “and support our artists and labels as they deliver the very best music and culture to fans.”