Record Labels
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Singer-songwriter Megan Moroney has inked a label deal with Sony Music Nashville and Columbia Records. During her opening performance slot for Warren Zeiders: The Up to No Good Tour on Wednesday evening (Nov. 16) at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl, Moroney announced her label signing, and also told the audience that her song “Tennessee Orange” will be sent to country radio.
According to Moroney’s manager, Punch Bowl Entertainment’s Juli Griffith, Moroney and her team were in talks with 18 record labels before signing with Sony Music Nashville and the NYC-based Columbia.
“We picked this combination because they understand exactly who Megan is and what she has already created,” Griffith tells Billboard. “Their plan is to come in and enhance what we are already doing under her creative vision.”
Moroney’s “Tennessee Orange” made its Billboard Hot 100 debut in October, entering the chart at No. 94. The song is currently at No. 19 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Moroney wrote “Tennessee Orange” with Ben Williams, David Fanning and Paul Jenkins, with production from Kristian Bush. Moroney released her six-song EP Pistol Made of Roses in July.
A portion of the early appeal of “Tennessee Orange” lies in its backstory, with many fans believing Moroney wrote it about country singer-songwriter Morgan Wallen. In the song, Savannah, Georgia, native Moroney sings of being a University of Georgia fan (Moroney’s alma mater), but she is so besotted with a love interest that she is even willing to wear the University of Tennessee’s trademark orange color (Wallen is a UT fan).
In addition to her new label deal, Moroney’s team includes Griffith’s Punch Bowl Entertainment for management, as well as UTA booking agent Elisa Vazzana, and tour manager Alexandra Kolea.
“We are so happy to have built what we did with a small group of four amazing women (Team Lasso as we call ourselves). The time has come that we need to expand, and we are thankful to have been able to hand pick an amazing team to help us go forward in this journey,” Griffith adds.
With massive successes from superstars Adele, Beyoncé and Harry Styles, Columbia Records landed the most nominations among labels in the Big Four Grammy categories of album, song and record of the year and best new artist. With nine nominations, Columbia was comfortably in first, as all three artists earned nominations for album, song and record of the year.
Columbia’s noms helped parent company Sony Music to lead the charge among label groups, with 16 nominations, besting the Warner Music Group (13), Universal Music Group (nine) and the indie label sector (two). In addition to Columbia, RCA racked up four nominations — Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” for record and song; Doja Cat’s “Woman” for record; and Latto for best new artist — while Epic picked up one (DJ Khaled’s “God Did” for song of the year), Sony’s distribution company The Orchard landed another for Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, and Arista picked up one, with Maneskin getting a nod for best new artist.
The second-biggest haul of nominations was for Warner-owned Atlantic, which landed five: a trio for Lizzo, an album nod for Coldplay and song of the year for new artist GAYLE. Three other Warner Music labels picked up two nominations apiece: Warner Records, with two best new artist nominees in Anitta and Omar Apollo; 300, which saw Mary J. Blige pick up noms in record and album of the year; and Elektra, with perennial Grammy favorite Brandi Carlile getting nominated for record and album of the year. (Earlier this year, 300 and Elektra were merged into the new 300 Elektra Entertainment.) Nonesuch also picked up a best new artist nomination with Molly Tuttle, while Bonnie Raitt — who got a song of the year nomination for “Just Like That” — put out her latest album through her Redwing label, which is distributed by Warner-owned ADA.
Within Universal, Interscope grabbed the most nominations — a trio for Kendrick Lamar — while ABBA’s nods in record and album of the year landed two for Capitol through ABBA’s Polar Music. Four other UMG labels also scored one nomination: Def Jam (best new artist, Muni Long), Republic (song of the year, Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)”), Verve (best new artist, Samara Joy) and Blue Note (best new artist, DOMi & JD Beck, in partnership with APESHIT Records.)
Finally, two nominations for best new artist went to acts unaffiliated with the big three labels: Wet Leg, which released its debut album on Domino; and Tobe Nwigwe, whose latest album was put out through his own imprint The Good Stewards.
For months, two remarkably similar singles from rival labels have been battling for attention on charts and playlists.
In one corner: Southstar’s “Miss You,” released through Sony’s B1 Recordings, a fast, piano-heavy electronic dance track that pulls lyrics from Oliver Tree‘s “Jerk.” In the other: Robin Schulz and Oliver Tree’s “Miss You,” released through Atlantic, a fast, piano-heavy electronic dance track that also pulls from “Jerk.” Both songs are exactly three minutes and 26 seconds long; both have been all over Spotify’s Global Viral 50; both are currently on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.
This has worked out well for Tree — whose vocals are front and center in a pair of viral hits — and less well for the other artists involved. Southstar’s breakthrough single was initially unauthorized, and it has now been eclipsed by an official version from an internationally-known artist. And while Robin Schulz’s remix, which came second, was sanctioned, the producer has become a target for internet ire (“you should be better than this,” one user tweeted at him), because it looks as if an established DJ and producer is pushing a newcomer out of the spotlight.
As a result, a potentially triumphant moment has devolved into a debate over who stole from whom. While Southstar initially sampled Oliver Tree without permission, he has also publicly accused Schulz of theft. “He said to me [via Instagram message], ‘I’m sorry. I thought we’d do the song together. I never wanted to steal your song,’” Southstar tells Billboard. “I think it was a lie from him.”
In a short statement, a representative for Schulz said only that “Southstar listened to the wrong counselors. His team decided to go a confrontational way instead of a conciliatory [one].”
This duel serves as a cautionary tale for rising artists: Taking a “wait and see” approach to clearing a sample can have dire consequences. And it’s a reminder of how sharp-elbowed the music industry can be, especially when hits are involved. Although tens of millions of listeners have played Southstar’s “Miss You,” a representative for Atlantic Records — which owns rights to the Oliver Tree original, “Jerk” — said in a statement that “the Oliver Tree and Robin Schulz version… which we commissioned, is the definitive version.”
“Southstar remixed ‘Jerk’ without permission,” the statement continued, “and then released a version with re-recorded vocals to avoid fully compensating Oliver Tree and his label.”
Southstar does not deny that his initial remix was unauthorized, but he “loved it so much” that he felt compelled to put it out anyway. He says he had already finished the “Miss You” instrumental when he encountered Tree’s vocals on TikTok. “Jerk” is a somber, pouting rock song, but the clip Southstar encountered on the app was sped-up, so Tree’s voice sounded chirpy and helium-addled, at odds with his misanthropic lyrics. Southstar found the a capella version of the track on YouTube, took what he wanted from it, and wove it into “Miss You.”
Excited, the producer proceeded to upload “Miss You,” uncleared sample and all, to streaming services in May. He notes that he reached out to Tree “out of respect” on Instagram before uploading the song, but did not hear back. “It was always in my head that the song was not cleared,” Southstar adds.
It’s not uncommon for unknown artists to upload songs with uncleared samples in them. The vast majority of these tracks never become popular, so they continue to float around the internet, flying beneath the music industry’s commercial radar. Challenges arise, however, when songs featuring uncleared samples go viral. Now the piece of music is worth money, and sample owners come knocking, looking for their rightful cut. The artist who didn’t clear the sample has little to no leverage in the ensuing negotiations, because those rightsholders can issue a takedown for copyright infringement, stopping a hit in its tracks.
Few people listened to “Miss You,” according to Southstar, until the German rapper Yung Hurn posted the track on his Instagram story. The single then started to carom around social media, and soon Southstar was fielding offers from all the major labels. “Sony and Universal came to me and said, ‘We really love the song, and we can get it cleared for you,’” the producer recalls.
Atlantic, Oliver Tree’s label, was also in the hunt, pursuing a viral dance track based on a record in its catalog. “Atlantic U.S. came to me and they said — really unfriendly — ‘Look, we know you have the song, and we want to buy the song from you,’” Southstar says. He says they offered him less than 10,000 euros, and it was “not a nice offer.” A representative for Atlantic disputed this: “Any claim that we didn’t try to negotiate with Southstar in good faith to license his infringing version of the track is not true.”
Southstar had initially sampled “Jerk,” meaning that he needed to obtain rights to sample both the recording (what’s known as “the master”) and the composition (“the publishing”). To escape the first obligation, he had a studio singer re-record Tree’s vocals. Since Southstar was no longer sampling the “Jerk” recording, he then only had to get clearance from the three songwriters responsible for the melody and the lyrics of the track — Tree, Marshmello, and David Pramik. Southstar obtained that clearance; in exchange, he gave up 100% of his publishing.
What happened next was bizarre, like watching a man try to shake his shadow.
Southstar signed with Sony’s B1 Recordings and released his new, officially cleared version of “Miss You” on July 30. Atlantic released their own remixed version on Aug. 5.
Months later, on Oct. 12, Southstar released a sped-up version of his track. Just five days passed before Atlantic released a sped-up version of Schulz’s song.
Southstar was working at his job in a Berlin supermarket the day he heard Schulz’s “Miss You.” “I was so shocked I really couldn’t believe it,” he says. “Schulz had played my music before. And I had already written to him — ‘You are so nice, thank you so much for playing my songs in your set.’ I thought, ‘No way he could have actually done that.’”
Southstar’s “Miss You” has more than 65 millions streams on Spotify, an enviable total for a new act. But Schulz’s “Miss You” has more than 107 million. It’s getting roughly twice as much support from streaming services — last week, Schulz’s version appeared in 203 of Spotify’s editorial playlists, according to the analytics company Chartmetric, while Southstar’s popped up in 107. The gap between the two versions is even more pronounced on the airwaves: Schulz’s “Miss You” is growing at pop radio, while Southstar’s rendition is relegated to a few dance-focused stations.
“Wolfgang Boss [who runs B1] called me and said, ‘I’m really sorry, I have never ever in all my years in the music business seen something like this happen,’” Southstar says.
In case there wasn’t enough drama and complication, the producer Twisted put out a third remix of Tree’s track called “Worth Nothing” in September. That one was also initially uncleared before earning an official release via Black 17 Media and Artist Partner Group. (APG was in a JV with Warner and Atlantic before going independent.) “Worth Nothing” is actually performing better than the other two remixes of “Jerk” on Spotify’s Global Viral 50 chart.
As the versions continue to pile up, Southstar is trying to move on — to think about the next hit. “I think I can do that again,” he says. “And I’m really motivated now.”
Today (Nov. 11), the highly-anticipated sequel to the 2018 blockbuster film Black Panther, called Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, reaches theaters in the United States. But already, its soundtrack — released today through Roc Nation/Def Jam/Hollywood Records — is making waves: its lead single, “Lift Me Up” by Rihanna, debuted at No. 2 on the Hot 100 this week, the elusive singer’s 32nd top 10 record and first since 2017, and became just the fourth song this century to debut in the top 10 of the all-format Radio Songs chart.
It’s a considerable success, not just for Rihanna but for the Wakanda soundtrack as a whole, which is full of artists from Nigeria, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S. and blends local language music and artists with the cultural connectivity of the film — and helps Def Jam’s executive vp/chief creative officer and one of the producers of the project, Archie Davis, earn the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
“There’s a spiritual connection with this song and the conviction in Rihanna’s delivery that engages listeners,” Davis says about “Lift Me Up.” “I think once audiences see the film, they’ll feel that energy even more.”
Here, Davis tells Billboard about putting the soundtrack together, the impact of Rihanna’s involvement, as well as that of filmmaker Ryan Coogler, composer and producer Ludwig Göransson, and late Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman, and the strategies behind marketing soundtrack albums as opposed to an artist’s album. “A great soundtrack reminds you of a film, but a great album feels so vivid that you can almost see it play out in your head,” he says. “We try to do both.”
This week, the lead single from the Wakanda Forever soundtrack, Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up,” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became just the fourth song this century to debut in the top 10 of the Radio Songs chart. What key decision did you make to help make that happen?
It was a team effort, one thousand percent. It was important we set up the release properly on such a short timeline. A key component was carrying this record on tour around the world to make sure the right people heard it before it was released. Shout out to our radio teams at both Def Jam and Roc Nation for working tirelessly, leaving no stone unturned. All the records that our radio teams broke helped pave the way for us to debut in the fashion we did. The music video was also an integral component, which we shot on the Monday of release week and had out by that Friday. It was a complete effort by everyone to help us debut “Lift Me Up” with real impact.
This is Rihanna’s first song as a lead artist since 2016. How did you get her involved in this project?
I give all credit to the filmmaker for connecting with her when she saw the film. I think that helped move her emotionally to even want to be part of this project. Kudos to Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Göransson, and a million praises to Tems, Rihanna, Tunji, Wale, Davies, Jay Brown, Omar Grant, Shari Bryant, and the whole Roc Nation team for pulling it together. I also think, in a way, a lot of this came from Chad.
What was it about this song that you felt resonated so well, not just for the film but also among music fans?
Its relatability. The lyrics “Lift me up / hold me down, keep me close / safe and sound.” There are so many people we wish we could say that to. Those are words we tell our children, wish our ancestors could say to us, maybe even pray at times. There’s a spiritual connection with this song and the conviction in Rihanna’s delivery that engages listeners. I think once audiences see the film, they’ll feel that energy even more.
What did you want to get across with this soundtrack?
We wanted this project to be an immersive audio experience. I see the music existing as an invisible character, an extension of Wakandan culture that can be heard sonically and felt emotionally. These songs are all tied to emotions in a way I’ve never seen done before in a film. There’s an intentionality behind all the music, and my hope is audiences will be equally submersed in the music as they are experiencing the film. The two entities work hand in hand. There are a few different languages on the soundtrack, but those willing to research will find easter eggs through the music.
This album features a slew of Nigerian and Mexican artists, as well as American and British hip-hop artists. How did you choose who was involved and how did you make sure that it all fit together?
I think we chose by prioritizing authenticity to the story and understanding the nature of our platform. For example, while exploring Mayan Mexican culture it was important to choose artists that could relay such a precious identity. However, that’s not to say we couldn’t hear an artist like Rema shine the way he does on “Pantera” alongside Aleman. This is where Ludwig’s genius presents itself. He was learning how to construct these sounds with producers from their respective cultures while simultaneously experimenting. Authenticity was paramount. We also wanted to make sure the voices of many, even some that are lesser known, were represented. To think this movie and music would only resonate in the U.S. would’ve been a disservice.
Soundtracks can be hit or miss on the charts — some come and go, but some become massive hits. What goes into making a great film soundtrack that also translates to chart success?
In my opinion I believe it’s a great story, amazing narrative, and a host of incredible artists that care about the art being created. None of this can be done without amazing artists. If everyone understands the weight of the message we’re trying to convey it helps tremendously. My job is to make sure I help that message resonate within culture and the world. A massive amount of research goes into these projects, and direction from the composer and director helps as well. We’re ultimately trying to create a world that’s portrayed visually with music and there’s a great level of care that goes into each project. Those are general pillars, but each project is different from the last. Being able to learn, adapt and react is important. Sometimes there’s momentum or energy that comes from the least expected places that you must follow. It may lead to a dead end, but there’s something to learn in that process. Being able to harness those experiences and channel it holistically with a clear vision in mind all combines to make a great soundtrack.
What goes into developing and marketing a soundtrack like this as opposed to an artist’s album?
Soundtracks are worked on by lots of people, with many influences and real deadlines. When it comes to marketing a soundtrack, I feel like you’re also marketing the community to ensure it’s surrounded by the culture being represented. I think a key difference with a soundtrack is I have a built-in story I’m moving off of, whereas an artist is a blank canvas. An artist’s album a lot of times is someone’s real life experience. It’s a different conversation when you have to put your face out there as an artist. With a soundtrack like this you get to play make believe, in a way. There’s more room for imagination and that’s where we can expound upon as much as possible for the audience. A great soundtrack reminds you of a film, but a great album feels so vivid that you can almost see it play out in your head. We try to do both.
The Warner Music Group has launched a new label, called OUT OF ORDER, that will highlight artists from emerging markets including Africa, India, the Middle East, Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, the company announced Thursday (Nov. 10). The new label will partner with Parlophone in the U.K. and Atlantic in the U.S., as well as the local WMG affiliates in respective markets, according to a press release; its tagline is “a diverse collection of sounds in no particular order.”
OUT OF ORDER plans to put a spotlight on several different types of creators in each region with a focus on “dance-leaning records,” with artwork created by local designers and a weekly radio show with hour-long DJ sets inspired by tracks from each of the albums, with the mixes hosted on Audiomack, SoundCloud and YouTube.
“I’m incredibly passionate about this initiative,” said Selina Chowdhury, Warner Music’s head of emerging markets, who will run OUT OF ORDER, in a statement. “There’s so much unique and inspired international music that often doesn’t have a global platform. We hope that OUT OF ORDER will take music fans on an adventure and introduce them to sounds and artists they might not otherwise have had the chance to hear.”
Selina Chowdhury
Courtesy Photo
The label’s first release, out Thursday, is called OOO: AFRO, which Warner says “features a mix of Afrobeats, Amapiano and House tracks from the likes of Da Capo, Makhadzi, Moelogo, Oscar Mbo, P-Priime and Rouge,” with artwork by Ghanaian designer Nyahan Tachie-Menson, who said in a statement, “There’s so much going on with the music emerging from individuals on the continent; something we can all relate to is the vibrancy of the music, and that’s what I captured here.”
“Africa is a continent rich with various sounds, which have for the longest time influenced popular culture, but is only now really being spotlighted for its contributions,” Warner Music Africa’s creative lead Garth Brown said in a statement about the release. “This album showcases some of the music from across the continent. It’s an opportunity to give the world a peek of what Africa sounds like.”
OUT OF ORDER’s next release, set for early next year, will be in partnership with Warner Music India.
Ghazi believes some stories are “better told in rewind than forward.” How EMPIRE — the independent label, distributor and publisher that he established in 2010 — acquired Dirtybird is one of them.
On October 20, EMPIRE announced its acquisition of Claude VonStroke’s stalwart dance imprint, which has nurtured an inimitable, off-kilter brand of house and techno since its 2005 launch.
Under the agreement, EMPIRE obtains ownership of Dirtybird’s back catalog and all future releases, for which EMPIRE will now handle distribution and publishing. The deal — representing EMPIRE’s first stride into the dance/electronic space — includes Dirtybird’s clothing and Web3 assets, excluding only Dirtybird’s live events and festival brands. These rights are retained by Dirtybird CEO VonStroke, known by his given name Barclay Crenshaw, who will also continue to A&R Dirtybird and direct creative for its apparel line. (The rights to Dirtybird’s live events and festival brands were not a part of the negotiations. “I told Barclay early on, ‘We’re not an events company at this time — I think [the events are] better served to stay under your umbrella than under ours,’” Ghazi tells Billboard.)
Though negotiations between Ghazi and Crenshaw’s respective San Francisco-based multihyphenates started in October of 2021, Dirtybird’s appeal was apparent much earlier, according to Moody Jones, EMPIRE’s Senior Vice President of Digital & Creative, who will lead its dance/electronic department.
As the story goes, well before he accepted a role as EMPIRE’s Digital Marketing Director in 2018 — a move that propelled him from Canada to California’s Bay Area — Jones began producing his own music. In 2007, he went to a Toronto event where Crenshaw played an opening set as Barclay Crenshaw, his hip-hop-centric artist project that predated his launch of the Claude VonStroke moniker in 2006. There, Jones first met Crenshaw. Five years later in Montreal, Jones played the first-ever Dirtybird BBQ.
Over the years, one slot at a Dirtybird event begat another for Jones, who along the way formed a professional relationship with Crenshaw, his wife Aundy Caldwell Crenshaw (who serves as Dirtybird’s Chief Operating Officer) and the sprawling Dirtybird collective at large. A friend of the brand with an ear for Dirtybird’s idiosyncratic sound and an eye for business solutions, Jones assisted the Crenshaws with advising, consulting, marketing and artist promotion. Their early collaboration — coupled with Jones’ newfound proximity to Dirtybird HQ and his continued closeness with the Dirtybird crew — organically created the circumstances that would underscore the now-17-year-old brand as a complementary fit for EMPIRE and later aid its acquisition.
“I was very interested in their business model,” says Jones. “When we were out, I’d always ask questions and they’d always ask me for advice on how things are done on our end. The conversation started shifting from being about marketing to being about operating and scaling. I’d learned so much from being around Ghazi that a lot of the things I started saying [about EMPIRE] seemed like competitive advantages to Dirtybird. We [the Crenshaws] began talking about Dirtybird and what it would take to scale it.”
Thus, when Ghazi expressed interest in expanding EMPIRE’s hip-hop-concentrated scope to include dance/electronic, Dirtybird emerged as a natural fit.
Jones highlighted the similarities of the cultures within Dirtybird and EMPIRE, Ghazi’s own homegrown business — which has been responsible for several Billboard Hot 100 hits and key releases that have raised the profiles of hip-hop mainstays like Kendrick Lamar and Anderson .Paak. Armed with proprietary software that enables EMPIRE to distribute its music to digital streaming platforms, the hip-hop stronghold has increasingly expanded its sonic purview, venturing into Afropop and Afrobeats, country, Latin, R&B, and now, dance/electronic.
“He [Jones] jumped into my office and he said, ‘Hey, what do you think about buying Dirtybird?’ And I basically responded, ‘Why not? That would be a great acquisition for us, a San Francisco company,’” says Ghazi. “And he proceeded to tell me that there might be a synergy and a possibility for us to make the acquisition.”
“Aundy and I spoke to several companies in this process,” Crenshaw tells Billboard of the deal. “EMPIRE was always the best fit, simply because Ghazi understands the value of our brand name. We kept every single employee from top to bottom, and I still run the label with Deron Delgado and our killer team. I have also been friends with Moody Jones for years and years, so it was very reassuring that he was spearheading the dance division.”
“Tons of buyers just wanted to analyze the catalog and look at pure math,” Crenshaw continues. “I’ve never been a math guy; I’m a vibes guy. Dirtybird means something special to its fans, and that is why it’s one of maybe one or two U.S.A. house brands that everyone recognizes by name. Ghazi and Moody understand that, and I think we are going to have even more fun in our new home.”
Ghazi and Jones declined to disclose financial details of the acquisition to Billboard, but expounded on their motivations for bringing Dirtybird to roost at EMPIRE.
There are a number of independent dance labels that EMPIRE might have considered acquiring. Beyond the personal association, why Dirtybird?
Jones: I don’t know if Ghazi would’ve even considered Dirtybird [if not for my suggestion]. I was at Dirtybird Campout West Coast 2021 with Nima [Etminan, also of EMPIRE], and we saw the culture, the fanbase, the loyalty, the energy, and we knew it had a synergy. I saw them being hands-on with everything.
Our company is very culture-driven. Having an impact on culture is one of the pillars for us, and being a Bay Area company meant so much to us. We wanted to move into dancefloors a little bit stronger, and I can’t think of another company that would’ve complemented us the way Dirtybird does. There’s no other company that crossed every one of those boxes for us.
And when Ghazi sat down with Barclay and Aundy and got to meet her, knowing the people behind the company and how hard they work, it [was clear that it] really was their blood, sweat, and tears that put Dirtybird together. That meant a lot to us. Family is a big thing for us, and Dirtybird is literally their family business. Luckily, we [Barclay and Aundy] had built a relationship a long time ago — and honestly, life just came full circle.
Ghazi: It was a perfect fit. Our core DNA has always been hip-hop, and Barclay had a really strong affinity for hip-hop, so there were a lot of synergies between what Dirtybird was doing primarily as a dance company, and what we have historically done as a hip-hop company that’s moved into all these other verticals — like Afrobeat, Latin, R&B, and things of that nature.
I saw that there would be this holistic approach to music. You could just see it all blend together, merge into one, and be really impactful, because it makes all the sense in the world to have a dance department or a dance arm in a company like ours. We have tons of hit records that deserve to have dance remixes and dance mixes in general, and that goes beyond even just the core of what Dirtybird has already accomplished on their own.
So, for me, the initial thought process in the very beginning was like, “Oh cool, we could have a remix arm.” And then I got to spend time with Barclay and see the festivals, the culture, and everything else, and I was like, “Yo, this is a no-brainer. These guys, through and through, mean to the dance world what I think EMPIRE means to the hip-hop space.”
Naturally, it sounds like there will be an increase in the amount of hip-hop sound on Dirtybird given EMPIRE’s strength in this domain.
Jones: If you look at the sound that Dirtybird has embodied over the last three years, you’ll notice that it’s changed so much compared to the Dirtybird sound that we had early on. They’re moving into drum ‘n’ bass, they’re doing a lot more garage, and they’re doing a lot more experimental. And Barclay Crenshaw [the artist project] is more hip-hop-leaning than electronic, so I think Dirtybird will continue to be experimental. We’re going to continue to push the boundaries of electronic music, but I think now, we’re going to be able to equip Dirtybird with the ability to work with more hip-hop artists and work in different territories to push the sound to even more regions.
Outside of hip-hop, are there any other genres that you’d like to see Dirtybird work with to a greater degree?
Ghazi: Definitely a lot of the African music [Afropop/Afrobeats] that we’re doing at EMPIRE, 100%.
Given that Barclay will continue to A&R Dirtybird, you’ll be working together to advance these sounds. What do you hope this relationship will look like?
Ghazi: We’re hoping to continue letting Dirtybird do what they do best, but on top of that, increasing the volume and variety of releases that they’re doing, and giving them the tools and resources that they need to go even further. In the past, they did a few albums per year. We want to increase that number significantly, and we want to be able to give them more music videos — whatever types of tools and resources other genres have been accustomed to. We want to bring those to dance to give dance the same spotlight other genres have.
Looking ahead, what is the value of the Dirtybird catalog going forward?
Ghazi: Definitely in syncs, stems, derivative works, physical like vinyls and merch, and emerging territories where the music might not have even touched yet. I don’t know the whereabouts of the previous distributor’s reach, but we have a very far reach, so we’ll make sure that the music is in every nook and cranny in every part of the world.
Jones: It’s also in the re-releasing of a lot of products. I think a lot of the Dirtybird sound was ahead of its time, and I think a lot of these albums and singles can resurface again and be repackaged and delivered to an audience that is ready for it today that might not necessarily have been ready for it back then. Plus, there are a lot of [digital-only] releases that might have [worked well on] vinyl.
EMPIRE is a strong proponent of artist empowerment. What are some of the resources at EMPIRE that will help empower Dirtybird artists in ways that might not have been previously possible?
Ghazi: We have a huge facility in San Francisco where we do a lot of creative work. We just did a writing camp there a few months back for an African album we’re about to release. I would love to be able to do writing camps in the dance space, and I would love to increase the output of music videos with both our in-house video staff and the resources and the relationships that we have across the video sphere in the marketplace.
Additionally, more strategic marketing, more digital marketing, and greater transparency on analytics — because we are a supply chain distribution company by design, so I think empowering the artists with analytics and information is going to give them greater insight into how to market their music. We’re a very powerful marketing company, and there could be a momentous shift onward and upward for the Dirtybird side of the company and for dance as a whole for EMPIRE.
Jones: One of the last things we’re working on — and I don’t want to give away too much too soon — [is changing the nature of label deals in dance music]. One of the things I’ve noticed is that a lot of genres [have changed] in terms of the deals that labels have with artists, and I feel dance is one of the very last ones to make that change and have more transparency in deals and give better splits.
With the aid of EMPIRE, I think we can help revolutionize the whole dance scene — not just Dirtybird — by bringing this sound onto all the digital streaming platforms, and giving artists more favorable deals. I think [the deals] are a reason why, in the past, a lot of artists haven’t been loyal to their labels. You know, when every release is with a different label. But I think we can help revolutionize that and build a proper dance culture with the artists as well.
As part of our annual Indie Now package, we asked notable figures in the independent scene to offer advice on how to succeed in the industry. Below, electronic producer/digital artist Pat Lok talks to Billboard’s Katie Bain.
I was lucky enough to write an NFT clause into an indie single deal of mine back in February 2021, via the Australian label Club Sweat [a subsidiary of Sydney-based record label Sweat It Out]. Verbatim, the contract said, “Licensers shall retain exclusive rights to create and exploit NFTs in connection with license masters.” I actually did exploit that for my Alaska drop, a collaboration with Party Pupils, on [NFT marketplace] Catalog in October 2021.
[These clauses] allow you to be versatile in a way that’s reminiscent of the SoundCloud and Hype Machine era, where the energy was, “Who knows what we’re going to do today?” You can talk to your audience and get them excited about something you’re dropping tomorrow. That’s something labels traditionally shy away from. Often, it’s hard to get even a same-day response from a label because they’re so busy.
The thing to keep in mind is that a lot of NFT collectors are already following artists they like or have found [out about] through the Web3 space, so the marketing of NFTs is really driven by artists doing the legwork. My perspective is to consider the value-add [of a label]. There are a few different scenarios of how they may be involved with an NFT project, but a lot of labels are not even really thinking about it yet because even the majority of artists don’t yet know how to do this. It’s cool if you’re able to say, “We agreed upon 10% for the gross of my share.” That seems super fair, as it’s similar to an agent contract. Meanwhile, the manager/artist split on this stuff is also all over the board, and that should be as important [as a conversation with a label] because the manager is going to be talking to the label side.
These clauses are niche, but very important, and I think the standard is being built deal by deal right now. It’s important we have conversations about NFT clauses so that artists, especially new artists, don’t just give up their NFT projects before knowing what they’re worth. It’s just like with your masters.
This story will appear in the Nov. 5, 2022, issue of Billboard.
Legendary lawyer Don Passman has likened the music biz and its transformation in the digital era to a Rubik’s Cube. It shifts so much that there have now been 10 editions of his industry bible, “All You Need to Know About the Music Business.”
The industry’s challenges, however, did not deter the lay economists at NPR’s Planet Money podcast after they heard an old song called “Inflation.” The funky, moody track with lyrics like “Inflation is in our nation… I can see a depression coming on” was written in 1975 when inflation was at levels slightly higher than today. A cassette tape of the song by Earnest Jackson‘s Sugar Daddy and the Gumbo Roux showed up in Planet Money hosts Sarah Gonzalez and Erika Beras‘ mailbox one day, and they “got a little obsessed” — so obsessed they embarked on an 8-month effort to start a record label and publish the song.
Gonzales and Beras discuss the challenges of creating a label, striking deals with different stakeholders and promoting the never-before-published song over two episodes of the podcast, this week.
Describing their reporting to Billboard, Gonzalez and Beras say that in the course of creating a contract that split revenue between the label and musicians, they came up with what Passman describes as “possibly the worst record deal I’ve ever seen, from a record company point of view.” (Passman was interviewed for the podcast.)
“We are not doing this to make money. We are really doing this because we want to explain the music industry,” Gonzalez says. “It’s just really difficult to make money in this industry, which we all knew. But it’s not until you get into it that you really understand it.”
If a typical deal gives 80% of revenues generated by a song to the record label and 20% to the musicians, Planet Money proposed giving 80% to the musician, namely singer and songwriter Earnest Jackson, and keeping 20% for their label. The hosts felt that was a fair deal given that even if the song was streamed 1 million times, they could only expect to collect around $4,000 total.
After much back-and-forth with Jackson’s old bandmates, which included Journey bassist and American Idol host Randy Jackson and others who went on to successful music careers, they landed on a deal that gives about 67% to Earnest Jackson, 15% to the bandmates and the remainder to the label and others.
Any revenue generated from the song that goes to NPR will go back into producing more shows, Gonzalez and Beras say. They say they do not plan to recoup expenses from publishing and promoting the song, which included at least $10,000 in legal fees.
Once they uploaded the track to TuneCore and started promoting their first, possibly only hit, they learned that “Inflation” had to be streamed 5,000 times in the first week for the label to be able to pay for promotion. Fortunately, the song crested 65,000 plays in its first few days, but it still has some way to go to reach 1 million plays.
“No one ever makes money on streaming,” Beras says, when asked what she learned from her reporting. “I feel like I’ve repeated that a thousand times and never understood what I said.”
“We put all of our effort behind this song and behind Earnest Jackson and are going all in,” Beras says.
Next, they plan to make it a ringtone — which earns a bit more than streams — and they are trying to land it in a Netflix documentary.
Since launching their label last week, Planet Money has received two more submissions from musicians, according to Beras. For now, they are focused on “Inflation” and have no aspirations to “become music moguls,” Beras jokes.
Yahritza Y Su Esencia has signed a label deal with Columbia Records, Billboard can confirm. The deal is a partnership between Columbia and the trio’s regional Mexican indie label Lumbre Music, who first signed them in February.
Composed of 15-year-old singer-songwriter Yahritza Martinez and her brothers Armando (guitar) and Jairo (bass), the sierreño band is currently managed by their older sister, Adriana Martinez. In April, Yahritza y Su Esencia made chart history with their heartbreak track “Soy El Unico” as the youngest Latin performer to enter the Billboard Hot 100 debuting at No. 20. Since then, major Latin and mainstream record labels had expressed interest in signing the regional Mexican act.
“Lumbre is really happy to partner with Columbia Records for Yaritza Y Su Esencia. It speaks volumes for an American-Mexican indie label like us to work hand in hand with a major label,” says Ramon Ruiz, CEO of Lumbre Music. “We have been working hard to develop and really get the kids’ music out to the masses and we have done some great work with them, including their first diamond certification, but are so excited to take them to the next level. We are all so passionate about this project it was important that whoever came into the project felt that same passion, and both the artists and Lumbre felt that with Columbia from the get-go. It felt like the right choice. Great things are coming for Yahritza Y Su Esencia!”
Yahritza Y Su Esencia, up for best new artist at the 2022 Latin Grammys, broke out on TikTok earlier this year where they uploaded covers and quickly created a zealous fan base. In March, after being discovered by Lumbre Music on the platform’s For You Page, they released their first single, “Soy El Único,” which peaked at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart.
Since, they scored their first No. 1 on the Regional Mexican Albums chart with their debut album, Obsessed, released in May. Elsewhere, the five-track set debuted at No. 7 on Top Latin Albums, and it also entered the all-genre Billboard 200 at No. 173.
Yahritza Y Su Esencia added in a statement: “We are so excited to be working now with not only Lumbre but also a big label like Columbia! For us it’s just another step forward in accomplishing our dreams. We still have to go to school, but we are working hard on recording new music for our fans that we love so much and who helped get us to where we are today. We are very grateful to our entire team for all their support, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
Sony Music increased its annual forecast for revenue and operating income on Tuesday (Nov. 1) as it reported quarterly revenues were up 5.9% on the strength of its subscription streaming income and chart-topping hits.
Releases from artists including Beyoncé, Harry Styles, Future and Doja Cat helped Sony dominate Spotify’s Top Songs Global chart, with an average of 48 out of top 100 coming from the music major’s artists so far this year, executives said. That is up from an average of 36 songs in 2021.
Total Sony Music revenues rose 5.9% year-over-year to $2.58 billion (¥359.3 billion) for the second fiscal quarter ending Sept. 30. Operating income rose 23.9% to $570 million (¥78.7 billion) over the same period compared to a year ago.
Recorded music revenue rose 14.2% to $1.62 billion (¥224 billion). Within that segment, streaming for recorded music revenues rose 6.8% (in US dollars), physical revenues declined 4.2% (in US dollars) and “other” revenues, which includes sync licensing, merchandise and touring revenues, rose 33.4% (in US dollars) as the industry rebounded from a pandemic-led slowdown.
Publishing revenues overall rose 24% in US dollars. The visual media and platforms segment’s revenues declined 9% due to a softening in the Japanese company’s anime business.
Sony Music’s parent company believes the risk of a global economic slowdown is increasing due to rising tensions with China, high energy costs, persistent inflation and interest rates hikes in various countries. “We are taking steps to prepare for further deterioration of the business environment in each of our businesses,” said Hiroki Totoki, Sony’s executive deputy president and chief financial officer, during the earnings call.
However, Totoki is less concerned about the prospects of its music division. Sony Corporation raised Sony Music’s revenue target for the full fiscal year by ¥90 billion yen to ¥1.37 trillion ($9.8 billion at Sony’s assumed exchange rate for the second half of the fiscal year). Executives also raised Sony Music’s operating income target by ¥35 billion to ¥265 billion ($1.9 billion at the assumed exchange rate). “Streaming is very successful and we don’t really have that much of a concern,” he said when asked by an analyst about what risks the music segment faces.
In addition, the company’s recorded music and publishing segments’ operating income benefitted from a one-time benefit of $41.2 million (¥5.7 billion) in the quarter from settlements of multiple copyright infringement lawsuits.
Volatile foreign currency markets in the quarter negatively impacted Sony’s sales and operating income, executives said, and caused a divergence in the company’s earnings as reported in Japanese yen versus the U.S. dollar. This positively impacted Sony Music’s earnings as calculated in yen – about 61% of the yen-denominated gain came from the impact of foreign exchange rates – and negatively impacted the company’s earnings when converted to dollars.
The company’s operating income margin rose 22%, or 3.3 points year-over-year, while its EBITDA margin, a key measure of company profitability, was up 26.5%, or roughly 3 points.