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The 2026 Grammy nominations were announced Friday (Nov. 7), with Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga highlighting some of the biggest categories. Within the traditional Big Four categories — record of the year, song of the year, album of the year and best new artist — Interscope led all record labels with eight nominees among the 32 slots, giving parent company Universal Music Group (UMG) a commanding 21 of those 32 nods. What’s more, Interscope’s leadership structure means its total is even higher: Interscope Capitol includes Capitol (two nominations), Motown (two nominations) and the joint HYBE/Geffen partnership that signed KATSEYE (one nomination), meaning that Interscope Capitol led the way with 13 total nominations in those four categories.
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That marks the fifth time in the past eight years Interscope has led among labels. Interscope artists that received those nominations were Billie Eilish (record, song), Kendrick Lamar (record, song, album) and Lady Gaga (record, song, album). Capitol’s nominations were for Doechii (record, song), Motown’s came for Leon Thomas (album, best new artist) and KATSEYE’s nomination was for best new artist.
In second among labels with six nominations is Island Records, which achieved a few feats of its own. For the second year in a row, the label had two nominees for best new artist. This year, those two honorees are Olivia Dean and Lola Young, while last year, Carpenter and Chappell Roan were both nominated (Roan ultimately took home the award). Island — which led all labels last year, when Carpenter and Roan were both nominated in all of the Big Four categories — also saw additional nominations for Carpenter (record, song and album) and Roan (record), each of whom has received nominations in those categories for the second year in a row. Carpenter now joins Taylor Swift (who has done it twice) as the only artists to receive album of the year nominations in back-to-back years since the categories were expanded from five to eight nominees for the 2019 ceremony.
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Island is also part of a larger structure in REPUBLIC Collective, which encompasses Republic Records, Def Jam and more. REPUBLIC Collective, overall, received eight nominations, as “Golden” from the Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack was nominated for song of the year for Republic Records and Justin Bieber’s SWAG album, released by Def Jam, was recognized for album of the year.
In third among labels is Atlantic, which got song and record nominations for ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ “APT.,” as well as best new artist nominations for Alex Warren and The Marías. In fourth is Rimas, home to Bad Bunny, who saw his DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS album nominated for album of the year, while its title track “DtMF” got song and record nominations. Columbia also grabbed two nominations — album of the year for Tyler, The Creator’s CHROMAKOPIA and best new artist for Addison Rae — while Roc Nation Distribution got a nod for releasing Clipse’s album of the year-nominated Let God Sort Em Out and Warner Records kept its best new artist success alive with a nod for Sombr, marking the seventh best new artist nod the label has racked up in the past six years.
Among label groups, the aforementioned UMG dominated with 21 nominations, while Warner Music Group accounted for five, the indies collectively garnered four and Sony Music had two.
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Singer-songwriter Dalton Davis has signed a label deal with MCA/Republic Records. The North Carolina native, who is managed by Alex Lunt at Type A/The Familie, just released his new song, “Cows in the Front Yard.”
“The word that is often used to describe Dalton is ‘unique.’ He has a rare ability to blend timeless country storytelling with a modern edge that feels completely his own,” MCA president/CEO Mike Harris tells Billboard in a statement. “His songs are rooted in authenticity, and you can hear both the grit of his experiences and the heart behind his perspective. At MCA, we’ve always prided ourselves on championing artists who define eras and set the standard for what’s next. Dalton has that same kind of undeniable voice and vision — he’s not chasing a trend, he’s carving out a lane that feels fresh but also true to the heritage of our roster.”
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Of “Cows in the Front Yard,” Davis said the inspiration came from “a life of having less and wishing for more. I remember being in middle school when Rich Boy released the song ‘Throw some D’s’ and thinking to myself, ‘One day, I’ll be rich enough to put some fresh rims on a box Chevy.’ Now at 30 years old ‘Cows In The Front Yard’ is my ‘Throw Some D’s,’ my redneck dreams coming to fruition while still hoping and dreaming for more.”
Davis’s journey has taken him from being adopted by touring Gospel artists, to working with hip-hop engineers and producers. He’s opened concerts for artists including Midland, Ashley McBryde and Dwight Yoakam, and recently relocated to Nashville, following years spent refining his sound in Chattanooga, Tenn.
“Gospel music and Hip-Hop have played a major role alongside country music in the shaping of my artistry and I will forever be thankful for that,” Davis says. “From Gospel music I learned to write congregational music where a listener can find inspiration and sing along with you by the second chorus. From Hip-Hop, I learned to write conversational music that could be sung or read aloud in a conversation with a friend and fit fine in either setting. ‘Cows In The Front Yard’ is the perfect example of me bringing those together through the country lens that I sing and see life through.”
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His new song builds upon previously released tracks including “Sit Crooked,” “Blue Ridge Sky” and “So Far So Good,” which were released independently.
“The end goal is to make records that people from two different walks of life can pull up to a stop light jamming out to my music and neither party feels like they have to turn down the record,” Davis says.
Dalton Davis
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Republic Records will be the label honoree at the 2025 Grammy Hall of Fame Gala, which will take place on Friday, May 16 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. John Mellencamp and Conan Gray are set to perform at the event to lead the tribute. Atlantic Records was the initial label honoree […]
Singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Amelia Moore has signed with Republic Records, the label tells Billboard. Born in Georgia and now based in Los Angeles, Moore is known for tracks including “next door” featuring ASTN and “see through,” the latter of which spawned a remix featuring Coco Jones, Absolutely and Samara Cyn last year. Moore’s first […]
At the end of 2023, Republic Records’ industry-leading current market share of 13.47% represented the best full-year mark for a label since at least 2015, encompassing the streaming era for the music industry.
But in 2024, Republic surpassed that: powered by mega albums by Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen and Sabrina Carpenter (the latter whose label Island Records is included in Republic’s market share along with Cash Money, Wallen’s labels Mercury and Big Loud and indie distributor Imperial), Republic posted a 14.90% current share, the second year in a row it led all labels by more than 4%.
Much of that can be attributed to the all-conquering success of Swift, whose Tortured Poets Department album was more than twice as big in the U.S. in 2024 than the second-biggest, Wallen’s 2023 album One Thing At a Time. But it also had to do with the remarkable rise of Island’s one-two punch of Carpenter and Chappell Roan, who each broke out this year with an album that ended the year among the 10 biggest of 2024: Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet and Roan The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. Year over year, Island quadrupled its current market share, from 0.62% in 2023 to 2.49% in 2024, helping Republic reach new heights.
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But Republic wasn’t the only label to have a big year: in second place was Interscope Geffen A&M, which saw its current share grow nearly two full points year over year, to reach 10.72% in 2024 — a share which grew steadily each quarter as the year went along. (Interscope’s market share also includes Verve Music Group.) Billie Eilish’s banner album Hit Me Hard & Soft led the way for IGA, but Kendrick Lamar’s cultural juggernaut “Not Like Us” was among the biggest songs of the year, while his Billboard 200-topping November album GNX helped capitalize on that momentum. Interscope, too, posted a share more than 4% higher than its next-closest competitor, Warner Records.
(One note: market share rankings do not reflect the Universal Music Group’s reorganization carried out this past February, which brought Def Jam under Republic’s purview and Capitol under Interscope’s; if it did, REPUBLIC would stand at a 15.46% current share, with Interscope Capitol at 14.70%.)
Which is not to say Warner Records had a down year: after posting a huge 5.96% current share in 2023, Warner had an even bigger 2024 and bested its sister label Atlantic Records for the first time in years. Warner (whose share includes Warner Nashville, Warner Latina and Rhino) reached a 6.55% share, led by breakout hits by Grammys best new artist nominees Benson Boone (“Beautiful Things”) and Teddy Swims (“Lose Control”), as well as the continued momentum of Zach Bryan, whose latest album The Great American Bar Scene delivered another major release for the label.
That meant Atlantic Records (which encompasses 300 Entertainment and Elektra) finished in fourth, dropping 1.21% from 2023 to land at 5.64% current share, in a year that was marked by a major transition in leadership. In fifth was Columbia Records, whose share includes some indie labels from distributor RED, which delivered a major album in Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter (and, later in the year, Tyler, the Creator’s Chromakopia) and a song in Hozier’s “Too Sweet,” but slipped slightly year over year to 4.59%. In sixth, RCA Records also dipped year over year, coming in at 4.11%, down from 4.67% in 2023.
Another label that saw an executive overhaul, Capitol Music Group — which includes Motown/Quality Control, Blue Note, Astralwerks and some of Virgin Music’s share — also decreased significantly, falling from a 5.91% current share in 2023 to 3.98% in 2024, dropping them to seventh overall. But the eighth and ninth labels — Epic Records and Alamo Records, respectively — saw significant gains, with Epic jumping to 2.59% from 2.31% last year and Alamo nearly doubling its share, from 1.13% in 2023 to 2.11% in 2024, with much of that coming from the success of its Santa Anna distribution company, which debuted in January 2023. Rounding out the top 10 is another Sony label, Sony Music Latin, which also grew, up to 2.04% in 2024 from 1.94% in 2023.
Among the label groups, two sectors saw significant growth, offsetting the others. The Universal Music Group, fueled by the huge successes of Republic and Interscope, grew 1.09% year over year, posting a 36.90% current share. Sony Music, on the other hand, fell 1.13% in current share year over year, to 25.96%. Warner Music Group also fell, dropping from 16.96% in 2023 to 16.33% in 2024 in current share, while the indie sector grew 0.67% year over year by current distribution, from 20.14% to 20.81%. By label ownership, the indie sector accounted for 38.91% of current share.
At the label group level, overall share — which includes catalog in addition to frontline releases — told a different story. Sony Music actually grew the most year over year, up 0.22% to 27.39% in overall share in 2024, while UMG grew 0.17% to 38.61%. Warner Music Group dipped from 18.63% to 18.39%, while by distribution ownership the Indies also fell slightly, from 15.77% to 15.62%. By label ownership, the indie sector accounted for 36.19% overall share.
Among the individual labels in overall share, Republic and Interscope still held the top two spots — at 10.39% and 10.17%, respectively — though Interscope’s deeper catalog made it closer than with current share. Similarly, Atlantic Records’ deeper catalog meant it took third place in overall share, leapfrogging Warner Records in fourth, at 7.63% and 6.88%, respectively. Columbia (5.97%) maintained the fifth spot, just edging Capitol Music Group (5.95%) in sixth, while RCA, Epic, Sony Nashville and Universal Music Nashville rounded out the top 10.
In catalog share — those releases that are older than 18 months — it was Interscope’s deeper bench that led it to an industry-leading 9.98% share, ahead of Republic’s 8.84% and Atlantic’s 8.31%. Warner Records (7.00%) came in fourth, while Capitol Music Group (6.62%) jumped to fifth, ahead of Columbia (6.44%) and RCA (5.31%) in sixth and seventh, respectively. Epic (2.70) landed in eighth, while Def Jam’s illustrious history, celebrating 40 years in 2024, carried it up to ninth, at a 2.19% share.
Among the label groups, UMG’s catalog share was an industry-leading 39.19%, while Sony posted a 27.87% share and the Warner Music Group ended at 19.09%, with the indies at 13.85%. Sony’s share was up from the 27.21% it claimed in 2023, while each of the other three declined slightly year over year.
Grammy-winning vocal group Pentatonix has signed with Republic Records, the label tells Billboard. “Pentatonix have always stood apart,” said Jim Roppo, president/COO of Republic Corps Collective, in a statement on the signing. “There has never been a vocal group like them, and they’ve been able to completely reinvent both a capella and the holidays to […]
As the third quarter of 2024 comes to a close, a familiar label is atop the current market share standings: Republic, which for the second straight quarter maintains a market share north of 15%, a remarkable achievement.
But while the story of Republic’s second quarter was the dominance of Taylor Swift — whose Tortured Poets Department remains far and away the biggest album of the year so far, more than doubling the second-placed title and still going strong — the story of its third quarter is the huge surge of Island Records, which is included under Republic’s market share alongside Mercury Records, Big Loud Records, Cash Money and indie distributor Imperial.
Buoyed by the breakout successes of Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, Island posted a 3.81% current share (defined as released within the past 18 months) for the three months between June 27 and Sept. 26. If Island were broken out on its own, that would have been good for seventh among all labels for that period, which boosted its nine-month current market share to 2.15% — about 3.5 times higher than its current market share was through the first nine months of 2023, while that 3.81% mark for the third quarter was 6.5 times higher than for the corresponding three-month period in 2023. (With Carpenter’s Short N Sweet and Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess at Nos. 1 and 2 on the Billboard 200 in this first week of the fourth quarter, that momentum is likely to continue.)
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That helped Republic post a 15.21% current market share through the first nine months of the year, itself a huge jump from its industry-leading 12.28% through three quarters of last year. But it wasn’t just Island: Republic itself is still floating on its TTPD high, while Post Malone’s F1-Trillion helped Big Loud and Mercury contribute to Republic’s share, too. And while Republic has receded slightly from the 15.72% it posted at midyear — when it outstripped the entire Warner Music Group — any label putting up a number higher than 15% is enjoying a massive year.
On the other coast, Universal Music Group’s other juggernaut, Interscope Geffen A&M, also saw a huge surge in the third quarter, which boosted its nine-month current share into double digits, as it posted a 10.13% share — up from 9.51% at the midyear mark and the 8.55% it held through the same period last year. The enduring success of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” — which will get a Super Bowl-sized bump early next year, too — and Billie Eilish’s still-hot Hit Me Hard And Soft album helped Interscope become the only other label to reach higher than 10%. (Interscope’s share also includes Verve Label Group.)
The success of both Republic and Interscope — the two labels around which UMG reorganized earlier this year — helped parent company Universal improve more than two percentage points in current share over the same period last year, jumping from 34.61% through nine months in 2023 to 36.65% this year. That gain has come at the expense of the other two majors, which slipped a bit year over year: Sony Music Group dipped from 27.50% through the first nine months of 2023 to 25.89% through the first three quarters of 2024; while Warner Music Group dropped from 17.46% last year to 16.25% this year for the same period, though the latter recovered enough from its 15.68% mark at midyear to climb back above Republic Records.
Year over year, the indie sector by distribution ownership also grew, up to a 21.21% current share through the first nine month of this year, as opposed to 20.43% during the same period last year, a significant uptick; the biggest song of the year so far, Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” was released by indie EMPIRE. (EMPIRE does not report its market share to Luminate, so its individual share cannot be broken out.) By label ownership, the indie sector remains the biggest segment of the business, racking up a 37.09% current share of the market, though that has come down somewhat from the 39.49% it had through the same period in 2023.
Beyond Republic and Interscope, there is more good news from Warner Records (which includes catalog label Rhino and parts of Warner Nashville), as it stays on the hot streak it has been on for the entirety of 2024. Its 6.54% nine-month mark keeps it in third place once again, a full percentage point above fourth-placed Atlantic (which includes 300 Elektra Entertainment), which posted a 5.51% current mark, better than its first two quarters but still down significantly from its 7.39% mark at the three-quarter period of 2023. (Remarkably, despite coming out of the gate so hot this year, Warner Records hasn’t cooled down: its 6.98% third quarter was its best three-month period of the year.)
In fifth and sixth are a pair of Sony Music labels that move up a spot in the rankings year over year, though both dropped in market share over the same period last year: Columbia Records, which includes some RED labels in its share, posted a 4.41% current mark, a slight uptick from its midyear 4.35% but down from last year’s 4.93% nine-month mark, when it was sixth; and RCA, at 4.30%, a dip from the 4.64% it had nine months into 2023, though it is up from seventh to sixth for this quarter. Capitol Music Group, in seventh place so far this year, posted a 4.04% current share; through nine months of 2023, it was in fourth place, at 6.01%.
Epic Records, with several high-flying hip-hop releases this year from Future, boosts its share from 2.39% three quarters through 2023 to 2.79% through the first three quarters of this year, rising to eighth place; while Sony Nashville (2.10%, down from 2.50%) and Sony Music Latin (2.05%, up from 1.96%), round out the top 10 labels by current share.
Overall market share — which combines all a label’s releases in the marketplace, rather than just those of the past 18 months — rearranges the board slightly, though Republic (10.49%) and Interscope (9.98%) still lead the way, both with slightly improved totals from last year’s period. Atlantic’s vast catalog means that it leapfrogs Warner Records into third, with a 7.66% overall share (down from 8.31% last year), while Warner’s 6.86% — up from 6.63% in 2023 — sees it move from fifth place last year into fourth this year. Capitol and Columbia come in fifth and sixth, though in a virtual tie at 5.87%; Capitol edged out Columbia by three thousandths of a percentage point, essentially a rounding error. RCA (5.03%), Epic (2.75%), Sony Nashville (2.07%) and Universal Music Nashville (1.84%) round out the top 10.
Among the label groups, overall market share remained largely static year over year: UMG and Sony each inched up, to 38.47% and 27.25% respectively year over year, while Warner dipped slightly to 18.42% and the indies, at 15.85%, remained flat. The catalog side is largely the same story: UMG dipped two tenths of a percent year over year, while Sony gained half a point and WMG and the indies were down slightly. Among the individual labels, Interscope took the top catalog slot, jumping above Republic to take a 9.93% share of the market, with Republic’s 8.87% edging out Atlantic’s 8.39%.
Republic Records has appointed Eddie Sears as its new executive vice president of creative, effective immediately. The announcement was made on Sept. 3 by Republic president and chief operating officer Jim Roppo.
In his new role, Sears will lead Republic’s creative team, working closely with the label’s entire roster. His responsibilities will include overseeing creative strategy, packaging design, visual storytelling, and immersive fan experiences for both superstar artists and emerging talent.
The department will also focus on short and long-form visuals, photo shoots, logo creation, and more.
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Roppo commented on the appointment, stating, “Eddie doesn’t just dig into the music; he completely entrenches himself within each artist’s vision. He studies every detail and proactively devises a creative strategy befitting of that vision. His spirit, energy, and creative expertise are unmatched, and I’m honored to welcome him to the Republic Records family.”
Sears, in turn, acknowledged the importance of creativity in the music industry. “Nothing is as powerful as an idea. On a daily basis, our team builds ideas for our artists, and we do so with an entrepreneurial mindset. Jim Roppo, Monte, and Avery Lipman know the importance of creative, and they’ve placed it at the forefront of Republic Records. Moreover, they’ve given us the latitude and support to really make an impact. It’s an honor to work with such an incredible team.”
Born in Italy, Sears has spent nearly a decade as the creative director at Ultra Records, where he worked with a diverse roster including Grammy Award-winning Black Coffee, Benny Benassi, Grammy Award-nominated Sofi Tukker, and Steve Aoki. Before that, he ran his own creative agency in Milan, serving clients across various industries. Sears is also known for his work as a singer, songwriter, and producer under the moniker Rocket Pengwin.
Sears will be based at Republic’s New York headquarters, where he will continue to bring his innovative vision and expertise to the label’s creative endeavors.
Punjabi superstar AP Dhillon has signed a label deal with Republic Records, Billboard can exclusively confirm. The singer-songwriter-producer’s first release on the label will be “Old Money,” a new single and video arriving this Friday (Aug. 9), with a new album, The Brownprint, following two weeks later, on Aug. 23.
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“Republic Records always saw the vision,” Dhillon says in a statement. “They got and understood who I am from day one. We’re all in harmony when it comes to this new music, and now I just can’t wait to show everybody what we’ve been cooking up.”
Monte Lipman, founder and chairman of Republic, adds, “AP Dhillon is not only an incredible artist who continues to defy gravity in real time, but a shrewd visionary with a global reach that has already sparked a cultural revolution. We’re thrilled to join forces with Universal Music Canada under the leadership of Chairman and C.E.O. Jeffrey Remedios to further extend AP’s impact and music around the world.”
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Born in India, Dhillon moved to Vancouver Island as a college student in 2015, and began independently releasing music in 2019. His 2020 single “Brown Munde” (“Brown Boys” in Punjabi) became a breakthrough, and has amassed nearly 700 million YouTube views to date.
Dhillon spent the following years touring globally while playing to arena audiences in Canada; now established as one of the more prominent Punjabi artists on the planet, his catalog has earned 94.5 million on-demand official U.S. streams, and 1.8 billion on-demand official global streams, according to Luminate.
Dhillon directed the music video for upcoming single “Old Money,” and the clip will star Bollywood icons Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt. “‘Old Money’ is the perfect way for me to start my next era, especially with going big for the music video,” he says. “I came up with a concept that was influenced by all my favorite action movies, and Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt showed up and killed it. I hope you love it as much as I do.”
Meanwhile, Dhillon co-produced the majority of The Brownprint, with DŹŁ (Future, Central Cee), Luca Mauti (J.Cole, Eminem) and AzizTheShake (BIA, Central Cee) also contributing to the upcoming album.
Republic Records has named Miles Beard and David Wolter as co-heads of A&R, the company announced today (July 15). Beard, based on the West Coast, and Wolter, based on the East Coast, will report to label president and chief creative officer Wendy Goldstein.
The duo, who both joined Republic in 2022, had previously served as executive vice presidents of A&R for the label. Their new roles will see them jointly lead the A&R development and strategy for the company, as well as oversee partnerships, alongside executive vp Danielle Price, who oversees the R&B/hip-hop A&R team.
“When it comes to A&R, Miles and David are two of the industry’s most savvy and visionary executives,” Goldstein said in a statement. “They could not be more different in terms of preferences, approach and even location of the two coasts, however they’re the perfect match to run this department. They share a rare passion for music and they’re intensely committed to championing their artists. Their partnership is genuinely next-level and will be integral to our success going forward. Our focus is creating a dominant A&R team with them along with our hip-hop/R&B initiatives.”
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Beard has worked with the Jonas Brothers, with Republic’s K-pop partners on Stray Kids and TXT, and on Republic’s recent deal with Nigerian label Mavin for the singer Ayra Starr, among other projects. Wolter, meanwhile, has worked with artists like Conan Gray, Greta Van Fleet, Miranda Lambert and Zoe Kravitz for the label. Republic Records — also home to superstars like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd and more — is part of Republic Recording Company, alongside Island Records, Def Jam Recordings, Mercury Records, Casablanca Records, indie distributor Imperial and the Corps team, under Monte Lipman and Avery Lipman.
“It’s incredible to work with Wendy, Monte and Avery Lipman, and my new partner Miles,” Wolter said in a statement. “We have so much support. Wendy’s instincts are unrivaled. Monte and Avery don’t stop, and it’s inspiring. When it comes to our artists, I just want to be a vigilant fighter for their artistry. My main hope is for our team to have a massive impact on culture and challenge the status quo.”
Wolter spent a decade at Virgin Records from 1997 through 2007, signing The Gorillaz, before spending another 10 years at RCA Records, before returning to Virgin under the Capitol Music Group umbrella in 2017, and then shifting to Republic in 2022. Beard, a longtime DJ, spent 10 years at Mike Caren’s APG, signing Charlie Puth, before moving to Republic.
“Wendy, Monte and Avery make you feel like anything is possible,” Beard said in a statement. “The way they balance being good people and being extremely competitive is one-of-a-kind. David and I are opposites. He’s a purist, I just love what people love. He has no filter, I’m measured. He’s tall, I’m short. We complement each other in every way. As an A&R, I want to make our artists feel comfortable and motivated to think as big as possible.”
