Touring
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With four No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and 15 top 10s over her 23-year career, P!nk is undeniably a pop superstar. But at Thursday night’s (Oct. 5) Summer Carnival tour stop at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., she made a pretty strong case that she’s a rock star too. P!nk has been […]
According to Drake‘s new song, his frequent collaborator and current tourmate, 21 Savage, has resolved his immigration issues — and a source tells Billboard the rapper is now planning an international tour.
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On Thursday (Oct. 5), Drake released a new freestyle called “8 AM in Charlotte,” and in it reveals — among other things — that 21 Savage has finally received his green card, after nearly being deported in 2019 due to an expired visa. On it, Drake raps: “Savage got a green card straight out of the consulate. Where I go, you go, brother, we Yugoslavian.”
The news comes at an opportune time for the Atlanta rapper as he’ll be helping Drake close out the final dates of his It’s All A Blur North American tour. The tour hits Toronto — Drake’s hometown and also, notably, not in the United States — for shows Friday and Saturday, before wrapping in Columbus, Ohio, on Oct. 9. At the tour’s previous Canadian tour dates, 21 Savage did not perform. J. Cole and Travis Scott filled in for him at the Montreal and Vancouver concerts, respectively.
21 Savage, who was born in the United Kingdom and legally arrived stateside at age 7, was arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in February 2019 after they said he was “unlawfully present” in the United States on a 2005 visa that expired one year after his arrival. In an interview last year with Math Hoffa for the My Expert Opinion podcast, 21 Savage explained how Jay-Z and Meek Mill helped get him out of custody.
“I called Meek while I was in jail and told Meek, ‘Bro, I just got locked up.’ He called Jay-Z, and Jay-Z put a lawyer on my case,” said 21 Savage. “He played a role in getting me out. He ain’t just doing that sh– for anybody just cuz your rap. You gotta be from a certain cloth… I don’t feel like he’s just doing that for anybody. I ain’t Roc Nation or none of that sh–.”
Despite his release, the arrest by ICE agents led to legal proceedings over his immigration status — a process that was further complicated in 2021 when Atlanta-area prosecutors unveiled criminal charges relating to drugs and a handgun allegedly during the 2019 arrest. In an interview with TMZ last year, 21 Savage’s lawyer said those criminal charges had been delaying any resolution of the immigration case.
A representative for the district attorney in DeKalb County, Ga., where the criminal charges were filed, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of that case. 21 Savage’s reps also did not respond to Billboard‘s requests for comment.
Additional reporting by Bill Donahue.
Singer-songwriter Oliver Anthony, known for his breakthrough Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping hit “Rich Men North of Richmond,” is playing one more show before the end of the year, and he’s making it a hometown celebration.
In an Oct. 4 social media post, Anthony noted that he will close out his run of concerts for 2023 with a show at Longwood University’s new Joan Perry Brock Center in Farmville, Va., on Oct. 28. Tickets for the show will go on sale Oct. 6 beginning at 10 a.m. ET, and tickets will be $25 each.
He also teased that since the show falls just days prior to Halloween, it may involve a few surprises.
“This one’s going to be close to Halloween, and we may or may not have gotten a gorilla suit. I’ll leave it at that,” he wrote on Instagram, adding a laughing emoji. “If you want to bring a costume, no one is going to stop you.”
The singer-songwriter also noted another reason for the reasonably early final show of the year: His wife is expecting a baby boy in November. “I had to squeeze in one more show before baby boy comes,” shared Anthony, who currently has two kids. “There’s no place like home.”
The concert news comes as Oliver Anthony recently aligned with United Talent Agency for booking representation. Among UTA’s clients are Jamey Johnson, Parmalee and Megan Moroney.
“I am pleased to announce that I hired two gentlemen in Nashville this week to help me with creating the 2024 tour,” he said on social media. “We’re going to be all over the U.S., and even doing some international travel. There’s no way I can pull that off by myself. Curt [Motley] and Jeffrey [Hasson] at UTA do all the legwork to make the performances happen safely and professionally.”
In August, the singer-songwriter’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” spent two weeks atop the Hot 100, while several of his other songs, such as “Ain’t Gotta Dollar” and “I’ve Got to Get Sober,” quickly populated the Hot Country Songs chart.
See his concert announcement below:
A “groundbreaking” scheme that gives concertgoers the chance to own a share of their favorite grassroots music venues has acquired its first property in the United Kingdom, delivering a much-needed boost to a struggling sector that’s still yet to fully recover from the pandemic.
The 100-capacity The Snug, located in the town of Atherton, just a few miles outside Manchester, is the first grassroots venue to be purchased as part of the “Own Our Venues” initiative by U.K. charity Music Venue Trust (MVT).
The scheme was launched last May and offers music fans the chance to become investors in small U.K. grassroots venues by purchasing community shares that are then used to buy out commercial landlords, effectively transferring ownership to the trust and local patrons.
To date, more than 1,250 investors have backed the pilot project, raising around £1.5 million ($1.8 million), with Ed Sheeran among its high-profile supporters. Funding has also come from Arts Council England and Arts & Culture Finance, who both contributed an additional £500,000 ($606,000) to the member-owned Music Venue Properties fund.
Share options begin at £200 ($250), although investors under the age of 25 can buy single shares at a discounted rate of £100 ($125). In return, investors receive 3% annual interest, generated through rent returns and more efficient running of the businesses, say organizers. To prevent big companies or corporations from becoming majority owners, shares are non-transferable and cannot be sold or traded with other investors.
Venue properties bought by the Music Venue Properties fund, such as The Snug, are leased back to the current operators at a reduced below-market rate, with venue managers also receiving financial support around maintenance, insurance and repairs.
The Snug’s managing director Rachael Flaszczak said the purchase of the seven-year-old venue “serves as a light of hope that the preservation of grassroots music venues can be done when people pull together to make things happen.”
Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Dayvd tells Billboard the acquisition represents “an amazing step forward” for a grassroots live industry that’s “currently in the middle of a crisis.”
According to the trust, 127 grassroots venues have closed or stopped putting on live music concerts in the United Kingdom in the past 12 months, representing around 16% of its members and depriving new acts of vital spaces to develop their craft in front of live audiences.
In the last 20 years, more than 500 grassroots music venues have shuttered in the United Kingdom, reports the trust, with notable closures including London’s The Marquee, Astoria, 12 Bar Club and Madame Jojos. Contributing factors include rising rents and costs, long-term lack of investment and the gentrification of surrounding areas leading to noise complaints and restrictive licensing conditions.
The pandemic and accompanying shutdown of the live music industry saw the United Kingdom’s grassroots music scene acquire £90 million ($110 million) of new debt, says Dayvd. Underpinning the fragility of the sector, 93% of small-capacity music spaces in the United Kingdom are run by tenants, with most having less than 18 months left on their tenancy agreements, according to MVT’s research.
To try and stop further closures, the trust has identified a further eight venues in U.K. towns and cities that it plans to purchase under what it calls a “world first” public ownership model and is in advanced talks with the landlords of two of those properties, says Dayvd. The trust’s long-term goal is to have a nationwide network of publicly owned properties whose status as music venues is protected for the long-term future.
“Many of the most pressing challenges faced by the sector are solvable by this issue of ownership,” says Dayvd, who wants to grow the number of fund investors to boost its buying power. He’s also keen to see the “Own Our Properties” scheme roll out to other countries where grassroots venue operators are under similar financial pressures.
“We have to accept that grassroots venues, wherever they are in the world, are doing the job of research and development — giving the stage to a young artist who’s written their first song or playing for the first time in front an audience,” says Dayvd. “It’s what pushes the industry forward, and we need to protect that pipeline.”
Drake‘s tour is all a blur, but his checks always clear. And because the Canada native is all about sharing the love, he’s been making sure to give back pieces of his wealth to the fans he’s been meeting on the road, in the form of expensive gifts. Throughout the It’s All a Blur trek, […]
Talent agency Wasserman has completed the acquisition of United Kingdom-based CSM Sport & Entertainment, expanding Wasserman’s service offerings and geographic footprint in the sports, music, entertainment and culture industries. CSM will continue to operate independently through the end of the year before fully integrating with Wasserman in 2024. The deal expands Wasserman’s reach and network […]
Benji and Joel Madden, the creative forces behind pop punk outfit Good Charlotte, successful music management outfit MDDN and streaming service Veeps are launching their most ambitious project yet.
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Today the famous music brothers are launching Veeps All Access, a new Live Nation-backed online video subscription service built atop the Veeps live-streaming infrastructure developed and launched by the Maddens in 2018 and acquired by Live Nation in January 2021. All Access is a shift for Veeps, which has operated as a pay-per-view business up until now, charging customers to access live and on-demand streams by artists like Southern rockers Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown or soul and R&B star Miguel, typically priced between $9.99 to $14.99.
All Access will grant fans access to all live shows streamed through Veeps as well on-demand content, special artist exclusives and original programing including the newly greenlit “Sidehustles” and “Artist Friendly,” Joel Madden’s music interview podcast-turned-video talk show, premiering tomorrow (Oct. 4) with Brandon Boyd of Incubus.
The price of All Access is $11.99 per month or $120 for annual pass, which is in line with other popular streaming services like Disney Plus which increases from $10.99 per month to $13.99 per month on Oct. 12, or Paramount Plus, which is now bundled with Showtime at $11.99 per month. Veeps also has struck early partnerships deals with Samsung, Ticketmaster, and Verizon and will be available on the Veeps app on iPhone, Android, Apple TV or Roku service.
Veeps All Access will kick off today with the premiere of The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie’s sold-out show from AZ Financial Theater, October and November will feature performances from a wide range of artists, including Run The Jewels, performing a special 4-night series live from the Hollywood Palladium October 11-14, pop acts Macklemore, Jessie Ware and Chappell Roan; hard rock, indie and alternative acts A R I Z O N A, Bad Omens, Bishop Briggs, Boys Like Girls, Misterwives, Nothing But Thieves, Senses Fail, Frank Turner and Waterparks; shows from rap and soul artists like OhGeesy, Flatbush Zombies, Kiana Ledé and Phabo and country artists such as Darius Rucker, Jason Aldean and Shane Smith & The Saints. New shows will be added weekly.
Joel Madden tells Billboard that the mission of Veeps has always been to connect fans who can’t attend a concert with their favorite artists, even if the artist is not touring in their city or the show is already sold out. He adds that by providing an affordable subscription option, Veeps is also helping Live Nation drive most artist discovery, connecting fans with a wider range of artists and their fan communities.
Veeps All Access will also include a wealth of archived content from artists including 5 Seconds of Summer, Aerosmith, Amy Winehouse, Dierks Bentley, Fall Out Boy, Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry, J Balvin, Lainey Wilson, Mumford & Sons, Muse, Niall Horan, Norah Jones, Poppy, PVRIS, Rage Against the Machine, Rolling Stones, Shania Twain, Slipknot, Sting, The Killers, The Smashing Pumpkins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs,= and more. Veeps will be powered by a show recommendation engine and nearly all concerts are delivered with spatial sound capabilities and high-quality 4K streaming.
Joel said partnering with Live Nation on the project has been critical to the company’s expansion, noting “If we call anyone inside Live Nation for help, we get support and access to a great group of people.”
Benji Madden added “there’s a lot of generosity with their resources and experience,” noting that “It’s taken a lot of investment build out a Netflix-style experience, but it’s important because everyone involved in this project believes that the future of live entertainment is access.”
That means reaching the far corners of the globe where bands don’t always tour — or finding a way for a fan that can’t be at the show to “have the same access that fans expect for their sporting events,” Joel Madden said. “We know that music fans are going to expect access more and more access with artists and we know that Live Nation is the right partner for to provide that access.”
Kyle Heller, co-founder and chief product officer at Veeps tells Billboard “one of the things that has blown us away on this journey is the attention a viewer pays to a Veeps show. We live in a world of 15-second clips, short-form videos, and quick 20-minute episodes dominating the landscape but when people switch Veeps on it’s not unusual for them to watch 2+ hours of content, uninterrupted. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen before.”
Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino added, “Live performances have a unique magic, and Veeps has done an incredible job bringing fans that experience in their homes. All Access is giving fans a new way to discover music and artists another marketing platform that will only continue to fuel the demand for live with an even bigger world of concerts at our fingertips.”
Subscription plans will initially be available in the U.S. with international expansion planned to meet Veeps’ global usership. Learn more and sign up at veeps.com.
Sphere Entertainment Co. shares rose 11.1% to $41.99 on Monday (Oct. 2) — and reached a high of $43.59, up 17.3% from Friday’s closing price — after the world got its first glimpses of the revolutionary concert venue over the weekend. The $2.3 billion venue opened on Friday (Sept. 29) with the first of 25 […]
Nine months before Live Nation made the headline-grabbing decision to cut merch fees at 77 of its clubs and theaters across the country, Ineffable Music Group did it first. Now, the company’s CEO, Thomas Cussins, has a piece of advice for other independent venue owners and operators concerned that the concert giant is using this tactic to curry favor with artists and agents and squeeze out their businesses: Everything will be OK.
“Merch money is not what is going to keep us in business,” says Cussins, whose company oversees 10 venues across California, including The Catalyst Club in Santa Cruz, the Ventura Music Hall in Ventura and the Golden State Theatre in Monterey. “What causes independent venues to go out of business is the one in 10 shows where venues pay way too much relative to the draw and end up losing everything they made on the previous nine shows.”
Cussins made the decision to stop charging acts performing at his venues a cut of their merch sales — a standard industry practice — while watching a Jan. 24 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about Ticketmaster. Cussins says it was members of the band Lawrence’s testimony about how much bands rely on merch money for touring that moved him to change the company’s policy: “It is money that most directly gets into the band’s pocket and the idea that we were taking away from that did not sit right with me.”
Since then, he says the decision has not hurt his business “at all.”
Still, independent venues remain concerned about what Live Nation’s new “On the Road Again” program will mean for them — how can they compete with the deals Live Nation is offering? The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) released a statement on Wednesday (Sept. 27) following the news, saying, “Temporary measures may appear to help artists in the short run but actually can squeeze out independent venues which provide the lifeblood of many artists on thin margins.”
Thomas Cussins
Daniel Swan
The statement continued, “The initiative announced yesterday may seem like a move to follow the lead of some independent venues. It is not that. Instead, it appears to be a calculated attempt to use a publicly-traded conglomerate’s immeasurable resources to divert artists from independent venues and further consolidate control over the live entertainment sector. Such tactics threaten the vitality of small and medium-sized venues under 3,000 capacity, many of which still struggle to keep their doors open.”
A NIVA member since 2020, Cussins says he understands why some NIVA members may be upset that Live Nation’s policy might put pressure on their businesses. But, he adds, eliminating merch fees is a net positive for the entire live music ecosystem — one where everyone is benefiting.
“It’s difficult to operate a single venue in a market against Live Nation,” says Cussins. “Venues are low-margin businesses. I’m not here to say that no one should charge merch fees. What I am here to say is that it is my opinion that if you waive those fees, it is an overall healthier ecosystem and you will actually do better in business because you are doing something that makes the process easier.”
What was your reaction when you heard the news that Live Nation was going to waive merch fees for artists?
I was ecstatic. It’s something I’m very passionate about because it fosters a healthier concert ecosystem.
Were you worried about the financial hit Ineffable would take when you decided to eliminate merch fees at Ineffable venues?
No, because merch money is not what is going to keep us in business. What causes independent venues to go out of business is the one in 10 shows where venues pay way too much relative to the draw and end up losing everything they made on the previous nine shows. I think it’s more productive spending one’s time fostering a healthier ecosystem where everybody has a chance to make money. To me, that means not taking artists’ merch money and artists taking more door deals, where the artist has an opportunity to make the most money.
But is that realistic? For many artists, taking a door deal with no guarantee is too risky.
Correct. Some can’t take that risk. But many other artists understand they can make more money on a door deal and lower the risk the venue faces. For independent venues to be healthy, we need volume, which means we need bands to be healthy and touring and making enough money to support themselves. And the money made from merch most directly affects their ability to be out on the road and do well.
What is your reaction to the statement NIVA issued, saying the On the Road Again program is just an attempt to squeeze out indie venues?
They’re doing what they think is in the best interests of their members. We’re members of NIVA and they have done an incredible job for our business. I’m a huge fan. But my take is that merch money is not what’s going to keep these independent venues in business. What’s going to keep them in business is a healthy concert ecosystem, where we’re keeping the bands healthy and keeping them on the road with deals that are fair so that everyone can make a few bucks and eat at the table together and nobody is gouging the other person.
What is the biggest challenge facing artists on the road right now?
It is the travel costs — the price of gas, vehicle rentals, the price to pay crews. If you are going out there and you are doing the same business and your costs have increased 30%, how can you possibly make that up? You might just not tour. I know a lot of bands that have told me they were doing 80 dates a year and now they just want to do 40. They just want to pick the 40 best markets. That hurts independent small businesses. I’m seeing that firsthand. Artists that are in the prime of their career saying, “I want to work less, but each one has more meaning.” And I can’t blame them. But if they can do a longer tour and amortize those costs and play those small secondary markets, then I can be their partner on the ground in markets where I operate venues and keep my hands out of their merch money.
What advice do you have to other venues considering dropping their merch fees?
It’s not one-size-fits-all and it might not be the right solution for everyone. But I am so happy that we made that move — not only from an ethos standpoint, financially as well. It has not hurt me at all.
Morgan Wallen is doubling up on his One Night at a Time 2024 tour, adding back-to-back shows in each city and making his May Nashville stop a three-peat with a trio of consecutive nights at Music City’s Nissan Stadium.
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In addition to bringing a plethora of country radio hits, Wallen will welcome a slate of artists to open various shows on the trek, including Bailey Zimmerman, Jelly Roll, Jon Pardi, Lainey Wilson, Nate Smith, Bryan Martin, Lauren Watkins and Ella Langley. For his July 26 headlining show in Arlington, Texas, a special guest from the state will perform; direct support acts for the added Nashville shows will be announced soon.
Among the tour stops is a show in Oxford, Miss., making up for a concert that Wallen canceled just before showtime earlier this year. Fans who previously purchased tickets for the canceled April 23 show will have access to an early presale, and details will be sent directly to ticketholders via email.
Fans wanting to get their hands on tickets for the One Night at a Time Tour 2024 will need to register at Ticketmaster.com, through Sunday, Oct. 1. Once registration closes, fans will be randomly selected to receive a day/time of the presale along with a code that grants them access to the presale. Fans who previously registered for the presale now have the option to update their show preference to one of the newly announced dates.
Wallen is also using the tour to give back, with $3 from every ticket sold for his U.S. shows going to the Morgan Wallen Foundation, which supports programs for youth, focusing on sports and music. The organization recently donated $500,000 to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nashville’s Parkwood community project, and has supported revitalization efforts at ballparks in Boston and Chicago.
On Thursday (Sept. 28), Wallen was one of the evening’s biggest winners during the inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards, picking up honors for artist, album and tour of 2023 (for his One Night at a Time World Tour).
The Live Nation-produced trek’s namesake album, One Thing at a Time, was issued in March and debuted atop the all-genre Billboard 200 and held the top spot for 12 consecutive weeks. His song “Last Night” remained atop the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 non-consecutive weeks, and was the most streamed song of the summer, becoming the first tune by a country artist to earn the top spot in Spotify’s “Songs of the Summer” list.
For the full list of 2024 concert dates, visit morganwallen.com.