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Both Jason Derulo and Snoop Dogg have earned their second music video in YouTube‘s Billion Views Club, as their 2014 collaboration, “Wiggle,” passed the milestone on the platform. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “You know what to do with that big, fat butt/ Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle,” Derulo […]
50 Cent has landed his second video in the YouTube billion-views club. The rapper’s 2005 hit “Candy Shop” now joins his signature breakthrough 2003 hit “In Da Club” in the 10-digit realm. The Scott Storch-produced second single from 50’s sophomore album, The Massacre — which spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot […]
Michael Jackson is in rarified air when it comes to billion-view music videos on YouTube. This week, the late King of Pop notched his fifth visual to cross that mark when the gangster-themed clip for his 1988 single “Smooth Criminal” crossed the 10-digit mark.
The track from Jackson’s seventh album, 1987’s Bad, was brought to vivid life by director Colin Chilvers, who tapped into a 1930 gangster nightclub vibe for one of MJ’s most beloved videos. Jackson also paid homage to one of his musical and dancing heroes in it via a white suit and matching fedora that tipped its hat to dancer/actor/singer Fred Astaire.
The nearly 10-minute mini movie opens with Jackson running to the door of an underground club — where he’s blasted by a gust of white wind — before entering to silence as the clubgoers stare him down warily. In classic MJ fashion, he flips a coin through the tense air, landing it perfectly into the slot of a juke box, which, of course, cues up the rhythmic Quincy Jones co-produced track.
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What comes next is a clinic in classic Jackson, with the singer popping, locking and skittering across the club’s floor while executing some of his signature spins and fancy footwork while breaking hearts and deftly dispatching would-be assassins with his signature elan. The action culminates in the video’s centerpiece movie, the “anti-gravity lean,” during which the track drops out and time slows down, before the beat picks back up and the singer slides into his moonwalk and then appears to defy the rules of the physical universe by keeping his feet planted and back straight while his body dips into a nearly 45 degree angle before righting itself.
According to a 2018 article in The Telegraph, the stunt was achieved via unseen cables, because, as neurosurgeon Dr. Nishant Yagnick told the paper, “It’s not really possible physically to do it. He was cheating gravity.” Jackson later patented a specially designed shoe with a hook in it so that he could recreate the stunt live, as most humans are able to pull off, at best, a 30-degree lean without injuring themselves.
A group dance number brings things to a close as Jackson opens fire with a machine gun, sending the revelers running for the exits.
“Smooth Criminal” joins a handful of other all-time-classic Jackson videos with more than one billion YouTube views, including such beloved hits as “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” “They Don’t Care About Us” and MJ’s Halloween-appropriate 14-minute scarefest, “Thriller.”
Watch the “Smooth Criminal” video below.
Megan Thee Stallion is suing a YouTuber and social media personality who she claims is a “mouthpiece and puppet” for Tory Lanez, accusing the woman of “churning out falsehoods” about the criminal case stemming from Lanez shooting her.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, attorneys for the rapper (Megan Pete) accused Milagro Gramz (Milagro Elizabeth Cooper) of carrying out a public campaign to “denigrate, belittle, insult, and spread false statements” about her.
That allegedly included Gramz sharing a pornographic “deepfake” depicting the rapper – a move that Megan’s lawyers say violate a Florida statute banning “altered sexual depictions” of real people.
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“Enough is enough,” writes Megan’s attorneys at the law firm Quinn Emanuel. “Ms. Pete—a victim of violent crime and champion of women’s rights to her millions of fans worldwide—will no longer stand for defendant’s campaign of harassment.”
The lawsuit also accused Gramz of cyberstalking, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy.
In a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter), Gramz acknowledged the lawsuit, saying she had “been informed that I’m being sued by Alex Spiro on behalf of his client Megan Thee Stallion.” After quoting from a threat letter, she said: “Of course we’ll chat about it. They threw in the tape too.”
The new case came days after a high-profile false story about Megan and Lanez – claiming incorrectly that an appeals court had declared “innocent” in the shooting — circulated on social media. Spiro, Megan’s long time attorney, warned yesterday that he was planning legal action over such “nonsense.”
Lanez (Daystar Peterson) was convicted in December 2022 on three felony counts over the violent 2020 incident, in which he shot at the feet of Megan during an argument following a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s house in the Hollywood Hills. In August 2023, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He has filed an appeal, which remains pending.
In the new lawsuit, Megan’s attorneys say Gramz repeatedly spread falsehoods about the case, including questioning whether she was even shot and claiming she was “caught trying to deceive the courts.” More recently, they say Gramz has pushed the “outlandish claim” that the gun used in the shooting had gone missing.
“Defendant Cooper’s statements recklessly disregarded the truth and suggested that the firearm was never presented in court because it had allegedly disappeared. It has not,” Megan’s lawyers write. “The firearm remains in the custody of the Los Angeles Police Department.”
As for the deepfake video, the lawsuit does not accuse Gramz of directly creating or posting the video, but claims that she “encouraged her followers” to watch it, including by pointing users to a post that had directly shared the video.
“Defendant Cooper willfully and maliciously promoted the Deepfake Video without Ms. Pete’s consent,” Megan’s lawyers write.
For all the talk about TikTok and its impact on the music business, much less has been said about YouTube in the last few years. George Karalexis and Donna Budica, the co-founders and CEO and COO, respectively, of YouTube strategy company Ten2 Media, want to change that. “YouTube is so underserviced by the music industry. Traditionally, it’s just been a place to put up your music video,” Karalexis says of the platform where Justin Bieber, Troye Sivan and Maggie Rogers were discovered.
“It has evolved so much now,” Budica adds.
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With the 2021 introduction of Shorts, YouTube’s video equivalent of Instagram Reels and TikTok, the duo saw an opportunity to start a firm that hyperspecialized in YouTube. “YouTube is unlike anything else. It is an ecosystem,” Budica says. “Shorts, livestreams, longer videos, music videos, YouTube Music.”
Unlike the plethora of YouTube distributors and rights management firms that simply collect money from the platform and send artists and labels a check for what they’ve found, Ten2 sees itself as a high-touch service, handling YouTube royalty collection but also helping clients strategize content creation specifically for the platform. Those services include helping artists and labels create lucrative livestream loops of their videos, building out playlists of their songs, capturing publishing dollars from user-generated covers and developing strategies to attract new audiences with their Shorts. While Billboard has reported several stories about rights managers employing fraudulent schemes to siphon royalties from YouTube — often from unsuspecting independent artists who don’t have access to the streaming service’s content management system (CMS) — Ten2 offers clients a “completely transparent” dashboard, Karalexis says, that provides “educational tools, greater understanding about analytics — like what’s working, what’s not working — why and how to expedite growth,” Budica says, finishing his thought.
Karalexis and Budica’s clients include Warner Records, Rhino Records and a number of distributors that wish to remain anonymous, and they say they have had major success with such mainstream clients as Brent Faiyaz, Benson Boone, blink-182’s Travis Barker and NLE Choppa, to name a few, and have helped Christian artists Maverick City Music and Don Moen earn six-figure incomes on YouTube alone through savvy strategizing.
With data analytics firm Kantar reporting that YouTube Music was the “most adopted music streaming service” for the second quarter of 2024, and Luminate’s findings that YouTube Shorts are nearly at parity with TikTok when it comes to U.S. music listeners using the platform — more than 30% — Karalexis and Budica contend YouTube has a strong future. “We saw the writing on the wall,” Karalexis says.
Karalexis says he was given this guitar pick after seeing his first concert, Eric Clapton, in 1992. “That experience changed my life and made me want to pursue music.”
Yasara Gunawardena
Should all artists use a service like Ten2, or are there artists who fare better on YouTube with your guidance?
GEORGE KARALEXIS: If you don’t have a partner that understands YouTube [and has access to its CMS], then you’re blind on the platform. It’s not like Spotify and Apple, which have this very [similar] systematic approach where the song just kind of sits there. YouTube is part social network, part streaming service. So if you’re actively creating content on it, you’ll see a lot of upward growth of your own making. Also, Spotify and Apple don’t share how often listeners skip a song or how long people listen to your songs. If you get a partner with access to YouTube’s CMS, you can really get an understanding of who your audience is and who your potential audience is.
You’ve had success working with Christian artists. What makes this genre distinct from others?
KARALEXIS: We’ve found that Christian is song-based rather than artist-based. House bands at churches play lots of covers of popular Christian songs. Don Moen has written huge songs that get covered over and over, and the covers are even bigger than his original. Through that process, we realized there were a lot of royalties to claim. We also found success using keywords that Christians are searching for, like “Sunday prayer,” “worship,” stuff like that. YouTube is the second-largest search engine for folks behind Google, so these keywords really work to drive traffic. Also, it’s very driven by lyrics and long-form consumption. We’ve started a 24/7 livestream, like the Lofi Girl study beats videos, and it’s been huge. We’ve found that people watch these streams for an average of an hour and 50 minutes. Another example: We work with a few superchurch pastors, too. They have such a hardcore following that tunes in. They might draw 1,000 people in person, but on YouTube they’ll have 15,000 to 20,000.
DONNA BUDICA: But all these approaches are genre-agnostic. It doesn’t matter if it’s hip-hop or Christian or whatever. Everyone can benefit from a livestream or a lyric video or keywords.
What makes Shorts distinct in the short-form video space?
KARALEXIS: When someone opens the YouTube app on their phone, their mentality is very different than if they just choose to click on TikTok or Instagram. They are [typically] someone who watches long-form, someone who wants to get frequent updates from a person they subscribe to, whereas TikTok is quick virality-driven. We look at Shorts as a brand-builder — onboarding fans versus driving audio consumption.
“Disraeli Gears by Cream is my earliest memory of music,” Karalexis says. “I remember flipping through my dad’s vinyl collection and always asking for this one to be played.”
Yasara Gunawardena
Recently, a lot of labels have turned away from making high-quality music videos for singles. Why do you think that is?
BUDICA: YouTube is no longer a place where an artist should put out one really expensive music video every era and go away. Consistency is key, and the YouTube algorithm rewards that. If you’re constantly putting out one long-form video [shot on an iPhone] every week or every month, it’s better.
KARALEXIS: Hip-hop got it right first. They would do these lifestyle videos, where it’s them with cars, their friends. They’re showcasing the life that their lyrics are selling.
Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl joined the company from YouTube. Is this leadership one of the reasons WMG hired Ten2?
KARALEXIS: Our relationship actually predated Robert. We started working with Warner in late 2021, early 2022. I think [Warner Records co-chairman/COO] Tom Corson is a really smart guy, and he’s always trying to find a competitive edge and find ways to service artists differently.
Does the restructuring at Atlantic Music Group affect you and your artist clients?
KARALEXIS: No, we mostly work with Warner Records. We also service a number of indie labels and artists that are not public.
YouTube is trying to launch a TV equivalent to rival Netflix and other streaming platforms. How will this affect your artists?
KARALEXIS: We’re seeing huge spikes in TV consumption already. It’s the next frontier. It’s so hard to break an artist on a phone because of the barrage of notifications you’re getting on there. Sometimes I don’t even remember what content I’ve seen because I was so distracted. On TV you’re not [barraged], so it has a lot of potential.
Budica says her diploma reminds her to “maintain a beginner’s mind while continuing to build upon the tools, fundamentals and passion for business that Wharton gave me during my formative years.”
Yasara Gunawardena
Artificial intelligence-generated or -assisted videos are starting to appear on social media. Will the rise of AI content hurt your clients’ chances of breaking through the noise?
BUDICA: Any kind of milestone in technological advancements could be malicious. But the reality is it’s here and it can expedite content creation. That’s how we choose to approach it.
KARALEXIS: Yeah, what can you do? Throw up your hands? Then you’ll get left behind. We have to embrace it. We’ve seen it help with Don Moen’s content creation. AI has helped him tremendously to create quick lyric videos and increase their output. We have a lyric-video generator and it can make, like, 50 versions a day.
Is that the future of shortform video platforms — generating a million versions of the same thing?
BUDICA: I’m going to say a soft no. It’s not about blindly putting out volume. It is good to experiment, but it’s about putting out things that resonate with your audience and using analytics to figure out what’s working.
The last year has had an influx in catalog sales and viral bumps for songs that are decades old. What are the opportunities on YouTube for catalog marketing?
KARALEXIS: Massive. Repurposing is important here. Donna came up with this idea of “surface area.” For someone who is deceased or no longer able to produce new material in a traditional way, the method has always been the same: a remaster, a reissue, but there’s a lot more we can do now. You can reintroduce the artist in a number of ways. For example, with The Beatles on YouTube, you could create a ton of playlists [videos that play in a particular order] that are based on keywords and themes, like “Beatles acoustic songs,” “Beatles love songs.” Sometimes it is as simple as reworking their old videos into 4K and uploading them with higher quality. We are very bullish on catalog and in deep discussions with some estates.
You’ve been working with major labels, including WMG, but do you think there is any danger in the majors ever trying to replicate your process in-house?
KARALEXIS The majors could do it [in-house], but they are downsizing and consolidating. For them to build what we’ve done from scratch in-house would be hard, and surprising.
“Much of the artwork in my office, including this one, was drawn by my dad, who came here on a boat from Italy [and] is an aerospace engineer,” Budica says. “His name is on the moon, but he also designed album cover art in the ’60s.”
Yasara Gunawardena
Yng Lvcas and Peso Pluma have a billion reasons to celebrate this week. The Mexican singer/rappers both scored their first ever ticket into the YouTube Billion Views Club this week when the clip for the remix of their smash 2023 collaboration, “La Bebe,” crossed the 10-digit line. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See […]
Spotify subscribers in 97 countries will no longer have to leave the app to watch their favorite artists’ music videos, the company announced on Tuesday (Oct. 15). The beta test, which started earlier this year in around a dozen countries — including the U.K., Germany, Brazil and Colombia — will also expand to South Korea […]
YouTube and SESAC have settled their rate dispute, meaning the performance rights organization’s catalog will soon be back up on the YouTube platform, according to representatives from both sides.
“We are pleased that SESAC reconsidered our offer,” a YouTube representative said in a statement. “We’ve reached a deal and content will come back shortly. We appreciate everyone’s patience during this time.”
SESAC executives also say they are pleased with the deal. “We have reached an agreement with YouTube to equitably compensate SESAC’s songwriters and publishers for the use of their music,” SESAC Performing Rights president/COO Scott Jungmichel said in a statement. “We appreciate the support and patience of our affiliates, as well as the artists who perform those songs. During our negotiations with YouTube, our affiliates’ works were unilaterally removed by YouTube ahead of the contract end date of October 1, 2024. YouTube has begun the process of reinstating videos featuring these songs.”
The deal was struck after YouTube pulled down a portion of SESAC’s repertoire, including songs from the likes of Bob Dylan, Adele, R.E.M., Green Day and Zac Brown, among others. When YouTube users wanted to play a video containing music from artists signed to SESAC, they were greeted with a message stating, “This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country.”
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Artists and songwriters including J Cole, Sam Smith and Kanye West who are not signed to SESAC also had songs taken down due to having credited co-writers who were signed with the PRO. In addition, sources say, even some SESAC songwriters whose publishers have direct deals with YouTube had their songs taken down.
The YouTube representative indicates it will take a day or two for everything to go back up online. As it is, some videos still have the “is not available in your country” notice, while other songs by songwriters signed to SESAC are once again available on the service. Apparently, YouTube was still in the process of removing videos when the deal was struck, so while some notable SESAC songs were taken down over the weekend, other songs by the same artists, and even songs on the same album, were still available.
According to sources, YouTube global head of music Lyor Cohen was making phone calls at the end of last week to managers, labels and publishers, warning them that the takedown was coming. When executives who received the calls asked why the music was taken down, Cohen apparently answered that YouTube and SESAC were too far apart in negotiating the rate.
Meanwhile, other industry sources say they heard that an agreement was reached in principle on Saturday morning (Sept. 28), before YouTube started heavily pulling down SESAC songs.
Until YouTube and performing rights organization SESAC reach an agreement on renewal terms of their expiring contract, consumers might find many of their favorite songs unplayable on the video streaming service.
Some (but not all) songs by artists including Adele, Mariah Carey, Bob Dylan, Green Day, Kendrick Lamar, Nirvana and R.E.M. were among those unavailable on YouTube over the weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
At press time Sunday night (Sept. 29), Billboard can confirm hits like Adele’s “Hello” and “Someone Like You,” and R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion,” as just a few examples of music videos that remain unplayable on YouTube while its licensing deal with SESAC remains unsettled. When the page loads, an error message appears in place of a music video preview. The message reads, “Video unavailable. This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country.”
In a statement sent to Billboard, a YouTube spokesperson wrote, “We have held good faith negotiations with SESAC to renew our existing deal. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach an equitable agreement before its expiration. We take copyright very seriously and as a result, content represented by SESAC is no longer available on YouTube in the US. We are in active conversations with SESAC and are hoping to reach a new deal as soon as possible.”
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Billboard reached out to SESAC but did not receive a response on Sunday.
SESAC, which licenses the public performance of more than 1.5 million songs, collects royalties and helps protect copyrights on behalf of thousands of songwriters and publishers in the U.S.
As THR points out, YouTube customer service has been addressing users’ frustrations in responses on X (formerly Twitter). On the TeamYouTube account, replies to complaints have read, “Our music license agreement with SESAC has expired without an agreement on renewal conditions despite our best efforts. For this reason, we have blocked content on YouTube in the US known to be associated with SESAC – as in line with copyright law … We understand this is a difficult situation and our teams continue to work on reaching a renewal agreement.”
A-ha’s chart-topping hit, “Take on Me” reached two billion YouTube views this week, marking the first song released in that decade to achieve this milestone. The Norwegian trio — Magne Furuholmen, Morten Harket and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, who were 22, 26 and 24, respectively at the time — released their debut album, Hunting High and Low, in […]