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Dua Lipa and Trixie Mattel are both excellent music artists — but visual art isn’t quite their thing.
The duo teamed up for a collaboration on the RuPaul’s Drag Race alum’s YouTube channel on Monday (March 18), where they challenged each other to paint the album art for Lipa’s upcoming album, Radical Optimism. “I can’t draw. I can do my eyeliner because I mastered it on my own face,” the pop star admitted. “I don’t really like doing things I’m not good at, and this is something I’m not good at.”
However, Mattel and Lipa were soon painting, doing their best at recreating the beachy album cover that features the 28-year-old singer floating in an ocean facing a shark fin. At one point in their wide-ranging conversation, Mattel asked Lipa if it’s true that she had once gotten rejected from her school choir. “I was in primary school and the teacher was like, ‘Alright, who wants to sing and try out for the choir?’ So I decided to stand up for the whole school and he started playing on the piano, and it was in this crazy high note and nothing came out just air and the whole schools started laughing. And he was like, you know what? Better luck next time. That was it. Later on, I was part of the choir but I was in the lower range,” Lipa recalled.
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She then added that she “went to singing lessons in a theater school every Saturday in London and it was the teacher there that helped me build up my confidence.”
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Elsewhere in the interview, Lipa explained the inspiration behind her Radical Optimism album title. “It was actually a term that was introduced to me through a friend of mine,” she said. I was doing an interview with him and he was like, I heard this term radical optimism, and I think that’s something you really need. It stuck with me. He put that term in my psyche and everything in my life started connecting to that about remaining calm in the chaos and being OK when things don’t go the way you intended them to.”
When the time came to reveal their paintings to each other, both Mattel and Lipa were unsatisfied with their work. “Check out Radical Optimism, people, you’re gonna need it,” Mattel joked.
The 11-track project — Lipa’s first proper LP since 2020’s Future Nostalgia — arrives May 3. Watch the full interview below.
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Bon Jovi has notched another video in the Billion Views Club. The band’s clip for their 1994 hit, “Always,” hit one billion views on YouTube. It’s their third music video to reach the accomplishment, following 2000’s “It’s My Life” and 1986’s “Livin’ On a Prayer.” The Marty Callner-directed clip showing a difficult breakup stars Jack […]
Attorneys for Bad Bunny have filed a lawsuit against a fan who posted videos from a recent concert to YouTube, arguing the Puerto Rican rapper was essentially forced to sue after the alleged bootlegger demanded that YouTube keep the clips online.
In a complaint filed Friday in federal court, attorneys for Bad Bunny (Benito Martínez Ocasio) claimed Eric Guillermo Madroñal Garrone posted videos covering ten songs from a February concert in Salt Lake City to his YouTube channel “MADforliveMUSIC,” infringing copyrights and “luring” viewers to his page.
Worse yet, the lawsuit claims, when Bad Bunny submitted a takedown request to YouTube, Garrone responded with a formal counter-notice defending his right to post the clips. That move would legally require YouTube to repost them – unless, that is, Bad Bunny went to court to stop them.
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“Defendants have objected to the removal of the unauthorized bootlegs from YouTube, refused to agree not to re-post the unauthorized bootlegs, and requested that YouTube reinstate the unauthorized bootlegs,” Bad Bunny’s attorneys wrote. “Unless enjoined by this court, defendants will continue to infringe Ocasio’s rights.”
Such disputes over online content happen all the time, but they’re usually handled without a lawsuit. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, artists like Bad Bunny can file a takedown request to online platforms like YouTube, requiring the site to pull down the allegedly infringing material. That’s typically the end of the story, especially in cases of extensive footage of full songs.
But the DMCA also empowers internet users to object to such requests if they believe that they’ve made a “fair use” of the materials in question – like, say, a news clip of a Bad Bunny concert that incidentally featured some of his music, or a parody video that mocked him by riffing on one of his songs.
In the case of Garrone’s footage, Bad Bunny’s representatives filed a takedown notice for all ten of the clips from the Salt Lake City concert, arguing that they featured unauthorized recordings of huge hits like “Yo Perreo Sola,” “Me Porto Bonito,” “Dakiti” and others. That notice initially succeeded in getting the clips pulled down.
But according to the lawsuit, Garrone then filed a DMCA counter-notice, requesting “reinstatement of the videos as soon as possible.” In a copy of the notice that was included in Bad Bunny’s lawsuit, Garrone argued that he had made “legitimate use of the content” and that the takedown notice “constitutes a serious detriment to my informative and outreach activities.”
“The removed videos also cover the start of the worldwide tour of Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Bad Bunny, with this being his first date out of the 47 planned across North America, constituting in itself a newsworthy event of high public interest and significant informative scope,” Garrone wrote. “In my opinion, the artist also benefits from the dissemination of the content in his own promotion, as his show is carefully captured, conveying the reality of the moment without alterations or post-production in the content.”
Under the DMCA, that move would require YouTube to repost Garrone’s footage unless Bad Bunny filed a copyright infringement lawsuit within ten days. In an email included in the lawsuit, YouTube warned Bad Bunny’s reps that “if we don’t get a response from you, the content at issue may be reinstated.”
“Your response must include evidence that you’ve taken legal action against the uploader to keep the content from being reinstated to YouTube,” the video site told Bad Bunny’s reps. “Usually, evidence would include a lawsuit against the producer which names the YouTube URLs at issue and seeks a court order to restrain the alleged infringement.”
On Friday, Bad Bunny’s lawyers did exactly that. They argued that Garrone’s videos “do not qualify as fair use” that would entitle them to reinstatement, and that they instead violated his rights.
“Each of the unauthorized bootlegs, both individually and collectively, negatively impacts the market for authorized uses of the Bad Bunny works by, among other things, luring YouTube viewers and associated advertising revenue away from authorized videos of the Bad Bunny Works,” the rapper’s attorneys wrote.
The lawsuit also accused Garrone of violating federal trademark laws by using Bad Bunny’s name in promoting the clips, and of violating a federal law specifically aimed at bootlegging.
Reps for Bad Bunny did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Garrone could not immediately be located for comment, because his YouTube page has been disabled.
Jennie’s first solo single outside of BLACKPINK, fittingly titled “Solo,” has officially hit one billion YouTube views. Within five hours of its release on YouTube back in 2018, the video had surpassed four million views. “This is not a touching love story/ No romance, no sincerity/ I’m sorry, but I’m not sorry/ From today on I’m […]
Paul Hourican announced on Thursday (Feb. 22) that he was leaving TikTok, where he served as global head of music operations. “After four and a half amazing years and with a lifetime’s worth of memories and achievements in the bag, I have made the decision to move on from TikTok,” Hourican wrote on LinkedIn. He […]
Event discovery platform Bandsintown will be directly integrated into Spotify via a new partnership with the streaming service. The agreement allows artists to directly reach fans through the Spotify app in order to drive stronger engagement and more robust sales for events around the globe. According to Bandsintown, in 2023, the platform increased the number of concerts listed in its database by more than 150,000 year-over-year, while Spotify says it has increased impressions for live events across its platform by 10 times in the last 12 months. – Dave Brooks
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Collectibles, toys and apparel company Super7 secured the rights to create a new set of Mötley Crüe action figures featuring all four members of the iconic metal band: Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and Mick Mars. The “ReAction Figures” are 3.75″ tall and retail for $20 each. Super7 has previously designed, manufactured and distributed officially licensed products for artists including Iron Maiden, the Misfits, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Beastie Boys.
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Music financing platform Duetti announced $90 million in new funding, including $15 million in new equity and a new $75 million credit facility. The equity financing is led by Nyca Partners alongside Viola Ventures, Duetti’s lead seed equity investor, and Cohen Circle. The credit facility comes from Northleaf Capital Partners. Duetti allows a wide range of artists to sell master catalogs, individual tracks or parts of tracks, opening up opportunities for those who wouldn’t ordinarily have access to such deals. The new funding will be used to accelerate the growth of Duetti’s catalog acquisitions, the development of the company’s prediction and analytics technology and the expansion of its catalog marketing capabilities. Duetti recently opened offices in New York, Los Angeles and Miami.
Warner Chappell Production Music (WCPM) and Warner Chappell Music (WCM) partnered to launch a new label, Run4Cover, which will pair WCM’s catalog with WCPM’s production expertise to deliver new arrangements of songs in order to minimize licensing complexities for productions and content creators. Run4Cover’s repertoire includes new versions of songs by artists including Radiohead (“Exit Music (For A Film),” “Karma Police”), Curtis Mayfield (“Move On Up”), Kool & The Gang (“Celebration”) and Donna Summer (“Hot Stuff”). The songs are rendered in “diverse styles,” according to a press release, from big band to nu-disco; Run4Cover will also offer custom covers. All Run4Cover compositions are controlled by WCM while the original master recordings are owned by WCPM. Clients will benefit from a streamlined clearance process through a single point of contact. Licensing inquiries can be sent to licensing@warnerchappellpm.com.
AXS and CTS Eventim were appointed the official ticketing services providers for the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. The two companies will form a joint venture to combine their tech and marketing assets to promote, sell and distribute LA28 tickets globally. Their online storefronts will be made available for the global distribution of Olympics 2028 tickets, which will also be sold through the LA28 website.
ADA Worldwide struck distribution deals with Charlotte, N.C.-based label South Coast Music Group and Valley Entertainment, an indie label with a focus on singer-songwriters, modern Irish artists and World music. Founded by Arnold Taylor, South Coast’s roster includes emerging hip-hop artists including Dustystaytrue, DeeYounginn, Luclover and Big Mali. Valley Entertainment’s catalog includes tracks by David Darling and Jonn Serrie and new recordings from frontline acts including Lisbeth Scott and Squeeze.
OneLand Music Group announced a deal with Create Music Group that encompasses Create’s acquisition of OneLand’s music catalog and a joint venture to release new music, beginning with Atomic Otro Way’s new EP, Dembow 5. “This is a full circle moment for both the Create and OneLand teams,” said OneLand Music Group co-founder Hector Morales in a statement. “In 2019 we partnered with Create to help them sign their first Latin artist. Ever since then, we’ve worked closely with Jonathan [Strauss] and Alex [Williams] to build opportunities for OneLand artists. This venture is a celebration of our shared musical vision and we’re thrilled to be in business with Create’s growing team.”
Music promotion platform Groover announced an $8 million Series A funding round led by investors OneRagtime, Trind, Techmind and MozzaAngels and supported by earlier backers Partech, Bpifrance‘s Tech & Touch fund, Verve Ventures and Frenchfounders. The new funding will help Groover integrate additional services into the platform including promotion, marketing, coaching and career development while supporting the expansion of Groover’s presence in the North American, European and Latin American markets. Launched in 2019 by Dorian Perron, Rafael Cohen and Romain Palmieri, Groover provides artists with the opportunity to network with music industry players to receive feedback on their work. According to a press release, Groover has so far drawn nearly 350,000 independent artists from more than 180 countries and generated more than 4 million personalized reviews.
Music collaboration platform ENGINEEARS closed a $7.5 million seed round led by Drive Capital, with participation from 645 Ventures, Slauson & Co. and FLUS Investment Group, the venture arm of SALXCO. The platform is designed to streamline music collaboration, make payment and project management processes easier and more.
Atlantic Records UK partnered with London-based agency EYC LTD, which specializes in talent and brand management and event planning. Under the deal, Atlantic UK will work closely with EYC to sign and develop artists under a new imprint, EYC Records, while serving as a connection between Atlantic UK’s roster and EYC LTD’s global client base, which includes Louis Vuitton, Prada, Dior, Bentley and Samsung. EYC Records will sign early-stage acts “aligned with the progressive, culture-first ethos of EYC LTD,” according to a press release, working with Atlantic UK and ADA to develop them. The first artist signed to the imprint is Betty, who has already released two singles under the deal: “Mum Says” and “Take Me Under.” EYC Records is also developing the artist project of poet, model and activist Kai-Isaiah Jamal, who will begin releasing music early this year. “I am extremely happy about the launch of EYC Records — a platform to develop the acts we believe in, facilitate brand partnerships in our field of expertise and push our creative visions to the next level,” said EYC LTD director Cora Delaney in a statement.
The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts is collaborating with Atlantic Records on a semester-long series of career development workshops and sessions with Atlantic executives, including A&R president Pete Ganbarg. Eight events held at the institute’s Brooklyn location and Atlantic’s Manhattan offices will offer students access to Atlantic executives to learn about opportunities on both the business and artistic sides of the label. It will end with a weeklong songwriting camp led by Atlantic staffer and institute alum Stefan Accardo that will match select students and alumni with Atlantic artists. The partnership kicked off on Feb. 13 with the first of two field trips to Atlantic Records’ New York offices.
Cloud-based end-to-end music rights and royalties administration platform RyteBox acquired SR1, a digitally-native royalty calculation suite, from Exactuals. Joe DeCanio, president/CEO of SR1, along with his team will join RyteBox following the acquisition. SR1 helps to streamline royalty management for its clients, including mechanical licenses and reporting; expense processing; royalty statement generation; deal management; sales and income processing; master licensing and invoicing; and neighboring rights. Those capabilities will serve to complement RyteBox’s current services, which include contract and catalog management; revenue and royalty calculations, statements, and analytics; and relationship management for recorded music and publishing.
NeueHouse, a private workspace and social club for creative workers, has teamed up with the Save the Music Foundation to become the official partner of NeueHouse’s Sunset Sounds live music series. The partnership will kick off with the next Sunset Sounds event on Feb. 22: a listening experience hosted by MGMT where guests will have the opportunity to listen to the band’s new album, Loss of Life, one day prior to release. Going forward, NeueHouse will tap Save the Music for programming opportunities for its various shows, with a portion of the proceeds from each going to fund Save the Music’s various student initiatives.
ASM Global has been contracted to manage and operate Thunder Ridge Nature Arena, a new 18,000-capacity venue in Ridgedale, Mo. ASM has partnered with Live Nation to produce live music events at the outdoor amphitheater, which is slated to open in May.
Oak View Group (OVG) acquired the Stadium Club division from Invited, a leading owner-operator of private golf, country and city clubs in North America. Under the deal, OVG will own and operate Stadium Club properties at universities across the United States; OVG and Invited have also struck a long-term partnership focused on “enhanced membership benefits and uniquely curated experiences for both Invited and OVG club members,” according to a press release. Stadium Club properties include Arizona Sands Club at University of Arizona, Baylor Club at Baylor University, Ken Garff University Club at University of Utah, Texas Tech Club at Texas Tech University, University Club of Virginia Tech at Virginia Tech and the Carolina Club at the University of North Carolina.
Big Machine Label Group and W!ZARD Radio Media entered an agreement to develop and launch a slate of new podcasts. Under the partnership, the two companies will handle production, distribution, marketing, promotion and ad sales functions of the podcast slate. The partnership launches with the sports-comedy podcast A Game of No Halves, hosted by British broadcasting legend “Whispering” Bob Harris and his son Miles Myerscough-Harris. The partnership also encompasses the re-launch of the podcast Songwriter Soup, hosted by songwriter Laura Veltz (“Speechless,” “I Could Use a Love Song”), financial advisor Tracy Hackney and producer Kevin Sokolnicki. – Jessica Nicholson
Primary ticketing and event commerce marketplace Tixr struck a deal with Eden Nightclub Ibiza making Tixr the club’s official ticketing partner. “Tixr’s advanced technological solutions provide a transformative answer to the longstanding challenges faced by nightclubs. From optimizing online ticket sales to implementing unique selling strategies and unlocking revenue streams beyond traditional ticketing, Tixr’s innovation resonates with our commitment to redefining the clubbing experience,” said Rinco Soesman, owner/director of Eden Nighclub Ibiza, in a statement.
Amuse struck an automated integration with YouTube for official artist channels (OACs). Users on Amuse’s Boost and Pro tiers can now request their OAC in a quicker, more streamlined process under the integration, merging all of their subscribers and content from different areas of YouTube into one channel. The YouTube OAC integration will now show as an option within an artist’s profile on the Amuse web app. Additionally, eligible Amuse artists will be granted access to supporting YouTube tools involving analytics, merch, ticketing and more.
Ooh, baby, it’s raining views. As of Thursday (Feb. 22), the music video for Rihanna‘s “Umbrella” featuring Jay-Z has more than 1 billion clicks on YouTube, 15 years after it was first uploaded. The late 2000s time capsule opens with Jay-Z rapping in front of a curtain of falling sparks, flanked by a troupe of […]
Maroon 5 had two huge milestones to celebrate this week as two of the Adam Levine-led band’s music videos crossed major YouTube views milestones. First up, the band’s clip for the wistful single “Memories” from their Jordi album reached the one billion views mark.
The 2019 song about lost friends — inspired by the death of the band’s longtime manager Jordan Feldstein — peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The spare visual directed by David Dobkin consists of a close-up shot of a mowhawked, bearded Levine in front of a black background singing the wistful refrain, “Here’s to the one’s that we got/ Cheers to the wish you were here but you’re not/ Cuz the dreams bring back all the memories of everything we’ve been through.”
The camera slowly pulls back to reveal Levine’s head and shoulders as the light fluctuates around him, eventually leaving the singer in the dark and ending with the phrase “For Jordi.”
In addition, the video for their 2014 single “Sugar” hit an even higher peak this week when it moved past four billion YouTube views. The song from the pop group’s fifth album, V — written by Levine along with Mike Posner, Dr. Luke, Jacob Hindlin and Henry Walter — also peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100.
The playful Wedding Crashers-inspired video directed by Dobkin was shot in Los Angeles and found the band seemingly crashing a series of weddings in a single day, tooling around in a vintage convertible and confusing bridges and grooms as they show up with their gear to play impromptu reception concerts to the delight of the gathered friends and families. The five-minute clip ends with Levine saying “this is the coolest thing ever, ever, ever, ever” while high-fiving and hugging a happy couple.
“Sugar” is the band’s first video to put up four billion views, edging ahead of their 2018 single “Girls Like You” (3.5 billion), another billion-view visual for “One More Night” and a handful of clips with 800 million-plus views (“Animals,” “Payphone,” “Moves Like Jagger”).
M5 have been in a lower-power mode since headlining the Super Bowl LIII halftime show in Atlanta in 2019, releasing the one-off singles “Memories,” “Nobody’s Love” (2020), the Megan the Stallion-featuring “Beautiful Mistakes” (2021) and last year’s “Middle Ground” while kicking off a Las Vegas residency at the Park MGM in March 2023. Though they’ve hinted at new music in the years since, M5 have not released a full-length album since 2021’s Jordi.
Their M5LV The Residency at the Dolby Live at Park MGM theater will continue this summer/fall, with 16 scheduled gigs in May, June, September and October.
Watch the “Memories” and “Sugar” clips below.
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After a string of pivots, rebrands, upgraded offerings and expanded plans, YouTube Premium and Music has passed the magical 100 million subscribers mark, counting users in trials, the company announced Thursday (Feb. 1).
That’s up from the 80 million Premium and Music subscribers around the world (including trials), reported in November 2022, and a jump from 50 million users at the end of 2021.
The milestone is cause for great celebration at the company, notes Lyor Cohen, global head of music at YouTube, in an open letter to the industry issued today (Feb. 1). “This 20-million-member growth in just over a year underscores the strength of our twin engine of advertising and subscriptions revenue,” writes Cohen.
The Alphabet-owned business unveiled its subscription offering, YouTube Music, back in October 2015, and launched its dedicated app the following month.
The streaming landscape then was littered with naysayers. “Many doubted a subscription model could thrive on YouTube,” Cohen notes. “They said the market was crowded and our platform was too different. Today – 100 million subscribers later – our distinctiveness is precisely what drives our success and why I still see so much room for growth.”
Later, in June 2018, YouTube announced the launch of YouTube Premium, formerly known as YouTube Red. Since then, notes Cohen, the Premium service’s global expansion has ramped up and is “now thriving in over 100 countries and regions” with “more on the horizon in 2024.”
By crossing the 100 million mark, “we’re delighted and humbled,” comments Adam Smith, vice president of product management at YouTube, in a separate statement.
Along the way, “we learned a lot, made a few pivots (and even rebranded), expanded our offerings and plans, and made YouTube Music and Premium available in over 100 countries and regions,” adds Smith.
In a matchup of streaming heavyweights, Spotify, the market-leading music platform, holds the advantage. The Sweden-based business came to market early, in 2008, and boasted 226 million premium subscribers worldwide in Q3 2023.
Though Apple rarely shares updates on subscriber numbers, in June 2022, J.P. Morgan estimated Apple Music could hit 110 million subscribers by 2025. The last time the company reported subscriber numbers for Apple Music was in 2019, when it reported 60 million paid users.
As YouTube hangs the decorations, captains of the industry are lining up to thank their tech partner — including a former YouTuber now leading a major label.
“Having been at YouTube when we conceived of the subscription service, 100 million customers felt like a distant possibility,” says Robert Kyncl, who was chief business officer at YT before joining Warner Music Group as CEO. “Today, it’s yet another signpost on a journey of extraordinary growth. The fact that YouTube continues to go from strength to strength isn’t just good for them, it’s healthy for the entire music ecosystem.”
Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, says the team led by Cohen and YouTube CEO Neal Mohan deserves credit for “continuing to grow and drive innovation while making significant contributions to the global music ecosystem. Our partnership demonstrates that if you start from a foundation of respect for artists and songwriters, there are limitless opportunities to create thriving businesses that benefit artists and fans alike.”
Adds Helen Smith, executive chair of pan-European independent music companies’ trade body IMPALA: “YouTube has a unique place in the music ecosystem, is a valued member of IMPALA’s Friends scheme and a great partner of our 100 Artists to Watch program.” She continues, “We look forward to continuing to work together across the whole European market where there is so much potential for digital services who see diversity as an asset.”
According to Cohen, YT’s businesses have contributed $6 billion in the past year.
“The music industry is at a critical juncture,” he writes. “Together, we can harness technological innovation to drive unprecedented value for artists and fans, building on our momentum that contributed $6 billion to the music industry in 12 months.”
That future, one where the music industry “thrives,” he insists, would see both sides leveraging AI to enhance creative imagination, seamlessly bridging short-form and long-form content for maximum artist exposure, and more.
Read Cohen’s thank you letter here.
AC/DC’s “Back in Black” music video keeps on rocking, as the visual reached one billion views on YouTube. It’s the Australian band’s second clip to join the Billion Views club, following their hit “Thunderstruck.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In the music video, the group performs the […]