bbbiz
Hip-Hop Agent Brent Smith Out at WME Following Investigation
Hip-hop agent Brent Smith is out at WME, weeks after he was suspended for reported behavioral issues. “Following an investigation based on complaints of bullying behavior by Brent Smith, WME and Brent have mutually decided to part ways,” reads a statement from the agency. Smith, 55, represents Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Tyler the Creator and John Legend. Smith did not respond to a request for comment from Billboard. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Executive Turntable: Atlantic Shuffles Marketing Department, Sony & Tencent Solidify Liquid State Label Head
Elsewhere at Atlantic, the label has announced that David Grant will move from New York to Los Angeles to take on the role of senior vp, marketing and head of marketing for film & TV soundtracks. In his dual role, Grant will continue running key projects from Why Don’t We, Ben Platt, Reiley and more. He will jointly report to Sinclair and Atlantic’s West Coast president Kevin Weaver. Sony Music Masterworks and independent touring professionals Stephen Lindsay and Brett Sirota have formed RoadCo Entertainment, a brand-new booking agency that specializes in live family entertainment. RoadCo will develop and produce live events and interactive attractions based on popular brands and pre-existing intellectual properties while collaborating with Sony Masterworks and the broader Sony network...
Why Jonathan Shank Left Red Light to Launch His Own Touring Company Amid a Global Concert Shutdown
Why did you decide to launch Terrapin Station Entertainment? Ultimately the goal was to be able to continue to be aggressive and utilize this time to grow and scale and come out of this with great content and great music. Red Light was super supportive of all of the projects that I took on, but they were family shows. I was carving my own lane. Did you feel like you kind of had to go independent to pivot and be agile? Yeah, and having the ability to continue to be aggressive in the intellectual property space and continue to support my team. With these types of artists and projects, you have to have a really strong team. I felt that this is a great time to go out and license a lot of IP for the future. If you can be aggressive in that space, then when the clouds lift, we have a really stro...
Consumer Interest in Paid Livestreams Surging, According to New Data
Over the course of the last three months (July 1-Sept. 30), engagement with IRL events has remained steady (up 4%, comparing engagement from the month of September to that of July) and interactions with free livestreams has declined (down 26%). In the same tracking period, ticket clicks on paid livestreams has risen by 577%. In July, ticket clicks on paid livestreams accounted for 3.3% of all activity on Bandsintown, at just 70,136 clicks, compared to 1.54 million on IRL events and 485,000 on free livestreams. That percentage leapt to 12.6% in August and then to 19.5% in September, stretching July’s 70,000 count to 475,057 ticket clicks. Zooming in on free livestreams vs. paid livestreams (removing IRL events from the equation), ticket clicks on paid events were just 14% of the engagement ...
Indie Venues Devastated After Trump Kills Stimulus Talks: ‘This Is Real. We Need Help’
“It’s devastatingly horrible news,” says Stephen Chilton with the Rebel Lounge in Phoenix. “More venues are going to close — I think the reason we haven’t seen even more venues shut down is because everyone is holding out hope that Save Our Stages passes. I’m not sure how much longer people can hold on — there’s rent, there’s debt obligations and there’s a lot of costs. It’s already been six months with zero revenue.” The news came as a major disappointment for two major independent arts associations who were encouraged last week when Pelosi announced that the Save Our Stages Act would be included in the $2.2 trillion Heroes Act. Save Our Stages would have provided up to $18 million to any independent music ...
Sony Music Suing Musicians for Allowing Attorney to Use Album Artwork
Sony wishes to sue Lyon and Collins for selling unauthorized, “pirate” versions of their own albums on websites. Last week, UMG made a similar move, countersuing musicians including Joe Ely and Syd Straw for distributing their own music in an unauthorized way. But that’s not all! Most spectacularly, Sony aims to hold the musicians liable for secondary copyright infringement because the musicians’ attorney, Evan Cohen, is apparently using album artwork to recruit other clients. As a letter to the judge puts it, “[B]oth Lyon and Collins appear to have authorized their attorney, Evan Cohen, to distribute and display SME’s copyrighted album artwork on Mr. Cohen’s website, so that Mr. Cohen can advertise his business centered on preparing termination notices.” Here’...
Phoebe Bridgers Launches Saddest Factory Label With Dead Oceans: Exclusive
That dream comes to fruition today with the launch of Bridgers’ own Dead Oceans imprint, Saddest Factory. The name is a tongue-in-cheek mispronunciation of the word “satisfactory” — which also happens to be a term used frequently in record deals — that was originally made on Twitter by her former Sloppy Jane bandmate Haley Dahl. “It’s always been a dream of mine to have a label, because I’m also such a music fan,” says Bridgers. She says she has been essentially pitching artists to Dead Oceans for years, and finally decided to ask Secretly for a label of her own when indie band Bright Eyes announced their signing to Dead Oceans in February — a deal that came together after Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst and Bridgers formed the indie-rock du...
Recording Academy, MusiCares Cut 13 Staffers in Reorganization
The moves stem from a major reorganization the Recording Academy began this summer when it streamlined into three divisions: the entertainment/consumer divisions (led by new COO Branden Chapman), the trade/industry group (led by label veteran Ruby Marchand) and organizations/cross verticals (led by CFO Wayne Zahner, chief diversity and inclusion officer Valeisha Butterfield Jones and chief people & culture officer Shonda Grant). “We did our reorganization in July and as part of that, we really have been doing deep dives into all the verticals,” interim president/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told Billboard Friday night. “There’s some new alignment [and] some crossover in different sections and because of that we wanted to make sure the skill sets ...
Executive of the Week: Nonstop Management Founder/President Jaime Zeluck Hindlin
How does a typical writing credit for one of your songwriters come to fruition? Jaime Zeluck Hindlin: It’s different for everyone, to be honest. No story is the same. For writers, it’s all about the people they meet, whether it’s another writer, an artist, or an A&R that believes in them and their song and helps bring it to life. It’s about finding the champions who believe in what they’re doing. For example, with our writer Ryann, we had been setting up sessions for her with newer artists since she was a young, new writer with not too many credits just yet. We paired her with Tate McRae, who was also not as known at the time, and they wrote Tate’s breakout single “you broke me first.” Connecting those dots and people resulted in a song that is ...
The Deals: Burna Boy Signs With SESAC, Waterparks & Smallpools Soak Up New Record Contracts
Singer-songwriter and Nigerian pop star Burna Boy has signed with performing rights organization SESAC for direct U.S. representation. Born Damini Ogulu, Burna Boy recently released his fifth studio album Twice As Tall, executive produced by Ogulu, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Bosede Ogulu. It was the follow-up to 2019’s African Giant, which nabbed Burna Boy a Grammy nomination this year for Best World Music Album. Burna Boy’s U.S. stardom took off only recently, thanks in part to collaborations with American music stars including Coldplay’s Chris Martin (“The Monsters You Made”) and Sam Smith (“My Oasis”). He was also featured on last year’s Lion King soundtrack The Gift, curated by Beyoncé. “With his empowering lyrics and enrapturing beats, it’s no surprise that Burna Boy is leading the w...
Bonnaroo Postpones for Third Time, Moves Festival to September 2021
The 2021 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival has been pushed yet again over concerns about the length of the COVID-19 pandemic, marking the third time dates for the festival were shifted due to the virus. The annual event will now take place Sept. 2-5, 2021. The festival, which typically takes place in mid-June, was moved to September 2020 in March after the coronavirus took hold in the U.S. In June, it was moved a second time to June 2021, before being rescheduled for a third time earlier today. The original dates for Bonnaroo 2021 have changed. Bonnaroo will now take place on Sept. 2-5, 2021. Stay tuned for info on lineup, camping + more. We encourage you to rollover your tickets to the new dates, but refunds will be available for those who cannot attend. pic.twitter.com/i78MnMITdY —...
Round Hill Music Signs Rob Thomas to Worldwide Publishing Deal
Round Hill Music has signed multi-Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Rob Thomas to a long-term worldwide publishing deal, which will cover his full catalog, including past and future works. Best known as the frontman for Matchbox Twenty, Thomas has led the rock band through four studio albums beginning with debut Yourself or Someone Like You in 1996, which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, was certified twelve-times platinum by the RIAA and included hit singles like “Push” and “3AM.” Other top-charting songs from the band include “If You’re Gone,” “Unwell” and “How Far We’ve Come.” Arguably Thomas’ biggest hit, however, came from outside of the band: “Smooth,” his 1999 col...
