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Academy of Country Music Launches ACM:The Hub Site With Artist Chats & At-Home Performances
The site features new series “ACM Wine Down Wednesday” and “The ACM Weekly.” The Academy of Country Music has launched a new website called ACM: The Hub, which features artist conversations, at-home acoustic performances, access to artist merchandise and weekly ACM-curated playlists. ACM: The Hub was developed in response to COVID-19 freezing the concert and festival world. When the academy recognized that artists were turning to live performances via web streams to stay connected with their fans, it developed The Hub to curate artist content in one place. “The academy’s goal is to help fans and artists connect during these quarantined times [in which there are] no live shows.” said Damon Whiteside, the academy’s CEO. “We want to provide fans with a dedicated place to see t...
Spotify and Universal Music Group Ink Licensing Deal, Expanding Label’s Role as ‘Early Adopter’ of Tools
Spotify and Universal Music Group have finalized a new and expanded multi-year global licensing agreement. As part of the arrangement, announced Wednesday (July 22), the label group deepens its role as an early adopter of Spotify’s marketing tools and other tech features that both parties hope will foster more impactful connections between fans and artists in innovative ways. “With this agreement, UMG and Spotify are more aligned than ever in our commitment to ensuring the entire music ecosystem thrives and reaches new audiences around the globe,” said Sir Lucian Grainge, UMG chairman and CEO, in a statement. “Given our commitment to innovation and early adoption of music technologies, and Spotify’s leadership in the development of forward-thinking tools, our ...
Mitch Slater, Concert Promotion Pioneer, Dies at 59
The Delsener/Slater Presents co-founder was a longtime associate of concert business consolidator Robert Sillerman. Mitch Slater, an industry pioneer who helped shape the modern concert promotion business, died on Tuesday after an extended illness. He was 59. “Our bond was as strong as it gets,” Slater’s older brother, former Capitol Records CEO Andrew Slater, tells Billboard. “When he started out in music, I said, ‘If you could be half as good in business as you are as a brother, you’ll be a great success.’ And he far exceeded that mark.” In 1988, Slater partnered with Ron Delsener to form Delsener/Slater Presents, which became one of the most successful independent concert promotion companies in the U.S. “As brilliant as Ronnie was, Mitch brought some real business acumen to it,” s...
Joan Baez to Receive 2020 Woody Guthrie Prize
Joan Baez is this year’s recipient of the Woody Guthrie Prize, in recognition of her “groundbreaking career and impact on humanitarian causes.” The legendary folk singer, activist and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer will be inducted Aug. 16 during a virtual edition of the Philadelphia Folk Festival. The prize was established in 2014 and is given each year to an artist who best exemplifies the spirit and life work of Woody Guthrie by speaking for the less fortunate and serving as a positive force for social change. Baez “has consistently been on the front lines in the fight for social justice, peace, and equality,” comments Woody Guthrie Center Director Deana McCloud in a statement. We are proud to announce @joancbaez as the recipient of the 2020 Woody Guthrie Prize honoring h...
‘Queen’s Greatest Hits’ Logs 55th Week at No. 1 on Catalog Albums & Just One Album Has Had a Longer Run
The film ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has turbocharged Queen’s popularity. Queen’s Greatest Hits logs its 55th week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Catalog Albums chart — a tally topped by just one album in the chart’s 29-year history. Bob Marley & the Wailers’ Legend has headed the catalog chart for a whopping 126 weeks. Both of these compilations were released prior to the introduction of Catalog Albums in the Billboard issue dated May 25, 1991. Queen’s album was released in in the U.K. in October 1981. Marley’s album was released worldwide in May 1984. Queen’s album first hit No. 1 on Catalog Albums on June 2, 2018, five months before the U.S. release of the film Bohemian Rhapsody, which has turbocharged Queen’s popularity. The Catalog Albums chart ranks the most popular catalog al...
Digital Devices Hit ‘Inevitable’ Milestone, Passing Analog in Listening Time for 2020
Digital devices are now the dominant method of listening to music, and the coronavirus seems to be behind the latest growth wave. For the first time since Edison Research began documenting audio consumption with its Share of Ear study in 2014, digital and on-demand platforms owned over half of consumers’ time spent listening during the second quarter of 2020. Listeners accessed music through smartphones, computers, internet-connected TVs and smart speakers during 53% of their listening hours. The other 47% of listening came through more traditional means, such as AM/ FM receivers, SiriusXM devices, CD players, turntables and standard TV. In the previous study, traditional devices still maintained the advantage, amassing 55% of the daily time spent listening. Digital’s rise past...
Find Out Who’s Performing at the (Virtual) 2020 iHeartRadio Music Festival
The 2020 iHeartRadio Music Festival is officially a go. On Tuesday (July 21), iHeartMedia announced that the tenth annual iteration of the event will be held virtually this fall. Among the performers set to take the stage are BTS, Coldplay, Kane Brown, Khalid and more. Hosted by Ryan Seacrest, the festival will be recorded live from venues in both Los Angeles and Nashville with behind-the-scenes moments about how the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has impacted the music industry on a personal level for the artists performing. “It’s hard to believe that this September will be the 10th iHeartRadio Music Festival,” said iHeartMedia chief programming officer Tom Poleman in a statement. “The 2011 Festival was iHeart’s first national marquee event and became the model for our hugely su...
Juice WRLD Is Just the Ninth Artist to Top the Billboard 200 Both When Alive & Posthumously
As previously reported, Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die enters the Billboard 200 at No. 1 this week. It’s his second No. 1 album. He landed his first, Death Race for Love, in March 2019—nine months before he died of a seizure. This makes Juice WRLD just the ninth artist in the 64-year history of the Billboard 200 to top the chart both while they were alive and after their death. Here’s a complete list of the artists who have achieved this feat: John Lennon: The ex-Beatle had two No. 1 solo albums before his death (Imagine in 1971 and Walls and Bridges in 1974) and one since (Double Fantasy, a collab with wife Yoko Ono, in 1980). Lennon was shot to death on Dec. 8, 1980. He was 40. 2Pac: The rapper had two No. 1 albums before his death (Me Against the World in 1995 and All Eyez on Me i...
Interscope Records Scores Six Songs in Hot 100’s Top 10 Simultaneously, Thanks to DaBaby & Juice WRLD
DaBaby’s “Rockstar” leads at No. 1, followed by five Juice WRLD songs. As previously reported, DaBaby‘s “Rockstar,” featuring Roddy Ricch, logs a sixth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated July 25), while the late Juice WRLD charts five songs in the chart’s top 10. With “Rockstar” released on SouthCoast/Interscope Records and Juice WRLD’s five new top 10s on Grade A/Interscope, Interscope infuses the Hot 100’s top 10 with six songs. That’s the most for a label in a single week since Republic Records also claimed six on the chart dated Sept. 21, 2019. Republic additionally logged six top 10s on charts dated May 18, 2019; Oct. 13, 2018; and July 28, 2018, the most since the label landed seven, all by Drake, on J...
Apple Music Partners With ‘Verzuz’ to Simulcast the Battle Series & Offer On-Demand Streaming
Verzuz, the breakout live-streaming battle series co-helmed by legendary hip-hop producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, will now be available on Apple Music and Beats 1. Each battle will be simulcast live on the music streaming service for free, at the same time it streams on the Verzuz Instagram account. After the live battle, music fans will be able to relive the musical greatness by watching it on-demand via the series’ exclusive partnership with Apple Music. This Wednesday (July 22) will bring a face-off between Snoop Dogg and DMX, beginning at 5:00 p.m. PT. Before the big showdown — being billed as “the battle of the dogs” — fans can get ready by tuning in to the official Snoop Dogg and DMX Cheat Sheet playlist curated by Apple Music host Lowkey. Apple Musi...
UK Music Magazine ‘Q’ Folds After 34 Years Due to Pandemic
British music magazine Q is publishing its final issue on July 28. The beloved long-running monthly, which has been integral to U.K. rock and alternative scene, will cease publication after 34 years due to financial constraints caused by the coronavirus crisis. “We’ve been a lean operation for all of my tenure, employing a variety of ways to help keep our head above water in an extremely challenging print market,” wrote editor Ted Kessler in his final Q editor’s letter. “Covid-19 wiped all that out. I must apologise profusely for my failure to keep Q afloat.” Parent company Bauer Media listed Q for sale among several other titles in May, following a sharp decline in sales and advertising revenue during the pandemic. The publishing industry ...
Tones And I, Benee, Hayden James & More Top Yours & Owls 2021 Festival
BRISBANE — The end of the pandemic is still a long way off, but the summer festivals season is already starting to take shape Down Under. Tones And I, Benee, Cosmo’s Midnight and DMA’S lead the bill for the Yours & Owls 2021 fest, due to take place Jan. 23-24 in Stuart Park, Wollongong, about 90 minutes drive south of Sydney. Lime Cordiale, whose new album 14 Steps To A Better You, is the best-seller on Australia’s albums chart this week, is also booked for the show, alongside PNAU, Hockey Dad and many more. Yours & Owls is the festival template of the future or, more specifically, until a vaccine is widely available. With rigid quarantine restrictions placed on any visitors to these parts, international acts won’t be playing Australian stages anytime ...
