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How We Work Now: Academy of Country Music CEO Damon Whiteside
In a series amid the coronavirus pandemic, Billboard is asking individuals from all sectors of the music business to share stories of how they work now, with much of the world quarantined at home and unable to take in-person meetings, attend conferences or even go into the office. Read the full series here. This installment is with Damon Whiteside, the new CEO of the Academy of Country Music. Damon Whiteside: I started the job Jan. 6 and I was still getting to know everybody. I’m based in Nashville and was at [the ACM’s Los Angeles] office two weeks a month for those first couple of months. And then, suddenly, we’re isolated and quarantined after we decide to close the office in L.A. the week of March 16. That was literally the week that I was planning to go back to L.A., so that’s b...
Warner Music Group Moves to Replace Old Debt With New, Better Debt
The music company is conducting a private offering to purchase senior notes due in 2023 with funds from sales of senior notes at a better interest rate due seven years later. Warner Music Group is trading old debt for new debt with a better interest rate and later due date. The music company is conducting a private offering for $535 million of senior secured notes due in 2030 that it expects to close June 29, it was announced Tuesday (June 16). At the same time, Warner wants to use the proceeds to purchase $300 million of new senior secured notes due in 2023. If Warner sells $535 million notes due in 2030 to redeem $300 million of notes due in 2023, it would replace a 5% interest rate with 3.875%. On $300 million of principal, the difference in rates of 1.125% equals $3.375 million of inte...
NMPA Touts Cross-Industry Legislative Cooperation, New Friendship With Peloton & More at Annual Meeting
Kicking off the National Music Publishers’ Association’s annual meeting Wednesday, the organization’s president and CEO David Israelite applauded RIAA CEO Mitch Glazier for his leadership in pulling together around 65 music trade groups to lobby Congress for CARES Act relief for self-employed music industry workers. Glazier himself applauded the industry for coming together and noted that in times of tragedy, artists are quick to respond, playing live concerts to raise money for any number of worthy causes. “But sometimes they are not so good at raising money for themselves” in their own time of need, he said. Israelite also pointed out the industry was forced to respond to California’s AB5 law, which was enacted to try and protect gig economy workers. That law, however, would have created...
NMPA Annual Meeting Celebrates Continued Publishing Growth, Warns of Pre-Pandemic Threats
The National Music Publishers’ Association announced its fifth consecutive year of increased revenues, while noting the industry’s high-stakes legal cases still ahead. The National Music Publishers’ Association’s annual meeting was held virtually Wednesday (June 10) due to COVID-19, where president and CEO David Israelite reminded membership that music publishing is still facing pre-pandemic threats to its business. Namely digital streaming services’ Copyright Royalty Board appeal and the Department of Justice’s review of ASCAP and BMI consent decree — which could also be an opportunity, depending on how the DOJ rules. “We are now 2.5% years into the new [rating] periods but we still don’t have certainty on our rates because Spotify and...
How We Work Now: Concord Senior VP Synch Licensing Brooke Primont
In a series amid the coronavirus pandemic, Billboard is asking individuals from all sectors of the music business to share stories of how they work now, with much of the world quarantined at home and unable to take in-person meetings, attend conferences or even go into the office. Submissions for the series can be sent to HowWeWorkNow@Billboard.com. Read the full series here. This installment is with Brooke Primont, Concord’s senior vp of synch licensing. Brooke Primont: I commute into [Manhattan] every single day. I live in a small town about 40 minutes outside of New York, so when this came down, it wasn’t as painful for me because it’s an hour and 15, sometimes two hours, door to door, depending on the day. So the idea of working from home was welcomed, in a sense. But there...
Here’s What Streaming Services Are Doing for Black Out Tuesday and Beyond
Spotify, Bandcamp, SiriusXM and more are meeting the moment with a range of initiatives. As protests sparked by the death of 46-year-old Minneapolis resident George Floyd heated up this weekend, music companies began making statements in support of the movement to end police brutality against black Americans. On Friday, a number of companies and artists began sharing a statement posted under the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused, which calls for “a day to disconnect from work and reconnect with our community” and “an urgent step of action to provoke accountability and change.” Started by Atlantic Records marketing executives Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas, who are both black, the call for a day of action — which is now being called “Black Out Tuesday” — sparked other compa...
Clearing His Name: Metropolitan CEO Says He’s Ready to Put Disastrous Albany Show Behind Him
Two years after an SMG executive accused him of stiffing his portion of a bill for a 2018 concert, John Scher says new evidence clears him of wrong-doing When John Scher was approached by an old friend about investing in a long-shot benefit concert, the 69-year-old promoter knew he should have walked away. But spellbound by the opportunity to work with superstar artists James Taylor and John Legend, Scher convinced himself that he could pull it off. Big mistake. “I don’t know why I let myself get dragged into these things,” Scher says of the cancelled 2018 concert supporting Albany Med hospital that became a costly lawsuit and legal headache he didn’t need. In late 2017, Times Union Center manager Bob Belber approached Scher with a proposal to co-promote a black tie gala celebrating the re...
Music Venues Across the Country Can Reopen, But Is It Worth It?
Concerts are slowly starting again, but they’re looking considerably different in the pandemic and many clubs are unsure whether they’re worth the risks. On May 18, TempleLive in Fort Smith, Arkansas, hosted one of the nation’s first socially-distanced concerts with country rock artist Travis McCready of the band Bishop Gunn. In order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus promoters implemented extensive safety protocols: temperature checks at the door, masks on attendees and staff, limited bathroom occupancies and disinfecting fog sprayers, among them. The venue also had to keep each “fan pod” group of fans who arrived together at least six feet apart with one-way walkways and vigilant staff. It was an unusual sight for Getty Images photographer Kevin Mazur, who flew in from...
How We Work Now: NMPA President/CEO David Israelite
In a series amid the coronavirus pandemic, Billboard is asking individuals from all sectors of the music business to share stories of how they work now, with much of the world quarantined at home and unable to take in-person meetings, attend conferences or even go into the office. Submissions for the series can be sent to HowWeWorkNow@Billboard.com. Read the full series here. This installment is with David Israelite, the president/CEO of music publishing trade association NMPA. David Israelite: We’ve just been in a kind of holding pattern. We have a lot of of pending issues [for which] we’re waiting for decisions from government bodies or legal bodies. Right before the shutdown, on March 10, we had our oral arguments regarding the appeal of the copyright royalty board rates by Spotif...
Guy Oseary Stepping Away From Day-to-Day Role at Maverick
He will continue to manage Madonna and U2 and consult Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, extending his deal with the touring company. Guy Oseary is stepping away from his day-to-day role at his management collective Maverick to consult for Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino and further concentrate on his tech and entertainment entrepreneurial interests. The news comes with a three-year extension of Oseary’s existing partnership with Live Nation, which purchased Maverick in 2013. He will still continue to manage Madonna and U2 under the Maverick banner. Other managers using the Maverick umbrella will continue to operate under Live Nation’s Artist Nation division. “I’m ready for my new chapter and welcome the opportunity to have more time to focus on management of Madonna and U2 while f...
How We Work Now: Midem Director Alexandre Deniot
In a new series amid the coronavirus pandemic, Billboard is asking individuals from all sectors of the music business to share stories of how they work now, with much of the world quarantined at home and unable to take in-person meetings, attend conferences or even go into the office. Submissions for the series can be sent to HowWeWorkNow@Billboard.com. Read the full series here. This installment is with Midem director Alexandre Deniot, who was forced to make some big decisions about this year’s music business conference as the pandemic shut down France less than eight weeks before the annual event. Here, he speaks about how he balanced home and work while shifting the focus of the conference, which kicks off next week and runs June 2-5, to the first digital version of Midem in its 5...
What Place Will Virtual Tipping Have in the Post-Pandemic Music Industry?
In China, virtual tipping provides a widespread, legitimate revenue stream for artists. Some think the pandemic will help (finally) normalize the practice Stateside. Andy Bothwell, a Brooklyn-based artist who performs under the moniker Astronautalis, has an online hub that lists links to his music, social media accounts and merch site. But after the coronavirus pandemic cut off the touring income he relies on to pay his bills, he added two new links to the top of the list: His Cash App and Venmo accounts, allowing fans to send him money directly. “I’m curious to see if I keep it there,” he says. His decision is more than a curiosity. As the pandemic has shut down economies across the globe, many artists are asking fans directly for cash — and music companies like SoundCloud and Spoti...
