Business news
The Kid LAROI Reunites With Scooter Braun for Management
After parting ways last year, The Kid LAROI has re-upped with Scooter Braun for management. The Australian star previously partnered with Braun in June 2021 before leaving SB Projects last September to join Adam Leber’s Rebel Management roster. The Kid LAROI then split with Leber’s team last month. A source tells Billboard that LAROI and his mother, Sloane Howard, re-approached Braun, and a deal was finalized a week ago. After the singer previously left SB Projects due in part to Braun’s lack of direct involvement, the source says Braun will now oversee all aspects of the hitmaker’s career. During The Kid LAROI’s previous stint with Braun, the singer-songwriter linked up with another SB superstar, Justin Bieber, for the synth-pop single “Stay.” The song became LAROI’s first No. 1 hit on th...
Executive Turntable: Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus Launches VC Music Startup; S10 Promotes Four
Veeps founder & COO Sherry Saeedi, Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus and Lippman Entertainment partner Nick Lippman launched Verswire, a new venture capital music startup, with Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz serving as a strategic advisor. The company’s founding team also includes director of A&R and branding Myia Ingoldsby as well as numerous advisors and investors including Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman and tour manager Gus Brandt. Verswire is described as a development incubator for both emerging and established artists that tailors a custom investment for each, including “funding, resources, tools, mentoring, support from prominent music executives and an ecosystem to own and operate their businesses within while allowing them to keep majority ownership of their masters,” according to a pre...
Inside Track: Creator Power, Spatial Audio & the Metaverse Dominate Music Biz 2022
For the first time since the onset of the pandemic, the Music Biz conference happened in person in Nashville this month, bringing together industry figures from across the globe to banter about the various topics facing the business after two years of relying on tech and streaming to connect an increasingly-fractured landscape. One conversation that seemed to permeate both panels and interpersonal conversations at the convention was the expanding role of artists in their own marketing and release strategy, whether they are signed to a major or not. During panels like “The Future of the Artist Deal” and “Navigating New Strategies,” speakers waxed near-philosophical on the improved standing of artists in advocating on their own behalf, while also examining the pitfalls that come from this mo...
The Ledger: Three Major Trends Revealed in Music Companies’ Q1 2022 Earnings
The Ledger is a weekly newsletter about the economics of the music business sent to Billboard Pro subscribers. An abbreviated version of the newsletter is published online. From streaming services to concert promoters and ticket sellers, music companies have reported encouraging first-quarter earnings results that show consumers continue to adopt subscription services and eagerly return to live events after COVID restrictions were lifted in late 2021. The same companies’ stock prices tell another story, however. While music companies posted double-digit gains in subscription growth, revenue, ticket sales and many other metrics, their share prices are down by double-digits in 2022. That’s not a surprise given the state of the economy: Inflation is at a 40-year high ; rising interest rates s...
Billboard Promotes Mike Van to President & Dana Droppo to Chief Brand Officer
Mike Van has been named the new president of Billboard and Dana Droppo has been promoted to chief brand officer, Billboard parent company Penske Media Corporation announced Friday (May 20). Van — previously Billboard‘s executive vice president and head of global partnerships — will be responsible for all revenue operations and financial performance of the Billboard brand as president. He started at Billboard in 2018 and previously held leadership positions in advertising and sales at Pandora, Electronic Arts and Complex. During his time as executive vp and head of global partnerships, Billboard set all-time sales records. Droppo — who was previously Billboard‘s senior vice president of marketing, as well as vice president, brand experiences, and vice president and creative director for bra...
Creem Entertainment Hires Former VICE Publisher John Martin as CEO
Creem Entertainment has announced a raft of new hires, led by former VICE publisher John Martin as CEO, the company tells Billboard. Additionally, BMG Cypress Ascendant Holdings — a partnership between music manager Tautua Reed, former music executive/agent Paul Coyne and investment fund Cypress Ascendant led by businessman Bill Trzos – have come on as investors in the venture. In his new role, Martin will work alongside Creem Entertainment chairman JJ Kramer — son of Creem magazine’s co-founder and publisher Barry Kramer — as well as the magazine’s original editor Jaan Uhelszki. Martin worked in senior leadership roles at VICE Media for 18 years, starting in sales and events before working his way up to publisher. While at the company, he co-founded Munchies, a food and drink joint ventur...
Discogs to Boost Brick-and-Mortar Record Stores With New Initiative
In the wake of this year’s Record Store Day on April 23, Discogs is spinning up its own initiative to assist brick-and-mortar music sellers. The online physical music database announced Tuesday (May 3) that it’s set to launch its first annual Independent Record Store Month in June 2022. By connecting music fans and indie record stores across the globe, the initiative hopes to highlight the importance of physical record shops and their contribution to vinyl culture. During Independent Record Store Month, Discogs will launch The Store Explorer, a new, year-round online directory highlighting brick-and-mortar record shops around the world and encouraging fans to support them. Participating stores will also receive a digital badge that verifies which sellers in the Discogs marketplace are phys...
Capitol Studios Set to Close for Two Years, 13 Staffers To Be Let Go
Hollywood’s historic Capitol Studios are closing for as much as two years starting this summer, as the Capitol Records Tower building continues to undergo repairs. Thirteen studio staffers were informed Friday (April 29) that their jobs will be eliminated when the studio shuts down in a few months. Paula Salvatore, who has managed Capitol Studios for more than 30 years and is now VP, client relations and studio marketing, Universal Music Group, told Billboard in a statement: “I have been informed that Capitol Studios will have to shut down starting this summer for a lengthy structural improvement project. It’s the first time in the studios’ 66-year history that they will have to shut down for an extended period of time.” The legendary studio, which had stayed open during the pa...
Songwriter & ASCAP President Paul Williams Remembers Senator Orrin Hatch as a Champion of Creators
Sometimes there is truth in old sayings like “politics makes strange bedfellows.” That was certainly the case with Senator Orrin G. Hatch, and perhaps many of the music creators and recording artists whose livelihoods he protected and whose work he recognized as important to our culture – even if it wasn’t to his personal taste. Senator Hatch, who died on April 23 at the age of 88, had a certain way of greeting me. “You rascal, Paul,” he’d say with a devilish smile. “Are you behaving yourself?” And I would often reply, especially when I was in his office explaining the challenges we were facing as songwriters and asking for his support. “Yes, I’m behaving, Senator, and I’m grateful that you are in our corner standing with songwriters on this issue.” And he did stand with music creators on ...
Songwriter & ASCAP President Paul Williams Remembers Senator Orrin Hatch as a Champion of Creators
Sometimes there is truth in old sayings like “politics makes strange bedfellows.” That was certainly the case with Senator Orrin G. Hatch, and perhaps many of the music creators and recording artists whose livelihoods he protected and whose work he recognized as important to our culture – even if it wasn’t to his personal taste. Senator Hatch, who died on April 23 at the age of 88, had a certain way of greeting me. “You rascal, Paul,” he’d say with a devilish smile. “Are you behaving yourself?” And I would often reply, especially when I was in his office explaining the challenges we were facing as songwriters and asking for his support. “Yes, I’m behaving, Senator, and I’m grateful that you are in our corner standing with songwriters on this issue.” And he did stand with music creators on ...
Madonna Selling SoCal Mansion for $26M a Year After Buying It From The Weeknd
That didn’t last long. Just a little over a year after buying a nine-bedroom home in Hidden Hills, Calif., from The Weeknd for $19.3 million, Madonna has decided to hoist the residence back onto the market. The music artist has listed the property for $25.995 million — a big jump from what she paid last April — according to the Multiple Listing Service. Located in a guard-gated area set on nearly 3 acres, the estate includes a barn with a newly built gym and dance/Pilates studio, a natural amenity for the perennially fit singer. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The redwood-dotted property includes the main house and a two-bedroom guest house. It comprises 12,500 square feet of living space with 11 bathrooms, a two-story wall ...
Midem to Return in 2023 After City of Cannes Purchases Brand
The municipality of Cannes has officially purchased the Midem brand from RX France, according to a release from the office of Cannes mayor David Lisnard. The city of Cannes will now host a “new” Midem, slated to take place at the beginning of 2023 at Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. The event will focus on technological innovations and feature concerts throughout the city for residents and visitors. Making Midem an official Cannes event dovetails with the city’s strategy of developing an entire chain of “audiovisual creation” in Cannes. “Organized since 1967 in Cannes, the International Market for Records and Music Publishing [MIDEM] was the largest annual global event devoted to the music scene,” said Lisnard in a statement. “In order to rediscover this emblematic event on the Cannes ...
