Business news
Gomez Founder Tom Gray Appointed Chair of Ivors Academy
LONDON – Tom Gray, a prominent artist rights advocate and founding member of British rock band Gomez, has been elected chair of The Ivors Academy, the U.K. association for songwriters and composers. Gray has been a key figure in the global push for creators to receive a greater share of streaming royalties. In April 2020, he founded the #BrokenRecord campaign, calling for reform of the music industry and a rebalance of power away from record labels and streaming platforms and towards artists. Gray’s #BrokenRecord campaign ran alongside The Ivors Academy’s #FixStreaming drive, attracting support from stars like Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, and compelling U.K. regulators to take a closer look at how the record business operates. That led to a nine-mo...
Folgers, Trombone Shorty Launch New Ad Campaign Featuring a Joan Jett Classic
Best known for its popular early ‘80s tagline “The Best Part of Wakin’ Up”, Folgers coffee is unveiling a new campaign today (Jan. 31) with a lot of fanfare — literally. To reinforce its reputation as a brand leader and simultaneously bolster its connection with next-generation coffee drinkers, Folgers commissioned the Joan Jett & the Blackhearts classic “Bad Reputation” as the theme song for its perception-shattering campaign. Headquartered in New Orleans, the 170-year-old firm — part of The J.M. Smucker Co. — also reached out to local favorite and Blue Note Records artist Trombone Shorty. In addition to imbuing the track with some energetic NOLA flavor, the Grammy-nominated musician, his brass bandmates and local Folgers employees also appear in the commercial. Being deployed across ...
Record Store Day’s ‘Improbable’ Success Recounted in New Book for 15th Anniversary
Record Store Day is getting a book-length origin story. On April 12, ahead of the annual celebration’s 15th anniversary, Rare Bird will publish author Larry Jaffee’s Record Store Day: The Most Improbable Comeback of the 21st Century, a book recounting how the long-running event helped save independent record stores across the world and played a major role in relaunching the now-booming vinyl format. The tale is told in the voices of those who were pivotal to the movement, including RSD’s founders, artists who were supportive of the event and independent record store owners, among others. Jaffee is a New York-based journalist who teaches writing at the New York Institute of Technology and Mercy College and serves as co-founder/conference director of the Making Vinyl series of conferences th...
Universal Music Group’s Sir Lucian Grainge Tops Billboard’s 2022 Power List
Sir Lucian Grainge is at the top of 2022 Billboard Power List, two years after he was named Billboard’s executive of the last decade. But this year, there’s a very different reason for his No. 1 ranking: his leadership of Universal Music Group’s historic debut as a public company. It wasn’t just the largest direct listing in the history of the music industry, but one that has helped lift the boats of many music companies — including those of Grainge’s fiercest rivals. The UMG chairman/CEO is one of nine honorees from the company this year, with the other eight also listed below. Sir Lucian GraingeChairman/CEO, Universal Music GroupBoyd MuirExecutive vp/CFO/president of operations, Universal Music GroupMichele AnthonyExecutive vp, Universal Music GroupJeff HarlestonGeneral counsel/executive...
The 2022 Billboard Power List Revealed
Money changes everything. Over the past year new types of investors poured record sums into music, reshaping the power dynamics of the business. So Billboard decided to take a closer look at how the industry’s most powerful executives stack up now. On the list that follows, we rank the top 25 and present the rest in alphabetical order by sector. The sands have certainly shifted since we made our last power list. Sure, Sir Lucian Grainge is still at the top of the heap, two years after we named him our executive of the last decade. But this year, there’s a very different reason for his No. 1 ranking: his leadership of Universal Music Group’s historic debut as a public company. It wasn’t just the largest direct listing in the history of the music industry, but one that has helped l...
Sidney Miller, Pioneering ‘Black Radio Exclusive’ Publisher, Dies at 89
Sidney Miller, founder and publisher of Black Radio Exclusive (BRE) — one of the industry’s first Black music trade magazines — died Thursday in Arlington, Virginia, following a long illness. He was 89. Miller invested his savings and sold his house and car to pursue his dream of establishing a publication specifically targeting the Black music market. Launched in 1976, BRE became a pivotal force in underscoring the importance of Black radio and promoting the cultural and commercial impact of Black artists and Black music in the contemporary music arena. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news BRE’s success also spawned what became a popular industry staple, the BRE Convention. The annual event attracted key national and international music executives ...
The Deals: Round Hill Acquires Nancy Wilson Royalty Stake, Murda Beatz Signs With ADA
Round Hill Music acquired a significant share of Nancy Wilson‘s master royalties and has entered a long-term deal to administer her neighboring rights income. Though the exact share of the Heart singer, songwriter and guitarist’s master royalties remains undisclosed, Round Hill will own portions of classic Heart songs like “Barracuda,” “Magic Man,” “Alone,” “Crazy on You” and “These Dreams” — all of which were co-penned by Wilson. Trevor Bowen, chair of Round Hill Music, said of the deal, “We are very pleased to announce the acquisition of Nancy Wilson’s fantastic catalogue of classic Heart tracks from across her career including songs from her double and triple platinum selling albums. This important acquisition provides the Company with direct exposure to a timeless American rock band.” ...
Hipgnosis Buys Stake in Kenny Chesney Recording Royalties
Hipgnosis Song Management has acquired 80% of country superstar Kenny Chesney’s recorded music royalties. The deal is the first acquisition made by Hipgnosis since its new $1 billion partnership with Blackstone, announced in October, to acquire music rights and manage catalogs and is also Hipgnosis’s first deal with a country superstar. The pact covers Chesney’s recorded music royalties over a 23-year period, from 1994’s In My Wildest Dreams, his debut on Capricorn Records, through 2017’s Live in No Shoes Nation. Chesney recorded for Sony Music Nashville imprints from 1995 to 2017. The deal also includes future greatest hits, live and acoustic albums. Chesney switched to Warner Music Nashville in 2018 and the deal does not include any of his recorded music royalties for 2018’s Songs for th...
Executive Turntable: Merlin Conjures New Board; WMUK Label Vet Promoted to SVP, Commercial
Merlin announced its newly-elected board, which includes representatives from 12 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and Oceania. The Merlin board includes equal representation from the organization’s three regional blocs: North America, Europe and All Other Countries, according to a press release. Nine of this year’s board members were elected or appointed for their first term, while 11 members are returning for another term. Newly elected to the 2022 board are: Pascal Bittard, owner of IDOL (France); Tom Deakin, head, EMEA at AudioSalad (U.K.); Sandra Ortega, director, global partnerships at Altafonte (Mexico); Louis Posen, president & executive director at Hopeless Records (U.S.); Jason Taylor, director, sales & label relations at Redeye (U.S.); a...
Grammys Could Be Moving, Have a Hold on a Venue in Las Vegas
Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena could be the host venue for the 2022 Grammys, sources tell Billboard. Other venues are under consideration to host the rescheduled awards show, sources say, but Recording Academy officials have quietly placed a hold on the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which in just two days has gone from backup-plan venue to front-runner due to the lack of available replacement venues in Los Angeles. Located on the Las Vegas Strip inside the MGM Grand hotel and casino, the 29-year-old sports and music venue has operated as a joint venture between AEG and MGM Resorts International since 2016 when the two companies built the T-Mobile Arena, which they own and operate as a 50-50 joint venture. In terms of hosting the 2022 Grammys, it meets two essential requirements – it’s av...
Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty Lingerie Brand Will Open Retail Stores in 2022
Rihanna announced on Friday (Jan. 7) that her Savage x Fenty lingerie brand will open its own brick-and-mortar stores this year. “2022, we coming in HOT! we bout to bring you a whole new #SavageXFenty experience with the launch of our brick-and-mortar retail stores!” she tweeted with an animation of what said stores would look like. It appears they’ll be featuring colorful wallpapers highlighting the rainbow assortment of lingerie, sleepwear and loungewear. Rihanna, 33, also listed out the first five locations of the Savage x Fenty stores: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. “Can’t believe it’s actually that time, and I can’t wait for you to have this experience irl,” she continued. Explore Explore Rihanna See latest videos, charts and news See latest v...
Bad Bunny Tops Year-End Latin Songs, Albums Charts as Latin Music Consumption Soars
Latin music consumption in the United States continued its outsized growth trajectory, with a 21.1% increase in total album consumption in 2021 — more than any other core music genre and behind only comedy — according to MRC Data’s newly released year-end report. All told, total album consumption of Latin music — which comprises traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA) — stood at 48.2 million, up from 39.8 million in 2020. It’s a robust showing that once again makes Latin the fifth most-consumed music genre in the U.S. behind country (72.2 million), pop (116.5 million), rock (178.7 million) and of course the behemoth that is R&B/hip-hop, which led with 247.5 million units earned in 2021. In terms of on-demand song streams, Latin’s sho...
