business
How Risky Are Concerts? We Asked an Infectious Disease Expert
Billboard spoke with Dr. Amesh A. Adalja, senior scholar at Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security and an authority on infectious diseases and pandemic preparedness, to raise these questions. Adalja, 45, is a go-to pandemic expert, sharing his views on CBS This Morning, NPR and the BBC, among many others during the past year and a half. It turns out Adalja knows his way around concerts, too: A longtime skateboarder, Adalja grew up listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Metallica and Rancid and saw the original Lollapalooza twice. “We’ll have COVID cases 20 years from now,” he says. “Then we have to come up with a way to be able to go about our lives, making risk calculations jus...
Maroon 5 Will Be First Major US Act to Perform in Canada After Border Reopening
A spokesperson for Live Nation confirmed to Billboard that Maroon 5 will be the first major U.S. act to perform in Canada since the pandemic began early last year. Vaccinated Americans and permanent residents must submit proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of their arrival to Canada. The vaccinations must have been administered at least 14 days before entry. A steady stream of concerts in Canada featuring U.S.-based artists — most for dates in 2022 — have gone on sale this summer, including John Mayer, The Killers, Sebastian Maniscalco, Elton John and Sepultura. On the books from October through December of this year are shows in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver featuring Ricky Martin with Enrique Iglesias, Lemonheads, Maluma, Ge...
Downtown Music Holdings Names New CEO, Kalifowitz to Executive Director
Founder and CEO Justin Kalifowitz moves to the role of executive director in the new leadership alignment. Downtown Music Holdings — the umbrella organization that houses several music-services brands like CD Baby, FUGA, Songtrust, Downtown Neighboring Rights and more — is shaking up its executive leadership team. Founder and CEO Justin Kalifowitz will transition to a new role as executive director of the company, while longtime general counsel and COO Andrew Bergman rises to the role of CEO. The moves will take place effective Sept. 1. Kalifowitz started Downtown in 2007 as a music publisher, a business it largely exited in April when it sold the rights to its 145,000-song catalog of publishing copyrights to Concord in a deal estimated at $350 million. (Downtown still serves a...
A24 Names NBA’s J.B. Lockhart as Studio’s First Chief Financial Officer
Indie film and TV studio A24 has tapped J.B. Lockhart, previously chief financial officer for the National Basketball Association (NBA), as its first CFO, according to The New York Times. Lockhart first started working for the NBA in 2013, before being named CFO in 2017. In that role, he spearheaded long-term strategic planning objectives and managed finances for the NBA and its various other entities, which include the WNBA, NBA G League, Basketball Africa League and esports league NBA 2K League. Before leading finances for the NBA, Lockhart worked in investment banking, primarily in the media and technology sector, and held positions in Disney’s Strategic Planning Group. Last month, A24, which is behind films including Moonlight, Ex Machina and Midsommar, was exploring pot...
Longtime Warner Music Central Europe CEO Bernd Dopp Is Stepping Down
Dopp is a five-decade veteran of WMG and the company’s longest-serving CEO in Europe. After working in retail, he joined Warner Music in 1984 as a label manager before working his way up to managing director of WEA Records a decade later. When WEA merged with Warner Classics and other entities to form Warner Music Germany in 2001, he was put in charge. In 2004, Warner Music International created a new European structure, grouping the major’s operations in Germany, Switzerland and Austria (GSA) into what would eventually be known as Warner Music Central Europe. As CEO from the very start, Dopp guided WMCE through the music industry’s oft-bumpy transition into digital and, more recently, through a once-in-a-generation pandemic. Through it all, he has delivered hits in his t...
Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande & More Receive iHeartRadio Titanium Awards for Reaching 1 Billion Audience Spins
Lipa alone is being honored for “Levitating,” according to iHeart, because the 1 billion total audience spin figure includes both her solo version and the remix featuring DaBaby. The remix alone doesn’t meet the criteria. These are the first titanium award recipients announced in 2021. The total audience spins calculation is based on Mediabase airplay and is multiplied by the number of persons listening to the radio at the time of those plays, delivering total audience impressions, which iHeart regards as the broadcast equivalent of the number of streams from a streaming music service. Post Malone and Shawn Mendes were the top titanium award winners in 2020, taking three awards each. Posty scored with “Sunflower,” “Wow” and “Circles”; Mendes with “...
California Regulator Claims Riot Games Silenced Employees Over Harassment and Discrimination Complaints
Straight after taking action against Activision Blizzard for alleged sexual harassment and gender discrimination, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing has now gone after another company within the gaming industry, this time claiming that Riot Games had silenced its employees from issuing complaints over the same harassment and discrimination within the workplace. In 2019, following a year of litigation, Riot Games had settled a lawsuit with employees over claims that it had fostered a gender-discriminating and toxic workplace culture. Following an investigation by the DFEH, the department found that the language used within that settlement had to the chilling effect of deterring Riot employees from speaking up against the same behavior. “Agreements that attempt to bar ind...
The Killers’ ‘Pressure Machine’ Is Powering to No. 1 In U.K.
Also, notes the OCC, three of The Killers’ albums — Hot Fuss, Sam’s Town (2006) and Day & Age (2008) — have notched over one million U.K. chart sales, with the former bagging more than two million. Hot Fuss single “Mr Brightside” is one of the most popular tracks in the U.K. this century. In April of this year, the song logged a record-extending 260th non-consecutive week — a full five years — on the national singles chart. Meanwhile, electronic outfit Jungle are swinging to a third successive Top 10 album, with Loving In Stereo (Caiola). It’s new at No. 2 on the Official U.K. Chart Update, and is set to best the No. 7 peak of their Mercury Prize-nominated self-titled debut from 2014. Loving In Stereo is the best-selling album on wax in the first half of the wee...
Watford FC Gets Sponsorship From Dogecoin
English Premiere League team Watford Football Club has received a sponsorship from Dogecoin, with the iconic Shiba Inu dog appearing on the Watford shirt sleeves. San Francisco-based sports site The Athletic first reported on the partnership, which is worth about £700,000 GBP ($967,00 USD) and will break from the team’s previous partnership with Bitcoin. The deal is in collaboration with crypto casino and sports betting platform Stake.com, which announced in July that it had inked a multi-year partnership with the team, paid for in cryptocurrency. To mark the partnership, Stake.com said it would be launching several crypto-themed initiatives, including a 10 million Dogecoin giveaway through their platform. The company also serves as UFC’s first-ever betting partner in Latin Ameri...
JAY-Z Applies for New York Sports Betting License To Form ‘Fanatics Sportsbook’
After taking part in a $325 million USD investment in Fanatics last week, JAY-Z, along with his full-service entertainment company Roc Nation, has partnered with the sports e-commerce platform’s owner Michael Rubin to apply for a New York gaming license to create Fanatics Sportsbook, according to Forbes. According to official documents filed with the New York State Gaming Commission, JAY-Z will assume a vice chairman position on the board of directors for a new “Fanatics Betting & Gaming” organization, while Rubin will be the new chief executive. “Fanatics Sportsbook will use one of the largest sports fan databases in North America and proven sports betting platform and player account management technology to operate sports wagering in New York,” the entity wrote in its application. Th...
Music Companies Delay Return to Office, Mandating Vaccines
Moore adds that the highly-global nature of the Spotify workforce — the company boasts 50 offices across 25 countries — made instituting a blanket vaccine mandate even more challenging. “In some countries, in some regions, it would actually be illegal to do so,” says Moore, “and so we’re just sort of taking the stance that people will make good decisions.” Notably, local ordinances in major urban centers could force companies’ hands. Earlier this month, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that a proof of vaccination will be required to enter indoor restaurants, gyms and performance venues in the city starting on Aug. 16 — though the order does not yet apply to offices. Last Tuesday, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to look...
Maffio Launches ‘Alkatraks Music’ Record Label with New Artist Calacote: ‘This Is For the Culture’ (Exclusive)
It all begins with Calacote (real name: Luca Newton), a 22-year-old ambitious singer-songwriter who was born in North Carolina and is of Dominican and French descent. He describes his leap of faith as the ultimate “cinematic hustle move.” He began exploring music about two years ago but never thought he could pursue a career in it. He discovered his talent and passion for composing music in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and took his shot. He packed up his stuff, left Canada, where he was in grad school, moved first to New York, and later to Miami. After a few months of living in Miami, in December to be exact, he decided to direct message Maffio on Instagram. Twenty minutes later Maffio replied, they met up, and the rest is history. On Aug. 20, Calacote will be dropping his de...
