International
In India’s Price-Sensitive Market, Will Customers Finally Pay For Streaming?
Only two countries — China (45% ad-supported), the seventh-biggest market, and Venezuela (58%), IFPI’s lowest-ranked sector — rely more on ad-supported audio streams than India (38%). And China, for the first time, generated more revenue last year from subscription-supported streams than ad-supported streams, IFPI figures show. Lodha, who previously was an executive at hospitality chain OYO Rooms, says it’s time to change India’s revenue paradigm. To help Gaana regain its edge in India’s crowded streaming market against its well-financed competitors, he’s focusing on boosting subscription income, which he says is more important than hitting Gaana’s target of 500 million MAUs — a figure at which he says the streaming platform would finally turn profitable. Subscription income fell from 33% ...
Ed Sheeran Debuts at No. 1 In U.K. With ‘Shivers’
It’s not the first time Sheeran has knocked one of his own tracks from the summit. The first time he did it was in January 2018, when Eminem’s “River,” on which he featured, replaced his solo release “Perfect.” Elsewhere on the chart, Elton John and Dua Lipa’s Cold Heart” (Pnau Remix) (via EMI) vaults 11-4, for Lipa’s eighth Top 5 single, and Elton John’s 21st. Meanwhile, Central Cee completes the Top 5 with “Obsessed With You” (Central Cee), new at No. 5. The track samples Pinkpantheress’ “Just For Me” (Parlophone), currently No. 43 on the chart, and becomes the West London rapper highest-charting single. Over on the albums chart race, Manic Street Preachers hold on for a second No. 1 with The Ultra Vivid Lament (Universal), their 14th studio album. The Welsh rockers’ latest LP captu...
Ed Sheeran Logs Record-Breaking Year Atop U.K. Chart
With his latest feat, Sheeran becomes the first British solo artist to reign over the chart for a full year across his catalog. In the 69 years since the launch of the Official U.K. chart, just Elvis Presley (80 weeks) and The Beatles (69) have spent more time at the top. Of Sheeran’s songs, 2017’s “Shape of You,” the most streamed song on Spotify, has enjoyed the longest stay at the summit, at 14 weeks, while “Bad Habits” ruled for 11 weeks. Other solo artists in the same ballpark as Sheeran include Englishman Cliff Richard (46 weeks at No. 1), Canadian singer Justin Bieber (38 weeks), Scottish EDM star Calvin Harris and Canadian rapper Drake (31 weeks), and the veteran U.S. pop star Madonna (29 weeks), the OCC reports. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for D...
KAT-TUN Debuts Atop Japan Hot 100 as The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber Break In to Top 10
“We Just Go Hard” sold 134,842 copies in its first week to hit No. 1 for sales and also ruled look-ups. The single performed relatively well in the digital metrics of the chart’s methodology as well, coming in at No. 6 for downloads, No. 3 for Twitter mentions, and No. 15 for radio airplay. While it managed to snag the top spot this week, the difference between the song at No. 2, “Butter” by BTS (which rises again from No. 3) was only 2,000 points, so KAT-TUN won a close race. The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber’s “Stay” breaks into the top 10 this week after it debuted on the Japan Hot 100 nine weeks ago. The collaborative single between the breakout Australian rapper and Canadian superstar is the first Western pop single to hit the top 10 since Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain On Me,” whi...
‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Music Creator Masato Nakamura Reflects on Video Game’s 30th Anniversary
Thirty years after its release, the sound of the YM3438 — the FM sound chip on the Mega Drive — still resonates in a dynamic, robust way. Although the Mega Drive was cutting-edge at the time, it could only generate six simultaneous tones, meaning it was far more restrictive than ordinary commercial music production. In an interview with Billboard Japan, Masato shared his process of creating music in such a limited environment. “From a vertical standpoint, only six notes could be played together including the drums, chords and melody. It wasn’t about chords anymore, it was about expressing the music with just those six notes, so I only used six notes when composing on MIDI,” Masato says. “I allotted two notes to the hi-hat and the kick, the third to the melody, and used the rema...
The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s ‘Stay’ Enters 10th Week at No. 1 In Australia
The highest debut on the current frame belongs to Ed Sheeran, as “Shiver” (Warner) shakes into the chart at No. 5, for the Brit’s 23rd Top 10 single in these parts. “Shiver” will appear alongside former No. 1 “Bad Habits” on Sheeran’s new album = (equals), due out Oct. 29. The Anxiety, the U.S. pairing of Willow Smith and Tyler Cole, make their first impression on the ARIA Chart with “Meet Me At Our Spot” (Universal), new at No. 27. Just one place behind, at No. 28, is Tai Verdes’ “A-O-K” (Sony/Orchard), for the singer and songwriter’s first appearance in the Top 50. Verdes’ career in music took off when “Stuck In The Middle” went viral on TikTok last year. Finally, The Voice Australia winner Bella Taylor Smith cracks the chart at her first attempt with “Higher” (EMI), new at No. 31....
Helene Fischer Renews Deal With Universal Music Germany
Fischer has sold 16.3 million albums, counting equivalent streams and downloads, many of them as CDs, which still sell well in Germany. As of 2018, she had scored the top-selling album in the market for five of the previous six years. To get a better sense of how popular she is, though, remember that Germany has a population of 83 million – about a quarter that of the U.S. – and the German-speaking market is roughly 100 million. Fischer also hosts in “Die Helene Fischer Show,” an annual Christmas program on the German public television network ZDF. Fischer’s new album, Rausch, is due out Oct. 15, and the first single, “Vamos a Marte” – Spanish for “let’s go to Mars” – is a duet with the Puerto Rican star Luis Fonsi, who is signed to Universal...
Iranian Composer Who Risks Jail For Releasing Music Has Submitted Album For Grammy Consideration
“I ask all the artists in the world to help me bring the voice of music freedom to the world,” Rajabian told Billboard in an email interview. “I experienced years of imprisonment and bans, solitary confinement, hunger strikes, and so on — solely for music.” Rajabian was arrested, along with his filmmaker brother Hossein and another musician Yousef Emadi in 2013 while recording an album titled The History of Iran Narrated By Setar (a lute-like instrument used in traditional Persian music). According to a 2016 Amnesty International report, after a three-minute trial in April 2015, they were convicted of “insulting Islamic sanctities”, “spreading propaganda against the system” and “illegal audio-visual activities.” Hosssein had ...
2021 ARIA Awards Scrap Gender Categories, Sets Digital Event
Right now, more than half the population of Australia is experiencing lockdown, including the residents of Sydney, the home and birthplace of the ARIAs. Any member of the jet set in these parts has first-hand knowledge of the letdown from lockdowns ruining their travel plans. For organizers, a waiting game wouldn’t work. And nor would a hybrid show. “Unfortunately,” notes ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd, “we are still living through a pandemic. As much as we wish it were different, it is just not possible to come together for an in-person event.” The entire show will stream on YouTube and other platforms, including the free-to-air Channel 9 network’s 9Now digital channel. “There are some cool things you can do on YouTube and we are going to take advantage of those,” Herd tells Billboar...
Manic Street Preachers on Course for Second U.K. No. 1 With ‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’
It’s not the first time these two acts have gone head-to-head on the chart. Back in September 1998, the Manics’ This Is My Truth Now Tell Me Yours beat Steps’ Step One for the crown by a margin of 95,000 sales. What The Future Holds Pt. 2, Steps’ seventh studio album, is the week’s most-downloaded LP, and is on track to become their third consecutive No. 2, following Tears On The Dancefloor (from 2017) and What The Future Holds (2020). Also new to the Official Chart Update is Dark Matters (Coursegood), the first album in nine years from punk rock veterans The Stranglers. It’s at No. 3, and could give the band their highest-charting effort in 43 years, since 1978’s Black & White. The Vaccines are chasing a fifth straight Top 5 album with Back In Love City (Super Easy), new at No. 4, whi...
Arlo Parks’ ‘Collapsed in Sunbeams’ Is Energized After Mercury Prize Win
Based on midweek data, the album vaults to No. 26. The soulful British singer is enjoying a bright start to her career. In 2020, she won the AIM Independent Music Award for One to Watch, was longlisted for the BBC Sound Of… 2020 and won BBC Introducing Artist of the Year. Collapsed In Sunbeams opened at No. 3 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart in February, and, in May, she was declared the breakthrough artist winner at the 2021 Brit Awards, on a night when she delivered an inspiring performance of her song “Hope.” Accepting the Mercury Prize, Parks said “it took a lot of sacrifice and hard work to get here and there were moments where I wasn’t sure whether I would make it through — but I am here today so thank you very much.” The award was established as the Mercury Music Prize in 199...
Warren Costello Steps Down From Australia’s Mushroom Group
He returned to the fold in March 2000, when he joined forces with Gudinski to launch Mushroom Group’s Liberation label, and later, as managing director of the indie powerhouse’s label activities. In 2017, Costello and Gudinski co-founded the Bloodlines label, offering creative services to its stable of heritage acts. Just two months ago, Bloodlines had a No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart with Jimmy Barnes’ Flesh And Blood, the title track for which Barnes dedicated to Gudinski at the late industry legend’s state memorial in March. Throughout his career, Costello showed a knack for spotting an opportunity. In August of this year, he launched Mushroom Group’s new film distribution and production company, Long Play Music Films, with Phil Lynott: Songs For While I’m Away, Emer Reynolds’ award-win...
