Record Labels
Major Labels Bolster Diversity of Music Teams With ‘A&R Academies’
LONDON — Growing up in the town of Watford, located 15 miles outside of London, Zara Stewart dreamed of pursuing a music career. But she felt she lacked the connections or background to make it a reality. “I assumed it was an industry where it was all about who you know,” says Stewart. “And I didn’t know anybody.” Believing music wasn’t a viable option, Stewart focused her education on languages, studying Spanish and Portuguese at Leeds University. After graduating in 2019, she briefly worked in fashion retail and medical recruitment, but still found herself pining for a job in the record business. Now Stewart, 25, has landed her dream job as a paid A&R intern at Sony Music UK imprint Dream Life Records. She joined the company earlier this year as part of its A&R Academy – one of s...
Sean “Diddy” Combs Launches Love Records, Announces New Summer LP
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Gio Bandero / Combs Enterprises Sean “Diddy” Combs knows quite a bit about running a label after taking the Bad Boy imprint to some of the highest heights in music. The savvy businessman is once again diving into the music business with a new venture known as Love Records. Diddy AKA Love announced today (May 10) that he’s launching his Love Records imprint. The announcement also includes details of an exclusive one-time album deal with Motown for a Diddy solo album for release this summer. Related Stories “Music has always been my first love, LOVE RECORDS is the next chapter is about getting back to the love and making the best music of my life,” Combs shared in a statement. “For the [l]abel I’m focused on creating timeless R&B music with the next gen...
Artists Without Labels Must Be the ‘CEO of Their Brand’ (Music Biz 2022)
One of the most significant byproducts of the streaming era has been the increasing number of ways that artists can make money outside the traditional record label system. But there’s often less attention paid to the actual ramifications of artists choosing to go that route — and the roles that distributors, managers, digital marketers and others play in filling that gap while using the data offered by digital service providers to help an artist succeed in whichever way they choose. That was the topic of the panel “Navigating New Strategies: How A&R, Artist Marketing & Distribution Come Together in the Age of Streaming” at the Music Biz 2022 conference on Monday (May 9). Moderated by Label Logic co-founder, digital strategy Jay Gilbert, the panelists — Rareform co-founder Hallie An...
BTS, Justin Bieber Concerts Boost HYBE’s Quarterly Earnings
Korean music company HYBE, home to K-pop superstars BTS, posted revenue of 285 billion KRW ($226 million) in the first quarter of 2022, the company announced Tuesday (May 3). The result — which marks a nearly 60% revenue increase year over year but a decrease of 37.8% from last quarter — followed a record-breaking year for HYBE in 2021, when the company surpassed $1 billion in revenue for the first time thanks to its acquisition of Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings. The Q1 results were bolstered by a return to large-scale live events, including BTS’ Permission to Dance shows in Seoul in March, which drew over 45,000 fans in person. An additional 1.4 million fans viewed the livestream, which smashed box office records; the March 12 screening alone grossed $6.9 million in North America, making...
Mexican Rapper Gera MX Signs With Sony Music
Gera MX has signed a deal with Sony Music, Billboard can exclusively announce today (May 3). The Mexican rapper and major label have joined forces to “continue the steady growth and impact of his career and celebrate his arrival to the home of artists,” says an official statement. “I feel really excited about this new stage in my career,” Gera (real name: Gerardo Daniel Torres Montante) said. “I know this strategic alliance with Sony will be crucial to continue growing what has already been highly achieved in my career.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Born in Monterrey and raised in San Luis Potosi, the former Billboard Latin Artist on the Rise has a trajectory that spans over 10 years and credits artists such as Molotov, Control Mache...
Interscope Promotes Tim Glover to Executive VP of A&R
Interscope Geffen A&M has promoted A&R veteran Tim Glover to the role of executive vp of A&R, the company announced today (April 20). Glover, who has been with the company since 2014, previously held the title of senior vp of A&R. During his time at Interscope, Glover has been the point person for the label’s partnerships with Dreamville — which includes artists like J. Cole, JID and Ari Lennox, among others — and LVRN, including Summer Walker and 6LACK, as well as working with Tierra Whack and more than a dozen other artists at the label. “Tim’s dedication to the artists and partners he works with, his consistency and discipline are perfectly matched with his intuitive knowledge of the current market and his proven ability to recognize talent,” Interscope’s executive vp/co...
Lauryn Hill Champions California Bill to Limit Record Labels’ Power: ‘Greed Often Perverts’
Lauryn Hill has come out in support of a California bill that would prevent record labels from suing artists who leave their record contracts prematurely. On Thursday (April 14), the eight-time Grammy-winning singer/rapper made a public plea to members of the California State Assembly’s Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media to support the FAIR Act, also known as Assembly Bill 2926. Introduced by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) in February, the bill would repeal a 1987 amendment to California’s “Seven-Year Statue” (a.k.a. California Labor Code Section 2855) that allows record labels to sue artists for damages if they leave after seven years but before delivering the required number of albums in their contract. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts an...
Record Label Market Share Q1 2022: Interscope Leads, Indies Gain, Disney Surges Into Top 10
We don’t talk about Bruno, but Disney is giving the music business something else to talk about: its impressive new share of the market. As 2022 got underway, the soundtrack to Encanto, the Disney film that was released over the holiday season, saw its Lin-Manuel Miranda-penned collection of songs become the biggest album of the year so far in the first quarter stemming from Dec. 31, 2021 through March 31, 2022. The success of the soundtrack — the first album of 2022 to pass 1 million equivalent album units, according to Luminate, formerly MRC Data — has had a tangible effect on the market share rankings for Q1, as the Disney Music Group surged into the top 10 of overall market share, the most significant of several moves atop the rankings compared to Q1 last year. Interscope/Geffen/A&...
WMG Canada Offices Relocating to Downtown Toronto in 2023
Warner Music Group is relocating its Canadian businesses to The Well, a newly-constructed building in downtown Toronto. Beginning in March 2023, WMG employees from Warner Music Canada, Warner Chappell Music Canada and Sodatone (a predictive A&R and marketing intelligence platform) will move into the new office, which will include a recording studio, performance space, songwriting rooms and content creation workrooms. The relocation comes as part of WMG’s Future of Work project, which aims to improve the company’s office spaces globally and better align with hybrid working models. Located at 410 Front Street West in downtown Toronto, The Well “offers a curated collection of premium and new concept retail, commercial, dining, and wellness businesses, as well as office and residential spa...
Lauren Alaina Parts Ways With Longtime Record Label
Singer-songwriter Lauren Alaina has parted ways with her longtime record label home, Billboard has confirmed. Alaina first shared the news on social media, with a lengthy statement thanking UMG Nashville and Mercury Records for being her label home from the beginning of her career, after she came in second place on the 10th season of American Idol in 2011 (fellow country entertainer Scotty McCreery was the winner that season). “I want to thank the staff at Mercury Records and UMG Nashville for everything they have done for me over the last 11 years,” Alaina said. “They have been my label home since the day I walked off the American Idol stage as a really young, wide-eyed, eager 16-year-old kid. Now, at 27 years old I look back and see just how much I have changed and grown in to the woman ...
The Ledger: Inside Universal Music’s 2021 Annual Report
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. Universal Music Group’s first-ever annual report, released Thursday, offers an exhaustive look at the company’s finances and operations as well as environmental, social and governance initiatives. If you want to know how many metric tons of paper was purchased for internal use (24) or the number of megawatt hours of electricity from renewable sources (7,982), it’s in there. In terms of dollars and cents behind investments and catalogs, the annual report has a few things worth highlighting. UMG sold Alamo Records for 102 million euros ($112.7 million) for a gain of 98 million euros ($108.3 million). Sony Music reportedly...
FAIR Act Bill to Repeal California’s ‘Seven-Year Statute’ Amendment Wins First Committee Vote
The Free Artists From Industry Restrictions (FAIR) Act passed out of the California State Assembly’s Labor & Employment Committee on Wednesday (March 30) after a 4-2 vote in favor of the legislation. The bill now moves to the Assembly’s Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media for an April 19 hearing and vote. Introduced by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) in February, the FAIR Act — also known as Assembly Bill 2926 — would repeal a 1987 amendment to California’s “Seven-Year Statue” (a.k.a. California Labor Code Section 2855) that allows record labels to sue artists for damages if they leave after seven years but before delivering the required number of albums in their contract. The Seven-Year Statute, which limits personal services contracts for state ...
