Spotify
The Ledger: How Do Music Executives’ Pay Compare to Other Entertainment Leaders?
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. Music industry executives at publicly traded companies are paid well – but they’re not the only ones. As Billboard reported in the inaugural Money Makers list of music’s highest-paid executives and stockholders at publicly traded companies, 10 business leaders earned nearly or more than $9 million in 2021. Of those, most of their compensation came from stock awards and stock options, not base salary or performance bonuses. For example, only 5% of SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz’s $32.6 million total compensation came from a guaranteed salary. As is common practice among publicly traded corporations, SiriusXM tied most of Wit...
Music’s Most Compensated: 5 Top Money Makers You May Not Know
Kang Hyo-won, Yoon Seok-jun (aka Yenzo Loon) and Kim Shin-gyu are hardly marquee names in the music business, but they accounted for three of its five largest paydays in 2021, according to Billboard Pro‘s inaugural Executive Money Makers ranking — a breakdown of executive compensation and stock ownership at publicly traded companies. All three are valued members of HYBE, the South Korean entertainment giant behind BTS, Tomorrow X Together, NewJeans and other K-pop acts, and in 2016, their efforts turning the company into a global success were rewarded with stock options that netted them the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars when the company went public last year. Stock options are often used to incentivize and reward employees when a company is privately held. In a statement to Bil...
Music’s Top Money Makers: The Highest-Paid Executives and Stockholders at Publicly Traded Companies
Kang Hyo-won is not a marquee name in the music industry. The South Korean producer is better known as Pdogg, the studio wizard behind hits by K-pop supergroup BTS and other acts on the roster of Korean entertainment company HYBE. Because Kang played a key role in HYBE’s global success, his employer gave him 128,000 stock options in 2016 that turned into about $35 million when Kang exercised them. (All currency conversions to U.S. dollars in this story are based on the average 2021 exchange rate.) That made Kang the second-highest-paid music industry executive last year among those whose earnings are publicly disclosed. Yoon Seok-jun (aka Lenzo Yoon) and Kim Shin-gyu, co-CEO of HYBE America and chief artist management officer, respectively, also benefited from HYBE going public. Yoon nette...
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EDM.com Playlist Picks: Dillon Francis, FISHER, Effin & More [9/2/22]
The electronic music community is constantly evolving with new sounds every week, as artists become more innovative with their compositions. EDM.com’s weekly “Playlist Picks” series highlights the top releases in the genre, helping uncover the latest tracks that will soon dominate the dance music scene. EDM.com Top Hits Dillon Francis – Goodies Ellie Goulding – Easy Lover (Jax Jones Remix) FISHER & MERYLL – Yeah The Girls Festival Hits 2022 Good Times Ahead – DBL Park Scroll to Continue Recommended Articles Effin – Playtime Tsuki – Running Back Electronic Avenue Seven Lions – Call On Me (feat. Vancouver Sleep Clinic) Elderboork & Tourist – Howl tyDi, Wish I Was & Ruby May – I Say It’s Over These track...
Publishers, Streamers Reach Deal for Highest Streaming Royalty Rate Ever: Here’s How It Works
Songwriter and publisher U.S. mechanical streaming royalty rates are going up — slowly — to a headline rate of 15.35% of total revenue from 2023-2027. That’s the big news out of Wednesday’s (Aug. 31) joint announcement on the “Phonorecords IV” settlement from the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), the Nashville Songwriters Associations International and the Digital Media Association (DiMA). But how long will it take to get there and at what pace? What are the other conditions? Billboard now has more more key details about the deal. Under the new settlement agreement — which the NMPA touts will set the “highest royalty rate in the history of streaming anywhere” — the headline rate will escalate from 15.1% of revenue in 2023 to 15.2% in 2024 and then a half a percentage point inc...
Harry Styles and Kate Bush Named Spotify’s Songs of Summer 2022
With Labor Day just around the corner, Spotify has released its Top Songs of Summer 2022 report. To no one’s surprise, it is led by a pair of Brits: Harry Styles and Kate Bush. Globally, the most-streamed song between May 29th and August 29th was Styles’ worldwide smash “As It Was.” Despite spending more than 10 weeks at No. 1 in both the US and UK, however, the Harry’s House cut was no match for the resurgence of Bush’s 37-year-old single “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” in those countries. Thanks to its prominent placement in Season 4 of Stranger Things, “Running Up That Hill” was the most-streamed song on Spotify in the US and the UK, beating out “As It Was” by one spot in both instances. According to the report, first-time streams from Gen Z listeners in the US increased by 7,8...
House Representative Rashida Tlaib Takes Aim at Music Streaming Services In New Resolution
Rashida Tlaib, House Representative for Michigan’s 13th congressional district, has introduced a resolution that seeks to establish a new royalty program. The resolution effectively continues her fight for musicians to earn a “reasonable” living from their recorded music. “Expressing the sense of Congress that it is the duty of the Federal Government to establish a new royalty program to provide income to featured and non-featured performing artists whose music or audio content is listened to on streaming music services, like Spotify,” reads the bill. Tlaib’s resolution proposes the royalty rate be administered by SoundExchange and the Copyright Royalty Board, who would calculate, collect, retain and distribute payments to the appropriate copyright ...
The Ledger: When Should Subscription Services Raise Prices?
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. Over the last decade, streaming platforms have mostly held prices steady while racking up over half a billion subscribers globally. But for years, music executives have questioned subscription services’ decision to sacrifice higher prices — and with them higher royalties to labels and artists — to gain more subscribers. Music streaming is following an age-old business tactic: launch at an affordable price, gain customers and, once people are hooked, raise prices. The question is when to raise prices. Too early a raise could risk alienating subscribers, while one that’s too late risks leaving revenue on the table once su...
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EDM.com Playlist Picks: Hardwell, Zeds Dead, HALIENE & More [8/12/22]
The electronic music community is constantly evolving with new sounds every week, as artists become more innovative with their compositions. EDM.com’s weekly “Playlist Picks” series highlights the top releases in the genre, helping uncover the latest tracks that will soon dominate the dance music scene. EDM.com Top Hits Hardwell – I Feel Like Dancing GRiZ & TVBOO – Bass Music RÜFÜS DU SOL – Make It Happen (Dom Dolla Remix) Festival Hits 2022 BYOR – Say Yes Scroll to Continue Recommended Articles RetroVision – Pressure Showtek & Silverland – Free Electronic Avenue HALIENE – Reach Across the Sky Elohim & Nitti Gritti – Float Away Zeds Dead & MKLA – In My Head These tracks can be accessed on the EDM.com To...
Spotify Is Testing New Feature to Sell Concert Tickets Directly to Fans
It already feels like Spotify controls every aspect of the music industry, but the streaming service is still looking for ways to tighten its grip. Per Music Ally, Spotify is now testing a feature that sells concert tickets directly to fans. Spotify already has a Live Events tab on its mobile app that links users to external ticketing companies, and its “Fans First” initiative tips users off to tours by the artists they listen to most. But the new website, which is only in a test run, sells tickets under the Spotify name — with the company getting a cut of the booking fee. Spotify’s ticketing website is currently only available in the US and is offering tickets to Annie DiRusso, Tokimonsta, Osees, Dirty Honey, Limbeck, Crows and Four Years Strong. The available tickets come from the artist...
The Ledger: In Strong 2022, Advertising Is Rare Weakness for Music Biz
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. With a handful of music companies’ quarterly earnings releases now in the books, the outlook for the second half of the year appears strong almost across the board. There is one area of weakness, however: online advertising. On Wednesday, French music company Believe slightly raised its guidance for fiscal 2022 but warned in its investor presentation that organic growth will slow in the second half of the year “as the ad-funded streaming activities should be affected by rising inflation and economic uncertainties.” Spotify also pointed to some weakening in advertising. “For advertising, we did see some softening in tren...
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Hip-Hop Wired Presents: CRT FRSH [Certified Fresh] Playlist 7.29.22
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: David Espejo / Getty What up, Hip-Hop Wired Nation? We’re back with the last edition of CRT FRSH AKA Certified Fresh for July! Part of our duty as a publication and crew is to school the masses on who is doing what musically and there’s no better way to do that beyond our CRT FRSH (Certified Fresh) bi-weekly playlist. The CRT FRSH playlist is a labor of love. We don’t take payments nor do we do favors. We only add joints to our playlist that fit the theme and vision we’re going for and don’t seek to waste the time of the listener. Further, we don’t stick to one lane of Hip-Hop. We believe that all aspects of the music should get some light whether it’s young lions in the trenches to those hoping for that one shot to blow up to grizzled veterans puffing ou...
