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BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE APRIL 13, 2020 | PAGE 4 OF 19 ON CHARTS JIM ASKER jim.asker@.com Bulletin SamHunt’s Southside Rules Top Country YOURAlbu DAILYms; BrettENTERTAINMENT Young ‘Catc NEWSh UPDATE’- Fifth AirplayFEBRUARY 18, 2021 Page 1 of 48 Leader; Travis Denning Makes History INSIDE : How Labels Sam Hunt’s second studio full-length, and first in over years, Southside (up 21%) in the tracking week. On Country , it hops 18-15 (11.9 mil- (MCA Nashville/ Nashville), debuts atAre No. 1 on Billboard Navigating’s lion audience impressions, upCancel 16%). Top• CountryMercuriadis Rising: chart dated April 18. In its first week (ending April 9), it earnedMeet 46,000 the equivalent Man units, including 16,000 in album sales, ac- TRY TO ‘CATCH’ UP WITH YOUNG Brett Youngachieves his fifth consecutive cordingSongwriters to Nielsen LoveMusic/MRC Data. Culture Afterand total Country Morgan Airplay No. 1 as “Catch” Wallen (Big Machine Label Group) ascends Southsideand Publishers marks FearHunt’s second No. 1 on the 2-1, increasing 13% to 36.6 million impressions. chart and fourth top 10. It follows freshman LP BY TATIANA CIRISANO Young’s first of six chart entries, “Sleep With- Montevallo• It’s a Growth, which Story:arrived at the summit in No - out You,” reached No. 2 in December 2016. He What’s Behind UMG’s vember 2014 and reigned for nineAfter weeks. a video To date, leaked to TMZ of rising coun- him as quicklyfollowed as that with drunken the multiweek slur came No. 1s from “In Case his You MontevalloAccelerated has earned IPO 3.9 million units, with 1.4 Didn’ Know” (two weeks, June 2017), “Like I Loved million in albumPlans? sales. try artist Morgan Wallen using the -word on mouth,” a leadingYou” (three, Nashville January industry 2018), “Mercy” executive (two, August Montevallo has spent 267 weeksFeb. 2, on the list, tyingcut his songs, streaming servic- recently told 2018)Billboard and “Here, which ” featured (two, AprilWallen 2019). on Luke •Bryan Star ’sTrack, Crash The My Party as thees droppedsixth-longest- him from official playlists, his booking the cover of its“Catch” Jan. 16 completes issue, when his longest the music journey business to No. 1, runningNext titles Generation: in the chart’s 56-yearagent history.stopped working with him and his label “sus- was still bettinghaving hands-down taken 46 weeks that to Wallen reach the would apex. beIt out - On Whatthe all-genre Do Major , Southside ar- paces the 30-week climb of “Here Tonight.” pended” his . The Academy of country’s next global superstar. “While he sits on the rivesCatalog at No. 5,Sales awarding Mean Hunt his second top 10 On , “Catch” pushes 7-5 for HUNT YOUNG afterFor the Younger No. 3-peaking Artists? MontevalloCountry. Music even deemed him ineligible for this sideline, thea pressurenew high. is on the rest of us to advance Hunt first released the EPX2C year’s, which ACM debuted Awards. He was essentially exiled from the genre and remind the world that not all country and peaked• Can Bigat No. Hit 5 & on Top Countrythe music Albums business. in August 2014. Following COMBS ‘DOES’ musicIT AGAIN artists, Luke Combscreators’ “Does [and] to executives Me” (River House/Columbiaare this way.” MontevalloUniversal, Between Music the Pines: AcousticExcept Mixtape by fans. started Wallen at —its who No. 7 on high Feb. 10 in issuedNashville), featuringWallen’s label,, ascends 11-8 Records, on Country and Airplay, other up associ 10% -to NovemberCreate the2015. Next BTS 24.7 million in audience. The song is Combs’ eighth straight career-opening a video apology saying, “I fully accept any penal- ated businesses have been struggling to navigate the Montevalloon US produced TV? five singles, four of which hit the pinnacle of Country top 10, following a record run of seven consecutive out-of-the-gate, properly Airplay: “Leave the Night On,” “Taketies I’ Your facing” Time,” — “House is now Party” spending and “Make his fifth promoted straight No. 1 singles.issue. “They’re thinking about music fans, they’re You Miss• UMG Me.” Launches “Break Up in a Smallweek Town” at No. 1 peaked on atthe No. Billboard 200 2. chart datedChurch adds histhinking 15th Country about Airplayinfluential top 10. voices within the music HuntIndie-Focused co-penned Virgin all 12 songsFeb. 20, on Southside with, his including 30-track “BodyDangerous: Like a Back The Double industry, and they’re thinking about other prospective Road,”Music which Label was & releasedArtist in 2017.Album The. Wallensmash hit was ruled helping Country lead Airplay the genre for intoTHAT the TOOK QUITEartists ‘A whomFEW’ MONTHS they might Travis want Denning to welcome shatters theonto record their for three weeksServices and the airplay-, streaming- and sales-based Hot Country Songs the most weeks it has taken to penetrate the top 10 as “After streaming era, appealing to a new generation of fans. label someday,” says Sean Smith, executive vp reputa- chart for a then-record 34 frames. It now ranks second only to Bebe Rexha and a Few” (Mercury Nashville) climbs 12-10 in its 57th week, up 4% to 21.4 mil - FloridaMARKET Georgia WATCH Line’s “Meant toBut Be” then (50 weekshis behavior atop the thrustlatter list country in 2017-18). music’slion lack in radioof reach.tion practice at firm Porter Novelli, PAGE 45 “Downtown’s Dead,” which isinclusivity also on the and new diversity set, reached under Nos. serious 14 and 15 scrutiny The — songand surpasseswho helped two tracks lead that crisis took management 50 weeks each for to enterthe Obama the top 10: on HotSONGWRITERS Country Songs and Countrystarted Airplay, a public respectively, conversation in June about 2018. “Kin the work- Easton it needs Corbin ’sadministration. “A Girl Like You,” which reached No. 10 in January 2018 be- folks”& ledPRODUCERS Country Airplay on Feb.to do, 29, bothbecoming to update Hunt’s its seventh practices No. 1.and It hit to reachfore beyond peaking at No.In 6 that his February, video apology, and Aaron Wallen Watson asked’s “Outta fans not Style,” to which No. 3 on HotCHARTS Country Songs. its core audience. achieved its No.defend 10 high inhis December actions and 2017. said that he had begun meeting LatestPAGES single 46 “Hard - 48 to Forget” jumps 17-9 on Hot Country Songs. It’s his “After” is Denning’s second Country Airplay entry. “David Ashley Parker “One ignorant guy took the rest of us down with (continued) eighth top 10, having corralled 8.2 million U.S. streams (up 96%) and 5,000 in From Powder Springs” traveled to No. 32 in September 2018. ETHAN MICHAEL YOUNG: VIA MARTIN/NHLI GETTY HUNT: IMAGES. IMAGES MILLER/GETTY 20 21 5TH ANNIVERSARY Raleigh Music Group was founded in 2016 by industry veteran As Raleigh’s reputation has grown, the company has partners Peter Raleigh and Steven Storch. The company is steadily built a contemporary roster of , artists headquartered in the heart of Times Square, NYC with offices in and producers and now publishes songs performed by or . In its first five years has experienced remarkable global featuring superstar artists including: , Chris growth and expansion. Brown, , , , Lil Vert, A$AP Ferg, Cardi , A Boogie, , , , The boutique music publishing company attributes its success to its Busta Rhymes and and tv Randy Edelman “client first” approach to music publishing – delivering a high touch, and Rick Marotta. high service experience to a select roster of music publishing clients it represents. The company has benefitted from the support of Please join Billboard in congratulating Raleigh Music Susan Aberbach, an owner of the catalog and an early group’s 5th Anniversary. stage investor. CONTACTS Raleigh’s client services are provided by A& staff in and LA, a synch licensing team with strong relationships in the film/tv, Joe Maimone 201.301.5933 | [email protected] and gaming industries, and a first-class copyright and royalty administration department. 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with Black leaders and stopped drinking. Music companies are acting faster than the road” without a clear legal meaning. “It (He noted the TMZ video showed him at ever in the wake of such events. “Labels are, would seem to mean that they’re waiting the end of a 72-hour bender.) But his follow- in essence, public figures now,” says Smith. to see whether the public is satisfied with ers haven’t stopped streaming or purchasing “They need to be responsive to public the steps that have been taken to rectify the his music. Wallen’s airplay collapsed after opinion in ways that they’ve never had to situation,” says the lawyer. iHeartRadio, Entercom and other radio before.” That’s especially true for public Big Loud is in the unusual position of conglomerates stopped playing his songs, companies like and, also acting as Wallen’s management and but increased sales and on-demand streams soon, Universal Music Group, whose Repub- publishing companies, and although Wallen by fans who can no longer hear him on the lic Records works with Big Loud on Wallen. has been removed from the roster on each air have kept Dangerous atop the chart. “It’s Nearly three-quarters (72%) of Ameri- company’s official website, the status of not surprising. Morgan has a very devoted cans feel empowered than ever to those deals is unclear. has fan base,” says Leslie Fram, senior vp music share their thoughts and opinions about not yet taken action publicly beyond post- strategy at CMT (which has pulled all companies, most on , and ing on social media that it “fully supports Wallen programming from its platforms). one in three (36%) have “canceled” a Big Loud’s decision.” Both labels declined to Despite Wallen’s apology, she adds, “Any of in the past year, according to a new Porter comment for this story. his fans who felt he was wronged in any way Novelli study on cancel culture. The study Labels in such situations have several came to his defense by buying the album.” found that companies are accountable for options: They could stop promoting an art- Movements like #MeToo and Black Lives both their own and those of their ist’s work, or even drop the artist instead of Matter have created a new era for artists representatives, as 87% of Americans think picking up another option on his or her con- and the companies that work with them. companies need to take responsibility for tract. (Labels typically have six months to a Days before Wallen’s video leaked, actress the words and statements of executives. year after an album is released to make this Evan Rachel Wood publicly accused rock- Big Loud swiftly issued a statement say- determination.) The most severe step would er Marilyn Manson of sexual abuse, leading ing it had decided to “suspend” Wallen’s be to entirely pull an artist’s recordings from his label, agent and manager to drop him. recording contract “indefinitely,” though it stores and streaming services. That’s what (Manson has denied all claims, calling them wouldn’t explain what that meant in practi- did with Avi Buf- “horrible distortions of reality.”) Weeks cal terms; the label continues to rake in over falo last July after ’s founder, Avi earlier, label Mexican Summer dropped in- $1.5 million a week from Wallen’s sales and Zahner-Isenberg, was accused of raping a die-rocker Ariel Pink for attending the streaming, Billboard estimates. A source former bandmate (Zahner-Isenberg has not Jan. 6 rally in , .., for then- tells Billboard the label has halted all activity publicly responded to the claims). “That’s President Trump that turned into a riot. around Wallen, including promotion and something we, as artists’ lawyers, are prob- (Pink has said he was there to “peacefully planning what was expected to be a 2021-22 ably going to have to beef up [negotiations show my support for the president” and did arena tour. But a prominent entertainment about] in the ,” the lawyer said. “There not participate in the insurrection at the U.S. lawyer who requested says a should be a mechanism for what would then Capitol.) “suspension” is a way to “kick the can down be the artists’ rights.”

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“, labels must make a business This article originally appeared in the Feb. rehearsed — as a political stump speech. decision,” says Janet Comenos, CEO of 20, 2021 issue of Billboard. Mercuriadis shuttles between a home in entertainment insurance provider Spot- ’s Notting Hill (where he and his tedRisk, which offers “disgrace insurance” wife, Sue, have three cats) and a light-filled that reimburses companies and brands Mercuriadis house in the Hollywood Hills (where they when celebrities they partner with are have three dogs, one of whom, a corgi, has involved in scandals. “Is Wallen profitable Rising: Meet the his own , @louismercuriadis). enough to outweigh the legal fees, PR costs The Quebec-born son of a retired Greek and incalculable reputational damage of Man Songwriters professional soccer player, he radiates keeping him on their roster?” (SpottedRisk both power and a hard-won calm. Speak- rated Wallen’s use of a racial slur as Tier 3 Love and ing with Billboard from Los Angeles over out of 7 in its Public Outcry scoring system, Zoom, he’s dressed, as always, in black — in reasoning that it was perceived to be direct- Publishers this case, a sweatshirt — and appears before ed at a friend and that the public expected black-and-white digital wallpaper patterned this kind of behavior from Wallen, whose BY ED CHRISTMAN with the company logo, an upside-down list of missteps includes being booted from a elephant with swirled, hypnotized eyes. scheduled performance erck Mercuriadis’ eyes flash Mercuriadis is explaining his two- in October for partying in public without a with exasperation. Over years pronged vision for Hipgnosis, which he face mask.) spent managing the careers founded in 2017 and took public on the More labels could also add safeguards of uncompromising artists London Stock Exchange (LSE) in July 2018. to recording contracts known as morality Mlike , Beyoncé and Guns N’ Profits were up 917% in its fiscal year ended clauses, which are common in brand en- Roses, the 57-year-old Sept. 30, 2020, and the company now has dorsement deals. Most stipulate an agree- veteran has perfected a demeanor of cordial a market capitalization of $1.8 billion. As ment can be terminated if an artist commits unflappability. Yet a question skeptics have of the end of January, 389 investors own an act of “moral turpitude,” which can be asked about his 4-year-old company, Hip- shares, including Aviva Investors, Investec anything that violates “community moral gnosis, has gotten under his skin. Wealth & Investment, AXA Equitable and standards” and brings “public disrepute” to Hipgnosis has spent almost $2 billion to — Mercuriadis finds this as amusing as most the company. date snapping up 129 publishing catalogs, people would — the Church of England’s “These clauses are getting broader and the work of everyone from hip-hop/R&B fund manager, CCLA. And he suggests broader, especially since the #MeToo move- producer Ernest Dion “No I.D.” Wilson that more U.S. investment is imminent. ment,” says Fox Rothschild partner Heidy to to Al Green’s drummer Al The central part of Mercuriadis’ vision Vaquerano, in response to changing cir- Jackson. These are the iconic creative forces is “song management,” the term he much cumstances. “The fans will not only attack behind the great music that Mercuriadis prefers to music publishing. He believes that the artists but also the company and push has dedicated his life to, and his company’s Hipgnosis can manage the compositions it them” to sever ties with the talent. purchases have fueled an explosion of music owns better than most established compa- The Black Music Action Coalition, in a publishing valuations. In theory, a rising nies because administrators at the major Feb. 5 , applauded the tide lifts all ships, but the question irritat- publishers manage on average “20,000 industry’s “swift and sweeping” efforts to ing Mercuriadis right now is: Who owns songs per person, whereas we operate on condemn Wallen’s actions, and Fram hopes those ships? Or, to put it another way, once 500 to 1,000 songs per person.” That means the artist will “continue to help that same songwriters sell their work to Hipgnosis, Hipgnosis can pay more attention to each group of fans understand the reason behind will they continue to benefit from the ways and every song it owns — as opposed to the industry’s swift action against him.” Mercuriadis says he’ reshape the industry? just proven hits — promote them more ef- That decisive condemnation has also set He has an answer to this, as he does fectively and generate more revenue from a new precedent for how quickly labels and to most everything. His response to the placements in , TV shows and other other music companies are expected to react first question of a mid-February interview video content. Mercuriadis thinks that the to such situations in the future, says Smith. with Billboard clocks in at just over 20 min- Hipgnosis model, where companies opti- “Every time a company acts to respond to utes, and an attempt to interject makes him mize revenue from portfolios of 150,000 or that public pressure, the is now raised,” pause just long enough to grin and say, “I so songs, is the future. As of December, the he says. “The next time that an artist finds appreciate that I’m monologuing you.” Mer- company owned 61,000. themselves in a situation, the label will be curiadis radiates an affable charisma, and Synch placements can only drive so much judged against the new timeline.” he’s a steamroller in interviews. He talks revenue though. And the second part of Additional reporting by Ed Christman, about Hipgnosis as a disruptive force in an- Mercuriadis’ vision, about increasing me- Melinda Newman and Claudia Rosenbaum. swers that seem as inspiring — and as well- chanical and public performance royalties, 2 0 2 1 PRIMARY WAVE 15TH ANNIVERSARY

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is less specific and framed in more ideal- Eldridge (which is a part owner of Billboard) comparing Hipgnosis’ numbers from its fis- istic terms. “We want to make money for and Vine Alternative Investments. This may cal year ended March 31 with those Warner our shareholders and ourselves, but I also or may not be good for Hipgnosis, which can Chappell reported from its previous fiscal have an ulterior motive,” he says. “I want position itself as a leader among these new year. “So we did 12% of their business on less to change where the songwriter sits in the entrants but now also faces more compe- than 1% of the amount of their songs.” He economic equation.” At a time when singles tition. But it has certainly been great for points out that Hipgnosis generated $6,280 drive a resurgent music industry, the teams songwriters and other rights holders. in revenue per song it owns, while Warner of songwriters that create them are often “In the old days, if we wanted to shop a Chappell brought in $470 per song. “Not be- left to divvy up, he calculates, just 11.5 cents catalog, there might be two to four publish- cause we’re smarter or better than they are,” of every dollar a recording generates. ers willing to make an offer,” says Jordan he says, “but because we’re focused purely Mercuriadis very much wants to change Keller, a founding partner of Nashville- on managing these great songs.” this, though it’s more complicated than he based entertainment law firm Keller Turner Actually, Mercuriadis is focused more makes it seem. While labels and artists who Andrews & Ghanem, which represents on growth at the moment, and his cata- own their own recordings can negotiate clients in rights sales. “Now when we go to log-buying spree is what’s been driving with on-demand streaming services in a free market, we have 10 or 15 companies making Hipgnosis revenue. For the fiscal year market, publishers and songwriters are con- attractive, Hipgnosis-style offers. It’s a new ended March 31, 2020, Hipgnosis’ growth strained by a web of regulations. Mercuria- paradigm that Merck should take credit for through acquisitions increased profits dis suggests that this could be addressed by creating.” $31.2 million — a hefty 917% year-to-year collective action, in the form of a songwrit- Mercuriadis points to a Jan. 21 prospec- increase — on total revenue that grew eight- ers guild, but it might take years for such tus issued by the company that indicates fold over the previous year to $81.3 million. a group to gain as much influence in the the average multiple paid by Hipgnosis is a For the first six months of the current fiscal as existing organizations like moderate 15.63. Lower multiples imply year, Hipgnosis shows net profits of $12.7 ASCAP or the National Music Publishers’ that Mercuriadis is making fiscally respon- million on $62.1 million in revenue. If that Association (NMPA) — none of which has sible deals for music publishing assets pace continues, the company will double its managed to change the regulatory structure — which shareholders like — and he claims revenue for the full year, given the flurry of that denies publishing rights holders the his reputation for driving them skyward is acquisitions that Hipgnosis has made since negotiating leverage that labels have. being pumped up by competitors who Sept. 30, 2020. Its robust financials also led If one of Mercuriadis’ goals is to boost lost catalogs to Hipgnosis. “They were all to the company being added to the Financial the fortunes of songwriters, he has already running around saying, ‘Oh, he’s paying 25 Times Stock Exchange 250, one of the U..- succeeded — beyond their wildest dreams. times,’ because they had to give their share- equivalent indexes to the S&P 500. Over the past two years, the value of song holders an explanation,” he says, adding that Mercuriadis does not earn a salary for his copyrights has soared to record highs. they aren’t factoring in the many private work, and he does not have much skin in the For blue- catalogs, buyers are paying deals that he does. game. Hipgnosis is technically run by an in- upwards of 20 times net publisher’s share Traditional publishers don’t buy this ex- vestment adviser, The Family (Music) Ltd., (NPS) — multiples of an asset’s average planation and maintain that he’s overpaying. where he is the CEO and a director. (His annual gross profits — essentially double Some offer barbed criticism anonymously. three daughters are also directors.) Accord- what they were a decade ago. Much of this is (A sample, from an independent publishing ing to financial statements, Family (Music) fueled by the growth of streaming, as well as executive: “His whole spiel about song man- is paid an advisory fee of 1% of the average general optimism about the music business. agement is bullshit.”) But no one can dispute annual market capitalization of Hipgnosis’ But Hipgnosis — which as of December that prices are rising, to the benefit of cre- portfolio up to $339.4 million; 0.9% from had acquired 129 song catalogs for a total of ators, or that Hipgnosis is winning plum as- $339.5 million to $678.9 million, and 0.9% $1.75 billion — is the primary factor that’s sets, among them Kobalt Music Copyrights over that. So far, Family (Music) has re- driving prices to new highs, according to Fund 1 and the Big Deal music publishing ceived $12.1 million, and, according to one more than 15 music publishing executives, company, both owners of multiple catalogs, music publishing executive, that fee “in- lawyers and consultants who negotiate such as well as the catalogs of col- centivizes Merck to build a large catalog as deals. laborator Jason “” Boyd, Chrissie quickly as possible.” Hipgnosis has raised the stakes for new Hynde, Lindsey Buckingham, , No Family (Music) is also eligible for a 1% companies and majors alike — and the bull I.D. and Young. performance fee, which is tied to share market it has supercharged has attracted So far, Mercuriadis says, Hipgnosis’ song price and paid in Hipgnosis shares. For the attention of institutional investors like management strategy is working. “Warner its 2019 performance, Family (Music) KKR & Co. (which made its first music Chappell did $657 million in business on received shares worth $559,000. Mercuria- acquisition since 2013 when it bought a 1.4 million songs, and we did $85 million on dis says he purchased $1.32 million worth majority stake in Ryan Tedder’s catalog), 13,000 songs at the time,” says Mercuriadis, (at the time) of shares that are valued at Page 8 of 48

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close to $1.4 million today. (He continues to The tone of Mercuriadis’ response like The-Dream and . (He hold those shares.) seems more weary than anything else. He continues to manage , who is Last year, Family’s staff grew from 41 to says all of the claims have been dropped or part of Hipgnosis’ advisory board.) And it 78 with the Big Deal acquisition, in which settled, and in the run-up to Hipgnosis go- helps that his passion for a wide range of Hipgnosis acquired the indie publisher’s op- ing public, “our brokers, bankers and inves- music — from foundational 1960s giants to erations along with its catalog. Sources who tors did the normal due diligence to ensure punk to hip-hop — is palpable. In 2005, he know Big Deal’s founder and president, there were no issues that concerned them.” told Billboard that he never traveled without publishing veteran Kenny MacPherson, say “I’m quickly learning that you can’t his iPod, plus an external hard drive with he and his team will bolster Hipgnosis’ song change where the songwriter sits in the 10,000 albums from his collection of 50,000. management and administration efforts. economic equation without upsetting some This also isn’t Mercuriadis’ first time Family’s executives also include former members of the old guard who will make trying to reinvent the music business. In the U.K. head Ted Cockle, who every attempt to discredit the disrupt- early 2000s, as an executive at Sanctuary is president; former Swedish House Mafia ers — even when there is no relevance,” he Group, he was one of the architects of the manager Amy Thomson, chief catalog says. Referring to his late 2006 exit 360 model that let companies market, and officer; Nick Jarjour, global head of song from the foundering Sanctuary, he recalls, take a share of, artists’ recordings, publish- management; and Tom Stingemore, who “I walked away with nothing, after having ing, touring and merchandise. “Merck was heads synchronization efforts. served the company for 20 years. It was very much a big-picture thinker,” says a Traditional publishers spend more time important to do this and keep my integrity former Sanctuary executive. and money developing talent, however, intact with both the creative community and Mercuriadis seems to take some pleasure while Hipgnosis tends to buy blue-chip shareholders who were also affected. in casting himself as a disrupter. Univer- catalogs — for a premium. And some of Hip- “In rebuilding my career from scratch sal Music Group chairman/CEO Lucian gnosis’ rivals, as well as a few financial ana- and prioritizing the responsibility of look- Grainge “might have a dartboard in his of- lysts, are now starting to question how the ing after my family, there were elements of fice with a picture of me on it,” he says with company values the assets that it acquired my personal affairs that were not perfect,” a sly smile. He throws his share of darts, and how it calculates the multiples that it he continues. “I’m not the first person that too. He often says that the major publishing discloses in its financial reports, which are built something worth building that this companies, whose leaders he praises, don’t significantly lower than those estimated by has happened to. ’t be the last, and it’s have the freedom to advocate for higher competitors that have bid for the same cata- certainly not relevant to who I am.” royalty rates for songwriters. (Suffice it to logs. In other words: whether Hipgnosis’ Hipgnosis is the first publicly traded say, this has gotten back to them, and they accounting methods are valuing assets too company to invest solely in music publish- do not appreciate being disparaged.) high and purchase prices too low. A Janu- ing, but Mercuriadis isn’t the first industry “Jody and Big Jon, Guy and Carianne ary analyst report issued by the investment executive to bet that songs are undervalued. don’t get to fight for songwriters,” he says, bank Stifel Financial downgraded Hipgnosis In 1985, and his attorney referring to Jody Gerson and Jon Platt, the from “buy” to “neutral” and raised questions acquired ATV Music (which CEOs of Universal Music Publishing Group about the math used by the company’s inde- included Northern Songs, most of John and Sony/ATV, respectively, and Guy Moot pendent valuer, Massarsky Consulting. Lennon and Paul McCartney’s Bea- and Carianne Marshall, the CEO and COO Mercuriadis says Hipgnosis’ financial tles tunes) for $47.5 million — an investment of Warner Chappell. That’s because it’s not advisers “spent hours addressing Stifel’s that paid off well when, 10 years later, they in the best interests of Sony, Universal or questions, and that was not reflected” in the sold a 50% stake in ATV to Sony for double Warner. They want to push as much of the bank’s report. He’s not fazed though: He ex- that amount. The publishing market was money that’s coming through our business pects criticism to grow as his company does also spurred by a 2006 change to the tax to recorded music, at the expense of the and predicts a wave of stories “focusing on, code that made sale income a capital gain. songwriter” — since he estimates the majors ‘Hipgnosis: Is it too good to be true?’ ” All Last year, the prospect that Joe Biden’s ad- make 50 cents of every dollar in recorded- the criticism stems from rivals attempting ministration might raise capital gains taxes music revenue. “to undermine what we are doing,” says seems to have motivated some sellers, who That’s where Mercuriadis’ vision comes Mercuriadis. “Those individuals are con- can now choose from among 20 buyers. in. He says he’s planning to launch a cerned that we are a threat.” What sets Mercuriadis apart from the songwriters guild this summer that “will Some are not above getting personal. In- others is his wallet and his mouth. Hip- include not only the majority of songwrit- dustry executives interviewed for this story gnosis has the deep pockets of a public ers who have their catalogs on Hipgnosis pointed Billboard to a handful of civil law- company, and he has the connections to but also great songwriters from across the suits and federal and California state tax find out who’s looking to sell. Some of his community.” The idea is that Hipgnosis and liens filed against him personally between relationships, and credibility, come from songwriters can win together: Mercuriadis 2009 and 2015, for more than $700,000. his previous management of songwriters says over Zoom that he named the company Page 9 of 48

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that serves as Hipgnosis’ investment adviser — which means that rights holders will have talk about Hipgnosis to rivals who have lost Family (Music) Ltd., not just because he and to spend millions more. And that’s just rate- out to him on deals, and there’s at least some his daughters are its directors, “but because setting within the current legal framework truth to this. Within the past few months, I want my songwriters to see it as their fam- — not lobbying to change it, which some some of them have also begun pointing out ily.” of the biggest technology companies in the that Hipgnosis isn’t entirely transparent Except that songwriters who have sold world would fight. about how it values its assets and calculates their copyrights to Hipgnosis might not be Asked about the likelihood that this will the multiples it pays for them. They also say all that motivated to boost payouts that they change, Mercuriadis responds that Hip- that if Hipgnosis is producing revenue in- will no longer share in. When it’s suggested gnosis is already more successful than most creases through song management, its finan- to Mercuriadis that he and his sharehold- industry executives could have imagined. cials need to distinguish between organic ers, rather than songwriters, will sop up the “We now have a $2 billion fund that has growth and growth through acquisition. gravy of any fattened royalty streams, that’s outperformed the index by 40% over the Currently, it reports only overall growth. when his exasperation shows. last 30 months and given our shareholders Stifel and another report issued by “The people who are telling you, ‘He’s a 41.9% total return on their investment,” analysts for investment bank Shot Tower sopping up the gravy,’ are the same people he says. “If I can do that, we can do this, Capital brought these issues to the fore in telling you that I’m paying songwriters too particularly with the greatest songwriters in January, when Stifel downgraded Hipgnosis much for their songs,” he says. “So which do the world leading the charge.” to “neutral” because it was “uncomfortable” they want?” He starts to say that he suspects Mercuriadis says his first and immedi- with the methodologies the fund uses to this critique is coming from “whatever that ate goal “is to ensure that no discussion or value assets. dummy’s name is at …” then catches himself. negotiation — from this moment on — can Discounted cash flow is widely used in In a moment, his chill demeanor returns. take place that affects how a songwriter is business to estimate the present-day value Mercuriadis says songwriters do benefit paid without the songwriter at the table. of an investment based on how much money if their songs perform well after they’re Once the songwriting community has an op- it will generate in the future. The Stifel acquired. If a catalog grows in value, “at the portunity to be clear about what it expects report said Hipgnosis’ independent valuer, end of year three and year four, the song- in a fair and equitable manner business will Massarsky Consulting, had dropped the 9% writer is going to get a bonus. If I’m right follow,” he explains. “Without the song we rate it had previously used in its discounted about my thesis,” he says, “I want them to be have no music business.” cash flow model to 8.5% for the fund’s six- participants.” Asked if he sees any connection between month results ending Sept. 30, 2020. That Improving the fortunes of songwriters the the rising catalog prices on the free mar- half-point decrease, the report observed, way he envisions would make Mercuriadis ket and the royalty rates determined by raised the net asset value () of the as transformative a figure as Irving Azoff regulators, Mercuriadis says soaring pric- fund’s acquisitions. (The lower the discount and David Geffen who, nearly 50 years ago, es “are certainly being used in the advocacy rate used, the higher the NAV.) As a result, won power and riches for performing art- for maintaining capital gains on behalf of the report said, catalogs that Hipgnosis had ists. But while Azoff and Geffen negotiated songwriters” through the work of Nash- just recently acquired showed increases in on behalf of top artists, in a free market, the ville Songwriters Association International value, “despite the [investment] manager publishing business often involves rates set executive director Bart Herbison and senior not having had sufficient time to add value, for all rights holders, in a way that’s highly director of operations Jennifer Turnbow. or [for] underlying market assumptions to regulated. In the United States, for example, “They are demonstrating to Congress have materially changed.” The report also the Copyright Royalty Board, a three-judge that the U.S. Treasury is far better off as a claimed that, essentially, all of the cata- group, sets the mechanical royalties paid by result of these deals” He adds: “I do believe logs Hipgnosis acquired were bought at a on-demand streaming services like , that [the next CRB hearing regarding writ- price that was lower than the discounted while antitrust consent decrees constrain ers’ [mechanical] royalties, CRB will also cash flow valuation provided by Massar- performing rights organizations ASCAP and take note of Hipgnosis having established sky, which led to a “positive ‘bump’ when BMI. songs as an asset class that rivals gold and acquired.” Any serious effort to change that would oil for investment just as the [Digital, Cul- In an interview with The Daily Tele- be incredibly expensive. Over the last few ture, Media and Sport Committee] hearings graph in London, Mercuriadis called the years, the NMPA spent more than $15 mil- in the U.K. Parliament have.” Hipgnosis will report “stupid,” as well as “naive and lion on rate-court litigation and other not participate in the CRB determination obtuse,” and Massarsky’s response to Stifel, expenses to raise the royalties that stream- - it’s being represented by the NMPA - but a copy of which was obtained by Billboard, ing services pay publishers and songwriters. its power and its ownership of songwriters’ said its analysis was a “mischaracterization” After publishers won from the CRB in 2018 shares give it power in markets outside the of Hipgnosis’ valuation process. The lower a 44% increase over a four-year period, the United States. percentage was appropriate, Massarsky said, U.S. Court of Appeals overturned that ruling Mercuriadis ascribes some of the because the Federal Reserve had dropped its Page 10 of 48

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fund rate 1.5 percentage points, from 1.59% sign of the fund’s lack of transparency. Mercuriadis says he takes transparency to 0.09%, and Massarsky had applied a cor- Readers of the Shot Tower report say it seriously but also feels the need to protect responding decrease that was only one-third questioned the way in which Hipgnosis uses the financial of the songwriters with of that. right-to-income to calculate its multiples. whom he’s dealing, most of whom are loathe The report also questioned whether Right-to-income is royalty revenue paid to to broadcast that they’ve sold the rights to Hipgnosis’ revenue accruals are too ag- the seller by licensees in the period im- their life’s work. He adds, however, that he gressive. Generally accepted accounting mediately preceding the buyer closing on is looking for a solution. principles call for sales to be reported on an the deal. That revenue is turned over to the For the moment, music publishing assets accrual basis — when the service has been buyer at the closing, which then pays song- look like good bets. They appeal to investors provided, as opposed to when payment is writer royalties from that revenue. as stable income streams that also have the received. (When music publishers receive Hipgnosis’ latest financial report indicates potential to appreciate in value. Hipgnosis play reports, for example, they estimate the it uses right-to-income in calculating mul- targets a dividend payout of 5% of capital- revenue that they will eventually receive.) tiples but gives no details as to how it figures ization, an attractive return compared with Hipgnosis isn’t the only into the calculations. According to sources, municipal and government bonds — the that reports income on an accrual basis; the Shot Tower report says that if right-to- traditional options for conservative, income- Publishing and Warner Chap- income was included as revenue, it would oriented investors — now that interest rates pell do so as well. But they have decades produce a higher multiple. Mercuriadis says are close to zero in the United States and in of experience in projecting accruals, and that Shot Tower’s conjecture was erroneous negative territory in some other countries. industry sources say they’re skeptical that and it is revisiting its analysis after Hipgno- Under these conditions, investors have Hipgnosis can do this as well as they do. The sis provided additional information to the been more than willing to finance Mer- Stifel report estimates that as much as 40% investment bank. curiadis’ acquisition spree, and the fund’s of Hipgnosis’ accrued income might not be Some music publishing sources still resulting growth has, in turn, fueled its collected within a year — and that “there suspect that Hipgnosis is reporting lower- stock price. If interest rates start trending is a risk the [billing] estimate is wrong and than-actual multiples. When Hipgnosis upwards though, institutional investors then [some of ] that cash is not ultimately takes part in an auction, rival publishers say could move money back into treasury bills collectable.” the catalogs tend to sell for close to 20 times and Hipgnosis’ buying power will shrink. “We disagree,” says Mercuriadis. “We use NPS, a significant increase from the early (At that point, share prices would be tied to prior-period statements as the basis of this , when multiples of 12 were typical. In operations, which could be an acid test for accrual for both publishers and perfor- a December interview with The New York the company’s song management.) mance rights organizations, and to be con- Times, Mercuriadis said that 22 was the Some observers wonder if investors are servative, we do not accrue for the full lag highest multiple he has paid for a catalog. cooling on Hipgnosis even before that. In between earnings and distributions, which Sources Billboard spoke with find it odd, January, the company indicated that it was can be up to 18 months.” He explains that all then, that Hipgnosis’ Jan. 21 prospectus gearing up for another year of aggressive accruals are expected to be received within states that it has paid an average multiple acquisitions by announcing that .P. Morgan a 12-month period. “They are therefore ac- of 15.63 times NPS for its acquisitions. They Chase, the lead bank for its debt financing, curate and subject to a high degree of testing say that number seems low, given the steep was expanding Hipgnosis’ revolving credit by Hipgnosis’ auditor, PricewaterhouseCoo- rise in multiples overall for song catalogs from $400 million to $600 million. And the pers, on a semiannual basis.” last year. They estimate, for example, that company’s Jan. 21 prospectus revealed plans The Shot Tower report was distributed Mercuriadis paid a multiple of 30 times NPS to issue 1.5 billion new shares over the next only to clients, but sources who have read — which translates to upwards of $45 mil- 12 months. If those are sold at the planned it say it focuses on yet another issue that lion — for the 50% of the Neil Young catalog price of $1.68, those shares could potentially bothers Hipgnosis’ rivals: how the company that Hipgnosis acquired. raise $2.52 billion. The fund has raised calculates the average multiples it has paid Mercuriadis says such estimates are based $1.57 billion through its previous offerings. for catalogs. So far, Hipgnosis has reported on incomplete information. He tells Bill- On Feb. 5, up to 500 million of those the net publisher’s share and the price it board that only 30% percent of Hipgnosis’ 1.5 billion shares were made available for paid for just one deal — its acquisition of assets were acquired in a bidding process sale — and as of Feb. 8, an underwhelm- the Kobalt Songs 1 catalog for $323 million, — the other 70% were private deals, which ing 62 million had been purchased. One which equates to a multiple of 18.3 times competitors have no visibility into. “They music publishing source deems the result NPS. Although publishers who bid against didn’t want to have to tell their sharehold- “a turd in the punch bowl” and speculates Hipgnosis usually have a sense of what it ers, ‘Well, he’s able to make these invest- that Mercuriadis’ undiplomatic response to pays for an acquisition, they say the compa- ments because he’s got a better relationship the Stifel report in may ny’s refusal to give more information on the with the songwriting community.’ ” have scared off some investors. “They don’t actual multiples it pays for assets is another As for the actual prices he has paid, like CEOs that sound impulsive,” says the Page 11 of 48

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source. as well. Up to this point, I haven’t taken talks a great game, and he now has the Mercuriadis says the February offering that,” he adds, then says, “This will result in reputation that he spends the most — so that was a success, adding that his comments very significant investment.” has put him on top of every seller’s list,” says in The Daily Telegraph “may have reflected Whatever happens, Hipgnosis is unlikely one adviser to sellers. But, he tells his cli- passion, but they weren’t angry or impul- to run into any serious financial problems, ents, “Until you get the money, it’s not a real sive. They were, in fact, carefully considered unless it takes on too much debt. A stand- offer,” because Mercuriadis starts numerous and factually correct. What we are trying to alone music publishing company has never deals that he doesn’t close. do for the songwriting community is incred- filed for Chapter 11, according to industry Nashville entertainment attor- ibly important to me, and I won’t stand back veterans. If the fund has trouble meeting its ney Keller disagrees. Hipgnosis, when it is being undermined.” target dividends, it simply needs to adjust its he says,“is very business-like. They move There are other possible explanations annual payouts. That could hurt stockhold- quickly to engage, the deals close and the for the less-than-enthusiastic response to ers, but not songwriters. Even if Hipgnosis clients get paid. Promises made are prom- the February offering. Some investors like did, hypothetically, take on too much debt, ises kept.” to hang back and monitor a stock’s perfor- Mercuriadis could sell some catalogs, which Sellers who accept an offer from Hipgno- mance before making a move. Others may some publishing companies have done in sis sign a letter of intent that gives Hip- want to digest the financial analyses and the past when they needed cash. gnosis an exclusive window — Mercuriadis recent spate of media reports on Hipgnosis For all the hysteria and hand-wringing says it can last anywhere from 30 days to or wait for its upcoming fiscal report, which Mercuriadis has sparked in the publish- two years — to pull together the financing. will be released after March 30. It’s also ing world, even the worst-case scenario (Billboard estimates the company has about not unusual for a company’s investment might not be so bad: Hipgnosis could be $150 million on hand to continue making bank — Hipgnosis has three: J.P. Morgan wound down and liquidated if the board acquisitions.) During this time, those sellers Cazenove (a U.K. subsidiary of J.P. Morgan), of directors or Family (Music) decides to are prohibited from talking to other buyers, N+1 and RBC Capital — to continue terminate its relationship with the fund. and two sources say that Mercuriadis has selling a stock offering beyond the initial At which point, the investment advisory reappeared to negotiate a lower price than target date. In November, for example, agreement states that Family (Music) has originally agreed upon. Round Hill Music, another heavyweight in the “unconditional right” to purchase the It’s hard to fault a businessman for the music publishing assets sector that rode fund’s “portfolio” of songs, up to six months renegotiating terms, and Mercuriadis says Hipgnosis’ coattails to its own initial public after the termination date. It would have that there have been only four deals that he offering on the LSE, sold 328 million shares to pay a purchase price that is higher than has sought to renegotiate and another four of a 375 million-share offering in a two-stage fair market value or market capitalization, where he walked away. “In almost every one process. whichever is higher, or any price offered by of those cases,” he says, “the issue was the When Round Hill’s IPO is viewed in con- a credible third party. If Family (Music) is seller’s representative presenting what they junction with Hipgnosis’ latest, as well as an terminated with cause — the agreement lists thought were net revenues when they were earlier offering in September that missed its fraud, negligence and willful misconduct as in fact gross revenues.” He admits that with $329 million target by $79 million, some in- examples — that unconditional right would some acquisitions, “the money is in the bank dustry observers say it may signal a develop- be negated. in 30 days.” With others, it can take months ment that neither investors nor songwriters Says Mercuriadis: “This is not a scenario because of the due diligence required of will want to hear: that the market for music that anyone is contemplating.” Hipgnosis, including independent valua- publishing assets may be nearing its satura- Is Mercuriadis a genius or a genius tions, which can take time to complete. He tion point. salesman? The disrupter he styles himself points to a deal for ’s royalty Mercuriadis allows that the coronavirus as, or the huckster others grouse about? income stream as a producer as one that pandemic “and its economic implications Time will tell, but for the moment, this took over a year because “there was so have undoubtedly had a dampening effect much is clear: He’s a force. And he has made much information from so many different on all equity markets.” For that reason, he music publishing something that even those sources.” says, “We specifically did not have a target who loved it weren’t sure it ever would be: If big-name acquisitions like that keep for the first raise of the year.” not only the talk of the business but sexy, stacking up and the Hipgnosis portfolio con- But he also hints that more U.S invest- and suddenly the focus of me- tinues to grow at its current pace, questions ment is on the horizon — Hipgnosis cur- dia coverage. about Mercuriadis’ vision may simply cease rently has a “tiny bit,” he says — although In doing so, he himself has become the to matter. According to one independent he declines to discuss whether he’s talking talk of the business. Some sources complain publisher, his musical acumen is evident in about a U.S. stock offering. He will only that Mercuriadis has left sellers hanging the songs and catalogs that Hipgnosis has say, “We have all of these best-in-class U.S. for months before closing a deal, if the deal acquired — which, despite the background institutions that want to put money in closes at all. “Mercuriadis is charismatic, noise, shows that Mercuriadis is amassing Page 12 of 48

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a portfolio with the potential for long-term Date Acquired: December 2020 (an- diately, having cashed out 6 euros billion growth. nounced 2021) through two investments by a Tencent “Merck is either insane or a genius,” says Size: 50% of publishing and writer’s share Corp.-led consortium in 2020 for a 20% the publisher. “Either way, I’d love to be able in 1,180 songs stake at a €30 billion valuation. It plans to to work the catalogs he is amassing.” Highlights: Six decades of hits and distribute to its shareholders 60% of these Additional reporting by Frank DiGiacomo. incisive songwriting, including “Heart of newly created UMG shares as a special divi- What’s In The Vault? Gold,” “Powderfinger,” “Like a Hurricane,” dend based the Tecent deal’s valuation. That By the end of 2020, Hipgnosis had acquired “Rockin’ in the Free World” and “My My, would leave Vivendi with a 20% stake worth 129 song catalogs containing over 60,000 Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” €6 billion before the listing. tunes. Here are just a few of them. A version of this article originally appeared At that head-turning 36-times EBTIDA Date Acquired: November 2018 in the Feb. 20, 2021, issue of Billboard. valuation, a multiple often seen in fast- Size: 100% of publishing and writer’s growing tech companies, Tencent “made share in 214 songs people take a step back and look at the valu- Highlights: Several Justin Bieber or It’s a Growth ations of music companies,” says Michael Bieber-affiliated hits, including “What Do Poster, the head of Michelman & Robinson’s You Mean?,” “Company” and “Where Are Story: What’s corporate and securities department. That’s Ü Now” from his 2015 Purpose album, as not an unreasonable valuation: a rapidly- well as the English version of Luis Fonsi and Behind UMG’s growing streaming market, believed by Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” to reach 1.15 billion sub- Date Acquired: September 2020 Accelerated scribers and $45 billion in global revenue by Size: 100% of publishing and writer’s 2030, has shocked record labels back to life share in 164 songs IPO Plans? after piracy. Highlights: Pretenders hits and fan Other IPOs in the entertainment space, favorites “Brass in Pocket,” “Talk of the BY GLENN PEOPLES combined with low interest rates that cause Town,” “2000 Miles,” “Message of Love,” investors to seek returns outside of the debt “Back on the Chain Gang” and “I’ll Stand by ith the market for initial markets, means 2021 provides Vivendi with You” public stock offerings rag- “a true window of opportunity” to maximize Date Acquired: August 2020 ing, Universal Music Group its payout before the IPO market cools, says Size: 100% of publishing plus writer’s and parent Vivendi doesn’t Schuster. producer’s shares in 273 songs wantW to good opportunity. Music is a hot commodity again, having Highlights: “” by JAY- On Saturday, Vivendi announced it will attracted large, institutional investors that featuring and , move up Universal’s IPO date from 2022 had lost interest since piracy decimated “Holy Grail” by JAY-Z featuring Justin to the second half of 2021. That sense of industry revenues. Warner’s successful IPO Timberlake, West’s “Black Skinhead” urgency has heightened since Vivendi’s an- valued the company at a healthy $12.5 bil- and ’s “Kiss Me” nouncement in February 2020 that it would lion, despite not being the kind of smaller, Date Acquired: December 2020 (an- IPO no later than 2023, a timeline that was high-growth company that IPO investors nounced 2021) moved up just five months ago to 2022. typically find attractive. Then in late 2020, Size: Worldwide producing royalties “It’s an extraordinarily strong IPO market Big Hit Entertainment, the South Korean for 259 songs and film producer royalties at the moment,” says Josef Schuster, founder music company — both and for 8 Mile and Get Rich or Die Tryin’ of IPOX, a stock index that tracks IPOs management company — that built Highlights: Royalties on some of rock’s and spinoffs. Through Feb. 16, there were BTS, raised $840 million at a $7.5 billion most venerated albums, including Tom Pet- 189 IPOs in the U.S. compared to 26 IPOs valuation on The Korea Exchange. ty’s Damn the Torpedoes (“Refugee”), Stevie in the same period in 2020 according to Investors aren’t running for safety while Nicks’ Bella Donna (“”) Stock Analysis. By the end of 2021, the total global economies are weakened by CO- and Dire Straits’ Making Movies number of IPOs in the U.S. is almost certain VID-19. IPOs did pause in March of 2020 Date Acquired: August 2020 to exceed the 407 in 2020. Most of the IPOs when the pandemic slammed stock prices Size: 100% of writer’s share and neigh- have been SPACs — special purpose acquisi- around the world. But the delay was short: boring rights in 197 songs tion corporations — that will try to reverse- after announcing its IPO ambitions in Highlights: Pop classics from Blondie’s merger with an acquisition target. But IPOs February 2020, Warner only waited until catalog, including “Heart of Glass,” “Rap- of operating companies are also popular, and May 25 to debut on the New York Stock ture,” “Call Me,” “The Tide Is High,” Universal offers investors a growth story Exchange. Many high-profile IPOs fol- “Dreaming,” “One Way or Another” and punctuated by recent deals. lowed, such as food delivery app DoorDash, “-Offender” Vivendi need not sell its shares imme- software company and Bumble, Page 13 of 48

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which rose almost 77% when trading com- Gillespie, whose client Calvin Harris, 37, songwriter’s income has typically derived menced on Feb. 11 — all on U.S. exchanges. sold his 150-song publishing catalog to Vine from performance royalties generated from Although based in the United States, Uni- Alternative Investments in October in a deal public performances of their works in places versal will list on the Amsterdam Euronext estimated to be worth over $90 million. “I like bars, clubs and restaurants, which exchange. The move isn’t surprising, says think every creator who has a solid catalog, faded in 2020 and has yet to return so far Schuster, given that its parent company, it makes sense for them to have a look at this this year, younger songwriters with more -based Vivendi, will continue to hold right now.” modest income streams are left asking what a substantial portion of Universal after the Traditionally, songwriters have been re- they’re going to do. The source says if a listing. luctant to sell their publishing rights, which songwriter can invest that money and make Brexit comes into play, too: a post-Brexit are often a source of personal pride as well a return over the next 15, 17 or 25 years, that rule that European companies must list on as a revenue stream that can outlive them. it would be foolish not to do it. (Even so, at a European Union exchange helped push That’s changing as the market heats up, least half a dozen artists who have sold a Euronext daily trading volume past the tax advantages loom and touring could be partial or full stake in their catalog or have London Stock Exchange in January, ac- stalled for some time, while music catalogs yet to do so declined to comment.) cording to the Financial Times. And while are reconsidered as not just a collection The recognition that publishing rights Amsterdam might lack the prestige of U.S. of artistic works but also as a collection are assets as well as art has also made it exchanges, it is attracting in-demand IPOs of monetary assets and revenue streams, easier to sell the non-blue-chip songs in a such as InPost, the largest European IPO no longer the contents of a singular bag of catalog, which means that creators have since 2018, that raised 2.8 billion euros at a 8 tricks but rather the many threads of songs, more choices than ever. “Some songwriters billion euros valuation for the Polish parcel eras and incomes that make up the bag itself. are selling a portion of their catalog, or half locker provider. In the past six months alone, Concord their catalog, or certain years that they’ve Music Publishing purchased Imagine Drag- been working — it’s essentially seen as just ons’ own shares of its back catalog (while another form of investment,” says Down- Star Track, The Universal Music Publishing Group retained town Music Publishing global president its portion); Vine Alternative Investments Mike Smith. “They’ll hold back 50% of their Next Generation: acquired the rights to the 100-plus-song catalog and still look to what returns they publishing catalog of Sean Douglas, a can get from that in the future, but they’ll What Do Major 37-year-old songwriter-producer whose take the and use that to invest in credits include hits by and Ja- other things. Some writers want to start a Catalog Sales son Derulo; 38-year-old songwriter-pro- studio or start their own music publishing ducer Louis Bell sold the songs he had writ- company.” In other words, they’re spreading Mean For Younger ten and produced through 2019, including out their bets. hits by and Halsey, to UMPG; Over the past few years, companies have Artists? and Ryan Tedder, 41, sold a majority share emerged that can help songwriters sell in his nearly 500 songs to the global invest- even more granular pieces of their work. BY LYNDSEY HAVENS AND DAN RYS ment firm KKR & Co. And those are just “There’s a lot more to the music business some of the bigger deals. besides superstars, and that’s where we he market for publishing cata- One source familiar with catalog sales focus — the midtier, working-class musi- logs is booming as institutional says a big part of the reason why artists cian who doesn’t really have other options,” investors and newer companies typically didn’t want to sell their catalogs says Anthony Martini, a partner at Royalty like Primary Wave Music and was fear of bastardization — for example, Exchange, which runs a platform that al- TRound Hill Music compete with the majors a liberal artist’s song ending up in a Trump lows rights holders to auction off revenue and older firms. So far though, most of the ad. Younger creatives have also been warned streams to investors. “A lot of these funds attention has been focused on the rights by plenty of artists who regret cashing out can’t even buy something that’s under a cer- to big-name songwriters: , Neil too soon. As multiples keep rising though, tain amount of money. If you have a catalog Young, Stevie Nicks. some now sense that this could be their best and could do a deal for $100,000 or a couple Among those paying attention? Younger chance. hundred thousands of dollars, no one is songwriters who may not have written That’s why the source says that even really looking at that. We want to open this “The Times They Are A-Changin’ ” — but though they were against the idea of selling market to everyone.” can easily see that they are. “Every artist before the current gold rush — because no As streaming grows and music generates in the business right now is having a look one ever walked away happy with their more predictable returns, the influx of cash at the valuations that have been applied to deal — they now recognize the publishing and attention is also changing how song- publishing,” says Three Six Zero CEO Mark business is in transition. Since so much of a writers think about the manner in which Page 14 of 48

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their work is handled. “What I’m seeing Deals between Korean label and the major is an emergence of much more of a do-it- Can Big Hit & labels have typically involved distribution yourself ethic,” says Smith. “They just want and marketing of K-pop artists outside of to have a sustainable career in which they’re Universal Music Asia, not A&R or creative ventures like in- in control of their own destiny, ideally in studio production. control of their own master and publish- Create the Next Big Hit, which went public on the South ing rights, and having a sustainable income Korean stock exchange last October, has and robust mental health is probably more BTS on US TV? done a series of deals recently buying small- important to them than trying to get on the er labels, investing in rival artists’ IP and de- roulette wheel to being a superstar.” BY ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO AND JEFF veloping live stream and fan platforms. The Publishers are changing, too. In 2010, BENJAMIN company is under pressure to diversify its Kobalt chairman Willard Ahdritz helped roster beyond BTS, especially with required launch Kobalt Capital, what he called a ill the next BTS or NCT Korean military service still looming for the “financial innovation” that became the first 127 be discovered on a U.S. group’s oldest members. music royalty fund regulated by multiple in- show? Under terms of the , the stitutional investors. “People wanted to sell That’s what Universal two companies will also explore enhanced because they wanted to buy a house, or they MusicW Group and BTS’ label, Big Hit Enter- “direct to fan” communications through Big had divorced, or they had all their money tainment, are betting on. As part of a broad Hit’s fan platform. Grainge said in copyrights and they wanted to diversify,” strategic collaboration announced Wednes- UMG artists Gracie Abrams, New Hope says Ahdritz. “So my thinking was, ‘Why day (Feb.17), the South Korean label and the Club and Alexander 23 were already utiliz- would they go to another publisher if they U.S.-based major are planning to create an ing the platform. Wednesday’s announce- wanted to sell?’ For new writers and going unprecedented joint venture recording label ment follows the news last week that UMG forward, I don’t see a downside in selling and an -like audition show in had become an equity investor alongside when people see the value. What is happen- the U.S. to find the next global K-pop group. Big Hit, K-pop rival YG Entertainment and ing now is positive for new talent coming Under terms of the deal, Big Hit will Kiswe in livestream platform VenewLive. in.” create the joint label with Geffen Records, Yoon said the partners plan to air the Kobalt also helped in shorter deal which helped shape artists like Nirva- K-pop audition program in 2022 with a U.S. lengths, which have since become an indus- na, Guns N’ Roses, Elton John and recent media partner, which they did not name on try standard, while the shift toward admin- breakout artist . The new Wednesday. Big Hit will be in charge of dis- istration over the past decade has made it label will operate from Los Angeles. covering and training the K-pop artists, with easier for both songwriters and investors to “I strongly believe that UMG and Big UMG handling music production, distribu- own songs while offloading marketing and Hit, two companies that endlessly pursued tion and co-production of the show with the accounting to traditional publishers. This, innovation, will create a synergy that will re- media outlet. too, means more options. “In the ’80s, every- write global music history,” Bang Si-Hyuk, Just as American Idol and have one was running around saying they didn’t Big Hit’s founder and CEO, said in a video discovered major pop stars in the U.S., sing- know if the business would survive if they announcing the partnership. He was joined ing competitions have been commonplace moved away from 50-50 life-of-copyright by UMG CEO Lucian Grainge, Interscope in the K-pop market for years. Korean com- deals,” says Smith. “And now, we’re see- Geffen CEO John Janick and Big Hit global panies have used the format to finalize their ing very slim splits, we’re seeing very short CEO Lenzo Yoon. new groups while developing an audience. terms, and we’re still seeing a very robust The joint venture marks a major step YG Entertainment pitted two poten- business.” forward in the collaboration between the tial boy bands against one another in What’s next? “In the not too distant fu- major international labels and Korean music 2014’s WIN: Who Is Next. The show, which ture, you’re going to see more speeding up of companies, which have traditionally exer- aired on public television in Korea, led to accounting, plus being able to use new tech- cised tight-fisted control over the formation, the debut of WINNER, with the losing band nologies to be able to deliver payment,” says training and music and visual production of competing in another show that year, Mix & Gillespie. “Is it going to affect the business? K-pop artists. Match, to determine the lineup of boy band For sure it is. Even just in the mindset of, More recently, the K-pop labels have been iKON. ‘I’m creating a song — what is the long-term loosening the reins somewhat and engag- In 2015, JYP Entertainment found suc- recognized value of it?’” ing more with the majors, who are eager to cess with the show Sixteen on Mnet, which A version of this article originally appeared jump on the K-pop money train, especially whittled down 16 potential female trainees in the Feb. 20, 2021, issue of Billboard. given the global success of groups like BTS at the company to the eventual nine-mem- and , who command massive and ber group , who have broken sales rabidly loyal fanbases on social media. and touring records for female acts in Korea Page 15 of 48

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and Japan. company’s revenue grew by 54% from the label founded by rapper-producer , who Then in 2016, survival competi- third quarter of 2019, to 190 billion won had one of 2020’s biggest viral K-pop hits in tions took on a new with the debut of ($171 million). “Any Song.” Mnet’s series where 101 K-pop In March 2019, Big Hit debuted its Big Hit has been enhancing its technol- hopefuls from various companies (known as second-ever boy band Tomorrow X To- ogy subsidiaries, in particular Weverse, and “trainees”) competed for a spot in a tempo- gether, who have sent two EPs to the Bill- expanding through overseas offices. Big rary group. The first season featured female board 200, and notched growing sales with Hit Entertainment Japan is preparing a boy trainees and generated high ratings and a each album release. Big Hit’s joint label with band, and Big Hit Entertainment America, national sensation in I.O.I., an 11-member Korean conglomerate CJ &M, called Belift, announced in 2020, is actively hiring in Los girl group. also co-produced ’s debut EP Angeles. The second season featuring male train- titled Border: Day One. ees created boy band . In their Beyond a few minor examples, the one year together, the group earned 2017’s relationship between K-pop labels and the UMG Launches fourth- and fifth-best-selling albums in majors have mostly focused on distribution (per Gaon Chart, the longest- and promotion. Indie-Focused running chart service in Korea), and 2018’s distributes BTS in fourth-, fifth- and sixth-best-selling albums the U.S. and JYP Entertainment signed Virgin Music Label (behind BTS and both years). with The Orchard, a subsidiary of Sony The third Produce season, known Music Entertainment, for global distribu- & Artist Services as , brought Korean trainees and tion in 2019. represents Japanese singers from girl group AKB48 to Blackpink outside of Asia. BY TATIANA CIRISANO compete for spots in a 12-member A stronger example of a full-fledged K- group IZ*ONE, who have had success in pop/U.S. label team-up was between Monsta niversal Music Group (UMG) is Korea and Japan. The fourth season, Pro- X and , which collaborated on building up its partnerships with duce X 101, created X1 who produced Ko- the 2020 all-English album All About Luv. music industry rea’s fourth-best-selling album in 2019. The album featured Sony artists French with the formation of Virgin While they have launched careers, Korean Montana (Epic) and Pitbull (RCA). They UMusic Label & Artist Services, a global net- singing competitions have also been mired earned a top 5 album on the Billboard 200 work for independent artists, which UMG in revelations about voter fraud and harsh (the first time entered the chart) announced today (Feb. 18) along with a working conditions for contestants. Viewers and the album was physically available in string of executive appointments to staff the of Produce X 101 demanded an investigation the U.S. company’s new regional hubs. into voter manipulation by Mnet, which led Republic Records now has four K-pop Virgin Music Label & Artist Services will to Korean court investigations that found acts listed on its roster with Big Hit’s To- collaborate with independent distribu- the show’s producers had rigged the final morrow X Together, JYP’s TWICE, Cube tion and marketing services firm Ingrooves lineups of X1 and IZ*ONE. Courts ordered Entertainment’s girl group ()I-DLE, and Music Group, which UMG acquired in 2019, jail time for the producers and penalties for the recently debuted girl group TRI.BE. To- giving the former company’s label and artist the TV channel. morrow X Together and TWICE have both partners access to Ingrooves’ recently- Artists have not always fared well af- entered the Billboard 200 twice each after patented AI music marketing technology. As ter Produce. Two girl groups with members signing with Republic. But those arrange- a result, UMG aims to offer a wide spectrum of I.O.I disbanded due to disappointing ments essentially involve distribution and of services for independent labels and artists results. Many acts tend to debut with groups promotion on the part of Republic. at every stage of development. or as a soloists to large buzz but can’t sustain Warner Music Group has K-pop artists The announcement also marks the revi- their album sales like AB6IX signed to subsidiaries. talization of Virgin Records, which Rich- Big Hit and UMG hope their show can Big Hit Making Other Business Plays ard Branson founded in the U.K. in 1972. change that. ENHYPEN, a boy band formed Big Hit has recently been active on the The company has served as home to icons in late 2020, came out of I-Land, another acquisition front as well. In July 2019 the like , The Sex Pistols, Aaliyah, survival reality show on Mnet. company acquired K-pop label Source The Rolling Stones and , and The Search for Stars Beyond BTS Music, home to girl group GFriend, and last spurred both Caroline, a distribution and After years of nearly undivided attention May Big Hit became the majority stakehold- label services company for independent art- on BTS, Big Hit has over the last two years er in , home to Seven- ists, and electronic label Astralwerks, which begun to focus on diversifying its artist teen, which had 2020’s third-best-selling are now divisions of the UMG label fam- roster and investments. In the third quarter album in Korea behind BTS’ two releases. ily. Many of the new Virgin Music Label & ending Sept. 30, 2020, Big Hit reported the Big Hit also bought KOZ Entertainment, a Artist Services regional hubs will be built on Page 16 of 48

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the foundation of existing Caroline divisions Music Label & Artist Services hub in , in those regions. led by label manager Tina Adams, who will This New Video “Virgin has long been a name synonymous report to Frank Briegmann, the chairman/ with disruptive innovation, musical creativ- CEO of Universal Music Central Streaming Service ity and entrepreneurialism,” said UMG and Deutsche Grammophon. It will operate chairman/CEO Sir Lucian Grainge. “We alongside domestic frontline label Vir- Wants to Be Your are thrilled to announce the reinvigoration gin Records Germany. of this iconic music brand as a new model In America and Iberia, Virgin Go-To for Filmed for global distribution and label services Music Label & Artist Services will launch – combining UMG’s unrivaled regional in early 2021 across key markets including Music Content executive teams with dedicated resources Mexico, and Latin operations in the and best-in-class services and technology, to U.S., with dedicated teams and resources in BY CHRIS EGGERTSEN help foster long-term partnerships and de- Los Angeles, Miami and Mexico City. The liver global success for the next generation operation will be led by UMG veteran Víc- ate last month, the Coda Collection of independent labels and artist talent. tor González in the position of president, — a new multi-media company “In total,” he continued, “this global Virgin Music LATAM & Iberia, based in led by CEO Jim Spinello — an- launch represents an important evolution of Los Angeles and reporting to Jesús López, nounced it would be launching our industry-leading strategy to be an accel- UMG’s chairman/CEO of Latin America & Lan exclusive channel on erator and vital partner for the music’s best Iberian Peninsula. Video featuring a curated library of per- independent artists and entrepreneurs.” UMG says the Latin America opera- formances and documentaries from both Added Branson: “I’m proud that half a tion will be the first fully-integrated label classic and contemporary artists. Along with century after we opened our first indepen- services division worldwide for , an accompanying editorial website led by dent in London, the Virgin giving artists, labels and partners access to former Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Music name continues to represent the very local and international marketing services, Kot, the venture is being billed as a deep- best entrepreneurs, innovators, and artists live and management services through dive destination for music lovers looking to from the world of music today.” Global Talent Services (GTS), merchandis- get an intimate, heavily contextualized look UMG also announced the appointments ing through Bravado and publishing services at their favorite performers. of executives to lead Virgin Music Label alongside Universal Music Publishing For artists and rights holders, Coda Col- & Artist Services’ regional hubs across the Group. lection also presents a significant oppor- globe, with fully-staffed operations already Virgin Music Label & Artist Services tunity, adding to a growing list of potential established in the world’s top five music Japan will build off of Caroline Japan and be new revenue streams for catalog content. markets — the U.S., Japan, U.K., Germany led by Hirokazu Tanaka, reporting to Uni- “From a musical content perspective, [in and France — and across Latin America. versal Music Japan president/CEO Naoshi the past] you were sort of stuck with a few In the U.S., Caroline will be renamed Fujikura. The new division will operate outlets, it might have been HBO or Show- Virgin Label & Artist Services and continue alongside domestic frontline label Virgin time or Cinemax back in that day, or PBS,” under the leadership of president Jacque- Music. Spinello tells Billboard. “But you were kind line Saturn, who will report to Capitol Finally, Caroline International’s U.K. label of limited, and the licensing windows tied Music Group president and COO Michelle services operation has been renamed Virgin you up for a bit. After a sort of windowing or Jubelirer. Music Label & Artist Services, under the an airing, it kind of became a lost asset for a In the U.K., Vanessa Higgins — a former continued leadership of managing direc- period of time.” touring musician and the founder of indie tors Michael Roe and Jim Chancellor, and Spinello and his founding team, which label/publisher Regent Street Records — will support the leaders of Virgin world- also includes John McDermott and Janie has been named managing director, Virgin wide. Hendrix of Experience Hendrix, Yoko Music Label & Artist Services U.K., effective Additional regional operations will launch Ono and the estate and immediately. She will report to Universal in the coming months. entertainment lawyer Jonas Herbsman, are Music U.K. chairman/CEO David Joseph. now looking to shake up the old paradigm Caroline France serves as the founda- with an all-access subscription model that tion for a new, local Virgin Music Label & uses the power and reach of the Amazon Artist Services division, led by managing distribution network to bring legacy video director Thomas Lorain, who has overseen content in music — much of it rare and some Caroline France since 2014. it never before seen — to a larger audience Existing Caroline operations in Germany than ever before. will be incorporated into a regional Virgin Launching today in the U.S. and slated to Page 17 of 48

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roll out to the rest of the world over the next “You’re able to have a partner with an favor of streaming, it seemed like a [good] year, Coda Collection has buy-in from most enormous global footprint that also sells opportunity.” of the major players in music: Content part- your physical goods and also streams your Coda Collection is now available for $4.99 ners at launch include all three major labels audio and also sells your merchandise, so it a month, with a 7-day free trial for new (Sony Music is an equity partner in the new just seemed like a really great fit,” said Mc- subscribers. You can find more informa- venture), Rhino Entertainment, Concord Dermott, who has worked with Experience tion here and see a list of content at launch Music, Mercury Studios, Reelin’ In The Hendrix for 25 years. “Where if you’re a below. Years Productions and CREEM Magazine, Jimi Hendrix fan, if you get inspired by see- 999 - Nasty Tales 2006 among others. The library currently consists ing the new Maui documentary, you can buy AC/DC - Live at Donington of around 150 titles, including premier con- the product there, you can buy the merchan- AC/DC - Live at River Plate tent such as Music, Money, Madness…Jimi dise there, you can stream the music there. Albert King - Live in - Leg- Hendrix In Maui, The Rolling Stones On The We just felt that was a much better way of ends Air, At Quentin and Mi- keeping a fan engaged.” Allman Brothers - 50th Anniversary Cel- randa Lambert: Revolution Live By Candle- To come up with licensing costs, Coda ebration (2020) MSG light, along with newly-filmed, exclusive Collection recently completed a seed round Alton Ellis - In Memoriam 1938-2008: Live performances from artists including Jane’s consisting of non-institutional capital from At The Cafe London Addiction and . artists and angel networks; it is now in “ear- Arc Angels - Live in Austin, Texas Spinello tells Billboard that the germ of ly conversations” with institutional inves- Arc Angels - Living in a Dream the idea behind Coda Collection began more tors for its Series A, says Spinello. Exclusive Aretha Franklin - Lady Soul 1968 than two decades ago — though the land- SVOD rights for content are negotiated on Ashley Hutchings & Rainbow Chasers - Live scape at that time wasn’t hospitable to the a case-by-case basis, with a typical license at Huntingdon Hall concept. “We were kind of joking around lasting between one and three years. The Avett Brothers - Charlotte Speedway back in that day, ‘If only we could do a music Going forward, Coda has plans to expand Barry Gibb - The Great Songwriters HBO,’” he says. “But that would’ve proved to its library considerably; after launch, Spi- - Fresh as a Sweet Sunday be incredibly expensive.” nello says they’ll be adding 20 to 30 titles Morning Spinello and his partners began develop- monthly via what he calls a “very active” Bill Withers - The Great Songwriters ing the service in earnest about five years artist outreach operation, as well as a sub- Billy Strings - 2020/09/26 Red Rocks ago, once streaming became the dominant stantial number of inbound requests that Bob Dylan - Trouble No More mode of content consumption and effective- have come in since the platform was first Bob Dylan - Other Side of The Mirror ly opened up new opportunities that proved announced. Buddy Guy - My Time After Awhile to be considerably less daunting and costly Artist outreach for the venture is being - The Great Songwriters than, say, starting a brand-new TV network. led by McDermott, who well understands Jazz Icons: Charles Mingus Live 1964 “There [have been] places for us to put the value of new platforms like Coda Collec- Chuck D - The Great Songwriters video content, but in general, at the time and tion in generating revenue and fostering the Country Joe McDonald - Turned Up and still today, the unit economics weren’t ter- legacies of artists like Hendrix. On the latter Turned On rific for the artist or for the rights holder,” front, he points to Coda’s artist-friendly Various - Creem Documentary Spinello continues. “Distribution became model, which not only adds valuable (and Curtis Mayfield - Live at Montreux 1987 more of a promotion tool than it was a con- potentially lucrative) context to its content Dan Baird and Homemade Sin - Fresh out of textual experience. So our premise was, ‘Let via the editorial platform but also frees Georgia Live Like a Satellite us [go back to] the drawing board with this rights holders of the limits demanded by Band - 2019/06/29 Deer contextual experience and solve for distri- traditional distribution models. Creek, IN bution, and then let’s see what we have.’” “That’s part of the fun in what we’re - Wider Horizons The distribution solution came cour- able to do, is to kind of share these artists Derrick Morgan - Live at the 100 Club tesy of Amazon, which presented Coda and share this great stuff without having Desmond Dekker - Israelites Live in London Collection with integration opportunities to worry about the old television rules of a Diamond Head - Electric Evil across its entire ecosystem, including e- 22-minute half hour or 42-minute hour or Echo & The Bunnymen - Dancing Horses: commerce as well as Amazon Music, which any of that nonsense,” says McDermott, who Live At The Shepherds Bush Empire will host curated playlists spun off from worked closely with Janie Hendrix on the Elkie Brooks - Appearing At Shepherds Coda’s library. It also provides the service’s Maui documentary. “Previously you kind of Bush London video content with instant global reach — a had to shoehorn music into television.” Fairport Convention - 35th Anniversary notable improvement from before, when He adds, “I think if you consider the Fairport Convention - Live at Marlowe territory-specific licenses were the name of global reach that Amazon Prime has, and Theatre . as the DVD market has kind of atrophied in The Fall - A Touch Sensitive Page 18 of 48

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The Farm - All Together Now That’s What King Kurt - King Zulu Stiff Little Fingers - Handheld & Rigidly I Call Lee Perry - Live at the Jazz Cafe Stiff Little Fingers - At Live and - Skin & Bones Lee Perry - Live in Bristol Concorde Kickin Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters: Hyde Park - The Real Thing in Perfor- Stone Temple Pilots - Core Foo Fighters - Everywhere But Home mance Stone Temple Pilots - Purple Foo Fighters - Back And Forth Michael Chapman - Journeyman String Cheese Incident - Live at Red Rocks Freddie King - Live in Europe - Blues Leg- Jazz Icons: Miles Davis Live 1967 The Bluetones - Beat about the Bush ends Miranda Lambert - Revolution: Live By The Buzzcocks - Live At Shepherds Bush Godfathers - Shot Live at the 100 Club Candlelight Empire Dead and Company - 6/30/2017 Wrigley Motorhead - Motorhead Live: Everything The Wedding Present - An Evening With Field Live Performance Louder Than Everything Else The Wedding Present - In : Out Of The Shad- - Red Rocks 8/2/19 The Toy Dolls - Live in Concert ows Ned’s Atomic Dustbin - Shoot The Neds In Trey Anastasio - Ghosts of the Forest Hazel O’Connor - Will You Live In Brighton Concert UK Subs - Warhead: 25th Anniversary Mar- Human League - Live at the Dome New Model Army - Live 161203 quee Concert Ian Hunter - All the Young Dudes Nick ’s Saucerful of Secrets - Live at Various - American Folk Blues Festival 1962- Incredible String Band - Live at the Lowry the Roundhouse 1966 Volume 1 James Taylor - Live at the Beacon Theatre Nine Below Zero - On The Road Again Various - American Folk Blues Festival 1962- Jane’s Addiction - Replay 2020 Noel Gallagher - The Great Songwriters 1966 Volume 2 Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - Nashville - The Great Songwriters Various - American Folk Blues Festival 1962- 10.18.2019 Oasis - Manchester Stadium 1969 Volume 3 Jeremy Spencer - In Session (Live “in the - The Great Songwriters Various - American Folk Blues Festival 1962- studio”) 2005 - Hyde Park 1969 The British Tours - Bright Young Things Paul Simon - The Concert in Central Park Various - Soul to Soul Jimi Hendrix - Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hen- - Philadelphia 2016 (The Ten Various - Wax Trax Documentary drix Live at the Isle of Wight Show) Voice of the Beehive - Don’t Call Me Baby Jimi Hendrix - BBC Sessions Pearl Jam - The Kids Are 20 (2021) Widespread Panic - Live in New Orleans Jimi Hendrix - Making of Electric Ladyland Pearl Jam - PJ 20 - Construction for the Jimi Hendrix - The Dick Cavett Show Pearl Jam - Safeco Field, (The Home Modern Vidiot Jimi Hendrix - The Dick Cavett Show Docu- Shows) Wu Tang Clan - Live at Montreux 2007 mentary Punch Brothers - Black Bird 11.15.2020 Jimi Hendrix - American Landing : Jimi Nashville TN Hendrix Live at Monterey Rikki Lee Jones - The Great Songwriters Jimi Hendrix - Jimi Plays Berkeley Rolling Stones - Ladies and Gentlemen Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsy’s Concert Rolling Stones - Marquee Club 1971 Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsy’s Documen- Rolling Stones - Steel Wheels tary Rolling Stones - Rialto Theater 1972 Re- Jimi Hendrix - Hear My Train a Comin’ hearsals Jimi Hendrix - Music, Money Madness, Live - Catalina Island 10/17/20 in Maui - The Great Songwriters Jimi Hendrix - Live at Woodstock The Selecter - Get On The Train To Skaville Jimi Hendrix - Electric Church - The Adventures of Hersham Boys Jimmy James & The Vagabonds - I’ll Go Simon & Garfunkel - The Concert In Central Where Your Music Takes Me Park (Live) - The Great Songwriters Slaughter and the Dogs - Manchester 101 Joe Brown - An Audience With Joe Brown 2005 Jazz Icons: John Coltrane Live 1960-1965 Southside Johnny - Live at the Opera House John Lennon - Gimme Some Truth aka From Southside To Tyneside 2002 John Mayall - The Godfather Of British Splodgenessabounds - Two Pints of Lager Blues (2003 Documentary) and a Packet of Crisps Please! Junior Wells / Special Guest Buddy Guy - Stax/Volt Revue - Live in Norway 1967 Live At Nightstage - Blues Legends Stevie Ray Vaughan - Live at the El Mo- Ken Hensley & Live Fire - Live in Russia cambo Page 19 of 48

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Esso, Tank and the Bangas and Whitney, daily broadcasts in June 2020, they account- Bandsintown plus a show with Serpentwithfeet celebrat- ed for more than half in November 2020, ing their new album Deacon on release day. according to Bandsintown. In August 2020, Launches “We thought that there was an opportu- 80% of surveyed customers said they are nity to create a new model to leverage the willing to pay for livestreams, up 10% from Subscription relationship between the artist and Bandsin- Bandsintown’s previous poll last April. town using the data we’ve collected over the Bandinstown PLUS shows are acces- Service For past year due to the pandemic,” Bandsin- sible only with a subscription — fans can’t town managing partner Fabrice Ser- purchase individual tickets to those shows. Livestream gent tells Billboard. “We are trying to create As Bandsintown points out in its announce- a platform which is really different and ment, the $9.99 monthly fee is less than With unique in its ability to curate an innovative the price of a single concert ticket (or most experience build around live shows. No live livestream tickets, for that matter). Each Tank and the shows that are prerecorded, but shows that livestream will have a moderated chat box really are live and can include fan &A in- and include links to the artist’s merchandise Bangas, Charli terviews and direct interaction with artists.” store and socials, with additional interactive Sergent adds that artists “are paid a per- features to be added in the coming weeks, XCX, Haim formance fee for playing on our platform,” according to a spokesperson. which is negotiated with the artist’s agent Fans can sign up for Bandsintown PLUS & More and management. “I think we will have hun- at plus.bandsintown.com. dreds of thousands of fans sign up, because Dave Brooks contributed reporting. BY TATIANA CIRISANO many of these artists are very strong.” This story was updated on Feb. 18 to in- The music industry’s widespread clude additional artists on the lineup. ive events discovery hub Bandsin- adoption of livestreamed concerts amid town is bringing a new revenue the coronavirus pandemic has spurred model to the livestream space, hop- the launch of more than a dozen new Triple A Through ing to capitalize on the industry’s livestreaming platforms, as companies both Lrapid growth. Today (Jan. 12), it launches brand-new and established seek to capital- the Years: Adult Bandsintown PLUS, a subscription-based ize on an emerging market and rescue the service where fans pony up $9.99 per month struggling touring industry. Bandsintown’s Alternative (after a seven-day free trial) to access more entry into livestreaming makes sense: The than 25 exclusive livestreamed shows, inter- platform already has the benefit of a built-in Programming views and original series monthly. audience, with 60 million registered users. Bandsintown has already signed up an It also has long-standing relationships with Directors Discuss all-star roster of talent: The debut lineup artists and their teams: The platform’s artist includes Toro Moi, , offering, Bandsintown For Artists, is used by the History and Phoebe Bridgers, Big Thief’s Adrianne Len- 540,000 artists, managers, labels and book- ker, ’s and Flying Lotus, ing agents, according to its corporate site. Evolution of the while the February lineup name-checks The platform has also already positioned Tycho, Waxahatchee, Omar Apollo and itself as a hub for livestreaming information ’ . Currently, the and data. Throughout 2020, it pivoted from feature is only available in the U.S. tracking in-person live shows to track- BY ANDREW UNTERBERGER As of Feb. 18, the lineup was updated ing livestream listings from nearly 20,000 to include upcoming performances artists, allowing fans to RSVP and directly his week, we’re celebrating the and interviews with , Buck click-through to watch livestreams in addi- 25th anniversary of Billboard’s Meek, Chai, Charli XCX, Chelsea Cut- tion to launching three music livestream- Adult chart, ler, Dam-, Devendra Banhart, Elio, Em- ing charts with Billboard. Between March which started in 1996 to recognize ily Alyn Lind, Faye Webster, Gabriel Garzon- 25 and Dec. 12, 2020, the platform counted Tthe rise in prominence of the adult album Montano, Haim, , Jealous more than 60,905 livestreamed shows. alternative (or Triple A) radio format. of the Birds, Los Lobos, LP, The Micro- Its findings point to further growth for Over the past 25 years, much has changed phones, Mt. Joy, , Nicole the ticketed livestreaming business in 2021. in Triple A — both for commercial and lis- Migilis of Hundred Waters, Odie, Peach While ticketed livestreams accounted for tener-supported (non-comm) stations — in Pit, Portugal. The Man, Skullcrusher, Sylvan less than two percent of the total number of terms of the music, the technology, and the Page 20 of 48

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audience. To get a sense of that evolution, wanting to hear new sounds and expand like pop stations. The homogenized pro- we asked programming directors and music their boundaries. Community-minded, gramming rolled out by companies like directors from some of the country’s leading independent-thinkers, do-gooders and ac- iHeartMedia and Entercom are now driving Triple A stations to answer some questions tive in making the world a better place. It true music fans to AAA stations, if they’re about their memories of the early days of was definitely upper demo. It was those who lucky enough to have a AAA format in their the format, as well as how it’s transformed grew up with rock and AOR in the ‘60s/’70s, market. in the last quarter century, and where they and wanted to have their tastes challenged McGuinn: Everything has changed since see it going from here. Check out their and broadened by the best of what radio can 1995! That’s before the . Before responses below. be, musically speaking. cell phones. And when Tower Records was 1. What memories do you have, if any, of Bruce Warren (88.5 WXPN, Philadel- expanding during the CD boom! It was also what Triple A radio was like 25 years ago? phia): 1996 was a rich year in music for Tri- before the Telecom Act and before voice Jim McGuinn (89.3 KCMP “The Current,” ple A. You had core artists that crossed over tracking — when you needed a full air staff Minneapolis): 25 years ago I was working to other formats like , , Oa- of music heads to run a station! in the thick of the alternative/ sis, Smashing Pumpkins, The Wallflowers, I am biased, but I also think the accep- explosion, observing AAA as a listener. At Sarah McLachlan, and you had this whole tance and emergence of non-comm stations that time, AAA seemed to be carrying on the singer-songwriter thing exploding on public within the AAA universe has greatly altered traditions of the progressive FMs of the late radio with artists like Steve Earle, Gillian the format in the past 15 years. When I ‘60s, building an audience of (mostly) baby Welch, Wilco, Iris Dement, , started at The Current, it seemed like the boomers, who wanted more musically than and stuff like DJ Shadow, Pulp, Meshell format in general was on one side of the they could find anywhere else on the dial Ndegeocello. room, and stations like KEXP, KCRW, and us – was too predictable (though One of the exciting things that happened were on the other – we were far apart, and they loved that music), alternative too in the format that year was Los Angeles got non-comm was often viewed with skepti- inconsistent, top 40 too repetitive, and AC a commercial AAA station. Mike Morrison cism that accompanied our low ratings. too sleepy. They wanted rock, but they also from WXPN left the station to go be the PD With our success locally and KEXP and wanted stories, artists, and a mix of familiar at KSCA, and the buzz in the format was KCRW’s impact worldwide, AAA in general artists and new discoveries. huge for that station. Unfortunately, the noticed and started to change – adding more The core artists and songs often came challenges of commercial radio got real, Gen X and eventually millennial listeners from a mix of classic rock (but maybe and they didn’t last long. 1996 in AAA was a to the mix, opening up sonically to more deeper cuts) and classic alternative artists, great period of growth and excitement for female artists and wider variety of diverse along with newer discoveries like Counting both commercial and non-comm stations. sounds, and re-inventing itself musically as Crows, Dave Matthews, , 2. What do you think the biggest funda- a vital media home for adult music fans to Sheryl Crow, alongside Petty, R.E.M., Jack- mental change is from where Triple A is learn, discover, and celebrate a variety and son Browne, , John Hiatt. And now compared to where it was back in 1995? history of sound unmatched by any other Bob Dylan. Always Bob Dylan. Hosts were Russ Borris (90.7 WFUV, New York): In radio format. friendly, laid back, musical. the beginning, the format was concen- Remember when radio stations used Brad Savage (91.3 WAPS, Akron/Can- trated on a “rootsier” sound, akin to the to market themselves by touting the size ton): I grew up in the Twin Cities listening VH1 Crossroads model. I think we’ve seen of their library? “We play 20,000 songs” to and learning my musical taste from KTCZ a shift to something far broader to include – might have sounded impressive when “Cities 97.” They were one of the first large- more electronic, indie rock, soul, etc. The consumers had an average of 100 CDs in market commercial Triple A stations and I format, although still quite specific to their collection, but now with access to learned a great deal about the format, and market, is so much wider in its scope and 100 million songs on your phone, our role radio in general, by listening to this station. approach now. has changed. The world moves fast, and as By 1999, I worked there as a part-timer for Mark “Mookie” Kaczor (88.5 KCSN, consumers we look to radio to help us filter, almost five years. Southern California): AAA stations (non- to manage our time, to make sense of the My recollection is the format was a mod- commercial stations especially) are now chaos. If you value what my station does ern offshoot of the eclectic AOR/album rock regarded as the taste making, trailblazing for you, we become your trusted friend, the and even free form formats. You’d get album radio stations. Back in the 80s and 90s the one who has always been stopping by with tracks by classic artists like Van Morrison or commercial alternative formats were the a stack of great records/cassettes/8-tracks/ or The Rolling Stones, along- ones on the cutting edge, breaking bands CDs/45s/wax cylinders. side new artists like , Blues and taking chances. Today with corporate The setting and competition has also Traveler, Big Head Todd, Natalie Merchant, consolidation across the board, those alter- changed. I pay much less attention to the BoDeans and John Hiatt. The audience was native stations have become increasingly local radio market nowadays than I do to smart, sophisticated, musically challenging, more cookie cutter, and being programmed other platforms — we’re engaged in try- Page 21 of 48

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ing to maintain and gain brain space with an upper-demo 25-54 format, but more rently playing 3 songs in rotation from the listeners who not only have mobile access broadly Triple A today might be more like new Paul McCartney record, the new Arlo to every song ever recorded, but also video, 18-64, which is a pretty wide swath. Espe- Parks record and the new Bahamas record. TV, games, and anything you can imagine cially the non-comm and music discovery Savage: In 1995, it would have been rare doing with your phone or the latest technol- side of the format. I think many of those to hear The Smiths’ “How Soon Is Now” ogy of the day. So radio has to be on as many who were 40 in 1995 are still listening, and or New Order on Triple A. Today, those platforms as possible, to meet the audience expanding their horizons still today, but seem like core styles and eras to be part of wherever it is at or wants us to be. today they are 66. There’s a generation gap the mix. But, in 1995 they were core gold Savage: Adding a younger audience, and in the format, and I that Triple A is to alternative [radio], and most alt stations the aging of the audience who were too the least-consensus sound from market- have moved their focus eras forward. But, it young for Triple A back then. I believe most to-market, based on market conditions and is interesting to think that some/many (per- of AAA today comes from an upbringing individual goals and philosophy for the haps not “most”) Triple A stations might go listening to the alternative format back then. station. Some stations lean younger/newer/ from The Kinks and Bob Seger to The Clash They were a lot further apart in 1995. Not indie and play hip-hop, some only play more and The Jam, all in the same classic gold nearly as much crossover (especially in cur- rock-based sounds — it is all custom-tailored category. rent titles) then, versus today. to the market it represents. Warren: For the commercial stations the Warren: The Internet and streaming Warren: Well, for most AAA stations we challenges are the same now as they’ve happened. More competition for ears, more know that the audiences tend to be mostly always been – maintaining enough audi- music being made and distributed, more white, highly educated, and highly curious ence, growing that audience, and having direct interaction between musicians and (still) about new music. Both commercial the numbers to sell. Commercial radio isn’t fans. Musically, at least for [the non-comm and non-comm audiences share a lot of lis- about music – it’s about real estate. With world], many stations have evolved from a tening with public radio news stations in the some rare exceptions — where the really heavy singer-songwriter-based sound to a markets they are in. Ages differ from market great commercial stations have been, like more indie-rock-leaning sound. to market. KBCO (/Boulder) and WXRT (Chi- 3. Is it the same sort of audience tuning Our audience at XPN is definitely cago), Triple A flourished — but over the in to Triple A now that was 25 years ago? older than The Current’s. A lot of that is due years, it’s the public stations that were really How, if at all, has the audience changed in to the fact that The Current has only been breaking new artists, and not commercial terms of demographics (or otherwise) in on the air since 2004. XPN as a AAA “for- radio. the quarter-century since? mat” started 31 years ago. So, when listeners I would say for non-comms, the musical Kaczor: One thing that remains true discovered us as a new station in their 30s, evolution is now towards more indie-rock today, as it was 25 years ago, is that the AAA they are now in their 60s. It’s not that we bands. While the singer-songwriters of the format doesn’t necessarily have as many don’t have younger listeners. My bet would past get some play, they’re not as visible as listeners (see Nielsen cume numbers) as be that the longer stations have been doing they were 20/25 years ago. For commercial mainstream music stations, but AAA listen- AAA, the older the average ages of their stations, their playlists have evolved more ers are always extremely loyal and passion- audiences are. towards AC- and pop-leaning artists and ate music fans. Perhaps due to the constant 4. In what ways has Triple A had to evolve songs. A few of my colleagues and I refer to music discovery and knowledgeable DJs. as a format over the past quarter century? commercial Triple A as “Triple AC.” There McGuinn: Triple AAA has always at- Kaczor: The format has evolved from the is a sweet spot of overlap though between tracted music fans — people for whom AOR days of the past. No two AAA stations some more pop-leaning artists that commer- music maybe means more, and that want a sound the same. Whereas commercial alter- cial stations play and what non-comm sta- little more from their radio station than an native stations seem to walk in lockstep with tions play. I think it all comes down to the average listener. That hasn’t changed. The each other, AAA stations vary from market market and the existing audiences each of audience has always tended to be more curi- to market. For instance, Radio our stations are serving, and new audiences ous about the world — leading the way from seems to lean a little more R&B, The Colo- we’re trying to get to listen to our stations. craft beer to organic foods to electric cars to rado Sound has a foundation based in roots 5. Is there a period you think of within the embracing artists before the mainstream. and Americana, The Current in Minneapolis past 25 years as being a sort of golden age But the generations have changed, and may lean a little more indie-hipster. for Triple A? Either for your personal sta- with the new generations, some stations are One thing that 88.5 FM (KCSN) has re- tion or for the radio format in general? finding success in welcoming a more diverse cently adopted is something right out to the McGuinn: I was a PD in alternative from audience. Definitely, the audience listening old AOR format playbook. We go deep on 1990-2005, and while we might have had to AAA is encouraging stations to help cre- albums, playing album cuts from artists like the most success at the end of the ‘90s, it ate a more equitable and inclusive world. David Bowie and Curtis Mayfield, but also was the time right after Nirvana that was Savage: I suppose at its core it’s still going deep on new releases. 88.5 FM is cur- the best — because it was the moment we Page 22 of 48

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realized this thing was really happening. We past quarter-century that folks might not that you do when a great host is speaking to had felt like we were at the kids’ table, and expect— maybe that folks who aren’t regular an artist or about a song, or about an experi- suddenly we were in the center of music listeners to the format might not even really ence and how music made it possible. The culture. have on their radar? connections and social experience gained by When I got to AAA, there was a similar McGuinn: Here’s a maybe surprising listening has been magnified for the better. moment when the format realized its po- artist success stories: One of The Current’s These stations are all unique. Unlike tential to be a home to the most important most played artists in its history is Lizzo. other formats where you can hear the same new music being created — maybe it started She had her first radio play anywhere on music, imaging — and too often, the same in the early ‘10s, when the format began to The Current when she lived in Minnesota, DJs — across the country, these are local reach more post-Baby Boomer audiences and had our No. 1 song two years in a row, stations, living and breathing the same air as and launch new artists. I think about , years before she had national cultural break- our audiences, and working together with Mumford & Sons, , Lumineers, Bon out. It was through The Current that she listeners to create that musical hub that Iver, Arcade Fire. But we continue in this connected to and sang on one of his becomes a community. role today — whether it’s being their first last albums, and a lot of AAA stations had Savage: The sense of art, music and with developing artists like Phoebe Bridg- played her prior to her worldwide success. community is what makes Triple A special. ers, Brittany Howard, Black Pumas, Maggie Savage: Big Head Todd & The Monsters It resonates with people who care about Rogers, or helping longtime favorites foster “Bittersweet,” from 1993. This song always music, and their hometowns. Many of the their careers to later success and acclaim, gets feedback and “What song was that?” stations are independent, and in the spirit of like Brandi Carlile or Jason Isbell. Even remarks, to this day! It is rock, it is special, it AOR/free form years before them. In Triple stays vital in cultural encourages passion and discovery, and it is A today many are non-comm and listener- conversations with his new music because a brilliant piece of art that is also accessible supported. of the support of AAA. and consumable, and always seems to draw When I was programming WCNR/Char- Savage: I think to me, studying the Triple attention. This song is the epitome of how lottesville (106.1 The Corner) in its early A great stations from the early ‘90s (1995) this radio format can elevate artists and art, launch phase, we worked with consultant to 2005, [that] is a golden era... the era right and is much more than just a “format” or a Keith Cunningham of Jacobs Media. (Today before I became a Triple A PD myself. But scientific research study to fill time between he is PD of KLOS/Los Angeles). Keith each group of 4-5 years is awesome when commercial breaks. There is passion and taught me this adage: “Triple A is not a you zoom out and look back at what music creativity in Triple A. format, but rather a marketing or lifestyle has been featured over that time period. Warren: This is a tough one. My lens is strategy for stations.” He taught me that the Warren: I think 25 years ago was informed by being [at WXPN] for 30 years. stations focus on the emotion and heart and the start of the golden age, but the period of I can’t speak for other stations. On the more passion of the audience, moreso than fol- 2000-05 I think was when it really took off. recent side of time, I think “Impossible lowing a rigid playlist of what bands “fit the It took music industry folks on the label side Germany” by Wilco or “The Joke” by Brandi format” and which do not. a while to take the format seriously; mostly Carlile might fit this bill for XPN. But I Warren: What keeps listeners loyal is because very few stations delivered big- also know if you asked each of our regular great local radio, presented by in-person, enough numbers. But the smart label and mix DJs they’d pick something different. live and lively, conversational and knowl- promotion folks knew that the loyalty of the One older song? I’ll go with “Please Forgive edgeable DJs, with handcrafted curation. audiences at AAA stations was often more Me” by David Gray. Or any song from Count- 8. What’s one prediction you’d have for important than the numbers they delivered. ing Crows’ August and Everything After. the future of Triple A in the years to come? Listeners at AAA stations spend a lot more 7. What do you think makes Triple A spe- A necessary evolution that’s coming, an art- time listening to AAA stations than at other cial as a radio format? What about it keeps ist that’ll prove defining, etc.? formats, and this is important. listeners loyal — either to your station or to Kaczor: The future is bright for AAA. The I remember Joe Henry — who unfortu- the format in general? format generally champions new artists, as nately didn’t get much commercial AAA Borris: It’s the unpredictability of the well as the legendary ones. Stations that play play, and who is phenomenally talented as golds mixed with the strongest music songs from Kurt Vile and Mavis Staples in a songwriter and producer — once jokingly discovery quotient of any format. There’s the same set are attracting more disenfran- said during an interview that he was big in something special about how fresh and alive chised music fans every day. Remember the Philly and Belgium. I think his point was a great Triple A radio station sounds. & The Heartbreakers song “The that new artists, in particular, when they got McGuinn: We’ve learned more than ever Last DJ”? That’s what AAA radio repre- support from various markets, could build over this past pandemic year what a role a sents. We are the last DJs, who say what we very visible and highly sustainable careers. radio station can play in the lives of listen- want to say, and play what we want to play. 6. Is there a song that’s proven par- ers. You don’t get the kind of “driveway McGuinn: We’re all trying to continue to ticularly enduring at Triple A over the moments” from scrolling through Spotify provide connection to our audiences, which Page 23 of 48

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could morph and take different forms — system, and can create a format out of this, and it’s already happening, said TikTok head from building out playlists, offering side with real people, and music discovery at the of music partnerships and content opera- streams, creating video and digital experi- heart of it. tions Corey Sheridan on the same panel. ences, to filtering new music for them on the Country radio will see some bounce back, radio, and knowing just the right classic oh though maybe not to its pre-pandemic wow [song] to make your day. That role, Country Radio listening levels. Streaming ballooned by and the value it provides remain key to our 15% in the eight months after safe-at-home success. With changing technology, audi- Was Already protocols were instituted, said MRC vp/ ences are more demanding — which makes head of research Matthew Yazge during the it . They want us to be adventurous, Adapting to “Talk Data to Me” panel. And while a return but we have to keep a great batting aver- to commuting will likely mean a rise in radio age, because their alternative options for Streaming. Then listening, some of those fans who adapted content are so many, varied, and ever easier will probably spend less time with the AM/ to access. Came COVID-19 FM dial. I do think we will continue to see more “There will be some people who, having inclusivity on our playlists and micro- BY TOM ROLAND become accustomed to Spotify, phones, as we move forward. But the funda- — whatever service they’re using — some of mentals don’t change — this is content for ith all the positive develop- them are going to opt to on their phones the musically curious, for those that want ments around vaccinations, when they get in their car,” said Yazge. and crave more than the mainstream, and it feels like the proverbial “They’re going to connect to Bluetooth for an audience that is leading the way to light at the end of the pan- instead of turning on the radio.” the future. demicW tunnel is in sight, even if it’s impos- Fans will also be more likely to attend Savage: I think the format will continue sible to pinpoint exactly how far away that concerts at home instead of going to the to bring in new audience, younger, and new exit lies. venue. generations for the future. But, we will still What is clear — at least from Country Ra- “People who watched livestreams online, in many cases still have those 50-60+ audi- dio Seminar’s inaugural Streaming Summit it makes them feel connected to something ence demos that have grown up with us. held Feb. 16 — is that when we emerge from larger than themselves,” said Allocca during Luckily, our music format is more inclusive the tunnel, returning to normal will not nec- a conversation from the orange couch in his and expansive, and so it isn’t unheard of essarily mean returning to the old version home. “More than half of people say that to hear Allman Brothers and on the of normal. Staying home has brought a host watching something online is just as good as same station. It’s a little wild and weird... of new experiences to the American public, being there in person.” but that is the type of audience we attract! from learning to bake sourdough bread to Adapting, as always, will be key to thriv- Warren: As for the evolution, I think for online group experiences, as CRS ing in whatever the new normal is, and for XPN it’s the ability to be open to the notion was forced to do by making the 2021 version country radio stations, that will necessarily that younger music fans don’t think about of the seminar virtual. include finding the best way to fit within genres as much as the programmers do. “Once you do CRS in yoga pants and a consumers’ new behaviors. That means Programmers have rigid, sometimes narrow ponytail, can you ever go back?” quipped actively engaging in whatever platform POVs when it comes to formats. I get why freelance content producer Joyce Rizer dur- listeners are using — including, of course, this is. While our station and others like us ing the event’s chat panel. terrestrial radio — but also understand- do have a musical center, the palate is broad, Indeed, it’s likely that most businesses — ing their quirks and preferences in other and the impact of the streaming ecosys- and maybe even CRS — will continue to use venues. Some 78% of country fans still listen tem has to be taken into consideration when the internet for at least some conferences to the radio, but 59% of the genre’s audi- making programming decisions. after offices reopen. Panelists across the ence actively streams, said Yazge during the I like to tell my colleagues that they summit’s spectrum referenced numerous “Talk Data to Me” panel. That means a good should observe how my two twenty- ways in which the industry should antici- chunk of the station’s listeners are hearing something kids (now young men) consume pate post-pandemic change. artists and titles in other environments that music, and what kinds of music they love. Artists will continue to sign new re- the radio station may not have programmed. For them, a world where Arlo Parks, The cording deals after establishing audiences And that complicates decisions about what War on Drugs, Clairo, Bad Bunny, Lucinda through online platforms, as did Andrew songs to add, when to add them and how Williams, and Led Zep [all co-exist] makes Jannakos, who contributed to a panel quickly to goose their rotations. a lot of sense. Great non-comms have DJs focused specifically on TikTok. In fact, song- “There’s a large overlap, and as country who can make sense of the eclectic nature writers are likely to receive publishing deals streaming continues to grow, PDs and MDs of what I call the Apple Music/Spotify eco- in greater numbers through the platform — need to follow their audience’s various Page 24 of 48

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media behaviors,” noted Stone Door Media Trahern accepted the president’s award, tion.” Lab founder Jeff Green, who moderated the and an end-of-day Country Heat showcase Exit/In had been talking with North “Talk Data to Me” panel, in the chat room. featured Tim McGraw, Priscilla Block and Carolina-based real estate company Grubb “It’s a fallacy that consumers who stream Track45, among others. Properties to become the second venue to aren’t listening to your station.” CRS offered plenty of information on benefit from their Live Venue Recovery The summit itself is a model of adapta- its opening day and will surely throw even Fund. So far, the fund has partnered with tion. After last year’s CRS, held in-person at more at programmers before it concludes Headliners Music Hall in Louisville, Ky. and the Omni Nashville Hotel just weeks before Feb. 19. But that also represents a reality is securing additional investments to help as COVID-19 reached its point, the that’s likely to be even more extreme as many independent venues as possible own agenda committee recognized that digital programmers discover their new normal in their own property. consumption had risen to a degree that it the not-too-distant future as their attentions According to Grubb Properties director of should receive a special focus. Universal are spread ever wider. acquisitions Hillary Schmidt, the Live Venue Music Group Nashville vp marketing, digital “I think we’re stewards of our commu- Recovery Fund is an impact fund - accounts Annie Ortmeier oversaw the top- nity,” said MRC Data director of radio Haley ners with live operators to help ic’s development, and it was expanded from Jones during the “Talk Data to Me” panel. them establish long-term ownership. She a three-hour morning window into a full day “We should be a mirror a little bit of what’s explains that the fund has been in the works after the pandemic response increased its happening in pop culture. [It’s] important to since the pandemic, though in fits and urgency. get a hold of every radio data point you can.” starts. Just over a year ago, Grubb Properties The summit was intended to help pro- This article first appeared in the weekly CEO Clay Grubb met former venue owner grammers better understand the competi- Billboard Country Update newsletter. and now-president of National Indepen- tion but also better navigate the facts and Click here to subscribe for free. dent Venue Association Dayna Frank at figures they’re bombarded with by labels the Aspen Institute. The two struck up a and artist managers. friendship over their love for live music and “Most radio people don’t have the ability The Exit/In the idea to help independent venues was to have access to data through an Amazon created. for Artists or Spotify for Artists,” Ortmeier Isn’t the Only The original idea was that “having inde- told Billboard. “But there’s a good chance pendent live music venues is critical and that there are radio promo folks sending Independent establishing long-term ownership is critical data to radio teams referencing some of to success because when you have more these data points. So we really wanted to Venue This Real owner/operators, you’re creating this di- pull that curtain back and say, ‘Hey, it’s not verse live music ecosystem,” says Schmidt. some scary made-up thing.’” Estate Company “Grubb Properties has worked with a It was, however, a lot of terminology. couple independent venues, one here in Streaming firms have all established their Plans to Save Charlotte and another in Chapel Hill, so own in-house programs and metrics, and it feels like this conversation has been while most attendees had probably heard all BY TAYLOR MIMS ongoing,” adds Grubb Properties corporate of the lingo in various settings, the flood of communications manager Emily Ethridge. jargon — thumb rates, tag growth, fundrais- ashville’s famed Exit/In, closed “Then when everyone is scrambling and ing picks, green room content, merch end to the public since the pandemic different things keep happening during the screens, thumbnails, Superchat and the started, is staring down another pandemic, we figured this was the best way Daily Voice Index — probably overwhelmed major hurdle as it enters its 50th to respond. We came up with this program more than a few viewers. Particularly if they Nyear: co-owner Chris Cobb announced over and made it official, not just one offs.” had other open screens in their work space the weekend that the storied venue is being The fund is uniquely helpful for venue or fielded interruptions from children and put up for sale by its landowners. operators, landlords and Grubb Properties partners. Cobb tells Billboard that he and his wife and its investors. Grubb has a committed While there was no bumping into a for- and Exit/In co-owner, Telisha Cobb, have return for investors but all gains above a 12% mer colleague in the hotel hallway or nab- been in talks with their landlords for over IRR (internal rate of return) will be donated bing a cocktail with a label-supplied drink a year to possibly purchase the land, but to NIVA. The added benefit for investors is ticket, some of the usual CRS add-ons were COVID accelerated the owners’ desire to that they can also write off the return above in evidence online. Mickey Guyton sang the unload the property, including neighboring 12% that is donated. national anthem, received a bar Hurry Back (also owned by the Cobbs). In the case of Exit/In, the Grubb fund lifetime achievement award, “It caught us a little off guard,” Cobb says. would purchase the property and lease it to Country Music Association CEO Sarah “But we were already working in that direc- the Cobbs with an option to eventually own Page 25 of 48

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the properties themselves. happen where beloved spaces, micro-busi- of musical and cultural innovators and “My experience thus far with Grubb has nesses, mom and pops continue to lose their disruptors,” said Roberson and Nelson in a been nothing short of amazing,” says Cobb. leases and are forced to go out of business, statement. “We want to use our knowledge “They are a values-driven company. They that’s a broken cycle.” and experience to help them navigate the are an employee-owned company. They are process and take their careers to the next doing good work out there.” level, while maintaining their creative and Both Grubb and Cobb hope the fund The Deals: ‘Buss business independence.” can be utilized to help more venues that “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Gee were hit hard by the pandemic and have It’ Rapper Erica and Jean on this forward-thinking partner- been without revenue for nearly a year. ship,” added co-chairman & Because venues were forced to remain Banks Signs to CEO Aaron Bay-Schuck and co-chairman closed, the Paycheck Protection Program & COO Tom Corson. “They’re bringing was not a suitable fit for many live mu- Warner, WMG their brilliant A&R minds and industry sic spaces. The Save Our Stages Act (now expertise to a unique portal that champi- known as the Shuttered Venues Opera- Expands in MENA ons artistic freedom. This fresh business tors grant) was passed by Congress in late model charts new territory in the relation- December, but the $15 billion will now be BY CHRIS EGGERTSEN ship between original talent and the major spread across indie venues, movie theaters, label ecosphere. They’ve already brought zoos, museums and more. The SBA has arner Records has us two amazing artists in and still not opened up applications for the launched a strategic David Sabastian, with whom we have very grants and venues continue to struggle stay- partnership with Gee different, specially tailored deals, and we’re ing afloat while awaiting funds. Roberson and Jean Nel- looking forward to collaborating on many SVO grant funding specifically states sonW’s BPG Music that will provide services more exciting projects.” that the money cannot be used to purchase for young Black artists and entrepreneurs Warner Music Group (WMG) has in- property, but Schmidt says that should not who covet the global reach of a major vested in Rotana Music (part of the Rotana deter venues from reaching out to Grubb label while looking to retain their creative Group), the Arab world’s largest record label about the fund. “If there are venues who are autonomy. Roberson and Nelson will serve and music repertoire holder, effectively interested in participating in this program, as advisors to Warner Records under the expanding its footprint in the Middle East they should absolutely reach out to us,” says agreement, which brings emerging rap- and North African (MENA) region. WMG’s Schmidt, who has so far been cold-calling pers Erica Banks and David Sabastian to label services division ADA Worldwide will venues. “We’ve been asking for three years the label. distribute Rotana’s releases globally outside financials, pre-pandemic.” The nature of the new partnership is MENA, as well as via YouTube worldwide. The number of venues the fund can help exemplified by Banks’ eventual signing to Rotana’s roster includes many of the Arab has no cap, but will be determined based Warner, which came about after - world’s most prominent artists, including on the amount Grubb raises. “Our hope is based 1501 Certified Entertainment, which Mohamad Abdo, Abdulmajid Abdallah, that we can go full tilt now and work with first signed Banks and was on the lookout Rabeh Saqer, Rashed Al Majed, Abdallah as many venues as possible to figure out for a major label partner, was steered by Ruwaished and Ahlam in the Gulf region solutions.” Roberson to the company. Speaking of and Amr Diab, Elissa, Tamer Hosny, Najwa Since the pandemic, Billboard has Banks, the rapper recently scored a breakout Karam, Shereen Abdalwahab, Angham, determined that roughly 90 independent hit with her single “,” which went Wael Kfoury and Saber Al Robae from the venues have permanently closed. While viral on TikTok after the fan-created #bus- Levant, Egypt and North Africa. some venues including Exit/In have re- sitchallenge caught fire on the social video Established in 1993 and owned by His ceived financial support from local govern- platform. Royal Highness Prince Al Waleed Bin Ta- ments, and with SVO grants pending, many Sabastian, who is also described as a lal, Rotana is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, spaces have a long way to go to recover and designer, activist, visual artist and with branches in Jeddah, Dubai, Kuwait property ownership could help pave the way arts educator, founded Believe in Yourself City, Beirut and Cairo. for stability going forward. Records and recently released the album We “The Middle East and North Africa region “We still don’t know what is going to hap- Are God. With Roberson and Nelson’s guid- is among the most culturally dynamic places pen here but we certainly hope we can begin ance, Sabastian has also brought Believe in in the world today, with burgeoning musical having more conversations about property Yourself Records to live under the BPG/ scenes and dramatic consumption growth,” ownership for small businesses and start Warner umbrella. said Simon Robson, WMG’s president, to make some long-term change,” says “Our goal at BPG/Warner is to discover, international, recorded music, in a state- Cobb. “When situations like this continue to mentor, and grow the next generation ment. “We’re thrilled to be joining with Page 26 of 48

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Rotana, whose significant presence in the around the world. Centricity Music’s roster includes Lauren market reflects its extraordinary roster of “Seated and Sofar share a common vision Daigle, who has been named Billboard’s musical icons and outstanding talent. We’re of putting artists first. During this past chal- Top Christian Artist three years running especially excited about the opportunity to lenging year, that’s been our primary goal: and whose albums How Can It Be and Look both expand our profile in the region and to support the independent musicians who Up Child have been certified platinum by to bring these amazing artists to audiences rely on touring to connect with their fans the RIAA. Other top acts on the label in- across the globe.” and make a living,” Sofar Sounds CEO Jim clude Unspoken and Chris Renzema. Added Rotana Music Holding CEO Mr. Lucchese told Pollstar. “These musicians Looking ahead, Centricity will release Salem Al Hendi, “This is an exciting time, are why Sofar exists. I’m incredibly excited Daigle’s first new song in two years, “Hold and we at Rotana are very happy with this about what Sofar and Seated are building On To Me,” on Feb. 26. Other forthcoming partnership, which will facilitate War- together to do more for artists, both digitally releases include new music from Renzema, ner Music’s reach into the MENA music and in person when live music returns.” North Point Worship and Coby James. industry and fan communities, just as it “In January of 2017, John Griffin and I The label recently released Apollo LTD’s will benefit Rotana in our global expansion set out to build the future of what ticket- sophomore album, Nothing is Ordinary, objective. The creative culture in MENA is ing should be. Our bet was that in the near Everything is Beautiful and Jordan Feliz’s so vibrant and diverse, and this partnership future, artists would want more control of third album, Say It. will enhance the exchange of music and their ticketing experience and a more direct Entertainment One (eOne) has struck a ideas, while promoting and supporting local connection with their fans,” said Seated global deal with 1501 Certified Entertain- artists on the global stage. I would like to co-founder and CEO David McKay. “Today ment, the Houston record label owned by congratulate His Royal Highness Prince Al Seated is joining the team at Sofar Sounds former Major League Baseball player Carl Waleed Bin Talal on this win-win partner- - a huge step in our goal to help empower Crawford. The first release under the ship, which is aligned with Saudi Vision artists to take control of their ticketing ex- agreement will be an upcoming project by 2030 to keep pace with changes taking place perience and fan data. Together, we’re going emerging Houston rapper Stunna Bam. globally, including in entertainment and the to be able to do even more for artists.” In music, Crawford is best known for digital music landscape.” Sofar and Seated paid out a combined $3 discovering , who he WMG’s deal with Rotana follows the 2018 million globally to artists affected by the signed after coming across her Instagram launch of Warner Music Middle East, which pandemic in 2020. posts. The label is also home to “Buss It” encompasses 17 markets in the Middle East UTA has signed Australian rapper, singer, rapper Erica Banks. and North Africa. songwriter and producer The Kid Laroi. Gospel and inspirational music label RCA Kacy Grine & Co acted as the financial The 17-year-old performer, who recently Inspiration has struck a strategic partner- advisor to Rotana Music in negotiating the became the youngest Australian solo ship with entertainment company Marquis deal. artist ever to top the ARIA Albums Chart, Boone Enterprises to release forthcoming Sofar Sounds has acquired ticketing has enjoyed breakout success with his debut projects from Kelontae Gavin and Fresh company Seated for an undisclosed amount. mixtape *ck Love, which peaked at No. 3 Start Worship. Under the deal, Seated, which will continue on the Billboard 200. His most recent single, Under the partnership, RCA Inspira- operating as an independent company, will “Without You,” currently sits at No. 44 on tion will offer cross-departmental support have some of its tools integrated into the the and has been certified including distribution, , Sofar artist dashboard. gold by the RIAA. Back in 2019, his track marketing, sales, and production. In the past, Seated has provided ticket- “Go” feat. reached No. 52 on Founded in 2013 by the -based ing services, including direct-to-fan presale the Hot 100 and received an RIAA platinum artist manager, pastor and author, Marquis and VIP ticketing, for artists includ- certification. Boone Enterprises’ management roster ing John Legend, , Dillon The Kid Laroi is currently working on his has also included Casey J, Bri Babineaux Francis and Death Cab For Cutie. During debut studio album. He is signed to Grade and Tasha Cobbs Leonard. the pandemic, the company has powered A/Sony Columbia and is managed by Peter Gavin, who first rose to prominence in livestreams for Nathaniel Rateliff, Andrew Jidenwo, Brandon “Lil Bibby” Dickin- 2014 via a YouTube video that showed him Bird, Joan Baez and Best Coast and also son and George Dickinson. singing a hymn in his high school cafeteria, launched a Shopify integration to increase Christian label imprint Centricity released his debut full-length album, The artist revenue by 35%. It additionally has Music has partnered with Warner Music Higher Experience, in 2018. That release a tour listings platform and has developed Group’s ADA Worldwide for distribution in hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums text messaging presale signup technology. 2021, following a decade with CCMG/Uni- chart and netted Gavin four Stellar Gospel Sofar, which promotes small concerts in versal. Beginning Jan. 1, all active Centric- nominations. His second full- nontraditional venues for members of its ity Music titles became available for length, The n.o.w. Experience, is slated for community, is currently in over 400 cities accounts to purchase through ADA. release on Mar. 5. Page 27 of 48

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Fresh Start Worship leads worship out NPR’s Ann Powers, featured two of coun- Both Morris and Combs acknowledged of Fresh Start Church in Duluth, GA under try music’s biggest stars talking about the how education has led them both to under- Boone’s leadership. Their debut full-length issues, both keenly aware of the statement stand that the Confederate flag was a detri- album Fresh Start Worship, released in they were making by presenting a united mental symbol and did not only represent 2018, spawned the single “Mention,” which front on calling upon themselves and the in- Southern pride. reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Gospel Airplay dustry to do better when it comes to fighting Morris, who said she was 15 before she chart. for racial equity. understood the harm in the imagery, said, “I Morris has been extremely outspoken on think a large majority of people who listen social media about the lack of diversity — for to country music don’t know that either — both women and artists of color — whereas the deeper meaning of what that flag signi- Combs has been more hesitant, but he real- fies — or maybe that’s wishful thinking,” Says There’s ‘No ized that his role as a leading artist in the before suggesting that event producers may format now demands he step up. think twice about letting the flag fly. Excuse’ for His “Maren has done a fantastic job “I see these Confederate flags in the park- of sharing her opinions and the things that ing lots. I don’t want to play those festivals Past Photos With she believes in and I admire her a lot for that anymore,” she said. “If you were a Black per- because that’s a big risk in the climate of our son, would you ever feel like going to a show the Confederate genre,” Combs said. “Just saying there are with those flying in the parking lot? No. I things that need to change and taking a mo- feel like the most powerful thing as artists Flag ment to be aware of that and knowing that in our position right now is to make those there are problems that exist is the biggest demands of large organizations, festivals, BY MELINDA NEWMAN first step that I have taken. And the biggest promoters, whatnot. That’s one of the things first step that anyone out there who may be we can do, is say, ‘No, I’m not doing this. Get hat I’ve always watching that’s in the industry can take is rid of them.’” loved about [coun- to say, ‘These things do happen. Let’s not sit In Nashville, there’s a frequent saying: try music] is the here and say that they don’t, because they “It all begins with a song.” Both Combs and truth of it, and if do.’ I’m here to learn. I feel like I’m kind Morris addressed bringing more people of “Wwe want to pride ourselves on being ‘three of at this highly successful moment of my color into the songwriting process person- chords and the truth,’ we need to be truthful career and I couldn’t just sit back and not do ally and as an industry. “If you’re a publisher with ourselves and know who started this anything.” and a Black writer comes in, are you giving genre,” said Wednesday Pictures of Combs with the Confeder- them the same look that you’re giving me (Feb. 17) during a virtual panel on inclusiv- ate flag surfaced recently after he and Billy if I come in?” Combs asked. “If you work at ity with Luke Combs at the annual Country Strings released “The Great Divide,” a plea a label, are you giving everyone that walks Radio Seminar. for unity. He apologized for his past behav- through the door the exact same chance that “It wasn’t just white people, and going ior and pointed to himself as an example of the last guy had or the next girl has?” forward, making room [for Black artists]” is someone who can grow and evolve. Given that the panel was taking place at essential, she continued. “It’s not to dimin- The images were seven or eight years a radio conference, Powers asked, “What ish my hard work or Luke’s hard work, but old, Combs said, and he has had to deal happens to the sound of country [radio] we’ve absolutely had more doors open for us with the fact that he may have changed, when we have racial equity and fight to be from being white.” but the images live forever on the Internet. anti-racist?” The country music industry has grappled He added, though, “There is no excuse Morris said there are other steps that with how to become more diverse across for those images. I’m not trying to say this needed to be addressed first including the board — from the artists labels sign is why they were there and it’s OK that enabling “more Black creators, Black and radio stations play to executives hired they’re there because it’s not OK. I think as songwriters, Black artists, because I feel so at country music companies to the over- a younger man, that was an image I associ- many writers, myself included, have become whelmingly white fanbase — but a more ated to mean something else, and as I’ve artists in the process,” she said. “We’ve seen purposeful examination began after this grown in my time as an artist and as the it with Jimmie Allen. I hope very much that summer’s Black Lives Matter and world has changed drastically in the last five we can get Mickey Guyton a No. 1 song. intensified following Morgan Wallen’s use to seven years, you know, I’m now aware of There’s an influx of Black talent, and it’s of the N-word in a video released on Feb. 2, how painful that image can be to someone only going to make our genre, our songs, even though Wallen’s name wasn’t uttered else. … I would never want to be associated what we consider catchy, better. We kind until more than 40 minutes into the panel. with something that brings so much hurt to of have to start at home — Black songwrit- The Q&A, thoughtfully moderated by someone else.” ers in the room making hit songs with us, Page 28 of 48

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feeling comfortable and welcome to do so, ues Warwick. “And my grandfather said, ‘No, music producer Damon Elliott, 47. “She will change the sound of country radio for you’re inquisitive.’ I said, ‘OK. That’s what had dial-up modems.” Then, in December, the better.” I’ll be: inquisitive.’ ” That inquisitiveness, Elliott suddenly started getting calls from As Morris suggested, there is no way to along with a natural impulse to speak her friends: “ ‘Are you seeing what your mom’s calculate how great the cultural loss is when mind, has given rise to the kind of late-ca- saying on ?’ I’m like, ‘What? What is all parties aren’t invited to the table. reer resurgence that’s letting a new audi- my mom doing?’ ” “That’s the point of inclusion. If you’re ence get to know Warwick very much on her “I’m not a daily Tweeter,” demurs War- shutting out Black writers, Black artists, you own terms. wick. “I don’t wake up and think, ‘Oh, I’ve have no idea if you are shutting out the next In the grand history of pop divas, War- got to tweet!’ ” Still, the internet awaits her , do you?” she continued. “Imagine wick has always been a different kind of 280-character missives with collective bated over the last 50 years the songs that we powerhouse. There are divas like Whitney breath. Her niece Brittani Warrick (“War- haven’t gotten to hear because we shut the and Aretha, mononymous forces of na- wick” was a typo on Dionne’s first single door in a Black person’s face.” ture (how could you be talking about an- that stuck), a social media strategist, taught other Whitney or Aretha?), and like Patti her how to use the site. “She really wants to LaBelle, whose fiefdom has extended far talk,” says Warrick of her aunt. “She likes to Don’t Make Her beyond her voice, to sweet potato pies and talk. Once you get her talking, she doesn’t freezer goods. Warwick had a quieter kind stop.” Over: Dionne of magnetism, a “star quality that you can’t Which might mean she’s asking her fol- pick up right away,” says Burt Bacharach, lowers to explain Gen Z slang, or confessing Warwick Is Still who, with , co-wrote the many that she’s a -loving Barb, or, hits like “Walk On By” and “Do You Know as in her greatest interaction yet, putting Crushing It at 80 the Way to San Jose” that defined the first artists with “the” in their stage names on decade of her career. “She had a specialness blast. “Hi, @chancetherapper,” she wrote in BY HUNTER HARRIS in her voice, that she could sing very softly, December. “If you are very obviously a rap- intimately, and then could explode — but per why did you put it in your stage name? I ionne Warwick is nosy. As we always with a certain bit of restraint so it cannot stop thinking about this.” She tagged chat over Zoom on a recent never overwhelmed you.” next. “If you have ‘The’ in your winter afternoon, I use the word Sitting at her kitchen table in New Jersey name i’m ,” she wrote. “I “curious” out of respect, but today, dressed in a gray quarter-zip sweat- need answers today.” And answers she got: Dthe legendary singer gently corrects me: “I shirt and a fuzzy white beanie, Warwick still Both men replied gamely, star-struck at be- am so nosy,” she says with a laugh. “I am, I exudes a kind of elegance — though maybe ing called out by a legend. (“I will be what- really am.” Warwick wants to know every- not so much restraint. For the first time in ever you wanna call me Ms. Warwick,” said thing about everyone, and she’s more than her career, due to the pandemic, she’s enjoy- Chance.) Warwick has famously declared “I willing to ask. “I’m up with the birds in the ing extended idle time at home, and she am not writing a bio” in her Twitter profile morning! Because I want to see who’s doing rattles off her typical night’s schedule: “Sev- — but for a minute, she rechristened herself what to whom and why,” she says. “All dur- en o’clock, I watch Jeopardy. Seven-thirty, Dionne the Singer. ing my growing years, my friends would say, I watch Wheel of Fortune. Then, at eight, Long before his mother emerged as the ‘Don’t ask Dionne unless you really want to Netflix.” Has she taken up any new hobbies, new queen of social media, Elliott was know!’ ” like cooking more or gardening? Warwick, busy reifying Dionne the Singer’s legacy — Nosy, blunt people do well on Twitter, it turns out, is vehemently opposed to the “screaming, hooting, hollering,” as he puts the site for explicitly — defiantly! — not latter: “First of all, I am not a person to dig it, for her to get her flowers while she’s minding your business. It makes sense, then, in dirt. Anything that flies, crawls or scur- still healthy and active. Those efforts most that Warwick is currently running that ries, I don’t want to know about that, OK?” recently helped Warwick garner her first table. In the three months since she started she says with a laugh. (Some fans doubt Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination; El- controlling her own account, Warwick — Warwick is firing off her own tweets, but liott says he’ll be pushing for the Kennedy who has the second-most Billboard Hot she does deliver the same biting one-liners Center Honors next. And the “Twitter 100 hits among female artists in the 20th in person.) “Anybody that knows me knows situation,” as Warwick calls it, seems to century — has learned what Megan Thee I have total brown thumbs. I mean, I killed have coincided nicely with a desire to get Stallion means by “hot girl,” demanded a cactus.” back to work. A week after we chat, she’ll the 411 on Offset’s name, asked what the She took to her one new hobby naturally (virtually) join Chance in their first record- hell is going on in Florida and dropped too though. “My mom literally just got Wi-Fi ing session for a charity single, and she’s many shady eyeball emojis to count. “I’ve set up in her house maybe right before the planning one with The Weeknd too, a “feel always said I was nosy, nosy, nosy,” contin- pandemic,” says her son and manager, the good” track Elliott says is “based around Page 29 of 48

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the issue of homelessness.” he had a bank of potential hits by Barry nor those of her Arista era. In 2018, she was Both could end up on the “mega-mega Manilow and needed a vocalist who could a vocal supporter of the CLASSICS Act, project” Elliott is producing for his mom, an pull them off. “In thinking about great art- which allowed artists to collect performance album that he says will include appearances ists who were no longer recording, I phoned royalties on pre-1972 recordings when they from “some of the newer generation, as well , who had, in her mind, de- were played on satellite radio or used on as her peers,” and maybe even new Twitter cided to leave music,” recalls Davis today. In services like Pandora. (The bill was eventu- friends too. Jennifer Garner is “going to do 1980, Warwick won pop and R&B Grammys ally consolidated into the Music Modern- a song with us,” he says. “She sings also.” in the same night. With Davis, she would ization Act.) Now, Elliott says, the majority Maybe the actress could be part of a chil- help establish the blueprint for Black female of her income is from those royalties and dren’s series Warwick is developing: “She crossover superstardom he used to great touring. In 2019, he booked an intimate Las wants Jennifer to play one of the characters. success with Aretha and Whitney. Vegas residency for her at Cleopatra’s Barge And could it be an animated thing?” Even as her recording career slowed, at Caesars Palace, but Warwick typically The influx of asks and attention for his Warwick stayed in the pop cultural con- plays theaters, with an average nightly take 80-year-old mother has Elliott swamped. versation. In the ’90s, her Psychic Friends that, Billboard Boxscore estimates, falls “I’m losing my voice because I’m sitting Network commercials were inescapable, somewhere between that of Chaka Khan here trying to keep up,” he says with a laugh. and though they may have been hokey, they and her friend Knight. “But it’s like, ‘Got to keep up with Dionne!’ ” made her money. In 2011, she joined the Many performers of Warwick’s genera- The legacies of veteran artists can be fourth cast of Celebrity Apprentice. Just last tion have died without wills, and Elliott is tricky to handle — and when family’s in- year, she competed on The Masked Singer, vague about the status of her estate. Then volved, trickier still. But for Warwick, hiring and in September made a guest appearance again, planning anything is difficult when her son simply made the most sense. During on the Verzuz of her closest industry friends, her empire has opportunities for expansion a lean period in the 2000s, when she ulti- LaBelle and . Twitter is just nearly every day. With all these offers com- mately filed for bankruptcy, she had differ- the latest platform Warwick has conquered ing in, how do she and Elliott decide what ent management; Elliott, who had worked — part of the business of being an octoge- to say yes to — and what happens when as a producer with P!nk, Mya and Christina narian icon. they disagree? “I still have the last say,” says Aguilera, took over two years ago when he But it’s also a place where she’s get- Warwick. “It just works out that way. Not saw his mother wasn’t working at the pace ting the kind of recognition that her son only with me, but with anyone who has a she wanted to. “It’s so weird how things has made it his mission to see her receive. manager. I can fire my manager, but he’s still have happened,” says Warwick. “Your family One of Elliott’s first goals when he started my son.” won’t hurt you — at least, mine won’t.” And managing her was to right a wrong: How One thing they definitely agree on is the she knew from family business: Her aunt is had a five-time Grammy winner, and 14- next legacy linchpin to focus on. A Warwick , and her cousin, Whitney. time nominee, never been offered a Lifetime biopic has been in varying stages of develop- Still, Elliott had to pitch himself to his Achievement Award? “It was way overdue,” ment for years, with former Destiny’s Child new, nearly full-time client. (Today, he he says today. So he got to work. member LeToya Luckett set to star. More spends 90% of his time on Mom-related “I called [former Recording Academy recently, Elliott sent his mom a picture of things.) “I learned at a very young age from chairman/CEO] Neil Portnow and drove someone else, with another idea. “He called that a real producer actually him crazy. I called him almost every day,” me, he said, ‘Mommy, I’m sending you a has his hands in everything,” he says. “When recalls Elliott. “I said, ‘No, no, you guys are photograph of this gal named Teyana, and I was given a label from Jimmy Iovine” — going to give her her award while she’s here I’m going to put your photograph next to Confidential Records, an Interscope imprint and in good health.’ ” She got it in 2019. hers,’ ” says Warwick. The resemblance to to which Elliott signed — “I “Those things are very important to me, young Dionne was uncanny. “It scared me. learned a lot about micromanaging. Mom as her son and as her manager,” he con- It really did. Literally, I to say that knew that. I said, ‘Mom, why don’t you let tinues, “to make sure that she knows how she was not me and I wasn’t her.” Now, El- me help you boost your career again, get you much she’s appreciated.” It was only last liott and Teyana Taylor are at work on a TV back on top? Because you are a legend.’ ” year, after all, that his cousin Whitney was series. “I have basically stayed out of their Warwick had never exactly gone away; inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. way,” says Warwick. “They’re presenting to over six decades, she has navigated the “She wasn’t there to receive that, and it’s a me as they go along. I’m very, very pleased changing tides of both the music industry shame,” he says. “They should’ve done that with their approach. She will be playing me and the media landscape fairly nimbly. a long time ago.” When Warwick heard of in episodes of my life.” When Bacharach and David split up, she her own Rock Hall nomination, she called There’s also that “mega-mega” album that withstood a dry spell at Warner Bros. Elliott at 8 a.m., screaming with joy. Elliott teases. He’s in talks with labels (“the Records in the ’70s. In 1979, Clive Davis Primarily a recording artist, Warwick did big boys”), reaching out to producers (Phar- personally signed her to the nascent Arista; not write any of her Bacharach-David hits, rell Williams, Mike-WiLL Made It) and Page 30 of 48

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planning a tour to support it. Whenever the talization. with most of his music work hold, details are finalized, Warwick will probably The process includes the closing of a Halperin decided it was time to pursue an announce them on Twitter. Feb. 12 offering of $310 million in aggregate idea he had been batting around for a couple “She is very clever. She’s a warrior,” says principal amount of its senior secured notes, of months — the launch of Stay Free Record- Davis of his old friend’s online presence. due in 2026. ings, a limited run music label specializing “Look, no one’s going to stereotype Dionne SBS’ holdings include the SBS radio net- in 7-inch records on collectable colored Warwick. And no one should ever sell her work, which has some of the leading Span- vinyl by mostly independent acts. short.” On-demand streams of Warwick’s ish language stations in the United States Halperin is clear that the effort is not a music have risen in seven of the nine weeks and Puerto Rico, including top-rated La money-making venture — he has a day job since her viral Chance tweet (through Feb. Mega in , the most-listened to working for the government — although like 4, according to MRC Data), and she’s relish- radio station the country, many of the projects, Stay Free is another ing the attention from a new generation of according to Nielsen. way for the 51-year-old punk rocker and fans eager to hear more from her each day. SBS also owns television network Orange County and Long Beach booker to “It’s wonderful because I’m meeting them MegaTV and music app LaMusica. Recapi- stay connected with bands. That’s helpful for the first time too,” says Warwick. “So we talization, says SBS chairman and CEO Raúl for events like the Isle of Light festival in get to know a lot about each other. That’s Alarcón, will allow the brand to continue Santo Domingo or the four-city Gridlife drift what the gist of it all is, isn’t it? To get to expanding, including acquisition of proper- racing series he books each year. know each other, form friendships, share ties and talent as well as audience growth. Halperin says each release on Stay Free information that I may have and that they “Our commitment to the Hispanic market will be limited to 200 prints and says artists may need and vice versa.” remains, as it has for nearly four decades, are welcome to re-record or re-release the I wonder aloud if some part of her inter- unwavering,” said Alarcón in a statement, tracks, as long the cover art is changed and est in Twitter is that she’s finally being referring to the company founded by his the repressing is done on a different color heard, filter-free, in a way that wasn’t avail- father, a Cuban immigrant. vinyl. The goal is to protect the value of the able earlier in her career or for an artist who “We will continue serving Hispanics limited edition releases for the fans and didn’t write her own music. Warwick seems nationwide - as well as the advertisers that collectors. unmoved, like it’s too simplistic a conclu- target their dynamic purchasing power and “Artists retain all rights to everything. It’s sion. “I’ve always been Dionne. I think that’s growing social, cultural and political influ- an anti-label,” says Halperin, who notes that what people expect me to be — which makes ence.” most artists record the stems for each song me very happy because that’s the only per- themselves and then Halperin hires a sound son I’m going to be, regardless of whether engineer to master each track for vinyl. they want me to or not,” she says. “I’m being With Festivals On Halperin also provides the art budget for true to me, true to who I am and true to my each record and has them pressed at Pirates audiences: those who have been supportive Hold, Indie Booker Press in Northern California. After the artist over 60 years, and now all the new kids have approves the test pressing, they’re paid their joined the flock. It’s a nice thing to be able Shifts Focus to royalty for the 200 albums, which are then to say: ‘Well, she hasn’t changed. She’s still sold via . there!’ ” Limited-Run Halperin said he and his wife Julia got the This article originally appeared in the Feb. idea for Stay Free during what had become a 20, 2021, issue of Billboard. Record Label pandemic ritual for the couple. “During the summer and fall we were sit- BY DAVE BROOKS ting out on our patio every night, listening to SBS Secures Over music with a boombox and a portable record on Halperin has held just about every player, playing cassette tapes and records,” $300 Million for job in music — managing bands, run- Halperin says. “We agreed there would be ning an indie record label, overseeing no digital music during those listening ses- Recapitalization a pop-up store at Coachella, book- sions — just physical media.” Jing bands for the Glasshouse in Pomona, Julia often encouraged him to launch the BY LEILA COBO Calif. and running point on talent buying record label as a creative output and sug- for festivals stretching from the Dominican gested naming the project after his 1990s atin media giant Spanish Broad- Republic to Long Beach, Calif., where he has project Vegas Records, a quirky ska and casting System (SBS) announced lived for over a decade. punk label that released a number of com- today (Feb. 18) that it has finally In theory, a pandemic is an existential pilation albums with titles like Hey Brother completed its longstanding recapi- crisis for a person constantly in motion, but Can You Spare Some Ska? 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The first release on Stay Free is a collab- nell (“Chris”), his wife (“Vicky”), and their orative project released with Rene Contre- Chris Cornell’s minor children, Chris’ legacy and life’s ras, who books Viva! Pomona , worth, which has made them millions of as well as some the Sonora stage at Coachel- Widow Asks dollars.” Adding that “the band members la. That project, released on Feb. 12, features have knowingly offered only an infinitesimal Señor Kino and Margaritas Podridas, two Judge to fraction of the true worth of Chris’ interest artists hailing from Sonora, Mexico. in and certain related entities In March, Stay Free has two album Intervene In by making a ludicrously low offer. And, they launches planned — Guadalajara-based know it.” cumbia cover band Los Master Plus, fol- Dispute With A band representative countered that “the lowed by the duo of Glen Matlock, bassist band’s members have continued to try to with the original lineup of the Sex Pistols, Soundgarden settle all disputes with the Cornell Estate and Earl Slick who has collaborated with and in their several attempts to settle, the icons like David Bowie and John Lennon. BY CLAUDIA ROSENBAUM band members have elected to offer multiple Other projects in the works include times more than the amount calculated Twitch hip-hop puppet show Boom Bap hris Cornell’s widow Vicky is ask- by (music industry valuation expert Gary) Kids, Nile Marr (son of The Smiths guitarist ing a federal judge to step in and Cohen. This dispute has never been about Johnny Marr) and artist and elec- decide the worth of the Sound- money for the band. This is their life’s work tronic musician Pure Evil. garden lead singer’s interest in and their legacy.” “The back of the record jacket for Pure Cthe band. Vicky, who serves as the personal However, Vicky’s lawyer Marty Singer Evil will be sandpaper with the idea that it representative of her late husband’s estate, said in a statement that, “The band’s conten- will destroy any records it rubs up against,” says that the remaining members of the tion that this dispute is somehow not about Halperin says. When asked if a cover that band — Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and the money for them is absurd and hypocriti- destroys other records is really an artistic Hunter Shepherd — have severely underval- cal. Of course, this is about money and their , Halperin responded “uhhhh — ued her share, offering her “the villainously greed.” well, it is evil.” low figure of less than $300,000,” according Singer said while the band “received a Halperin is adamant that the project is to an 11-page complaint filed Tuesday (Feb. third party offer to buy just a portion of their not money driven and will likely lose a few 16) in U.S. District Court Western District of interests for 16 million dollars, and yet sub- hundred bucks per release, noting that Stay Washington at Seattle. sequently offered to buy out Chris’ interest Free is the ultimate record collector project, Chris died on May 18, 2017 at the age of 52 for a mere $278,000. And then Vicky offered creating albums for others to collect and while on tour with Soundgarden in Detroit, $21 million for their shares, which they trade. leaving his property – including his intellec- turned down – not because they wanted to “We’re putting out these records and tual and personal property rights – to Vicky preserve their life’s work but because they we’re treating them as art that can’t be for the benefit of their two minor children. know that they will make even more off of duplicated,” he says, noting that the effort is Vicky said after she demanded the band future exploitation of the music that Chris a statement about the value of art in a digital buy out Chris’ interest in Soundgarden, wrote and that he created (which world, where music exists in the ether they offered her $300,000 despite, she has lined their pockets for years).” forever. says, receiving a $16 million offer for their This isn’t Vicky’s only legal battle with “Stay Free is about creating something master recordings. In response, she said she the band. In December 2019, she filed a tangible,” he says. “Once it’s gone, it’s gone counter-offered them $12 million for the separate lawsuit against the band over un- forever.” band’s collective interests, equaling $4 mil- released material. Vicky claimed that Chris lion per surviving band member, which they was the sole owner of certain unfinished summarily denied in December. She said she songs, which were authored from their later offered them $21 million for the band’s Florida home. In August, the court granted interests and that offer was also rejected. the remaining band members’ request to The four-member rock group never had a dismiss the lawsuit from the Florida courts written partnership agreement, according to dues to lack of jurisdiction. The band suc- court papers. cessfully argued that Cornell worked on the She says filing this lawsuit was “neces- album in Seattle and that state was a more sitated by the self-serving and heartless appropriate forum. In August, that case was actions of the remaining members of the transferred to the Washington state federal band Soundgarden, who are seeking to rob court. from their former bandmate, Chris Cor- Page 32 of 48

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Billboard: Congrats on those five years with Australia and New Zealand to WME’s Brett overseeing Asia Pacific. How did the busi- commence shortly. ness grow in those years before COVID After this, we hope to begin international Murrihy Explores changed everything? touring in Q4 2021. This highly anticipated Brett Murrihy: Thank you. We have con- return will see international artists priori- State of Touring tinued to build on our global strengths, but tize the Australia and Asia Pacific markets as with an Asian focus. Our Asia Pacific reach the destination of choice. In Asia Pacific, and infrastructure has enabled us to expand This is similar to the many Hollywood exponentially. stars currently undertaking film and televi- ‘Electrifying’ India The Sydney office alone has over 100 staff sions projects in Australia. Those artists currently, along with offices in Melbourne that commit and announce early will be the & More and Townsville, and with further Endeavor beneficiaries of the pent-up demand and the offices in Asia (Bangkok, , Gurgaon, safer health environment. BY LARS BRANDLE Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, , You came into the role with deep ex- Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, , Taipei, perience in live music here in Australia. ive years is a long time in the music Seoul) representing various verticals across Asia is something else. How so? What has industry. For the Asia Pacific tour- the Company, including talent represen- surprised you about the regional touring ing business, it’s enough time to tation, marketing and licensing, content circuit in those five years or so years? witness a lifetime of change. development, content distribution and sales, And what are some of the lessons you’ve FBrett Murrihy has seen it all from up fashion, film and television, literary, digital, learned. close. The Australian-born WME executive event management, and sports. Touring in Asia in the last five years has has a front row seat in his role as head of The music team in our Sydney Office completely changed with the increasing Asia Pacific for music. represents 48 countries in Asia, making it emergence of global promoting power- Murrihy was affectionately known as the the only global agency in the territory. Our houses and major independent promotors “super agent” in his homeland, a moniker clients are leading artists ranging from Dua investing heavily into the region. picked up during his days as senior book- Lipa, Lizzo and to Hugh The rise of streaming has also changed ing agent with Premier Harbour Agency Jackman and , along with cur- the way music is consumed and discovered in Sydney, and then in 2010 when he co- rent chart toppers Olivia Rodrigo, 24kGoldn which leads to a heightened awareness of founded Artist Voice with Matt Gudinski, and The Kid Laroi. Western artists in Asia and the promotion of managing director of the Melbourne-based We are also involved, as a company, in Asian artists to the West. Illusive Entertainment, through a joint initiatives and events in Asia from Beijing Our APAC business is heavily based venture with Michael Gudinski’s Mushroom Fashion Week to Miss Universe in the Phil- around trust, relationships, and respect. Group. ippines to The Color Run in Hong Kong and This is not something that happens over- In 2015, William Morris Endeavour ac- Sneaker Con in China. night; it is ever-evolving. These parameters quired Artist Voice in a deal that saw Mur- Your former colleague Marc Geiger couldn’t grow without physical proximity, rihy join the powerhouse U.S.-based talent literally freaked-out the live music world investing and attention towards building a and media agency, and take on duties for when he said early on that COVID-19 long-term touring market. I feel the need expanding and managing its presence in the would pause full-blown touring until to specifically cultivate and maintain these music space throughout the region. 2022. He was on the money. What are relationships with clients with a hands-on Today, its clients include , - your thoughts on when touring will crack approach. For me personally, learning Man- zo, Nine Inch Nails and chart-leading new- open in APAC? darin over the past 18 months is a part of the comers Olivia Rodrigo, 24kGoldn and The Government discussions are already tak- cultural integration as well a mark of respect Kid Laroi. To date, WME is the only global ing place around travel bubbles between for the importance of the China market for agency representing the Asia Pacific market. Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong the future of our artists and their careers. The pandemic has called a halt to pan- Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. Giv- Ten years ago, there was a sense within Asian touring, for the time being. Murrihy, en the state of low infection rates compared the live music community that a lack of however, anticipates the region’s touring cir- to other regions in the world, it is feasible high quality venues was a sticking point. cuit will open-up once vaccinations roll out, to suggest that the first return internation- Is it still? with Australia and New Zealand positioned ally for live touring will be Australia/New While Asia continues to work on its venue to emerge earlier than its neighbors. Zealand. infrastructure the introduction of high qual- Billboard caught up with Murrihy for a Vaccinations have already commenced ity venues is changing. In the last ten years, glimpse at the Pan Pacific live business of rollout in many regions in Asia including we have seen the construction of Coca- 2021 and where it’s heading. Indonesia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Cola Arena, Dubai, EM Live and Bangkok Page 33 of 48

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Arena; Mercedes-Benz Arena, Shanghai; “Their decision to block Australians’ the National Stadium in Singapore and the Blocks access to government sites - be they about to-be-completed Seoul Metropolitan Arena. support through the pandemic, mental Japan National Stadium, opened in Decem- News Viewing, health, emergency services, the Bureau of ber 2019, and seats up to 80,000. And the Meteorology - were completely unrelated to 15,000-capacity in Tokyo will Sharing In the media code which is yet to pass through be appropriated for events after the 2021 the Senate,” Frydenberg added. Olympics. Australia Facebook’s unilateral response to the The development of A-class nightclub proposed legislation covering digital news circuits throughout China has provided DJs BY ABID RAHMAN in Australia stands in stark contrast to with the infrastructure to tour and build Google who after an initially intransigent into secondary and tertiary markets that acebook has blocked Australian us- position and threats to withdraw its services western artists would never have played ten ers from viewing or sharing news from the country is now in negotiations and years ago. All examples are world-class and links on its platform in reaction to struck some deals with local media compa- welcome additions to the territory. proposed new laws in the country nies, Frydenberg said. In 2019 we saw India and Singapore Fthat will force tech giants to pay for journal- Google has already struck a deal with open up by hosting stadium shows, ism. Seven West Media (Seven Network, The produced by Live Nation, and China’s live The new rules for Australian Facebook West Australian newspaper) and is close to market has taken strides. Were there any users mean that they cannot share Austra- commercial agreements with Nine Enter- specific watershed moments, or shows lian or international news and international tainment (Nine Network, Nine Radio, and that pushed the business forward? users outside Australia also cannot share major newspapers The Age and Sydney India is on target to become a new Australian news. For Australian users, the Morning Herald) and national broadcaster economic superpower. Witnessing this first- Facebook profiles for Billboard and The Hol- ABC. hand in Mumbai in late 2019 when the city lywood Reporter are essentially scrubbed of On Wednesday, Google has signed a land- hosted stadium shows at Patil Stadium for articles. mark deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Dua Lipa/ and U2 was electri- “The proposed law fundamentally mis- Corp to pay for journalism from its global fying. understands the relationship between our news sites including the company’s Austra- It was evident that the streaming, online platform and publishers who use it to share lian assets such as the major daily newspa- ticketing, festivals, brand placements and news content,” Facebook Australia and New pers The Australian, The Daily Telegraph infrastructure aligned successfully so that Zealand regional managing director William and Herald Sun as well as its television the country was able to host tours of this Easton said in a post on the company’s site. properties Foxtel and Sky News Australia. magnitude, successfully capitalizing on “It has left us facing a stark choice: at- This article originally appeared in THR. renewed interest in artists from outside of tempt to comply with a law that ignores the com. Asia and creating more touring options. realities of this relationship, or stop allowing China is also at the forefront with the Bei- news content on our services in Australia. jing Municipal government disclosing plans With a heavy heart, we are choosing the lat- Why My Mom to place Beijing as an “international music ter,” Easton added. capital”, projecting that revenue from the The company’s decision to take the nucle- and the Go-Go’s music and related industries to reach ¥120 ar option and block news access and sharing billion (US$17.2bn) by 2025. has already led to a storm of criticism from Deserve to Be This proposal allows for Beijing to build the emergency services in Australia who more small-sized live music venues (1,000 rely on the social media platform to relay vi- In the Rock Hall capacity) to offer artists better copyright tal information on wildfires, floods, extreme protections and increase development of weather and COVID-19 among other local of Fame (Guest the digital music industry. It’s an exciting interest and public safety issues. innovation for Chinese music and it repre- The Australian government slammed Op-Ed) sents significant new opportunities for our Facebook for what is a landmark local ban artists. on viewing and sharing news. “Facebook BY JAMES DUKE MASON was wrong. Facebook’s actions were un- necessary, they were heavy-handed and they up last Wednesday (Feb. 10) to will damage its reputation here in Austra- the amazing news that The Go-Go’s, lia,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said at a of which my mother Belinda Carlisle press conference in Canberra today. I is a founding member, had finally Page 34 of 48

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been nominated for the Hall be the first and only all-female rock band 20, 1996), reigns as of Fame after 15 years of eligibility. I felt a in the Hall; not only that but they would the top artist and The Wallflowers’ “One strong sense of relief and satisfaction, as be inducting five women at once, all of Headlight” is the No. 1 song. for a long time now — especially since a whom would be likely to vote (once they are Check out Billboard’s exclusive Great- documentary on the band (The Go-Go’s) members) for more female inductees in the est of All Time Adult Alternative Art- premiered at Sundance last year and was future. Given that the percentage of female ists and Adult Alternative Songs recaps, released to rave reviews — there had been a inductees and nominees is still very low, I the latest additions to our full menu of sense of confusion and frustration for myself think this is incredibly important. historical retrospective charts. and many others as to why these revolu- The other day I went on the official That initial Adult Alternative Airplay tally tionary ladies had not yet gotten their due RRHOF Facebook page where they have (under its industry name Triple A, short for respect and recognition. posted blurbs on each of the nominees and “adult album alternative”) featured DMB’s Growing up as the son of the group’s lead the link for fans to vote for their favorites. then-current single “Satellite,” which went singer, I always assumed that people knew On the blurb about The Go-Go’s I scrolled on to become its first top 10. Building off its and understood why The Go-Go’s were so down to look at the comments and was breakthrough with its 1994 debut LP Under important — not only for female musicians, shocked by what I saw: strong, unashamed the Table and Dreaming, the band seemed but for music and history more broadly. This expressions of sexism and misogyny ex- tailor-made for success at the format, and was a true, bona fide rock n’ roll band, com- pressed solely by men, of course. On the succeed it has, with 11 No. 1s credited either pletely organic and formed by themselves other hand, I saw comments in response to the band or its frontman, the third-most — not by some male Svengali — who rose from women saying that the nomination was in the chart’s history. U2 and lead out of the L.A. punk scene in the late 1970s long overdue and how important it was that with 13 chart-toppers apiece and place at and struggled to get a record deal despite the band be inducted on their first go. Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, on the Greatest of their popularity simply because they were What a statement, the women said, it All Time Adult Alternative Artists recap. women. would make that women matter and deserve Meanwhile in October 1996, - Within two years of forming, their first their place in music and in the world as a flowers, led by Jakob Dylan, debuted with album, Beauty and the Beat, hit No. 1 (a feat whole. They couldn’t be more right. Let’s “.” That December, the track only a very small group of artists, including send a message and make history later this began a 14-week command, now tied for the , have achieved) and became one year. fourth-longest in the chart’s archives. U2’s of the highest selling debut albums of all “” ruled for a record 16 weeks time. They were the first, and are still the in 2000-01 and ranks at No. 10 on the Great- only, all-female rock band who wrote their Dave Matthews est of All Time Adult Alternative Songs 25th own songs and played their own instru- chart. ments to have a No. 1 album. Ever. Period. Band & The Back to DMB, the group rules as the I thought people were aware of these chart’s top artist in part by sheer volume facts, but it seems until the release of the Wallflowers’ of successful songs. Between his solo and documentary that many were still in the band endeavors, Matthews has charted a dark. For some there seemed to be a super- ‘One Headlight’ combined 33 entries on the weekly Adult ficial perception of The Go-Go’s music as Alternative Airplay chart, four more than “bubblegum pop” without recognizing the Top Greatest of any other act. The majority are from DMB, substance of the melodies or the compli- most recently via the No. 24-peaking “Come cated, sometimes dark . All Time Adult Tomorrow,” featuring Brandi Carlile, in declared their 1981 single summer 2019. “Our Lips Are Sealed” as one of the top Alternative Charts The act’s highest entry on the all-time 100 pop songs of all time, and also de- songs chart is “Everyday,” at No. 48, after it clared Beauty and the Beat as one of the top BY KEVIN RUTHERFORD reigned for eight weeks in 2001-02, joined 500 albums ever. So I guess some, but not by DMB’s “You and Me” (No. 58) and “Crash enough, were aware of their contributions uring the first year of Bill- Into Me” (No. 62), Matthews’ solo “Oh” (No. to music history. It seems the doc did a great board’s Adult Alternative 67) and the group’s “” service in providing more information and Airplay chart, listeners of the (No. 69). Those five titles mark the second- context to Hall of Fame voters, and also rock radio format enjoyed tastes most among all acts on the all-time list, framed the importance of the band in this Dof both the survey’s all-time biggest artist after ’s seven. era of feminism we live in with the rise of and song. While U2 was around long before the the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements. Upon the chart’s 25th anniversary (after Adult Alternative Airplay chart’s 1996 incep- Amazing to think that The Go-Go’s would the list launched with the ranking dated Jan. tion, DMB got a slight of a head start on the Page 35 of 48

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chart, as the -led vets first appeared (Tell Me)” rounding out the top five. “3AM” as a leading champion for live and local mu- on the list with “Discotheque” in early 1997. posted a 14-week reign in 1997-98, “Feel It sic in the state and across the country. U2’s No. 2 rank on the all-time artists recap Still” ruled for 11 weeks in 2017 and “Drops Schinkel joins MV having served at is supported by, like Matthews’, a sizable of Jupiter” dominated for 14 frames in 2001. Theatre Network Australia, most recently as amount of entries: 29. One U2 track, “Beau- Longevity also benefits songs on Great- General Manager, and she brings to the role tiful Day,” graces the all-time songs chart. est of All Time rankings (see methodology a resume stacked with experience in arts Coldplay, at No. 3 on the Greatest of All below), and the top two songs to spend the administration. Time Adult Alternative Artists chart, is most time on the weekly Adult Alternative Additionally, she holds a Master of Arts the highest-placing act that debuted in the Airplay chart rank in the historical recap’s and Cultural Management, a Bachelor of 2000s, powered by 28 career chart appear- top 30. ’s “” Fine Arts in technical production, is an ances. Its 2003 15-week No. 1 “Clocks” ranks totaled 52 weeks on the chart in 2009-10, alumni of the Australia Council’s Emerg- as the No. 2 entry on the all-time songs tally including two at No. 1, and finishes at No. ing Leaders Development Program and (likewise the biggest hit among songs from 15, while ’s “No Such Thing” co-convenor of the Arts Industry Council of the 2000s), alongside two other entries: logged 51 weeks in 2001-02 (one at No. 1) Victoria. “Speed of Sound” (No. 46) and “Viva La and places at No. 27. Schinkel is based in Melbourne, which Vida” (No. 56). Browse Billboard’s exclusive Great- has a reputation as a world-class music The top all-time artist and song that est of All Time Adult Alternative Art- city and is arguably the live heartbeat of didn’t chart until the 2010s? Mumford ists and Adult Alternative Songs charts, Australia. That was pre-COVID. Melbourne & Sons, at No. 7 on the artists ranking, which run 50 and 100 positions deep, has endured several setbacks during the and Portugal. The Man’s “,” at respectively. The full rankings also appear pandemic and has only just emerged from a No. 4 on the songs survey; see below for in the latest, Feb. 20-dated, Billboard print snap five-day lockdown, a so-called circuit- more on the latter. issue. breaker intended to halt community trans- Johnson is No. 4 on Greatest of All Time Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Adult Al- missions of new, highly contagious variants Adult Alternative Artists, also with a formi- ternative Artists and Adult Alternative Songs of the coronavirus. dable track record since he first appeared rankings are based on weekly performance on “In Simone we have found the person to with “Flake” in March 2002. He’s notched the radio airplay-based Adult Alternative Air- lead our organization and sector through 10 No. 1s, most recently last summer with play chart ( from rankings dated Jan. 20, 1996, its next critical stage,” comments Sally his Milky Chance collaboration “Don’t through Jan. 23, 2021). Songs are ranked based Howland, chair of Music Victoria. “COVID Let Me Down.” His seven songs (or nearly on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 19 has decimated our industry and Simone is a quarter of his 24 career entries on the earning the greatest value and weeks at lower absolutely the right person to drive our sec- weekly chart) that infuse the Greatest of All spots earning the least. Due to changes in chart tor back to growth. Her astute thinking and Time Adult Alternative Songs ranking are methodology over the years, eras are weighted demonstrated abilities at capacity building “Upside Down” (No. 24), “If I Had Eyes” differently to account for chart turnover rates gives the Music Victoria Board every confi- (No. 25), “Flake” (No. 26), “Good People” during various periods. Artists are ranked dence that she will be an ardent advocate on (No. 51), “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” (No. based on a formula blending performance, as behalf of our membership, our stakehold- 61), “Don’t Let Me Down” (No. 80) and “You previously outlined, of all their Adult Alterna- ers and our wider music community. We’re and Your Heart” (No. 98). tive Airplay chart entries. thrilled to have her at the helm.” Sheryl Crow is the highest-ranking On the same day Schinkel slots into the woman on the all-time artists chart, at No. top role, interim chief Dale Packard takes on 5. Like Matthews, she, too, was present on Music Victoria the position of GM. Adult Alternative Airplay in 1996, with her As CEO, Schinkel succeeds Patrick No. 1 that year “.” Of Appoints Simone Donovan, the trade association’s inaugural her 24 chart appearances, seven have hit the leader who exited earlier this year to pursue summit, the most of among women. Two Schinkel as CEO other opportunities. make the all-time songs tally: “My Favorite For the past decade, the independent, not- Mistake” (No. 47) and “” BY LARS BRANDLE for-profit association has provided advocacy (No. 87). on behalf of the music sector and celebrates Behind The Wallflowers’ “One Headlight” he board of Music Victoria has and promotes Victorian music, through its and Coldplay’s “Clocks” on the Great- named Simone Schinkel as its new annual Music Victoria Awards and other est of All Time Adult Alternative Songs chief executive. initiatives. chart, Matchbox 20’s “3AM” ranks at No. With effect from March 8, Its members include Mushroom Music, 3, followed by Portugal. The Man’s “Feel It TSchinkel will guide an organization that, We Are Unified and Milk! Records. Still” at No. 4 and Train’s “Drops of Jupiter since its formation in 2010, has stepped out Page 36 of 48

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event on Wednesday, is probably a good bet.) of respondents report moderate to severe MusiCares 2021 The event will also feature a pre-show DJ levels of depression. set by DJ D-Nice and “special appearances” The big advantage to this year’s virtual Person of the Year by , Jesse & Joy, Jonas Brothers, show is opening up what has always been a Ledisi, , , Mick fairly exclusive and well-heeled club to the Gala Canceled, Fleetwood, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and average music fan. Shakira. “One of the benefits of having a virtual Replaced With Laura Segura, MusicCares’ executive concert is that we can open it up to the pub- director, told Billboard that the decision lic,” Segura says. “We are able to celebrate Virtual ‘Music on a to make this year’s event a virtual one was not just with the music industry but with made in November. “That was our make- our music fans as well.” Mission’ Event it-or-break it moment,” she says. “We knew Average music fans haven’t been able to we needed time to produce it one way or see much footage from past Person of the BY PAUL GREIN another.” Year galas. The 2019 gala honoring Dolly Segura says they never selected a Person Parton will air on Netflix in April, and a few usiCares’ Person of the Year of the Year honoree for this year, so there others have appeared online or on TV, but gala, a mainstay of Grammy was never serious thought given to a tradi- this upcoming show will be a first glimpse Week since 1991, has been tional gala. behind the curtain for many music fans. canceled for this year due to “For the last several months in conversa- “We’ve difficult situation into Mthe COVID-19 pandemic. In its place, the tion with our board we had been trying to really a special one for the people who are organization will hold a virtual event, Music think of what we could do since we can’t going to get to view it,” Segura says. on a Mission. Tickets go on sale Thursday meet in person. We decided we wanted The show will have a host and some (Feb. 18). to honor the people of the year instead of surprise guests, but Segura is unwilling to The new event will be accessible to the the person of the year. That’s all of those provide details. “Because we’re trying to in a way the Person of the music industry professionals that have do a public ticket sale, we want to tease out Year gala never was. General-admission been impacted so greatly the by pandemic. some of our performances and some of our tickets are $25, which is just about what it We wanted to raise money for them and surprise features,” she says. costs to park at the Person of the Year gala. celebrate how vital they are to the music- MusiCares has sponsorship deals with Individual tickets to the most recent Person making process. … It wasn’t right to honor Spotify and Master & Dynamic. Spotify Fans of the Year gala in January 2020 ranged one person at this time. It was really about First, an email group of Spotify artists’ top from a “low” of $2,000 to a high of (gulp) celebrating the people that have been hard- fans as determined by Spotify data, were $8,000. est hit.” granted access to special early-bird Music on a Mission will take place in the Segura says MusiCares hopes to raise $2 of $20. As noted above, beginning Thursday, Person of the Year gala’s usual time slot — million from the Music on a Mission event. general-admission tickets are $25. two days before the Grammy telecast. That That would represent a steep drop from And ticket purchasers can opt for a puts this year’s event on Friday, March 12, the 2020 Person of the Year gala, which bundle that includes a ticket as well as a pair two days before the 63rd annual Grammy reported gross revenue for the dinner and of Master & Dynamic MW07 PLUS True Awards telecast. auction combined of $6.9 million. Wireless Earphones. The bundle is offered The event will feature never-before-seen Still, $2 million is $2 million, and there is for $200, plus a $7 shipping charge. An ad performances — some live, some on tape great need due to the pandemic. Segura says on the MusiCares site says the headphones — by Haim, .E.R.,Jhené Aiko and John that “100% of the monies raised” will go to are valued at $324. Legend. (Haim and Aiko are album of the MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund. Segura declined to reveal how much year nominees at the 63rd annual Grammy Since the start of the pandemic, Musi- these companies paid for these sponsorship Awards; H.E.R. is nominated for song of the Cares has distributed more than $22 million tie-ins. year. Legend, a Grammy event perennial, is to help more than 25,000 music people in Other sponsors include Amazon Music, an 11-time Grammy winner.) need. Universal Music Group, Vivid Seats, Warner The event will also include video from In addition to COVID-19 relief, MusiCares Music Group, Facebook, Greenberg Traurig, the MusiCares vaults of performances at provides a support system of health and LLP, ASCAP, Concord, Gibson Gives, Live past Person of the Year galas by Stevie human services across a spectrum of needs. Nation, Mastercard, People, SoundCloud, Nicks, Usher, Bruce Springsteen, Tom According to recent survey data collected Triller and . Petty and “one or two artists” who Musi- by MusiCares, 62 percent of music people David Crosby was the first Person of the Cares won’t name yet. (, whose surveyed feel moderately high to very high Year honoree in 1991. The last five honor- photo appeared in an online ad for this levels of financial stress daily and 26 percent ees have been Lionel Richie, Tom Pet- Page 37 of 48

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ty, (the first group or duo est of All Time Adult Alternative Art- ellite,” the group’s first Triple-A hit. honoree), Parton (the first country honoree) ists chart — from their earliest days in the For their follow-up, 1996’s Crash, Lil- and . college town of Charlottesville, Virginia. lywhite and DMB went bigger. Beauford Segura heads MusiCares’ 19-member In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Matthews, a was free to move about the cabin; Matthews staff. naturalized citizen who had left his native and then-unofficial member MusiCares’ 20-person board of direc- South Africa for good before he could be (along with Beauford, a member of the tors is headed by Steve Boom, chair. Board conscripted into the military, tended bar Virginia fusion group Secrets) jacked their members include Grammy-winning art- on Main Street. An aspiring songwriter acoustic guitars into electric amps; Moore ists Lalah Hathaway and Ben Haggerty and performer, he recruited two mainstays bought a baritone sax to bulk up his swath (Macklemore); Jr., the of the local jazz scene, drummer Carter of sound. Instead of building the record Academy’s interim president/CEO; Rob Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. from layered tracks — a standard rock-band Light, CAA partner and music division head; Matthews wasn’t even sure whether the two procedure the group leaned on for Dream- and actress/singer . would click with his musical sense, but from ing — they played live, in a circle, as much While Segura is proud of MusiCares’ abil- seeing them at countless fusion and post- as possible. The album’s first couple singles ity to pivot to a virtual event, and is happy bop sets around town, he knew they were were a jab-cross combo. “Too Much” — the that this year’s event will be affordable to a the best support he could find. band’s first Triple-A #1 — is a proto-vore much broader audience, she hopes things As it turned out, their improvisational anthem whose moreness is quite enough, are back to normal . “Certainly our background meshed well with Matthews’ strutting like peak ‘90s Prince when it’s not hope is to be back in person to celebrate often-fragmented songwriting. The sound holding a hoedown on the bridge or stacking together in 2022,” she says. arrived, after the addition of bassist Stefan cowbells. Matthews gleefully devours the Tickets for the event are available here. Lessard (a high schooler at the time) and frantic text like the aspiring actor he once violinist , who split his time was. between DMB and his own projects until Moore’s one-person sax section gooses Stay For a While: the former’s reception on the college circuit the comparatively straightforward “So became too heavy to ignore. Within a couple Much to Say,” a stoner’s rumination on the Dave Matthews years, DMB was a sensation in Vir- limits and origins of language. The track ginia and beyond, attracting the attention of would bring Dave Matthews Band their only Band’s Long RCA Records — and longtime U2 producer Grammy, and cemented their status as Air- , who flew to New York to play Monitor’s Triple-A act of 1996. But it Trip Atop Adult convince the group to ditch their original was a third radio single, released in Decem- choice for producer. ber, that broke the group fully wide: “Crash Alternative Songs Lillywhite’s bet paid off. The band’s major Into Me” was a lovely chamber-pop march, label debut, 1994’s Under the Table and sung from the perspective of an obsessed BY BRAD SHOUP Dreaming, found a massive audience beyond voyeur. Thematically and sonically, it was the expected H.O.R.D.E. demographic, an a sort of alt-rock update on Van Morrison’s f Dave Matthews Band, the arena- audience that took no issue with the down- baroque-blues classic “Cyprus Avenue,” headlining jam band that first formed right Canterburian acoustic guitar/ and Matthews’ swooning, declarative text in 1991, were a person, they’d be enter- saxophone/bass/drums combination. By (“I’m bare boned and crazy/For you”) likely ing their thirties: settling into a career, now, the arty, abrasive approach of early opened more notebooks than it closed Ifinding themselves at fewer house parties. had ceded to a mellower strain: blinds. Perhaps they’ve started - or found - a fam- more optimistic, a little groovier, newly ”Crash” offered a path that Matthews ily; probably they have now known real, concerned with the concept of roots. The would eagerly revisit at the turn of the adult loss. It is the age at which preparation album’s big single was a hit at mainstream century, and it remains the band’s best- rounds into experience, and as such it’s an rock radio, rather than Triple A: the cof- known song. In classic jam-band fashion, it’s ideal age for the Adult Alternative Songs feeshop funker “” (fea- not a fan favorite. (Unlike pretty much any chart. At its best, Triple A presents a youth- turing John Popper on harmonica, whose jam band save Black Crowes, you can split ful sense of possibility, which can be heard presence is highly distinctive, and Michael DMB’s output into two complete careers: in the syncretic sensibility that fuels many of McDonald on backing vocals, shockingly one for the radio listeners, and one for the its hits — as well as an emotional composure not). On the whole, though, Dreaming is a real heads.) Crash’s final single “Tripping that, even when it confronts despair, sees it contoured presentation of the group’s exist- Billies” was aimed at the latter. A jubi- as scalable. ing strengths, with Beauford laying back to lant memento mori with a proggy head, That sense has animated DMB — the put over the sawing “” and its once-were-partiers outlook and island artist who lands atop Billboard’s Great- the suspended waltz-time balladry of “Sat- setting - not to mention Tinsley’s fiddling Page 38 of 48

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- paralleled the work of a budding Kenny half-decade was giving way to the kind of #1; the streak currently sits at seven.) “Fun- Chesney. stripped-down sincerity found in Triple-A ny the Way It Is” was the big hit from this Fully confirmed as rock stars, DMB hitmakers like Keane, John Mayer, and Jack set, a strummy, bristling catalog of everyday dutifully took on the Difficult Third Album Johnson. The clean lines and plaintive long- injustices. “Standing on a bridge/ Watch the with Before These Crowded Streets, a ing of these cross-demographic hits rang out water passing under me,” Matthews intones, sprawling, 70-minute collection in which equally well on car and VH1 morning his deadpan tipping into numbness, “It every track save the intro stretched past five programming. After Everyday, the band gave must’ve been much harder when there was minutes. Such was the Band’s following, the aborted material another go. The result no bridge/ Just water.” though, that “Don’t ,” their was 2002’s , a bracing, full- For 2012’s , Steve prowling, growling excoriation of genocide, bodied brew that captured so much of the Lillywhite reunited with a reconfigured became their second Triple-A #1. (Hav- proficiency and uncertainty that emerges Dave Matthews Band, with multi-instru- ing ’s banjo and Alanis Moris- by middle age. The title track shuffles with mentalist ex-Flecktone now in sette’s wail didn’t hurt. Nor did the aural a hitch in its step and Matthews sends an the fold. The result was a more delicate, resemblance to Aerosmith’s “Livin’ on the existential falsetto to the ceiling. “Grey more interior set. “Mercy” preaches a sotto Edge.”) Streets was their art-rock record: Street” is a heavy processional about ambi- voce social gospel but saves its greatest unresolved ballads, double harmonic scale tion failing imagination (“I dream myself comfort for the smooth-jazz outro. “If workouts, theatrical gnashing. a thousand times around the world/ But Only” just missed the Triple-A top 10, but In the middle of this flexing was their I can’t get out of this place”). And yet, the it’s a fascinating look: a falsetto-laden soul third #1: “Stay (Wasting Time)”: a pure Adult Alternative summit found room only ballad that suggests a Hi Records pass pop song, a carnal memory that reveled in for another pop ballad, the admittedly twin- at . After a few years’ re- the good times while confessing their brev- kling and pensive “Where Are You Going,” a cuperation on the road, DMB released Come ity. It was a cross-format hit for them, as was brand-new composition borrowed for Adam Tomorrow in 2018. (A month before the the jazz-club crooner “Crush,” the group’s Sandler’s Mr. Deeds remake. album dropped, Boyd Tinsley was fired first official Billboard Hot 100 hit, following Despite the presence of producer/com- from the band after a sexual-misconduct rule changes that allowed songs for the first poser Mark Batson, 2005’s Stand Up became lawsuit from a former collaborator became time to hit the chart without being available their first set since their RCA debut not to public.) Tomorrow issued three singles, for physical single purchase. Once again, spawn an Adult Alternative No. 1, though each one revealing a different path. “Samu- the Van spirit was heavy, and the song be- the national pep talk “” — rai Cop (Oh Joy Begin)” celebrates new guiled both in radio edit and album-length strung on a plucked motif from Tinsley life over Edge-indebted delay. The title form. Lillywhite had helped his charges - became their highest charter on the Hot track rides Beaufort’s throwback martial construct a commercial powerhouse. 100, debuting in the top 20. Even better patter towards a total surrender to the next But preparations for a fourth record — was the soaring “Dreamgirl,” a recursive, generation. And “Again and Again” is a now held in the group’s new Charlottesville lustful meditation driven by a ramshackle, string-swept, soul-funk portrait of sexual studio — stalled. The tracks weren’t quite arrhythmic acoustic lick. In his newgrown codependency. finding form, the vibe wasn’t right. Mat- rasp, Matthews imagines a world for two, Or, perhaps, the paths intersect. From thews’s consultation with Glen Ballard led drenched in sun, occasionally punctured their earliest days as college-town jazz- to a crop of brand-new songs. If the rest of by “a good, good drunk”. Promotion for the rockers, two recurring themes have the band wasn’t quite feeling 2001’s Every- song was given a boost when actor Julia populated Dave Matthews Band’s work: the day (Beauford remarked that it felt like a Roberts — a longtime fan of the group — shortness of life, and its sweetness. Their Matthews/Ballard record), it was certainly starred in the for free. ability to transmit the latter drew genera- easier to tackle. Hardcore fans grabbed the In June of 2008, LeRoi Moore was tions of concertgoers. The fact of the former scrapped demos off filesharing sites; at least severely injured in an ATV accident on his has kept the group retooling its sound, some of them did so while downloading “I Charlottesville farm; he died less than two searching, as the best improvisers do, for the Did It,” which was released to Napster with months later. His band was in the midst of next possibility. the band and label’s blessing. The self-refer- recording their next album, which became ential single buzzed like a cloud of hornets a Moore tribute: Big Whiskey and the and swung like “Sledgehammer,” and its GrooGrux King. It was, by turns, a rollicking guitars were unmistakably electric. “The wake and a meditation on ephemerality. It Space Between” was a legitimate power also resulted in their first Grammy nomina- ballad, dominated by an aerial guitar osti- tion for Album of the Year, a bit surprising nato, and it became the group’s first entry in considering how long DMB had been a the Top 40. force at the ticketbooth and the register. The playful, boho of their first (GrooGrux was their fifth record to debut at Page 39 of 48

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all-genre Hot 100, behind Olivia Rodrigo’s Is First “Drivers License.” Still, the song’s ar- The Players rival makes for a Hot 100 achievement that Woman With hadn’t happened in more than two decades. Behind The Until “Up,” no woman had debuted higher Consecutive No. on the Hot 100 with a song with Weeknd’s ‘Save billed artists that also made Billboard’s Hot 1 Debuts on chart since ’s “Doo Your Tears’: See Wop (That Thing)” in 1998, the only other R&B/ Hip-Hop single in the club. the Full Credits As implied in the prior stat, “Up” also Songs Chart debuts at No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart. BY CHRIS EGGERTSEN “Up” arrives with, no surprise, a high BY TREVOR ANDERSON streaming sum. The track, released Feb. 5, he Tampa Bay Buccaneers may registered 31.2 million U.S. streams in the have won this year’s Super Bowl, ardi B’s “Up” knocks down week ending Feb. 11, according to MRC but The Weeknd didn’t come every current challenger on Bill- Data. The total allows for a No. 1 start on away empty-handed. Following board’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop the R&B/Hip-Hop chart, Tthe hitmaker’s eye-popping halftime show, Songs chart as the single debuts where it becomes Cardi B’s fifth leader of two of the songs he performed at the big Cat No. 1 on the list dated Feb. 20. With the her career. It likewise opens atop the all- game — “” and “Save Your start, the rapper posts consecutive chart- genre Streaming Songs ranking to mark Tears” — surged into the upper ranks of topping debuts while she also claims a feat her fourth champ. the Billboard Hot 100 this week, with “Save unseen on the Billboard Hot 100 in over 20 The No. 1 debuts keep coming as “Up” Your Tears” becoming his ninth career top years. launches as Cardi B’s seventh song to reach five hit as it rose from No. 8-4 on the chart. With “Up,” Cardi B lands consecutive No. the summit on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital “” earned 32.1 million in 1 debuts on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, after Song Sales chart thanks to 34,000 down- radio reach, an increase of 14% week-over- “WAP,” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, like- loads sold in the week ending Feb. 20. week. It also ranked as the Hot 100’s top wise opened on top last August as it began For the final metric that contributes to the Streaming Gainer with 21.7 million streams, a 10-week domination. The combo makes Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, radio air- up 45% over the previous week. Cardi B the first artist to post two straight play, “Up” is not No. 1 – no song is this early Explore the team of musicians, producers, No. 1 debuts on the chart as a lead artist, and in its arc – but does establish some personal engineers and more behind the track with second overall performer after , whose bests for Cardi B’s career. The track’s No. recording credits provided by Jaxsta below. consecutive starts came from a feature spot 24 debut last week (on the chart dated Feb. Artists: on Rihanna’s “Work” and his own single 13) marked her highest entrance among 20 Main Artist - The Weeknd “Summer Sixteen” in 2016. singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, Songwriters: In all, “Up” is Cardi B’s sixth No. 1 on Hot while its 24-18 increase on the current chart Lyricist - Abel “The Weeknd” R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, notably with at least ties “Motorsport,” her collaboration with Tesfaye one in each of the last five years. Here’s the and Nicki Minaj, as her best second- Composer Lyricist - Ahmad Balshe full collection: week rank of those entries. “Up” ascends as Composer Lyricist - Jason “DaHeala” Song Title, Artist (if other than Cardi B), it registers 8.7 million in audience impres- Quenneville Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1 sions in its first full tracking week on the Composer Lyricist - Karl Martin Sandberg “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves),” six, Sept. radio format, which wrapped on Feb. 14. Composer Lyricist - 16, 2017 Elsewhere, “Up” rallies 17-9 on Rap Air- Producers: “Finesse,” with , one, Jan. 20, play in its second chart week and flies 31-17 Producer - 2018 on Airplay. Producer - Oscar Holter “I Like It,” with Bad Bunny & J Balvin, one, Producer - The Weeknd July 7, 2018 Production Team: “Please Me,” with Bruno Mars, one, March Programming - Max Martin 16, 2019 Programming - Oscar Holter “WAP,” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, 10, Programming - The Weeknd Aug. 22, 2020 Engineers: “Up,” one (to date), Feb. 20, 2021 Asst. Recording Engineer - Cory Bice Elsewhere, “Up” begins at No. 2 on the Asst. Recording Engineer - Jeremy Lertola Page 40 of 48

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Engineer - Michael Ilbert The news comes days after Glover Engineer - Sam Holland announced that he and Fleabag favorite Lil Nas X Engineer - Kamiyama Phoebe Waller-Bridge would be creating, Mastering Engineer - Dave Kutch starring and exec producing an update of Chronicles His Mastering Engineer - Kevin Peterson New Regency’s Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie Mix Engineer - John Hanes feature Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Turbulent Road to Mixer - Serban Ghenea The Amazon deal, which has been in the Performers: works for weeks, will also see Glover exec Fame in Revealing Background Vocalist - The Weeknd produce other projects for the retail giant Bass - Max Martin and streamer. Sources note one such project ‘Life Story’ TikTok Bass - Oscar Holter is already beginning to : a po- Bass - The Weeknd tential series called Hive, which is rumored Series Drums - Max Martin to revolve around a Beyonce-like figure and Drums - Oscar Holter stem from writer Janine Nabers (Watch- BY GIL KAUFMAN Drums - The Weeknd men, Away). The project has already begun Guitar - Max Grahn staffing a writers room, with sources noting il Nas X pulled back the curtain Guitar - Max Martin Malia Obama is among those recruited to on his battle with depression and Guitar - Oscar Holter work on the series. (Additional details were suicidal thoughts during his rocket Guitar - The Weeknd not readily available; Amazon declined com- ride to fame in his new “Life Story” Keyboards - Max Martin ment on Hive, too.) LTikTok series. “In 2017 I became the first Keyboards - Oscar Holter Glover’s move to Amazon will not impact [in] my family to get into college,” reads the Keyboards - The Weeknd FX’s critical darling Atlanta. The award- caption of the first video, which appears to Labels: winning comedy has already been renewed show Lil Nas in his pre-fame days as a col- Distributor - Universal Music Group for seasons three and four and, per sources, lege student in his dorm room. “During col- Label - Republic Records will begin production in March. Both lege I was depressed, had no friends and…. Explore the full “Save Your Tears” credits seasons will be filmed back-to-back in a bid my grandmother passed. I started going on Jaxsta here. to return the comedy to the air as soon as to the doctor a lot in fear that I would die possible. The series last aired in May 2018. soon… hypochondria. In May 2018, I started The show’s future beyond season four has making music.” not yet been determined as Glover is said to The clip, synched with the moody Ra- have a carve out to continue work on Atlan- diohead track “Decks Dark” from 2016’s A Sets 8-Figure ta should that be something he wants to do. Moon Shaped Pool, explains that the rapper The production schedule for Atlanta will then moved in with his sister, dropped out Overall Deal With also help clear up Glover’s schedule as he of school and released his first mixtape, Na- announced that Mr. and Mrs. Smith would sarati, in June 2018. “THINGS WERE Amazon be arriving in 2022 on Amazon.Glover is GOING GREAT! Then they werent....” he repped by WME. writes, noting that his sister kicked him out, BY LESLEY GOLDBERG This article was originally published a brother who was helping him joined the by The Hollywood Reporter. military and his songs were no longer put- onald Glover is on the move. ting up numbers or making much impact. Sources tell The Hollywood So, in November of that year he moved Reporter that the Atlanta mul- in with his older brother into a situation tihyphenate has exited his pact where he says there was “domestic violence Dwith Disney-owned FX for a multiple-year, everyday.” The one-minute clips consists of eight-figure overall deal with Amazon. The a series of Lil Nas’ signature selfie videos, pact is believed to include a content channel with part two kicking off with the Dec. 2018 of sorts that will spotlight Glover’s work and release of the mega-smash that would make other curated content on Amazon’s Prime Lil Nas a global phenomenon, the record- Video hub. Additionally, Stephen Glover — breaking No. 1 hit “Old Town Road.” who wrote and produced on Atlanta along- With literally no money to promote, the side his brother — has also signed an overall rapper used silly memes to promote the deal with Amazon. song, which helped the track chart on Apple Amazon declined comment. Music and unleashed an onslaught of label Page 41 of 48

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deal offers that he characterized as “ter- recorded it anyway. The proposal is good rible,” mostly because they were focused Servando & and fresh.” on the song, not him. He turned them all “En Tu Cuarto: Servando & Florentino down and kept promoting “Road” in his Florentino to Livestream Concert” will take place at 7 own unique way and before he knew it the p.m. ET on Sunday. General tickets cost $15 TikTok “Yeehaw Challenge” helped the Perform Intimate and a VIP package that includes a virtual song blow up so big that Columbia Records party costs $50. For more information, visit offered him a “great deal offer.” Virtual Concert: here. The second video then cuts to the rapper triumphantly walking by a sign at Colum- ‘It’s a New bia’s offices that reads “Columbia Records Super Bowl Welcomes Lil Nas X.” After the song charted Experience’ on Billboard, Nas X released the of Ad Propels “Old Town Road” with and, BY ROIZ as chronicled in part three, things went ’ bananas. Footage of the two performing to- ervando & Florentino are bless- gether and Lil Nas rocking massive crowds ing fans with an intimate “En Tu ‘Opportunities’ on is juxtaposed with him chronicling his rising Cuarto” livestream on Sunday, one anxiety, even as his stage outfits get a huge they’re calling “a new experience Dance Charts upgrade and he moves into his first apart- Sto tell.” ment in June 2019 with his two adopted Performing their biggest hits, such as BY GORDON MURRAY dogs and boyfriend. “Una Fan Enamorada” and “Estas Hecha Pa “I finally had enough money to put my Mi,” the Venezuelan salsa-pop duo com- et Shop Boys bound onto Bill- mom in rehab” he notes alongside a clip posed of brothers Servando and Florentino board’s Dance/Electronic Digi- of him dancing with one of the pooches in Primera will be joined by a six-member tal Song Sales chart (dated Feb. his arms. “People quickly dubbed me as a band revamping their setlist. 20) at No. 5 with “Opportunities ‘one hit wonder,’” he laments before noting “We began brainstorming with our long- P(Let’s Make Lots of Money),” following the that in June 2018 he released his debut EP time producer Yasmil Marrufo and thinking Feb. 6 Super Bowl premiere of an Allstate and the five-times platinum follow-up hit of what rhythms could go with each song,” insurance commercial featuring the song. “Panini.” Florentino tells Billboard, saying that fans The 1986 classic sold 1,000 downloads, up The fourth clip opens with Lil Nas com- can expect to hear their songs in bolero, 1,618%, in the week ending Feb. 11, accord- ing out in June 2019, with the rapper noting bossa nova, merengue, , and ing to MRC Data. that he gained fans, while also losing some. bachata, in addition to salsa. “The process The song is the iconic UK act’s first top 10 And, as often happens with the onrush of has been a lot of fun and it’s a new experi- and best career position on the chart, which fame, he also got hit with his first lawsuit ence to tell.” began in 2010. that summer over an old song, even as his “En Tu Cuarto” marks the duo’s first The duo of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe mom was struggling in rehab and he broke virtual concert during the global pandemic. also re-enters the list at No. 23 with “West up with his boyfriend. This avalanche of bad Prior, they toured Venezuela in December End Girls” (nearly 500 sold, up 109%). At a news is juxtaposed with video of Lil Nas 2019, which paved the way for a promising new peak, PSB’s debut 1986 Billboard Hot hamming for the camera in photo shoots, European tour in 2020 that came to a halt 100 No. 1 previously hit No. 28 on the sales being silly on the street and posing for the because of COVID-19. tally in 2011. cover of magazines, even as “Old Town” However, Servando says they have been “Opportunities” — which also earned continued to blow up and he began “spiral- taking advantage of the tumultuous times in 106,000 streams, up 65%, in the tracking ing.” a productive manner. “We found a balance week — is another of Pet Shop Boys’ five Hot At one point, he notes, “I found myself in between spending time with the family 100 top 10s, having hit No. 10 as the follow- a hotel room contemplating ending it all.. and work,” he says. “Musically, we’ve been up to “West End Girls.” “Opportunities” but I didn’t.” At press time part five had not composing a lot. It’s been an interesting reached No. 3 on , among yet been posted, so stay tuned... process.” the act’s 31 career top 10s, the most among Watch the videos below. On that note, Servando & Florentino will duos or groups and fourth-most overall unveil their new single “Te Encontre” dur- (after Madonna, with 64; Rihanna, 37; and ing the livestream. “We haven’t done music Janet Jackson, 34). PSB’s 11 No. 1s, a run that together in a while. In fact,” Florentino tells, began with “West End Girls,” are the most “this song wasn’t meant to be for us but we among duos/groups on the chart, which be- Page 42 of 48

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gan in 1976 (and has been on hiatus during 16) that it was offering exclusive access to makeup artists and hairstylists for the 8th the coronavirus pandemic since last March). the sandwich one day early along with the annual MUAHS Guild Awards (that’s short Shifting to Hot Dance/Electronic limited-edition capsule to anyone who for Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists). Songs, Martin Garrix grabs a No. 10 debut signed up before noon on Thursday (Feb. OK, the MUAHS Guild Awards will never with “Pressure,” featuring . The 18). join the EGOT — good thing, it would make Dutch DJ’s eighth top 10 and the Swedish Along with crispy poultry slices on a but- the acronym way too long — but in this singer’s second starts with 1.5 million U.S. tered potato roll with spicy pepper sauce, world, they’re the Oscars. streams. With close to 1,000 sold, the track you can grab a never-before-heard track Other double nominees include The Clark also bows at No. 14 on Dance/Electronic created by Keith on 7” vinyl, which is only Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel, which is Digital Song Sales. available during the drop, along with a new nominated for best period and/or character On Dance/Mix Show Airplay, Travis limited-edition hoodie with a waveform makeup and best period hair styling and/or Scott and HVME each reign for the first design of Keith’s original track running up character hair styling in a television special, time with “Goosebumps” (3-1). The track one sleeve for $5. one hour or more live program series or is collecting core-dance airplay on leaders Those who sign up early can get a taste movie for television. (Good luck fitting all KMVQ-HD2 San Francisco, Music Choice’s of the sandwich at local McDonald’s outlets that on a trophy.) Dance/EDM channel and WCPY Chicago, starting Feb. 23. Commercials and music videos compete among others. (The Dance/Mix Show Air- Keith’s McD’s drop follows popular ear- against each other in two categories. Jus- play chart measures radio airplay on a select lier collabs with J Balvin and . tin Bieber’s “Anyone,” Lady Gaga’s “911” group of full-time dance stations, along with “We know fans can’t wait for our new and The Weeknd’s “In Your Eyes” are plays during mix shows on nearly 80 top Crispy Chicken Sandwich to hit restaurants, nominated for best makeup in these areas, 40-formatted reporters.) so we’re celebrating them and this moment along with two commercials — Bud Light’s “Goosebumps” posts its second frame with a drop like no other,” said VP of U.S. “Post Malone” spot at Super Bowl LV and atop Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, which it Communications, David Tovar in a state- Capitol One’s “John Travolta Santa/Hungry topped for the first time a week ago. ment. “We’re excited to give fans early Man” spot. Further on Dance/Mix Show Airplay, Lo- access to this sandwich and exclusive swag Nominees for best hair styling in commer- dato achieves his third top 10 and Bright they can’t get anywhere else to memorialize cials and music videos include two music Sparks scores its second with “Good Thing” this great addition to our menu.” videos — Rufus Wainwright’s “Devils and (12-4). Plus, Benny Benassi and Angels” and ’s “Under the each bolt to a third top 10 with “Lovelife” Graveyard.” (16-9). NBC’s Saturday Night Live received four nominations, including one for best Special, Lady contemporary hair styling for an episode McDonald’s Taps hosted by Adele, and another for best period Gaga & Justin hair styling and/or character hair styling for ‘’ an episode hosted by Kristen Wiig. (Fill in Bieber Videos your own joke about an episode hosted by Producer Tay Kristen Wiig being nominated for a hairstyl- Nominated For ing award.) Keith For Latest Other multiple nominees include Danc- Make-Up Artists & ing With the Stars, The Kelly Clark- Limited Merch son Show, Hamilton, Ru Paul’s Drag Hair Stylists Guild Race and Bridgerton. Drop Winners in 21 categories across motion Awards pictures, television, commercials and live BY GIL KAUFMAN theater will be honored at a virtual gala on BY PAUL GREIN April 3. cDonald’s has teamed up with The Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists producer Tay Keith (Drake, f you thought Mariah Carey looked Guild Awards are presented by the guild, Travis Scott) for a limited- great in her recent TV special Mariah IATSE Local 706. Here’s a full list of nomi- edition drop that will include Carey’s Magical Christmas Special, nees. Ma musical homage to the burger chain’s you’re not alone. The members of the new Crispy Chicken sandwich. IMake-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild had The chain announced on Tuesday (Feb. the same reaction. They nominated Carey’s Page 43 of 48

IN BRIEF

Enamorados,” hits top 10 on Air- CNCO’s ‘Déjà play chart, the group’s first top 10 showing Kings of Leon without an unaccompanied act since the No. Vu’ Debuts Top 1 peak “ Vuelve Loca” in October 2018. Wrap Quickest “It’s super exciting!” the band adds. “We Five on Latin Pop love that the fans are really enjoying this Trip to No. 1 on song and we were able to bring it a new Albums Chart life.” The song, originally titled “Per Noi In- Adult Alternative namorati” and written by Gianni Togni and BY PAMELA BUSTIOS Guido Mora (1983), was adapted to Spanish Airplay in a Year by Ricardo Montaner; its result earned him NCO clocks its fourth straight his first top 10 on Hot Latin Songs in 1988. BY KEVIN RUTHERFORD top five-charting effort on Bill- Let’s take a look at Déjà Vu’s tracklisting, board’s Latin Pop Albums chart its original performers and highest rankings: fter four years away, Kings of as Déjà Vu starts at No. 2 on the Title, Artist, Position, Year Leon are back at No. 1 on Bill- CFeb. 20 survey with 3,000 equivalent album “Tan Enamorados,” Ricardo Montaner, board’s Adult Alternative units earned in the week ending Feb. 11, No. 9, 1988 (Hot Latin Songs) Airplay chart. according to MRC Data. The 13-track covers “Amor Narcótico,” Chichi Peralta, No. 4, A“The Bandit,” the lead single from the set is an exploration of Latin classics from 1997 (Tropical Airplay) quartet’s upcoming studio album, rises 2-1 in 1980s through early 2000s which showcase “Dejaría Todo,” Chayanne, No. 1, 1998 its fifth week on the tally to crown the rank- the quintet’s established pop-rhythmic flow. (Hot Latin Songs) ing dated Feb. 20. “When quarantine started, we listened “Entra En Mi Vida,” Sin Bandera, No. 1, Kings of Leon notch their fourth Adult Al- to a lot of songs from the past with our 2002 (Hot Latin Songs) ternative Airplay No. 1. The band first ruled families,” the group tells Billboard in a state- “Hero,” , No. 1, 2001 (Hot with two-week leader “Use Somebody” in ment. “There are so many artists and iconic Latin Songs) August 2009, followed by seven weeks atop songs that have inspired us so much over “Imagíname Sin Ti,” Luis Fonsi, No. 1, the chart with “Radioactive” beginning in the years. Listening to those songs with our 2000 (Hot Latin Songs) December 2010. The third one was a doozy: families brought us so much joy that we “Un Beso,” Aventura, No. 6, 2006 (Hot “Waste a Moment” dominated for 15 weeks wanted to be able to do the same — to put Latin Songs) beginning in October 2016, slotting into a our CNCO twist on classic hits, so our fans “Mis Ojos Lloran Por Ti,” Big Boy, No. 18, tie with Coldplay’s “Clocks” in 2003 for the can enjoy with their families at this mo- 1997 (Latin Pop Airplay) second-longest reign in the chart’s 25-year ment.” “La Quiero A Morir,” DLG, No. 6, 1997 history. The record-holder, U2’s “Beautiful Of its starting total, Déjà Vu breaks down (Hot Latin Songs) Day,” led for one week longer, for 16 total as follows: 2,000 units come from tradition- “Sólo Importas Tú,” Franco de Vita, No. 8, weeks on top in 2000-01. al album sales, and the bulk of the remaining 1987 (Hot Latin Songs) The five-week sprint to No. 1 for “,000 derive from streaming (translating to “El Amor De Mi Vida,” Ricky Martin, No. Bandit” marks the quickest trip to the top in 2.04 million U.S. on-demand streams of the 8, 199 (Hot Latin Songs) a year, since Nathaniel Rateliff’s “And It’s album’s songs). “Por Amarte Así,” Cristian Castro, No. 2 Still Alright” also took five frames to lead “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves on (Latin Pop Airplay) the Feb. 22, 2020, survey. this project because we wanted to give these “25 Horas,” Proyecto Uno, 2014 (no chart- Concurrently, “The Bandit” jumps 15-12 songs the proper homage that they deserve,” ing history) on Alternative Airplay. On the all-rock- the group continues. “We’ve actually had a Déjà Vu was produced by Andres Tor- format, audience-based Rock Airplay tally, lot of good feedback from many of the origi- res, Mauricio Rengifo, Alejandro Ramírez it breaks into the top 10, pushing 14-10 with nal artists since we’ve put it out!” “Sky”, Nicolás Jaña “Tayko,” Slow and The 3 million audience impressions, up 2%, Déjà Vu is CNCO’s first showing on Latin Rude Boyz with Jean Rodriguez as vocal according to MRC Data. It’s the group’s sev- Pop Albums in almost a year and a half, producer. enth top 10 on the latter list and first since since Quienes Somos (EP) debuted at No. 1 “Reverend” in June 2017. (Oct. 2019). “The Bandit” is the lead single from When In addition to its sophomore debut on You See Yourself, Kings of Leon’s eighth Latin Pop Albums, the project takes a top full-length and first since 2016’s Walls, 20 start on the all-genre Top Latin Al- which became the band’s first Billboard 200 bums chart, launching at No. 19. No. 1. The new set is due March 5 via RCA As Déjà Vu arrives, its first cut “Tan Records. Page 44 of 48

IN BRIEF

at No. 11 after reaching No. 10, becoming her honor Parton’s contributions in music as Kelontae Gavin third top 10. well as philanthropy. “At this point in his- “SPARROWS” GLIDES On the multi- tory, is there a better example, not just in Scores First metric Hot Christian Songs chart, Cory America but in the world, of a leader that is Asbury achieves his third top 10 as a soloist (a) kind, decent, passionate human being? Gospel Airplay as “Sparrows” flies 11-10.The song pushes 8-7 She’s a passionate person who loves every- on , up 10% to 7.2 million one, and everyone loves her,” said Demo- No. 1 With ‘Hold airplay audience impressions. It also at- cratic Rep. John Mark Windle at the time. tracted 926,000 U.S. streams and sold 1,000 Among Parton’s philanthropic efforts, Me Close’ downloads in the week ending Feb. 11. she founded a library designed for children Asbury, who is a member of the Bethel under 5 to improve their literacy skills. She BY JIM ASKER Music collective, adds his third Hot Chris- has also been vocal about COVID-19 efforts, tian Songs top 10 on his own, following “The participating earlier this month in a fund- elontae Gavin earns his first No. Father’s House,” which reached No. 3 last raiser for nonprofit arts organization Cen- 1 on Billboard’s Gospel Air- June. His solo debut, “Reckless Love,” ruled ter Theater Group in Los Angeles, which play chart as “Hold Me Close” for 18 weeks starting in March 2018. has been out of operation since March due ascends 2-1 on the ranking dated WE ARE MESSENGERS DELIV- to the pandemic. KFeb. 20. The single increased by 7% in plays ER Plus, Irish worship band We Are Mes- Last year, she created a YouTube series in the week ending Feb. 14, according to sengers earns its seventh Christian Airplay called Goodnight With Dolly, which pro- MRC Data. top 10 as “Image of God” lifts 11-8 (6.5 mil- vided a distraction for children in this time “Close” is the second Gospel Airplay entry lion in audience, up 5%). The song follows of unrest. Parton also made a million-dollar for the 21-year-old Gavin, who hails from the act’s last top 10, “Love (Won’t Let Go),” donation to Vanderbilt University to help Charleston, South Carolina. “No Ordinary which reached No. 9 last July. them develop the Moderna vaccine. Worship” rose to No. 5 in February 2019. In thanking the legislature “I’m eternally grateful to God for giving for their bill and desire to erect the statue, me the ability to sing lyrics that touch the Urges Parton wrote in her message that she is heart of people,” Gavin tells Billboard. “Wow, “honored and humbled.” to God be the glory.” Lawmakers Not The singer added, “I hope, though, that Gavin co-penned “Close” with Marquis somewhere down the road several years Boone and TedyP. It’s the lead single from to Erect Statue from now or perhaps after I’m gone if you his sophomore set, The N.O.W. Experience, still feel I deserve it, then I’m certain I will due March 5. Gavin’s first album, The Higher of Her: ‘I Don’t stand proud in our great State Capitol as a Experience, arrived and peaked at No. 2 on grateful Tennesseean.” Top Gospel Albums in May 2018. Think Putting Me This article originally appeared on The POPIN HITS TOP 10 Also on Gospel Hollywood Reporter. Airplay, Bryan Popin’s “Beautiful Savior,” on a Pedestal Is featuring Tasha Page-Lockhart, rises 12-10. Popin adds his second top 10, after “I Got Appropriate at Out” reached No. 4 in April 2017. Page-Lock- hart likewise lands her second top 10, after This Time’ “Different” climbed to No. 5 in November 2014. BY TRILBY BERESFORD WINANS DEBUTS On the Hot Gospel Songs chart, which blends airplay, sales and olly Parton is urging lawmakers streaming data, CeCe Winans’ new track in her home state of Tennessee “Believe for It” enters at No. 9, marking her to withdraw a bill that would fourth top 10 and first arrival in the region. erect a statue of her on the Capi- The song sold 1,000 downloads in its first Dtol Grounds in Nashville. week and opens at No. 2 on Gospel Digital “Given all that is going on in the world, I Song Sales, where it’s her sixth top 10. don’t think putting me on a pedestal is ap- Winans boasts two titles in the Hot Gos- propriate at this time,” tweeted the 75-year- pel Songs top 10, as “Never Lost” climbs 6-4 old singer. for a new high. On Gospel Airplay, it ranks The bill was introduced last month to Page 45 of 48

A WEEKLY NATIONAL Market Watch MUSIC CONSUMPTION REPORT

Source: WEEKLY UNIT COUNT

Total Audio Video Album Digital Digital Albums Consumption Streams On-Demand On-Demand Sales Album Sales Tracks Units This 20,733,294,000 17,966,388,000 2,766,907,000 1,846,000 517,000 3,863,000 15,285,000 Week* Last 20,782,440,000 18,018,941,000 2,763,498,000 1,760,000 486,000 3,829,000 15,236,000 Week

Change -0.2% -0.3% 0.1% 4.9% 6.3% 0.9% 0.3%

This Week 20,099,281,000 16,185,207,000 3,914,074,000 1,968,000 581,000 4,834,000 14,130,000 Last Year

Change 3.2% 11.0% -29.3% -6.2% -11.1% -20.1% 8.2%

*All data measures U.S. activity as of the week ending February 11, 2021. All units counts are rounded to the nearest thousand.

YEAR TO DATE 2021 2020 Change YEAR TO DATE AUDIO 72b Total On-Demand ON-DEMAND STREAMING BY AGE 121,347,952,000 118,190,439,000 2.7% Streams 66b Audio On-Demand 105,193,682,000 95,315,012,000 10.4% Streams 60b Digital Track Sales 22,540,000 28,990,000 -22.2% 54b Album Sales 11,583,000 10,921,000 6.1% 67,738,092,000 48b Albums 90,309,000 82,558,000 9.4% Consumption Units 42b 59,545,807,000

36b

ALBUM CONSUMPTION UNITS BY FORMAT 30b 2021 2020 Change 24b CD Sales 4,084,000 4,751,000 -14.0%

37,455,591,000 18b

Vinyl Sales 4,524,000 2,434,000 85.9% 35,769,205,000

12b Digital Sales 2,933,000 3,690,000 -20.5% Catalog Current 6b Other Sales 42,000 45,000 -6.6% 2021 2020 2021 2020 0 Track Equivalent 2,254,000 2,899,000 -22.2%

Audio On-Demand 76,471,000 68,739,000 11.2% Equivalent  -4.7%  13.8% Album consumption units ­— also known as albums plus TEA plus SEA — consists of album sales; track-equivalent album (TEA) sales whereby 10 tracks equal one consumption unit; and stream equivalent albums (SEA) whereby 1,250 paid and/or 3,750 ad-supported audio on-demand streams (OAD) equal one consumption unit. DELETE THIS BOX AFTER MICHAEL CUSSON APPROVES PAGE

Page 46 of 48 DATA FOR WEEK OF 02.20.2021 HOT 100 SONGWRITERSTM HOT 100 PRODUCERSTM #1 #1 TIE 1 5 WKS DAN NIGRO  1 13 WKS  #1 TIE 1 5 WKS OLIVIA RODRIGO  2 DAN NIGRO  3 FINNEAS  3 FINNEAS  TIE 4  4 ROSS COPPERMAN  TIE 4 DAHEALA  5 YC  TIE 4 MAX MARTIN  TIE 6 MAX MARTIN  TIE 4 OSCAR HOLTER  TIE 6 OSCAR HOLTER  TIE 4 THE WEEKND  TIE 6 THE WEEKND  9 BRS KASH  9 D.A. GOT THAT DOPE  10 DABABY  10 IAMTASH  11 ERNEST KEITH SMITH  11 PXCOYO  12 LIL DURK  TIE 12 MR. FRANKS  13 JUSTIN BIEBER  TIE 12 TBHITS  14 POOH SHIESTY  14 OMER FEDI  15 MEGAN THEE STALLION  15 SCOTT MOFFATT  16  16 LIL JU  17 MORGAN WALLEN  17 BLAQ TUXEDO  18 OMER FEDI  18 RYAN METZGER  19 CHRISTOPHER PEARSON  19 BLAKE HARNAGE  20 SPOTEMGOTTEM  20 BLAKE SLATKIN  21 POLO G  21  22 LIL BABY  22 NATE RHOADS  23  23 AARON DESSNER  24 BLAKE SLATKIN  24 CHI CHI  25 LUKE COMBS  25 TMS 

COUNTRY SONGWRITERSTM COUNTRY PRODUCERSTM #1 #1 1 9 WKS MORGAN WALLEN  1 41 WKS JOEY MOI  2  2 ROSS COPPERMAN  3 ERNEST KEITH SMITH  3 DANN HUFF  4 ASHLEY GORLEY  4 SCOTT MOFFATT  5 LUKE COMBS  5 JAY JOYCE  6 CHARLIE HANDSOME  6 ZACH KALE  7 JON NITE  7 DAVID FANNING  TIE 8 GABBY BARRETT  8 ZACH CROWELL  TIE 8 ZACH KALE  9 JESSE FRASURE  10 JESSE FRASURE  10 DAN SMYERS 

R&B/HIP-HOP SONGWRITERSTM R&B/HIP-HOP PRODUCERSTM #1 #1 1 1 WK POOH SHIESTY  1 1 WK YC  2 LIL DURK  2 D.A. GOT THAT DOPE  3 BRS KASH  3 IAMTASH 

SONGWRITERS & PRODUCERS & SONGWRITERS 4 CHRISTOPHER PEARSON  4 PXCOYO  5 SPOTEMGOTTEM  5 LIL JU  6 POLO G  6 BLAQ TUXEDO  7 LIL BABY  7 NATE RHOADS  8 MEGAN THEE STALLION  8 CHI CHI  TIE 9 BELLY  TIE 9 DJ SWANQO  TIE 9 DAHEALA  TIE 9 SEAN ISLAND  TIE 9 MAX MARTIN  TIE 9 YUNG DZA  TIE 9 OSCAR HOLTER  TIE 9 THE WEEKND 

R&B SONGWRITERSTM R&B PRODUCERSTM FEB. #1 #1 TIE 1 16 WKS BELLY  1 3 WKS BLAQ TUXEDO  20 #1 TIE 1 34 WKS DAHEALA  2 NATE RHOADS  #1 2021 TIE 1 27 WKS MAX MARTIN  TIE 3 MAX MARTIN  #1 TIE 1 27 WKS OSCAR HOLTER  TIE 3 OSCAR HOLTER  #1 TIE 1 43 WKS THE WEEKND  TIE 3 THE WEEKND  6 DRAKE  6 LOSHENDRIX  7 LOSHENDRIX  7 NASCENT  TIE 8 NATE RHOADS  8 CARDIAK  TIE 8 YUNG BLEU  9 CARTER LANG  AIRPLAY/STREAMING & AIRPLAY/STREAMING COMPILED BY DATA SALES 10 NASCENT  10 DZL 

The top songwriters and producers on the Billboard Hot 100 and selective genre songs chart that utilize the Hot 100 formula (blending streaming, airplay and download sales data) for the charts dated Month XX, 2021. Rankings are based on accumulated weekly points for all charted songs — on the specified chart for the week — on which a songwriter or producer is credited. If a song is written or produced by more than one person, points are divided equally among all credited parties. DELETE THIS BOX AFTER MICHAEL CUSSON APPROVES PAGE

Page 47 of 48 DATA FOR WEEK OF 02.20.2021 RAP SONGWRITERSTM RAP PRODUCERSTM #1 #1 1 2 WKS BRS KASH  1 1 WK YC  2 LIL DURK  2 IAMTASH  3 POOH SHIESTY  3 PXCOYO  4 CHRISTOPHER PEARSON  4 LIL JU  5 SPOTEMGOTTEM  5 D.A. GOT THAT DOPE  6 POLO G  6 CHI CHI  7 LIL BABY  TIE 7 DJ SWANQO  8 MEGAN THEE STALLION  TIE 7 SEAN ISLAND  9 OMER FEDI  TIE 7 YUNG DZA  10  10 OMER FEDI 

DANCE/ELECTRONIC SONGWRITERSTM DANCE/ELECTRONIC PRODUCERSTM #1 #1 TIE 1 38 WKS F A L L E N  1 2 WKS HVME  #1 TIE 1 38 WKS SAINT JHN  2  TIE 3  3 F A L L E N  TIE 3  TIE 4 HIGHTOWER  TIE 3 SURF MESA  TIE 4 TIESTO  TIE 6 BROCK KORSAN  TIE 6 BLOODPOP  TIE 6 CARDO ON THE BEAT  TIE 6  TIE 6 DAVEON JACKSON  8 MARSHMELLO  TIE 6  9 MARTIN GARRIX  TIE 6 KEVIN GOMRINGER  TIE 10 SIGALA  TIE 6 TIM GOMRINGER  TIE 10 JARLY  TIE 6 TRAVIS SCOTT 

LATIN SONGWRITERSTM LATIN PRODUCERSTM #1 #1 1 54 WKS BAD BUNNY  1 67 WKS TAINY  2 EDGAR BARRERA  2 OVY ON THE DRUMS  3 TAINY  3 MORA  4 MYKE TOWERS  4 MAG  5 MORA  5 SANTANA THE GOLDEN BOY  6 MAG  6 SKY ROMPIENDO  7 CAMILO  7 EDGAR BARRERA  8 JHAY CORTEZ  8 CAMILO  SONGWRITERS & PRODUCERS & SONGWRITERS TIE 9 HAZE  9 CALEB CALLOWAY  TIE 9 NYDIA YERA  TIE 10 ILY WONDER  TIE 10 KEITYN 

ROCK & ALTERNATIVE SONGWRITERSTM ROCK & ALTERNATIVE PRODUCERSTM #1 #1 1 19 WKS  1 18 WKS AARON DESSNER  2 AARON DESSNER  2 FINNEAS  FEB. TIE 3 BILLIE EILISH  3 TRAVIS BARKER  20 TIE 3 FINNEAS  4 OMER FEDI  2021 5 OMER FEDI  5 RYAN METZGER  6 BLAKE SLATKIN  6 BLAKE SLATKIN  7 DAVE BAYLEY  7 KBEAZY  TIE 8 24KGOLDN  8 DAVE BAYLEY  TIE 8  9 MARSHMELLO  TIE 8 KBEAZY  10 HVLX  AIRPLAY/STREAMING & AIRPLAY/STREAMING COMPILED BY DATA SALES DELETE THIS BOX AFTER MICHAEL CUSSON APPROVES PAGE

Page 48 of 48 DATA FOR WEEK OF 02.20.2021 ALTERNATIVE SONGWRITERSTM ALTERNATIVE PRODUCERSTM #1 #1 TIE 1 4 WKS BILLIE EILISH  1 7 WKS FINNEAS  #1 TIE 1 6 WKS FINNEAS  2 OMER FEDI  3 OMER FEDI  3 TRAVIS BARKER  4 TAYLOR SWIFT  4 RYAN METZGER  5 BLAKE SLATKIN  5 BLAKE SLATKIN  6 DAVE BAYLEY  6 AARON DESSNER  7 AARON DESSNER  7 KBEAZY  TIE 8 24KGOLDN  8 DAVE BAYLEY  TIE 8 IANN DIOR  9 MARSHMELLO  TIE 8 KBEAZY  10 HVLX 

HARD ROCK SONGWRITERSTM PRODUCERSTM #1 #1 TIE 1 1 WK CHRIS SHIFLETT  1 5 WKS  #1 TIE 1 1 WK DAVE GROHL  2 FOO FIGHTERS  #1 TIE 1 1 WK PAT SMEAR  3 BRENDAN O’BRIEN  #1 TIE 1 1 WK RAMI JAFFEE  TIE 4 FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH  #1 TIE 1 1 WK TAYLOR HAWKINS  TIE 4 KEVIN CHURKO  6 NATE MENDEL  6 DASHDONDOG BAYARMAGNAI  7 WOLFGANG VAN HALEN  7 MICHAEL BASKETTE  TIE 8 ANGUS YOUNG  8 JOE BARRESI  TIE 8 MALCOLM YOUNG  9 TYLER SMYTH  TIE 10 IVAN MOODY  10 MATT GOOD  TIE 10 JASON  TIE 10 KEVIN CHURKO  TIE 10 ZOLTAN BATHORY 

CHRISTIAN SONGWRITERSTM CHRISTIAN PRODUCERSTM #1 #1 1 14 WKS ETHAN HULSE  1 21 WKS JONATHAN SMITH  2 MATTHEW WEST  2 PAUL MABURY  3 ANDREW RIPP  3 JEFF SOJKA  4 AJ PRUIS  4 AJ PRUIS  TIE 5 JASON INGRAM  5 ETHAN HULSE  TIE 5 LAUREN DAIGLE  6 NICK SCHWARTZ  TIE 5 PAUL MABURY  7 MARK MILLER  8 COLBY WEDGEWORTH  8 ED CASH  SONGWRITERS & PRODUCERS & SONGWRITERS 9 BRANDON LAKE  9 AARON ROBERTSON  10 JEFF SOJKA  10 JASON INGRAM 

GOSPEL SONGWRITERSTM GOSPEL PRODUCERSTM #1 #1 1 2 WKS CHARLES JENKINS  1 1 WK KYLE LEE  2 JONATHAN TRAYLOR  2 AARON LINDSEY  FEB. 3 RUDY CURRENCE  TIE 3 BERNIE HERMS  20 4 STEVE COOPER  TIE 3 CHUCK BUTLER  2021 5 BYRON LEWIS CAGE  TIE 5 JOHNTA AUSTIN  6 RICH TOLBERT JR.  TIE 5 TROY TAYLOR  7 BRIAN COURTNEY WILSON  TIE 5 TRYBISHOP  8 TRAVIS GREENE  8 KENNETH LEONARD, JR.  9 JOKIA WILLIAMS  9 RUDY CURRENCE  TIE 10 DONNIE MCCLURKIN  10 STEVE COOPER  TIE 10 JOHNTA AUSTIN 

AIRPLAY/STREAMING & AIRPLAY/STREAMING COMPILED BY DATA SALES TIE 10 TROY TAYLOR  TIE 10 TRYBISHOP