business
Irving & Shelli Azoff Honored by Gwen Stefani, Meghan Trainor & More at Wallis Annenberg Event
BEVERLY HILLS — After years of pandemic postponements, Irving and Shelli Azoff were feted by the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills on Wednesday night, with a local who’s-who gala of their family, friends and supporters. Only, Shelli wasn’t there. Mrs. Azoff, Irving’s wife of more than four decades and business partner on a variety of projects, was home sick with COVID-19. And while it was surely disappointing, somehow, it was hardly surprising. In true power couple fashion, the Azoffs brought in about as high-profile substitute as you can get: Kris Jenner, the Kardashian-Jenner family matriarch who has been a longtime friend of the family. (“I’d say she was the best manager if the world if I was at any other event,” said James Corden, who emceed the presentat...
Apple Music Taking Over as Super Bowl Halftime Sponsor
The NFL has found the next presenting sponsor of the Super Bowl halftime show. Apple Music has been named the official sponsor of the annual music and pop culture event, succeeding Pepsi, which announced earlier this year that it would give up its role in presenting the show. Pepsi had been the lead sponsor of the halftime show for the past decade. Apple Music’s first Super Bowl halftime show will take place Feb. 12, 2023 in Arizona, with performers still to be announced. This past year’s show featured Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent and Mary J. Blige perform. Previous shows have seen some of the biggest names in music perform, from Beyonce and Prince to Justin Timberlake and Jennifer Lopez. In fact, the show has become a much bi...
Timbaland & Swizz Beatz Settle ‘Verzuz’ Lawsuit With Triller
Timbaland and Swizz Beatz have settled their $28 million lawsuit against Triller for allegedly failing to pay money owed from the sale of their popular Verzuz livestream series. “VERZUZ has always been a platform that is by the artists, for the artists and with the people,” said Swizz Beatz and Timbaland in a statement. “We’re glad to come to an amicable agreement with Triller and continue giving fans the music and community that they’ve come to know and love from the brand.” Triller, a TikTok-like app that allows users to create and share short videos, announced in March 2021 that it would pay an undisclosed sum in cash and equity to acquire Verzuz, the pandemic-era hit in which two artists square off in a livestreamed music battle. Under the terms of the original deal, the Grammy-w...
Billboard Español Launches With New Website, All-Spanish Content
In an unprecedented move that underscores its commitment to Latin music and Spanish speaking music fans, Billboard has launched a new, all-Spanish language digital brand, Billboard Español. Billboard Español will serve as the premiere in-language global destination for Latin music, and the premiere global destination for music in Spanish. Its launch also makes Billboard the first U.S. mainstream media company to launch an all-Spanish site devoted to music. The inaugural issue features Colombian superstar Camilo on its cover, as well as exclusive video and digital content with Maluma, Grupo Firme and Romeo Santos. All four artists will also participate in Billboard Latin Music Week, September 26 – October 1. Billboard Español will also feature the Billboard charts readers expect. “At...
Post Malone Manager Dre London Turns His Tastemaking Skills to Tequila
Dre London knows to trust his gut feeling when he thinks he’s struck gold. He felt it with Post Malone, the genre-bending, global superstar whom London met in 2014 while visiting a house in Encino, California, full of burgeoning, young creatives. He eventually moved into that house and began managing Malone months later, resulting in three multi-platinum albums, four Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s and nine Grammy nominations in the following years. London felt it again while working on his own premium tequila, Don Londrés, which he launched in the U.S. this month. “I’d never tasted anything like it before. And it was the same way when I heard Post Malone: I’d never heard anything like it before,” he tells Billboard. “It had that first-time gut feeling of, ‘Woah, am I onto something right here? I...
Streaming Is Growing — Just Not Like It Used To: 5 Takeaways From the RIAA Mid-Year Report
The music subscription market, the driving force behind the U.S. recorded music industry’s six-year growth streak, posted another gain in the first half of 2022, according to RIAA midyear figures released Wednesday (Sept. 21). But revenue from paid services such as Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music have slowed from earlier break-neck paces. After rising at double-digit growth rates in recent years, subscription revenue grew by only 9.4% in the first half of 2022, down from 11.3% at the mid-point of 2021 and 13.7% at the mid-point of 2020. The $387.6 million increase, to $4.5 billion, was less than half of the $823.5 million reported a year earlier, a period in which streaming services surged during the early pandemic’s lock-down periods and strict restrictions. Still, subscription rev...
Halsey’s Cosmetics Brands Partner With Live Nation, Receive Equity Investment From Promoter
Live Nation has partnered with Halsey-backed cosmetic companies about–face and af94 to create branding experiences at its venues and festivals promoting the brands. The promoter has also made an equity investment in about-face and af94 to support the growing brands. “The Live Nation partnership will usher in a new way to experience the intersection of live entertainment and makeup,” says Halsey, who serves as the brands’ co-founder and chief creative officer. “Live Nation has given me a platform to express my vision to my audience on stages across the world. Our future together will mean seeing the audiences’ visions come to life from the crowds.” About-face and af94 activations at Live Nation properties will include product sampling, self-guided application and a range of virtual and...
Japanese banking giant Nomura launches digital ecosystem VC arm
Nomura, one of the largest investment banks in Japan, has established a venture capital arm aimed at investing in companies focusing on crypto and blockchain. In a Wednesday announcement, Nomura said the business, named Laser Digital, will “provide new value in the area of digital assets” for clients under the Switzerland-based holding company Laser Digital Holdings AG. The investment bank said it chose Switzerland based on its “robust regulatory regime for digital assets and blockchain projects” in addition to potentially recruiting talent. “Staying at the forefront of digital innovation is a key priority for Nomura,” said president and group CEO of Nomura Holdings Kentaro Okuda. Laser Digital’s venture capital product, Laser Venture Capital, will focus on investments including centralize...
As Music Stocks Keep Slipping, This One K-Pop Company Is Bucking the Trend
South Korean music company SM Entertainment, home to such groups as NCT 127 and SuperM, stands apart in a competitive music business for withstanding stock market downturns that have hit all other publicly-traded music companies. Since December, stocks have been on a downward trend, sparked by the Federal Reserve’s intention to raise the federal funds rate to prevent the economy from overheating and rein in inflation. And while music is often said to be recession-proof, music companies’ stocks are not immune from larger economic trends and investors’ desires for safer options during chaotic times. Even though the global music industry is posting double-digit revenue growth, the share prices of publicly traded music companies have followed the broader trends and stumbled in the face ...
Pete Simmons to Lead A&R at Universal Music Publishing Group in UK
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) has announced the promotion of Pete Simmons to head of A&R, UK. He will report to the managing director, Mike McCormack. Simmons is the major publisher’s third new high-level A&R appointment in recent weeks, following news that Jennifer Knoepfle will become evp, co-head of U.S. A&R and David Gray, co-head of U.S. A&R, will also take on duties as UMPG’s Global Creative Group. (The Global Creative Group has been described as a new initiative by the publisher to identify and expand global creative opportunities for its signees). Simmons has been at the company since 2014 when he joined as an A&R scout. Since then, the young A&R has helped sign and develop top talents like Rex Orange County, Tom Misch, Thundercat, Four Tet, Bicep,...
Mystikal Pleads Not Guilty to Rape & Drug Charges
Grammy-nominated rapper Mystikal pleaded not guilty on Monday (Sept. 19) to charges accusing him of raping and choking a woman at his home in Louisiana and of possessing several drugs. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The 51-year-old performer whose given name is Michael Tyler is innocent of all charges, attorney Joel Pearce said after the arraignment in Ascension Parish court in Gonzales, about 15 miles from Baton Rouge. The charges include first-degree rape, which carries an automatic life sentence. Pearce said he has not been able to get copies of the two indictments, but they were read aloud in court. Charges also include simple criminal damage to property, false imprisonment, domestic abuse battery by strangulation, simple...
Believe Is ‘Maintaining All Its Operations’ in Russia — And Some Claim ‘Aggressively’ Growing Market Share
LONDON — Six months after Believe announced it had “suspended activities” in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, the French music company now says it is “maintaining all its operations” in the isolated nation. At best, that means recruiting staff to fill vacated roles and making multi-million dollar deals to renew contracts with label partners. At worst, sources say, Believe is taking advantage of the moment, “aggressively” signing Russian record labels and artists to gain market share in the region while major labels have committed to cease all new business there. In one Aug. 30 email reviewed by Billboard, a senior Believe executive in Russia offered a Russian record label 3 million euros ($3 million) for rights to its catalog and future releases. The email, which was wri...
