business
Racism on the Road: The Oral History of Black Artists Touring in the Segregated South
“We were happy, we were singing, we were joyful, we were away from home for the first time, youngsters on a magical show,” recalls Martha Reeves, lead singer of the girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, who toured through the South as part of Motown’s pioneering tours in the early ’60s. “But being met with the hatred, it was alarming — especially when the bus was shot at.” Below, Billboard presents an oral history of Black touring artists in the ’50s and ’60s, including interviews with Rock and Roll Hall of Famers and one-hit wonders, stars from the Motown and Stax soul labels, and veterans of the Motown Revue and Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars. All remain shocked and angry at the racism they experienced, mostly in the South, but a...
Kylie Minogue’s ‘Disco’ Dances to Lead on Midweek U.K. Chart
Coming in at No. 2 on the midweek chart is Confetti, just 2,200 combined sales behind Disco. It’s the most streamed album so far, and the biggest-selling title on CD, the OCC reports. Little Mix, winners of ITV’s The X Factor back in 2011, have hit the Top 5 with all their first five albums, with Glory Days from 2016 going to No. 1. Completing an all-new top three is Shirley Bassey’s farewell set I Owe It All To You (Decca) at No. 3. It’s shaping up to be the veteran Welsh singer’s highest-charting album in more than 40 years. Another Welsh artist is aiming for a Top 10 debut, Aled Jones. The classical singer’s Blessings (BMG) is new at No. 8, while Birmingham rapper Dutchavelli (real name Stephan Allen) is one place behind with his debut mixtape Dutch From The 5th (Parlophone). Over...
Archie Roach to be Inducted Into ARIA Hall of Fame
It was based on Roach’s own life and experiences. The album received two ARIA Awards in 1991 and “Took The Children Away” received an international Human Rights Achievement Award, the first time that the honor had been bestowed on a songwriter. The song is now preserved in the National Film And Sound Archive Of Australia. “Through the years writing and recording my songs as well as touring, has helped me to heal and connect to audiences around the country,” comments Roach on his induction. “To be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame is validation that no matter where you have come from and the struggles that you had to overcome through the years, that you can achieve great things if you set your mind and heart to it. Your achievements are only as good as the people around you and I have bee...
Live Nation’s Third Quarter Earnings: Five Questions Answered
But the game of attrition could end next summer. Live Nation’s earnings call Thursday became outdated after news of a successful COVID-19 vaccine trial was released on Monday (Nov. 9). Its share price jumped as much as 38.7% Monday morning after drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech announced their vaccine was 90% effective in a large-scale trial. The vaccine could be available late this year and widely distributed before the lucrative summer touring season. Keeping in mind the recent news, here are five questions that were answered with Live Nation’s third-quarter earnings. Where does Live Nation’s liquidity stand? Live Nation has enough capital to last through 2021. On Sept. 30, Live Nation had $2.6 billion of total cash and cash equivalents (vs. $3.3 billion in the second quarter), includi...
Nigerian government exempts Dangote from border closure – report
The Nigerian government has allowed Dangote Cement to resume exports across its land borders, Bloomberg reports. This is despite the closure of all land borders by the government for over one year. The move has, however, raised hopes that Nigeria may be opening up trade with neighbors after a year-long blockade. The administration of the President Muhammadu Buhari gave its authorisation for Africa’s biggest producer to export cement to Niger and Togo in the third quarter for the first time in ten months, Michel Puchercos, chief executive officer, said on an investor call in Lagos. The export was made possible “through authorisation given by this administration,” he said. The exemption to Dangote Cement is seen as a softening of the government’s position on a border closure that started in ...
Warner Chappell Music’s Guy Moot and Carianne Marshall On a Global Future and Competing With ‘Fund Guys’
Moot is a London native who spent a decade at EMI Music Publishing before helping lead its merger with Sony/ATV, where he rose to president of worldwide creative before coming to Warner. Marshall hails from Los Angeles and spent 12 years helping to establish the independent powerhouse SONGS Music Publishing before its 2017 sale to Kobalt. Together, Warner Chappell has two executives with extensive backgrounds on the creative side of the business. So far, they’ve already applied those talents toward big-name signings (Frank Ocean, Thomas Rhett, the Quincy Jones catalog, the Pop Smoke estate); a revamped creative suite with a new department dedicated to creative services; a more prioritized global hierarchy, including new global heads of administration, international A&R and synchronizat...
Ariana Grande Bags Chart Double In U.K.
Over on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, “Positions” enters a second week at No. 1, while two more tracks from the LP crack the Top 40. Grande’s “34+35” is new at No. 9 and “Motive” featuring Doja Cat is at No. 16, extending her list of U.K. Top 40 hits to 28. She’s the fourth artist to achieve the chart double in 2020 (Drake, Eminem and Stormzy are the others), and the first female artist to score consecutive chart double wins in almost ten years (Rihanna did it in 2011). Thanks to Grande’s chart domination, Sam Smith misses out on top spot with Love Goes (Capitol), new at No. 2 on the albums survey. It’s the end of a golden streak for Smith, whose previous two albums hit the summit of the national albums survey. Veteran singer Cliff Richard rounds out an all-new Top 3 with Music… The Air...
Ariana Grande, Midnight Oil Burn Bright on Australia’s Charts
The Makarrata Project features the band collaborating with Indigenous artists and First Nations people including Jessica Mauboy, Kev Carmody, Troy Cassar-Daley, Dan Sultan and Frank Yamma, and includes the previously-released numbered, “Gadigal Land.” It’s a bittersweet result for the politically-charged rock band. Bass player Bones Hillman, who joined the band in 1987 and has been with them ever since, died Saturday (Nov. 7) after a battle with cancer. With Peter Garrett and Co. claiming top spot, Ariana Grande has to settle for a No. 2 bow with Positions, though its title track enters a second week at No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart and is one of eight tracks from the LP to impact this week’s Top 50. The U.S. pop star previously ruled the albums survey with My Everything (September 2014)...
Miley Cyrus Takes on Ariana Grande For U.K. No. 1
Based on the first weekend’s activity, just 1,000 chart sales separate the two. Little Mix are targeting their tenth Top 5 single with “Sweet Melody,” which vaults 12-4 following the release of Confetti, the girl group’s sixth studio album. The highest new entries on the chart blast belong to Australian pop icon Kylie Minogue, with “Say Something” new at No. 16 and “Magic” at No. 19. Both tracks appear on Kylie’s 15th and latest album Disco, which dropped last Friday (Nov. 6). The Official U.K. Singles Chart is published late Friday, local time. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharin...
#EndSARS: 15 policemen arrested protester in Lagos – sister
No fewer than 15 armed policemen arrested a promoter of the #EndSARS protest, Eromosele Adene, after invading his apartment on Adeleke Street, in the Allen area of Ikeja, Lagos State, on Saturday. PUNCH Metro gathered that a protest had been slated to hold at the Allen Junction in Ikeja when the policemen besieged Eromosele’s house and whisked him away. His sister, Florence, who spoke to newsmen on Sunday, said one of the policemen deceived her by claiming that he had a parcel to deliver to their father around 7am on Saturday. “When I met them, they told me that they were actually looking for my brother and instructed me to take them to our house, but I refused. They said they did a business with him and sent money to his Zenith Bank’s account but the commodity was not delivered. I told th...
New York says good riddance to native son Donald Trump
Joyous New Yorkers poured into the streets Saturday after Democrat Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump to win the White House, erupting in celebration as the business mogul and former star of The Apprentice was told: “You’re fired.” Revelers cheered across a city that has sparred for years with the president who rose to prominence in the New York real estate. A reliable Democratic stronghold, the US financial capital’s disdain for the Republican’s policies was no secret. In Manhattan residents yelled and clapped, some waving flags and others banging pots from their balconies as car horns punctuated the applause. Catherine Griffin cried tears of joy outside with one of her two kids, telling AFP: “I’m happy that Trump has gone from our lives, hopefully forever.” “Having a little normalcy back in...
Does TikTok Have More ‘Dreams’ Up Its Sleeves?
Serendipity and all of these efforts made “Dreams” the first catalog hit revived by TikTok, which over the past year-and-a-half has consistently broken new songs, such as recent Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers “Mood” by 24kGoldn (featuring iann dior) and “Savage Love (Laxed — Siren Beat)” by Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo. The 1977 single, which also topped the Hot 100 over 40 years ago, has now been used in nearly a half-million TikTok videos, and on-demand audio streams on Spotify and other services have almost quadrupled (while Fleetwood Mac’s overall catalog of streams doubled). Warner may have made over $250,000 in incremental revenue on “Dreams” — plus another $250,000 on the increased popularity of the rest of the...
