business
How Mushroom Group’s Michael Gudinski Pivoted and Built New Channels During the Pandemic
Michael Gudinski always has something extra up his sleeve. When the 360-degree company became a fashionable term, Gudinski had his own spin. Mushroom Group, his independent music empire, was a “365” company, reflecting the number of days it operated in a regular year. Launched in 1973, Mushroom Group today spans more than two-dozen companies and brands from Frontier Touring, one of the world’s leading independent promoters, to The Harbour Agency, labels I Oh You, Liberation and Bloodlines, Mushroom Music Publishing, neighboring rights operation Good Neighbour, and the new addition, Reclusive Records. The pandemic has caused income to dry up for so many entertainment companies, particularly those exposed to concerts and touring. Mushroom Group is built on a bedrock of live music. Gudi...
Apple Music’s Karlie Hustle on Getting Cancer, Finding Perspective & the New Film That Documents It All
It was December 2018, and music executive/podcast host Karlie Hustle was about to fulfill her longtime dream of directing a documentary. But on Christmas Eve, she received a diagnosis that changed the trajectory of her life. “Right as we were getting ready to book flights and get everything together for a shoot in April of 2019, I was diagnosed with [breast] cancer,” Hustle tells Billboard. At a point when many would have bowed out of the project altogether, Hustle and her producer Dan Eason instead made the decision to lean into her diagnosis. Originally intended as a feature-length documentary that would focus on Hustle, a self-described “city slicker,” “getting back in touch with nature” in the Oregon wilderness, the focus pivoted to become a story about her journey through the ri...
24kGoldn’s ‘Mood’ Ends ‘WAP’ Reign In U.K. as Pop Smoke Makes Chart History
24kGoldn is in a right mood. With “Mood” (Black Butter), the British rapper’s collaboration with Iann Dior, 24kGoldn dethrones Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion as the U.K.’s chart champion. After a six-week climb “Mood” lifts 2-1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, after finishing the week more than 7,000 chart sales ahead of “WAP,” snapping its three-week streak at No. 1. According to the Official Charts Company, “Mood” snags 61,000 chart sales, including 7.8 million streams. “WAP” (Atlantic) dips 1-2, as Justin Bieber grabs the highest new entry with “Holy” (Def Jam) featuring Chance The Rapper. “Holy” is new at No. 10 for Bieber’s 21st Top 10 single, and the Chicago hip-hop star’s fifth. Also impacting the current frame is Sam Smith’s “Diamonds” (Capitol), which starts at No. 22, for the...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘People Are Cautiously Optimistic and Pleasantly Surprised’
Store owner Angie Roloff says her store and other independent record shops have done better than expected during the pandemic. In October 1988, Angie Roloff and her husband Ron opened Strictly Discs in Madison, Wisconsin, after Ron left a career in the biomedical research field to pursue his love of music full time. Nearly 31 years later, the couple made the difficult decision to shutter in-store operations due to COVID-19, roughly a week before Governor Tony Evers forced a mandatory shutdown of all non-essential businesses. Now that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has overturned Evers’ stay-at-home order — ruling it “unlawful” and “unenforceable” — the Roloffs and their employees have reopened the store. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover th...
Max Merritt, ARIA Hall of Fame Inductee, Dies at 79
Max Merritt, the ARIA Hall of Fame inductee best known for the soulful songs “Slippin’ Away” and “Hey, Western Union Man”, died Thursday (Sept. 24) in a Los Angeles hospital following a long battle with a rare illness. He was 79. Born in Christchurch, New Zealand on April 30, 1941, Merritt made his mark when he formed The Meteors in the 1950s and reeled off a string of catchy rock ‘n’ roll numbers, including “Get a Haircut,” “Kiss Curl” and “C’mon Let’s Go.” Soon, Merritt and his band outgrew Christchurch and by 1962 they’d relocated to Auckland, and later, Australia, where he earned the moniker “king of Soul”. With the Meteors, Merritt had a No. 2 hit in Australia in 1975 with the soaring ballad “Slippin’ Away” and were sig...
BMG Launches Record Label With French Soccer Club Olympique de Marseille
BMG has struck a strategic partnership with French Ligue 1 football (soccer) club Olympique de Marseille (OM) that includes the launch of OM Records, a new hip-hop, rap and R&B label. OM Records will be headquartered in Marseille, France, which has been a hotbed of French hip-hop since the 1990s and served as a proving ground for artists including BMG publishing clients IAM and Fonky Family. Emile Hauck will manage the new imprint and all of the club’s other music activities as OM Records’ A&R and project manager. He will report to BMG France general manager Sylvain Gazaignes. Under the agreement, BMG will be the exclusive partner for all OM music projects and activities; it also includes a licensing deal for BMG’s production music library, which OM will use for all inte...
The Doobie Brothers Tell Bill Murray to Pay Up
Often, the legal threats come hot and heavy. But that’s not what happens when Bill Murray uses, without license, the Doobie Brothers‘ “Listen to the Music” for an advertisement for his golf shirts, and the band must react. Here, the group’s attorney Peter Paterno attempts to lightly scold Murray for using the 1972 hit, written by Tom Johnston. He writes, “It seems like the only person who uses our clients’ music without permission more than you do is Donald Trump… We’d almost be OK with it if the shirts weren’t so damn ugly.” Ouch! Murray’s camp hasn’t responded yet. Here’s the rest of the letter… This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you ...
CISAC Completes Upgrade of Music Coding System
CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, has centralized the assignment and administration of International Standard Musical Work Codes (ISWC). Previously, those codes, which already have been assigned to 52 million song compositions, had been handled by a network of 54 registration agencies in 79 countries. The ISWC administration switchover began in July with over 100 collection management organizations now participating in the new system, according to CISAC which commissioned Spanish Point Technologies to develop the new registration scheme. The rest of the publishing community and digital music platforms are expected to roll over to the new ISWC system shortly. “The upgrade of the ISWC could not come at a more timely moment for songwriters and compo...
California Graphic Artist Claims He, Not Kurt Cobain, Created Nirvana’s Smiley Face Logo
In the latest twist in Nirvana’s two-year-old copyright and trademark battle with designer Marc Jacobs over the use of the band’s smiley face design, a California graphic artist has stepped forward to say that he created the band’s logo and not Kurt Cobain. Robert Fisher, a freelance graphic designer based in Woodland Hills, filed a motion Sept. 13 to intervene in the ongoing federal litigation in the U.S. California Central District claiming to be the rightful creator and owner of the copyright design. Nirvana LLC has been in litigation with Jacobs since 2018, when they sued the designer for copyright infringement and trademark infringement alleging that he had used that Happy face design as part of his “Bootleg Redux Grunge” line without their permission. The band’s legal papers state Co...
Billboard Parent Company MRC Teams With Penske Media for Publishing and Content Ventures
The newly established PMRC will oversee THR, Variety, Rolling Stone, Billboard and Vibe, while the content partnership will produce TV, film, and other formats with access to IP across the portfolio of brands. Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter parent company MRC and Penske Media Corp. on Wednesday announced a deal to create two joint ventures in publishing and content, with both companies holding significant ownership. The deal becomes effective Wednesday, with a transition period through the end of 2020. The news was announced by PMC CEO Jay Penske and MRC CEOs Asif Satchu and Modi Wiczyk. The first joint venture is the establishment of PMRC, which will encompass trade and consumer brands in entertainment and music such as PMC’s Variety, Rolling Stone and Music Business Worldwide...
All Music Industry Initiatives to Help Get Out the Vote This Election Season (Updating)
On Nov. 3, U.S. voters will decide if President Donald Trump gets four more years in office or send Democratic ticket Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House. Ahead of what has been said to be the most important election in at least a generation, non-partisan voter registration organizations including HeadCount and Voto Latino, in partnership with labels and artists, have launched music-driven initiatives that incentivize eligible voters – especially young ones – to get registered and vote. Even labels and digital streaming platforms have rolled out campaigns to encourage both employees and artists to vote this election. And venues across the country will serve as polling sites for early voting and on Election Day. From Spotify’s “Play Your Part” to HeadCount’...
Post Malone Leads 2020 Billboard Music Awards Nominations With 16: Full List
Post Malone leads the 2020 Billboard Music Awards nominations, which dick clark productions and NBC announced on Tuesday (Sept. 22). The “Wow.” rapper is nominated 16 times in 15 categories, followed by first-time nominees Lil Nas X with 13 and Billie Eilish with 12. Khalid ties Eilish with 12 nominations. Among other nominees is Kanye West, whose Jesus Is King album grabbed him nine nominations in Christian categories including top Christian artist, top gospel artist, top Christian album, top gospel album and top Christian song. West also competes against himself for top gospel song, in which “Closed on Sunday,” “Follow God,” “On God” and “Selah” are all nominated. There are three fan voted categories this year ...
