business
Audio Engineer Kesha Lee in Atlanta, in a Pandemic: ‘I’m Getting to the Place Where I’m Wanting to Create’
Lee was planning to travel for audio engineer work when her car broke down — now, she’s collaborating with a local songwriter on her own music. Since getting her start through a chance meeting with Gucci Mane, Atlanta-based audio engineer Kesha Lee has worked on chart-toppers like Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” and Migos’ “Bad and Boujee” and is now the go-to audio engineer for rappers including Playboi Carti and Lil Uzi Vert. She spent the past two-and-a-half years working on Uzi’s Eternal Atake album in the artist’s native Philadelphia, before it was released on March 6 — mere weeks before the near-national lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus began. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover ...
AEG Partners With Resorts World for New Las Vegas Theater: Exclusive
The 5,000-capacity Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas will be used for concerts, residencies, conventions and sporting events. While all the world’s stages have been dark now for more than four months as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Las Vegas is plotting a course for the future. Come summer 2021, the city will welcome The Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas, the first new-from-the-ground-up casino-resort in more than a decade. The Theatre is a joint development between Resorts World Las Vegas and AEG Presents — exclusively programmed and operated by Concerts West, a division of AEG Presents. Scott Sibella, president of Resorts World Las Vegas, and John Meglen, president and co-CEO of Concerts West, tell Billboard in an exclusive interview that The Theatre and its programming ...
Atlantic Records Launches Cross-Roster Voter Registration Initiative With HeadCount: Exclusive
“With the 2020 election shaping up to be the most consequential of our lifetime, it’s crucial,” says ATLVotes co-chair Jack Hedges. In January, a group of Atlantic Records employees including Canvasback label imprint vp of marketing Jack Hedges formed a company task force to develop a plan for utilizing Atlantic’s star-studded artist roster, which includes the likes of Cardi B, Ed Sheeran and Meek Mill, to encourage voter registration. A global pandemic later, “You can imagine, the ideas and plans we were formulating were very different from where we are now,” Hedges tells Billboard. But the goal — to inspire more young people to vote in both local and presidential elections — is as urgent as ever. That’s why today (July 16), Atlantic Re...
Live Nation Shares Bounce on Encouraging Vaccine Trial
Stocks of out-of-home entertainment companies got a boost from biotech company Moderna’s announcement on Tuesday. As markets reacted enthusiastically to a promising coronavirus vaccine trial, shares of concert promoter Live Nation leaped 12.2% to $52.09 on Wednesday (July 15) before closing at $51.84, up 11.7%. On Tuesday, biotech company Moderna published the results of an initial study for a coronavirus vaccine called mRNA-1273. The vaccine “elicits a robust immune response” in all trial participants, said chief medical officer Tal Zaks in a statement, and will enter the next phase — with approximately 30,000 participants — later this month. Jumps in other entertainment companies’ stocks reflect how desperate investors were for good news about markets brought to a...
Kanye West Is Still In the Presidential Race
Stop the presses: Kanye West’s political ambitions aren’t finished. The unpredictable hip-hop superstar has filed with the Federal Election Commission and has qualified to appear on Oklahoma’s presidential ballot, the Associated Press reports. This just hours after a wave of reports which claimed West had failed to file the requisite paperwork and was no longer in the U.S. 2020 presidential race. West met the deadline for a spot on the state’s Nov. 3 presidential ballot and paid the $35,000 filing, according to a spokesperson for the Board of Elections in Oklahoma, where Ye now calls home. Two other independent candidates also paid fees ahead of the cut-off: concert pianist Jade Simmons and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce. The West campaign filed a “Statement of Organization” on W...
Queen’s ‘Greatest Hit’ Notches U.K. Chart Milestone
Long live Queen. The legendary rock outfit’s Greatest Hits (Virgin) album chalks up an impressive milestone by passing 900 weeks on the Official Albums Chart Top 100, and is just the third album to do so. Released in 1981, the career retrospective is behind just Bob Marley & The Wailers‘ 1984 hits album Legend (933 weeks) and ABBA’s Gold compilation, the longest-running U.K. Top 100 album ever, with 949 weeks, according to the Official Charts Company. There’s one category in which Queen’s Greatest Hits reigns supreme. It’s the best-selling album in British recorded music history with more than six million copies sold, the OCC reports. The 900-week-plus accomplishment comes at roughly the same time the band celebrates 50 years since their first London gig, on July 18, ...
Nick Cannon Apologizes for Anti-Semitic Comments: ‘I Feel Ashamed’
Nick Cannon posted an apology message via Twitter on Wednesday after he received criticism for anti-Semitic language used in a recent podcast episode. He was dropped by ViacomCBS earlier this week after the podcast surfaced and received wide visibility. “First and foremost I extend my deepest and most sincere apologies to my Jewish sisters and brothers for the hurtful and divisive words that came out of my mouth during my interview with Richard Griffin,” Cannon wrote. “They reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naïve place that these words came from. The video of this interview has since been removed.” Cannon will also remain as host of Fox’s hit The Masked Singer, the network said Wednesday...
REVOLT TV CEO Roma Khanna Stepping Down After Three Years
Colin McIntosh and Detavio Samuels will step in as co-heads. Roma Khanna, CEO of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ REVOLT TV, is stepping down from her role at the cable network after nearly three years on the job. Going forward, she will serve as an advisor to REVOLT TV’s senior team and shareholders. With Khanna departing, REVOLT TV executive vp and head of finance & operations Colin McIntosh and COO and head of content Detavio Samuels will step in as co-heads, taking over day-to-day leadership of the company. Both will report to Combs Enterprises COO Tarik Brooks. Named CEO in September 2017, Khanna has launched such programing as State of the Culture and REVOLT Black News, in addition to the multi-city, multi-platform REVOLT Summit x AT&T. Under her tenure, REVOLT has also grown its distribu...
Ruido Fest 2020 Is Officially Canceled, But Already Has 2021 Dates and a Headliner
Café Tacvba announced as headliner for next year’s edition. Ruido Fest 2020 has officially canceled this year’s edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re very disappointed that we won’t be celebrating with you this summer, but the progress of the COVID-19 pandemic means that our primary focus is everyone’s health and safety,” organizers of the Chicago independent festival said in a statement. As coronavirus cases continue to surge across the country, Ruido Fest is moving to Aug. 20-22, 2021, with Café Tacvba announced as a headliner for next year’s festival. The Latinx-focused event’s cancellation joins other fests such as Los Dells, Coachella and Lollapalooza, who all officially canceled their 2020 editions. Launched in 2015, Ruido Fest has feat...
CBS, NAACP Ink Sprawling Content Partnership Deal
Days after CBS committed to expanding development from BIPOC, the company is teaming with the NAACP for a wide-ranging content partnership. As part of a new, multiple-year agreement, CBS TV Studios and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will team to develop and produce scripted, unscripted and documentary content for linear and streaming platforms. Under the deal, creative leaders from CBS TV Studios will work with the civil rights group to establish a dedicated team of executives and an infrastructure to acquire, develop and produce programming. The goal will be to produce premium content while also expanding the number of diverse voices telling inclusive stories that increase the visibility and impact of Black artists. Included in the deal is a commi...
Bigsound Will Go Ahead In 2020 With COVIDSafe Format
Bigsound is back on the industry calendar. While the health crisis wrecks the touring industry around the globe, Australia’s main music industry conference and showcase is set for a return to Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley in 2020 at a later date than usual, and in a condensed, COVIDSafe format. The announcement this week caught the industry by surprise. The southern state of Victoria and its capital Melbourne, widely regarded at the country’s cultural mecca, has just entered a second lockdown to try curb a worrying spike in coronavirus cases. And there are worrying signs of an outbreak or two in New South Wales. The Bigsound show, however, will go on. Originally announced for Sept 1- 4, this year’s event will be reduced to a two-day, two-night event from Oct. 21. All activities will fo...
Spotify’s Russian Push Targets New Market With Considerable Growth Potential
The streaming service has announced an expansion into 13 new markets, reaching potentially 250 million new users — if only it can sign them up. Spotify is launching its streaming service in Russia and 12 other countries in Europe, marking an important expansion that will bring the music streamer to nearly 250 million new listeners and effectively blanket Europe with the service. In addition to Russia, the 16th-largest streaming market, Spotify will push into Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine. The launch comes as the digital streamer has been expanding aggressively into new markets. It introduced the platform in India in 2019; in 14 markets in the Middle East and Africa in 2018 (inc...
