business
How We Work Now: Sofar Sounds VP City Operations Amanda Presson
In a series amid the coronavirus pandemic, Billboard is asking individuals from all sectors of the music business to share stories of how they work now, with much of the world quarantined at home and unable to take in-person meetings, attend conferences or even go into the office. Submissions for the series can be sent to HowWeWorkNow@Billboard.com. Read the full series here. This installment is with Amanda Presson, vp of city operations at intimate concert series company Sofar Sounds. Amanda Presson: [The shutdown] was such a huge shift for us, because we are so focused on the live event experience and bringing our communities together in person. After we had to halt our core business, our first thought went to, “How do we continue to support artists?” That was such a big part of our miss...
Halsey’s ‘Without Me’ Wins Song Of the Year at BMI Pop Awards; Khalid & Post Malone Share Songwriter of the Year
“We look forward to celebrating with everyone in person at next year’s ceremony,” said BMI’s Barbara Cane. “Without Me,” which was co-written by BMI writers Halsey and Delacey, was awarded song of the year at the 68th annual BMI Pop Awards. The single reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Halsey’s first No. 1 as a lead artist. It’s also the first song that Halsey wrote under her given name, Ashley Frangipane. Khalid and Post Malone shared the award for songwriter of the year at the event, which, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was held virtually. Both singer/songwriters co-wrote four of BMI’s top-performed songs of 2019 — in each case, three songs on which they were the lead (or co-lead) artist and one on which they were the featured artist. Khalid sc...
Eddie Gale, Jazz Trumpeting Great, Dies at 78
Eddie Gale, a pioneering jazz trumpeter who work on numerous classics with Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor and many more, died Friday (July 10) after a battle with cancer. He was 78. Born in Brooklyn in 1941, Gale got a frontrow seat with the finest jazz musicians of the era, including Bud Powell, the bebop pianist who lived nearby, and trumpeter Kenny Dorham. A fast learner, he soon found himself in jam sessions with the likes of drummers Art Blakey and Max Roach and saxophonists Illinois Jacquet, Sonny Stitt, and Jackie McLean. In the early ’60s, a 20-something Gale connected with Sun Ra. A long-standing professional relationship was formed and Gale toured and recorded with Ra’s Arkestra throughout the ’60s and ’70s. His output with the intergalactic jazz icon included the 1965 set Secrets of ...
Grabbitz Signs With Managers Adam LaRue and Shawn Dailey
Veteran music managers Shawn Dailey and Adam LaRue have signed shape-shifting alt-rock and indie dance producer, singer and songwriter Grabbitz, born of this earth as American artist Nick Chiari and the vocalist behind the refreshingly dangerous Rezz collaboration “Someone Else.” With cutting lyrics soaked in double entendre, the 2020 single has an insanely infectious sound signature that weaves in and out of its verse, chorus, bridge structure with no-frills guitar chords and grinding industrial electronica. The crank-the-volume nod to Nine Inch Nails peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Alternative songs chart on July 4 and hit No. 23 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart in May. Grabbitz has collaborated with One Republic, deadmau5, Pend...
Music Exec Andrew Jackson Partners With Sony Music Australia for Joint Venture Label Avoca Drive
Music executive Andrew Jackson has partnered with Sony Music Entertainment Australia to launch Avoca Drive, a joint venture label with A&R executives in both Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia. Avoca Drive’s first signing is Tanisha Tishawiana Sadewo and Osvaldo Rio Nugroho Aritonang’s new project Galdive, whose first single ‘Nescience’ drops Friday (July 17). Galdive is “this beautiful young male/female duo who just make pure ear candy – playful, sweet and universally appealing,” explains Jackson, who plans to work with a network of international songwriters and producers to find new artists and promote them “internationally with a hands-on approach tuned to artists’ needs commercially and creatively.” Jackson is the founder and direct...
The Streets, Juice Wrld Challenge For U.K. Albums Chart Title
Mike Skinner is streets ahead on the midweek U.K. albums chart. The Birmingham artist and producer, who records as The Streets, bolts to No. 1 on the Official Chart Update with None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive (Island), which takes the lead by almost 3,000 combined sales, according to the Official Charts Company. If it holds its position when the Official U.K Albums Chart is published this Friday, it’ll be The Streets’ first leader in 14 years. Skinner has tasted the high life twice. With his 2004 sophomore album A Grand Don’t Come For Free (for which he won the Brit Award for British male solo artist) and 2006’s The Hardest Way To Make A Living. In second place is Juice Wrld’s posthumous set Legends Never Die (Interscope), the leader on streams in the first half of the week, ...
Juice WRLD Set for Big Splash on U.K. Singles Chart
A trio of tracks from Juice WRLD’s posthumous album release Legends Never Die (Polydor) are pushing for top 20 berths on the U.K. singles chart. Following the weekend’s sales and streaming activity, the hip-hop artist’s “Come & Go” with Marshmello flies in at No. 10 on the Official Chart: First Look. Also, “Life’s A Mess” vaults 66-12 on the sales blast, and “Conversations” is at No. 14, according to the Official Charts Company. The 21-year-old rapper (real name Jared Anthony Higgins) died last December following an accidental overdose of painkillers. Juice WRLD has a posthumous U.K. No. 1 to his name, for his contribution on Eminem’s “Godzilla.” His next highest appearance on the Official U.K. Singles Chart is a No. 10 peak for his signature tune from 2018, “Lucid Dreams.” Legen...
Pop Smoke Lights up Australia’s Albums Chart With ‘Shoot For The Stars’
Pop Smoke, the fast-rising hip-hop artist whose life was taken in a home invasion at the age of just 20, is the new leader of Australia’s albums chart. The Los Angeles-based artist’s debut LP Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon (Universal) bows at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, with three tracks from it impacting the national singles survey (“The Woo” at No. 25, “For The Night” at No. 32 and “Dior” at No. 48). Pop Smoke’s posthumous release follows two mixtapes, Meet The Woo (2019) and Meet The Woo 2 (2020), the latter debuting at No. 33 last week and rising to No. 24 on the current list. Shoot For The Stars is the first posthumous LP to top the Australian chart in more than two years. The last to do so was Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu’s history-making Djarimirri (Child Of The Rainb...
Yeasayer Drop Copyright Lawsuit Against The Weeknd & Kendrick Lamar for ‘Black Panther’ Hit ‘Pray For Me’
Yeasayer voluntarily dismissed the copyright lawsuit against The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar over their Black Panther: The Album highlight “Pray For Me.” In this dismissal obtained by Billboard today (July 10), the indie rock band and its record label We Are Free “confirmed to their satisfaction that no copyright infringement occurred” by the defendants The Weeknd (real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye), Lamar (Kendrick Lamar Duckworth), Canadian producers Doc McKinney (Martin “Doc” McKinney) and Frank Dukes (Adam King Feeney), and labels Universal Music Group, Interscope, Aftermath and Top Dawg Entertainment. In February 2018, “Pray For Me” propelled both The Weeknd and Lamar into another echelon of superstardom when it...
Nielsen to Shed 3,500 Jobs in Restructuring
Nielsen will cut up to 3,500 jobs as part of a restructuring of its businesses to save money and focus on its core holdings. The data company and TV ratings provider says the moves are part of a “broad-based optimization plan” to cut costs and make the remaining assets more efficient, as well as making Nielsen more profitable. Under the plan, Nielsen will “exit several smaller, underperforming markets and non-core businesses” in the next few months. The optimization plan includes cuts of 3,500 staff worldwide — about 8 percent of the company’s employees. “Across Nielsen Global Media and Nielsen Global Connect, we are making progress on increasing our operational and financial discipline, including zero-basing our cost structure as we move toward the plan...
Why NYC’s Entertainment Commissioner Sees Reopening Music Venues as a Chance to Rethink a ‘Flawed’ System
“It strengthens the argument that we really need to support our local venues, and for us to represent their needs at the table,” says Anne del Castillo. This week, New York City enters phase three of reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic, meaning the return of hair and nail salons, basketball courts and more spaces in addition to outdoor dining. But for local music venues from (Le) Poisson Rouge to Brooklyn’s Elsewhere — many of which faced rising rents, gentrification and other challenges even before the pandemic began — the road to reopening remains ongoing and uncertain. Anne del Castillo knows this struggle well. The New York City native took over as commissioner of Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) in April 2019, with a foc...
Paul Weller’s ‘On Sunset’ Heats up Midweek U.K. Albums Chart
Paul Weller shouts to the top of the U.K. midweek chart with On Sunset (Polydor), his fifteenth solo album. The former Style Council and The Jam frontman takes the lead on the Official Chart Update, with a 11,000 chart sales advantage over its nearest competitor, Pop Smoke’s posthumous debut Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon (Republic Records). If On Sunset holds its position when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published this Friday (July 10), it’ll be Weller’s first leader since Sonik Kicks opened at the summit, eight years ago. On Sunset will be the veteran British artist’s 20th solo Top 10 album, and it’s the best-seller across physical albums and downloads in the first half of the chart cycle. Pop Smoke’s debut comes in at No. 2 on the midweek albums chart, and three songs ...
