business
Clearing His Name: Metropolitan CEO Says He’s Ready to Put Disastrous Albany Show Behind Him
Two years after an SMG executive accused him of stiffing his portion of a bill for a 2018 concert, John Scher says new evidence clears him of wrong-doing When John Scher was approached by an old friend about investing in a long-shot benefit concert, the 69-year-old promoter knew he should have walked away. But spellbound by the opportunity to work with superstar artists James Taylor and John Legend, Scher convinced himself that he could pull it off. Big mistake. “I don’t know why I let myself get dragged into these things,” Scher says of the cancelled 2018 concert supporting Albany Med hospital that became a costly lawsuit and legal headache he didn’t need. In late 2017, Times Union Center manager Bob Belber approached Scher with a proposal to co-promote a black tie gala celebrating the re...
Music Venues Across the Country Can Reopen, But Is It Worth It?
Concerts are slowly starting again, but they’re looking considerably different in the pandemic and many clubs are unsure whether they’re worth the risks. On May 18, TempleLive in Fort Smith, Arkansas, hosted one of the nation’s first socially-distanced concerts with country rock artist Travis McCready of the band Bishop Gunn. In order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus promoters implemented extensive safety protocols: temperature checks at the door, masks on attendees and staff, limited bathroom occupancies and disinfecting fog sprayers, among them. The venue also had to keep each “fan pod” group of fans who arrived together at least six feet apart with one-way walkways and vigilant staff. It was an unusual sight for Getty Images photographer Kevin Mazur, who flew in from...
How We Work Now: NMPA President/CEO David Israelite
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 David Israelite, the president/CEO of music publishing trade association NMPA. David Israelite: We’ve just been in a kind of holding pattern. We have a lot of of pending issues [for which] we’re waiting for decisions from government bodies or legal bodies. Right before the shutdown, on March 10, we had our oral arguments regarding the appeal of the copyright royalty board rates by Spotif...
Guy Oseary Stepping Away From Day-to-Day Role at Maverick
He will continue to manage Madonna and U2 and consult Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, extending his deal with the touring company. Guy Oseary is stepping away from his day-to-day role at his management collective Maverick to consult for Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino and further concentrate on his tech and entertainment entrepreneurial interests. The news comes with a three-year extension of Oseary’s existing partnership with Live Nation, which purchased Maverick in 2013. He will still continue to manage Madonna and U2 under the Maverick banner. Other managers using the Maverick umbrella will continue to operate under Live Nation’s Artist Nation division. “I’m ready for my new chapter and welcome the opportunity to have more time to focus on management of Madonna and U2 while f...
The 1975 Looking to Extend Chart Streak In U.K.
The 1975 are edging closer to a fourth consecutive chart crown in the U.K. with Notes on a Conditional Form (Dirty Hit/Polydor), though it’s a tight race with KSI‘s debut album Dissimulation (BMG) close behind. The 22-track Notes on a Conditional Form is the leader on the Official Chart Update, and takes an advantage on CD and vinyl sales into the final straight of the chart week. Matt Healy and Co. are on a perfect 3-0 winning streak with their previous albums all ruling the chart, The 1975 (2013), I Like It When You Sleep… (2016), and A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships (2018). British rapper and YouTuber KSI is making a fight of it with Dissimulation, which starts at No. 2 on the midweek chart and leads all albums on streams and downloads. Four tracks from Dissimu...
Canadian court disappoints Huawei over CFO’s case
A Canadian court ruled against Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, on Wednesday in her extradition case to the US on fraud charges. However, the company said it has faith her innocence will ultimately be maintained. Meng, the CFO of the telecom giant and eldest daughter of its founder is wanted by the U.S for alleged fraud. The US authorities alleged that she lied to HSBC Bank about Huawei’s relationship with its Iran-based affiliate Skycom, putting the bank at risk of violating US sanctions against Tehran. In a statement posted on Twitter, Huawei Canada said; “Huawei is disappointed in the ruling today by the Supreme Court of British Columbia, we have repeatedly expressed confidence in Ms Meng’s innocence”. “Huawei continues to stand with Ms Meng in her pursuit for justice and...
How We Work Now: Midem Director Alexandre Deniot
In a new 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 Midem director Alexandre Deniot, who was forced to make some big decisions about this year’s music business conference as the pandemic shut down France less than eight weeks before the annual event. Here, he speaks about how he balanced home and work while shifting the focus of the conference, which kicks off next week and runs June 2-5, to the first digital version of Midem in its 5...
Bucky Baxter, Guitarist Who Worked on Bob Dylan’s ‘Time Out of Mind’, Dies at 65
Bucky Baxter, an in-demand guitarist who performed on Bob Dylan three-time Grammy Award-winning album Time Out of Mind, died Monday (May 25) in Sanibel Island, Florida at the age of 65. No cause of death was revealed. Baxter’s passing was revealed by his son Rayland in a post on social media. “He is my everything and now he is an angel. My heart is broken yet I am blinded by joy,” he wrote. Born in Melbourne, Florida in 1955, Baxter was a founding member of Steve Earle’s backing band, The Dukes, and played guitars on a string of the rocker’s albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the international breakout album Copperhead Road. Baxter also worked on R.E.M.’s Green and cut albums with Ben Folds, Ryan Adams, Joe Henry and others, but it’s his years-long association with Dylan f...
Big Hit Entertainment, Home to BTS, Strikes Deal With Seventeen Label PLEDIS
Expanding its strategy to build a multi-label structure, Big Hit is now the largest shareholder of PLEDIS Entertainment. South Korea-based powerhouse Big Hit Entertainment has become the largest shareholder of record label PLEDIS Entertainment, home to K-pop superstars Seventeen and NU’EST, it was announced Monday. Under the terms of the deal, PLEDIS will retain its independence as a label, though its artists will now receive support from Big Hit’s business entities and support organizations to expand their reach into overseas markets — similar to the way Big Hit turned boy band BTS into a top-charting phenomenon across the globe. The PLEDIS deal is the latest move in Big Hit’s strategy to expand its multi-label structure following the company’s acquisition of Source Music last ...
Inside Bombino’s Ambitious Plans For a Professional Studio In Niger
Nearly a decade ago, singer-songwriter-guitarist Bombino told his longtime manager, Eric Herman, that he wanted to open a recording studio in his home country of Niger. “It is materially a very poor country,” says Herman. “It’s rare to find studios that would be up to world-standard in Africa in general.” Plus, since Bombino — who champions his Tuareg identity and culture in his lyrics — usually spends eight months of the year touring, Herman felt “it needed some sort of outside push to get going.” That push came in 2019 when Welsh producer-engineer-musician David Wrench (who mixed Bombino’s 2016 album, Azel) approached the artist about working together again. Only this time, he wanted to produce Bombino’s next album — and he wanted to do it in Niger. “That reignited the spark,” says Herma...
The Beths, Haiku Hands, Tkay Maidza & More Among Levi’s Music Relief Fund Winners
Haiku Hands, Tkay Maidza, Jaguar Jonze and Miiesha are among the first five winners of the Levi’s Music Prize, which has been reimagined this year to spread the cheer to more Australian and New Zealand musicians during the health crisis. The winning acts all pocket A$4,500 ($2,960) cash, as will The Beths, who become the first New Zealand act to share in the prize which has been redesigned this year as the Levi’s Music Relief Fund. Now in its fourth year, the quarterly honor is said to be the largest single music prize in Australasia, and is typically awarded to those artists that have built “significant initial career momentum” through their performances at the annual Bigsound summit and showcase event, but who still require a cash injection. Across 2020, A$45,000 ($29,600) in cash will b...
Little Richard Statue to be Erected Outside Childhood Home
A statue of the late rock ‘n’ roll legend Little Richard is expected to be installed outside his childhood home in Macon, Georgia. The Little Richard House Resource Center Facebook page announced the tribute during a live Zoom meeting, news outlets reported. Little Richard, also known as Richard Wayne Penniman, died May 9 in Nashville at the age of 87. He was laid to rest Wednesday at his alma mater Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama. A fund established by Friends of the Little Richard House and the Community Foundation of Central Georgia will be used to pay for the statue and a replica of Little Richard’s Hollywood Walk of Fame. Rep. James Beverly, D-Macon, said the fund will also be used to support organizations that provide music education to low to moderate-income students...
