International
BTS Label Big Hit Entertainment Doubles Shares in Smash Stock Market Debut
A strong debut was expected by industry analysts given BTS’ enormous fanbase, officially termed the BTS ARMY, who are quick to pounce on virtual and physical concert tickets, album collectibles and other extensive merchandise lines. BTS accounted for more than 80% of the company’s revenue during the first half of 2020, according to a report by investment management company Samsung Securities. The group — consisting of members J-Hope, RM, Suga, Jungkook, V, Jin and Jiminwhich — launched in 2013 and has since performed sold-out shows across the world, breaking numerous Billboard chart records in the process. BTS became the first K-pop act to top the Billboard Hot 100 last month with “Dynamite,” their first all-English song, and this week occupies the top two slo...
COVID-19, Bushfires Impact APRA AMCOS’ Financial Year
With restrictions in place on live music and events across the country, royalties are “expected to take a more substantial hit in 2020-21,” APRA AMCOS warns. In a painful sign of the times, royalties payable to songwriters, publishers, affiliated societies and rights holders during the year-long period were down 0.9%, to A$407.3 million ($289 million). Predictably, the hardest hit revenue category was public performance income, which generated A$73 million ($51 million) of income, almost A$20 million ($14 million) less than the corresponding figure from last year. The results are published in the APRA AMCOS’s Year In Review. “Individual and collective resilience has been tested and we’ve had to adapt quickly,” comments APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston, on publication of the annual report....
Sam Smith, Maluma, Doja Cat & More to Perform at 2020 MTV EMA
This year’s show will be shot in multiple locations around the world. Sam Smith, Maluma, Doja Cat, Yungblud and Zara Larsson are the first performers announced to appear on the 2020 MTV EMA (Europe Music Awards), which are set to air globally on MTV on Nov. 8. The timing works out especially well for Smith and Yungblud, who are set to release new studio albums near the show date. Smith’s third studio album, Love Goes, is due Oct. 30. Yungblud’s second studio album, Weird!, is due Nov. 13. Maluma and Doja Cat will be performing on the EMA stage for the first time. Maluma is nominated for three awards, including two categories that are newly added this year: best Latin and best virtual live. The latter category was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is expected to be short-live...
BTS Faces Uproar In China Over Korean War Comments
“After 70 years, the world we are living in is much closer than before. Boundaries in many aspects are getting more blurred,” RM said. “As members of the global community, we should build a deeper understanding and solidarity to be happier together.” Chinese internet users and state media took RM’s comments as a slap at China, whose soldiers fought alongside North Korean forces during their failed attempt to annex South Korea in the 1950-53 war. They accused RM of ignoring the role played by China in the war, which Chinese Communist Party propaganda blames on the United States, instead of North Korean leader Kim Il Sung’s attack on South Korea. “Before, I thought some BTS songs were pretty good. Now, they seem to be covered in excrement,” said a commenter on the microblog service Sina Weib...
John Lennon’s ‘Gimme Some Truth’ Challenging for U.K. Chart Title
Lennon has three No. 1s as a solo artist, and a whopping 16 with the Beatles, more than any act in Official Chart history. If Travis hold on, it’ll give the four-piece their first No. 1 in almost two decades. All but one of the band’s eight previous albums have cracked the Top 5 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart. At the midweek stage, North London rapper Headie One holds the No. 2 position with his debut studio album Edna (Relentless), the market leader on streams. Further down the list, Queen + Adam Lambert’s Live Around The World (EMI) slips 1-4, and Brit Award-nominees D-Block Europe are at No. 5 with their debut The Blue Print – Us vs Them (D-Block Europe), while new releases from classic British bands Tears For Fears, Dire Straits, Iron Maiden and Suede are set for Top 10 entries. Sev...
Lime Cordiale, Tame Impala Lead 2020 ARIA Awards Nominations
Kevin Parker’s Tame Impala also snagged top spot on the national chart this year with The Slow Rush (Modular Recordings / Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia), his psychedelic-pop outfit’s fourth LP. It’s the highest-selling homegrown album in 2020 so far, and its up seven ARIAs, including album of the year. Zambian-born, Botswana-raised, Melbourne-based hip-hop artist Sampa The Great is in the running for six ARIAs for her debut album, The Return (Ninja Tune / Inertia Music). Sampa is already a multiple award winner in her adopted homeland. She’s the only two-time winner of the Australian Music Prize (including victory for The Return), and last year she became the first woman of color to win an ARIA Award in the best hip-hop release category, for “Final Form.” Win...
Watch Blackpink Nail ‘Lovesick Girls’ Choreography, Debut ‘Pretty Savage’ Live on Korean TV
The following day (Oct. 11), Jennie, Lisa, Rosé and Jisoo repeated their performance of “Lovesick Girls” on SBS Live, complete with a colorful, carnival-esque set and Britney Spears-inspired headset mics. “Love is slippin’ and fallin’/ Love is killin’ your darlin’/ That fearless thrill returns once the pain subsides,” Rosé crooned on the track’s post-chorus as her three bandmates circled around her, before tossing the rest of the stanza to Jisoo. Blackpink has plenty of reason to celebrate this week, with their long-awaited debut album, The Album, entering at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The entry marks a career high for the girls on the chart. (Their previous EPs, 2019’s Kill This Love and 2018’s Square Up, peaked at Nos. 24...
BTS’ Virtual Map of the Soul ON:E Concert Garnered Nearly 1 Million Viewers Across the Globe
In addition to hits like “We Are Bulletproof: the Eternal,” “DNA” and their No. 1 hit “Dynamite,” the concert also featured solo moments by all seven members for the group — from RM (“Intro: Persona”) and Jimin (“Filter”) to Jin (“Moon”) and Jungkook (“My Time”). Meanwhile, Suga and J-Hope performed “Interlude: Shadow” and “Outro: Ego” while V delivered “Inner Child.” BTS also dedicated the entire encore of the digital concert experience to their fandom, closing out with “Butterfly” and “Run” on day one and “Spring Day” and “Idol” on day two. (All in all, the two-day event drew a total of 993,ooo viewers from 191 count...
Queen Reigns on U.K. Albums Chart
With their latest feat, Queen draw level with Eminem, Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart and U2, all of whom have bagged ten U.K. No. 1s. For Lambert, it’s his first stint in the top spot. Coming in at No. 2 on the latest frame is BlackPink with their their Korean-language LP, The Album (Interscope). The K-pop girl group snagged an “impressive” 5,700 cassette sales, the OCC reports. Meanwhile, Britpop legends Oasis reenter the chart at No. 3 with their sophomore album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (Big Brother), boosted by its 25th anniversary vinyl reissue, the leader on the current Official Vinyl Albums Chart. British TV personality Amanda Holden earns a No. 4 entry with Songs From My Heart (EMI). It’s the U.K.’s highest-charting debut album of 2020 by a British female, according to the OC...
Queen Takes Australian Chart Crown
Close behind is K-pop stars BlackPink with their debut Korean language LP The Album, new at No. 2, while fresh sets from Bon Jovi (2020 at No. 3), 21 Savage & Metro Boomin (Savage Mode II at No. 4) and Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor (CMFT at No. 8) impact the Top 10. Prolific homegrown prog-rock outfit King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard take out their fifth and sixth Top 50 entries for the year as Demos Vol. 1 + Vol. 2 and Live In Asheville ’19 enter at No. 14 and No. 30, respectively. Over on the ARIA Singles Chart 24kGoldn’s “Mood” featuring Iann Dior bags a second straight week at No. 1. It’s also the best-seller in the U.K., for a third-successive cycle. Late rapper Pop Smoke has the highest new entry on the Australian survey with “What You Know Bout L...
A.C.E Transforms Blackpink’s ‘How You Like That’ Into ’90s Power Ballad: Watch
A.C.E stopped by Korean music program it’s KPOP LIVE on Tuesday (Oct. 6) to deliver a stirring live cover of Blackpink‘s “How You Like That.” For the performance, the K-pop boy band flipped the script on the bombastic single by channeling the likes of Boyz II Men and turning it into a harmony-filled slow jam. “I crumbled before your eyes/ Hit rock bottom and sunk deeper/ To grab onto the last bit of hope/ I’ve tried to reach out with both my hands/ Again, in this dark place, light up the sky/ While looking into your eyes, I’ll kiss you goodbye/ Laugh all you want while you still can/ Because it’s about to be your turn, one, two, three,” the quintet crooned against a bright teal backdrop, adding plenty of harmonies and wailing ad-libs fo...
BENEE Launches Olive Label, Signs Muroki: Exclusive
“I was listening to the track every day at one point,” she says, praising his “smooth and soulful” vocals. “Muroki’s such a sweet and genuine guy, just the sort of artist I’d like to work with.” BENEE introduced Elton John to Muroki when she met the Rocket Man on his Beat 1 radio show, and she’s currently touring with the teen in NZ. Leading Olive is label manager Trieste Douglas, formerly A&R for Universal Music New Zealand, and Poppy Tohill, from BENEE’s management team at CRS, Billboard can exclusively reveal. “The Olive team is already packed with some hardworking badass women,” comments BENEE (real name Stella Bennett), “and I feel this is an important time for us in the music business to come together and make some really cool shit happen.” She’s only 20 years of age, but BENEE i...
