Two years ago during a phone interview, Angel del
Villar told Billboard to be on the lookout for “the
next big thing” in Regional Mexican music: Eslabon
Armado.
It was the Mexican-American teenage group he
had just signed to his indie label, DEL Records. Back
then, the sierreño ensemble had one album under its
belt, the 2020 debut set Tu Veneno Mortal, which was
quickly followed by back-to-back-to-back releases of
Vibras de Noche, Corta Venas and Tu Veneno Mortal,
Vol. 2, all released within a two year period, all of
which peaked at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Regional Mexi-
can Albums chart. A rapid-fire pace that was part of
del Villar’s strategy to match the speed that has been
driving releases in today’s music industry.
But it was the group’s 2022 release, Nostalgia, that
would take them to new heights: the 14-track set
debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 (dated May 21)
this week, making history as the first top 10-charting
Regional Mexican album ever on the tally. And it helps
del Villar earn the title of Billboard‘s Executive of the
Week.
Del Villar’s DEL Records has been home to chart-
topping artists such as Gerardo Ortiz, the late Ariel
Camacho, Lenin Ramírez and Ulices Chaidez.
“[But] I’ve been doing this for 14 years and it’s the first
time I’ve seen anything like this,” the executive says.
“We knew the album would do well but it exceeded
our expectations.”
Del Villar cites many factors that led to this history-
making debut. One example was sending Pedro
Tovar, Eslabon Armado’s frontman and songwriter,
to a local resort for a staycation in California where
he could recharge and get inspiration. It’s where he
wrote 80% of the album, says del Villar. Another was
deciding to feature collaborations on this album,
including duets with young sierreño hitmakers Ivan
Cornejo, Junior H and DannyLux, a first for Esla-
bon. Out of their four previous albums, only Corta Ve-
nas had featured a collaboration, which was “Jugaste
Y Sufrí” with DannyLux. The strategy, “allows us to
capture new audiences,” adds del Villar.
Here, the DEL Records CEO breaks down the
How Eslabon Armado
Made Billboard 200 History
With ‘Nostalgia’
BY GRISELDA FLORES
(continued)
YOUR DAILY ENTERTAINMENT NEWS UPDATE
Bulletin
MAY 20, 2022 Page 1 of 17
• Music Companies
Are Not Immune
From Sliding
Stock Market
• Harry Styles’
‘Harry’s House’ Sets
New Record on
Apple Music
• J Balvin Switches
Agents for UTA
• Inside Track:
Creator Power,
Spatial Audio & the
Metaverse Dominate
Music Biz 2022
• Billboard Promotes
Mike Van to
President & Dana
Droppo to Chief
Brand Ocer
• Bandcamp, Google
to Maintain Payment
System Until
Epic Suit Ends
• Prodigy of Mobb
Deep’s Solo Catalog
Returns to Streaming
Services, New Music
On the Way
INSIDE
2 0 2 2
I S S U E D A T E 6/4 | A D C L O S E 5/25 | M A T E R I A L S D U E 5/26
4th, 4th
Page 3 of 17
strategy and marketing campaigns that went
into making Nostalgia a huge debut, what
sets Eslabon Armado apart and what having
a top 10 spot on the Billboard 200 — in the
same week that Bad Bunny debuted at No.
1 with Un Verano Sin Ti, the first time that
two all-Spanish albums have placed in the
top 10 simultaneously — means for Latin
music.
With a No. 9 debut, Eslabon Armado’s
Nostalgia makes history as the first top
10-charting Regional Mexican album ever
on the Billboard 200. What key decision
did you make to help make this achieve-
ment happen?
Well, my team and I are very involved
with every decision, from who’s mixing
the album to picking the songs. But I’d say
something that was key was sending Pedro
to a resort, called The Pelican Resort, where
he could write songs for the album. I think
he wrote 80% of the whole album while
staying there. Pedro is a water sign, he’s a
Cancer like myself, we’re only days apart in
our birthdays. Every time I go to a resort, I
connect with Mother Nature and the water
helps with creativity. That type of environ-
ment makes a dierence for him as well.
Were there any new or go-to strate-
gies that you and your team used to help
it achieve such a huge — and historic —
debut?
Collaborations. This is the first album
where we featured a bunch of collaborations
and it was something that really helped us.
It’s a strategy that allows us to capture new
audiences. That was a big part for this al-
bum: to tap other artists and their fan bases.
The artists we collaborated with are big in
their own lane and are young like Eslabon:
DannyLux, Ivan Cornejo, Fuerza Regida,
Junior H.
What kind of marketing campaigns did
you put your dollars into that you think
helped get such a huge response?
We did a big marketing plan for this
particular album. We bought a lot of bill-
boards and we invested a lot of money on
hiring influencers who were posting on all
social media platforms in anticipation of
the release. Especially TikTok: I think in
today’s reality, it’s the biggest platform there
is. It’s not the first time we worked with
influencers but this time around they had a
bigger role. We didn’t set a budget for this
release, we went all out. What also helps is
that Pedro is really active on social media. In
reality, he markets himself when he does a
live on TikTok and you have 20,000 people
tuning in.
Two years ago, you told me to look out
for Eslabon Armado. What did you see
in them that you thought would set them
apart?
When I met Eslabon, I saw that spark.
Pedro is a gifted songwriter, he’s a producer,
he’s disciplined, he works hard, he has a
family that backs him up — they have it all.
It makes our job much easier. What’s hap-
pening right now marks a new chapter for
Eslabon. We’re working on our end to do
bigger collabs, we want to do a crossover.
We’re ready for that chapter in their career.
For the first time ever, we have two all-
Spanish albums in the top 10 on the Bill-
board 200: Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti
and Eslabon Armado’s Nostalgia. What’s
your initial reaction to that?
Honestly, I was surprised and shocked.
We knew the album would do well but it
exceeded our expectations. I know the hard
work that was put in this particular album,
so I mean, it’s just a big blessing. As an inde-
pendent record label, I feel mega blessed to
be part of history. This is a moment that will
go down in the books. To see a guy like Bad
Bunny who’s leading music in general and to
be right there with him, it’s crazy. I’ve tried
to reach out to Noah [Assad, Bad Bunny’s
manager] so that we can do something
between Bad Bunny and Eslabon. It would
be huge.
What lesson does having two all-
Spanish albums in the top 10 teach us
about not only regional, but Latin music
in general?
That we are big supporters of music. I feel
so proud to see the impact this album is hav-
ing. Dreams do come true. Eslabon Armado
started two years ago. Their growth in just
two years is unheard of. I’ve been doing this
for 14 years and it’s the first time I’ve seen
IN BRIEF
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2 0 2 2
On June 4th, Billboard will publish
its annual Indie Label Power Players List.
This special feature in advance of Indie
Week (6/13-6/16) and the 11th Annual
Libera Awards will profile leading
executives at top independent record
labels, publishing companies and
distribution companies. Positioning
themselves as the driving force behind
the success of independent music, these
executives contribute to the
independent music sector and to the
world of music at large.
Take this opportunity to advertise
and congratulate this year’s 2022
Indie Label Power Players.
CONTACTS
Joe Maimone
201.301.5933 | [email protected]
Lee Ann Photoglo
615.376.7931 | [email protected]
Cynthia Mellow
615.352,0265 | [email protected]
Marcia Olival
786.586.4901 | [email protected]
Ryan O’Donnell
+447843437176 | [email protected]
INDIE
L A B E L
P O W E R P L AY E R S
anything like this. I know Pedro. He’s going
to come out with something better than
Nostalgia. He’s already writing songs for the
next album and we just released this one.
He’s 19, he’s very talented. It goes back to
the group’s discipline, their hard work and
being humble, which is a huge part of their
success. To achieve great things, you have
to be consistent. We don’t believe in one-hit
wonders at DEL Records.
Music Companies
Are Not Immune
From Sliding
Stock Market
BY GLENN PEOPLES
T
he stock market’s downturn in
recent weeks has hit music with
mixed results: bad, badder and
baddest. For all their troubles, mu-
sic stocks don’t always look bad compared
to major retailers like Target, which lost
30.2% this week, and Terra, the cryptocur-
rency that went bust last week.
For example, take the concert busi-
ness, which was hammed by COVID-19
shutdowns in 2020 and was one of the last
industries to returned to life in 2022. Since
then, live music and ticketing companies
have performed relatively well. On average,
Live Nation, CTS Eventim, MSG Entertain-
ment, Eventbrite and Vivid Seats share
prices have dropped only 18.9% this year
— about the same as the S&P 500’s 18.2%
decline and better than the Nasdaq’s 27.2%
deficit (although not as good as the New
York Stock Exchange composite’s 12.5%
drop in 2022).
Over the last four weeks, these stocks
have fallen 10.2%, outpacing the S&P 500
(down 8.7%) and NYSE composite (down
6.4%).
Not all sectors have fared as well.
Music streaming companies have per-
formed very poorly — in part because they
had so far to fall. Spotify, Anghami, Tencent
Music Entertainment and Cloud Village
have fallen 46.1% year to date and 8.0%
since April 22 (about four weeks). In gen-
eral, the streaming business model has lost
some luster as investors realized gains made
during the pandemic weren’t just unsustain-
able but threatened by high inflation.
As a point of comparison, streaming video
on-demand stocks (Netflix, Roku, Warner
Bros. Discovery, Walt Disney, Comcast) have
fallen 9.4% and 40.1% since April 22 and
year-to-date, respectively. The bellwether
here is Netflix, which reported a decline in
subscribers in the first quarter and warned
of more losses in the current quarter. Music
companies have tried to distance music
subscription services from SVOD platforms
that compete on original content and are
arguably more susceptible to churn. Music
services might temper their growth expecta-
tions, music executives said, but they’re
more stable than SVOD services.
Still, Spotify’s subscription growth has
not pleased investors, either. The company’s
shares are down 54.8% in 2022, although the
Thursday’s (May 19) $105.79 closing price is
well above the all-time low of $89.03 set on
May 12. Anghami’s first earnings report
on Tuesday showed encouraging double-
digit year-over-year growth. That put
Anghami shares up 1.5% this week, although
they’re down 26.6% this year. And TME and
Cloud Village are special cases: While they
are growing their subscription businesses,
they face unique challenges from Chinese
regulators, and TME is subject to a U.S. law
that will de-list foreign companies that don’t
allow U.S. authorities to audit their books.
In general, music is seen as a sturdy,
countercyclical business that maintains
consumer spending during recessions, leav-
ing it unaected by wider market trends.
But even its bread and butter — copyrights
— have gotten burnt this year. Labels and
publishers Universal Music Group, Warner
Music Group, Believe, Reservoir Media,
HYBE, Hipgnosis Songs Fund and Round
Hill Music Royalty Fund have collectively
fallen 10.4% in the four weeks since April
22 and 20.1% year to date. The companies’
Page 5 of 17
IN BRIEF
Sam Hunt’s second studio full-length, and rst in over ve years, Southside
(MCA Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville), debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s
Top Country Albums chart dated April 18. In its rst week (ending April 9), it
earned 46,000 equivalent album units, including 16,000 in album sales, ac-
cording to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.
Southside marks Hunt’s second No. 1 on the
chart and fourth top 10. It follows freshman LP
Montevallo, which arrived at the summit in No-
vember 2014 and reigned for nine weeks. To date,
Montevallo has earned 3.9 million units, with 1.4
million in album sales.
Montevallo has spent 267 weeks on the list, tying
Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party as the sixth-longest-
running titles in the chart’s 56-year history.
On the all-genre Billboard 200, Southside ar-
rives at No. 5, awarding Hunt his second top 10
after the No. 3-peaking Montevallo.
Hunt rst released the EP X2C, which debuted
and peaked at No. 5 on Top Country Albums in August 2014. Following
Montevallo, Between the Pines: Acoustic Mixtape started at its No. 7 high in
November 2015.
Montevallo produced ve singles, four of which hit the pinnacle of Country
Airplay: “Leave the Night On,” “Take Your Time,” “House Party” and “Make
You Miss Me.” “Break Up in a Small Town” peaked at No. 2.
Hunt co-penned all 12 songs on Southside, including “Body Like a Back
Road,” which was released in 2017. The smash hit ruled Country Airplay for
three weeks and the airplay-, streaming- and sales-based Hot Country Songs
chart for a then-record 34 frames. It now ranks second only to Bebe Rexha and
Florida Georgia Line’s “Meant to Be” (50 weeks atop the latter list in 2017-18).
“Downtown’s Dead,” which is also on the new set, reached Nos. 14 and 15
on Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay, respectively, in June 2018. “Kin-
folks” led Country Airplay on Feb. 29, becoming Hunt’s seventh No. 1. It hit
No. 3 on Hot Country Songs.
Latest single “Hard to Forget” jumps 17-9 on Hot Country Songs. It’s his
eighth top 10, having corralled 8.2 million U.S. streams (up 96%) and 5,000 in
sales (up 21%) in the tracking week. On Country Airplay, it hops 18-15 (11.9 mil-
lion audience impressions, up 16%).
TRY TO ‘CATCH’ UP WITH YOUNG Brett Young achieves his fth consecutive
and total Country Airplay No. 1 as “Catch” (Big Machine Label Group) ascends
2-1, increasing 13% to 36.6 million impressions.
Young’s rst of six chart entries, “Sleep With-
out You,” reached No. 2 in December 2016. He
followed with the multiweek No. 1s “In Case You
Didn’t Know” (two weeks, June 2017), “Like I Loved
You” (three, January 2018), “Mercy” (two, August
2018) and “Here Tonight” (two, April 2019).
“Catch” completes his longest journey to No. 1,
having taken 46 weeks to reach the apex. It out-
paces the 30-week climb of “Here Tonight.”
On Hot Country Songs, “Catch” pushes 7-5 for
a new high.
COMBS ‘DOES’ IT AGAIN Luke Combs’ “Does to Me” (River House/Columbia
Nashville), featuring Eric Church, ascends 11-8 on Country Airplay, up 10% to
24.7 million in audience. The song is Combs’ eighth straight career-opening
top 10, following a record run of seven consecutive out-of-the-gate, properly
promoted No. 1 singles.
Church adds his 15th Country Airplay top 10.
THAT TOOK QUITE ‘A FEW’ MONTHS Travis Denning shatters the record for
the most weeks it has taken to penetrate the Country Airplay top 10 as “After
a Few” (Mercury Nashville) climbs 12-10 in its 57th week, up 4% to 21.4 mil-
lion in radio reach.
The song surpasses two tracks that took 50 weeks each to enter the top 10:
Easton Corbin’s “A Girl Like You,” which reached No. 10 in January 2018 be-
fore peaking at No. 6 that February, and Aaron Watson’s “Outta Style,” which
achieved its No. 10 high in December 2017.
“After” is Denning’s second Country Airplay entry. “David Ashley Parker
From Powder Springs” traveled to No. 32 in September 2018.
SamHunt’s Southside Rules Top Country
Albums; Brett Young ‘Catch’-es Fifth Airplay
Leader; Travis Denning Makes History
ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER [email protected]
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE APRIL 13, 2020 | PAGE 4 OF 19
HUNT: MICHAEL MARTIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES. YOUNG: ETHAN
MILLER/GETTY IMAGES
HUNT YOUNG
ISSUE DATE 6/25 | AD CLOSE 6/15 | MATERIALS DUE 6/16
COUNTRY
POWER PLAYERS
2022
Billboard’s ninth annual Country Power Players
issue will profile the people who have driven
another solid year for the country music industry in
sales, streaming and publishing.This special feature
will highlight the top executives, artists and change-
makers who kept the music playing during chal-
lenging times, as well as coverage of the changing
face of country music.
Advertise in Billboard’s Country Power Players
issue to congratulate this year’s honorees while
reaching key decision-makers who are driving
the music business.
CONTACTS
Joe Maimone
Lee Ann Photoglo
Cynthia Mellow
Marcia Olival
Ryan O’Donnell
fundamentals remain strong, and stream-
ing’s prospects remain bright, but in today’s
economy, investors are more concerned
about margins and profitability than pure
growth.
Among these companies, the stabler
royalty funds — Hipgnosis and Round Hill
— which raise money to invest in relatively
steady and predictable assets, have per-
formed well amid the downturn: Hipgnosis
has dropped only 1.9% and Round Hill’s
down just 3.1% so far this year.
Otherwise, the best performer of the
bunch has been Universal Music Group —
down 15.6% over the past four weeks and
down 19.4% so far this year. Meanwhile,
French distributor/label Believe (down
21.4% since April 22, down 42.2% year to
date) and South Korea’s HYBE (down 14.1%
since April 22, down 37.4% year to date)
have fared the worst. Take away Hipgnosis
and Round Hill, and these label and publish-
ers have collectively lost 27.0% year-to-date.
Radio companies iHeartMedia, Cumulus
Media, Audacy and Townsquare Media have
fallen an average of 24.4% since April 22, al-
most double the Nasdaq’s 10.7% decline and
more than three times the New York Stock
Exchange composite’s 6.7% drop over that
time period. Radio companies are particu-
larly sensitive to economic swings because
they subsist mainly on advertising revenues.
As witnessed at the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic in March 2020, when brands pull
back on advertising spending, radio compa-
nies will suer the consequences.
A Barrington analyst lowered the earn-
ings per share estimate for iHeartMedia
on May 11. Earlier in May, B. Riley and
JPMorgan Chase analysts lowered their
iHeartMedia price targets to $36 and $19, re-
spectively, and Zacks Investment Research
downgraded the stock from a “buy” rating
to “hold.” Cumulus has followed a dierent
trajectory. Following news that Cumulus
rejected a takeover bid in the $15 to $17
per share range, the company’s share price
jumped from $10.16 on April 13 to $15.10
on April 25, although it fell below $13 and
closed at $12.67 on Thursday. In the last four
weeks, Cumulus shares are up 12.6%.
Still, these four radio stocks’ average
year-to-date decline is just 18.9% – about the
same as the S&P 500’s 18.2% drop and better
than the Nasdaq’s 27.2% deficit.
Harry Styles’
‘Harry’s House’
Sets New Record
on Apple Music
BY RANIA ANIFTOS
H
arry Styles‘ highly anticipated
third studio album, Harry’s
House, ocially arrived on Fri-
day (May 20), and it’s already
setting new records.
In its first two hours on Apple Music,
the new album earned the most first-day
streams for a pop album released in 2022,
the platform announced.
The news comes just before Styles is set
to take the stage at UBS Arena at Belmont
Park, New York, on Friday for his “One
Night Only in NY” album release show,
where he will perform the entire LP for the
first time. If you were unable to get tickets
to the sold out event, the performance will
be available to stream in full, exclusively on
Apple Music here starting at 9 p.m. ET/6
p.m. PT.
Styles also recently told Apple Music’s
Zane Lowe that Harry’s House is his favor-
ite album at the moment. “I was kind of like,
‘It’d be really fun to make an album called
Harry’s House, and thought about it being
this smaller thing. And then it was back to
that thing of, ‘Maybe that’s an album I’ll
make in four years or five years or what-
ever.’ And as I started making the album, I
realized it wasn’t about the geographical
location. It’s much more of an internal thing.
When I took that title, put it to the songs we
were making, it felt like it took on this whole
new meaning and it was about, imagine it’s
a day in my house. What do I go through? A
day in my mind, what do I go through in my
house?”
“I’m playing fun music. I’m playing sad
music. I’m playing this, I’m playing that,” he
continued. “Feeling stu. Kind of like a day
in the life. I like all of that stu. And I think
while it obviously is a lot more electronic
in a lot of places than anything I’ve made,
it’s also so much more intimate to me. And
so much more intimately made […] It was
like, ‘I’m going to play in my house and you
can come visit 100%, but I’m making this
because it’s what I want to listen to.’ And
this is my favorite album at the moment, and
I love it so much.”
J Balvin Switches
Agents for UTA
BY LEILA COBO
L
ast week, J Balvin split with his
longtime agency, WME, and is now
working with UTA, sources tell
Billboard.
The agency will represent Balvin — one of
the world’s most recognized names in music
— in all areas. Aside from regularly topping
charts, the Colombian star has been the face
of massive campaigns with brands ranging
from McDonald’s to Jordan.
WME played an integral in Balvin’s global
expansion, booking tours not only in the U.S.
and Latin America but also opening up his
European touring market. The news follows
the artist’s announcement last month that
he would be postponing his 25-date José
tour supporting his latest studio album
by the same name, citing “unforeseen
production challenges” due to COVID-19.
Produced by Cárdenas Marketing Network,
the tour was slated to kick o April 19.
Balvin has grossed more than $20 million
and sold over 300,000 tickets, according to
figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. He is
still scheduled to perform in several upcom-
ing music festivals, including a headlining
slot at the Sueños Music Festival in Chicago
on May 29 alongside Wisin & Yandel.
All six of Balvin’s full-length studio
albums, including a collaborative set with
Bad Bunny, have reached the top 10 on
Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart, with
four of them hitting No. 1. He’s charted 93
hits on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart,
including 35 top 10s — including nine chart-
Page 7 of 17
IN BRIEF
ISSUE DATE 6/25 | AD CLOSE 6/15 | MATERIALS DUE 6/16
ASHANTI
2022
Ashanti is a Grammy Award-winning singer/song-
writer, actor and author. Ashanti burst onto the
music scene with her smash hit, self-titled debut
album Ashanti. It landed the #1 spot on both the
Billboard Top 200 and R&B album charts, selling a
whopping 504,593 units in its first week and set a
SoundScan record as the most albums sold by any
debut female artist in the chart’s history, granting
her a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records,
which she still holds today. Ashanti has released six
studio albums and received eight Billboard Awards,
a Grammy, two American Music Awards, two Soul
Train Awards, six ASCAP Awards, and many more
awards and illustrious honors. Ashanti has continued
to reign at the top as one of Billboard’s “Top Females
of the Decade from 2000-2010” and continues to
break Billboard records as having a Hot 100 entry in
the 2000’s, 2010’s and 2020’s. To celebrate her
contributions to music and recording, Ashanti will
receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in
April 2022.
Please join us in celebrating 20 years of the Princess
of R&B, the Queen of Written Entertainment and
“Baby” the woman that is never “Foolish” and writes
the melodies that stay in our minds and hearts
forever…..ASHANTI.
CONTACTS
Joe Maimone
201.301.5933 | [email protected]
Lee Ann Photoglo
615.376.7931 | [email protected]
Cynthia Mellow
615.352,0265 | [email protected]
Marcia Olival
786.586.4901 | [email protected]
Ryan O’Donnell
+447843437176 | [email protected]
20
TH
ANNIVERSARY
toppers. Additionally, in every year from
2014 through 2021, he’s finished as one of
the year’s top 10 artists on Billboard’s annual
year-end Top Latin Artists chart.
UTA currently reps Bad Bunny, Karol G
and Anitta among other marquee Latin acts.
Balvin is signed to Universal Music Latin
and is managed by Scooter Braun‘s SB
Projects and Fabio Acosta.
Additional reporting by Alexei
Barrionuevo.
Inside Track:
Creator Power,
Spatial Audio &
the Metaverse
Dominate Music
Biz 2022
BY BILLBOARD STAFF
F
or the first time since the onset
of the pandemic, the Music Biz
conference happened in person
in Nashville this month, bringing
together industry figures from across the
globe to banter about the various topics fac-
ing the business after two years of relying on
tech and streaming to connect an increas-
ingly-fractured landscape.
One conversation that seemed to perme-
ate both panels and interpersonal conversa-
tions at the convention was the expanding
role of artists in their own marketing and
release strategy, whether they are signed to
a major or not. During panels like “The Fu-
ture of the Artist Deal” and “Navigating New
Strategies,” speakers waxed near-philosoph-
ical on the improved standing of artists in
advocating on their own behalf, while also
examining the pitfalls that come from this
more hands-o approach.
Even in conversations had on the con-
vention floor, most people — from artists
themselves, to managers, to A&R reps, to
DSP providers — seemed to be excited
about the prospect of power being placed
back into the hands of those creating music
for themselves. But some oered a more
skeptical outlook, wondering whether or
not this newly-minted status of importance
for artists was a bonafide change sweeping
through the industry, or yet another trend
that would fall by the wayside.
But a larger throughline seemed to be
about what’s coming next from a digital
standpoint, and how the industry can posi-
tion itself to take advantage of it. (Just don’t
pretend to know what’s going to happen
with the vinyl industry — no one knows for
sure, and those who say they do are lying.)
Several conversations revolved around the
buzzwords of the day — NFTs, the meta-
verse, web3 — but one digital marketing
executive was able to put spatial audio, an-
other recent breathless industry topic, into
focus from a consumer perspective.
“Think about yourself in a video game
and you can feel the sounds around you, or
you’re in a concert and you can hear it all
around you,” this person said. “That’s what
we’re preparing for. The labels know it’s not
just about the physical experience, which is
what we know. It’s also about the metaverse
experience, which we don’t know.” There’s
a whole generation of kids growing up right
now who want to listen to music in spatial
audio because of video games, said the
person, who added of the emerging space: “I
want to work there.”
If the metaverse has any advantage over
streaming platforms, it’s licensing. As one
insider explained, metaverse companies
don’t have to — and don’t want to — license
entire catalogs from rights holders. That
eliminates a great deal of legal and financial
resources streaming platforms must commit
for the content that runs their businesses.
Rather, the metaverse is about connecting
fans with individual artists, not massive cat-
alogs. Without the burden of licensing costs,
metaverse startups have one less hurdle
between them and long-term success.
Not that people have the metaverse fig-
ured out. Or NFTs. In fact, people at Music
Biz were surprisingly quick to acknowl-
edge they don’t know how these emerging
products will shake out over time. Exactly
how we will get from point A to point B
remains to be seen. But people agreed that
the metaverse and NFTs are potentially
transformative for the music business — and
nobody wants to get left behind. — Stephen
Daw, Glenn Peoples and Dan Rys
Billboard
Promotes
Mike Van to
President & Dana
Droppo to Chief
Brand Ocer
BY BILLBOARD STAFF
M
ike Van has been named the
new president of Billboard
and Dana Droppo has been
promoted to chief brand of-
ficer, Billboard parent company Penske
Media Corporation announced Friday (May
20).
Van — previously Billboard‘s executive
vice president and head of global partner-
ships — will be responsible for all revenue
operations and financial performance of
the Billboard brand as president. He started
at Billboard in 2018 and previously held
leadership positions in advertising and sales
at Pandora, Electronic Arts and Complex.
During his time as executive vp and head of
global partnerships, Billboard set all-time
sales records.
Droppo — who was previously Billboard‘s
senior vice president of marketing, as well as
vice president, brand experiences, and vice
president and creative director for brand
partnerships — is taking on the brand-new
role of chief brand ocer. In the new posi-
tion, Droppo will oversee branded content
and client services, analytics, live events,
video production and design for the brand.
She will also lead eorts to align the core
brand strategy across business and editorial
to support revenue and audience goals.
“We are thrilled to elevate two extremely
talented executives, Mike and Dana, into the
roles of President and Chief Brand Ocer,”
Page 9 of 17
IN BRIEF
said Jay Penske, CEO and Chairman of
Penske Media. “The spirit of collaboration
and teamwork they have helped to build has
yielded incredible results and creativity over
many years at Billboard. I look forward to
their leadership and Billboard‘s continued
ascent.”
The promotions are eective immedi-
ately.
Bandcamp,
Google to
Maintain Payment
System Until
Epic Suit Ends
BY DAN RYS
B
andcamp and Google have en-
tered into a “joint stipulation”
agreement, encouraged by the
court, that will allow the popular
music downloading platform to continue us-
ing its own payment system while Google’s
lawsuit with Bandcamp parent company
Epic Games proceeds, according to court
filings released today (May 20).
The agreement stems from a dispute
between Epic, which bought Bandcamp in
March, and Google in which Epic protested
Google’s decision to push Bandcamp to
use its Google payment system, rather than
Bandcamp’s own, a move that could have
prevented Bandcamp from paying out artists
in its standard 24-48 hour period following
a sale. Under Google’s system, the company
has argued, Bandcamp would be forced to
pay out to artists between 15 and 45 days
after a sale, “a significant blow to the artists
who rely on Bandcamp to make a living and
continue making music.”
Under the agreement, the two sides have
allowed Bandcamp to continue using its
own payment system on Android devices
and to continue to pay artists their same
share while the dispute continues making
its way through court. But beginning June
1, “Bandcamp will place 10% of the revenue
generated from digital sales on Android
devices in escrow until Epic’s ongoing case
against Google is resolved, a cost we will
bear,” Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond
wrote in a blog post.
This latest development comes amid
broader, separate lawsuits between Epic
Games — which is the maker of Fortnite —
and Apple and Google, which claims the
latter two companies use their domination
of the app marketplace to force apps to use
their own payment systems, while taking
around a 30 percent cut of sales. Google
denied the allegations, adding Google Play
is less restrictive than Apple’s App Store and
that it passes along “minimal cost to devel-
opers in the vast majority of cases.”
The case is set for trial in April 2023,
while Epic’s case against Apple led to a split
ruling last year, wherein a judge ruled that
Apple was within its rights to push apps
onto its own payment system, but apps were
entitled to nudge users to outside payment
systems as well; that ruling is under appeal.
Prodigy of Mobb
Deep’s Solo
Catalog Returns
to Streaming
Services, New
Music On the Way
BY DAN RYS
T
he solo catalog of late Mobb Deep
rapper Prodigy has returned to
streaming services today (May 20)
after three years of unavailability,
a rep for his estate confirmed to Billboard.
That collection of albums and EPs includes
his classic solo debut H.N.I.C. and its two
sequels, as well as 2012’s The Bumpy John-
son Album, 2017’s Hegelian Dialectic (The
Book of Revelation) and his 2013 collabora-
tion with The Alchemist, Albert Einstein,
and 2014 collab release with Boogz Boogetz,
Young Rollin Stoned.
For the past three years, only his influen-
tial 2007 Alchemist collab Return of the Mac
and the following year’s Product of the 80s
with Big Twins and Un Pacino, as well as
the Mobb Deep discography, were available
to stream due to what a press release called
“legal disputes between the estate, which
is run by the late artist’s family, and former
associates of the artist.” Those two albums
had been released by E1 and Dirt Class
Records, respectively, while the rest of his
solo discography was released through his
Infamous label.
But now, the estate signed a management
deal with The NorthStar Group’s L. Londell
McMillan and a distribution deal with
Warner Music Group’s ADA to re-release
the rest of his albums to streaming services
and for digital purchase. And the estate
has announced a new album, The Hegelian
Dialectic: The Book of Heroine, is due out in
the second quarter of the year, with a new
single, “You Will See,” to be released June
10.
“We are extremely thankful to all the fans
for understanding the circumstances that
our family had to professionally control at
a time of grief, and for the kind words of
encouragement we received from many of
you,” a rep for the estate said in a statement.
“We would also like to thank the community
of hip-hop artists who came together to help
us assemble Prodigy’s last projects. The mu-
sic belongs to all of you and we are glad we
can make it available again and forever.”
The estate describes the forthcoming
Hegelian Dialectic album as the second in a
trilogy, with the third installment, The Book
of the Dead, slated for 2023. That album will
be released after a forthcoming new Mobb
Deep album, helmed by Havoc, which is
described as “currently in the works.”
“In life and death, Prodigy’s impact on the
culture and music remains transcendent,”
McMillan said in a statement. “It’s an honor
to work with the estate of my friend Prodigy,
and others who knew and loved Prodigy, as
we protect his legacy and return his cata-
logue back to the marketplace worldwide.
So much more to come.”
Prodigy died June 20, 2017 from compli-
cations from sickle cell anemia at the age
of 42. His work alongside Havoc in Mobb
Page 10 of 17
IN BRIEF
Deep, beginning with their debut album
Juvenile Hell in 1993 but cemented by their
1995 masterpiece The Infamous and subse-
quent releases, cemented the Queens duo as
one of the most influential hip-hop groups
of all time, and his solo work often hewed to
the same standard.
Today, Spotify is launching a fans first
activation with first access to exclusive
Prodigy merchandise to celebrate the re-
release of his catalog, the estate said.
“Prodigy is a once-in-a-generation rap-
per,” ADA president Cat Kreidich said in a
statement. “It’s hard to put into words the
impact he had on the world — his sound
completely changed the game and influ-
enced so many that came after him. His
legacy will live on forever through his music
and we’re grateful his estate has entrusted
ADA to bring his iconic catalog back where
it belongs — with his fans.”
FestivalPass
Unveils
Subscription
Platform For Live
Entertainment,
Eyes Expansion
BY LARS BRANDLE
F
estivalPass launches with a
membership platform that unlocks
access to the show — tens of thou-
sands of them.
The brainchild of founder and CEO Ed
Vincent, festivalPass claims to be the world’s
first subscription platform for live events,
through which members can nab no-fee
tickets to more than 80,000 concerts, festi-
vals and more.
Membership can gain entry to such fes-
tivals as Coachella and ACL Music Festival,
live shows featuring Dua Lipa, John Mayer,
Billie Eillish and more.
Based in Austin, Texas, the festivalPass
model uses a novel credit system, which
can be redeemed for a smorgasbord of film,
food, art and sports experiences across the
U.S. and for booking rooms at thousands of
hotels across the world at reduced rates.
Members rack up credits through a sub-
scription plan, ranging from $19 to $99 each
month.
The higher the tier, the lower the cost of
the tickets, notes Vincent, whose business
accepts cryptocurrency for subscription
and ticket payments, and, from next month,
launches its “Lifetime Founder NFT” for
live events.
Vincent, an entrepreneur with 25 years’
business, technology and management
experience, hit on the idea of applying the
all-you-can eat approach to live entertain-
ment while in New York City, waiting for
the lockdown to lift.
“It was early in the pandemic and I was
looking for a city to launch and grow festi-
valPass knowing live events would be com-
ing back and the industry would be thirsty
for a new way to play,” he tells Billboard.
Over a decade ago, Vincent spotted Aus-
tin, the home of SXSW, as a tech and music
hotspot. “With the growing diversity in the
Austin start-up culture and the overall love
of music and live events that Austin oered,”
he continues. “I chose to move to Austin in
2020 to grow festivalPass. It was the right
choice.”
The immediate plan is to focus on North
America as the business targets 1 million
members on the platform.
The first likely expansion will be to Eu-
rope followed by Australia, Vincent explains.
Other markets of interest include Asia and
Latin America. “Our roadmap timing will
be influenced by regional demand for our
product and success in securing partners to
help us grow in each region,” he adds.
Investors include Brian Sharples, co-
founder HomeAway (sold to Expedia);
Shelli Taylor, CEO of Alamo Drafthouse;
Jacob Trouba, NHL professional for the NY
Rangers; Tom Chavez (sold Krux to Sales-
force and Rapt to Microsoft); Jason Dorsey,
millennial and Gen Z expert; Townsquare
Media, and others.
Sharples, Taylor and Dorsey join the advi-
sory board, as does Lisa Licht, former CMO
of Live Nation, among others, while expe-
rienced HomeAway – VRBO exec Stephan
de Bernede is on board as festivalPass chief
business ocer.
“When we founded festivalPass, it was
under the belief that live entertainment
should not be transactional,” Vincent adds
in a statement. “We envisioned a commu-
nity in which members could interact and
share around the entertainment passions
they hold and where their participation is
rewarded.”
Sony Music
Launching RCA
Records in
Mainland China
BY ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
S
ony Music Entertainment is start-
ing an outpost of RCA Records in
mainland China.
From its base in Shanghai, the
new label, RCA Records Greater China,
will focus on signing artists in China and
expanding the company’s presence in the
region. RCA will invest in artists looking to
“broaden their artistic and commercial op-
portunities” across streaming, gaming, vir-
tual reality, NFTs and the metaverse, Sony
said in a statement on Thursday (May 19).
In making the announcement, Sony Music
said RCA Greater China agreed to a distri-
bution deal with Chinese artist Jackson
Wang and signed Taiwanese singer A-Lin.
The deal with Wang, who is also a mem-
ber of K-pop group GOT7, is for one album
in Chinese; he is signed to indie 88rising
for his English-language productions and
previously had exclusive album deals with
Tencent Music Entertainment, a Sony Music
spokesperson tells Billboard. RCA Records
Greater China has already released the
single, “Jackson Wang.”
A-Lin is a five-time Golden Melody
Awards nominee, which are known as the
“Mandarin Grammys.” Her deal with RCA
Greater China is a multi-rights deal that
replaces her earlier deal with Sony Music
Page 11 of 17
IN BRIEF
Taiwan, a Sony spokesperson says.
Sony Music named Kevin Foo, who had
been overseeing Sony’s Taiwanese opera-
tions since 2019, as managing director of
the new label. He launched the careers of
several Asian artists, including Linying,
Charlie Lim and The Steve McQueens,
Sony Music says.
New York-based RCA Records, one of
Sony Music’s four flagship labels, also has
oces in the United Kingdom, Germany and
France.
The new RCA Records oce comes as
Sony Music has been expanding and reor-
ganizing its Asia operations. In 2020, the
major label, which had been overseeing Asia
from Sydney, Australia, for 12 years, divided
Asia into four hubs — India and the Middle
East, Greater China, South Korea and
Southeast Asia. Then this March, Sony Mu-
sic said it was opening a Singapore oce to
oversee Southeast Asia, including Thailand,
Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philip-
pines and Malaysia.
Bob Neuwirth,
Bob Dylan
Inuence &
Beloved Folk
Singer-Songwriter,
Dies at 82
BY RANIA ANIFTOS
B
ob Neuwirth, musical artist,
painter and popular member of
the 1960s New York City folk
scene known for his collabora-
tions with Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and
more, died in Santa Monica, California, due
to heart failure on Wednesday night (May
18). He was 82 years old.
“On Wednesday evening in Santa Monica,
Bob Neuwirth’s big heart gave out,” his
longtime partner Paula Batson said in a
statement to Variety, confirming the news.
“He was 82 years old and would have been
83 in June. Bob was an artist through-
out every cell of his body and he loved to
encourage others to make art themselves.
He was a painter, songwriter, producer and
recording artist whose body of work is loved
and respected. For over 60 years, Bob was
at the epicenter of cultural moments from
Woodstock, to Paris, Don’t Look Back to
Monterey Pop, Rolling Thunder to Nashville
and Havana . He was a generous instigator
who often produced and made things hap-
pen anonymously. The art is what mattered
to him, not the credit. He was an artist, a
mentor and a supporter to many. He will be
missed by all who love him.”
Neuwirth co-wrote his friend Janis Jop-
lin’s hit “Mercedes Benz” along with poet
Michael McClure. He also introduced the
Kris Kristoerson-penned “Me and Bobby
McGee” to Joplin, who recorded the song
before her death in October 1970, according
to Neuwirth’s biography. Both songs ap-
peared on Joplin’s posthumous 1971 album
Pearl. The album topped the Billboard 200
albums chart for nine weeks beginning Feb.
27, 1971, and spent 42 total weeks on the
chart.
In 1994, Neuwirth and John Cale collabo-
rated on the experimental album Last Day
on Earth, on MCA. His series of solo albums
began with a self-titled 1974 eort.
Most notably, Neuwirth is seen through-
out D.A. Pennebaker’s Bob Dylan documen-
tary Don’t Look Back, and also co-starred in
Dylan’s 1978 film Renaldo and Clara.
Rod Wave Felony
Battery Charges
Dropped
BY NEENA ROUHANI
F
ollowing his early May arrest on a
felony charge of battery by stran-
gulation, the charges against rap-
per Rod Wave have been dropped,
Billboard has confirmed.
The arrest stems from an April 24 inci-
dent involving Wave, born Rodarius Marcell
Green, allegedly entering his ex-girlfriend’s
home and choking her, according to the
arrest warrant. Green and the woman share
two children, who were in another room of
the house when the incident allegedly took
place. The 23-year-old rapper was arrested a
week later during a trac stop in St. Peters-
burg, Florida.
According to an email to Pitchfork from
Green’s attorney Bradford M. Cohen, the
incident was “a misunderstanding between
a Girlfriend and Boyfriend,” adding, “That
misunderstanding resulted in Mr. Green’s
arrest. After review of the evidence and
speaking with witnesses, the State entered
a Nolle Pross/ No Info on the matter and
will not be pursuing charges.” On Instagram,
Cohen said, “Sometimes misunderstand-
ings can be misconstrued and it isn’t until
all the evidence and witnesses are reviewed
that the right decision is made by the States
Attorney.”
A charge report on the Pinellas County
Sheri’s Oce site cites that Green was
booked into jail just after midnight on the
charge after his arrest by the St. Petersburg
Police Department. The rapper’s 2021 album
SoulFly debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard
200, launching his career to previously
unseen heights. He recently toyed with
the idea of leaving behind rap during an
Instagram Live, stating, “I’m not no people
person, I’m not no center of attention ass
n—a, I hate attention.”
His latest release, “Cold December,” is
the lead single from his forthcoming fourth
album, Beautiful Mind, set to arrive June 3.
Page 12 of 17
IN BRIEF
Sharon Osbourne
Reveals Daughter
Aimee Was
Among Survivors
of ‘Heartbreaking’
Hollywood Fire
BY RANIA ANIFTOS
O
ne person was killed and two
others were injured in a record-
ing studio fire in Hollywood,
California, on Thursday (May
19), according to local news station KTLA.
Among the two survivors was Aimee
Osbourne, the 38-year-old daughter of Ozzy
and Sharon Osbourne. Sharon revealed
the news via Instagram, alongside a map
of where the studio is located. “Today my
daughter @aro_ocialmusic was working in
a recording studio at this building with her
producer,” she wrote in the caption. “They
are the lucky two that made it out alive. It
is utterly heartbreaking that someone lost
their life today in this fire & we are sending
our prayers to this person & their family.
What happened today was beyond horrific.
I really hope moving forward that buildings
like this are better regulated for fire safety.
This building was a creative hub for music
in Hollywood, a space that should have been
regulated for fire code. Producers, musi-
cians, mixers & artists also lost all of their
equipment. Once again, our prayers go out
to the family and friends of the person that
lost their life to this senseless fire.”
Firefighters arrived on scene to find
smoke pouring out of the two-story concrete
building, according to KTLA. 78 firefighters
extinguished the flames in about 51 minutes.
Upon searching the structure, the firefight-
ers found one person dead inside the build-
ing. That person’s identity has not yet been
released.
Aimee and her producer complained of
respiratory issues related to smoke ex-
posure, but were thankfully treated and
released at the scene. The cause of the fire
is still under investigation, and it is not yet
confirmed whether or not the building was
up to code.
How to Win a
Billboard Music
Award: Here’s
What This Year’s
Top Songs Have
in Common
BY GARY TRUST
W
hat are some of the com-
mon threads among
winning songs at the 2022
Billboard Music Awards?
Hit Songs Deconstructed, which
provides compositional analytics for top 10
Billboard Hot 100 hits, analyzed key sonic
characteristics of the songs that journeyed
from composition to coronation at this
year’s BBMAs, held May 15 at MGM Grand
Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Here are five takeaways from Hit Songs
Deconstructed’s research, oering insights
into what can make a song a Billboard Music
Award winner.
Notably, Hit Songs Deconstructed’s
analysis covers the nine Hot 100 top 10s
among the 11 songs that won honors across
16 BBMAs song categories:
“Stay,” The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber:
Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song, Top
Collaboration, Top Billboard Global 200
Song, Top Billboard Global (Excl. U.S.) Song
“Levitating,” Dua Lipa: Top Radio Song
“Butter,” BTS: Top Selling Song
“Kiss Me More,” Doja Cat feat. SZA: Top
Viral Song
“Fancy Like,” Walker Hayes: Top Country
Song
“Industry Baby,” Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow:
Top Rap Song
“Leave the Door Open,” Silk Sonic (Bruno
Mars & Anderson .Paak): Top R&B Song
“Cold Heart (Pnau Remix),” Elton John &
Dua Lipa: Top Dance/Electronic Song
“Hurricane,” Ye: Top Christian Song, Top
Gospel Song
(“Beggin’ ” by Måneskin, which won for
Top Rock Song, and “Telepatía” by Kali
Uchis, the recipient for Top Latin Song, hit
Nos. 13 and 25 on the Hot 100, respectively.)
Pop’s clean sweep: Each of the nine win-
ning top 10 Hot 100 hits reflects a pop influ-
ence. Six sport a hip-hop influence and five,
an R&B/soul and/or 1970s-retro influence.
Synth synonymous with winning: Eight
of the nine top 10s above feature synth
andor synth bass, all except for Silk Sonic’s
“Leave the Door Open.”
The next most popular instrument among
the honorees is electric guitar, heard in six
of the nine songs.
Love is loved: This year’s BBMAs host
and executive producer Diddy mused in his
opening monologue, “We’re back outside
with no masks on. We need love, and I’m
excited about celebrating that.”
Fittingly, the most popular lyrical theme
among 2022’s nine winning Hot 100 top
10s is love/relationships, which plays into
seven. Lifestyle ranks second in frequency
(three), followed by boasting and hooking
up (two each). Inspiration/empowerment is
key to Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow’s “Indus-
try Baby,” and religion and introspection are
central to Ye’s “Hurricane.”
Name (in) that tune: “Hurricane” is also
atypical among this year’s BBMA winners
as the only top 10 not to include its title in
its lyrics.
Conversely, three songs feature their titles
a hefty 11 to 15 times each: The Kid LAROI
and Justin Bieber’s “Stay,” Dua Lipa’s “Levi-
tating” and Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door
Open.”
Verses versus chorus: Five of the nine
Hot 100 top 10s above each get right to their
first chorus just 20 to 39 seconds in. “Stay”
wastes almost no time, starting with its first
chorus after one second.
Meanwhile, “Leave the Door Open” takes
53 seconds, or 22% of the way into the song,
and Elton John and Lipa’s “Cold Heart”
waits 49 seconds, or 25% in.
Page 13 of 17
IN BRIEF
Executive
Turntable: UMG’s
Bravado Names
Licensing Head;
4AD Taps US/UK
Label Managers
BY CHRIS EGGERTSEN
B
ravado, Universal Music Group’s
merchandise and brand man-
agement company, expanded
the job responsibilities of Lisa
Stre to oversee the licensing rosters and
global licensing strategies of both Bravado
and Epic Rights, which Bravado acquired
in 2019, while reporting to Jesper Poulsen,
general manager at Bravado. Her clients
now include KISS, AC/DC, Def Leppard,
David Bowie, John Lennon, Britney Spears
and NSYNC, along with Bravado clients
such as The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath,
Sex Pistols, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Spice
Girls, Avril Lavigne and many more. She can
be reached at Lisa.stre@
4AD promoted Alyssa DeBonis to U.S.
label manager in New York, Sophie Hall to
U.K. label manager in London, Will Tomp-
sett to worldwide head of marketing in New
York and Isa Castro-Cota as U.S. commu-
nications manager in New York. DeBonis
will oversee 4AD’s U.S. team and manage
all campaigns while Hall will spearhead all
campaigns in the U.K. and the world outside
of the U.S. Castro-Cota can be reached at
isacastrocota@4ad.com.
Zach Katz was named president and COO
at lifestyle and media platform FaZe Clan,
where he will oversee FaZe Clan’s con-
tent, talent, merchandise, consumer goods,
sponsorships and esports businesses while
reporting to CEO Lee Trink. He will work
closely with the senior leadership team to
grow the brand, prioritizing global expan-
sion and developing new revenue-driving
verticals while also focusing on building
internal systems that maximize eciency.
YMU launched a U.S. entertainment divi-
sion under the leadership of UTA veteran
April Tombs, who has been named manag-
ing director, YMU Entertainment U.S. Also
appointed to the U.S. team were Spencer
Goldstein from UTA and Jared Greenwald
from ICM.
Starr Butler-Jemison joined OVG360 as
senior vp of content development & private
events in Detroit, where she will oversee a
new division focused on innovative pri-
vate functions, major corporate events and
content development across the OVG360
universe, which encompasses 300+ are-
nas, stadiums and convention centers. She
starts in the role on July 5 and will report to
OVG360 president Chris Granger.
Nettwerk Music Group added several
to its A&R team, including Meg Tarquinio
as vp of strategy and A&R in New York,
Spencer Kelley as A&R in New York/Lon-
don, Marshall Altman as VP of A&R in
Nashville, Mark Abramowitz as director of
A&R in Nashville, Eric Robinson as direc-
tor of A&R in Los Angeles and Dan Med-
land as Australia strategy & A&R in Sydney.
Tarquinio can be reached at mtarquinio@
nettwerk.com, Kelley can be reached at skel-
ley@nettwerk.com, Altman can be reached
at maltman@nettwerk.com, Abramowitz
can be reached at mabramowitz@nettwerk.
com, Robinson can be reached at erobin-
son@nettwerk.com and Medland can be
reached at dmedland@nettwerk.com.
Saban Music Group announced two new
executive hires for the company’s Saban
Music Latin department: Liz Leyva joined
the team as vp of Latin marketing while
Cristobal Brito was hired as senior director
of Latin A&R. Both will “spearhead a new of
era of Latin artists” and report to Alejandro
Reglero, Saban Music Latin’s executive vp
and general manager. Leyva can be reached
at LLeyva@sabanmusic.com and Brito can
be reached at CBrito@sabanmusic.com.
Rick Butterworth joined ONErpm
as director of business development for
Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia
as the company expands to those markets.
Based in Brisbane, Australia, Butterworth
will oversee the business development of all
three markets while reporting to ONErpm
CEO Emmanuel Zunz. He can be reached
at Rbutterworth@onerpm.com.
Jolene Herz was named vp of booking
for the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California.
Her role has been expanded to overseeing
all live events at the venue, where she will
continue to report to Geni Lincoln, general
manager and senior vp of live events at the
venue. She can be reached at Jolene.Herz@
thekiaforum.com.
Julia Hummel was named vp of digital
strategy & business development at Warner
Music Canada in Toronto, where she will
help the label’s artists leverage opportuni-
ties in the web3 arena while reporting to
Warner Music Canada executive vp and
general manager Andy West.
MNRK Music Group promoted Tasha
Stoute to senior director of urban public-
ity and Vinny Geonnetti to director of
artist management, A&R, publishing. The
company also hired JY Williams as direc-
tor of A&R. Based in New York, Stoute will
continue to develop and execute campaigns
for MNRK’s urban divisions while working
closely with the label’s marketing and sales
teams. The Los Angeles-based Geonnetti
will assist with the strategy and develop-
ment of new and established artists for the
music publishing team, including managing
sessions, fostering opportunities and pairing
writers and other possible collaborators.
Williams, who founded the companies
Lifted Lights and VisionPlay Entertainment,
is based in New York.
Chad Kudelka joined Creative Artists
Agency (CAA) as an agent in the music
touring department. He will split his time
between Austin, Texas and the agency’s
Nashville oce. He can be reached at chad.
kudelka@caa.com.
Livestream buying and selling platform
talkshoplive hired John Hall as CTO and
Tony Grotticelli as vp of marketing. Both
will be tasked with helping expand the com-
pany, which has set a goal of increasing its
team by 300% by the end of 2023. Grotticelli
can be reached at Tony@talkshop.live.
Acast appointed former Audible and Veri-
zon CMO John Harrobin and SHE Media
CEO Samantha Skey to its board. Harrobin
was also elected chairman of the board.
Both are the first U.S.-based appointments
to the Acast board, bolstering Acast’s goal
Page 14 of 17
IN BRIEF
of growing its market share in the U.S. and
surrounding regions. They can be reached
at john.harrobin@acast.com and samantha.
skey@acast.com.
Caitlin Haurie was hired as senior direc-
tor of creative synch – ads & brands at Posi-
tion Music. She’ll report to Emily Weber,
Position Music’s vp, head of synch. She can
be reached at caitlin@positionmusic.com.
Tim Hare was named senior director of
synch at production, publishing and sound
design company Ghostwriter Music, where
he will lead the company’s synch depart-
ment for advertising and TV. He’ll also work
alongside internal A&R sta to develop the
company’s catalog and artist series while
maintaining a strong company-wide busi-
ness development focus. He can be reached
Live Nation
Moves to Paid
Internships,
Receives 15,000
Applications
BY TAYLOR MIMS
L
ive Nation’s concert division has
moved to a paid internship model
in 2022 with the hope of develop-
ing a more equitable live entertain-
ment industry. The decision is part of the
promoter’s mission to diversify its work-
force and paid positions give a wider range
of young people the opportunity to partici-
pate. In previous years, Live Nation interns
earned college credit for their time.
“Moving to a paid internship program
is an important step that allows us to keep
bringing in the best candidates – not just
the ones that can aord to intern for school
credit,” Live Nation president of touring
Omar Al-Joulani in a release. “The music
business isn’t taught in most schools so
interning at Live Nation will give students
great real world experience, and we’re
excited to help them explore all the career
paths in live music.”
This year, the world’s largest promoter
chose 50 applicants out of a record-breaking
15,000 submissions. Those chosen are a mix
of college students in their junior or senior
years and recent graduates. Recent gradu-
ates have been expanded to include those
who graduated in 2020 and 2021 since those
students had fewer opportunities for intern-
ships during the pandemic.
Interns will work in various departments
across the company’s U.S. concerts divi-
sion including talent, marketing, business
development, accounting, booking, creative
production, as well as strategy and analytics.
According to Live Nation, the internship
program runs from 12 to 16 weeks depend-
ing on school schedules and role respon-
sibilities. Intern candidates were selected
from more than 40 colleges and universities,
and will work in various cities across the
country including Los Angeles, Nashville,
Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and
more.
Eden Muñoz
Scores First
No. 1 on Regional
Mexican Airplay
as a Soloist
With ‘Chale!’
BY PAMELA BUSTIOS
S
inger-songwriter and producer
Eden Muñoz arrives at a new ca-
reer milestone as “Chale!” lifts 2-1
on Billboard’s Regional Mexican
Airplay chart (dated May 21). It’s his first
No. 1 on the chart — and chart entry — as a
solo artist, after fronting Calibre 50 for all
21 of their No. 1s from 2013-21. He departed
the group in January.
“This is my first No. 1 as a soloist but not
the first in my career,” Muñoz tells Billboard.
“It is something that fills me with satisfac-
tion and gives me the drive to continue
working for the better, to keep evolving,
remain in the public’s favor, which I believe
is the most important thing in this beautiful
career.”
It’s the first champ for Muñoz after he
parted ways as the lead singer of Sinaloan
norteño band Calibre 50. The group’s 21
leaders, all with Muñoz, are the most in the
chart’s history (it launched in 1994). Banda
MS is in second place with 17 No. 1 hits.
“Chale!” gives Muñoz a first win in his
first chart appearance as a solo act. He’s
already logged a second chart entry, as his
featured role on Banda MS’s “Hay Que
Hacer Dinero” rises 38-28 in its second
week on the chart.
“Chale!” takes the Greatest Gainer honor
of the week thanks to 23% increase, to 7.74
million audience impressions in the week
ending May 15, according to Luminate.
“The song’s musical production addresses
as such a fresh and innovative concept, a
style that results from the mixture of instru-
ments representing the classic big band
(slide trombones, trumpet, sax, drums), with
a fusion of current norteño, in search of a
new aspect of the Mexican Regional, with-
out leaving aside its essence,” adds Muñoz.
As a soloist, Muñoz joins three other acts
who have clocked their first No. 1 on Region-
al Mexican Airplay in 2022.
Here’s the new leaderboard:
Banda Rancho Viejo de Julio Aramaburú,
“Me Vale Perderte” April 16
Maluma, “Cada Quién,” with Grupo Firme,
Feb. 5
Virlan García, “Híbrido,” May 14
Eden Muñoz, “Chale!”, May 21
Beyond its Regional Mexican Airplay
coronation, “Chale!” enters the top 10 on the
all-Latin genre Latin Airplay chart with
an 11-4 jump in its seventh week. It’s also
Muñoz’s first top 10 there.
“The adoption of the tuba and Toloche al
norteño has undoubtedly come to comple-
ment ‘Chale!,’” Muñoz concludes. “It gives
it the characteristic touch that makes it,
without a doubt, a natural and unmistakable
success that can be enjoyed at any time and
in any situation.”
Page 15 of 17
IN BRIEF
Page 16 of 17
Ella Mai Has a
Top Five Debut Up
Her ‘Sleeve’
BY TREVOR ANDERSON
E
lla Mai earns her third top five
album on Billboard’s Top R&B Al-
bums chart as Heart on My Sleeve
debuts at No. 2 on the list dated
May 21. The set, released on May 6 through
10 Summers/Interscope Records, begins
with 20,000 equivalent album units earned
in the U.S. in the week ending May 12.
15,500 of Sleeve’s 20,000 first-week units
derive from streaming, equating to 20.9 mil-
lion U.S. ocial on-demand streams of the
album’s songs. Just over 3,500 units are from
traditional album sales, and the remaining
sum come through track-equivalent album
units. (One unit equals the following levels
of consumption: one album sale, 10 indi-
vidual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750
ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription
on-demand ocial audio and video streams
for a song on the album.)
Sleeve is the follow up to the singer-song-
writer’s self-titled, full-length debut album
from 2018, which reigned for 11 weeks
beginning in October 2018. Before that, her
EP Ready peaked at No. 3 that July. Both
projects featured her breakthrough smash,
“Boo’d Up,” while the full LP also housed
the hit single “Trip.”
Elsewhere, Sleeve starts at No. 9 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums list and at No.
15 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
Five of Sleeve’s songs appear on the Hot
R&B Songs chart, including three debuts.
“How,” featuring Roddy Ricch, leads the
new arrivals at No. 14, with “Trying” (No.
23) and “Didn’t Say,” featuring Latto (No.
24) completing the trio. In addition, current
single “DMFU” ascends 9-7 to reach its
highest peak in 15 weeks on the chart, and
previous release “Leave You Alone” returns
at No. 22 to match its previous best showing.
“DMFU” also registers increases in radio
airplay amid the album rollout. Though
the single reverses 6-7 on the Adult R&B
Airplay chart, it added 7% more plays in the
latest tracking week (ending May 15) com-
pared with the week prior. The track also
resides in the top 10 on Mainstream R&B/
Hip-Hop Airplay, climbing 10-9 after a 9%
gain in weekly plays. Thanks to strength at
both formats, “DMFU” holds its No. 8 rank
on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which
combines radio audience from both adult
and mainstream-leaning stations.
Justin Bieber &
Don Toliver Take
‘Honest’ to No. 1
on Top Triller
U.S. Chart
BY KEVIN RUTHERFORD
J
ustin Bieber and Don Toliver vault
to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Triller U.S.
chart dated May 21 with “Honest.”
The Top Triller U.S. and Top Triller
Global charts highlight the biggest songs
on Triller based on a formula blending the
amount of views of videos containing a
respective song, the level of engagement
with those videos and the raw total of videos
uploaded featuring each song, according to
Triller. Data for the charts is represented on
a Friday-Thursday tracking week, with the
latest period running May 6-12.
“Honest” shoots to No. 1 thanks mainly to
Bieber’s own upload using the song, origi-
nally posted May 3 with the caption “I like
it” and a hot pepper emoji. To date, the clip
has been viewed 138,000 times, according to
Triller, becoming the most-viewed video us-
ing the song in the latest tracking period.
The song is Bieber’s second to crown Top
Triller U.S., which began in 2020. It follows
“Ghost,” which ruled for a week in October
2021.
Meanwhile, it’s Toliver’s first No. 1,
following a No. 10 peak on “Don’t Go,” a
collaboration with Skrillex and Bieber, last
year.
“Honest” also debuts at No. 2 on Top
Triller Global, where Blueface and Blxst’s
“Chose Me” reigns for a third week.
“Honest” debuted at No. 44 on the Bill-
board Hot 100 dated May 14 and concur-
rently ranks at No. 100 on the May 21 tally.
From May 6-12, the song earned 5.7 million
ocial U.S. streams and 700 downloads
toward its Hot 100 chart ranking, according
to Luminate.
Haim Postpone
Cincinnati Show
After COVID
Outbreak in Camp
BY GIL KAUFMAN
H
aim is the latest act to get bit-
ten by the COVID-19 bug on
the road. After a triumphant
gig at New York’s Madison
Square Garden on Tuesday night (May 17),
Alana, Danielle and Este Haim were slated
to hit the Andrew J Brady Music Center in
Cincinnati on Thursday night (May 19), but
according to a statement from the venue
the gig was iced due to coronavirus cases in
their camp.
“We regret to inform you that due to a
recent COVID19 outbreak on the One More
HAIM Tour, the HAIM concert scheduled
for May 19, 2022 at The Andrew J Brady
Music Center has been rescheduled to May
29, 2022,” read a statement from the venue.
“All previously purchased tickets will be
honored for the rescheduled date. Everyone
is doing well, resting up, and they can’t wait
to be in Cincinnati with you all later this
month.” At press time it did not appear that
the group had commented on the postpone-
ment.
The news comes amid a flurry of other
show postponements and cancellations from
other acts who’ve had COVID cases in their
midst. Eric Clapton was forced to postpone
two date on his European tour this week
after the guitarist who has railed against
COVID-19 restrictions and vaccines tested
positive for the virus that has killed more
IN BRIEF
Page 17 of 17
than 6.2 million people globally.
Also this week, Pearl Jam canceled
shows in Sacramento and Las Vegas, eec-
tively ending their current North American
outing after a series of COVID cases in the
band. Earlier this month, Avril Lavigne
postponed a trio of Canadian dates after a
positive COVID case in her touring entou-
rage.
J. Cole Is a
Scarborough
Shooting Star
in His Second
Season With
Canadian Elite
Basketball League
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
J
. Cole will play another season of pro
basketball, this time in Canada. The
Canadian Elite Basketball League
tweeted Thursday night (May 19) that
the 37-year-old rapper will join the Scarbor-
ough Shooting Stars in the coming season as
a guard. The season begins May 25.
Cole, whose full name is Jermaine Cole,
played with the Rwanda Patriots in the
Basketball Africa League in 2021. He also
played basketball in high school in North
Carolina. The Shooting Stars are part of the
CEBL’s expansion into Toronto, marking
the league’s 8th franchise. One of franchise
owners is Nicholas “Niko” Carino, one of
the founders of Drake’s OVO brand.
Cole won a Grammy in 2020 for Best Rap
Song (“A Lot” by 21 Savage featuring J. Cole)
and has several BET Hip Hop Awards to his
name. He also has six platinum albums and
produced songs for artists like Kendrick La-
mar, Janet Jackson and Young Thug. His last
album, The O-Season, came out a year ago.
Cole’s Dreamville teamed up with DJ
Drama to unveil a new mixtape last month,
D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape. The
follow-up to 2019’s Revenge of the Dream-
ers III, features appearances by Ari Lennox,
J.I.D, Bas, EarthGang, Cozz, Gold Mouf and
Omen.
Earlier this month, Cole showed love to
one of his biggest supporters by attend-
ing her college graduation, 9 years after
he attended her high school graduation in
2015 and 11 after he first wished her a happy
birthday. When Cierra Bosarge-Fussell
graduated from Rowan University, Cole was
there again, smiling next to her on her big
day. “This is for all the fans that waited, the
b—- n—-s that hated, old hoes we dated, look
mama, we made it,” she captioned the snaps,
referencing J. Cole’s 2011 hit, “Nobody’s
Perfect.”
IN BRIEF
