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BACK IN JANUARY 2020, singer-songwriter Ryan Tedder was jogging through the flats of West Hollywood while talking to his friend and investment partner Abe Burns when they struck upon an [...]

THIS JULY, roughly six years after the debut of Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF) on the London Stock Exchange, the relatively short-lived experiment of publicly traded catalog funds --also known as [...]

THE CLOUDY FUTURE of Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF) became clearer on April 18, when the embattled company's board of directors publicly supported a $1.4 billion takeover bid by Concord, followed [...]

THE MUSIC industry, like investment banking, is built largely on relationships, and Fred Davis and Joe Puthenveetil have built their careers on being relationship brokers to both worlds. Partners at [...]

WHEN IT comes to the red-hot market for music rights, the only people who may be more important than the buyers and sellers are number crunchers like Nari Matsuura. The [...]

This section presents interviews with several members of the Recording Academy. Topics discussed include the involvement of singer-rapper Kaash Paige in the community of creatives through the organization, the learning opportunities being offered by the academy acknowledged by composer Shirley Song, and the new Grammy Award category that music financier Tara Finegan would like to create.

SINCE THE DAWN OF the dotcom bubble, countless promising tech companies have flamed out shortly after starting up, often dragging investors down with them. Billboard asked three prominent music tech [...]

FOR ROUGHLY half a century, John Fogerty had tried to recover the rights to dozens of hits he wrote for Creedence Clearwater Revival. At the age of 77, he had [...]

OVERNIGHT SENSATIONS are largely a myth in the music business, and Brookfield Asset Management's surprise emergence in early October as one of the biggest players in the song-catalog investment and [...]

THIS PAST SUMMER, THE second-largest U.S. bank, Bank of America, looked at how its customers' spending on entertainment for the month of May compared with a year ago. What researchers [...]

WOULD YOU RATHER OWN the rights to Bruce Springsteen's song catalog or the musical scores to hit Nickelodeon TV shows such as iCarly, Victorious and Henry Danger? While those tween [...]

This document provides a comprehensive overview of the achievements and contributions of individuals and organizations in the R&B and hip-hop industry. It highlights the successes of artists, record labels, music management companies, streaming platforms, and other industry professionals. The document also discusses the challenges faced by the genres, such as the lack of resources and recognition, the pressure to produce hits, and the need for authenticity and originality. Overall, R&B and hip-hop are described as powerful, influential, and globally impactful genres that continue to shape music and culture. [Extracted from the article]

RECENTLY ANNOUNCED SALES OF music assets by Dr. Dre, Juice WRLD and Future are fueling investor interest in hip-hop song rights and catalogs, prompting skeptics of the genre's near-term value [...]

The article features 30 executives in the music industry who are working to create a more diverse, more equitable environment for LGBTQ+ music fans. They include Annie Brinn, senior vice president of publishing, licensing and royalties administration at Warner Music Group, Sam Duboff, global executive of Spotify for Artists and David Furnish, chief executive officer of Rocket Entertainment.

The article features several musical artists who are 40 and under 40. These include Mercury Records president Tyler Arnold, Habibi Management head of talent management Raymond Acosta, Interscorp Records executive vice president Ramon Alvarez-Smikle, Messina Touring Group director of digital marketing Nicholas Ayoub, Apple Music director of artist services Glenne Azoff, and Sony Music Publishing senior vice president of creative Nick Bral.

The article highlights angel investors and venture capitalists who are focusing on music technology. Some of these investors include Artist Partner Group and Artist Publishing Group founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Mike Caren, Hallwood Media founder and CEO Neil Jacobson, and SoundCloud vice president of music intelligence Hazel Savage. Also highlighted are the investment in technology platforms of music companies Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group.

The article introduces executives at record labels and distributors in the independent music industry. These include the American Association of Independent Music President/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Richard James Burgess, Worldwide Independent Network CEO Noemí Planas, Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota, Impala Executive Chair Helen Smith, Matador Records co-owners Patrick Amory, Gerard Cosloy and Chris Lombardi, and Rimas Entertainment Founder Noah Assad.

The article presents an interview with several live music industry leaders who are 40 or under 40 years old and who are powering the resurgence of the industry following the COVID-19 shutdown, including Haley McCollister, Justin Williams and Christain Coffey. Among the issues they discussed include how every tour is different, the ticketing issues facing the live industry, and their aim to increase diversity in the live sector.

Independent music distributors are becoming increasingly sought after by investors and major music companies, such as Warner Music Group. Stem, a popular indie distribution platform, is currently in the early stages of its largest fundraising round, while other distributors like gamma. and Downtown are exploring potential sales. The growing influence of artificial intelligence in music-making and the changing attitudes of next-gen creators towards independence are driving these distributors to seek funding. Non-major labels and self-releasing artists now hold a 36.7% share of the global recorded-music market, prompting major music companies to make acquisitions and investments in this sector. [Extracted from the article]

The article features the top music industry executives who are driving the growth of the industry around the world as of April 2023. BMG's Thomas Coesfeld and Dominique Casimir are focusing on acquiring catalogs and signing artists as part of their growth strategy. The other featured executives include Eric Wong, Simon Robson and Jessica Keeley-Carter of Warner Music Group and Adam Granite and Dickon Stainer of Universal Music Group.

The article features the top 100 Executive of the Year in the music industry for 2023. These include Rimas Entertainmen co-founder/chief executive officer (CEO) Noah Assad, Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge, Sony Music Group chairman Rob Stringer, Live Nation president/CEP Michael Rapino, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, Apple Music vice president Oliver Schusser and Azoff Co. chairman/CEO Irving Azoff.

In 2024, the top 10 most streamed and downloaded songs in the United States earned a total of $53.4 million. Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" was the highest-grossing song, generating $6.59 million, followed by Post Malone's "I Had Some Help" and Benson Boone's "Beautiful Things." Despite having more downloads, Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" earned slightly more than Teddy Swims' "Lose Control" due to higher streaming numbers. Spotify saw significant stock gains in 2024, and Opry Entertainment Group acquired a majority interest in Southern Entertainment. [Extracted from the article]

The article reports that Downtown Music is earning more publishing revenue from royalty collection fees and copyright management than when it owned copyrights after selling its catalog. According to Emily Stephenson, president of Downtown's publishing companies, they expect to generate more than 200 million dollars in revenue in 2024, a 40% increase from 2023 and a higher gross than in 2020 before Concord acquired the catalog. Downtown serves some 2 million songwriters in over 60 countries.

The article reports on the streaming, digital sales and publishing revenue earned by the dis tracks released by feuding rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake against each other, through the week ending November 21, 2024.

The article reports that Warner Music Group (WMG) is in search for an alternative distribution company that could help it gain market share. Focus is given on the plan of WMG to build in-house technology and services and its mission to be a destination for artists and songwriters. It informs about the partnership of Warner Chappell Music, the publishing division of WMG, with BandLab Technologies' artist services platform ReverbNation, and its acquisition of stakes or launch of joint ventures.

Charli XCX's Brat Summer tour has been a huge success, with Billboard estimating that she has earned over $10 million from the tour, merchandise sales, and royalties. Her album, Brat, has been her most commercially successful, with its catchy dance-pop tracks resonating with audiences. The album has generated over 1 billion streams on Spotify alone and has been embraced by various cultural figures and companies. In addition to her tour earnings, Charli has also earned money from brand partnerships, including campaigns with SKIMS and H&M. Overall, Charli XCX's financial success reflects her current popularity and influence in the music industry. [Extracted from the article]

The article presents an interview with Thomas Coesfeld, chief executive officer (CEO) of music company BMG Rights Management GmbH. Coesfeld discusses the five-year plan of the company which will focus on better engagement with artists, songwriters and business partners. Also highlighted are Coesfeld's leadership style, opportunities in the catalog market and BMG's views about artist-centric and user-centric streaming payment models.

The article focuses on the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 that intends to give musicians, songwriters and other creators to recapture in the U.S. only the copyrights to compositions and recordings that they may have signed earlier their careers. Cited are the belief that the law could lead artists to out up for sale their newly recovered catalogs, the legal and corporate hurdles that complicate the recapturing of rights, and how copyright reversions will impact the catalog investment market.

The article focuses on the efforts of Kobalt, an independent rights management and music publishing company, in growing its global digital rights collections society for compositions, the American Music Rights Association (AMRA). Topics covered include its strategy for scaling AMRA, the challenges it has encountered, and how AMRA can help streamline digital royalty collection across 212 countries, preventing friction or delays of a traditional performing rights organization (PRO).

The article reports on the positive third-quarter financial results posted by music companies in October and November 2022 amid a mostly bleak earning season for other sectors due to high inflation, rising interest rates and the chance of a recession.

The article presents rights groups power players in rhythm and blues (R&B)/hip-hop genre for the year 2022 including Nicole George-Middleton of ASCAP Foundation, Sean Glover of SoundExchange, and Mario Prins of SESAC.