Record Labels

1. Nashville Notes: Eli Young Band Switches Labels; Brad Paisley to Perform at Hall of Fame Benefit

   July 10, 2015 1:40 PM EDT A round up of some of the many moves and shakes in country music. -- Five years after the group signed with Republic Nashville, the Eli Young Band has moved to a sister Big Machine label, the Valory Music Co . The act’s first single on the new imp ...

2. Abood Music Signs Deal With Downtown Music

   July 10, 2015 10:46 AM EDT Downtown Music Publishing has announced a worldwide pact with Abood Music, the publishing arm of Jamdown Entertainment . The agreement brings Abood’s 7,000-song catalog of reggae and dancehall hits, by Jamaican artists including Cordell "Scat ...

3. Randy Goodman, Sony Nashville's New CEO, Talks New Top Executives, Getting Started

   July 08, 2015 1:00 PM EDT Sony Nashville has two hands on the steering wheel again: After a search that went on publicly for more than three months and privately for over a year, the ink is dry on a contract for Randy Goodman to take over as Chairman & Chief Executive ...

4. Kate Davis Signs With Concord Music Group: Exclusive

   July 08, 2015 9:00 AM EDT Chosen by MTV Buzzworthy as one of the “15 Fresh Females Who Will Rule Pop,” Kate Davis has signed with Concord Music Group. The singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist is currently writing material for her debut album. The yet-untitled set is sla ...

5. Zac Brown Band, Little Big Town Top Country's Slumping Second Quarter

   July 07, 2015 2:07 PM EDT Sales of country recordings kept contracting during second-quarter 2015, though three acts who have created music that paints outside the lines -- Zac Brown Band , Little Big Town and Sam Hunt -- finished one-two among the top-selling albums and t ...

6. Sony Nashville Finally Finds a New CEO

   July 06, 2015 5:00 PM EDT After months of speculation about what Sony Music's leadership would do about the empty top spot in their Nashville office, a new CEO has been appointed for Sony’s country and Christian division. Randy Goodman, founder and former president o ...

7. Taylor Swift's Label Big Machine Is Off the Market, Gets Republic Nashville

   July 02, 2015 2:02 PM EDT Scott Borchetta has decided not to sell his company, the Big Machine Label Group, at least for now, and has re-signed a distribution agreement with Universal Music Group that will give him full ownership of Republic Nashville, according to sources ...

8. BMG Acquires Catalog of Verse Music, Includes Songs of Nina Simone, J. Lo

   June 29, 2015 10:17 AM EDT BMG has acquired the Verse Music Group catalog, which includes 40,000 songs and recordings from such catalogs as disco labels Salsoul Records and West End Records; the Bethlehem Music catalog of classic jazz; and Golden Records, an early children& ...

9. Converse Rubber Tracks Opens Permanent Boston Location

   June 26, 2015 5:55 AM EDT Converse Rubber Tracks has a new address. The music program for independent musicians has opened a third permanent location near Converse’s newly-opened Boston headquarters , adding to the flagship in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood, and a se ...

10. Country Notes: 'Girl Crush' Writer Signs Publishing Deal; Tanya Tucker Joins CTK

    June 23, 2015 2:06 PM EDT Here is your weekly roundup of goings on -- staffing moves, good news and more -- in the wide world of country music. 'ROUND THE ROW MCA Nashville promoted Katie Dean to vp promotion from vp radio marketing. She replaces Van Haze, who conclud ...

11. From Spacehog to Spotify: 7 Rockers Turned Music Execs

    June 22, 2015 4:00 PM EDT Long before the T&E reports, mileage upgrades and calendar invites, many a music exec played in bands, made poor hair choices and dreamt of someday making it. Slogging across interstates, camping on floors and finding little in the way of majo ...

12. Business

    Former Universal Republic Senior VP Elise Wright-Maharaj Passes

    June 22, 2015 3:29 PM EDT Elise Wright-Maharaj, formerly senior VP of urban music at Universal Republic Records, died of cancer on June 19 in New York City. A well-respected industry veteran with more than 15 years experience in marketing, promotion and publicity, Wright ...

13. How Much Do Label Execs (From Assistants to CEOs) Rake In? A Look From the Indies to the Majors

    June 22, 2015 2:30 PM EDT WHO MAKES WHAT: Journalists |   Booking Agents | Artist Managers | Music Publishing | Top Earners | Label Execs | Artists, Big & Small  |  Radio & TV  |  Digital/Streaming  |  Touring WHO MAKES WHAT: Journalists |   Booking Agents | Art ...

14. Atlantic Records' CEO/Co-Chairman Craig Kallman on EDM's Evolution, Cee Lo's Next Move and His Own Massive Record Collection

    June 22, 2015 10:00 AM EDT Craig Kallman doesn’t exactly fly under the radar, but he’s definitely one of the music business’ low-key CEOs. He has spent the better part of his 24 years with Atlantic Records working behind the scenes as the architect of the label’s diverse ro ...

15. XL Recordings' Richard Russell Discusses His Approach to Producing at Sonar Festival

    June 21, 2015 2:45 PM EDT During a talk at Barcelona's Sonar festival, XL Recordings head Richard Russell revealed that "not telling people to do things that they don't want to do" was fundamental to his approach to producing. "When I work with an ...

16. Taylor Swift Pens Open Letter Explaining Why '1989' Won't Be on Apple Music

    June 21, 2015 11:33 AM EDT Taylor Swift has penned an open letter explaining why her newest album, 1989 , won't be available on Apple Music when the new streaming service launches on June 30. The pop star began her note -- titled "To Apple, Love Taylor" -- by ...

17. EFF and Internet Services Company Say Web Firms Shouldn't Be the Major Labels' Watchdogs

    June 19, 2015 2:50 PM EDT CloudFlare, a San Francisco-based content distribution service that provides security (and speed) to websites, is pushing back at a recent federal court order that would force companies that deal with Internet infrastructure to essentially become ...

18. Economist Paul Krugman on How to Fix the Music Industry (and Why Not Much Has Changed in the Last 150 Years)

    June 19, 2015 12:53 PM EDT When New York Times op-ed columnist, Nobel Prize-winning economist and indie-music fan Paul Krugman , 62, goes to see a band at Bowery Ballroom, he can't help but run the numbers. "Even for bands that have wildly enthusiastic followings, ...

19. French Indie Label Body UPFI Turns Its Nose Up at Apple Music's Controversial Free Trial

    June 18, 2015 11:32 AM EDT Add French independent labels body UPFI to the chorus of concerned industry leaders about Apple's planned three-month giveaway of Apple Music. Echoing similar concerns from the Beggars Group , Australian body AIR and U.S.-based A2IM , the Fre ...

20. Beggars Slams Apple Music's Free Trial as 'Taking the Mium Out of Freemium'

    June 17, 2015 1:30 PM EDT The mounting concern over the free three-month trial period that Apple Music will offer to subscribers for its interactive streaming service may soon be evolving into an outcry from independent labels and publishers. Today, the Beggars Group ques ...

21. Indiependence: Is Anyone Really Free in This New Digital World? Should They Be?

    June 17, 2015 11:06 AM EDT The traditional record label or music publisher might be dying, but many rights holders, artists and songwriters are far from independent. They are members of coalitions and societies that negotiate on their behalf. They are also subject to rules ...

22. Country Notes: Big Waylon Jennings Tribute; Disney Radio Goes Country; Keith Urban's New Passion

    June 16, 2015 2:58 PM EDT Here is your weekly roundup of goings on -- staffing moves, good news and more -- in the wide world of country music. There's money to be made at CMA Music Festival -- which is great news for the charities that line up for the event. Darius R ...

23. Canadian Independent Music Assoc. Honors Frank Davies, Paul Clinch and Other Founders at Annual Gala

    June 16, 2015 1:46 PM EDT There were just four award categories, lots of reminiscing, some priceless retro television footage and some stellar performances at the 2015 Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) Gala Awards and 40th Anniversary Celebration at Toronto ...

24. Read Epic's Rejection of The Clash's 'Inferior Sounding' Debut Album

    June 16, 2015 11:14 AM EDT Why was The Clash 's 1977 debut album not released in the United States until two years later? Put bluntly by Epic Records A&R man Bruce Harris , the album's production quality was more in line with an "amateur act" and wou ...

25. Watch: Lil Wayne Says He 'Signed a Deal' With Jay Z -- Updated

    June 14, 2015 2:07 PM EDT Update: Lil Wayne's manager Cortez Bryant tells Billboard that rumors of the rapper signing to Jay Z's Roc Nation for label representation are untrue. "The Internet and blogs took his words out of context," Bryant tells Billboa ...

26. How Hillary Clinton Is Soundtracking Her 2016 Presidential Campaign

    June 12, 2015 1:00 PM EDT Portland, Ore.-based music supervision agency Marmoset Music has taken on big campaigns for corporate clients like JC Penney, Coca-Cola and Levi's in recent years, and is expected to help independent artists earn $5 million in gross revenue f ...

27. The War on Drugs Signs With Atlantic Records

    June 11, 2015 8:00 PM EDT The War on Drugs , the beloved Philadelphia indie rock band whose last studio effort, Lost in the Dream, was deemed the most critically acclaimed album of 2014 , has joined the Atlantic Records roster.  A June 4 article in the Wall Street Journal ...

28. How Music-Industry Heavyweights Forge Multimillion-Dollar Relationships on the Golf Green

    June 08, 2015 4:00 PM EDT DESCRIBE YOUR MOST MEMORABLE GOLF SHOT OR EXPERIENCE RICHARD “GUS” GUSLER: A few years ago I played with Brett Favre and [golf instructor] Peter Kostis in the Hootie & The Blowfish Monday After the Masters Charity Golf Tournament. The ­tournam ...

29. Billy Corgan on Free Streaming, Apple's 'Sweetheart Deals' & Shrewd Tech Companies

    June 08, 2015 1:15 PM EDT Like many others with a stake in the music biz,  Billy Corgan has streaming on his mind these days. As Apple launches its own subscription service and Spotify's founder hits the press circuit to  make his case for the freemium model , the Sma ...

30. Kobalt Announces Global Collection Society

    June 08, 2015 11:20 AM EDT Kobalt has formed what it describes as the world's first global digital collections society following last year's quiet acquisition of the American Mechanical Rights Agency, or AMRA. The independent music publishing company said it will ...

31. Midem 2015: ASCAP President Paul Williams Laments 'Fundamental Lack of Respect for Creators'

    June 08, 2015 9:29 AM EDT Singer, songwriter and ASCAP president Paul Williams made his first-ever trip to Midem over the weekend to share his thoughts on digital music, fair treatment for creators and "out-of-step" music licensing laws. Billboard  contributing e ...

32. Midem 2015: Sony Music CEO Confirms Apple Will Unveil Streaming Service Monday, Discusses Lengthy Career & More

    June 07, 2015 11:18 AM EDT Fresh from being honored just an hour earlier at the Billboard Midem Breakfast on Sunday, June 7, Sony Music chairman/CEO Doug Morris gave an expansive "Lessons Learned" keynote interview about his early days as a songwriter and a young ...

33. Billboard Cover: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek on Taylor Swift, His 'Freemium' Business Model and Why He's Saving the Music Industry

    June 05, 2015 9:00 AM EDT “It’s hard to criticize someone who’s hugely successful,” says Daniel Ek. The Spotify CEO is sitting inside a diner-style booth, in one of the many thoughtfully placed nooks at the company’s 100,000-square-foot Manhattan office, the day after a Ma ...

34. PwC's Music Biz Forecast for the Next Four Years? More of the Same, Despite Looming Changes

    June 02, 2015 8:30 PM EDT What will happen to the music business through the end of the decade? Disruptive entrants could push the market off course, a scenario being widely considered as Apple readies for the debut of a new music subscription service . Or it could follo ...

35. Canadian Singer JoJo Worthington Wins Songwriters Hall Competition

    June 02, 2015 2:46 PM EDT Canadian artist JoJo Worthington has won the inaugural Songwriters Hall of Fame Song Competition, co-presented by the SHOF and Universal Music Publishing Group. Conceived "by songwriters, for songwriters," the competition's grand pr ...

36. Lyor Cohen Reportedly Engaged to Art Consultant

    June 02, 2015 9:16 AM EDT Veteran music executive Lyor Cohen is reportedly off the market. The former Warner Music Group chairman proposed to Chinese basketball player-turned-model-turned-art-adviser Xin Li recently while in Florence, Italy, according to Page Six . Cohen, ...

37. Steve Albini: Copyright Has Expired

    May 30, 2015 4:20 PM EDT Steve Albini celebrated the Internet, announced the death of copyright, and voiced his ongoing disdain for the music business during an eloquent and expectedly provocative talk at the Primavera Pro conference in Barcelona. The musician, engineer ...

38. Sony Music CEO Doug Morris Says Company Is 'Rooting For Jay Z and Tidal to Succeed'

    May 29, 2015 7:27 PM EDT Much was made on the web today (May 29) of the possibility that Beyonce may have her catalog pulled from Tidal, the streaming service her husband (that's Jay Z) launched in March at a press conference where she appeared on stage. Media out ...

39. Former A&M Canada President Joe Summers Dies

    May 29, 2015 2:58 PM EDT Joe Summers , who helped establish A&M Records Canada with such artists as Bryan Adams, Gino Vannelli, Supertramp, Styx, Chris DeBurgh, the Police and Cat Stevens, and was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame, has passed a ...

40. Alejandro Fernandez and Universal Partner in Management & Booking Company

    May 28, 2015 1:30 PM EDT Mexican superstar Alejandro Fernandez has partnered with his label, Universal Music Group, to launch a management and booking company.  The new enterprise, called Infinity, will be a joint endeavor between Fernandez’s Grupo Fernandez Corporation a ...

41. Merlin Partners With Asian Streaming Service KKBOX

    May 27, 2015 1:34 PM EDT Global independent rights group Merlin has signed a licensing deal with Asia's leading music streaming service, KKBOX. The partnership represents Merlin's first ever pan-Asian specific deal and covers the territories of Taiwan, Hong Kong ...

42. IFPI Appoints Norman Halim, Jørn Dalchow to Main Board

    May 27, 2015 9:10 AM EDT Norman Abdul Halim , the founder and executive president of Malaysian indie label KRU Music, has been appointed to the Main Board and Asia Regional Executive Board of IFPI, which represents labels worldwide. The organization on Tuesday also announ ...

43. Michelle Jubelirer Promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Capitol

    May 26, 2015 1:39 PM EDT Capitol Music Group's chief creative dealmaker and second-in-command has been promoted, the label group announced today. The elevation comes a little over two years since Jubelirer joined Capitol as an executive vice president. Jubelirer will ...

44. Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Manager Phil McIntyre Launch Joint Venture with Island Records (Exclusive)

    May 26, 2015 7:00 AM EDT Demi Lovato ,  Nick Jonas and manager Phil McIntyre have partnered with Island Records in a new joint venture.  Safehouse Records is the home of a new artist-centric label that will not only see the release of the next Demi Lovato album -- her fif ...

45. Global EDM Market Hits $6.9 Billion

    May 22, 2015 3:22 PM EDT The global EDM business had a value of $6.9 billion last year, up 12 percent from $6.2 billion in 2013, according to the IMS Business Report 2015 . North America alone is estimated to represent roughly 29 percent, or $2 billion, of the global mark ...

46. New Law in Florida Looks to Fight Piracy, Simply

    May 22, 2015 11:56 AM EDT The U.S. music industry has another tool in its anti-piracy toolkit. Signed into Florida law Thursday by Governor Rick Scott, the "True Origin of Digital Goods Act" will require owners or operators of websites or online services that off ...

47. Quality Control Music Signs Joint Venture With Capitol Music Group & Motown Records

    May 21, 2015 7:36 PM EDT Hip-hop label Quality Control Music has signed a new joint venture deal with Capitol Music Group and its Motown Records label. Under the deal, Quality Control Music artists will be worked by Motown and other divisions within Capitol Music Group.  ...

48. Hailee Steinfeld Signs Deal With Republic Records

    May 21, 2015 6:44 PM EDT Pitch Perfect 2  star Hailee Steinfeld has signed a record contract with Republic Records. The news comes less than a week after Pitch Perfect 2 opened with the biggest box office tally ever for a musical.  'Pitch Perfect 2': Hailee Stei ...

49. Blue Note President Don Was Remembers His Predecessor Bruce Lundvall

    May 21, 2015 5:27 PM EDT Bruce Lundvall, former CEO of Blue Note Records and a key figure in jazz music, died May 19 at the age of 79 . Blue Note president Don Was remembers Lundvall’s life and legacy. It’s with a heavy heart that I write about the passing of our courageo ...

50. Nina Simone's Heirs Allege Sony Music Operates a Piracy Ring

    May 21, 2015 5:04 PM EDT An old dispute over Nina Simone song rights that seemingly found resolution last autumn has escalated for the second time this month with an allegation that Sony Music is now the proud owner of "one of the largest pirates in the recorded musi ...

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