Innholdsfortegnelse for March 16, 2013 i Billboard Magazine

FACEBOOK’S MUSIC NEWS FEED Facebook unveiled a new design that gives music its own dedicated news feed tab, one that appears to give bands and music marketers more real estate on the platform to broadcast their messages to fans. In making the changes to its all-important news feed algorithm, Facebook took a page from newspapers dividing the articles by sections—sports, business, local news, arts and entertainment, and so on. Similarly, Facebook’s news feed will feature categories that its users engage with most frequently, such as music, games, photos and “following,” which pulls together posts and updates from pages that the user has liked. SXSW INTERACTIVE TICKET SALES South by Southwest is expecting as many as 28,000 attendees at the Interactive portion of its 11-day technology, film and music festival, Adweek…

Smaller broadcasters. With CBS and Clear Channel using the strength of their national reach and major-market stations to create large-scale promotions and marketing opportunities for artists, smaller broadcasters like Emmis and Greater Media will have to work even harder to keep pace. Independent artists. Where it used to be almost impossible for artists to get to radio without a major label behind them, online programs on broadcasters’ digital platforms and new programs like CBS’ “Launch” that focus on new music can create avenues to airplay where the only requirement is getting enough buzz to get a PD’s attention. Advertisers. CBS will look to start monetizing its new programs through sponsorships just like Clear Channel has. Combine the national reach and large audiences the programs can deliver with the opportunity to…

Bertelsmann Takes Back The Music WHAT: After two years of speculation that Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts wanted out of its investment in BMG, it appears that it was Bertelsmann’s idea to buy out the private equity firm, as the Germany-based media giant wanted full control of the music company. According to sources, Bertelsmann is paying KKR $390 million for its 51% stake in BMG in a deal that values BMG at $1.4 billion. The amount paid to KKR translates into only about a 28% stake, but apparently Bertelsmann is taking on all of the company’s debt. Billboard estimates that BMG has about $650 million in debt, if one extrapolates a 51% stake to be $730 million and subtracts the cash paid to KKR. Currently, BMG generates almost $400 million in…

What did you wake up thinking about this morning? I’m always thinking about those three biggest things that I have to weigh in on in some way. Someone might be in China, someone might be in L.A., someone might be in New York—it’s always one of those three big issues that requires my attention. I’m one of those people who truly believes in the clarity of a shower. It’s a weird thing for me. If something’s in the back of my mind, sometimes it becomes clear to me what the answer is, [then] I walk out of the shower and get someone on the phone as soon as possible and articulate my point of view. Not that it’s necessary, but there’s something about that time of day where you see…

Beth Ditto’s bold style and fierce sense of self have powered Gossip’s righteous dance-rock for some 14 years now. The band’s latest video, for the song “Get a Job,“ off A joyful Noise (Columbia), is a fabulous tribute to the hardworking masses from a gal who definitely knows how to work it. Here, Ditto recounts the musical firsts that inspired her enduring creativity. Soundtrack to my first job: My big sister and I worked at a place called Bud’s Discount Warehouse where all of the broken shit from Walmart went. I’m from Arkansas, and that’s where Walmart is from; Bud was Sam Walton’s brother. It was awesome. It closed down not long after I got the job, so you could do whatever you wanted. I bought a wheelchair for 5…

There is no alcohol in the green room. There is Cozy Chamomile herbal tea, a fruit bowl, a plate of red velvet cupcakes and a copy of “Art & Sole,” a book about sneaker design, with a note that reads “For Seb.” There’s a TV connected to a Sony PlayStation 3. There’s a production assistant, who enters 15 minutes before Swedish House Mafia’s expected arrival to turn off the harsh overhead fluorescents and light some pillar candles. But there is no posse, no hangers-on, no waiting party of industry well-wishers who would seemingly turn up for one of the arena-packing act’s last performances ever. And, consequently, there is no tequila, vodka or even Red Bull. Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso and Axel Hedfors (aka Axwell), the members of Swedish House Mafia,…

Some things are inevitable at Ultra: Slamming main-stage sets from artists like Afrojack, Kaskade and David Guetta. The occasional pop star drop-by (e.g., Madonna, Will.i.am). Lots and lots of neon. But every year, there are moments of higher consequence: Sets that test if new artists are worth the hype, demonstrate the fervor of an upstart’s fan base, broadcast the arrival of a new sound or trend, or give an established name a chance to renew himself. Below, seven such must-see sets over Ultra’s two weekends. Don’t miss them. BAAUER After his “Harlem Shake” spawned a global video même and hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, It Boy producer Baauer (aka Harry Rodrigues) decided not to do any TV appearances or pop collaborations. So his early-evening set on the…

The biggest challenge to staging “Motown: The Musical” on Broadway, according to those involved, was corralling the riches of the blockbuster Motown catalog. It’s one thing to base a jukebox musical on the hits of ABBA (“Mamma Mia!”), the Four Seasons (“Jersey Boys”) and ‘80s hair metal (“Rock of Ages”), but it’s another to package the culturally dominating and musically peerless work of Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross & the Suprêmes, Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Martha & the Vandellas, the Temptations and the Four Tops into a two-hour-and-20-minute spectacular. “When I first got the script, there must have been a hundred songs in it, and I didn’t want to cut any of them,” “Motown” director Charles Randolph-Wright says. “How do you cut this music? It would have been six…

When Creative Artists Agency was searching for an innovative, multicultural way to promote awareness among fans for the Enrique Iglesias/Jennifer Lopez tour last year, it turned to Zynga, the social-gaming platform known for FarmVille and Words With Friends. CAA met with Zynga to talk about Draw Something, which launched in a dozen languages last year. “We thought since they were doing something with an international flair that has a huge domestic footprint, why don’t we try to work together and cross-promote?” says Glenn Miller, who oversees digital strategy for CAA. “Essentially, Enrique and Jennifer were the launch partners for Draw Something, and we became trending topics by working into the framework of what Draw Something has built, as well as tying in the core base that Enrique and Jennifer have…

In 1956, Quincy Jones gained some of the most valuable experience of his burgeoning career by touring the Middle East and North Africa as a trumpet player, arranger and music director for Dizzy Gillespie’s State Department-sponsored big band. Fifty-seven years later, Jones is giving back to the region with the launch of Dubai Music Week, a joint initiative between the Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC) and the Global Gumbo Group (G3), founded by Jones and United Arab Emirates entrepreneur Badr Jafar. The conference will allow music companies and merchants to showcase their artists and products, and also launch new initiatives. Jafar said in a joint statement with Jones, “I strongly believe in the social powers of arts and entertainment, and so I am constantly looking to see how best to…

Quincy Jones is known as so many things—producer, conductor, arranger, label owner, artist, musician, film and movie producer—that it’s easy to overlook his prowess as a songwriter, even though it’s one of the creative hats he’s been wearing the longest. A member of ASCAP since 1955, Jones has scored more than 35 movies, starting with Sidney Lumet’s “The Pawnbroker” in 1964 and including “In the Heat of the Night,” “In Cold Blood” and “The Color Purple.” His work on films has garnered him six Academy Award nominations: “The Eyes of Love,” from “Banning,” was the first song co-written by an African-American to receive a best original song nod. (Jones’s Oscar win is for the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1994.) Jones also authored the themes for such TV series as…

Chris Mays, PD, KINK Portland, Ore. “Spotlight,” by Leagues, is a catchy, retro, ’80s-sounding song with a great hook. Ital so helps that it was released at the right time of year—it’s one of those songs you want to listen to at high volume in your car. They’ve been gaining attention at alternative, and now triple A. Wake Owl’ “Wild Country” has beautiful, haunting melodies in an alt/country vein. The band is commercially viable while maintaining a pure harmonic tone. Singer/songwriter Colyn Cameron is now based in Portland, and this music fits the scene perfectly. “Roots & Vi ne” by Sons of Fathers—I first saw this Austin band in Boulder, Colo., last summer. Its manager, Marty Schwartz, asked me tostickaround. and I was glad I did. They’re powerful live performers…

ROCK PHOENIX “Entertainment” (3:40) PRODUCERS: Phoenix, Phillipe Zela WRITER: Phoenix PUBLISHER: Ghettoblaster Publishing (ASCAP) Glassnote It’s been four long years since the release of Phoenix’s arena-pop masterpiece Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, but these French craftsmen are back in typically massive fashion with “Entertainment,” another escapist shout-along laced with tumbling tomtoms and zippy synths. “I’ll take the trouble, let you have my mind,” Thomas Mars croons with boyish zeal. What trouble? —RR FOLK THE STAVES “Mexico” (4:07) PRODUCERS: Glyn Johns, Ethan Johns WRITERS: Emily Staveley-Taylor, Jessica Staveley-Taylor, Camilla Staveley-Taylor PUBLISHER: EMI Music Publishing Atlantic Records Acoustic-woven melodies, beatific harmonies and a neo-folk vibe is the name of the game for U.K. sister trio the Staves. “Mexico,” the first single off the act’s forthcoming debut fulllength, shows the group at its finest: gentle…

After more than two years, the first teaser of new Daft Punk music hit the airwaves last weekend in a TV ad during NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” The 15-second clip aired shortly after midnight on March 3, featuring nothing more than the Daft Punk logo and the audio. It’s presumed that the snippet is from the French electronic duo’s upcoming album for Columbia Records. No release date has been announced for the set, the pair’s first after a career on Virgin/Capitol and EMI. 83% 183.9K Views of Daft Punk’s artist page on Wikipedia grew by 83% in the week ending March 4 to 184,000,according to Next Big Sound. 617% 31K The act was buzzing on Twitter, where on March 2and 3 Daft Punkwas mentioned 31,000 times, according to Topsy analytics,…

Oh, Boy! Swiss/German duo Boy (singerValeska Steiner and bassist Sonja Glass) makes its first appearance on a U.S. Billboard chart, as Mutual Friends (Nettwerk) enters Heatseekers Albums at No. 13. Hooky lead single “Little Numbers” aids the album’s exposure with a 24% increase n plays as it approaches the Nielsen BDS-based triple A chart. The song has also received placement on the iTunes store’s home page. The set reached the Germany Albums top 10 in2011. Scissor Sister’s New Cuts Scissor Sisters guitarist De Marquis (real name Derek Gruen) will release his debut full-length. Cosmos, on March 26. Recorded under the name Slow Knights, the 10-song, independently released set features Gruen playing on every track (and singing on one), as well as former members of Prince’s New Power Generation Guestvocalists, including…

This Week’s Trend Report: Biggest Hot 100 Movers THIS WEEK, WE LOOK AT THREE WEEKS’ WORTH OF DATA, HIGHLIGHTING TOP % GAINERS OF THE WEEK THAT ALSO GAINED THE PREVIOUS TWO WEEKS KEY TO GENRE COUNTRY R& ROCK RAP POP DANCE/ELECTRONIC HOW TO READ THIS GRAPHIC 1 DARIUS RUCKER This Week: 69 Last Week: 87 2 Weeks Ago: 95 Cover of Old Crow Medicine Show’s 2004 single “Wagon Wheel” is the top Digital Gainer on Hot Country Songs (24-16) while rebounding on Country Digital Songs (14-7) with 42,000 sold (up 44%). Rucker’s version is sparking interest in the band’s original recording, which ranks at No. 29 on Country Digital Songs (15,000, up 1 2 WALE This Week: 61 Last Week: 70 2 Weeks Ago: - Wale’s “Bad,” featuring newcomer Tiara…

Just as Beyoncé and Taylor Swift have become the respective new faces of Pepsi and Diet Coke, a new, healthier trend has emerged with music and beverages. Artists and music executives are becoming the faces and equity partners in a series of new bottled water and healthy beverages, to both align their names with a growing segment and distance themselves from the mounting controversy associated with soda endorsements. ¶ Last week, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Mark Wahlberg announced an investment in premium water AQUAhydrate to help boost its distribution at retail and make the product a go-to for fit, active party people. This week, kid-targeted Wat-AAH! is debuting a campaign with new spokespeople (and equity partners) the OMG Girlz, a teenage R&B/hip-hop girl group managed by music industry veteran Michael…

The lines are blurring between traditional TV content and online video as viewers seeking entertainment turn to whatever screen is at hand, whether it’s a tablet or a smartphone. Tablets last year had a 110% surge in video viewership, while smartphones experienced an 87% increase, according to Ooyala, a Silicon Valley technology company that helps deliver online videos to more than 200 million unique viewers per month on behalf of ESPN, Miramax and other media companies. This trend will only grow, says Ooyala founder Bismarck Lepe, who projects that during the next five years, the number of people accessing videos on their smartphones will expand tenfold. What’s driving this growth? In a word: quality. “In the first wave of online video, people were interested in access, turning to torrent sites…

Last December, Peter Jesperson, the music executive who signed and managed the Replacements, paid a visit to the band’s former guitarist Slim Dunlap, who’s been partially paralyzed following a right-side brain stroke in February 2012. Jesperson was there to play Dunlap a handful of early tracks from the Songs for Slim project, for which acts like the reunited Replacements, Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams recorded covers of Dunlap’s music to help pay for the guitarist’s ongoing medical bills. “The look in his eye when I was playing him the songs and him hearing all these people singing these songs he’d written that didn’t sell great numbers on his own records... he was very moved,” recalls Jesperson, who’s spearheading Songs for Slim and serves as VP of production and catalog at…

Country Spirit It was three days of killer performances and panels at the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, where icons and hopefuls—from Taylor Swift to Dustin Lynch—mingled with radio and label brass, gearing up for the spring season. The Universal Music Group Nashville promotion staff and artists (below) took the opportunity to gather for a family reunion–style snapshot on the steps of the historic Ryman Auditorium. 1. The gang’s all here! Universal Music Group Nashville promotion staffers and artists gathered on the steps of the Ryman Auditorium. “Every year we leave here saying,’Howdo we top that?’” UMG Nashville senior VP of promotion Royce Risser (No. 31) told the crowd at the showcase for the roster of acts on UMG and Capitol “Wefigured itout—havea merger!” 2. Toasting the year ahead: Rodeowave…

GIG An exhilarating cultural incubator and a hive of new ideas, Mexico City also turns into a rocker’s paradise when Vive Latino hits townbringing with it a roster of Latin rock royalty (Los Autenticos Décadentes, Los Amigos Invisibles and Enjambre), buzz bands like Tame Impala (whose Kevin Parker says that playing in the capital “was the first time we felt like rock stars”) and major international stars, this year including Morrissey, Blur and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. “The vibe, the intensity, the happiness—it’s just crazy,” Mexican songstress Carla Morrison raves. The festival’s presence can be felt throughout the diverse neighborhoods of the sprawling city. Offstage, look for the indie hipster acts and the fans that love them in the buzzing streets of Condesa, which Nacional Records VP of artist and…

Steve Angello quietly joined Red Light Management in July of last year, but he didn’t do it alone. Along with the Swedish House Mafia capo came many of the fledgling artists who release music on his Size Records label, like AN21 (Angello’s brother), Max Vangeli and Qulinez. They too are now part of the Red Light family, in a co-management deal with Angello and the venerable management company, which counts the likes of Dave Matthews Band, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and R. Kelly among its clients. While Angello is a significant supplement to a DJ roster that includes Pretty Lights, Rusko, Borgore, Cedric Gervais and, as of December, superstar Tiësto, the addition of the developing Size artists might be the biggest indicator of Red Light’s faith in the genre. “We…

1.Chi-Chi Central South Beach’s more upscale hotels happen to be concentrated in these three blocks, and are consequently where many DJs lay their heads. The Setai—and its glorious outdoor lounge, dotted with candlelight —will host Ultra Records’ industry reception (March 21). The W will again host the SiriusXM Lounge, always a magnet for industry mingling (and some good, small pool parties too). Shore Club’s got the Reload pool party (March 21), and the Perry (formerly Gansevoort) hasn’t announced anything yet, but traditionally hosts pool events. 2. Pool Party Row Four hotels with sizable pool areas—the Raleigh, the National, the Shelbourne and Surfcomber—sit within this two-block radius, creating an insurmountable sound-separation challenge, and so much party energy that no one cares. New York-based promoter RPM is behind 12 events at three…

MAGINE LOOKING AT YOUR SMARTPHONE and seeing a video text message from the singer of one of your favorite bands, letting you know about an upcoming show in your area. You touch a link to buy a ticket, and a few for your friends, and forward your friends their tickets digitally. Since you’ve opted in through your phone, on the way to the show a text message informs you of a traffic-dodging route to the venue and where to find the best available parking. You flash a bar code on your mobile to gain entrance to the show, and get another text about a deal on hot dogs at the stage-left concession stand, along with a discount on merch. During the show, in between uploading photos and video to your…

Stop. It’s the one concept Quincy Jones steers clear of while reflecting on his storied career on the eve of his milestone 80th birthday on March 14. In fact, it’s business as usual for the musician, songwriter, arranger, producer, composer and humanitarian who, in his words, “just keeps rolling.” And that rolling along entails a growing slate of upcoming projects. Inspired by the success of his Global Gumbo All-Stars group of international artists, Jones has started a management consulting business with a roster of artists to watch (see story, page 40). Specializing in artist development, business management, touring and promotion, the consultancy boasts a stable of emerging acts, including jazz-pop singer Nikki Yanofsky, Asian girl group Blush, jazz pianist Justin Kauflin, jazz guitarist Andreas Varady, jazz pianist Alfredo Rodriguez of…

On March 14, Quincy Jones celebrates his 80th birthday, but the celebration won’t start and stop there. Rather fittingly, for a man whose travels and musical influence have spanned the globe, Jones’ 80th will be celebrated in four different countries in April, July and August. First, on April 13, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Jones will celebrate his birthday with his “celestial twin,” actor Michael Caine. The two were born within minutes of each other on March 14,1933—Jones in Chicago, Caine in London—and became friends when Jones scored the original version of “The Italian Job,” starring Caine, in 1969. The celebration will double as the 17th annual Power of Love Gala and benefit the Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, a cause close to…

The branding of South by Southwest 2012 sometimes reached art-and commerce proportions so grandiose and surreal, Andy Warhol would have been proud. Lil Wayne dropped by to film a live commercial for Mountain Dew, Doritos erected a stage in the shape of a 40-foot vending machine, and Nike Fuelband turned an entire wall into a live demo of its highly in-demand product. It’s no surprise that SXSW would become such a marketing hub in its 26th year. The Music portion of the conference alone attracted nearly 19,000 participants and more than 3,000 media, with an estimated attendance of 302,000 throughout SXSW’s 11-day run. All the event activity from sponsors and attendees helped pour a combined $125 million into the City of Austin—a sign that marketers spend real money in making…

Alice Smith’s unorthodox approach to R&B was already rearing its head when she was just 10 years old. While other fans her age were lip-syncing to their favorite Bobby Brown song, the Washington, D.C., native was having an out-of-body experience at a vastly more mature Miki Howard concert. “I literally cried at that show,” says Smith, 35, from the kitchen of her Brooklyn home. “I think about that sometimes, like, what kind of 10-year-old cries tears at a Miki Howard concert?” Years later, Smith’s left-field musical vision—and four-octave vocal range—have netted critical accolades, a Grammy Award nomination and, now, her long-delayed second album She, due March 19 on Rainwater/Thirty Tigers, after years of label turmoil, a Kickstarter campaign and a new indie deal. Smith released her dreamy, genre-jumping debut, For…

Afrojack Featuring Chris Brown “As Your Friend” (4:03) PRODUCERS: Afrojack, Leroy Styles, DJ Buddha, Polow Da Don WRITERS: various PUBLISHERS: Various LABEL: Wall Recordings LEGEND & CREDITS Edited by Mitchell Peters (albums) and Jason Lipshutz (singles) CONTRIBUTORS: Jim Allen, Phi Gallo, Andy Gensler, Gary Graff, William Gruger, Dan Hyman, Jason Lipshutz, Kerr’ Mason, Jill Menze, Gail Mitchell, Chris Payne, Ryan Reed, MickStingley All albums commercially available in the Jnited States are eligible. Send album review copies to Mitchel Petersat Billboard, 5700Wilshire Blvd., Suite 500, Los Angeles, CA 90036and singles ‘eview copies to Jason Lipshutz atBillboard,770 Broadway, Seventh Floor, New York, NY 10003, or to the writers in the appropriate oureaus. DANCE Afrojack’s ‘Friendly’ Fare Afrojack has been crafting hits for superstar artists (Pitbull’s “Give Me Everything”) and producing one-off singles…

.com Multiplatinum R&B singer Jay Sean aunches his own imprint Kamouflage Entertainment. The company’s first signings include U.K. “X Factor” finalist the Fairground. The Kacey Musgraves bandwagon is getting very crowded these days. The 24-year-old singer was one of the most talked-about artists at the Country Radio Seminar (CRS) in Nashville. Her performance of “Follow Your Arrow,” from her debut Same Trailer Different Park (March 19, Mercury), at the Universal Music Luncheon on Feb. 27 touched offa firestorm of excitement among attendees, with its laissez-faire approach to marijuana smoking and same-sex relationships—an anomaly in a still-conservative genre. KKBQ,Houston PD Johnny Chiang was impressed. “It’s one of the most original and witty songs I’ve ever heard, and I can’t wait to play it,” he says. “However, there will be some stations…

After scoring the biggest radio hit of her career in 2012 with “Give Your Heart a Break,” Demi Lovato started the campaign for her next album with her best sales week ever for a song. “Heart Attack,” the lead single from her forthcoming, as yet-untitled fourth full-length album, due out in late spring/early summer, rockets to a No. 12 debut on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 with 215,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. “Heart Attack” was originally set for a March 4 premiere on Ryan Seacrest’s syndicated radio show, but leaked online on Feb. 24, springing Hollywood Records’ marketing department into early action. “I was having an Oscar party at my house when [the leak] went down, so I had to excuse myself and have a conference call,” Hollywood…

Nearly two decades after the deregulation of U.S. radio ownership touched off a frenzy of consolidation, the largest radio companies are picking up the pace in maximizing the benefits of their national audience reach by creating more exclusive artist programming thanks to increasingly closer relationships with labels. Clear Channel led the way with its “Artist Immersion” programs 18 months ago, and now Billboard has learned that CBS Radio, the No. 2 radio group in terms of total audience, is rolling out several new programs under the name “Amplify” designed to align its stations more closely with the music industry. The three biggest elements are “Impact,” which focuses on song or album releases from big-name artists; “Launch,” which creates multiplatform exposure for new acts; and “Artist Hook Up,” an exclusive promotion…

Nine days before the start of the 27th annual South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, with its Interactive, Film and Music components running March 8-17, Roland Swenson is spending much of his time on email and iChat making sure everything is headed toward the finish line. 8.00 AM I drop off my daughter at school. 9.00 AM After 45 minutes of answering emails, I speak with our attorneys about various lawsuits filed against us and ones we have filed. We’re also working on our trademark application fora Las Vegas event, V2V. If we do it by a certain date, we can trademark it in 20 countries for a lot less money 9.30AM Today is the deadline for a bunch of our publications. I met with the art staff to…

Keeping Pandora’s Box Open The financial realities of Internet radio showed up recently when Pandora announced it would cap at 40 hours per month the amount of time listeners could stream music on mobile devices. Web radio has gone mobile, but mobile isn’t where the ad money is. To manage its costs, Pandora will let people listen for free on computers, pay 99 cents for extended listening once the 40-hour cap is reached (through in-app purchases) or subscribe to Pandora One, the company’s ad-free product that costs $3.99 per month or $36 per year. It estimates 4% of users will be affected. Founder Tim Westergren calls the cap “a very unusual thing to do” but explains that Pandora’s per-track royalty rates rose 9% in 2013 and are scheduled to rise…

.biz For photos of the music business at work and play, go to billboard. biz. To submit photos for consideration, send images to backbeat@billboard.com. 1. Green room smooch: Christina Aguilera backstage with her fellow “The Voice” alum Cee Lo Green after opening night of his new Las Vegas residency show “Cee Lo Green Is LOBERACE ” at Planet Hollywood on Feb. 27. 2. She did it her way: Nicki Minaj at the Kmart Shop Your Way launch party on March 1 at Fig & Olive on Melrose Place in West Hollywood. 3. High praise! Jason Ingram was named SESAC’s Christian songwriter of the year at ceremonies held March 5 in Nashville. From left: SESAC’s John Mullins, Ingram and SESAC’s Tim Fink and Trevor Gale. 4.Sheryl Crow entertained attendees at CMT’s…

Mike Elizondo’s Ultimate Player’s Playroom Mike Elizondo Provenance: Grew up in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. A virtuoso bassist, Elizondo studied at the Academy of Music at L.A.’s Hamilton High School. Big break: Co-producing, co-writing and performing on 50 Cent’s 2003 smash “In Da Club”withDr. Dre. Grammy love: Nominated for producerof the year in 2008; shared a 2011 Grammy win with Switchfoot for best rockgospelalbum. Studio slate: Keith Urban, Avenged Sevenfold, Kimbra, Eli “Paperboy” Reed and Echosmith Not many producers can shift from urban to Keith Urban—then again, Mike Elizondo is as renowned for his diverse studio smarts as he is a songwriter, multiinstrumentalist and a music executive with magic ears. (He serves as senior VP of A&R for Warner Bros.) “Not being pigeonholed as a one-trick pony was 100%…

In 1999, dance music in the United States was in an odd place. On one hand, it was underground: U.K. rave had hit America, and illegal parties in warehouses, deserts and fields swept from coast to coast. On the other hand, dance—or “electronica,” as it was then known—was having a mainstream moment, with Fatboy Slim picking up three MTV Video Music Awards behind “Praise You.” This was the lopsided but promising environment that welcomed the country’s first legal, daylong, fully produced dance music event: the Ultra Music Festival. “We wanted to do something unique and original, and none of us had ever heard of an electronic music festival on the beach with real production and real artists,” says Ultra executive producer/CEO Russell Faisbach, then a local Miami promoter of warehouse…

When he reactivated Big Beat Records as an EDM label in 2010, Atlantic Records chairman/CEO Craig Kallman— who originally founded Big Beat in 1987 before selling it to Atlantic four years later—was determined to revive the imprint with its independent spirit intact. He staffed the company with a dozen “dance music fanatics” and set it up to run in its own “separate orbit,” free of a major label’s bureaucracy yet equipped with one’s muscle and resources. But there was another aspect of the major-label system that carried over as well: Artists inked to Big Beat were consistently signed to 360 deals, making the label a partner in all touring and merchandise. That decision proved critical from Big Beat’s earliest signings, including producer/DJ-turned-international-dance-phenomenon Skrillex, whom Forbes estimates earned $15 million in…

With its combined venue, ticketing, management, merchandising and promoter businesses, Live Nation Entertainment has a database unparalleled in live entertainment. That said, Live Nation’s new mobile app, to be rolled out in full this spring, aims to get personal with fans through geotargeting and music affinity tools. “When [the fan] gets a certain distance from one of our venues, we know you’re in range, and we’re able to send you messages we consider valuable,” Live Nation co-president of North American concerts Mark Campana says. “We can make it easier, tell you which parking lots are filling up, if there’s been an accident. And then we can start to talk to you as you come in the venue.” But where messaging really becomes powerful is when the artists get involved. When…

Throughout a six-decade career, Quincy Jones has worked with some of the most influential artists in history, from Ray Charles and Miles Davis to Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson. While continuing in that role, Jones plans to launch a new management and consulting business with a focus on artist development, touring and promotion, and he’s also serving as executive producer and/or producer on these artists’ projects. 1NIKKI YANOFSKY nikkiyanofsky.com @NikkiYanofsky This 19-year-old Canadian jazz-pop singer has already had success both in her homeland and the United States. Her 2010 Decca Records release Nikki topped the Canadian jazz chart and Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, and racked up gold certifications in Canada, France and Japan. That same year, her single “I Believe” served as the official theme of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver,…

“I wanted to be a gangster until I was 11.” That’s how Quincy Jones sums up his career aspirations before music became his allconsuming focus. Born March 14,1933, on Chicago’s South Side, Jones recalls his daily life in the Windy City was “gangs, stogies, dead bodies, tommy guns and piles of money,” owing to his father’s work as a master carpenter for the Jones Boys—one of the area’s biggest black gangster outfits operating a policy racket and five-and-dime stores. His mother, who introduced Jones to music, attended Boston University and spoke several languages, but also suffered from mental illness. Jones credits his family’s subsequent relocation to Seattle suburb Bremerton, when he was 10, as the move “that saved my life. I would have been dead or in prison, no question.”…

ARTIST: Onerepublic ALBUM: Native LABEL: Mosley Music/Interscope MANAGERS: Ron Laffitte and Dana Salant, Laffitte Management Group BOOKING AGENT: Jenna Adler, Creative Artists Agency PRODUCERS: Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle, Benny Blanco, PhillippeZdar, Jeff Bhasker PUBLISHER: Midnite Miracle/Sony/ATV (ASCAP) TWITTER: @one republic In some ways, the genesis of OneRepublic’s third album dates all the way back to 2010’s Rock am Ring festival in Germany. “We were opening for Rage Against the Machine, and there were 150,000 people in the crowd; fortunately, they knew our songs and the event went as well as it could,” frontman Ryan Tedder says. “But I just kept kicking myself for not having more uptempo songs in our catalog.” That lament became even more urgent when Tedder attended last year’s Coachella festival, where he caught sets by Radiohead…

A new album and tour is business as usual for Dépêche Mode, which has, like clockwork, issued a full-length and embarked on a coinciding live run every four years since 1993. But the band’s 13th studio set, Delta Machine, due March 26 on new label home Columbia, was created under unusual circumstances for the veteran alt-rock group. After years of well-documented infighting, the members, including frontman Dave Gahan and chief songwriter Martin Gore, were downright giddy working with one another. “When you’re together with people for more than 30 years, there are bound to be ups and downs, things that bother you and things you celebrate together.” -DAVE GAHAN “When you’re together with people for more than 30 years, there are bound to be ups and downs, things that bother…

ELECTRONIC RHYE Woman PRODUCER: Robin Hannibal LABEL: Innovative Leisure/Lorna Vista/Republic RELEASE DATE: March 5 Rhye’s debut album features the androgynous vocals of Michael Milosh, who sounds more Sade or Tracey Thorn than Eddie Kendricks or Andy Gibb. The songs are about love and sex, with R&B soul and the light-handed production of an indie act. It’s an irresistible shag-rug soundtrack for the emo-hip. —KM ROCK JIMI HENDRIX People, Hell and Angels PRODUCERS: Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer, John McDermott LABEL: Experience Hendrix/Legacy RELEASE DATE: March 5 The latest from the Hendrix vaults chronicles his ambitious post-Experience explorations, including the familiar jam “Somewhere” (featuring Stephen Stills on bass). You’ll rarely hear Hendrix sounding so free (“Let Me Move You,” with saxophonist Lonnie Youngblood) and funky (”Mojo Man,” featuring the Ghetto Fighters). —GG…

3 MONTHS AGO High off the buzz from Plumb’s guest feature on PaulVanDyk’s’1 Don’t Deserve You,” which peaked on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart at No. 11 last year. Curb Records launched the album by working “Need You Now (How Many Times)” to Christian radio. The track became the highest-charting single of her 15-year career, topping the Christian Hot AC tally for five weeks. Plumb’s hands-on social-media approach was also key to engaging fans early on. “My music is very personal, so [using] social media as a means to connect is incredibly important,” Plumb says. “If an artist is paying someone to post for them, they’re missing out.” 1 MONTH AGO Fourweeks before the album came out. Curb started releasing a new single off the album every Tuesday. On Feb.…

As forecast last week, Bruno Mars claims his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, as Unorthodox Jukebox jumps one slot to the top of the tally. The set, largely fueled by Amazon MP3 sale pricing, sold 95,000 copies in the week ending March 3, for a gain of 96% compared with the previous week (according to Nielsen SoundScan). On Feb. 26, the digital retailer offered a bevy of albums for $1.99, including Mars’ latest and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’The Heist. Discounted sales of Unorthodox Jukebox and The Heist—and all of last week’s other Amazon MP3 $1.99 titles—count toward their weekly total because the albums have been out for more than four weeks. Billboard doesn’t count sales of albums priced for less than $3.49 in their first four weeks…