Innholdsfortegnelse for March 23, 2013 i Billboard Magazine

MONEY FOR ACCESS A Nielsen survey of 4,000 music consumers found the music biz could add as much as $450 million-$2.6 billion per year in incremental revenue by giving fans better access to artists and improved music experiences overall. “Fans want more,” Nielsen chief analytics officer Barbara Zack says. “There is a desire to engage at a different level than what they have.” Fifty-three percent of “aficionados” (the most active music buyers) said they’d pay to get exclusive content while a favorite act is recording a new album. LONDON’S FALLING The combined sales of music, video and gaming products in the United Kingdom fell 12% in 2012 to £4.2 billion ($6.3 billion), with music sales declining by £59 million ($87.8 million) from the previous year, according to the annual Entertainment…

Music startups. So-called “middle-class” startups like Spotify could have an easier time raising money, now that Blavatnik has invested in companies that aren’t necessarily the dominant players in their categories. This could help spur innovation as companies invest money in ways to differentiate. On-demand services. Blavatnik’s investments in Deezer and Jimmy Iovine’ Beats validates the model as a key component of a broader music market, one that’s just waiting for the right catalyst, like a distribution deal with a major U.S. telecommunications company. Warner Music Group. Though Blavatnik has so far kept his music investments as separate operating units, he has insider knowledge along all links in the value chain. This could potentially help WMG, the smallest of the three majors, overcome its size disadvantage in negotiating licensing deals. Labels.…

Kevin Liles Founder, KWL Enterprises Kevin Liles may have made his name in the music business as an executive at Island Def Jam and Warner Music Group, but his dance card has diversified since founding KWL Enterprises in 2009. His talent management roster includes Nelly, D’Angelo, Trey Songz, Big Sean and Young Jeezy, as well as athletes and models. Liles also has a PR joint venture with MWW Group, and has his hand in telecommunications (he’s on the board of One Maryland Broadband), consumer products (he’s an investor in Go Inside, a healthy tea launching this summer in Walgreens) and even theater (he’s a producer on “The Trip to Bountiful,” opening on Broadway April 23). 6.00 AM I’m an early riser, so I wake up and do 100 push-ups and…

Here’s a little-known fact about Ke$ha: During a visit to an island in the South Pacific, the pop singer got scabies after trying to separate two abused street dogs that had been glued together. “I was calling the Humane Society in the middle of the night and nobody was answering,” Ke$ha recalls. “I bitched about it to enough people that they ended up sending a whole help team of volunteers.” Ke$ha’s passion for helping animals prompted the Humane Society International to name her its first global ambassador in 2011. Since then, she has helped spread the word about such animal protection issues as the trophy hunting of endangered lions, shark-finning, the abuse of street dogs, seal slaughter and cruelty-free cosmetics. “If you follow my music, you know I’m a bit…

If you’re a U.S. record-store chain, the world nowadays is a pretty lonely place. There are only three left: Hastings Entertainment, Newbury Comics and Trans World Entertainment. Combined, these three chains account for less than 3% of music sales. Once upon a time, chains ruled the music industry, but their collapse during the last decade-and-a-half has been well-documented. When history records their fall, the chains’ demise will be attributed to the arrival of the digital delivery of music, but these types of retailers were doomed long before the first official download occurred in 1998. The advent of Nielsen SoundScan inspired many labels to chase big first-week sales to obtain the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, regardless of the long-term consequences to the industry. In order to achieve spectacular…

São Paulo Lollapalooza Brazil, March 29-31 SEE While still wrought with contradiction—relatively high crime rates, but exceedingly warm and friendly locals—21st-century São Paulo is one of the most thrilling cities in the world. And Brazilians love their rock’n’roll, as evidenced by the successful 2012 debut of Lollapalooza Brazil (lollapaloozabr.com). This year’s lineup is loaded with international superstars including the Killers, Nas and Franz Ferdinand; local hot shots (see story, right); and exciting buzz bands like Foals, Alabama Shakes (whose Brittany Howard enthuses, “We plan to throw a big dance party!”), Toro y Moi and Two Door Cinema Club. The lattermost’s Kevin Baird is excited to return to Brazil and play to fans that are “beautiful, bonkers and know how to party.” When taking a break from the festival, check out…

Faux smoke is billowing and Beyoncé music is pumping as siblings Kimberly, Reid and Neil Perry, collectively known as the Band Perry, glam it up for the camera inside a Nashville-area photography studio. Despite the fact that it’s almost 5 p.m. and their day started hours earlier in Orlando, Fla., at a private concert and won’t be done for six or more hours when their bus delivers them to the family home in Greeneville, Tenn., the trio is upbeat. They’re eager to chat about their new album, Pioneer, which has been 18 months in the making and is due April 2 on Republic Nashville (under the Big Machine Label Group umbrella). That the Band Perry’s new album is called Pioneer is not by chance. “We see it as a journey,”…

The penetration of smartphones in Latin America, where consumers rely heavily on their mobile devices, has been a key driver in the region’s growth in digital music revenue. At the same time, the prospects of growth in both smartphone and Internet usage point to explosive growth in the region in the next couple of years. According to Credit Suisse figures published by Internet statistics company Statista, smartphone penetration in Latin America was 1% in 2007 and had grown to 7% in 2011 and 11% in 2012, with a projection of 21% by 2015. That may not sound like much, but consider this: According to Google’s Our Mobile Planet, the data and analysis tool that provides access to data and research on smartphone usage, smartphone penetration in Argentina in 2012 was…

Staying power. Artists either have it or they don’t. After Chaka Khan defiantly belted her way to a hit—and a Grammy Award—on the Stevie Wonder-penned Rufus funk ditty “Tell Me Something Good,” there was no question as to which category she would claim. That R&B/pop success in 1974 was just the appetizer. The singer/songwriter has since become a living legend. “You Got the Love,” “Sweet Love,” “Ain’t Nobody,” “I’m Every Woman” and “I Feel for You” are just a few of the delectable classics she dished up as front woman for Rufus and as a solo artist. Along the way, she has collaborated with a who’s who of great talents—from Wonder, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Quincy Jones and Dizzy Gillespie to Arif Mardin, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Prince, George…

“We’ve had a banner year.” “There’s more traffic than ever.” “Sensationally hot.” These are just some of the statements heard from agents, managers and venue executives when surveying Canada’s arena touring market in the past year. “People want to tour Canada on a national basis,” Live Nation Canada chairman Riley O’Connor says. “It’s taken about 15 years to convince people that there’s more to Canada than Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.” The top five Canadian venues, as recently ranked by Billboard Box score, span the country coast to coast, with two in Canada’s largest city, Toronto (see chart, page 44). There are also more arenas in secondary markets, providing additional routing opportunities and fulfilling a need in growing urban areas. Overall, that accounts for a very healthy live business. Such artists…

Warner Bros. chairman Rob Cavallo devised a unique solution to L.P.’s lack of demo recordings when he signed the hit songwriter to a recording deal in fall 2011. He put her and her band in a studio for a week to rehearse the songs she’d been performing in Los Angeles clubs, followed by a day of recording—and decided to film the entire process. “People were saying, ‘Rob, you’re making very expensive demos.’ I’d say, ‘I think we have to document [this],’” he recalls in his studio in Hidden Hills, Calif., where he and L.P. (real name Laura Pergolizzi) gave Billboard a preview of partially recorded tracks from her upcoming, as-yet-untitled major-label debut, which Cavallo is producing. “It became the [Into the Wild (Live at EastWest Studios)] EP and DVD, which…

Mike Rossi, PD, WSTW Wilmington, Del. “Closer” by Tegan & Sara is charting on Adult Top 40 and may benefit from the “Glee” cast’s cover of the song. Add to that a few upcoming high-cred, high-profile performances (South by Southwest, Coachella) and you have a song that could explode very soon. Bethany Kelly’s voice commands attention much like Adele’s as “Change” begins. She and Churchill then take us on a rich popfolk romp with Mamas & the Papas-like harmonies. If there is more of the Lumineers, Mumford & Sons and Of Monsters and Men vein to mine, this could do well. Epic brought Ginny Blackmore by the station recently. If you get the chance, take time to meet her. Her song “Bones” might have the same steady flight path to…

Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Sacrilege” (3:51) PRODUCERS: David Andrew Sitek, Nick Launay WRITERS: Yeah Yeah Yeahs PUBLISHER: Chrysalis Songs (BMI) Interscope ALTERNATIVE YYYs Never Cease To Surprise The first single from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ fourth album, Mosquito, illustrates exactly why this band is fiercely beloved. The New York trio never ceases to surprise, and anyone who claims that they expected Karen O and company to return with a smoothly melodic pop tune that builds to the soul-stirring crescendo of a 24-voice choir is probably lying. “Sacrilege” makes forbidden love sound more like a celebration than a sin, with Karen O singing about hitting the feather bed with a guy who “fell down from the sky, halo ’round his head”—and that’s about as specific as it gets. The sacrilege in question…

After conquering pop music with a highly sexual, fashionably futuristic album in 2006, Timberlake returns in a more relaxed form, with a new palette of musical shades. Despite the reunion of Timberlake and FutureSex/LoveSounds producer Timbaland, The 20/20 Experience isn’t a sequel as much as a document of growth, crystallized within the medium of classic soul. The propulsive moans and aggressive come-ons of “SexyBack” have been traded for big-band brass, creeping bass and openhearted professions of love on songs like “That Girl,” “Mirrors” and “Tunnel Vision.” JT has always been a vocal force, but the album’s main accomplishment is the expansion of his vision: The set is nearly guest-free, and tracks often run past the seven-minute mark. One of the year’s mostanticipated releases is also one of pop’s weirdest— and…

British singer Emeli Sandé is finally breaking through on the charts, thanks to major promotion behind her developing hit “Next to Me” and high-profile performances. The artist, whose album Our Version of Events arrived in June 2012, made a small splash in the United States last summer after performing during the Olympics. But she didn’t catch fire stateside until this year, with performances on “Today” (Jan. 29), “Late Show With David Letterman” (Feb. 1) and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (Feb. 5). 274% 39K Sales of Our Version of Events have grown 274% in the last eight weeks (39,000), according to Nielsen SoundScan, compared with the previous eight weeks (10,000). In total, the album has sold 113,000 since its release. 9% 18M Breakthrough U.S. single “Next to Me” rises to 18.1 million…

‘Gangsta’ Threatens Rhythmic Vested in Culture chairman Sylvia Rhone’s latest protégée, 21-year-old Kat Dahlia, is making waves online and on-air with debut single “Gangsta” (Epic). The song’s video, shot in the Cuban-American’s native Miami, boasts more than 800,000 YouTube views since March 5. Dahlia’s hauntingly personal composition is closing in on the Rhythmic chart, thanks in part to 41 spins on WLLD Tampa, Fla., and 39 on WKHT Knoxville, Tenn., according to Nielsen BDS. Rdgldgrn ‘Lamp’ Shines Virginia-based Rdgldgrn is approaching the Alternative chart with “I Love Lamp” (Fairfax/Republic), led by 28 plays in the March 4-10 tracking week at KKDO Sacramento, Calif. The raprock trio released a four-song EP last month ahead of its planned debut full-length. The group’s members, each of whom dresses in red, gold and green,…

With Anschutz Entertainment Group off the block and the subsequent resignation of the sports and entertainment firm’s architect in Tim Leiweke, the question now moves from “What’s it worth?” to “What’s next?” ¶ Bidders didn’t reach owner Philip Anschutz’s magic number of around $8 billion, although a group headed by the Qatar Sovereign Fund with Colony Capital came closest at $6 billion, according to a source, who also said that Billboard parent Guggenheim Partners’ bid came in at around $5 billion. ¶ But the real shocker here is the exit of Leiweke, No. 8 on this year’s Billboard Power 100 list and widely recognized as the visionary behind the AEG model of combining real estate in theaters, arenas and stadiums with revenue-producing content in sports teams and live events, with…

On the heels of his ratings-topping appearance on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” Justin Timberlake chose to extend his run on the latenight TV circuit with a weeklong gig on the network’s “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.” But if the goal was to drive chatter and excitement around new album The 20/20 Experience, Timberlake might have gotten a bigger bump if he’d chosen to be on “Conan” instead, according to data from Next Big Sound, a digital data-tracking firm that focuses on the music industry. Just how big is the “Conan” bump? To find out, the New York research group analyzed data from hundreds of artist appearances on seven late-night shows going back to 2009. A gig on TBS’ “Conan” boosted Facebook likes by 73% on average, Twitter followers by 95%…

WHAT: In its second attempt at negotiating a music streaming operation, Apple has approached the three major labels asking for terms—$0.0006 cents per stream per listener—that are half of what Pandora pays ($0.0012 cents) through a pure-play license and nearly one-quarter of what simulcasters pay ($0.0021) through their webcasting license. Last fall, Apple first approached the majors, laying out the concept but forgoing specifics, implying it wanted a rate similar to that paid by Pandora without the either/or formula applied. Pandora uses a pure-play license to get a lower term than the webcasters, but it also comes with a “25% of total revenue” clause, requiring it to pay the higher amount, in its case the per-play rate. WHY: ITunes can’t apply for the pure-play license because it can’t afford the…

The ‘New Cable’ From Billboard’s groundbreaking decision to factor You-Tube views into the charts, to “Harlem Shake,” to the historic agreements covering user-generated content (UGC) and Vevo videos, YouTube is becoming the mainstream music business. Yet, the ugly truth is that there are songwriters and music publishers who aren’t receiving any money for billions of streams of music that millions of people are watching on YouTube. Ever see a wildly popular a cappella version of a hit song sung by a teenager? How about a short musical parody on YouTube? Chances are the company distributing those videos is a multiple-channel network (MCN), paying little or nothing to songwriters and publishers. MCNs like Maker Studios and Fullscreen Media are aggregators of original content on YouTube. There are hundreds of them in…

Alfredo Gangotena Chief Marketing Officer, MasterCard Worldwide What did you wake up thinking about this morning? We’re always thinking about how MasterCard can become the passport to whatever you want to do, and how to bring that to life more and more through the digital and social media technology that’s putting these experiences at your fingertips. We signed Beyoncé’s [Mrs. Carter World Tour] just at the time of the Grammys. We’re going to be doing 100 concerts basically covering Europe, the United States, Latin America and Asia. So how do we create a lifetime memory for our card members as opposed to just going to the show, then go home and sleep? We want to create one of the best moments in their life. That’s something that will stick in…

It’s not just about the international lineup at Lollapalooza Brazil—the festival also off ers a chance to hear some of the best bands in Brazil when it touches down at São Paulo’s Jockey Club. Headliner Planet Hemp leads a list of home-grown artists set to draw crowds in the country that was the largest recorded music market in the world in 2011. Here, our picks for four artists, who, like the city of São Paulo, are diverse, cosmopolitan and distinctly Brazilian. Ludov Local band Ludov’s six albums and EPs exemplify the international sound of Brazilian indie pop. The São Paulo group’s animated video for the song “Princesa” won an MTV Brazil award in 2004, and the music channel has kept the band in rotation and featured it on its version…

Country music has a strong tradition of blood-born musical chemistry that dates all the way back to the Carter Family and continues up to and beyond the Band Perry. Now the Perrys are helping birth another new family trio: the Henningsens, who comprise father Brian (bass, guitar, vocals), son Aaron (guitar, vocals) and daughter Clara (lead vocals, guitar). The Henningsens hail from farm country in Illinois and were introduced to the Perrys by producer Paul Worley (Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride), when he was working on the Band Perry’s debut. “Paul said, ‘There’s another family band in town and I think you’d really like them,’” Clara Henningsen recalls. The two families met during an acoustic performance at Band Perry manager Bob Doyle’s office. The Perrys immediately gravitated toward two of the…

Local repertoire tends to dominate local markets. But when it comes to digital downloads, global hits also may hold more sway. In Mexico, only two Mexican acts—Reik and Jesse & Joy—had tracks ranked among the top 10 digital downloads of 2012. Otherwise, the listing was populated by international acts including PSY, Adele and Maroon 5, although two tracks were Latin-tinged: Michel Teló’s “Ai Se Eu Te Pego” (whose appeal is pegged to its soccer connection) and Jennifer Lopez’s “Dance Again” featuring Pitbull. Argentina, instead, was dominated by Latin repertoire—eight out of 10 tracks— albeit there wasn’t a single Argentine artist in the mix. The list was topped by Ricardo Arjona—hugely popular in Argentina— with “Fuiste Tu”; at No. 2 was Teló. Also on Argentina’s list were PSY, Adele and Jesse…

Chaka Khan has always been a multigenre marvel. Her earliest success with Rufus crossed over on Billboard’s pop and R&B charts. And she’s achieved success in the decades since on Billboard’s jazz, adult contemporary and rap singles charts. When Rufus, fronted by Khan, broke through in the summer of 1974 with “Tell Me Something Good,” the song went to No. 3 on both the pop and R&B charts. On this exclusive recap of Khan’s top 10 most successful Billboard Hot 100 hits, seven of these tracks also went to No. 1 on the R&B chart. This ranking is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No.…

COLD SPECKS Cold Specks is the stage name of the unassuming songstress who also goes by Al Spx. With a robust, bluesy voice that will stop listeners dead in their tracks, Spx was shortlisted for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize for her album I Predict Expulsion, which was released last May on Arts & Crafts in Canada and Mute in the United States and Europe. Nominated for breakthrough artist of the year at the Juno Awards in April, her songs are rooted in gospel and goth. Her latest single, “When the City Lights Dim,” arrived March 5, and she’ll tour the United States with Jim James April 17-May 15. ALYSSA REID Signed to Wax Records, 19-year-old pop singer Reid had success with her debut single, “Alone Again,” from her 2011…

ARTIST: Wavves ALBUM: Afraid of Heights LABEL: Mom + Pop/Warner MANAGER: Crush Management PRODUCER: John Hill PUBLISHER: SESAC CHART HISTORY: King of the Beach (2010); No. 3 Heatseekers, No. 168 Billboard 200; 36,000 TWITTER: @wavves Nathan Williams and Stephen Pope are slumped on a couch in the darkened living room of Williams’ house in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, sporadically taking bong hits and attempting to answer questions about their band Wavves’ new album, Afraid of Heights, out March 26 through Mom + Pop/Warner Bros. They are nursing serious hangovers, which means the conversation keeps veering off into discussions about fake IDs and summer camp. “A producer shouldn’t be timid. They should be able to tell you that what you’re doing sucks.” “It took us a couple weeks…

Well into the recording of what would become the Knife’s fourth album, Shaking the Habitual (April 9, Mute), Swedish brother/sister duo Olof Dreijer and Karin Dreijer Andersson weren’t sure that a band called “the Knife” still existed. It was 2010, four years since the mysterious, maskwearing act’s last LP, the critically adored Silent Shout, and although they were once again recording together, Olof and Karin realized the music they were making was radically different from anything they had done before. “We started talking about whether we should release it and what it should be called,” Olof says. “Was it an album by the Knife, or should we call ourselves something new?” The different direction for the band, which opted to keep its name, was primarily inspired by two key experiences:…

COUNTRY TATE STEVENS “Power of a Love Song” (3:11) PRODUCER: Blake Chancey WRITERS: Jeremy Bussey, Bradley Gaskin, Marcus Franklin Johnson PUBLISHERS: various Syco Music/RCA Nash ville After winning over “X Factor” viewers, Stevens is taking his first stab at the mainstream country market with ballad “Power of a Love Song,” about, natch, the power of a love song. The strength behind Stevens’ Garth Brooks-esque baritone is still intact, though the song lacks enough originality to establish his identity. Stevens possesses a palpable charm, but country fans need to see more of it. —JM R& ALUNAGEORGE “Attracting Flies” (3:09) PRODUCER: George Reid WRITERS: Aluna Francis, George Reid PUBLISHER: Universal Publishing Island Records The U.K. duo of Aluna Francis and George Reid has exhibited a knack for molding shards of cacophony into…

R& MINDLESS BEHAVIOR All Around the World PRODUCERS: various Streamline/Conjunction/ Interscope Records RELEASE DATE: March 12 Innocent affection drives R&B quartet Mindless Behavior’s sophomore album. The polish shines on All Around the World, a marvel of studio technology personalized by doe-eyed anthems of all speeds. The foursome hawks the ladies on the slinky “Bang Bang Bang,” yet knows when to pump the brakes (see the emotive “Forever”). —SJH LATIN PEDRITO MARTINEZ Rumba de la Isla PRODUCERS: Fernando Trueba, Nat Chediak Sony Masterworks/Calle 54 RELEASE DATE: March 12 Conga player/vocalist Martinez makes magic by pairing Afro-Cuban chanting and beats with the musical legacy of Spanish flamenco great Camaron de la Isla. Masters of the contemporary cosmopolitan sound at work here include a team of multiple Grammy Award-winning producers, flamenco guitarist Niño…

Ashley Monroe’s new solo album, Like a Rose, may sound like a traditional country project, but Warner Music Nashville took a different route to promote it, bypassing country radio in favor of online exposure. The strategy helped the album bow at No. 10 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and No. 43 on the Billboard 200, selling 11,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Warner Music Group VP of brand management Justin Luffman says the album’s retro leanings, exemplified by the mountain sound of the title cut, would have likely been a tough sell to mainstream radio. “We felt like we had stronger outlets in other places,” he says. Monroe, along with Miranda Lambert and Angaleena Presley, is also a member of Pistol Annies, whose 2011 Hell on Heels sold 45,000…

Country star Luke Bryan logs his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as his new release, Spring Break . . . Here to Party, debuts atop the list. It sold 150,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen Sound-Scan, and marks his best sales week yet. Bryan previously topped out at No. 2 with Tailgates & Tanlines, his last studio effort, which arrived in 2011. It achieved his then-largest sales frame when it bowed with 145,000. Spring Break is mostly a compilation of tracks previously released on Bryan’s four earlier Spring Breakthemed EPs, all of which were only available as downloads. Released between 2009 and 2012, the four EPs have sold a combined 145,000, according to Sound-Scan. None of the tracks on those releases were promoted as…

Len Blavatnik’s recent investment in Beats Electronics’ upcoming music service is making waves in the music world, and not just because the billionaire has been spending hundreds of millions of dollars in the sector. It’s also because the 55-year-old tycoon has quietly become the single most important person in a key area of the music labels’ future: subscription services. Blavatnik is a canny investor and has seen the books. He knows better than anyone what the real potential is. And he’s decided to cast a thread of his vast wealth to a music service that’s currently not among the clear winners in its domain. He’s also the only individual to own a major music company since his 2011 $3.3 billion acquisition of Warner Music Group (WMG). “It’s making people start…

Pitch Perfect, the little soundtrack that could, has achieved a level of success that has Universal Pictures taking a harder look at how it handles the release of soundtracks. What was once an album that no front-line label was interested in releasing, Pitch Perfect has sold 533,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan; has had a newly recorded track serviced to radio; and has induced talks of a “Pitch Perfect 2 ” and interim album. “There’s no rhyme or reason or science as to why this is happening,” Universal Pictures president of music Mike Knobloch says. “It does owe to the attention to detail that went into the record, and not just copying and pasting the music onto a CD and hoping people will buy it. It does not logically lead…

“It will help differentiate us from YouTube, create more engagement with our users and help us expand over the top.” That’s how Vevo CEO Rio Caraeff summarized Vevo TV, a new multiplatform programming initiative announced at South by Southwest on March 12, now available on the Web, Apple iOS, Android, Windows phones, Xbox and Roku. The initiative is a 24-hour linear live music and entertainment channel that will feature a continuous programming schedule of music videos, live events and original programming including CBS’ “Live on Letterman,” American Express’ “Unstaged” and Vevo’s own “Music Is My Sport.” State Farm, McDonald’s, Adidas Originals and Red Bull are the launch sponsors. It’s the ad model in particular that will help Vevo better monetize its music videos and related content, as ads will follow…

When Wisin & Yandel’ video for new single “Te Deseo” premieres this week, it will feature ample views from Mexico’s port city of Veracruz. That’s because the government of Veracruz not only financed roughly half of the video costs, but also provided access to unique sites and all required permits—a big deal for a video production that ended up costing some $500,000. Veracruz is the third Mexican city to finance a video for the reggaetón duo, underscoring the growing importance of Latin governments as business partners in the production of videos, music specials and even tours. It’s one of those perfect and logical synchronicities. Countries like Mexico, which are looking to boost tourism after suffering highly publicized public relations blows—including the fallout from the country’s drug warfare and a 2009…

“My heart raced, excited to be playing for the timely issue of climate change.” —Jason Mraz .biz We want your pix for our usergenerated Backbeat! Instagram your friends and colleagues in the music business at gigs and events, tag them @billboard and put #Backbeat in the caption. You may just find yourself on our site!…

Name: Michael Knox Recent work: Jason Aldean’s Night Train, tracks for Rachel Farley, cuts for ABC’s “Nashville.” Winning streak: Aldean has seven straight chart-toppers on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs tally. Bet you didn’t know: Michael’s father, Buddy Knox, recorded the rockabilly hit “Party Doll,” a Billboard No. 1 in 1957. A few miles and a couple of light years from downtown Nashville, past the old Tennessee State Fairgrounds and the venerable Mrs. Grissom’s Salads factory, on a side street of residential homes giving way to small businesses, sits a nondescript gray-vinyl house that is home to Treasure Isle. Considered by many to be the best live-tracking room in Music City, and co-founded in 1980 by former Beach Boys manager Fred Vail, Treasure Isle is now the studio home of uber-hot…

Barely two years ago, Giovanna Prado, 19, and Ana Emilia Prado, 13, routinely downloaded their music through any of Mexico’s many illegal download sites. “Truth be told, it was free, and I saw nothing wrong with that,” Giovanna admits. Today, however, the sisters get their music legally from iTunes Mexico, downloading an average of 20 tracks per month—English and Spanish pop and EDM—and spending about $23 in the process. “I’m a dance teacher now, and I have to have my music,” Giovanna says. “But it’s all in iTunes now, and I don’t have to carry CDs around anymore.” That iTunes is affordable and practical may seem less than revelatory in the United States. But in Mexico and throughout Latin America, it’s the beginning of a revolution. The region reported music…

The 4 o’clock sun is slanting outside West Hollywood’s London Hotel, but inside, Dido’s mind is on another day in another place. “I remember I was walking. I was quite a ways away from home, and I thought, ‘When you’re loved at home and you’re away on your own, it feels like freedom. It feels like you can do anything.’ It’s the most amazing feeling.” She takes a breath and hesitates slightly. “If there’s no one at home loving you . . . it just feels lonely. And I know it’s the most obvious thing in the world, but that’s what sparked off that song.” That song is “No Freedom,” the first single off Girl Who Got Away, her first album in five years, and what RCA VP Nick Pirovano…

It started in 2004, when Chaka Khan and her sister (and manager) Tammy McCrary were brainstorming ways to raise money for autism research. “We were trying to think of something everybody likes,” Khan says. “And everybody loves chocolates.” Chakalates, Khan’s line of handmade Belgian chocolates, was initially sold exclusively at Neiman Marcus. Now, with a new distributor in tow, she reintroduced the antioxidant-rich dark chocolate brand last month in the Grammy Gift Lounge during Grammy Week. Described as a “sweet thing for the heart and soul,” Chakalates come in plain dark chocolate or accented with macadamia nuts, ginger and praline, and Jamaican dark rum. Expanding her entrepreneurial pursuits, Khan has simultaneously launched a candle line, Khana Sutra. Made with natural soy wax and lead-free wicks, the long-lasting candles are currently…

In preparation for Canadian Music Week, which takes place March 19-24 in Toronto, CMW president Neill Dixon traveled to Korea, Japan and the Nordic region to make connections in the countries selected for this year’s international buyers program at the conference. Last year, the spotlight was on Latin America, with a secondary focus on Spain and Portugal. “Every year, CMW becomes more and more international,” Dixon says. “We went to all of the countries this year. We identified all the key players, met with everybody—and even met PSY.” Before heading to Korea, for example, Dixon turned to the Korean Consulate in Toronto and the Canadian Consulate in Seoul for names of the bigger music companies. Then DFSB Kollective president Bernie Cho, a close business contact of Dixon, helped set up…

KISSES If Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange was the hip-hop/soul take on “Super Rich Kids” living the “Sweet Life” in Hollywood, then Kisses’Kids in L.A. (May 14, Cascine) is the synth-pop version for 2013. A concept album coproduced by Saint Etienne’s Pete Wiggs, Kids in L.A. is the sophomore set from engaged duo Jesse Kivel (also guitarist/vocalist of indie pop-rock act Princeton) and Zinzi Edmundson. Their self-released 2010 debut, The Heart of the Nightlife, picked up heavy acclaim for its sunny, Jens Lekman-on-the-dancefloor vibe, but the follow-up takes on an edgier, “American Psycho”-inspired tone. “I wanted to create this fictional story about these high school kids who live in Bel Air to kind of recontextualize an area that people may only know from ‘The Fresh Prince,’” Kivel says. The result is…

SURFIN’ U.S.A.: Calibased chill act Best Coast just announced that it’ll be supporting Green Day on the latter’s upcoming North American tour. Booked by Sam Hunt at the Windish Agency, Best Coast’s trek kicked off at BUKU Festival in New Orleans (March 8) and then hits Ottobar in Baltimore (April 2), Barclays Center in Brooklyn (April 7), the Mohawk in Austin (May 26) and Royale Nightclub in Boston (June 6). NOT-SO-NEW GIRL: Actress Zooey Deschanel and counterpart M. Ward have made quite an impact since forming She & Him in 2008. Ahead of the release of their new LP, Volume III (May 13, Merge Records), they’ve added summer dates to their tour schedule. After launching from Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium (June 13), the tour hits the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, Calif.…

“Reincarnated: The Movie” DIRECTOR: Andy Capper PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTOR: Snoopadelic Films/Vice Films PRODUCERS: Suroosh Alvi, Ted Chung, Snoop Dogg FEATURING: Snoop Dogg, Bunny Wailer, Diplo, Cutty Corn RUNNING TIME: 96 minutes RELEASE DATES: March 15(theaters), April (DVD) OTHER SXSW PREMIERES: “Finding the Funk” Nelson George’s historical piece that allows funk pioneers like Bootsy Collins, George Clinton and Nona Hendryx to tell their stories. “Brothers Hypnotic” Reuben Atlas’ coming-of-age tale follows the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble as it plays the streets of New York, collaborates with Mos Def and thrills a jazz festival audience. “The Great Hip-Hop Hoax” Jeanie Finlay’s doc chronicles two Scots who posed as California hip-hop duo Silibil n’ Brains and scammed music execs, leading to personal lows of madness. Sincerity permeates the chronicle of Snoop Dogg’s adventure in Jamaica as…

Latin urban duo Wisin & Yandel have signed on to be the official spokesmen for a line of Panasonic audio equipment that will be pushed through a major Latin-American promotional campaign. One of dance music’s biggest stars has expanded his business with an eye on further mainstream success. Grammy Award-winning producer Afrojack has signed an exclusive worldwide deal with Universal Music Group, clearing the way for Island Records to release the Dutch artist’s debut album, led by current single “As Your Friend” featuring Chris Brown, later this year. The timing is perfect: “Friend” jumps 6-4 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs and debuts at No. 38 on Rhythmic, with sales of 75,000 to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan. After years of controlling his output through his own Wall Recordings, the producer—who…

4 MONTHS AGO After plans for People, Hell and Angels were first hatched in early 2012, Sony’s Legacy Recordings and Experience Hendrix announced the release on Nov. 26, the day before what would have been Hendrix’s 70th birthday. “We focused on his birthday [and] got the press that significant birthdays seem to get,” says Jim Parham, senior VP of global marketing for Legacy and Sony. The attention included a Hendrix exhibit at Seattle’s Experience Music Project, a new Hendrix lyric book and Bloomingdale’s memorabilia and merchandise campaign. The album’s cover went viral after being revealed exclusively through Rolling Stone. Pre-orders began that day as well, highlighted by a “$2 off” coupon at Amazon. 1 MONTH AGO The Jan. 20 episode of CBS’ “Hawaii Five-O”—a special Sunday-night airing after the NFL’s…

March 23 2013 LEGEND Bullets indicate titles with greatest weekly gains. Album Charts Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA) certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 500,000 albums (Gold). RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 1 million units (Platinum). Numeral noted with Platinum symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 10 million units (Diamond). Numeral noted with Diamond symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 50,000 units (Oro). Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 100,000 units (Platino). Numeral noted with Platinum symbol indicates album’s multi-platinum level. Digital Songs Charts RIAA certification for 500,000 paid downloads (Gold). RIAA certification for 1 million paid downloads (Platinum). Numeral noted with…