Innholdsfortegnelse for September 28, 2013 i Billboard Magazine

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during a product announcement at the Apple campus in Cupertino, Calif., on Sept. 10; inset: iTunes Radio. Online Piracy’s Rise The music and movie industries reunited and headed to Capitol Hill to sound the alarm on online piracy, warning that illegal downloads are on the rise and that search engines like Google aren’t doing enough to stem the increase. While there isn’t a plan to revive failed antipiracy legislation like the Stop Online Piracy Act, the entertainment industry said it was important to put piracy back on Congress’ agenda, providing new research to back its claims. Linkin With Xbox Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, a selfconfessed “Halo” addict, announced the release of the band’s single “A Light That Never Comes” as an exclusive stream on Xbox…

SESAC. There’s a school of thought that believes the ruling could create opportunities for companies like SESAC, which doesn’t operate under a consent decree, to lure away the large publishers from ASCAP and BMI by offering to do general licensing and whatever other licenses major publishers don’t want to deal with. Judge Denise Cote. In arguing the motion, ASCAP wanted the Department of Justice to weigh in on the consent decree, but the judge nixed that. So while the consent decree is an agreement negotiated between ASCAP and the DOJ, the judge has effectively set herself up as the sole arbiter.…

With several executive moves and talks of job cuts and restructuring in the last week, there’s already been chatter about the beginning of consolidation in the digital music industry— but this may be more about a battle for scale. The search for scale became a lot more intense with key executive moves at Rhapsody, Rdio and Muve. Scale is vital, and a rare commodity in digital music. For a licensed service, royalties to rights holders account for the majority of revenue. A service will operate efficiently when it adds enough customers and revenue to cover its royalties and the fixed costs involved in running the company. Without scale, a service burns through cash and can’t gain traction. Jef Toig, the Cricket Wireless senior VP behind the creation of subscription service…

Clear Channel, WMG’s Tune-Up WHAT: Clear Channel and Warner Music Group made a wideranging deal that includes paying terrestrial artist performance royalties in exchange for predictable artist performance rates on digital platforms. Sources say the complete package will result in Clear Channel paying WMG $30 million-$50 million total in the next three years. Sources say the deal was packaged so that individual income streams aren’t broken out, but if they were, Clear Channel would be paying on a pro-rated basis about 1.5%-2% of terrestrial radio advertising revenue, about 3% for Web simulcasts and slightly higher than the $0.0013 per play plus 15% of digital advertising rate that Apple agreed to for iTunes Radio for the package to achieve the $30 million-$50 million payment range. The deal also includes millions of…

Alternative Distribution Alliance has announced a partnership with Jack White’s independent label Third Man Records. Based in Nashville, Third Man has released recordings from the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, Beck, Alabama Shakes and Conan O’Brien, among others. ADA will contribute its digital and physical distribution services to releases from the label’s roster. In June 2012, ADA expanded its services to the independent music community by officially joining forces with Independent Label Group, adding the company’s resources and expertise in radio promotion, publicity and marketing to ADA’s current offering. Since then, ADA has signed a range of new deals, including ones with hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis as well as such labels as PRMD, Partisan Records, the End Records, Innovative Leisure, New West and Sumerian Records. . . . Primary…

Super D’s acquisition of Alliance Entertainment is giving the music and video industry’s credit managers and independent label owners an old-school concern: How much debt is involved, and what does it mean to the pecking order of who gets paid when? Whenever an acquisition takes place, label owners want to know who they’re supplying credit to and what their financials look like, because traditional industry terms call for labels to provide trusted retail and wholesale accounts with two months’ credit. So, should they give Super D the same large credit line they gave Alliance? Alliance has been impeccable in making timely payments to vendors in the last few years, as has Super D, according to sources. But we’re talking about two completely different levels of credit. Super D, with revenue…

.com 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. Life Is Good Happy born day, Nas! The still baby-faced rapper celebrated his 40th in style with Mariah Carey, UMG’s Barry Weiss, Hennessy’s Rodney Williams and a can’t-miss pink blazer at a dinner party at New York hotspot Avenue on Sept. 12. 1 Smokin’: Mariah Carey, sporting a blingedout sling, surprised Nas with a Louis Vuitton cigar humidor as actors (and couple) Joel Kinnaman and Olivia Munn looked on at his 40th birthday party at Avenue in New York on Sept. 12. Jermaine Dupri, Pusha T, actor Anthony Mackie, fellow rap legends Q-Tip and Special Ed, and Nas’ family—including his father, trumpeter Olu Dara—were also in attendance.…

Jerry Krenach Managing Director of Global Music Production, mcgarrybowen The average mid- to large-sized creative agency typically employs one or two inhouse music supervisors, if they don’t outsource the work entirely. So why, then, does Dentsu’s mcgarrybowen have a whopping 13 people in its music department? Because Jerry Krenach, the agency’s managing director of global music production, believes an audio strategy should be a part of each one of its clients’ platforms, whether it’s a digital ad for United Airlines, a national TV campaign for JPMorgan Chase, a digital spot for Kraft Foods or a ringtone for Verizon. Music can even help Krenach’s company win new business, as it did for Pizza Hut, which selected mcgarrybowen over incumbent the Martin Agency in early September based on the use of an…

NASHVILLE NASHVILLE IS A CITY steeped in tradition—especially when it comes to its biggest export, country music. There are landmark venues like the Ryman, and legends like Dolly Parton and industry powerhouses like Warner Music Nashville holding court. But Music City is changing: Pop and rock artists are flocking, a new tech sector is shaking things up, and hip clubs and boutiques that would seem more at home in Hollywood or Brooklyn are sprouting up. Here, in our insider’s guide to Nashville, we take a look at all sides of the city, both old and new: from the hottest venues and the most influential power players to the most innovative startups. They don’t call it Music City for nothing. Marathon Music Works 1402 CLINTON ST. 615-891-1781 marathonmusicworks.com Since its November…

GARY OVERTON Three years after Joe Galante stepped down as head of Sony Music Nashville in 2010, new chairman/CEO Gary Overton has more than proved himself. He’s kept the label and its subsidiaries (Arista Nashville, Columbia Nashville, RCA Nashville and leading Christian label Provident Music Group) atop the charts with superstars like Kenny Chesney and Carrie Underwood. Overton thinks Nashville’s music scene is entering a new, more expansive era. “Nashville is thriving—country music is once again one of the strongest in terms of radio, touring, songwriting,” he says. “But Nashville’s music community has an opendoor policy. There’s a continuous flow of artists from rock, pop and rap who come here to collaborate. It’s an exciting time.” As packed as Overton’s schedule is, he’s easy to find come lunchtime. “It’s well…

DJ-SPIN. Krewella, “Live for the Night.” My friends from Chicago have done it again with their follow-up to “Killin’ It” and “Alive.” The combination of beautiful voices and dirty house beats is again a winner for the Krew in the clubs and on radio. “I live for the night, I’ll sleep when I am dead”—story of my life! Martin Garrix, “Animals.” This summer’s must-have “peak of the night” banger. You can’t escape hearing the original or one of 1,000 bootlegs of this monster track at every club and festival. There are many, many similarsounding Dutch tracks, but this is the rager track of the moment. Timeflies, “I Choose You (Fedde LeGrand Remix).” These guys are shaping up to be the next big pop stars. They’ve gone from performing for a…

CULTS Indie-pop outfit Cults are prepping a headlining run this fall in support of sophomore LP Static (Oct. 15, Columbia). Booked by Mike Mori of the Windish Agency, the trek will run from Oct. 22 to Nov. 26. Routing: After two successful swings supporting Cults’ self-titled debut, Mori hoped to book rooms that the band could easily fill. “The last tour they did, most of the venues were in the 750-1,500 range,” he says. “We wanted to fill rooms out again, especially because it’s a busy fall on the club touring circuit.” Mori first coordinated an appearance at the Voodoo Music + Arts Experience in New Orleans (Nov. 2), eventually routing the rest of the dates around that and Las Vegas’ Life Is Beautiful (Oct. 26-27). The duo will also…

Icona Pop’s debut album is engineered to attract a second lightning strike. There’s a lot of shoutsinging in unison and reckless party girl credos (“You and I live/Don’t learn” on “We Got the World”) that defined the duo’s massive international hit “I Love It,” and it’s hard to tell one song from the next. But there’s an earnestness to Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo’s freeloading hedonism that makes them more Hannah wilding out on HBO’s “Girls” (the synch that made “I Love It” spike) than Ke$ha getting slizzered. “Girlfriend,” a crafty Stargate-produced interpolation of 2Pac’s “Me and My Girlfriend,” sums it up nicely: We’re besties, we’re raging, get used to it. What the ladies lack in vocal virtuosity or diversity, they certainly make up for in charm. Icona Pop This…

One week after Miley Cyrus’ salacious music video for “Wrecking Ball” smashed the 24-hour record for views across the Vevo platform, the accumulation of those streams helped propel the ballad to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. “Wrecking Ball” leaps 22-1 on this week’s chart, giving the 20-year-old Cyrus her first chart-topper less than a month before Bangerz, her fourth studio album and RCA Records debut, arrives Oct. 8. After “Wrecking Ball” dipped from a prior peak of No. 14 to No. 22 on last issue’s Hot 100, the Sept. 9 Vevo premiere of the song’s music video helped increase its U.S. streaming numbers by 1,565% in its fourth week on the chart. Directed by Terry Richardson, the clip depicts Cyrus straddling a swinging wrecking ball and licking a…

Last week’s race for the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 between Ariana Grande and Tamar Braxton was nothing compared with the showdown on this week’s tally. Country star Keith Urban debuts at No. 1 with Fuse, edging out the also-arriving Kiss Land by the Weeknd at No. 2. Fewer than 3,000 copies separate the albums, which enter the chart with rounded figures of 98,000 and 95,000, respectively, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s the closest margin between Nos. 1 and 2 since early January, when fewer than 2,000 copies separated the soundtrack to “Les Misérables” at No. 1 (92,000) and Mumford & Sons’Babel at No. 2 (91,000). It’s the closest race between debuting No. 1 and No. 2 titles since July 14, 2012, when slightly more than 1,000 separated…

Trend Report: No. 1-Debuting Country Albums, Physical Vs. Digital Sales As Keith Urban debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this issue with Fuse, we take a look at first-week physical vs.digital sales for the last 10 No. 1 debuting country albums. KEITH URBAN Fuse In 2013, through the week ending Sept. 15, digital sales represent 30% of all country album sales (8.3 million of 26.8 million). Nearly 39% of first-week sales for Urban’s Fuse came from downloads, a growth compared with his last studio set’s digital performance. 2010’s Get Closer bowed with 162,000 total, but just 12% were downloads. Keith Urban Fuse 9/28/13 Gary Allan Set You Free 2/9/13 LADY ANTEBELLUM Golden The trio’s first-week slice of digital sales has grown steadily with its last two studio efforts.…

At last, iTunes Radio made its debut on Sept. 18, albeit within a much larger context of Apple’s mobile makeover in the form of a new operating system, iOS 7. ¶ Its reception by critics—generally positive but not effusive—gave rivals a respite from concerns that iTunes Radio would instantly blow its competitors out of the water. Label insiders were much more positive, gushing about iTunes Radio’s potential, since they consider it a game-changing rival to the industry’s current bête noire: Pandora (see story, page 8), which hasn’t fallen out with the industry over its efforts to change the way Internet radio licensing rates are calculated to lower its bills. “ITunes Radio is just stunning,” says one executive, who declined to be named. ¶ Notably, Pandora’s listenership didn’t decline on the…

The growing importance of social media in the life of an EDM festival is often championed by industry insiders, but now data obtained from Tomorrowland’s sold-out event (July 26-28) in the small Belgian town of Boom shows exactly how its role plays out. The data across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube illustrates the uncommon ability of EDM events to create online tune-in opportunities. Because when a massively popular DJ is playing live in a unique setting, EDM fans just have to see it—and share it. Numerous festivals, including Ultra Music Festival, in the estimated $4.5 billion EDM market are live-streaming their events, like Tomorrowland did on YouTube. But the biggest fish, Electric Daisy Carnival, does not. That could change this year, the festival’s first as a Live Nation entity. (The concert…

Competitors. Major partnerships like Rdio’s with Cumulus and restructurings at Rhapsody are part of an emerging market’s weedingout process. With additional competition, there’s now more pressure to be one of the few winners in the space. Investors. None until investors actually cash out. But SoundCloud is becoming large enough to attract suitors and provide an exit for Index Ventures, Union Square Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Cricket Wireless. Toig’s departure removes the executive behind Muve Music’s creation, launch and initial international expansion to Brazil. The new leadership arrives as competition is fiercer than ever. The margin for error has never been smaller.…

Doug Morris (left) and Lucian Grainge. This puts the pressure on Sony Music’s and Universal Music Group’s chairmen to get deals done for artist performance royalties, particularly if the WMG deal provides artists with incremental revenue. WMG management. Len Blavatnik revamped the WMG executive team under the leadership of Stephen Cooper, and with the addition of COO Rob Wiesenthal and general counsel Paul Robinson was able to cut a deal with Clear Channel after the previous team turned it down for a terrestrial-radio pact. Big Machine’s Scott Borchetta and Glassnote’s Daniel Glass (left). The WMG deal gives the indie labels’ CEOs—who pioneered the Clear Channel partnerships—a new, higher target rate to aspire to when their labels’ deals with Clear Channel come up.…

Fighting Pediatric Cancer Kendal Lividini was only 17 years old when she died of acute myelogenous leukemia in 2011. But her indomitable spirit lives on in alt-rock band Quietdrive’s emotionally charged “Even When I’m Gone.” Made available worldwide through digital retailers on Sept. 3, the Orchard-distributed single will be accompanied by a viral music video that arrives Sept. 21. The mission behind both projects: to raise awareness of and research dollars for the fight against pediatric cancer. The campaign is a four-way partnership involving Quietdrive, Team Kendal Kidz, Children’s Cancer Research Fund (CCRF) and Rock the Cause, the nonprofit label behind Zach Sobiech’s Billboard Hot 100-charting “Clouds” single and Fix Me Up EP. “Everyone knows what the color pink is for but not that September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness…

Register now for the Film & TV Music Conference. Use code BIZ13 and save. For the third year in a row, a high-profile pop artist’s concert film opened in the top five at the box office and was well on its way to profitability. Sony’s One Direction film “This Is Us” had two striking differences than its predecessors: significant foreign ticket sales and, in the United States, a significant drop at the box office in the second week. Of the three films—“This Is Us,” “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” and “Katy Perry: Part of Me”—the One Direction film is the first to roll out extensively in overseas territories, pulling in $26 million as of Sept. 8, its 10th day of release. At the time it accounted for 57% of its…

W With sponsorship spending on music festivals, events and tours expected to reach a record $1.3 billion in 2013, according to analytics firm IEG, Billboard gathered five thought leaders from key sectors of the branding and music industries at the Billboard studio in New York to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the future. As the success of the Jay Z-Samsung deal showed, music sponsorship has progressed well past questions of “selling out” to more of an expected alliance among fans, bands and brands—a model that professional sports has used for decades. And the $139.5 billion that marketers spent on U.S. advertising expenditures in 2012 suggests there are plenty of buckets left to be tapped. Just how hot is the music industry among brands right now? “We may actually close…

As another oppressive Tennessee summer begins to give way to fall, Kings of Leon are in the early stages of turning up their own heat as they shuffle about the comfortable confines of their studio, checking smartphones, twiddling knobs, listening to rehearsal playbacks. Dubbed Neon Leon, the studio is a gray, nondescript building located next to a construction equipment business in a semi-sketchy area just south of downtown Nashville. Surely by design, passers-by would have no inkling of what goes on inside these tastefully decorated walls, where in the previous months the band labored on its own construction project. That job is done: Mechanical Bull, its sixth album on RCA, bows Sept. 24. The stakes are higher than usual, a fact not lost on brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill…

GEORGE COURI, TRIPLE 8 MANAGEMENT “We are obviously extremely healthy, vibrant, dynamic, ft guys, but once in a while we shove our faces into some fried chicken. Hattie B’ is great for that.” TAYLOR SWIFT “I love Silly Goose in East Nashville. My favorite salad there is Goose Greens and my sandwich is the Bird. Plus, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams is right next door.” JED HILLY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICANA MUSIC ASSN. “Eating Kitchen Sink Mac ’n Cheese on a Sunday night at the Stone Fox while kicking it to real country music played by Nashville’s best is as good as it gets.” CASSADEE POPE “I absolutely love Garden Brunch Cafe. It’s owned by a friendly, close-knit family, the food is incredible, and they have a ton of mimosa options.” JOHN…

They were never bitter rivals, but in the early days of Sleigh Bells, singer Alexis Krauss and guitarist/producer Derek Miller weren’t exactly friends, either. The Brooklyn-based heavy-metal-meets-pop duo famously met in a restaurant where Miller was waiting tables and Krauss was a customer. A shot-in-the-dark conversation led to some Myspace demos, which led to a label deal, which led to Treats, their zeitgeistcapturing 2010 debut that made several best-of-the-year lists and went on to sell 180,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. But behind all the buzz, chemistry between Miller and Krauss at first remained cold—they were bandmates, not besties. “We didn’t know each other that well in the beginning, and it’s hard to put yourself out there in the studio or onstage when you don’t really know or trust the…

RubbLebuCKeT A blast of horns, a flash of color, and lead singer Kalmia Traver wailing on the saxophone while her bandmates offer explosions from the trumpet and trombone, adding an extra burst of sound and energy to Rubblebucket’s already dance-worthy arrangements. “That has kind of been one of our hallmarks all along,” Traver says. She and bandleader/trumpeter Alex Toth first met while attending the University of Vermont. From there the duo spent a few years touring as members of other bands before starting their own. In 2008, Rubblebucket self-released its debut album and two years later relocated to Brooklyn. “Alex and I would go around town with instruments bungeecorded to the backs of our bikes,” Traver says. By 2013 Rubblebucket had released two more albums, graced countless festival stages, performed…

Coldplay “Atlas” (3:56) PRODUCERS: Coldplay, Daniel Green, Rik Simpson WRITER: Coldplay PUBLISHER: Universal Music Publishing LABEL: Parlophone/Republic Coldplay’s first song written specifically for a film soundtrack, “Atlas,” from forthcoming “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” marks a throwback in sound for the British band—it almost sounds like a B-side from its first album, 2000’s Parachutes. The arrangement allows for more sorrow than synthesized pleasure compared with the group’s most recent releases, with a straight-laced piano riff leading the tune until Chris Martin’s soft tenor is handed the somber torch. “Caught in the fire, say oh, we’re about to explode,” the singer coos as the beat drops in at the 1:05 mark. Eventually blooming to reach Mylo Xyloto’ levels of fullness, “Atlas” represents a bridge between the foursome’s past and present—and a…

This past spring, when Australian songstress Sia Furler told her manager Jonathan Daniel about AJR, a trio of brothers whose undeniably catchy pop song “I’m Ready” caught her ear, he knew exactly who to call: Steve Greenberg, a producer/songwriter, former president of Columbia Records and current head of S-Curve Records, who’d previously worked with two other brother trios, Hanson and the Jonas Brothers. AJR’s Met brothers—Adam, 23; Ryan, 19; and Jack, 16—found that Greenberg shared their independent-minded vision for their career. They’d previously met with several major labels, but the three siblings, who write, produce and mix their material in the living room of their parents’ Manhattan apartment, responded positively to Greenberg’s don’t-change-a-good-thing proposal. “You really don’t need a record label anymore,” says Adam, who graduated from Columbia University in…

17 MONTHS AGO The marketing plan for AM dates back to February 2012, when the band unveiled the one-off single “R U Mine?” Along with the group’s lauded performance at the London Olympics’ opening ceremony, the track helped bridge the gap between the act’s formative material and its current sound. “That song really took off,” Domino director of marketing Peter Berard says. “It was like a revival. It highlighted the band’s new sound and set up where we are now.” That single, issued on vinyl for Record Store Day in April 2012 and which appears on AM, led into a support slot for the Black Keys’ North American run in the spring of 2012. 3 MONTHS AGO On June 19, Domino unveiled another single, “Do I Wanna Know?,” to capitalize…

Eddie Murphy Returns Actor/comedian—and musician—Eddie Murphy returns to a Billboard songs chart for the first time in more than 20 years, as “Red Light” (featuring Snoop Lion) roars onto Reggae Digital Songs at No. 9 (see page 58). the song, which recalls a signature line of his in 1982’s “48 Hrs.” (Murphy’s film debut, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe for new star of the year), is his first to grace a ranking since “Whatzupwitu” reached No. 74 on hot R&B/ Hip-Hop Songs the week of May 29, 1993. That track featured another high-profile guest: Michael Jackson. THE BIG NUMBER 36K Sheryl Crow collects her ninth top 10 album on the Billboard 200 with Feels Like Home (No. 7 debut; 36,000). All eight of Crow’s studio sets…

While Pandora won a victory in its rate-court trial with ASCAP when the judge ruled that the performing rights organization’s consent decree precludes publishers from withdrawing digital rights, ASCAP itself may also emerge as a winner because of that ruling. As it was, three of the four largest music publishers, Sony/ATV, which administers EMI Music Publishing; Universal Music Publishing Group; and BMG Chrysalis had all withdrawn their digital rights, while the fourth, Warner/Chappell Music, was leaning in that direction but waiting to see how the judge would rule. So while the consent decree doesn’t apply to individual publishing companies, once they give their music to ASCAP to license, the performing rights organization (PRO) must abide by the consent decree and license its music to licensees that apply, according to the…

The era of mega-music retail chains like Tower and Virgin is over, laid to rest by the digital revolution and the plummeting CD sales that followed. But across the Atlantic in London, Rough Trade apparently never caught wind of that narrative. The retailer, founded in 1976, expanded its operations with a 5,000-square-foot sister store in London’s East End in 2007. In November, Rough Trade will arrive on American shores with a 15,000-square-foot behemoth in Brooklyn. Running counter to trends among most independent retailers in the United States, sales at Rough Trade have been growing—up by 25% in first-quarter 2013, according to the company’s quarterly earnings report—with Rough Trade’s ambitions growing alongside them. The retailer’s success lies in the perception among customers that the stores are a cultural destination, rather than…

Mark Pitts President of Urban Music, RCA Records CEO, Bystorm Entertainment As president of urban music at RCA Records, Mark Pitts oversees a roster that includes Usher and Chris Brown. Also under his watch are RCA artists signed to his Bystorm Entertainment: Miguel, Mali Music and newcomer Treasure Davis; as well as J. Cole, who’s signed to his management arm. His background includes A&R stints with Bad Boy and Arista Records plus management (the Notorious B.I.G., Nas). 5.00 AM I’m on the train going to the neighborhood gym. My 90-minute exercise routine varies from day to day. 6.30 AM Mad dash home to get ready for work. Am juicing now, so usually mix a protein drink using fruits and veggies. 7.30 AM On the road to the office. This is…

MANAGEMENT Team 8 Management founder Rich Cohen joins Mick Artist Management as a partner, joining company founder Michael McDonald and GM Jonathan Eshak in the partnership. Cohen founded Team 8 in 2007 and represents such clients as Passion Pit, Tokyo Police Club, Lord Huron and St. Lucia. All acts are expected to move with Cohen to Brooklynbased Mick Artist Management. “Rich is a pro, and approaches career musicians the same way we do,” McDonald says, adding that the Mick infrastructure, including in-house tour marketing, digital and radio promotion staff, will benefit Cohen’s clients. “It’s a great ft all around, and we’re thrilled to have him onboard.” Mick Artist Management’s client roster includes John Mayer, Ray LaMontagne, the Walkmen, Walk the Moon, Brett Dennen, Deer Tick, Justin Townes Earle, Real Estate…

Every time you read about the “platform wars” it’s a discussion about how the tech giants of the last two to three decades are battling to decide the future of consumer technology. So the usual names: Apple vs. Amazon vs. Microsoft vs. Google fighting to create the dominant operating system platforms and pre-eminent hardware. Music is almost always a pawn in these wars—but it is also always present, even if it comes across as a disposable consumer enticement that provides stickiness, enhanced experience and overall sexiness. This is why it will be intriguing to watch two fledgling companies started by veterans of the music business, SFX chairman Bob Sillerman and former Live Nation CEO Irving Azof. Sillerman is pushing ahead with his EDM startup, which has rolled up some 15…

Matt Harmon President Beggars Group USA What did you wake up thinking about this morning? I woke up thinking about our future U.S. headquarters that we’re building here in New York. I dream about it almost every night. It’s a pretty massive undertaking—three floors in a 150-year-old cast-iron building in SoHo. We bought it almost two years ago and we feel like it’s probably about a year away still, but I’m excited for it to be a new home for the company. Since Beggars first started in the U.S. almost 20 years ago, we’ve always rented a space. We’re at a point now where we want to further establish ourselves, and buying an office really commits us to the market and what we’re doing here in the U.S. It’s pretty…

MARCIE ALLEN Title: Founder/president, MAC Presents Age: 39 First music deal: Alison Krauss & Union Station tour sponsored by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store in 2004. Notable deals of last 12 months: The Rolling Stones and Citi Private Pass, Riot Fest and Samsung Galaxy Mega, Cher Lloyd and AT& Predictions for the music industry in 2014: “Music sponsorships in North America will pay artists and record labels more than Pandora, Spotify and YouTube combined.” LORI FELDMAN Title: Senior VP of brand partnerships and music licensing, Warner Bros. Records Age: 45 First music deal: “Ashley Tisdale’s partnership with the launch of Degree Girl Deodorant—it featured a TV campaign, on-pack promotion, retail extensions, an exclusive EP of cover songs by Ashley, a full online campaign and more.” Notable deals of last 12…

The Kings of Leon soundscape has evolved significantly during the course of six albums, enough so that it would seem like different producers had helmed the knobs with each outing. But while the sonics have shifted, the producer has been consistent: Angelo Petraglia, credited as “Angelo,” has produced all six KOL records, including Mechanical Bull, the first album the band has recorded at its new Neon Leon studio in Nashville. Petraglia, the “fifth King,” initially came onboard as a songwriting collaborator, moving into the producer’s chair with 2003’s debut album, Youth & Young Manhood, and never leaving. It’s created a trust factor between band and producer. “It’s one of those things where you can take your hands of the wheel and know you’re still going in the right direction,” Caleb…

Nashville is more than country music. Yes, the region of 1.7 million people is ground zero for cowboy-hatted superstars, legendary Music Row songwriters, major labels and publishers, and, of course, the Grand Ole Opry and other bastions of country music-biz tradition. But Music City is also home to a growing number of innovative musictech startups that don’t focus solely on the country genre, and belie its stereotypically old-school approach. Here, Billboard spotlights five such companies that represent this new side of Nashville. NoiseTrade Web-based music distribution platform NoiseTrade is like a wellcurated record store with a tip jar rather than a cash register. Fans exchange an email address for a free download—offerings range from samplers to EPs and albums. Tips are accepted, of which the artist receives 80% through PayPal.…

ARTIST: Kenny Rogers ALBUM: You Can’t Make Old Friends LABEL: Warner Bros. RELEASE DATE: Oct. 8 MANAGEMENT: Ken Levitan, Bob Burwell and Jason Henke, Vector Management PRODUCERS: Kyle Lehning, Warren Hartman, Dann Huff BOOKING AGENT: Greg Oswald, William Morris Endeavor PUBLICITY: Kirt Webster, Webster & Associates; Keith Hagan, SKH Music CHART HISTORY: The Love of God (2011), No. 2 Christian Albums, No. 27 Billboard 200, 96,000; Amazing Grace (2013), No. 15 Christian Albums, 21,000 TWITTER: @_KennyRogers There’s no one Kenny Rogers is identified with more than Dolly Parton. The two have collaborated six times throughout their careers, most notably on the 1983 crossover smash “Islands in the Stream.” “We can go years without seeing each other, and when one of us walks in the room, it’s like we saw each…

ARTIST: Robert glasper Experiment ALBuM: Black Radio 2 LABEL: Blue Note RELEASE DATE: Oct. 29 MANAGEMENT: Nicole Hegeman, NICMgMT; Vincent Bennett (Second Son Productions) PRODUCERS: Robert glasper, Eli Wolf, Nicole Hegeman PUBLISHING: I Am a Jazzy guy/EMI Foray Music (SESAC) BOOKING AGENT: Mitch Blackman, ICM CHART HISTORY: Black Radio (2012), No. 15 Billboard 200, No. 1 Traditional Jazz Albums, 92,000 TWITTER: @robertglasper Robert Glasper sounds none the worse for wear after two consecutive days of working into the wee hours shooting his first music video and doing press interviews. In fact, between jokes he’s also channeling his inner Quincy Jones. “I’m all about taking the best from different genres and different walks of life and putting them together in a really cool way,” he says. “Quincy Jones did it in…

Can’t think of anything to listen to, despite having 20 million songs at your fingertips? Remedy this postmodern problem with computer science—specifically, the Electrospective app for massive streaming service Spotify. With 6 million paying users and 24 million free users in 28 countries, Spotify is a leviathan with a library that can easily overwhelm. Spotify allows third parties to run their own apps within the streaming service, and that’s where Electrospective comes in. Developed by the Electrospective Project, the new app can be considered an interactive, electronic music museum exhibit, arguably the first of its kind. Sponsored by Virgin, Parlophone, EMI and Mute, Electrospective allows users to browse more than 550 albums across five decades after fring up the Spotify Web client on PC or Mac and downloading the app…

Britney spears One more time, Britney Spears has caused a circuslike frenzy ahead of a new album with the release of “Work B**ch!” The song introduces her eighth studio set, due Dec. 3. While the track debuts on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Songs chart at No. 16 largely due to early radio airplay, look for it to storm the Billboard Hot 100 next issue following its first full week of sales, streaming and airplay. 33%151K The buildup to the song’s release began Aug. 20 when Spears shared a countdown picture on Instagram that read “28 days.” The online fervor it spurred resulted in an addition of 151,000 fans on the platform, a 33% increase over the amount she added the previous month. 175K-200K Industry sources predict the song will sell 175,000-200,000 downloads…

Bieber Serves Beer Long Island, N.Y., native Madison Beer, 14, is the latest breakout signee of Scooter Braun, manager of Justin Bieber, among others. First single “Melodies” (Island Def Jam) sold 9,000 downloads in its opening week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, while the song’s official video has already drawn 1.2 million global YouTube views. Bieber is using his star power to boost Beer’s profile, tweeting about her as he did with Carly Rae Jepsen last year. He also appears in the clip for “Melodies.” Young ‘Love’ American Young debuts at No. 60 on the Nielsen BDS-fueled Country Airplay chart with “Love Is War,” the twosome’s first single. Signed to Curb and working on their debut album, Kristy Osmunson and Jon Stone previously pursued country music careers individually. The fiddle-playing Osmunson…

Hot 100 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 platinum…