Innholdsfortegnelse for 12/17/2016 i Billboard Magazine

IT’S THE GIFT THAT KEEPS on giving: Mariah Carey’s modern holiday classic, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” makes its annual return to the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Dec. 17) at No. 23. It re-enters with 27 million in all-format radio audience (up 21 percent) in the tracking week, 7.8 million U.S. streams (up 63 percent) and 24,000 downloads sold (up 74 percent), according to Nielsen Music. “Christmas” (which jingled all the way to a No. 11 Hot 100 peak last holiday season) remains at No. 1 on the Holiday 100 chart. Since the seasonal survey’s 2011 inception, the song has ruled for 22 cumulative weeks. No other title has led for more than two. “Christmas” also is the best-selling holiday download (since Nielsen began tracking digital song sales…

Johnny Igaz A Pandora worker who was DJ’ing when the fire started The 34-year-old Igaz, who performed as Nackt, was DJ’ing when the fire broke out. He released some of his music on 100 Percent Silk — the dance-music label whose artist Golden Donna (Joel Shanahan) was to headline the show — and worked as a music analyst at Pandora. Igaz grew up in the Bay Area, playing jazz saxophone and collecting funk, soul and hip-hop records. His younger brother Paul remembers him spinning Stevie Wonder, Gil Scott-Heron, The Beatles, The Grateful Dead and Michael Jackson on their parents’ turntable. After graduating from Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Igaz returned to the Bay Area, assisting One Little Indian Records with digital marketing. The week of the fire was his last…

SENIOR VP MUSIC AND ENTER TAINMENT PROJECTS, TELEMUNDO/NBCUNIVERSAL WHEN MARIO RUIZ WAS asked to help cast Telemundo’s upcoming series Guerra de Ídolos (War of Idols), he had one goal: to find musicians who could act rather than actors who could sing. “We wanted to make sure we could transmit the feelings of a real singer,” says Ruiz, 60, a Colombianborn Miami resident who has spent his career working in labels and TV. Indeed, authenticity is gold for the NBC-owned network, which draws an average of 849,000 adults during primetime evening hours, according to Nielsen, with scripted, edgy “super series” — more Narcos than Days of Our Lives — and highly produced musical biopics. Guerra, which began shooting in November and will air in 2017, is the Empire-esque tale of two…

One Direction never had a Hot 100 No. 1 hit, but with debut solo single “Pillowtalk,” Zayn Malik did on his first try. Ari + Nicki = workout motivation: At 450 million views, the “Side to Side” video is YouTube’s top spin-class showcase. YG My Year The Compton MC, 26, grew up after recording the ultimate anti-Trump anthem This was the year that separated me. It allowed me to set up my own businesses: a record-label joint venture, a publishing joint venture, a clothing line, another classic album. What I was going through in 2015, I’m not going through anymore, so it was a relief. Me and DJ Mustard had a falling out in 2015, I got shot, I was in a dark space. And when the album…

“I had everything, and I was absolutely broken,” revealed Selena Gomez at the American Music Awards, explaining her hiatus. “Gwen saved my life,” gushed Blake Shelton about his one-time Voice co-star, newfound flame Gwen Stefani. Dixies Karaoke Prior to performing “Daddy Lessons” with Beyoncé at the CMA Awards, the Dixie Chicks had been covering the song for months on tour. Leadoff Hit Magnificent Coloring Day was the first festival at U.S. Cellular Field (home of the Chicago White Sox). The 47,000-plus turnout set an attendance record. Honeymoon’s Not Over GNR has announced new dates through September 2017. “Fan response was, has been and will be massive around the world,” says band agent Ken Fermaglich. 1 Chance the Rapper’s inaugural Magnificent Coloring Day festival focused on social change on Chicago’s South…

The Suicide Squad soundtrack was one of only three albums to top the Billboard 200 for multiple weeks. 1 SEAN PAUL THE SWOON The Jamaican dancehall king hadn’t visited the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 since 2009; Atlantic Records dropped him. THE REVIVAL A featured spot on Sia’s “Cheap Thrills” brought the song to top 40 radio. The song ruled the Hot 100 for seven weeks this summer. Paul signed with Island Records. 2 MIKE POSNER THE SWOON Posner’s 2010 debut album included the top 10 hit “Cooler Than Me,” but the singer struggled for years to find a follow-up. THE REVIVAL “I Took a Pill in Ibiza,” a cautionary tale of pop fame, connected thanks to a tropical house remix and reached No. 4 on the…

STARBOY Billboard 200 (1 week) “STARBOY” FEATURING DAFT PUNK Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (6 weeks) IF YOU WERE ABOUT TO RELEASE THE biggest album of 2016’s last quarter, you might be nervous about some stranger hearing it before the street date. Paranoid, even. Your team might create a password for a journalist to use at the red metal gate of a small Hollywood studio. But if you’re Abel Tesfaye — the 26-yearold better known as The Weeknd, who on this Sunday in November is preparing to release Starboy, the follow-up to his 2015 pop breakthrough Beauty Behind the Madness — you hardly seem anxious at all, promptly showing up to play the album and sit for an interview. Here at Conway Studios, where six or so members of The Weeknd’s team…

In the wake of the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, underground (and often unlicensed) spaces have come under intense scrutiny. While Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf announced on Dec. 6 the formation of both a fire safety task force and a $1.7 million grant to help artists secure affordable space, the reaction in other cities has been more aggressive: For example, on Dec. 5, residents of Baltimore’s Bell Foundry art space were evicted for alleged safety violations. While none can argue against the need for safety, these venues have for decades incubated music and arts scenes that otherwise would have been priced out of major cities. David Mancuso’s Loft parties in New York, Washington, D.C.’s Madam’s Organ and even Andy Warhol’s Factory might never have existed if they had to obtain…

“I STAND BEFORE YOU AS A doormat. Oh, I mean... a female entertainer,” Madonna declared to the audience as she opened her Woman of the Year acceptance speech at Billboard’s 11th annual Women in Music event. “Thank you for acknowledging my ability to continue my career for 34 years in the face of blatant misogyny, sexism, constant bullying and relentless abuse,” she continued in a 15-minute empowering and tear-inducing speech that recounted the horrific experience of being raped at knifepoint after moving to New York in 1979 (“In life, there is no safety except self-belief”), the double standards she encountered as a woman in the industry (“You are allowed to be objectified by men and dress like a slut but [can’t] own your sluttiness”) and ageism (“To age is a…

RIP Vine, the video app that brought us Shawn Mendes, “Hotline Bling” loops and, of course, the Shmoney Dance. Staircase to heaven? To hear Frank Ocean’s visual album Endless, fans had to watch him flaunt his carpentry skills. Daya My Year With three top 40 hits, the Pittsburgh native, 18, found her voice I feel like no aspect of my life is the same as it was two years ago. This year has been different in every single way, from performing in Times Square on New Year’s Eve to going to the White House for the Easter Egg Roll. I got to bring my whole family, and Michelle and Barack Obama were so down-toearth. My dad was talking to President Obama about raising girls because I come from…

IN A MASONRY LOFT BUILDING ON WEST 21ST Street in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, the offices of independent label Eleven Seven Music are comfortably removed from the glitzier midtown home of most of the multinational music companies. “You would have to hire a private investigator to find a major-label person [down here],” jokes Allen Kovac, 61, CEO of the rock-focused Eleven Seven Music and its sister company, Tenth Street Entertainment, as he sits in a spacious company conference room. True, Sony Music Entertainment recently relocated to new digs on Madison Square Park a few blocks away, but, adds Kovac: “It’s very indie here.” At Eleven Seven Music, which is marking its 10th anniversary, Kovac and business partner Steve Kline, 51, have reaped success with the kind of rock bands that have…

ON AN OCTOBER EVENING in 2016, some 80,000 enthralled concertgoers at Indio, Calif.’s Empire Polo Grounds gazed upward. As Roger Waters churned through “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” onstage, a giant, inflatable swine floated over the crowd. Waters’ performance was an anti-Trump declaration — one he has said he may incorporate into his 2017 Us + Them Tour. But there was another way to look at the scene at the Desert Trip festival: as a fitting summation of the global concert industry in 2016, a business rising high above uncertainty on the ground, with fans (many of them still hungry for classic rock) more than willing to pay for memorable music and theatrics. “Live music continues to be the engine driving the business, across all genres, demos and venues,” says Rob…

It’s hard to walk away from a long-term relationship — especially when it involves intertwined finances. Such is the issue now faced by hard rock band Avenged Sevenfold and its former label Warner Bros. Records, which are engaged in a legal battle over an album the group owes the company. In June, the two sides could find themselves in court arguing over how much that album would have made — in a case that could have important implications for any act trying to get out of a long-term recording contract. In November 2015, the group formally notified Burbankbased Warner that it was terminating its deal under the California state law that limits personal-services contracts to seven years. A provision in that law allows labels to collect the money they would…

“The curse is lifted,” tweeted Lil B, squashing a five-year beef with new Golden State Warrior Kevin Durant. Sister, sister: Six months after Beyonce earned her sixth No. 1 album, A Seat at the Table became Solange’s first. THE YEAR IN MUSIC 2016 Rachel Platten My Year The “Fight Song” singer, 35, reflects on Hillary’s co-sign I think I’ve toughened up this year — learned how to be the boss, how to rely on myself. And I’ve realized that I’m so much stronger than I thought I was. People are always like, “Oh, the ‘Fight Song’ girl must be strong.” But the truth is, I was breaking down a lot. I had been playing to 20 people and all of a sudden, I was touring around…

ADELE FINISHES 2016 IN A FAMILIAR place: on top. Nearly five years after her last blockbuster album — 2011’s 21, which spent 24 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — the 28-year-old British powerhouse returned as if she had never left, closing out 2016 as Billboard’s top artist for a record third time. Long breaks between albums seem only to confirm that Adele’s adoring fan base will spring for new music no matter when it arrives. Her third studio album, 25, hit shelves on Nov. 20, 2015, with a blend of epic ballads and soulful pop similar to that on her sophomore hit, 21, and easily conquered the Billboard 200, blasting in at No. 1 with a Nielsen Music-era (1991 to the present) record of 3.4 million copies…

NOV. 9 & 10 | LOS ANGELES This fall, Billboard hosted the 13th annual Touring Conference & Awards Held at the SLS Beverly Hills in California, the two-day conference gathered leaders of the live business for a program of pressing topics and discussions. The Billboard Touring Awards were hosted by Brian Dunkleman and honored rock band Bon Jovi as the Legend of Live and presented Scooter Braun with the Humanitarian Award. 2016 sponsors included Southwest Airlines, Ticketmaster, Live Nation, Nielsen Music, Hilton, Confirmed 360, Oracle Arena, Spokane Arena, Golden 1 Center, Nassau Coliseum, Pioneer Coach, iWireless Center, Chesapeake Energy Arena, CAPS, Nederlander, KOCCA, Sound Royalties, Stephen C. O’Connell Center, Air Canada Centre, Verizon Arena, Oak View Group and more.…

BY 1978, THE EAGLES HAD SOLIDIFIED their dominance among American rock bands, having earned four No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 — among them, the title song to their 1977 album, Hotel California, which was on its way to becoming the Los Angeles-based group’s signature song. Before recording their follow-up, The Long Run, the Eagles — then consisting of Glenn Frey, 30; Don Henley, Don Felder, Joe Walsh and newest member Timothy B. Schmit, all 31 — decided to serve up a little holiday cheer: a cover of Charles Brown’s 1960 carol “Please Come Home for Christmas.” Released with the B-side “Funky New Year,” the songs were the first that Schmit recorded with the band. “I was quite happy with how smoothly it all went,” he recalls. “It…