Innholdsfortegnelse for February 18, 2017 i Billboard Magazine

ARAPPER PLUS A NEWLY solo singer plus a 19-yearold hook is the winning formula for the top song on pop radio, as Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello’s “Bad Things” rises 2-1 on the Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart dated Feb. 18. On the Billboard Hot 100, the collaboration holds at its No. 4 peak. The track marks the first Mainstream Top 40 No. 1 for both rapper Kelly and Cabello, who, as a member of Fifth Harmony (2012- 16), reigned for two weeks last June with “Work From Home” (featuring Ty Dolla Sign). Cabello joins an exclusive club of artists who have led Mainstream Top 40 (which launched in 1992) as both a soloist and part of a group. Most notably, Justin Timberlake has notched eight No. 1s after…

NOT MANY LABEL EXECUTIVES find themselves trending on social media, but Republic president Charlie Walk has come close on several occasions. There was the time Ariana Grande debuted Nicki Minaj’s rap on “Side to Side,” or when Hailee Steinfeld introduced herself as a recording artist — both through snippets on Walk’s Instagram (112,000 followers). His ability to get close to artists, sometimes taking them by the hand and leading them to previously unchartered chart success, has made him, at 49, a longtime standout in the music business. During a career that dates back to 1988, Walk has played a role in promoting 50 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits — starting with New Kids on the Block’s “Step by Step” in 1990 until, most recently, The Weeknd’s “Starboy” — while…

Super Bowl LI HOUSTO N , F E B . 5 BEFORE TOM BRADY AND THE NEW ENGLAND Patriots’ historic overtime win (their fifth with the quarterback) against the Atlanta Falcons, halftime performer Lady Gaga made her own career coup with a triumphant 12-minute solo set worthy of the occasion. Jumping from the roof of the NRG Stadium following a patriotic turn of “This Land Is Your Land,” the 30-year-old star delivered a masterful run through her biggest hits, including “Just Dance,” “Born This Way” and recent Joanne cut “A Million Reasons.” The event, boasting 70,806 attendees and an average of 113.7 million viewers (according to Nielsen), capped a three-day weekend of parties and concerts, from Drake and Jas Prince’s nightly soirees to Migos’ hit-heavy set at New Era’s Planet…

It’s crazy, because life is really just a series of right and wrong decisions, you know?” says veteran hitmaker Big Sean of his fourth studio album, I Decided (G.O.O.D. Music/ Def Jam, Feb. 3). It’s a kinder, more philosophical approach from the MC whose last album was launched with the ex-girlfriend (Naya Rivera) and hater-bashing single “I Don’t F— With You,” which went triple-platinum and reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014. As he aims for his second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, the newly reflective 28-year-old rapper born Sean Anderson talks finding inspiration, his long relationship with Kanye West and how he’s getting political in 2017. Do you have any rituals before you head into the studio? I meditate before every recording session. I…

Tanqueray Gin™ and Snoop Dogg are bringing Gin AND Juice back to the limelight. In 2016, the iconic Gin brand brought Snoop onboard to creatively oversee a new Tanqueray Gin & Juice cocktail platform, and in early January, the DoggFather added to the partnership by assembling a group of talented culture creators NAMED ‘The Tanqueray TEN.’ Inspired by Tanqueray and the gin lifestyle, each individual embodies sophistication, creativity and a masterful blend of timeless style. The members of The Tanqueray TEN are visionaries in various verticals such as music, film, art, tech, business and fashion: rapper, producer and songwriter Ty Dolla Sign, actor Terrence J., rapper STIX, photographer Aris Jerome, jewelry and fashion designer Melody Ehsani, celebrity stylist Ugo Mozie, photographer Marcus Hyde, visual artist Devin Troy Strother, recording artist…

12JEFF BEZOS, 53 Founder/CEO, Amazon STEVE BOOM, 48 Vice president, Amazon Music Amazon founder Jeff Bezos would make almost any list of the world’s most powerful people. In retail, he’s clearly on top, and in tech, he’s close to it. In book publishing, he would be the undisputed No. 1 for 10 years running. In addition to a $65 billion stake in Amazon, Bezos owns the Blue Origin rocket company, TheWashington Post, his own venture capital firm and a founder’s stake in Google. He might be the most powerful businessman alive, and his company is a credible contender to be the stock market’s first trillion-dollar corporation. But the music business remains unconquered territory for Amazon. The company’s early lead in CD retailing was undone by MP3 piracy, and during the…

In reuniting Def Jam founders Rick Rubin, Russell Simmons and George Drakoulias (missing from Billboard’s shoot was Lyor Cohen, who was traveling abroad) — you can easily imagine the mile-a-minute conversations about music that took place in a New York University dorm room on many a night in 1983. “There were no goals,” says Rubin today. “When we were in it, it wasn’t clear that there was a revolution going on. But looking back, the whole world of music changed.” Simmons recalls a sort of blissful naivete. “We didn’t know how to do anything the wrong way, much less the right way. We were excited about the records we had in front of us. We didn’t have to worry about the future.” Indeed, thanks to out-of-the-gate successes by LL Cool…

IN JANUARY 2014, DURING THE run-up to Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey, the real action was taking place across the river in Manhattan, where the city had transformed into a weeklong pregame party. Jay Z, Drake, Kendrick Lamar and the Foo Fighters were headlining nearby concerts, and Times Square had been renamed “Super Bowl Boulevard.” Amid the fanfare, Alicia Glen — a former Goldman Sachs executive who had just become a deputy mayor with the then-new administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio — attended NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual pregame Super Bowl party at the Museum of Natural History. There, she was approached by Jonathan Tisch, co-owner of the New York Giants and co-chairman of the board of Loews Corp. “You see how great these events are for the…

FOR 10 YEARS, EVERY SEPTEMBER, Hoorsenbuhs founder-creative director Robert Keith, 48, and brand ambassador Kether Parker, 45, held meetings in Room 207 at The Mercer Hotel. There, they saw editors, stylists, retail buyers and private clients who snatched up their signature gold Phantom and tri-link unisex rings, which start at $1,800. But the brand (named after a 16th-century ship sailed by Keith’s ancestors) has finally found a permanent New York home with its first boutique, which opened in December 2016. A second location, in the pair’s Santa Monica studio, will follow this spring. Keith, a former fashion photographer, launched the business in 2005 when he taught himself to make a single chain-link ring. He brought on Parker, a childhood friend, and they steadily gained a following that now includes music’s…

FOR LIBERAL-MINDED MEMBERS OF the music industry — artists and executives alike — the result of the presidential election has served as a philanthropic wakeup call. With it has come the impetus to double down on activism and giving to causes likely to be threatened by the new administration. A supporter of Planned Parenthood, Capitol Music Group’s Michelle Jubelirer (No. 98) has approached her work for the organization with increased energy in light of attempts to defund it. “I’ve become more vocal,” she says. “I am using my position as a board member to galvanize as many interested people as possible behind me in the artist community.” Daniel Glass (No. 88), of Glassnote Records, has been focused on supporting the politicians that he sees as the future of the Democratic…

When Prince died on April 21, 2016, he left no apparent will and an estate in disarray. Since Koppelman and McMillan were appointed advisers to the estate in June, they have begun to create order — and revenue — from the chaos. They’re well-suited for the job: Koppelman, who has held top positions at CBS Records and EMI, signed Prince to the latter in 1996 and now heads his own firm, C.A.K. Entertainment; McMillan worked as Prince’s attorney and later managed him. What’s at stake? A lot. Posthumously, Prince has sold more than 2.1 million albums and 5 million digital downloads in the United States. Prince left no will. Why? McMillan Many who worked with Prince advised him to have a will. But those who really knew him are not…

Berner arrived at Cumulus Media with a strong background in print publishing, including an executive stint at Fairchild Publications, but no radio experience. Sixteen months after taking the helm of the struggling radio company — the second-largest in the United States, with 447 stations and a syndication arm, Westwood One, that serves more than 8,200 affiliates — the doubters have gone silent. After four years of declines, Cumulus stations in Nielsen Portable People Meter (PPM) markets had a 16.7 percent uptick in 2016 ratings over the year prior. Berner, like the titular character of her favorite Broadway musical, Hamilton (she has seen it seven times), has not wasted her shot. You inherited what you’ve called a “toxic culture” at Cumulus. What is one change you implemented? It’s easy to get…

The New England Patriots weren’t the only comeback kids at the Super Bowl on Feb. 5. On the back of Lady Gaga’s gymnastic halftime performance, her latest album Joanne, which was languishing at No. 66 on the Billboard 200, looks set to vault back into the top five on the Feb. 25 chart (according to industry prognosticators) and possibly as high as No. 2, leading a surge for its song “Million Reasons” and several releases from her catalog. The Super Bowl was a boon for virtually every track that managed to get a play — sources say Fox charged between $5 million and $5.5 million per 30-second spot — with even Woody Guthrie (whose “This Land Is Your Land” Gaga performed at the top of her performance) getting more attention…

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY (2015) “Love Me Like You Do” Ellie Goulding With Max Martin in the mix, chart success was almost inevitable, as proved yet again by this power ballad, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2015. “Meet Me in the Middle” Jessie Ware The Brit contributed this sultry waltz, whose bluesy guitars and breathy vocals complement a co-write from longtime collaborator Dave Okumu. “Earned It” The Weeknd The Canadian crooner’s mainstream breakthrough came six months before 2015 LP Beauty Behind the Madness: It reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 in 2015, paving the way for three more chart-toppers since. “Salted Wound” Sia The “Chandelier” star added the Fifty Shades franchise to her long roster of soundtrack credits (she has contributed tracks to…

LOS ANGELES NERANO 9960 Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills; 310-405-0155 Where there is industry lunch, there must be the splashy new Italian restaurant in town. And while the old-school Italophiles are still getting their veal chops and taglioline limone at Madeo and Angelini Osteria, there is no new restaurant flashier than Nerano, the Beverly Hills dining room from the owners of the popular Toscana. Must-Have Dish Pasta Uni Bottarga. TROIS FAMILIA 3510 Sunset Blvd., L.A.; 323-725-7800 Ludovic Lefebvre’s Trois Mec is one of the toughest reservations in Hollywood. But sister establishment Trois Familia is merely the most Silver Lake restaurant in Silver Lake, serving a masterful French chef’s brunchy take on what is basically the menu at Taco Bell. Must-Have Dish You’ll want a beet tartare tostada. MANUELA 907 E.…

It was John Lack’s idea, and it was a hell of a good one. At Billboard’s inaugural Video Music Conference, in November 1979, the then-33- year-old announced that he was going to start a 24-hour video music network — “video radio,” he called it — as part of an early-days cable TV play from a joint venture between Warner Cable and American Express. Lack’s second idea was nearly as good as his first: He hired a hotshot 26-year-old radio programmer named Bob Pittman to get the network off the ground. There was one pressing problem: Music videos pretty much didn’t exist yet. Pittman was charged with convincing record companies not only to sink money into creating these videos but also give them to his unproven, underfunded startup. For free. Pittman…

When Interscope launched in 1990, it wasn’t supposed to work. The umpteenth new label in a sea of startups cashing in on the arrival of the CD, “We were the last people you would’ve bet on — a motley band of folks,” says co-founder/chief financier Ted Field. “There were no lines in terms of an urban department, a pop department, a rock department,” recalls Tom Whalley, who was hired to head A&R. “We could sign whatever we wanted. If we believed in the music, we just went for it and no one got in our way.” If there was one unifying idea, remembers co-founder Jimmy Iovine, it was that “we wanted to build a company like Atlantic around 1970, where you had great, powerful rock bands and also the best…

“SO MUCH HAPPENED SO FAST, IT was like being in the eye of a hurricane,” recalls The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz of the group’s ascent, aided by its vaudevilleand- music TV series of the same name that ran for two seasons on NBC (1966- 68). “We were filming the show eight to 10 hours a day, and at night, recording vocals. We caught lightning in a bottle.” On the Billboard 200 (then called the Top LP’s chart) dated Feb. 11, 1967, the TV/pop star hybrids — Peter Tork, 25, Mike Nesmith, 24, Dolenz and Davy Jones, both 21 — dethroned themselves at No. 1 as their second LP, More of The Monkees, spent its first of 18 straight weeks at No. 1, led by the Neil Diamond-penned hit “I’m a Believer.”…