Innholdsfortegnelse for July 20, 2019 i Billboard Magazine

THE GLITTERY GRAY Baldwin grand piano that Carole King once played during a visit to his office will stay. But the $150 bass from his high school band that’s propped up in the corner will go, as will the autographed photo of President Donald Trump signing the Music Modernization Act into law. As Recording Academy president/CEO Neil Portnow prepares to vacate his spacious, brightly lit Santa Monica, Calif., corner suite on July 31 after 17 years at the helm of the organization that runs the Grammy Awards, he’s sorting through layers of material and memorabilia he has collected over time. Otherwise, Portnow, 71, is taking care of academy business before he “turns the keys over” to his successor, Deborah Dugan, who officially replaces him on Aug. 1. Portnow achieved…

WHEN WE STARTED, WE had no expectations,” says Laura Ballance, co-founder of the North Carolina-based independent record label Merge Records and bassist for the scrappy indie rock band Superchunk. “It was a punk rock hobby. We didn’t think it was going to be a successful business.” Ballance, who grew up in Goldsboro, N.C. — “a tiny little town with lots of tornadoes,” she says — started Merge with co-founder and Superchunk guitarist-vocalist Mac McCaughan in 1989, originally to release music from local bands whose life cycle would otherwise last a few DIY shows. Thirty years later, their “hobby” is an indie powerhouse that has released critically acclaimed albums from such acts as Arcade Fire, Neutral Milk Hotel, Spoon and She & Him. Merge celebrates its success every five years…

In June, 200 invite-only guests — press, fans, relatives and executives — were shuttled to regional Mexican star Jenni Rivera’s childhood home in Long Beach, Calif., to preview her first single to be released since her death seven years ago. The heartbreak ballad “Aparentemente Bien” (“Apparently Well”), written by “Despacito” songwriter Erika Ender and Alejandro Lerner, is one of 11 songs that Rivera’s brother Juan Rivera recently found on seven hard drives. “We weren’t sure if the world was ready,” says the singer’s sister, Rosie Rivera, adding that the family was still dealing with Jenni’s death in 2012. “We feel everyone is getting to a better place.” The new material wasn’t even in the Riveras’ hands until late 2018. Juan was poring over archives for Jenni’s upcoming concert documentary…

Lute Leads Dreamville Rappers Thanks to Dreamville Records’ new compilation album with J. Cole, Revenge of the Dreamers III, which launches atop the Billboard 200 (see page 66), four rappers who appear on the set reach the Emerging Artists chart: Lute (above), Young Nudy, EarthGang and J.I.D. Lute debuts the highest on the list — No. 27 — as his track “Under the Sun,” with J. Cole and DaBaby, opens at No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100. Young Nudy enters at No. 31 as “Down Bad,” with J.I.D., Bas, J. Cole and EarthGang, re-enters the Hot 100 at No. 64. J.I.D. re-enters Emerging Artists at a new No. 20 high, and EarthGang debuts at No. 41. —Xander Zellner CHART BEAT BLANCO BROWN ‘UP’ IN AIRPLAY A week after…

Combs Catches Brooks This One’s for You, the debut LP from Luke Combs (above), spends a 41st week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, tying for the third-longest reign in the list’s 55-year history. Leading with 22,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending July 11, according to Nielsen Music, the set ties Garth Brooks’ No Fences, which posted 41 weeks atop the chart starting in October 1990. The titles trail only Shania Twain’s Come On Over (50 weeks beginning in November 1997) and Randy Travis’ Always & Forever (43 weeks starting in June 1987). Combs’ set previously made history, as he became the first artist to send his first five Country Airplay entries, all from the album, to No. 1 between May 2017 and…

In late 2018, the same topic of conversation would come up every time entertainment mogul Haim Saban chatted with two of his friends, Lucian Grainge and Lyor Cohen. “They thought we were on the cusp of the golden age of the music world,” recalls Saban. “The first thing that came to my head was, ‘If this is the golden age, why am I ignoring it?’ ” Saban decided to pay attention, to the tune of half a billion dollars: He plans to invest $500 million in Saban Music Group (SMG), a new Los Angeles-based label and music company with a global outlook and a roster to match. It will be led by CEO Gustavo Lopez, whose Latin entertainment company, Talento Uno Music, was acquired by Saban in May. The…

AS THE ONLY NATURAL-BORN U.S. citizen in her family of five, Doris Muñoz grew up with an emergency plan in case she arrived to find her childhood home in Southern California empty. Her family’s anxieties were realized when her older brother was deported to Mexico in 2015. As the current U.S. administration rolled out anti-immigration policies in 2017, she worried about her parents, who were still seeking a path to citizenship. “I had been living in fear my whole life,” says Muñoz, a 25-year-old music manager who founded her own firm, mija mgmt, that year. “I had to take action.” In 2017, she organized a concert to raise the $6,000 in legal fees needed to file immigration paperwork for her parents. The event sold out Los Angeles’ 300-capacity Hi-Hat…

WHEN BURNA BOY ARRIVES THREE HOURS LATE to an east London studio on a balmy July evening, he is laid-back to the point of comatose — and monosyllabic. He asks that the photo shoot happen quickly, and when he sits down to be interviewed, the first thing he does is stand up again. “No,” he says, suddenly definitive. “Need a smoke. Come.” The tall and imposing 28-year-old, born Damini Ogulu, leads the way into his black minivan, where a member of his entourage hands him his smoke. For the next 45 minutes, he gets lost in a dense, pungent cloud. But as he inhales, Burna Boy — arguably the most popular exponent of Afro-Fusion right now — begins to unwind. “Take as long as you like,” he says with…

For songwriters, finding the perfect co-writer can feel a lot like dating. Now there’s an app for that: We Should Write Sometime. It uses geolocation to help users find nearby songwriting partners from a network that includes Jonathan Singleton (Tim McGraw’s “Diamond Rings and Old Barstools”), Tim Fagan (Jason Mraz’s “Lucky”) and Matt Squire (Ariana Grande’s “Put Your Hearts Up”). Much like Tinder and Bumble, We Should Write Sometime allows users to swipe left or right on profiles, which in this case list songwriting specialties and instruments played, along with links to music. If both songwriters swipe right, they can message to schedule a co-write, either remotely or in person. “We always talk about the trend in the increasing number of songwriters it takes to make a hit single,”…

In August 2013, Josh Mendez was at a barbershop in Kissimmee, Fla., just south of Orlando, when he heard Justin Quiles playing on the stereo. He couldn’t understand what the young reggaetonero was singing, but he liked the melodies. He called his father, Rich Mendez, a former car-dealership owner who founded the Rich Music label in 2007, and they scheduled a recording session with Quiles later that day. “We didn’t have money,” recalls Rich, so they sold their cars, gave Quiles a $10,000 advance and signed him to a recording contract. A month later, Quiles’ first single, “Orgullo,” was on the radio. Since then, Rich Music has been quiet — until now. The label has grown to 17 employees, all of whom work at the Social Hive, its Miami-based…

Dennis Arfa met Billy Joel in 1967, when Joel was playing in The Hassles; became his booking agent in 1976; and, roughly 10 years ago, suggested the idea for Joel’s Madison Square Garden residency. “He was always thinking, ‘What’s the next thing?’ ” says Joel of Arfa, who founded Artist Group International in 1986. (His roster there now includes Neil Young, Elvis Costello, Metallica and The Strokes.) Before Joel’s recent Wembley show, Arfa recalled how the residency, one of the crowning achievements of their partnership, came about. How did the idea of the Madison Square Garden residency originate? I had dinner with [then-Garden president] Jay Marciano in Turks and Caicos one night in ’09, ’10, and came up with the idea. We had played Shea Stadium [in Queens in…

Revenge Rules Revenge of the Dreamers III opens at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, earning 115,000 equivalent album units in the United States during the week ending July 11, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 23,000 were in album sales. The multi-act, 18-track hip-hop project boasts the Dreamville label’s roster of artists, including Dreamville chief J. Cole on eight songs. Revenge III surpasses the peak of 2015’s Revenge of the Dreamers II, which debuted and peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard 200 dated Dec. 26, 2015. The first Revenge of the Dreamers, a 2014 mixtape that wasn’t commercially released or available to stream, didn’t chart. The Revenge III tracklist is populated by Cole and Dreamville artists Bas, Cozz, EarthGang, J.I.D., Ari Lennox, Lute and Omen. Over…

Carey’s Bottle Cap Boost In her 76th week on the Social 50, Mariah Carey (below) finally reaches the top 10, re-entering the chart for just the second time all year (and the first since January) at No. 10. The pop diva returns thanks to 429,000 reactions and 106,000 mentions on Twitter, up 1,308% and 476% in the week ending July 11, respectively, according to Next Big Sound. Though Carey is no stranger to tweeting as of late, her re-entry comes following an especially viral Twitter post: a July 7 video in which she participated in the Bottle Cap Challenge, a social media game in which participants attempt to knock the cap off a bottle without touching the rest of the bottle. Carey’s contribution? Using her falsetto to knock it…

Sheeran, Stapleton, Mars ‘Blow’ In Hot Rock Songs welcomes a trio of high-profile acts — two for the first time — as “Blow” by Ed Sheeran (above), with chart newcomers Chris Stapleton and Bruno Mars, launches at No. 3. The song, from Sheeran’s album No. 6 Collaborations Project (released July 12), starts with 7.5 million U.S. streams, 1.5 million in radio reach and 26,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen Music. It also debuts at No. 1 on Rock Digital Song Sales. While country/Americana titan Stapleton and pop/R&B star Mars make their maiden Hot Rock Songs visits, Sheeran appears for the first since 2013 (after which he segued to a more pop sound). “Blow” also bows at No. 40 on the Mainstream Rock airplay chart, a first for Sheeran and…

Derulo & Farruko Team Up At No. 1 “Mamacita” by Jason Derulo (above right) featuring Farruko (above left) debuts at No. 1 on the Latin Digital Song Sales chart, becoming the first leader on the list for both artists. “The song came from such an honest place; I wasn’t trying to make a hit or catch any trends,” says Derulo. “I wanted to make a party song that had a Latin feel. When I got Farruko’s verse, I felt like it was going to be fire.” The bilingual track starts with 3,000 downloads sold in the week ending July 11, according to Nielsen Music. “Mamacita” misses the Hot Latin Songs chart (which blends sales, airplay and streaming data), as the track is just getting started with streams (850,000 in…

‘Joytime’ Jumps To No. 1 Marshmello’s Joytime III ascends 4-1 on Top Dance/Electronic Albums with 11,000 equivalent album units earned in its first full tracking week (July 5-11), according to Nielsen Music. The set, released July 3, is Marshmello’s third No. 1 following Marshmello: Fortnite Extended Set (16 weeks, beginning in February) and Joytime II (one week, July 2018). The original Joytime hit No. 5 in 2016. Marshmello also simultaneously charts a personal-best 12 tracks on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, including Joytime III’s “Proud,” which finds the DJ singing (No. 14). Marshmello, whose “Happier” (with Bastille) logs a record-extending 43rd week at No. 1, has eight entries debut, upping his career count to 37, as he ties Calvin Harris for the third-most in the chart’s six-year-plus history. Avicii leads with…

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 30,000 units (Oro). Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 60,000 units (Platino). Numeral noted with Platino symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. Digital Songs Charts RIAA certification for 500,000 paid downloads and on-demand streams where 100 streams equal 1 download (Gold). RIAA certification for 1…

THE ARENA STARMAKER “I respected Tom’s approach and strategy in development from the beginning: to start small and connect with every single person who came to a show. It really helped me build a fan base through touring.”—BILLIE EILISH TOM WINDISH MUSIC EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP GROUP, PARADIGM TALENT AGENCY In 2015, Paradigm Talent Agency acquired The Windish Agency, the booking company Tom Windish founded in 2004. The partnership brought roughly 750 Windish clients — including The 1975, Chvrches, Diplo and Flume — into the Paradigm fold. The following year, Windish jumped up Billboard’s Power 100 list (from No. 95 to No. 32) and was photographed alongside Paradigm leaders Paul Morris, Marty Diamond and the late Chip Hooper, who died of cancer less than a month after the list was released.…

Sony Corp. is putting both Sony Music Entertainment and Sony/ATV Music Publishing under the new umbrella of Sony Music Group, which Sony Music CEO Rob Stringer will helm as chairman. The move is effective Aug. 1, according to an internal Sony memo obtained by Billboard, and represents a significant structural change for the Tokyo-based conglomerate. For years, Sony/ATV has been separate from SME, with their respective leaders until now reporting to corporate management separately. Under this new structure, Sony/ATV chairman/CEO Jon Platt will report to Stringer. Platt will retain the authority and responsibility he currently has with respect to the operation of the music-publishing business, according to the memo from Sony Corp. president/CEO Kenichiro Yoshida. Until November 2018, Sony/ATV had been owned as a joint venture with other equity…

ZLATAN After the 25-year-old rapper released “My Body” with hip-hop artist Olamide in 2017, a clip of Nigerian superstar Davido dancing to the debut single went viral. (He and Zlatan are now friends and collaborators.) But Zlatan, born Omoniyi Temidayo Raphael, didn’t break out until last year, when he released “Zanku (Leg Work),” along with a dance routine of the same name. The song started a craze in his hometown of Lagos before spawning countless “How to Zanku” tutorials on YouTube. Most recently, Zlatan guested on Burna Boy’s “Killin Dem.” NAIRA MARLEY This year, Marley has had three songs hit the top 20 on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart, but controversy has clouded his rise. The Nigeria-born, U.K.-based rapper born Azeez Fashola was accused this spring of being…

ARTIST EBEN LABEL ATLANTIC RECORDS/SIGNATURE ENTERTAINMENT On April 10, Atlantic Records chairman/CEO Craig Kallman watched pop singer EBEN open for the label’s act Why Don’t We at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Five days later, he signed the 23-year-old artist, who also will maintain his distribution deal with Signature Entertainment. “He was charismatic, dynamic and had everyone in the palm of his hand,” says Kallman. “I knew right then that we had to sign him.” Born Eben Franckewitz, the Cincinnati native — who delivers smooth pop-rap vocals over hiphop production — first caught the attention of Signature co-founders Randy Phillips, Steve Miller and David Loeffler while performing in a group called Far Young five years ago. “He was always the most compelling live performer and hardworking member,” recalls…

Things And King Debut A trio of new albums debuts on the Soundtracks chart as Stranger Things 3, The Lion King and Echo in the Canyon: The Birth of the California Sound arrive on the tally. Stranger Things 3 starts at No. 7 and is the companion album to the third season of the Stranger Things series, set during the summer of 1985. The soundtrack bows with 7,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending July 11, according to Nielsen Music (mostly from album sales). The compilation boasts a number of pop tunes of the time, including REO Speedwagon’s No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single “Can’t Fight This Feeling.” Among the other classics are a pair of No. 2-peaking tracks: Madonna’s “Material Girl” and John Mellencamp’s “R.O.C.K. in…

AIRPLAY DATA COMPILED BY RADIO SONGS: The week’s most popular songs, ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen Music. Stations are electronically monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. DIGITAL SONG SALES: The week’s top-downloaded songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music. POP/RHYTHMIC/ADULT: The week’s most popular current songs at mainstream top 40, rhythmic, adult contemporary and adult top 40 formats, respectively, ranked by radio airplay detections, as measured by Nielsen Music. Songs are defined as current if they are relatively recently-released titles, or songs receiving widespread airplay and/or sales activity for the first time. Stations are electronically monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. See Charts Legend on billboard.com/biz for complete rules and explanations. All charts © 2019,…

Lil Tecca Holds Top 10 ‘Ran$om’ Lil Tecca (above) earns his first top 10 on Hot Rap Songs as “Ran$om” jumps 12-9 in its fifth chart week. The Queens native’s breakout hit also ascends on Rap Streaming Songs (8-7) with an 11% rise to 23.4 million U.S. streams in the week ending July 11, according to Nielsen Music. Streaming gains push “Ran$om” to just outside the top 10 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, where it lifts 14-11. Though the song largely traces its chart success to streams, it enters its first Billboard radio survey with a No. 40 start on Rhythmic, fueled by a 46% surge in plays in the week ending July 14. Elsewhere, Khalid’s “Talk” takes command of R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay with a 2-1 move. The bump secures the…

Daigle’s ‘Look’ Breaks Record Look Up Child by Lauren Daigle (above) rewrites the record for the longest reign on Top Christian Albums since the chart became a weekly survey and adopted Nielsen Music data in April 1995 by spending a 39th week at No. 1. The set passes the 38-week rule of Switchfoot’s The Beautiful Letdown in 2004-2005. Daigle’s LP leads the latest list with 10,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending July 11 and has totaled 925,000 units to date. It debuted at No. 1 on Top Christian Albums with 115,000 units on the chart dated Sept. 22, 2018, and launched at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200, boasting the largest week for a Christian music album since the latter list began ranking titles by…

Billboard will publish its annual GRAMMY® Contenders special issue, showcasing the music and artists that made an impact during the eligibility period for the 62nd GRAMMY Awards®. This special issue will highlight the artists, producers and other creative professionals whose work is in contention this year, including for Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist. Take this opportunity to remind the industry of the accomplished work that was released between October 1, 2018, and August 31, 2019, as the members of the Recording Academy™ prepare to cast their ballots for Music’s Biggest Night®. ON SALE 9/21 ISSUE CLOSE 9/12 MATERIALS DUE 9/13 BONUS DISTRIBUTION: Voting Members of the Recording Academy CONTACT: Joe Maimone | 212.493.4427 | joe.maimone@billboard.com Lee Ann Photoglo…