Innholdsfortegnelse for September 18, 2021 i Billboard Magazine

DRAKE BOASTS ONE OF THE MOST TRIUMPHANT WEEKS in the 63-year history of the Billboard Hot 100, as he becomes the first artist to claim nine of the top 10 positions in a single frame. Among his Hot 100 haul, the superstar holds the entire top five, a feat previously achieved only by The Beatles on the chart dated April 4, 1964. “Way 2 Sexy,” featuring Future and Young Thug, launches at No. 1 with 67.3 million streams, 7.7 million in airplay audience and 7,000 sold in its first week (ending Sept. 9), according to MRC Data. It’s Drake’s ninth leader, Future’s first and Young Thug’s third. In total, Drake debuts 21 songs on the Hot 100, all from his new album, Certified Lover Boy, which enters at No.…

IN SOME WAYS, THERE has never been a better time to be a songwriter. The creators of pop hits enjoy a visibility they haven’t had since before the singer-songwriter era, and companies like Hipgnosis Songs Fund, fueled by capital from outside the music industry, have helped create a thriving market for writer shares. The U.S. publishing business took in $4.08 billion last year, a nearly 10% rise over 2019, according to the National Music Publishers’ Association, with the majority of that going to songwriters — whose deals, on average, let them take home 75% of the revenue their songs generate, according to NMPA president/CEO David Israelite. Many songwriters aren’t cheering this windfall, though — in part because it pales in comparison with the money going to the recording business.…

MUMBAI, INDIA — In August, five months after CEO Prashan Agarwal’s sudden resignation, Gaana, India’s leading streaming platform, named Sandeep Lodha as his replacement. Lodha arrives at a challenging moment for both the 11-year-old company, considered the Spotify of India, and the country’s music market, which is still driven mostly by ad-supported streaming, as its subscription revenue is slowing to a crawl. When the pandemic mostly shut down Bollywood production in 2020, India’s film music-dominated market stalled — falling two spots to No. 17 in IFPI global rankings, with overall revenue up just 4.9% to $180 million. (For comparison, global revenue grew 7.4%.) Streaming generated 85% of that, primarily through ad-supported audio and video streams; combined, they shot up about one-third to account for over 60% of the country’s…

When Farruko was working on what would be his next single, “Pepas,” in April, he started off with a song in guaracha — a genre known for its rapid tempo that originated in Cuba — powered by a reggaetón beat. Once he sped up the BPM, a rave-ready anthem was created. “It was strange because it’s not really an EDM song, but it has that same structure,” says the Puerto Rican artist. “I wanted to evolve, reach a fan base that was more Anglo and replicate that energy that only EDM music can have at shows.” Released in June, the track scored Farruko his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart (dated Aug. 28) and has reached an average of 4 million daily streams on Spotify, according…

DADDY YANKEE sat in the tiny apartment he shared with his wife and three children in Villa Kennedy, a housing project in San Juan, Puerto Rico, listening to the sounds of the streets. “Cómo le gusta la gasolina!,” shouted the voices beneath his window, taunting the pretty girls who got rides from guys with flashy cars. “A mi me gusta la gasolina, dame más gasolina,” Yankee chanted to himself — a refrain he couldn’t get out of his head. It was 2004, and Yankee (born Raymond Ayala), then 28, was the leader of a burgeoning underground musical movement known as reggaetón. He knew the music was too big to be confined to the streets where he lived — and that it would need a megahit to bust out beyond…

AS MORE COUNTRY artists lean toward pop and listeners care less about genres, Nashville record companies are increasingly partnering with coastal counterparts to push their acts to a wider audience. The latest example is Kacey Musgraves, whose breakout 2018 album, Golden Hour, helped Universal Music Group Nashville chairman/CEO Mike Dungan realize the artist would need a pop partner moving forward. “That way, she could go anywhere on her creative whims,” he says. As Musgraves negotiated a new contract, she and her team picked Universal Music Group’s Interscope to partner with UMGN in a 50/50 deal to promote her new album, star-crossed, which arrived Sept. 10. This kind of arrangement is growing more common to the point that every big Nashville label now works with a pop counterpart. Sony Music…

2020 WAS SUPPOSED TO BE KAROL G’S YEAR. As she rang in the New Year, she was still riding the high of “Tusa,” a triumphant team-up with Nicki Minaj that marked a number of milestones. It was the first Latin song with all women artists to reach a billion streams on Spotify, and it was also the first song with a female lead artist to debut atop Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart since 2016. Yes, 2020 was off to a great start for Karol G — she was regularly collaborating with stars both within Latin music (J Balvin, Ozuna, Anuel AA) and well beyond it (Jonas Brothers, Damian Marley), seemingly destined for crossover success and mainstream fame. And then — well, you can guess what happened next. As the…

Anghami Lab DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Concert capacity: 300 Launched by Middle East and North Africa-focused music streaming company Anghami in partnership with hospitality outfit Addmind, the Lab is the first in a series of planned international venues that aim to offer both traditional and digital entertainment for patrons. Set to open in 2022, the venue will feature a lounge, stage and studio where creators can experiment by co-creating and performing music inspired by both Arabic and international cultures. The resulting music will then be made available exclusively on Anghami. Co-Op Live MANCHESTER, ENGLAND Concert capacity: 23,500 Built and managed by Oak View Group, Co-Op Live will be the largest indoor arena in the United Kingdom when it opens in 2023. Situated in East Manchester, adjacent to the Manchester…

Billboard’s 31st annual Latin Music Week returns live to Miami in what will be the event’s first weeklong edition. Encompassing live nightly concerts featuring acts like Rauw Alejandro, Natti Natasha, Jay Wheeler, Justin Quiles and Anitta; three days of exclusive panels, conversations and experiences featuring Karol G, Daddy Yankee, Farruko, will.i.am, Maná and over 30 other A-list artists and executives; plus the Billboard Latin Music Awards on Sept. 23 (televised on Telemundo), the week reflects the Latin music industry’s optimistic outlook. Panels and conversations will take place at the Faena Forum in Miami Beach, including a live filming of reggaetón star Nicky Jam’s The Rockstar Show and an episode of Billboard’s new video series, Cultura Clash, featuring a discussion on social justice. Presented by Samsung Galaxy, all of the…

IN 2013, WHEN THE JAPANESE technology company Softbank offered to buy Universal Music Group for $8.5 billion, some analysts were surprised that UMG parent company Vivendi declined what was characterized as a generous offer. That was before the streaming boom. In late 2019, Chinese company Tencent Holdings agreed to buy up to 20% of UMG at a price that valued the music company at $33 billion, which seemed optimistic But based on current analyst sentiment about UMG, which is preparing for a Sept. 21 spinoff from Vivendi, Tencent may have scored a bargain. In August, Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Holdings hedge fund bought a 10% stake in UMG for $3.95 billion, which implies a valuation for the music company of almost $40 billion. And a dozen equities analysts have…

ON JULY 30, A BAND TOOK THE STAGE AT THE Staples Center in Los Angeles for the first time in over 16 months. The crowd of 12,500 roared with joy as the charismatic frontman of the group they had come to see grabbed beers from fans at the front of the stage, then chased them with tequila shots from his own bottle onstage. This might sound like the usual scene at a Guns N’ Roses or Post Malone show. But instead of an electric guitar, there were trumpet solos and a tuba was pumping the bass. The stomping music driving the crowd into a frenzy was the accordion- and horn-inflected banda and norteño of Grupo Firme, a regional Mexican septet from Tijuana that has rocketed to stardom in the…

FROM THE LARGEST LED SCREEN ON earth to the first net zero carbon-certified arena, this year’s class of future-forward music venues is reenvisioning what it means to connect artists with their fans in a post-vaccination touring economy. After a decade of growth, with a 55% increase in ticket prices and sales throughout the 2010s, according to Billboard Boxscore (which tracks a portion of overall global activity), the start of a new decade saw revenue collapse amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Aside from livestreams and drive-in concerts, the near-total blackout of the live market carried over into 2021, as fears of new variants delta and lambda caused a fresh wave of cancellations and rescheduled dates for acts including Garth Brooks, BTS and Billie Eilish. Following are 35 new in-progress builds and…