Innholdsfortegnelse for December 14, 2024 i Billboard Magazine

TAYLOR SWIFT’S The Tortured Poets Department is back atop the Billboard 200 for a 16th nonconsecutive week. The set vaults from No. 8 following the first physical release of its deluxe Anthology edition, sold exclusively at Target in the United States (though available elsewhere internationally). The set earned 405,000 equivalent album units during the week ending Dec. 5 — up 839% — according to Luminate, largely driven by physical album sales. It’s the biggest number for any album since The Tortured Poets Department’s second week, when it tallied 439,000 units. The Tortured Poets Department initially arrived April 19 as a standard, 16-song digital download album and in an array of 17-song physical versions. Two hours after the set’s release, Swift issued an expanded 31-song edition dubbed The Tortured Poets…

STEPZ’S “ROCK” RISES a spot to No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart dated Dec. 7, becoming the rapper’s first leader on a Billboard list. The song rules on the continued strength of a dance challenge. Stepz himself contributed to usages of “Rock” during the Nov. 25-Dec. 1 tracking week — as well as to those of Adele’s 2016 Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit “Send My Love (To Your New Lover),” which concurrently blasts 22-8 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50. Gia Margaret’s “Hinoki Wood” lifts 3-2 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, tied to the “chill guy” meme and trend. Creators are using the song to upload content showcasing how relaxed they are, either with their own likenesses or the animated face of the craze:…

THREE YEARS AFTER Downtown Music sold its 145,000-song catalog — including works performed by Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Bruno Mars and Beyoncé — the president of its publishing division says it makes more money than it did when it owned copyrights. In the world of music publishing, that’s no simple feat. It’s typically easier and more lucrative to own copyrights and earn money from royalties and licensing than it is to generate revenue solely from the fees accrued from collecting royalties and managing copyrights on behalf of clients. But Emily Stephenson, president of Downtown’s suite of publishing companies — Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust and Sheer — says it will generate more than $200 million in revenue in 2024, a 40% increase from 2023 and a higher gross than it…

A67-YEAR-OLD billionaire adopting a pop culture catchphrase should be cringe-worthy — but for Drake, it was a reminder of the ubiquity of Kendrick Lamar. After Drake disparaged NBA star DeMar DeRozan, who had previously played for his beloved Toronto Raptors, Vivek Ranadivé (the owner of DeRozan’s current team, the Sacramento Kings) fired back at Drake in defense of his forward. While sitting courtside for a November contest between the Kings and the Raptors, Ranadivé donned a black T-shirt with four words emblazoned across his chest: “They Not Like Us.” Count Ranadivé among the Lamar fans who have puffed out their chests since the Compton, Calif., rapper served up “Not Like Us,” the game-winning shot in his feud with Drake, on May 6. And while hip-hop purists would’ve bet on…

Last year, my publisher reached out and I recognized the name [in his pitch]. I was like, “Ah, [filmmaker] Will Gluck! I remember him.” My song “Pocketful of Sunshine” was a big part of his [2010] movie, Easy A. He seems to use my songs in things and they resonate. So when I wrote back [about using “Unwritten” in his new film], I said, “A hundred percent yes.” I went to the premiere [of Anyone but You], and the actors were like, “They just kept making us sing your song!” I think he made them sing it in every scene. I remember my publisher being like, “They’re really using it a lot.” And they even came back after they edited the movie and said, “We actually want to give…

WE BET OUR LIVES on it a long time ago,” says Christian Clancy. He’s seated on a couch in a cozy corner of his Los Angeles home next to his wife and business partner, Kelly Clancy, surrounded by plants. Getting into artist management “was never something we talked about,” Kelly says. But nearly 15 years after starting their small firm, 4 Strikes, it has continued to punch above its class, becoming one of the mightiest forces in management today. And Tyler, The Creator has been there from the start. Before founding 4 Strikes in 2010, Christian and Kelly worked at Interscope Records in the early 2000s (most recently as head of marketing and marketing manager, respectively) alongside the label’s roster of hip-hop greats, including 50 Cent, Eminem, G-Unit and…

In March 2020, Elena Rose was a songwriter crafting hits for Latin stars like Becky G and Myke Towers — but as lockdowns took hold, the Venezuelan American had a revelation. “I thought the world was coming to an end,” she says. “When I saw that my voice had not been heard, it made me sad.” While Rose continued to write for others (since doing so for Bad Bunny, Selena Gomez and Marc Anthony), she made her debut with the independent Latin urban song “Sandunga” that May, which previewed her superstar capabilities. Now the 29-year-old has fully realized her potential, breaking through on the Billboard charts as a performer with “Orion,” her collaboration with Panamanian star Boza. Born Andrea Elena Mangiamarchi in Miami to Venezuelan parents, Rose grew up…

Myles Smith’s breakthrough hit, “Stargazing,” shoots to No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 and Adult Top 40 charts. The song crowns its second and third radio rankings after leading Alternative Airplay for a week in September. The folk-inflected hit, which Smith co-wrote, becomes the first initial entry on each chart by an English soloist to reach the top. In the 25-plus years that the lists have coexisted, “Stargazing” is the 17th song to score such a triple. It’s also the second by a British act — Chumbawamba’s debut, “Tubthumping,” dominated in 1997-98.…

THE WICKED FILM soundtrack brews up a second week at No. 1 on the Soundtracks chart, earning 108,000 equivalent album units in the United States (down 22% in the week ending Dec. 5, according to Luminate). On the Billboard 200, it falls 2-3 after arriving in the runner-up slot a week ago — when it marked the highest debut ever for a stage-to-big screen musical soundtrack. Meanwhile, the set’s “Popular,” performed by Ariana Grande, climbs a pair of airplay charts, rising 37-29 on Adult Top 40 and 40-34 on Mainstream Top 40. Vince Guaraldi Trio’s seasonal favorite soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas rises 3-2 on Soundtracks with 37,000 units (up 55%), trading places with the new Arcane League of Legends: Season Two project (31,000; up 23%). The first…

I really liked the process of getting into the Grammys. I was doing a lot of prep physically, like watching my food intake, lots of workouts. A really special moment happened where I took [my daughter] Hazel with me to a fitting with Versace. It was my daughter’s first time on a red carpet, and she [was going to] be matching with me. Versace allowed us to pick a specific brown and bring that theme of [my album] Jaguar to life. [Winning the best new artist Grammy] was one of the biggest goals that I had for the year. You know how much it takes to get recognition in this industry or bring a vision to life and what kind of marketing it took to get there, what kind…

Once I have a vision, I’m always trying to do everything to put my vision in place. But that can also sometimes turn into perfectionism, which I learned to let go of while [making my debut album, Born in the Wild]. You [have to] be as authentic as possible and allow yourself to flow in the music — letting go of anything that you think you’re supposed to do, be or show. I’m not thinking too much about genres or rules: “Oh, you have to make Afrobeats.” My “why” is different. My “why” is to release my thoughts. It’s an honor to be able to make music that you want to make and for people to be able to connect to it — and for someone to recognize that…

FOR ‘A BAR SONG’ TO still be doing what it’s doing is insane,” an awestruck Shaboozey told Billboard in November about his breakout song’s then-16-week-long run atop the Billboard Hot 100. “[It’s] crazy how much the song carried on its own. We don’t even do anything and it’s like, ‘Hey, you’re aiming for a 17th week now!’ ” Of course, monthslong No. 1 smashes don’t just happen on their own — but “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which has achieved 19 weeks at No. 1, wasn’t the only country single to reach the peak this year. Between Post Malone’s Morgan Wallen-assisted “I Had Some Help,” Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ’Em” and Wallen’s own “Love Somebody,” country has topped Billboard’s all-genre singles chart more than any other genre this year. Shaboozey’s and…

TAYLOR SWIFT has done it again. The superstar rules Billboard’s year-end Top Artists chart for a second straight year after she loomed large on both the Billboard 200 albums chart and Billboard Hot 100 songs chart during the 2024 eligibility period. She becomes the only artist to achieve the feat four times, previously winning the honor in 2023, 2015 and 2009. Her latest win breaks a tie with Adele for the record; since the category launched in 1981, the two are the only acts to be year-end top artist at least three times. During the 2024 chart year, Swift placed 11 albums on the Billboard 200 — the most of any act. Among those was a pair that spent time at No. 1: 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and The Tortured…

4 Juice WRLD The Party Never Ends All six of the charting titles for the rapper (who died in December 2019) have reached the top five — including his latest, which marks his third posthumously charting entry. 109 MF Doom Operation: Doomsday. The 1999 album makes its Billboard 200 debut largely thanks to a 25th-anniversary edition release on vinyl, cassette and CD for Record Store Day Black Friday festivities. 147 J. Cole Friday Night Lights The first commercial release of his 2010 mixtape arrives with nearly 11,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending Dec. 5 (according to Luminate), almost all from streaming activity. 9 Bing Crosby Ultimate Christmas Bing Crosby returns to the Billboard 200 top 10 for the first time in nearly…

“You Look Like You Love Me” by Ella Langley (above), featuring Riley Green, tops Country Airplay, where she lands her first No. 1 and Green earns his second. It’s the first time that a woman has ruled the radio chart since Lainey Wilson in December 2023 as a featured artist on Jelly Roll’s “Save Me.” Langley is also the first woman to reign in a lead role since Wilson, who spent three weeks at No. 1 in October 2023 with “Watermelon Moonshine.” Langley ends the longest break — 51 weeks — between women topping the chart since 2003-04.…

WHAM!’S 1984 CLASSIC “Last Christmas” holds at its No. 3 high on Billboard’s Holiday 100 — and sleigh-rides 18-3 for a new best rank on the Billboard Hot 100, surpassing its prior No. 4 peak. The song totaled 34.3 million streams (up 57%), 17.9 million in radio audience (up 20%) and 2,000 sold (up 75%) in the United States Nov. 29-Dec. 5, according to Luminate. Six of Wham!’s seven Hot 100 top 10s have now reached the top three, after the duo of George Michael (who died in 2016) and Andrew Ridgeley scored placements in the tier in 1984-86 with “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” “Careless Whisper” (each No. 1 for three weeks), “Everything She Wants” (No. 1, two weeks), “Freedom” and “I’m Your Man” (each No. 3).…

THE MUSIC BUSINESS is getting back to basics — on a global scale. In a few short years, the major labels have gone from investing in and partnering with speculative tech startups to pouring money into regionally focused music companies across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Judging from the deals and partnerships they’ve been making, faddish, unproven technologies are out; old-school music companies are in. In terms of the former, investing in tech startups that touted the future of non-fungible tokens, blockchain, virtual reality and livestreaming at the time was “perfectly sensible for generating strategic advantage or mitigating risk for the next wave of disruption,” says Larry Miller, clinical professor/director of New York University’s Steinhardt music business program. But priorities have changed as streaming growth has slowed, and two…

Being at the Grand Ole Opry was culturally very significant. As a Latino, as a Mexican, as a fan of country music, to go to the capital of country and play inside the temple of country music meant a lot to me. I think we made our mark. I’ve always been close to country music, listening to Johnny Cash, George Strait and the newer generation of artists who are so good and are breaking parameters and doing things differently, just as we are with Mexican music. I love what artists like Luke Combs and Post Malone are doing, but if I had to choose a single country act, it would be the great Chris Stapleton. He’s given us a lot of love. In fact, the last time we performed…

DUA LIPA’S LIST OF 2024 musical accomplishments is comically long. In this year alone she’s done — deep breath — the following: released her third studio album, Radical Optimism; kicked off her biggest global tour yet; played a coveted Glastonbury Festival headline slot, the first British woman to do so since 2016; filmed a TV special at London’s Royal Albert Hall; performed onstage with Cher, Elton John and Chris Stapleton; and made a playful cameo on Charli xcx’s remixed version of brat. “It’s honestly been the best year of my life. I’ve done things that I’ve wanted to do for so long,” Lipa tells Billboard U.K. with a laugh on a video call. She’s in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when we speak, where she’s playing two nights at the city’s…