BY GARY TRUST

After appearing on the list since 2013, Grande reigns, landing the first No. 1 debut for a woman since Adele with “Hello.” Ariana Grande scores her first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Nov. 17), as “Thank U, Next” rockets onto the chart at No. 1, arriving as the top-streamed and top-selling song of the week.

The track dethrones Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You,” featuring Cardi B, after seven weeks on top, although the collaboration ties for the second-most weeks spent at No. 1 in the history of the Radio Songs chart.

Let’s run down the top 10 of the newest Hot 100, which blends all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and digital sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Nov. 13).

Grande’s first Hot 100 No. 1: “Next,” released on Republic Records, is Grande’s first Hot 100 No. 1, and the 1,079th in the chart’s 60-year history. She previously hit a No. 2 high with “Problem,” featuring Iggy Azalea, in 2014. “Next” also bows as her 11th Hot 100 top 10 and first since “God Is a Woman,” which reached No. 8 in September.

Grande reigns at last with her 35th Hot 100 entry. Among Hot 100 chart-topping acts, she ends the longest wait for her first No. 1 (by total chart appearances from a first entry) since Justin Bieber set the mark by earning his first leader with his 47th charted title, “What Do You Mean?,” in 2015.

Grande first hit the Hot 100 (debuting at No. 10) on April 13, 2013, with the eventual No. 9-peaking “The Way,” featuring Mac Miller.

No. 1 in streams & sales: “Next” launches with 55.5 million U.S. streams and 81,000 downloads sold in the week ending Nov. 8, according to Nielsen Music. Notably, the song debuts on the Hot 100 with just over five days of streaming and sales data, as it was released late Saturday, Nov. 3 (as the tracking week for those metrics runs Friday through Thursday). Grande has released two videos for the song so far: an audio clip upon its release and a lyric video Nov. 6.

With “Next,” Grande likewise earns her first No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart and her fourth leader on Digital Song Sales, after “Problem,” for three weeks in 2014; “Bang Bang,” with Jessie J and Nicki

INSIDE Ariana Grande Achieves First Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 as ‘Thank U, Next’ Debuts on Top

Revealed: Billboard’s 2018 Digital Power Players

Vagrant Records Founder Launches ‘I Believe in California’ Shirts to Benefit Fire Victims

Veteran Music Exec Michael Plen Loses Home in Woolsey Fire; GoFundMe Account Set Up to Aid His Family

Scooter Braun on Trump’s Response to California Wildfires: ‘You Are Unfit to Lead’

(continued)

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[In Brief]Minaj (one week, 2014); and “No Tears Left to Cry” (one, this May).

“Next” also drew 11.3 million in all-format radio audience in the week ending Nov. 11.

“God Is a Woman” and “No Tears” are from Grande’s third Billboard 200 No. 1 album, Sweetener, which debuted atop the list dated Sept. 1, while “Next” is, as of now, a stand-alone track, with the song’s lyrics referencing past relationships with, among others, Big Sean, ex-finance Pete Davidson and the late Miller.

Meme-orable: As for its lyrics, aiding the buzz of “Next” are, specifically, its lines, “One taught me love / One taught me patience / One taught me pain,” which have sparked an onslaught of memes.

New at No. 1: “Next” is the 32nd single to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and the first by a female artist in three years, since Adele’s “Hello” on the chart dated Nov. 14, 2015.

As noticed by chart-watcher Jake Rivera, “Next” is the fourth No. 1 debut of 2018, tying the record established in 1995, the first year that any single soared in at the summit. “Next” follows prior 2018 No. 1 bows for Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” (May 19) and Drake’s “Nice for What” (April 21) and “God’s Plan” (Feb. 3). The four No. 1 entrances in 1995: Michael Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone,” Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy,” Whitney Houston’s

“Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” and Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day.”

Pop on top, again: As “Next” follows Maroon 5’s “Girls,” featuring Cardi B, at No. 1, two pop songs have led the Hot 100 in succession for the first time since Jan. 27, when Camila Cabello’s “Havana,” featuring Young Thug, replaced Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect.” “Next” also ends a record streak of 42 weeks of No. 1s with at least one credited rapper, from Young Thug (on “Havana”) to Cardi B (“Girls” and “I Like It,” with Bad Bunny and J Balvin). The run also included Drake (“Plan,” “Nice” and “In My Feelings”); Childish Gambino (“America”); Post Malone and Ty Dolla $ign (“Psycho”); and, XXXTentacion (“Sad!”).

As “Girls” drops to No. 2, pop songs rank at Nos. 1 and 2 on the Hot 100 in the same week for the first time since Jan. 27 (“Havana” and “Perfect,” respectively).

No. 1 is a woman: Grande is the first female soloist to top the Hot 100 unaccompanied by another act since Cardi B on Oct. 21, 2017, when her debut hit “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” spent its third and final week at No. 1.

Solo women in lead roles have led the Hot 100 for just three weeks (of 46 total so far) in 2018, thanks to “Next,” “I Like It” and “Havana.” That follows totals of six weeks in 2017 (via two No. 1s); 16 in 2016 (three No. 1s); 10 in 2015 (four No. 1s); 28

in 2014 (five No. 1s); and, 17 in 2013 (four No. 1s).

The last year in which lead solo women logged as few as three weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100? 1975, thanks to one each for Linda Ronstadt (“You’re No Good”), Olivia Newton-John (“Have You Never Been Mellow”) and Minnie Riperton (“Lovin’ You”). (After the Hot 100’s Aug. 4, 1958, inception, no lead solo women reigned until June 27, 1960, when Connie Francis spent her first of two weeks on top with “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool.”)

‘Thank’s for the memories: Grande is thankful for the fourth Hot 100 No. 1 that includes “thank” in its title, following “Thank God I Found You,” by Carey featuring Joe and 98 Degrees (2000), “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” by John Denver (1975), and “Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin”/”Everybody Is a Star,” by Sly & The Family Stone (1970).

(Grande’s new No. 1 also takes over as the highest-charting Hot 100 hit to begin with “Thank U”; Alanis Morissette’s “Thank U” reached No. 17 in 1998. The only other such title? “Thank U Very Much” by The Scaffold, a No. 69 hit in 1968. You’re welcome for that trivia ...)

More Grande: Beyond the Hot 100’s top 10, Grande’s “Woman” holds at No. 20 and fellow Sweetener single “Breathin” charges 32-21, passing its prior No. 22 peak; following the Nov. 7 premiere of its official

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On December 8th, Billboard will publish its highly anticipated Women in Music special issue featuring top women in the music industry who are creating excitement and making their mark across labels, publishing and touring.

Coinciding with the issue, Billboard’s Women in Music event will be held December 6th in New York. This event will bring together music’s most prominent female artists and the industry’s top female business executives to recognize and celebrate their achievements.

Ariana Grande - Billboard’s 2018 Woman of the Year

Take this opportunity to congratulate the most powerful and talented women in music and wish them continued success.

O N SA LE : 12/8 A D C LO S E 11/26 | M AT E R I A L S D U E 11/27

B O N U S D I ST R I B UT I O N : Women in Music Event 12/6 The Hollywood Reporter Power 100 Women Breakfast 12/5

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J O E M A I M O N E212.493.4427 | joe.maimone@billboard.comL E E A N N P H OTO G LO615.376.7931 | laphotoglo@gmail.com

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video, “Breathin” bounds by 64 percent to 12.2 million streams by 118 percent to 12,000 sold in the week ending Nov. 8 and claims the Hot 100’s top Streaming and Sales Gainer awards.

“Next” easily outperformed Maroon 5’s “Girls” in the tracking week, as the latter drops to No. 2 on the Hot 100 after seven weeks at No. 1. Still, “Girls” leads Radio Songs for a 16th week, with 109.3 million in audience (down 4 percent), tying for the second-longest No. 1 run in the chart’s 28-year history. “Girls” matches the longest Radio Songs reign this century, equaling Carey’s 16-week command with “We Belong Together” in 2005.

Here is an updated look at the longest-leading Radio Songs No. 1 since the chart launched in December 1990:

Longest-Leading Radio Songs No. 1s Weeks at No. 1, Title, Artist, Date Reached No. 1 18, “Iris,” Goo Goo Dolls, Aug. 1, 1998 16, “Girls Like You,” Maroon 5 feat. Cardi B, Aug. 4, 2018 16, “We Belong Together,” Mariah Carey, May 28, 2005 16, “Don’t Speak,” No Doubt, Dec. 7, 1996 14, “No One,” Alicia Keys, Nov. 3, 2007 14, “Because You Loved Me,” Celine Dion, April 13, 1996

Below “Next” and “Girls,” Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode” drops to No. 3 from its No. 2 Hot 100 peak, as it posts a third week at No. 1 on both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts; Marshmello and Bastille’s “Happier” dips to No. 4 from its No. 3 Hot 100 high, while logging an eighth week atop Hot Dance/Electronic Songs and becoming each act’s first No. 1 on the Pop Songsairplay chart; and, Juice WRLD’s “Lucid Dreams” descends 4-5 on the Hot 100 after reaching No. 2.

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Halsey’s “Without Me” hits a new high, jumping 9-6; Post Malone’s “Better Now” falls 5-7, after hitting No. 3; Kodak Black’s “ZEZE,” featuring Scott and Offset, backtracks 6-8 after debuting at its No. 2 peak; Sheck Wes’ debut hit “Mo Bamba” rises 10-9, reaching a new best rank; and, Lil Baby and Gunna’s “Drip Too Hard” retreats to No. 10 after hitting No. 4.

Find out more Hot 100 news on Billboard.com this week and, for all chart news, you can listen (and subscribe) to Billboard’s Chart Beat Podcast and Pop Shop Podcast and follow @billboard and @billboardcharts. And again, be sure to visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Nov. 13), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh.

Revealed: Billboard’s 2018 Digital Power PlayersBY BILLBOARD STAFF

The digital music stream continues to surge. The U.S. music business is on track in 2018 to achieve double-digit growth for the third year in a row, thanks in large part to streaming. Consumer spending on music reached $4.6 billion in the first half of the year, a 10 percent increase over the first six months of 2017, according to the RIAA. And three-quarters of that revenue comes from streaming. Streaming revenue grew 28 percent for the first half of 2018 compared with the same period last year, the association also reports. Accounting for that growth: subscriptions to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Tidal; radio services like Pandora and SiriusXM; and YouTube and the ad-supported version of Spotify, among others. With streaming has come a flood of data on how, where and when songs are consumed — and by whom. That information drives the work of Billboard’s Digital Power Players, executives in the vanguard of their fields. At streaming services, record labels, music publishers, dis-tributors, promoters, booking agencies, social media sites, rights organizations and more, these are the executives shaping the industry of the future.

CHARLIE HELLMAN, 33 VP, head of creator marketplace, Spotify

With Spotify reporting 184 million active

users and 83 million premium subscribers in July, Hellman’s focus is on the musicians whose work drives the success of the streaming service. He oversees the development of Spotify for Artists, a live data dashboard and playlist submission tool that now serves more than 200,000 unique artist teams a month — double the number from March. “From the beginning, Spotify for Artists was about empowering artists,” he says.

TAMI HURWITZ, 46 VP global marketing and business intelligence, Amazon Music

Hurwitz arrived at Amazon Music in November 2017 after a two-decade career with Procter & Gamble, followed by Microsoft. She oversees global branding and marketing for the world’s third-largest subscription streaming service, whose total streaming hours on Alexa-enabled devices have doubled year-over-year. (Amazon has not reported specific usage figures.) “We’re seeing fans starting to adopt the ‘Alexa, play’ nomenclature into their vernacular,” says Hurwitz. “It’s become a really interesting way to engage socially.” Hurwitz also helped Amazon mark “Prime Day” on July 11 with the Amazon Music Unboxing Event, a concert headlined by Ariana Grande in New York.

AMANDA MARKS* Global head of business development and music partnerships, Apple

Marks, a former senior digital executive at Universal Music Group, has helped Apple Music surpass 50 million registered users during her three years at the company. She has also signed the streaming service’s first automotive deals with Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler, and brokered an exclusive bundling deal offering Apple Music to Verizon Unlimited mobile phone customers. (New customers receive Apple Music free for six months.) “With subscription services, we live and die by the numbers — conversion and retention, daily engagement,” says Marks. “Our focus on music, arts and culture gives us a competitive advantage in improving those numbers.”

LIOR TIBON, 35 COO, Tidal

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As the streaming business approaches maturity, its major players are refining their growth strategies — and for Tidal, that has meant telecom partnerships around the globe. In the past year, an expanded streaming bundle with part-owner Sprint introduced three new pricing plans for the latter’s 45 million customers, while partnerships with Vodafone (Spain), Telefonica (Brazil) and MTN (Uganda) have expanded Tidal’s reach into underutilized territories. While streaming is “hypercompetitive,” Tibon says, “The industry has not evolved quickly enough in terms of presenting a wide range of pricing options and models.”

KERRY TRAINOR* CEO, SoundCloud

After a financially challenging 2017 marked by layoffs and the closing of its London office, SoundCloud has “refocused our strategy to focus on what makes us unique and special: empowering creators with the best tools to grow their careers,” says Trainor. The resurgent site now hosts more than 180 million tracks from more than 10 million creators, says Trainor. They include Post Malone, Chance the Rapper, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty and “an incredible range of artists shaping music culture, [especially] in EDM and hip-hop.”

BOB BRUDERMAN, 40 Senior vp global digital partnerships, Kobalt Music Group

Bruderman says he has sealed “in excess of 50 deals” this past year for Kobalt, including a publishing pact with Facebook and a multipronged agreement with Chinese streaming service NetEase that covers publishing, Kobalt’s AWAL division for indie artists and its AMRA royalty collection service. Bruderman is also Kobalt’s point of contact with digital services, including “everyone from Google and Amazon to tiny karaoke players,” while building marketing muscle via seeking out and developing digital music partnerships with, for example, airlines (Delta and American) and social media platforms (Instagram).

RON CERRITO, 56 President, North America, AWAL

PAUL HITCHMAN, 53 President, AWAL LONNY OLINICK, 37 CEO, AWAL

Olinick assumed leadership of Kobalt’s recordings division, AWAL, in January, with Hitchman running international and Cerrito managing North America. “[The] three of us have made a big push with A&R, global marketing, digital products and data insights, resulting in success like never before,” says Olinick. In the past six months, he adds, staff has doubled to about 200, while the artist roster has grown 50 percent to 25,000 acts. Among the standouts: Lauv, whose song “I Like Me Better” has become a hit in 11 countries, generating more than 1 billion streams, according to AWAL. “We’re all about positioning Kobalt as the leading service company across all music rights,” says Olinick.

JONATHAN DWORKIN, 43 Senior vp digital strategy and business development, Universal Music Group CHRIS HORTON, 46 Senior vp strategic technology, Universal Music Group MICHAEL NASH, 61 Executive vp digital strategy, Universal Music Group TUHIN ROY, 50 Senior vp new digital business and innovation, Universal Music Group OANA RUXANDRA, 36 Senior vp digital strategy and partnerships, Universal Music Group

“Digital is part of everything that we’re doing,” says Nash, who has led UMG’s digital team since November 2015. Nash, who holds a seat on UMG’s executive management board and advises chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge, oversees a digital business of 400-plus partnerships “and annualized revenue of over 3 billion dollars,” he says. For the digital team, Ruxandra quarterbacked UMG’s global multiyear agreement struck with Facebook and Instagram in December. “We got the biggest social network to come to the table and to value our content, [and] created a new kind of partnership that reflects the future,” says Ruxandra, who is now focused

on deals with Pandora, iHeartMedia and Amazon Music. Horton has primed UMG for the emerging industry category of “interactive tracks” that will allow consumers to work with individual song elements (e.g., vocals, drums, bass) via apps like Jammer from Keezy. Dworkin is the dealmaker overseeing UMG’s Spotify, Apple and Google partnerships, and closed a major renewal agreement with YouTube in December 2017, easing long-standing tension with the video-streaming giant. “There’s a lot more oxygen in the business relationship,” he says. “They’ve done a great job of trying to reset the relationship.” Roy, who serves as UMG’s Silicon Valley liaison, has spearheaded two outreach programs designed to foster music tech startups: the UMG Accelerator Network and a UMG-affiliated hackathon series. “Two years into the music industry’s recovery, we don’t think the level of startup activity in the ecosystem reflects the opportunities [in this space],” says Roy. “Everything we’re doing addresses that.”

KEITH HAUPRICH, 44 General counsel/senior vp business and legal affairs, North America, BMG

In August, Hauprich reached a confidential settlement in a landmark three-year copyright infringement suit against Cox Communications, which tested an internet service provider’s responsibilities for policing the copyright-infringing actions of its users. In a 2015 trial, Hauprich helped BMG win a $25 million judgment against Cox, but the award was later vacated due to erroneous jury instructions. On the eve of a second trial that was due to begin Aug. 27, Cox opted to settle with BMG for undisclosed terms. The three major music groups filed their own copyright infringement suit against Cox in July, seeking as much as $1.5 billion in damages, and that action is pending.

DENNIS KOOKER, 51 President, global digital business and U.S. sales, Sony Music Entertainment

With streaming now accounting for 44 percent of Sony’s music revenue worldwide and still growing, Kooker says emerging international markets will continue to

[In Brief]

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fuel that upward trajectory. He notes that while many music companies are chasing the mass-market consumer, Sony is also preparing for the day when growth isn’t so easily attained. The industry has “always been about niches, experimentation and tastemakers,” says Kooker. “We need that, too, or we will have slowing growth as the market matures.”

OLE OBERMANN, 47 Chief digital officer/executive vp business development, Warner Music Group

The past year saw a “tremendous acceleration in premium subscriptions,” says Obermann, and he’s not just referring to Spotify, the streaming market leader. Apart from streaming deals, WMG in March closed a deal with Facebook that allows WMG’s extensive music catalog to be used on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Oculus. Obermann also negotiated a direct licensing agreement with Mixcloud, a streaming platform with more than 12 million podcasts and DJ sets. The information gleaned from those platforms helps WMG target its efforts more precisely than ever. “Data helps us understand the cause and effect of marketing and promotion drivers; pivot, if and when necessary; and we can watch Warner Music artists break out geographically on a near-real-time basis.”

JIM SELBY, 50 GM/chief revenue officer, Concord Music Group

Metadata matters, says Selby. “We identified thousands of masters we own or control that either lacked sufficient metadata on the [streaming] services or were completely missing” that data. Concord made a “significant investment” in its internal metadata management, says Selby, which he reports has paid off in higher YouTube collections and rights society payments. (Concord does not break out those figures.) Selby notes that Concord also has invested in digital marketing platform found.ee, to the benefit of label acts like Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats.

PETER BRODSKY, 55 Executive vp business and legal affairs, Sony/

ATV Music PublishingIn January, Brodsky helped convince

the Copyright Royalty Board to raise the royalty rate for songwriters on Spotify and other streaming services by nearly 44 percent through 2022. “It was extremely challenging,” he says. “Anytime you go to trial, it’s a huge risk. We tried to settle. It couldn’t be done. Rolling the dice turned out to be worthwhile.” While closing Sony/ATV’s deals with Facebook and YouTube, Brodsky also advocated in the past year for the successful passage of the Music Modernization Act, which will update mechanical rights licensing for the digital age.

DAVID KOKAKIS, 46 Chief counsel, business affairs, Universal Music Publishing Group; digital rights management, Universal Music Group

Kokakis, who was promoted to chief counsel of UMPG in July, is now working more closely with Universal Music Group labels, looking for more opportunities to boost digital revenue for UMG’s publishing and recorded-music divisions. In December 2017, he helped negotiate UMPG’s licensing deal with Facebook to make songs and videos available on the social media giant. “It created a new income source for artists and songwriters,” he says. “It’s important for companies, individuals and stakeholders to think about what serves the greater good and what can create a sustainable industry for many years to come, as opposed to being hyper-focused on what serves their immediate interests.”

ERIC MACKAY, 37 Executive vp global digital strategy, Warner/Chappell Music

Mackay took on his current role at Warner/Chappell a year ago, running a three-person team and overseeing the music publisher’s digital strategy while expanding its partnerships. His goals: find more ways for fans to enjoy the music that Warner/Chappell publishes and drive revenue for the company and its writers. Warner/Chappell copyrights now can be used on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Oculus under Warner Music Group’s Facebook deal announced in March. The

result of Mackay’s work is promising: an 18 percent year-on-year increase in digital revenue in the recent third quarter.

JIM CADY, 58 Executive vp products, operations and connected vehicle, SiriusXM

For SiriusXM users, Cady helps manage too much of a good thing. “The one challenge we have is that we’ve got an abundance of great content,” he says of his back-end work on SiriusXM features “to better suggest content that may be appropriate for you. If I did a search in our service for Madonna, I’m not only going to get channels that play Madonna, but I’d also get Howard Stern’s interview with Madonna. Now, with our ability to say, ‘If you like this, you may like that,’ we’re seeing people listening to a broader set of content because it’s being presented to them in a more logical way. We’ve enhanced that substantially, both on the automotive side and with the launch in May of our streaming service.” SiriusXM, with more than 36 million subscribers and 23 million-plus trial listeners, announced plans in September to acquire Pandora, which has more than 70 million monthly active users.

DARREN DAVIS, 45 President, iHeartMedia Networks Group and iHeartRadio

iHeartMedia’s acquistion of podcast producer Stuff Media in September was “vastly important, from a strategic standpoint, for the company,” says Davis. “I don’t think we’re [just] in the radio business — we’re in the relationships business. We build and cultivate relationships with 272 million listeners a month on our broadcast radio. This is a natural extension for our broadcast brands and our air talent.” Given iHeart’s dominant audience reach, “[We’ve] got to be leading the way in podcasting,” he says.

AIMÉE LAPIC* Chief marketing officer, Pandora

Long before Lapic joined Pandora last December, she admired the analytics she could cull from the streaming service in her role as chief marketing officer for Gap Inc.’s Banana Republic brand and “from

[In Brief]

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a personal perspective, in terms of how terrific the [music] recommendations were.” Now she’s mining Pandora’s data for initiatives like a partnership with Snapchat that launched in June via the service’s premium access feature. More than 22 million people have tapped into 30 minutes of free Pandora Premium programming through premium access since late 2017. “Forty-four percent of those are 25 and under,” says Lapic. “This is a game-changer for us to reach new listeners and drive much higher engagement.”

MANNY ADLER, 26 Music partnerships, Snap

Adler is a key member of the music team behind Snap’s ubiquitous messaging app, and has helped make Snapchat an essential tool for musicians. Working under Snap’s new head of music partnerships, Ted Suh, Adler helped develop Snapchat’s popular lenses for the music industry, which this year included augmented-reality features for Ariana Grande’s Sweetener launch and Nicki Minaj’s shoppable Queen lens, as well as an exclusive tracklist debut for Minaj that generated more than 100 million impressions in its first 48 hours. Snapchat also has partnerships with Childish Gambino, Florence + The Machine and other acts. More than one in three daily Snapchat users play with Snapchat lenses, he says, “so it makes a ton of sense to put music in that experience.”

PERRY BASHKOFF, 39 Head of label partnerships, Facebook TAMARA HRIVNAK, 42 Head of music business development and partnerships, Facebook JONATHAN HULL, 39 Head of music partnerships, Facebook MICHAEL KING, 43 Head of label business development, Facebook SCOTT SELLWOOD, 48 Head of music publishing partnerships, Facebook ANJALI SOUTHWARD, 37 Head of international music publishing business development, Facebook

Since early 2017, Facebook has made major moves to allow users to incorporate music into its apps. Hrivnak and her team

have struck licensing agreements with “all major labels, all major publishers, all the [royalty collection] societies, all of the major independent aggregators in the U.S. and a host of international players as well,” she says. “It’s a real milestone for the industry and for Facebook to accomplish so much together in such a short amount of time.” For Facebook’s 2.2 billion users, that has allowed the social networking giant to roll out Lip Sync Live and, in a bid to outflank YouTube and TikTok (formerly musical.ly), allow users to add licensed tracks to self-generated videos. The platform now also permits music usage across its universe of products, including Oculus, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. While Hrivnak’s crew focuses on licensing pacts, Hull and his colleagues work with artists to leverage those licenses and create new experiences, products and fan insights from engagement data. Hull says that unlocking users’ ability to use and share music with friends “helps drive discovery” of artists. As fan usage of music clips proliferates, Facebook’s licensing deals may generate as much as $1 billion for the music industry in the next two years, observers say.

LAUREN WIRTZER SEAWOOD* Head of music partnerships, Instagram

Wirtzer Seawood, who was Beyoncé’s digital guru before joining Instagram, has a knack for spotting trends. This year, her team launched music stickers and created a custom Instagram filter that included a clip of Ariana Grande’s “No Tears Left to Cry.” “We’re always contemplating new ways to add music as an experience on Instagram,” she says. Over 45 percent of Instagram’s 1 billion users follow a verified music account, and three out of the top five most followed accounts belong to musicians.

LYOR COHEN, 59 Global head of music, YouTube

YouTube Music, Google’s latest move into the subscription music business, launched May 22 “in what is now 21 [global] markets,” says Cohen, while partnerships with Ticketmaster and Eventbrite have expanded the service’s offerings for artists. But Cohen is most

proud of YouTube’s image rehabilitation in the eyes of the music business. “We went from probably being the most despised to the most hopeful in the last year,” he says, describing the industry’s reception of initiatives like Artist Spotlight and Artist on the Rise. “We invested in a label support team that helps labels work alongside YouTube in breaking their artists and taking them to the next level.”

AMY DIETZ* Executive vp/GM, Ingrooves Music Group BOB ROBACK, 51 CEO, Ingrooves Music Group

“Opportunities in the marketplace, based on data and insights, are always time-bound,” says Roback. “If you see an opportunity to really pour fuel on the fire, it’s important that you can act on it right away.” That’s why, earlier this year, Ingrooves debuted Trends Now, a real-time data-mining tool to benefit its own marketing moves and those of partner labels like Rostrum, Strange Music and Sargent House. Much of Dietz’s focus this past year was on expanding the company’s reach into international markets, including Southeast Asia and the Nordic regions. Ingrooves also brokered global distribution deals with Norwegian label Propeller Records, Latin indie label Rich Music and Latin entertainment company Talento Uno. Data shapes every decision, says Dietz. “When somebody bought a [physical] record, you didn’t know whether they listened to it one time or a thousand times. Now we see how they’re interacting with music. That gives us an opportunity to identify fans in a different way.”

NANDO LUACES, 51 Founder/CEO, Altafonte

Altafonte, a Madrid-based digital distribution and marketing company launched in 2011, has since built a customer base that spans 150 countries, says Luaces, adding that revenue has increased 40 percent from 2017 to 2018. (The company does not provide specific revenue figures.) “We have signed distribution agreements with eight new platforms in China and the Middle East,” says the CEO, whose company is also

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working with acts including Gilberto Gil, the group Los Ángeles Azules and Erika Ender, co-writer of Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito.”

BRAD NAVIN, 47 CEO, The Orchard COLLEEN THEIS, 49 COO, The Orchard

In June 2017, The Orchard became one of the largest independent distributors in the world after merging with its sister distributor RED Music (both owned by Sony Music Entertainment). With a two-decade history in digital music, The Orchard is optimally positioned, says Navin, as “the digital promise has finally come to fruition, with year-over-year growth” in what has become a global industry. One sign of that global reach: The Orchard’s marketing (in partnership with South Korea’s Big Hit Entertainment) of Love Yourself: Tear by K-pop sensation BTS, which debuted in June at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. “We have representation locally in the [South Korean] market, which was able to talk to them early on and then plug into our team in North America,” says Theis, who oversees The Orchard’s global team. “We’ve gone to 43 markets from 30 last year [and] up to more than 450 staff, plus consultants around the world.”

BRANDON SQUAR, 42 Executive vp global digital sales and strategy, Alternative Distribution Alliance

ADA has represented Macklemore since 2012, and the artist is enjoying another huge year thanks to his album Gemini, “primarily driven by streaming,” says Squar, whose company works with “independent artists and labels of all sizes, in all genres, from all around the world.” Driven by the singles “Good Old Days,” featuring Kesha, and “Glorious,” featuring Skylar Grey, Gemini reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and has logged 465.3 million on-demand audio streams for its tracks, according to Nielsen Music. Macklemore is an “amazing example of an artist successfully transitioning to streaming as the digital marketplace has evolved,” says Squar.

STEVE STOUTE, 48 Founder/CEO, UnitedMasters and

TranslationStoute, the major-label veteran and

founder of marketing agency Translation, on Oct. 30 announced a new partnership between his digital distribution company UnitedMasters and the NBA that will allow artists to have their music placed and promoted across an array of the league’s digital platforms, including NBA.com and the NBA app, reaching a potential global audience of 1.5 billion. In a statement, UnitedMasters said Stoute’s latest venture “creates a direct line between artists and a global sports and media business, resulting in unparalleled access to worldwide audiences and the ability for artists to amplify their music at scale.”

KEVIN CHERNETT, 49 Executive vp global partnerships and content distribution, Live Nation JULIA HEISER, 36 Executive vp, marketing, Live Nation Concerts JEREMY LEVINE, 45 Head of digital and publishing, media and sponsorship, Live Nation AARON WILSON, 47 Senior vp tour marketing and digital, Live Nation Clubs and Theaters

“We’re not just selling [fans] a ticket,” says Heiser of her marketing team’s involvement in more than 150 major tours for such acts as Beyoncé and Jay-Z, U2, Drake and Guns N’ Roses. “We are trying to collect and understand every piece of data about them to help make that experience as good as possible.” A data-centric approach drives the work of several Live Nation executives. Chernett struck the partnership with Samsung that led to the livestreaming, in virtual reality, of Coldplay’s performance at Chicago’s Soldier Field in August 2017 to more than 50 countries. He has also built social media partnerships with platforms including Twitter to livestream festivals and performances by St. Vincent, Jack White, Zac Brown Band, Imagine Dragons, Niall Horan and G-Eazy. “We have cooperative partners who understand that value of extending the reach and the moments,” he says. Levine developed partnerships with leading

music and entertainment publishers and sites including Consequence of Sound, BrooklynVegan, Bandsintown and CBSi to syndicate content over various platforms. He also launched Live Nation’s data product portfolio, FanBase, which is touted as the world’s most exhaustive database of live-event fans. At the club and theater level, Wilson’s team handles marketing for more than 70 Live Nation venues — a number that has more than doubled since 2015 as data is increasingly used to identify new opportunities in the live space. “We’re actually able to roll into new markets rather seamlessly [by] looking at the specifics of the DNA of that population.”

KATHRYN FREDERICK, 40 Executive vp growth and insights, Ticketmaster

Frederick, who has an educational background in neuropsychology and conflict resolution, leads Ticketmaster’s efforts to enrich fan engagement. “There’s real science behind how to have that one-to-one conversation” with ticket buyers, says Frederick, replacing what she wryly calls the old “spray-and-pray” method of marketing. “The elegance of that orchestration is why we’ve seen so much consumer receptivity, and we’re seeing it in our numbers.” In her three years with Ticketmaster, those numbers included a 30-plus percent growth in the company’s marketing program, 1 billion-plus annual impressions across its digital footprint and close to $1.5 billion in incremental gross revenue. “That, to me, is fans telling you with their wallets that you’re doing something right,” she says.

BROOKE MICHAEL KAIN, 38 Chief digital officer, AEG Presents

Kain, who came to AEG Presents two years ago after digital marketing roles at Apple Music, Beats and Interscope Records, has staffed up eight departments with more than 50 new hires, including executives from Google and Apple. “I’m looking for digital talent first — I’ll teach them the music business,” she says. Kain is tasked with enhancing digital marketing, customer relationship management and analytics for AEG’s portfolio of festivals like Coachella and Electric Forest, as well

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as tours for Panic! at the Disco and Elton John’s farewell run. She has expanded AEG’s consumer database nearly sevenfold to 200 million fan records. “Using data also enabled our team to completely redo the way we marketed our events at the Shrine Auditorium [in Los Angeles] and helped us sell out 13 events thus far [this year].”

MATT URMY, 40 Founder/chief strategy officer, Artist Growth

Since its founding in 2012, Urmy’s Artist Growth has tracked $2.6 billion in event revenue and allowed touring artists and their teams to track finances, availabilities, tour schedules, promotions and more. Next up is a partnership Urmy has negotiated over two years with Pinnacle Financial Partners executive vp music Andy Moats. “One of the biggest problems for artists is trying to get their hands on capital,” says Urmy, who is now in the beta-testing phase for a Pinnacle pilot program that has handed out more than $100,000 in artist development financing secured by tours. “It’s cheaper than going to a promoter or record label for the money,” he says, explaining that loans are made based on advances and artist guarantees and don’t require a credit history or deposit. “It’s really clean, and we can enable the whole thing with software,” says Urmy. A public launch of the financing program is targeted for early 2019.

JADE DRIVER, 36 Co-founder/co-owner, Crowd Surf CASSIE PETREY, 32 Co-founder/co-owner, Crowd Surf

“I can still be that die-hard fan,” says Driver. “I want that setlist! And I know I’ll want that sign off the dressing room door.” For Driver and Petrey, thinking like the fans of the stars they represent — Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Guns N’ Roses and others — has led to the success of their digital marketing firm Crowd Surf, which has helped drive a collective 1 billion followers on social media for their clients. Working with pop group Why Don’t We, Driver and Petrey helped the quintet reach 3.3 million Instagram followers in 18 months. Now the duo has moved into artist management with Max & Harvey, who

have signed to Hollywood Records and gained 5 million followers on TikTok.

NATHAN HANKS, 45 CEO, Music Audience Exchange (MAX)

“We’re out to change the nature of what music does in advertising,” says Hanks of his company, which micro-targets fans for brands and has teamed Brantley Gilbertwith Ford trucks, Cole Swindell with U.S. Cellular and Brett Eldredge with Dr Pepper, among others. Through surveys distributed via the social media accounts of artists, MAX has built a database “with insight into the demographic, psychographic, geographic and behavioral attributes of the fan bases of more than 1.8 million artists worldwide,” says Hanks. He’s also out to change how artists break through, with brand partnerships that put a primary emphasis on showcasing songs.

GARY VAYNERCHUK, 42 Chairman, VaynerX

Vaynerchuk, who spotted early opportunities to transform his family’s New Jersey liquor store into e-commerce site Wine Library and then created a digial media agency, recently entered a partnership with Guy Oseary to create content for brands starring Oseary’s Maverick artists. (The venture has not yet announced which acts will be featured in the content.) “I’m always looking for signals in the culture,” says Vaynerchuk. “I pay attention to what people are paying attention to.” The past year, he says, involved studying consumer desires “and meeting with 54 emerging artists to create bigger fan bases for them.”

JAD DAYEH, 35 Partner, digital media, WME

“It’s all about these platforms and brands that have decided to broaden” their reach, says Dayeh, who has helped close more than 35 content production deals for music-focused digital brands including WorldStarHipHop, Mass Appeal and Pharrell Williams’ i am OTHER. “We’ve really started to find ways to pair up those content brands with people from the ‘traditional’ world — directors, writers, actors, musicians — [to create] these new hybridized content properties

and initiatives.” In the works with WME client RZA: a new documentary series on Wu-Tang Clan to mark the 25th anniversary of the hip-hop group, as well as a separate Ol’ Dirty Bastard biopic (via Quentin Tarantino’s WME agent, Mike Simpson).

KELLY DURONCELET, 30 Digital partnerships agent, Paradigm Talent Agency

Duroncelet has solidified her position leading Paradigm’s digital deals for music with a focus on boosting clients’ exposure. She recently began curating happy-hour concerts at Instagram’s New York office, yielding more than 4.5 million impressions for singer Chelsea Cutler this summer — something she says is a “testament” to Paradigm’s roster and relationship with the company. “I don’t think they’re doing this with any of the other agencies.”

SHANNON FITZGERALD, 36 Tour marketing executive, CAA

Fitzgerald helped build the agency’s 10-member tour marketing team, “a department that’s filled with really smart, proactive executives — that all happen to be women,” she says, adding, “They all really get that content is king and that we have to make a splash in the marketplace.” The digital team is involved in everything from tour announcements to ticketing, she says. In 2018, Fitzgerald has helped make a digital splash for more than 1,100 shows by 30 clients, including campaigns for Kesha, Jeff Lynne’s ELO and Panic! at the Disco.

KENDALL OSTROW, 33 Head of IQ strategy, United Talent Agency

Since Ostrow launched UTA’s IQ strategy lab in January, her 14-person team has been feeding data and detailed insights to the agency’s departments that are driving better deals for touring, branding, sponsorships and more. She cites Post Malone’s co-headlining status at Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival in July as an example of where UTA’s added intel on his popularity “secured [Post Malone] a more prominent set at a much higher fee.”

PETER TRINH, 38 Managing director of the international and independent film group, ICM

Digital outlets have transformed movies as well as music, including movies driven

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by musicians. Of the more than 75 deals that Trinh and his team have struck over the last year, his recent YouTube distribution agreement for director Joseph Kahn’s battle-rap satire Bodied is among the biggest. With a full theatrical release planned for November for the Eminem-produced movie (the rapper is also an ICM client), Trinh says, “It’s a great home … that represents such a great crossover in various sectors of entertainment.”

DAVID ISRAELITE, 49 President/CEO, National Music Publishers’ Association

Multiple players in the music business united behind the Music Modernization Act, but Israelite was at the center of the negotiations that led to the passage of the bill, which became law in October. The MMA will remake the mechanical licensing system for the digital age. Israelite also steered the litigation that led to a summary judgment against bootleg concert website Wolfgang’s Vault for copyright infringement, and the NMPA’s strategy for a Copyright Royalty Board verdict that gives publishers and songwriters a 43.8 percent raise over the next five years.

STEVEN MARKS, 51 Chief, digital business and general counsel; RIAA

Marks spent much of 2018 negotiating the language with the many stakeholders of the landmark Music Modernization Act, which, in addition to improving the licensing process for streaming services, will more fairly compensate artists for pre-1972 recordings and improve royalty payouts for producers and engineers via SoundExchange. “It’s satisfying to look back at the last 15 to 20 years and all the things the RIAA team did to help first position the industry for success in the streaming market,” says Marks, who’s proud of helping secure “the right structures and licenses in place so that those services could flourish.”

LAUREN APOLITO, 51 Senior vp strategy and business development, Harry Fox Agency/Rumblefish STEPHEN H. BLOCK, 54

Senior vp business and legal affairs, Harry Fox Agency/Rumblefish JOHN RASO, 54 Senior vp client services, Harry Fox Agency/Rumblefish

Apolito reports that licensing opportunities for publisher clients grew 35 percent over the previous year. Block has focused on streamlining HFA’s representation in Europe and the rest of the world through Mint Digital Services, the joint venture between HFA’s parent SESAC and the Swiss authors’ rights society SUISA. Raso, who has seen HFA add 4,100 publishing catalogs and 1.5 million compositions in the past 12 months, aims to educate creators about the importance of “getting your songs registered in the HFA database in order to be paid mechanical royalties for many of the largest digital music services in the U.S.”

JONATHAN BENDER* COO, SoundExchange

The digital performance rights organization, with the help of the National Music Publishers’ Association and the RIAA, replaced an archaic, email-based, mechanical license system with the launch in May of the Music Data Exchange portal — the first mechanism to automate the exchange of data between record companies and publishers. “There’s thousands of releases a week now, so the volume of data doesn’t lend itself to email,” says Bender, who oversaw the transition. “If you’re a record company and you’re getting ready to release a new product, you need to know who the publishers are, because you need to secure mechanical licenses.” More than 400 labels and publishers have already begun using the system.

CHARLES CALDAS, 55 CEO, Merlin

Under Caldas, Merlin remains a growing force in the global recorded-music marketplace. As the digital rights agency for the independent-label sector, Merlin represents more than 800 member companies and 20,000 indie labels in 55 countries around the world and collected close to $500 million in royalties last year from digital music services. Merlin’s clout

extends beyond the labels it represents, as the terms it negotiates for its members often become the benchmark for indie labels that do direct deals. Caldas claimed an equity stake for Merlin in Spotify as a condition of licensing indie music to the service. When the streaming service went public, Merlin sold its shares, bringing in a reported $100 million, which it distributed to its member labels in 2018.

J.D. CONNELL, 42 VP new media licensing, SESAC

Connell closed out last year with “the greatest sprint I’ve ever done since I started at SESAC” in 2004: 10 significant deals he needed to complete for the performing rights organization by Dec. 31, 2017. While he can’t disclose the parties involved, they included major cable and TV broadcast networks, along with leading digital service providers. A key industry challenge, he says, is “under-monetization. You have to understand the economics of each different service or platform that you’re licensing, and if it’s not properly monetized — or not monetized at all — to look at the other metrics to understand what the appropriate license fee should be.”

JOE CONYERS III, 32 Co-founder/GM, Songtrust; vp technology, Downtown Music Publishing MOLLY NEUMAN, 47 Global head of business development, Songtrust

Songtrust, the New York-based global royalty collection service and publishing administrator that is part of Downtown Music Publishing, has extended its worldwide reach through a partnership with International Copyright Enterprise, which has offices in London, Stockholm and Berlin. As a result, Songtrust’s royalty collections grew 86 percent in the first half of 2018, compared with the same 2017 period, and the company now represents more than 150,000 songwriters, adding as many as 4,000 songs a month, reports Conyers. Neuman, herself a former indie musician, reports 35 percent more new clients in the first eight months of this year than in all of 2017. “The opportunity that’s out there for independent songwriters, and the ecosystem that supports them, is kind

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of an incredible thing,” she says.JOVIN CRONIN-WILESMITH, 28

Co-founder/vp product development, Stem TIM LUCKOW, 30 Co-founder/president, Stem MILANA RABKIN LEWIS, 30 Co-founder/CEO, Stem

Stem is delivering for Sheryl Crow, Childish Gambino and others who have signed with the music-and-royalties-distribution startup. The company, which Rabkin Lewis describes as “an end-to-end solution for rights owners,” paid royalties for 3.6 billion-plus streams during the first half of this year alone. Luckow says Stem now has partnerships with streaming services on five continents. “We can report triple-digit growth in the past 12 months,” he says. Cronin-Wilesmith sees Stem moving beyond music to other such creative fields as graphic arts. “We can help the people who are normally cut out of the process entirely,” he says. “Our business has been shining a light on all these creative businesses that also need a back-office suite of solutions.”

NICHOLAS LEHMAN, 47 Executive vp/chief strategy and digital officer, ASCAP

Lehman, who joined ASCAP in April after a long career of digital innovation at MTV and NBCUniversal, among other companies, is focused on multiple initiatives at the performing rights organization, including a joint database with BMI, due to launch in 2019. “Our goal is to have stronger, more mutually beneficial relationships with them so that we can launch new services that create value for the industry as a whole and our creators in particular,” says Lehman, who also oversees an array of new digital tools for ASCAP songwriters. “We’re constantly looking for ways to add value for our members.”

DAVID LEVIN, 47 VP new media, BMI

For its 2018 fiscal year, BMI reported a 32 percent increase in digital revenue, totaling $215 million. “Digital now is almost on par with our traditional television/radio broadcasting [revenue] — about 25 percent of our licensing,” says Levin. “So it’s a great

achievement for us.” Levin struck a new licensing agreement with Facebook and extended deals with Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Studios, SoundCloud and Vevo — and moved BMI into the digital fitness market via a licensing deal with Peloton.

JEFF PRICE, 51 Founder/CEO, Audiam

Price, who previously founded TuneCore to help indie artists get their music onto digital services, launched Audiam to ensure that songwriters and music publishers get paid by confirming that streaming services matched songs to their copyright owners and music publishers in their databases. Price is at the forefront of bringing the issue of “unmatched” songs to the industry’s attention, and since launching in 2013, Audiam has recovered more than $20 million — $11 million in the past year — in royalties that had gone unpaid due to matching errors.

JONATHAN STRAUSS, 32 Co-founder/CEO, Create Music Group ALEXANDRE WILLIAMS, 30 Co-founder/COO, Create Music Group

Revenue for Create Music Group — which helps clients like Deadmau5, Trippie Redd and Marshmello find untapped royalties on YouTube and for unofficial releases like mixtapes — reached $30 million in 2017, up from $16 million the previous year. “We currently monetize over 9 billion monthly music streams across platforms,” reports Strauss. In September, CMG launched a publishing arm that has signed 6ix9ine. It also has moved into original video production via Flighthouse‚ a top TikTok channel with 18 million fans. Williams says CMG’s new dashboard tool allows artists to view revenue from multiple streaming platforms as well as publishing royalties. “You can see everything, every day. It’s crazy,” he says.

*Declined to provide ageContributors: Rich Appel, Steve Baltin,

Dave Brooks, Dean Budnick, Ed Christman, Leila Cobo, Camille Dodero, Adrienne Gaffney, Andrew Hampp, Cherie Hu, Gil Kaufman, Steve Knopper, Juliana Koranteng, Robert Levine, Geoff Mayfield, Taylor Mims, Paula Parisi, Alex Pham, Dan Rys, Eric Spitznagel, Colin Stutz, Deborah Wilker, Nick

WilliamsThis article originally appeared in the Nov.

10 issue of Billboard.

Vagrant Records Founder Launches ‘I Believe in California’ Shirts to Benefit Fire VictimsBY GIL KAUFMAN

Vagrant Records co-founder Rich Egan was watching footage of the deadly wildfires tearing through Southern California last week and decided he needed to do some-thing.

The SoCal native and co-owner of Nashville’s Hard 8/Working Group management firm (Billie Eilish, Brantley Gilbert) who put out the “I Believe in Heroism” shirt earlier this year as a fundraiser for the victims of the Nashville Waffle House shooting is back with an “I Believe in California” shirt and poster combo. The effort will raise funds for those whose homes have been destroyed by the raging fires that have claimed 31 lives so far, destroyed more than 6,700 structures and forced the evacuation of 250,000.

“Punk rock has taught me a lot. Mainly, you don’t wait for other people to do things for you,” wrote Egan — who grew up surfing in Malibu — in a statement about his fundraiser. “You do it. I also learned that if you wanted to make a statement about what you stand for put it on a shirt. It’s simple, powerful and to the point.” The shirts feature the image of a bear over the state of California and a cluster of pine trees with gray around the edges to evoke ash. “I wanted shirts that capture the nature of what’s happened. that represent being down, but not out. We are all still standing, and we’re going to help each

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other get through it,” Egan said.One hundred percent of the profits

from the sales of the shirts ($20) and 12 x 18 posters ($20) will go to a variety of charitable organizations aiding those impacted by the fires.

Among those who’ve lost their homes in the fires to date are Miley Cyrus, Neil Young, Gerard Butler, Shannon Doherty, Robin Thicke and Camille Grammer, with dozens of other high-profile residents of Malibu, Calabasas, Agoura Hills and other nearby areas also forced to leave their homes.

Veteran Music Exec Michael Plen Loses Home in Woolsey Fire; GoFundMe Account Set Up to Aid His FamilyBY MELINDA NEWMAN

Veteran label promotion executive Michael Plen’s Malibu home has been destroyed in the Woolsey Fire ravaging parts of South-ern California.

Plen, his wife and son escaped unharmed with only some clothes, family photos and hard drives.

“We lost everything in the fire from our and past generations’ lives, including everything we loved in the music business,” Plen tells Billboard.

A GoFundMe account has been set up for Plen’s family to help with temporary housing, rebuilding and other expenses.

Plen, who is VP of marketing and promotion at Ingrooves, has worked at a number of labels, including Sanctuary, Virgin, I.R.S. and A&M.

In related fire news, producer/musician Richard Gibbs checked in on

Facebook, saying that he lost his house in the devastating fires. His famed studio, Woodshed Recording, where artists including Coldplay, U2, and Chance the Rapper have worked, was left intact, despite being only feet from his house. Producer/artist Butch Walker also checked in on Facebook, saying that his house was “still standing. Yard and other structures are toast.” He also noted that he had lost his house in fires 11 years ago. Charley Pollard, who operates Dragonfly Creek Recording Studio, in Malibu also posted that he lost his house, but the studio is still standing.

As Billboard previously reported, Robin Thicke’s Malibu home burned down and Liam Payne tweeted that he was “about to lose my house and its memories,” though he has not provided any update since Saturday morning.

The Woolsey Fire is one of three wildfires burning in California and has forced more than 250,000 residents to evacuate.

Scooter Braun on Trump’s Response to California Wildfires: ‘You Are Unfit to Lead’BY HILARY HUGHES

When Donald Trump commented on the catastrophic wildfires that displaced hun-dreds of thousands of people in Southern California and blazed through thousands of acres, Katy Perry, John Legend and many more strongly reacted to his “heart-less” words.

Scooter Braun also criticized the president for saying that “gross mismanagement of the forests” was to blame for the fires, and wrote a passionate

response to Trump’s tweet that encouraged him to “be a leader” in the face of crisis.

“98% of the land that has burned is federally owned,” he wrote. “Mr. President it was under your watch that their budgets were cut. I’m not so left leaning that everything done under your watch I think is bad or unjust... but what I know... what you have shown... is you are unfit to lead. Leaders listen, leaders stand with their people in moments of struggle and darkness. You sir do neither. You are self indulgent, you mock, and you incite. You put down good republicans and democrats alike. You celebrate your achievements and pt fingers in your losses. Your tweet is an embarrassment to you and this nation. Good hardworking people are suffering and you point blame. Be a leader!”

By Sunday (Nov.11), the Los Angeles Times reported that nearly 250,000 residents in Ventura and Los Angeles counties were forced to evacuate, and that 83,000 acres of land were scorched since the fires started sweeping through the area on Friday (Nov. 9).

Read Braun’s full response to the president’s comments below.

Facebook Launches TikTok Competitor With ‘Massive’ Library of Licensed MusicBY BILLBOARD STAFF

Facebook has quietly launched its answer to popular lip-sync video platform TikTok, formerly known as Musical.ly. Available only in the U.S. for now, Lasso “makes it easy for anyone to create and share short videos with fun effects,” according to its iOS app store entry.

The launch was revealed in a tweet on Friday by Facebook project manager Andy Huang, though he has since taken the

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message down. “Second week back at FB and a tweet of mine makes national tech news,” Huang said in a subsequent tweet.

Lasso allows users to shoot and edit 15-second videos using an in-app camera. It boasts a slate of special effects to choose from, plus a “massive” library of licensed music. “From pop hits to vintage classics, you’ll find whatever son you need to take your videos to the next level,” the company said.

Unsurprisingly, Lasso connects seamlessly to Facebook so users can share their videos with a single click.

“Lasso is a new standalone app for short-form, entertaining videos — from comedy to beauty to fitness and more,” the company announced. “We’re excited about the potential here, and we’ll be gathering feedback from people and creators.”

In October, Facebook announced a new wave of music-related products, including Music on Facebook Stories and an expansion of Lip Sync Live, which allows users to sing over tracks during a Live video broadcast.

SnowGlobe Fest in Lake Tahoe Acquired by MTVBY DAVE BROOKS

The company plans to add locations and dates around the world.

MTV has acquired the eight-year-old SnowGlobe Music Festival, the three-day New Year’s Eve music festival that takes place Dec. 29-31 in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. with more than 20,000 fans each day. This year’s event is being headlined by Above & Beyond, Diplo, Eric Prydz, Rezz and RL Grime and will also feature all-new art installations and the festival’s signature “Big Air” activation showcasing extreme winter sports. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“With SnowGlobe, MTV is taking the natural next step in its resurgence by

expanding deeper into live events, as we continue to reach our fans and capitalize on our strong brand in new ways,” said Chris McCarthy, president of MTV, VH1, CMT, and Logo in a statement. “In a festival space where many events have become indistinguishable, SnowGlobe stands out with a unique mix of music, sports, and art that makes it a favorite among artists and its growing audience.”

SnowGlobe chief executive Chad Donnelly says “we’ve always endeavored to create an event experience that sets itself apart from the typical music festival model,” adding, “We are incredibly excited to be joining the MTV family, whose legacy of developing boundary breaking programming and events perfectly aligns with our long-standing ambition of creative innovation.”

MTV will work with the SnowGlobe team to expand the brand to additional dates and locations worldwide and leverage its team to launch other new events as well. SnowGlobe will also be a platform for MTV to reinvent its New Year’s Eve coverage, serving as the centerpiece for multi-platform programming while connecting with MTV’s iconic Times Square studio.

MTV’s international events include the MTV European Music Awards, the MIAWs in Mexico and Brazil and the Isle of MTV in Malta, with more live music events around the world than any other global youth media network.

SnowGlobe’s three-day festival passes are available now. Visit snowglobemusicfestival.com.

People’s Choice Awards: Winners ListBY THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Avengers: Infinity War was named best movie of the year at the People’s Choice Awards on Sunday night.

The superhero movie also was named

best action movie and won best female movie star for Scarlett Johansson.

The show aired for the first time on E! and were broadcast live on Sunday from 9-11 p.m. from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.

At the show, Melissa McCarthy received the inaugural People’s Icon award. The actress was being honored for her television and film work, which includes playing the titular character on the sitcom Mike and Molly, as well as her roles in Spy, Ghostbusters and Bridesmaids.

Also, Nicki Minaj was crowned female artist of the year and her LP Queen was declared album of the year, while Shawn Mendes was name male artist of the year. BTS ruled as group of the year, and the Korean boy band took out song and video for “Idol”. Blake Shelton, Taylor Swift and CNCO also took home prizes.

In addition, Victoria Beckham was presented with the Fashion Icon award, while Bryan Stevenson, a social activist and founder of Equal Justice Initiative, was named the People’s Champion of 2018.

Visit THR.com for the full list of winners.

StubHub Names New Head of Music Business DevelopmentBY TAYLOR MIMS

StubHub has announced former A&R executive Jay Harren as their new head of music business development. In his new position, Harren will lead a team focused on the secondary ticketer’s North American music partners. Harren tells Billboard his first responsibili-ty is helping the music industry understand what StubHub has to offer.

“I feel like there is a serious misperception of what StubHub is. I am taking the approach that the first thing I have to do is go out and educate people in

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the industry of what StubHub is not,” says Harren. “StubHub is not a broker who goes out and uses bots. It is an exchange. It is owned by eBay and it reflects that in its approach.”

Harren joined StubHub in October from Sony Music’s boutique label Descendant Records, where he was vice president of A&R and artist development. The new StubHub exec previously launched and ran the label that was home to the Lone Bellow, Colony House and the Wild Wild.

“I have worked really closely with artists, one-on-one, for roughly 15 years and that experience of getting down in the nitty gritty of what an artist needs, what an artist wants, the way an artist lives,” says Harren, who began his label career in 2006 as A&R manager at Columbia Records/Sony Music Entertainment, where he signed artists like Manchester Orchestra.

Harren has always had a passion for discovering new music and emerging artists. He launched his career in radio at Atlanta’s influential alternative radio station 99X/WNNX, serving as music director and on-air talent, as well as founder and host of the station’s new-music discovery program “Sunday School.”

“I liked having that intimate knowledge of the way an artist lives,” Harren tells Billboard, adding that many mid-tier artists who are regularly selling out 3,000-capacity rooms still feel they need a part-time job once their tour comes to an end. “It is not like they are crushing it all the time just because they are selling out shows. Unfortunately, that is the reality.”

Beginning in 2019, Harren plans to use his platform at StubHub to help artists, especially those in the mid-tier, benefit from the secondary market.

“It is a passion of mine to make sure that we can figure out a way to help artists who are doing well, do even better,” says Harren.

Harren currently works out of StubHub’s New York offices and reports to StubHub’s general manager of music and theater North America, Jeff Poirier.

Canadian Music Publisher ole Appoints Helen Murphy CEOBY KAREN BLISS

Founder and former CEO Robert Ott will stay on in an advisory role.

Helen Murphy, the founder and president of International Media Services, will succeed ole founder Robert Ott as CEO of the Toronto-based independent music publisher. Ott will continue to contribute as an advisor to Murphy and the ole board of directors.

“I am passionate about music and very excited that the music industry has returned to growth around the world,” said Murphy in a statement, announcing her new position. “Given the ever-increasing ways people have to consume music, I believe we have an incredible opportunity at ole to continue to create value for our songwriters, our artists and our global production music and intellectual property business partners. I look forward to working with the team at ole and with its founding partner, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Ontario Teachers’).”

Added Ott: “It has been a privilege and honor to found ole and grow the company to its present position as a global player. I’ve had the opportunity to work with many incredible people over the years and have learned so much from them. I’m thankful to Ontario Teachers for their belief in a dream and wish Helen Murphy and ole every success in the future.”

Murphy’s company IMS, which she founded in 2004, provides strategic and financial advisory services to clients in the global media and entertainment industries. Services include structuring and negotiating brand extensions; negotiating and executing new media/digital growth opportunities; financial/organizational restructuring and integration activities; and negotiating and structuring acquisitions.

She was formerly executive vice president and CFO for Warner Music Group (WMG). In 2012, she was the lead external negotiator for Sony Corporation and Mubadala Development Company to acquire the EMI Music Publishing catalog for $1 billion and to negotiate a long-term administration deal for the Sony/ATV Catalog with Mubadala. She was also CFO for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and led the initial public offering of the company. In the 1990’s, she held a series of senior financial positions, including CFO at PolyGram Music Group (now Universal Music Group).

Ontario Teachers’ senior managing director, capital markets, Gillian Brown said, “We believe that Helen’s track-record, industry knowledge, creative relationships and passion for excellence make her the right person to lead the next phase of ole’s growth and development in this exciting time for the company and for the industry.”

Nick Bell Out as Snapchat Head of Content: Read His Memo to StaffBY NATALIE JARVEY

NICK BELL IS LEAVING SNAPCHAT.

The company’s vp content sent a memo to staff on Monday announcing that he is departing from the company after five years running its media and entertainment efforts.

“After nearly five years and a once in a lifetime ride, I have let Evan know that I am leaving Snap to take some time off to recharge before deciding on my next adventure,” he wrote in the memo.

Bell joined the company during its early days to help build out the Discover platform where it posts professionally produced content from editorial partners

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and original shows from Hollywood producers. Under his leadership, Snapchat developed its vertical video format and closed ecosystem where it struck deals with media and entertainment companies to produce original content for its platform.

With Bell’s departure, newly appointed chief strategy officer Jared Grusd will lead the content team. Grusd, who most recently served as CEO of HuffPost, was appointed to replace Imran Khan at the end of October. Sean Mills, head of original content, and David Brinker, head of content business and corporate development, will continue in their roles.

“We are so grateful for Nick and everything he has built at Snap. It has been an incredible journey that began with our vision for what content could be on mobile,” Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said in a statement. “Today, more people are watching more premium content on Snap than ever before, and we couldn’t be more excited about the momentum we are seeing with Snap Originals. We will miss Nick, and we wish him all the best.”

Bells departure comes amid turnover among several of Spiegel’s top lieutenants, including Khan who oversaw Snap’s 2017 IPO. The newly public company has struggled to continue to grow following a poorly received redesign and amid increased competition from Facebook-owned Instagram. During the third quarter this year, Snap lost 2 million daily active users. Snap’s stock was trading down more than 2 percent midday on Monday, bringing the share price to around $6.60. The stock hit a record low on Oct. 29 when it closed at $5.99.

Bell was working at News Corp. when he helped arrange a meeting between Spiegel and Rupert Murdoch, which later led to a job at Snapchat. The executive got his start in media at the age of 16 when he sold his first company, Teenfront.com.

His full memo is below:Subject: Personal Update After nearly 5 years and a once in a lifetime

ride, I have let Evan know that I am leaving Snap to take some time off to recharge before deciding on my next adventure.

From my very first meeting with Evan, I

knew this was going to be an extraordinary journey. Thanks to the hard work of our amazing team, we have built Discover into a world-leading media platform. We have established vertical video as the industry standard, built hugely successful partnerships with some of the world’s best media companies and storytellers, produced incredible stories, launched a fantastic slate of Original Shows and built a robust advertising business. This experience has been incredibly rewarding and an absolute blast. I leave now with amazing memories, many lifelong friendships, and a huge amount of excitement for the future of Snap.

Although I am announcing this news today, I will be transitioning out of the role between now and the end of the year. I am so proud of all that we have achieved together at Snap, and most proud of the team I leave behind to continue to execute against the vision.

Thank you, Nick

APA Promotes Bruce Solar to Co-Head of Worldwide MusicBY REBECCA SUN

APA has promoted executive vice presi-dent Bruce Solar to partner and co-head of worldwide music, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. He will now oversee the concerts division’s west coast operations alongside his New York-based co-head, Steve Martin. “Bruce is one of the most talented and respect-ed music agents in the industry,” president and CEO Jim Gosnell said in a statement. “His leadership, insights and contributions to the success of our concerts division have made a tremendous impact on our busi-ness, and I could not be more pleased to have him lead our west coast team.”

Solar’s clients include Radical Face, Eels, Family of the Year, Blondie, Brian Wilson, Smokey Robinson, The Zombies, Cake, The O’Jays and Liz Brasher. He joined APA

in 2015 from The Agency Group, where he had spent 14 years and ran its L.A. office. He began his career at Boston’s Harry Chickles Agency, where he gained booking experience with artists including John Lee Hooker and Willie Dixon, then oversaw operations for Absolute Artists in the mid-1990s.

“I am very excited about this new challenge,” Solar said in a statement. “Working with Jim Gosnell, Steve Martin, Andy Somers and everyone at APA continues to be a high point in my career, and I look forward to many continued years of success.”

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

Staples Center President Lee Zeidman On the Venue Wars, the Clippers’ Inglewood Plans and BTS Fan BehaviorBY DAVE BROOKS

Lee Zeidman has been running AEG’s Staples Center since it opened in 1999 — and the evidence blankets every inch of wall in the 63-year-old’s corner office. There’s a photo of Zeidman with the late Aretha Franklin, whom he charmed by pointing out that they both hail from Detroit. There’s a size-22 sneaker, a gift from Shaquille O’Neal. There are mementos from every awards show that L.A. Live — the entertainment district surrounding the arena — has hosted, including the Grammys, the Emmys, the American Music Awards

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and ESPN’s ESPY Awards.But while the room celebrates

Zeidman’s run atop the world of sports and entertainment, the office is also at the epicenter of one of the biggest construction booms in downtown L.A.’s history. The $6 billion development in the surrounding neighborhood includes an AEG-backed, 875-room hotel that will anchor an upgrade for L.A.’s AEG-managed convention center.

Zeidman, who lives in Venice Beach, vacations in Bora-Bora and likes to have a bottle of Don Julio 1942 set aside for him at parties, was given oversight of L.A. Live in 2012. Prior to starting as GM of Staples Center, Zeidman ran Inglewood, Calif.’s Forum for a decade; AEG rival MSG later reopened it in 2014. To compete, AEG had, until recently, been asking acts to sign a letter promising to try to play Staples Center if they wanted to play AEG’s The O2 in London. The strategy, inspired by MSG, appeared to work: According to the Billboard Boxscore 2018 midyear report, Staples Center posted $42 million in ticket sales from 28 shows, a 57 percent increase over 2017. But AEG said this fall that it would stop asking artists to sign such letters, following a legal challenge by Sharon Osbourne.

Zeidman spoke with Billboard about the competition, the return of the Grammys and the one drawback to hosting K-pop shows.

Let’s talk about the rivalry between Staples Center and the Forum. In the past, we’ve labeled the battle the “Venue Wars.” What do you think about the phrase?

Are they really wars or are there too many venues in Southern California to support the content? In Los Angeles, we have quite a few stadiums, theaters and arenas. And we’re not just competing with the other venues — we’re also competing with the theme parks, the beaches and even the sunshine. We’re competing for the entertainment dollar. At Staples Center, we have four professional sports teams, which no one else has, so we have to juggle, but I can tell you that this year Staples Center will have the biggest concert year since the Forum opened. I think that’s due to more

multiples and more artists wanting to play indoors.

Did requiring artists to sign the Staples Center Commitment Letter result in a net lift in concerts for Staples Center?

If you look at the letter, it states that we would like you to play Staples Center while you’re in the marketplace. It’s doesn’t mean you can’t play the O2 in London if you don’t play Staples Center — the letter says you need to use your best efforts to play Staples Center. Did it help us get a few shows? I think it did. I don’t know exactly how many, but I can tell you that it drew a lot of interest and it created a lot of dialogue in the industry.

Some artists like Drake, Bruno Mars and Guns N’ Roses would try to appease all sides by playing shows at both the Forum and Staples Center when in LA, sometimes just days apart. Was that good for business, or do you think it cannibalized sales?

I don’t think they tend to cannibalize each other. Depending on the artists and the number of multiples that they want to do, I think that Los Angeles can support that. I also believe that when priced properly, Staples Center allows an artist to take the most money out of a building in Southern California because we have more lower-bowl seats (than the Forum), 9,000 total, and our fans love coming to downtown Los Angeles because of all the things that you could do here.

Do you think you won the Venue Wars?History is going to prove who

actually won and who actually lost. Our relationships with Live Nation, AEG Presents, WME and CAA have never been better. And this opened up a lot of eyes to actually what’s going on in this industry and that it’s really all about where the artist wants to play. I believe that if we get back to listening to what the artist truly wants without all the other political shenanigans, we can put forward the best experience for their fans.

The Forum is currently suing to stop the Clippers, one of your tenants, from building an arena down the street in Inglewood. Is a second Inglewood arena good for Staples Center because it possibly hurts the Forum, or bad because it means

more competition?Steve Ballmer has made no bones about

wanting to own his own building, and his lease here goes through 2024. He would like a basketball specific arena, which is an interesting concept, with his own bells and whistles and he wants scheduling priority for the Clippers. Is Inglewood the right place? It’s near the Forum, the new football stadium and a new 6,000-seat performing arts center. Can the city support a Clipper’s game on the same night they are having a 100,000 person event at the stadium? Is there enough content to support all those venues within a mile and a half of each other? I’m not sure.

The Lakers, some of your other tenants, signed LeBron James this year. What does that mean for Staples Center?

I’ve had the opportunity to see it all — from the Magic [Johnson] and Kareem [Abdul-Jamal] years to the emergence of the Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. We opened the building in 1999 and the Lakers won three championships in three years, but when Kobe retired in 2016, it was the time the building didn’t really have a superstar, until LeBron. I think he puts the Los Angeles Lakers back in the forefront of being a relevant and successful franchise again. He’s reenergized the staff and reenergized downtown Los Angeles, and most importantly, the Lakers are fun again.

The Grammys are coming back to LA after being in New York last year. How do you think it went on the East Coast?

We’re not concerned with how it went in New York, we’re concerned with making it a great event in Los Angeles. Staples Center is custom built for the Grammys — he have an elevator we designed for the Grammys so winners can get to where they need to be without walking the entire building. I believe the MusiCares setup at the Convention Center in phenomenal, it allows you to talk to people at your table or get up in between musical acts and converse and network. I don’t believe that New York lent itself to do that. I obviously didn’t go because I was not going to go to the Grammys in New York, but from everything I heard, there weren’t those type of opportunities at Radio City.

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New York’s Commissioner of Music Julie Menin said that New York was the ‘primacy of the music industry.’ What’s your reaction to that?

First of all, when she said that I had to look up what ‘primacy’ meant. And there were comments made that they knew the contract was up and they swooped in and they stole the Grammys — that never happened. The contract we have is a handshake with the Grammys. That was the relationship between the AEG and NARAS as we built Staples Center, as we built the Grammy Museum and as we have continued to partner with NARAS throughout the years. It was a handshake. That’s all we had. The Grammys told us what they wanted to do for their 60th, and we blessed it. We were fine with it. As for New York being the music capital of the world, somebody else can debate that. I can tell you that they have been at Staples Center for the past 17 out of 19 years and they’re coming back for another four. So if Julie really thinks that that’s the case, I’m having a tough time understanding that because they’re back home.

BTS played four shows at Staples Center earlier this summer. What was that experience like for you?

All four shows sold out and I believe BTS could have done eight shows. They could have kept going. It’s kind of like the Garth Brooks phenomena, where you just keeping rolling out shows until the demand is met. They chose to end it at the Citi Field in New York City with a big show, but I have no doubt the demand was high enough here — you had fans camping outside of the building a week before the show, and when they finally got in the building, they never left their seats. Not exactly a great crowd for food and drink, because they don’t want to miss a second of the show, but they are an incredible audience and they introduced Staples Center to a phenomenal genre of music.

This article originally appeared in the Nov. 10 issue of Billboard.

Keith Richards Brings Solo Catalog to BMG in New DealBY JOSH GLICKSMAN

Keith Richards has signed a worldwide deal with Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) that covers his 1978 debut solo single, “Run Rudolph Run,” and four solo albums from 1988-2010, it was announced Monday (Nov. 12). The arrangement brings these recordings alongside the Rolling Stones guitarist’s publishing that BMG has repre-sented since 2013.

“It has been a pleasure to build a relationship with Keith and his exceptional team over the past five years,” said CEO Hartwig Masuch in a statement. “It is a real honor now to extend that relationship even further to work with his classic solo releases.”

Added Richards: “Looking forward to working with Hartwig Masuch and everyone at BMG.”

BMG will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Richards’ rendition of “Run Ruldolph Run” with a limited edition 45rpm on 12-inch red vinyl, remixed and remastered by longtime collaborator Steve Jordan to be released on Nov. 23 for RSD Black Friday. That album also includes a cover of Jimmy Cliff ’s “The Harder They Come,” a version of “Pressure Drop” featuring Toots & The Maytals and a “Santa Keith” holiday card featuring a greeting from Richards.

Richards’ solo albums Talk is Cheap, Main Offender and the studio/live compilation Vintage Vinos were recently re-released on all digital streaming platforms. Now BMG is planning physical reissues and other special projects to be announced soon, including the first-ever digital release of Live at the Hollywood Palladium, December 15, 1998, recorded during the Talk Is Cheap Tour.

“This agreement paves the way for a reappraisal and repositioning of the solo

work of one of rock ‘n’ roll’s true originals and arguably its most pre-eminent guitarist,” stated Peter Stack, EVP global catalogue recordings. “Fans can expect a programme of releases which truly does justice to these great recordings.”

Latin Concerts Translate to Big Business in EuropeBY TAYLOR MIMS

Recently, Rosalía played a showcase in London for her label, The Village Underground, singing in Spanish as usual. But it wasn’t just Latin fans who turned out for the show.

“They had a 6,500-person waiting list. I was blown away,” Rosalía’s manager, Rebeca León, told Billboard. “Nobody knows what Rosalía is saying in the U.K., but they know what she is saying. Her attitude tells you everything.”

Thanks to the streaming boom, Latin artists are successfully beefing up tours in a new — and massive — market: non-Spanish-speaking Europe. Enrique Iglesias played to more than 80,000 fans this year at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine; J Balvin’s European live revenue quadrupled after “Mi Gente” took off; and The O2 in London has hosted a Latin music festival, Hola! London, for the past two years.

“Promoters are actually seeing hard numbers showing demand and listenership through streaming numbers, so promoters are taking a bigger risk,” says WME partner Rob Markus, who works with Juanes, J Balvin and Luis Miguel. That’s a sizable change from just a few years ago, says Iglesias’ manager, Fernando Giaccardi, who recalls begging a U.K. station to play Latin artists and being told, “I’m sorry. Latin music doesn’t work here. That’s not what our people want to listen to.”

Giaccardi advises Latin acts that when they first play Europe, fans might not “know all of the songs, but they know

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enough to leave very happy with the show. That’s how you build your touring career.”

Tacking European dates onto those in Spanish-speaking regions not only adds revenue, it helps prevent burnout in Latin artists’ primary touring grounds.

“If, at an early stage or a relatively early stage of their career, you’re able to get artists outside of their main market, then you’re able to avoid them overplaying their main market,” says Markus. “If you’re able to do a bit of what we call ‘crop rotation’ in terms of expanding and putting the flag in the ground in different places, start building your fan bases elsewhere, then you potentially improve and extend your life cycle.” Adds León: “We are only scratching the surface.”

This article originally appeared in the Nov. 10 issue of Billboard.

Bowie and Prince Are Gone, But Demand for Their Tours Appear to Have An AfterlifeBY TAYLOR MIMS

This fall, A Bowie Celebration: The David Bowie Alumni Tour announced its first European dates while making its second round through the United States without its namesake, with cameos by stars like Sting.

This fall also saw the launch of 4U: A Symphonic Celebration of Prince, curated by Tonight Show bandleader Questlove. The instrumental renditions of the late pop star’s hits have been inspiring audience-wide singalongs.

“Aside from when I toured with [Bowie], it’s the busiest I’ve ever been,” says Bowie Alumni bandleader Mike Garson, who played piano on Bowie’s records.

The events are among a string of tours hitting the road without the actual artists, including a hologram of Roy Orbison

and digital avatars of all four members of Swedish pop ABBA group called the Abbatars. The artistless shows are tricky to market — sometimes requiring repeat visits to cities before fans buy in — and pull in a fraction of the seven figures they did when their star honorees were alive and onstage; the Bowie tour’s 2017 date at Terminal 5 in New York grossed roughly $150,000, according to Billboard Boxscore. But promoters are playing the long game. Garson says that after the tour’s first leg ended in March, fans were clamoring for a second, while the Prince tour’s organizers have been fielding offers from foreign markets and think their act could run for the next five years.

“From a pop culture perspective, we’re not touching even a small morsel of the potential consumers and fans that would love this presentation,” says Live Nation’s Shawn Gee, who worked with friend and Prince estate advisor Troy Carter to get the seal of approval and a multi-year licensing deal from the estate. Fans “leave dancing, singing, crying, laughing. It’s an emotional connection that not many shows have.”

Steve Cook of The Cooking Group, who put together Prince tour with Gee, says “it is a chance for people to say goodbye. It is a chance to celebrate. These fans are really passionate and they are very knowledgeable.”

Both the Prince and Bowie celebration tours hit the road around two years after each artist’s passing. But the Bowie alumni tour stemmed from a Brits Award tribute where his former band members played together for a performance led by Lorde.

A Bowie Celebration has featured a rotating roster of musicians who toured or recorded with the artist, always helmed by Garson. The tour boasts Bernard Fowler, Gabby Moreno, and Sting’s son, Joe Sumner as permanent singers, but has had guest appearances from Sting, Evan Rachel Wood, Gavin Rossdale and more.

“We usually start putting a certain amount of dates on sale and then we see how they do. When other promoters and buyers see the show is doing well, then we add more dates,” Garson’s manager, Mark

Adelman, tells Billboard.Ticket prices for the Bowie Alumni tour

have ranged from $33 up to $195 in midsize venues across the country including the 2,000-capacity Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles and the 1,800-capacity Agora Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio. The 2017 date at Terminal 5 in New York grossed nearly $150,000 with roughly 2,000 fans in attendance.

Depending on the market, 4U shows also play in midsize venues such as 20 Monroe Live in Grand Rapids, Mich. and Red Hat Amphitheatre in Raleigh, N.C. with ticket prices ranging from $20 to $85 on average.

“It has been easy to sell. Some markets take a little longer because people don’t know what it is. You have to educate them,” Adelman adds of the Bowie dates. “We’ve come back to LA three times already, so now we actually have a fanbase here. Sometimes when it is Madison, Wisconsin it takes a little longer.”

Promoters for 4U also stress the importance of testing the markets on their first run. The show sold out its Royal Albert Hall in London show in one weekend, while other markets are continuing to get the word out.

“What we are figuring out on this first leg is, we’re identifying markets that get it right. Washington, D.C. got it right. Atlanta got it right,” says Gee, who is using data from the first leg to route for 2019. “Figuring out what that true marketing plan is, we’re going to take that across the world. This isn’t an add-water-and-mix show to sell, from a promoter perspective. Prince isn’t there. You can’t just advertise to the Prince fans and say come buy tickets,” says Gee. “We’re really figuring out and being strategic with how this show is marketed because we’re so confident in the creative.”

This article originally appeared in the Nov. 10 issue of Billboard.

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Mumford & Sons to Host ‘Delta’ Album Listening Events With National GeographicBY SOPHIE DING

Mumford & Sons are holding exclusive listening events at North American movie theaters on Thursday. A select group of fans in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Toronto will be able to experience the group’s fourth album, Delta, a day before its official release.

The fans were chosen through a contest Mumford & Sons announced over social media.

The complete audio of Delta will be played at the events and will be accompanied by visuals curated in partnership with National Geographic, a partnership inspired by the creation process of the album.

“While we were recording and mixing Delta, we watched a lot of films on silent including some pretty epic wildlife films by National Geographic — like a vision-track to our soundtrack. So, we felt it would be a nice idea to let fans experience the record in this way too, “ Mumford & Sons said in a statement.

“We are excited to have played a part in inspiring Mumford & Sons latest album and look forward to teaming up with the band to bring audiences a unique musical and visual experience they’ll never forget,” National Geographic CMO Jill Cress said in a statement. “By pairing the work of some of the world’s most talented filmmakers and photographers with the sounds of these award-winning musicians, we hope to give people an even greater appreciation and understanding of the planet and the importance of protecting it.”

Delta will be released Friday — the first

day of Mumford & Sons’ 63-date worldwide Delta Tour.

Spice Girls Add 5 U.K. Shows as Ticket Demand SkyrocketsBY ASSOCIATED PRESS

It seems British fans can’t get enough of the soon-to-be reunited Spice Girls.

The band that peaked in the 1990s has added five shows to its planned reunion tour next year after fans complained they couldn’t buy tickets.

The Spice Girls added extra gigs in London, Coventry and Manchester. The reunion tour will now begin at Etihad Stadium in Manchester on May 31.

The dates were added after tickets went on sale Saturday morning and fans struggled to get them for the existing shows. Many complained of long waits in electronic queues.

The Spice Girls will be performing without Victoria Beckham, who has launched a successful career as a fashion designer.

They last performed together during the 2012 Olympics in London.

Marshmello and Bastille Each Earn First No. 1 On Pop Songs Chart With ‘Happier’BY GARY TRUST

The collab conquers another airplay tally.Marshmello and Bastille each notch their

first No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Songsradio airplay chart, as “Happier” bounds 4-1 on the survey dated Nov. 17.

Masked DJ Marshmello had previously hit a No. 2 high on Pop Songs with “Friends,” with Anne-Marie, in August. British alt band Bastille had hit a prior No. 3 high with its breakthrough single “Pompeii” in 2014.

The Pop Songs chart (which in 2017 celebrated its 25th anniversary) measures total weekly plays, as tabulated by Nielsen Music, among its reporting panel of 167 mainstream top 40 stations.

Pop Songs is the latest chart airplay that “Happier” has topped. It spends a fifth week at No. 1 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay, while a week ago, it reached No. 1 on Alternative Songs.

This week, “Happier” also climbs 9-8 on Adult Pop Songs and debuts at No. 34 on Adult Alternative Songs.

All charts will update tomorrow (Nov. 13) on Billboard.com.

Joe Perry Hospitalized Following Performance With Billy JoelBY HILARY HUGHES

Joe Perry is on the mend after a medical emergency landed him in the hospital shortly following his appearance at a Billy Joel concert in New York City on Saturday night (Nov. 10).

The Aerosmith guitarist — who joined Joel onstage to perform one of his band’s biggest hits, “Walk This Way,” at Madison Square Garden — reportedly collapsedbackstage after his cameo, according to TMZ. Perry’s representatives confirm to Billboard that Perry is “alert and responsive” and under medical supervision.

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“Following a guest performance during Billy Joel’s show last night at Madison Square Garden, Joe Perry experienced shortness of breath and was treated backstage by paramedics who gave the guitarist oxygen and used a tracheal tube to clear his airway before taking him to a hospital,” Perry’s representative writes in a statement.

“This morning Perry remains in the hospital where he is alert and responsive. The Aerosmith guitarist will be unable to appear today at Rock And Roll Fantasy Camp in Florida and apologizes to those attending. Perry is expected to return to the road later this month.”

In 2016, Perry abruptly staggered offstage during a performance with Alice Cooper-led supergroup the Hollywood Vampires, where he promptly received emergency medical attention.

Perry and Joel posed for a series of photos before the performance at Madison Square Garden, which the “Piano Man” shared on social media after the show.

Fleetwood Mac Postpones Alberta Concerts Due to Stevie Nicks’ IllnessBY BROOKE BAJGROWICZ

Fleetwood Mac was forced to reschedule their concert at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, just a few hours before show time on Saturday night (Nov. 10) after singer Stevie Nicks fell ill. The “Dreams” rockers additionally canceled their concert at the Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, which was set to take place on Monday (Nov. 12).

Newest member guitarist/singer Neil Finn addressed the situation, writing, “So sorry we couldnt play for you tonight Edmonton but we had to protect that wondrous force of nature that is Stevies

voice. We’ll be back in April better than ever.”

This is the third cancelation Rogers Place has seen in the past few months, as Justin Timberlake rescheduled last week due to bruised vocal chords and the Foo Fighters postponed their show in September after frontman Dave Grohl lost his voice.

Fleetwood Mac ticket holders can use their tickets for the canceled shows to see the band perform in Edmonton on April 13 and Calgary on April 15.

See Finn’s tweet regarding the postponed performances below.

So sorry we couldnt play for you tonight Edmonton but we had to protect that wondrous force of nature that is Stevies voice. We’ll be back in April better than ever . Love you xo

— neil mullane finn (@NeilFinn) November 11, 2018

Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s ‘A Star Is Born’ Dominates Australia’s ChartsBY LARS BRANDLE

Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born (Interscope/Universal) continues to streak across Australia’s charts as the movie soundtrack and its single “Shallow” complete the double for a third consecutive week.

Powered by the dramatic film starring Gaga and Cooper, “Shallow” is one of three tracks from the soundtrack currently impacting the chart, as “Always Remember Us This Way” dips 12-13 and “I’ll Never Love Again” holds at No. 19.

Ariana Grande claimed the U.K. chart crown but she misses out on top spot on the ARIA Singles Chart with “Thank U, Next” (Universal), which starts at No. 2 for the American pop star’s fourth top ten entry

for 2018. The next best debut on the latest singles survey is Harlem-based rapper Sheck Wes’ “Mo Bamba” (Universal), at No. 48.

Meanwhile, Halsey’s “Without Me” (Capitol/EMI) finds a new peak in its fifth week on the singles chart, rising 5-4.

On the ARIA Albums Chart, Queen make a fine showing off the back of the theatrical release of the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. Three of the British rock band’s albums clinch top 10 spots, led by the film soundtrack Bohemian Rhapsody (Virgin/Universal) which holds at No. 2 for a second week, while their 15-times platinum Greatest Hits is up 11-3 and The Platinum Collection improves 18-5. Also, Queen’s eight-times platinum Greatest Hits II re-enters the chart at No. 26.

The film sparks a return to the singles chart for Queen’s iconic song “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which reenters at No. 26. The song led the chart for two weeks following its release in 1976 and bounced back to the survey in early 1992 in the wake of Freddie Mercury’s death, peaking at No. 5.

Miley Cyrus ‘Devastated’ After Losing Home to California WildfiresBY ABID RAHMAN, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

A “devastated” Miley Cyrus tweeted Sunday that she had lost her home to the raging California wildfires.

The singer tweeted that the house she shares with her fiance, the Australian actor Liam Hemsworth, and her pets “no longer stands,” but that everyone including the animals were evacuated safely.

“Completely devastated by the fires affecting my community,” Cyrus tweeted to her 40 million followers on Sunday. “I

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am one of the lucky ones. My animals and LOVE OF MY LIFE made it out safely & that’s all that matters right now. My house no longer stands but the memories shared with family & friends stand strong,” she added.

Cyrus went on to thank firefighters and sheriff ’s department and information on how to donate and help with relief efforts following wildfires that have so far caused the death of 30 people.

Cyrus and Hemsworth are the latest stars to be affected by the fires. The likes of Kim Kardashian West, Raine Wilson and Alyssa Milano were forced to evacuate their homes due to the multiple wildfires raging in both Northern and Southern California. On Sunday, Scottish actor Gerard Butler shared a picture of the charred remains of his Malibu mansion that was engulfed by the Woolsey fire.

This article originally appeared in THR.com.

Neil Young Criticizes Trump for California Wildfire Failures, Says Own Home Is ‘Lost’BY LARS BRANDLE

The wildfires currently raging in northern and southern California have reportedly claimed Neil Young’s home.

The Canadian rock legend broke the sad new with a post on the Neil Young Archives, in which he blasted Donald Trump’s reluctance to act on climate change and for the president’s steadfast denial of scientific evidence.

Young writes, “We are vulnerable because of climate change; the extreme weather events and our extended drought is part of it.”

Local residents are “are up against something bigger than we have ever seen,” he continues. “It’s too big for some to see at all. Firefighters have never seen anything like this in their lives. I have heard that said countless times in the past two days, and I have lost my home before to a California fire, now another.”

Young reportedly bought a Malibu hideaway in 2016 from his then girlfriend Daryl Hannah (the pair have since married). Billboard has reached out to Young’s reps for further comment.

Young, who as a Canadian citizen can’t vote in U.S. elections, remains a tireless campaigner on environmental issues, so much so he took aim at the agrochemical giant Monsanto in his 2015 album The Monsanto Years. He has also maintained a years-long rift with Trump.

The rocker’s post references Trump’s controversial tweet which blamed “gross mismanagement” for the devastating wildfires, which have displaced hundreds of thousands of Californians. Trump’s comment has been condemned by a wave of professionals from the music community, including Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, John Legend and entrepreneur Scooter Braun.

Young concludes his open letter: “Imagine a leader who defies science, saying these solutions shouldn’t be part of his decision-making on our behalf. Imagine a leader who cares more for his own, convenient option than he does for the people he leads. Imagine an unfit leader. Now imagine a fit one.”

Weekend Box Office: ‘The Grinch’ Unwrapping $67M; ‘Overlord’ Beating ‘Girl in the Spider’s Web’BY PAMELA MCCLINTOCK

Illumination and Universal’s CG animat-ed The Grinch, the latest adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss holiday tale, is unwrapping plenty of green at the North American box of-fice, where it grossed $18.7 million on Friday for a projected weekend bow of $67 million.

Friday’s gross included $2.2 million in previews.

With a Grinch voiced this time out by Benedict Cumberbatch, the $75 million movie, playing in 4,414 theaters, is the first family event film of the year-end corridor.

Directed by Scott Mosier and Yarrow Cheney, the film’s voice cast also includes Rashida Jones, Kenan Thompson, Angela Lansbury, Cameron Seely and Pharrell Williams, who narrates the tale about the infamous Grinch who tries to ruin Christmas for the residents of Whoville. The last film about the infamous grouch was Ron Howard’s 2000 live-action version How the Grinch Stole Christmas, voiced by Jim Carrey.

Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody will easily come in No. 2 with a rocking $29 million in its sophomore outing, a dip of 43 percent. The film, from 20th Century Fox, New Regency and GK Films, will finish Sunday with a 10-day domestic total of nearly $100 million.

Elsewhere, the J.J. Abrams-produced World War II-zombie pic Overlord earned $3.8 million Friday from 2,859 cinemas for a $10 million launch, enough to beat the weekend’s third new nationwide offering, The Girl in the Spider’s Web. At the same time, Overlord is nevertheless opening to decidedly muted numbers.

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Starring Claire Foy, Girl in the Spider’s Web earned $3 million Friday from 2,929 locations for a disappointing domestic launch of $8 million-$8.5 million.

Overlord is in a close race for third place with Disney holdover The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. From Paramount, Overlord is the sole new offering for the younger genre crowd. It also lords over the other new offerings in terms of reviews, with a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 81 percent, versus 54 percent for The Grinch and 44 percent for Spider’s Web.

The film’s up-and-coming cast includes Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Pilou Asbaek, Mathilde Ollivier, John Magaro and Iain de Caestecker. Julius Avery directed the R-rated film, which follows a group of American paratroopers who drop into Nazi-occupied France on the eve of D-Day, only to discover the horrors of a Nazi lab carrying out terrifying and supernatural experiments that bring the dead back to life. It cost a reported $38 million to produce.

Spider’s Web is in a close race with A Star Is Born — now in its sixth weekend — for fifth place. It remains to be seen whether the $43 million, R-rated movie can sustain a long run and successfully revive The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo film franchise and book series.

Sony made Girl in the Spider’s Web, which continues the adventures of Swedish hacker Lisbeth Salander, in partnership with MGM and New Regency. Sverrir Gudnason, Lakeith Stanfield, Sylvia Hoeks and Stephen Merchant co-star. The production budget is a reported $43 million.

New offerings at the specialty box office include Jason Reitman’s political pic The Front Runner, starring Hugh Jackman as scandal-ridden Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart. The awards hopeful, playing first in New York and Los Angeles, opened timed to Tuesday’s midterm elections.

The Front Runner, acquired by Sony at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, is headed for a weekend theater average of $10,000-$10,500. While one of the best averages of the weekend, it is nevertheless a

disappointing number.Among other awards contenders,

Amazon Studios is expanding Beautiful Boy, starring Timothee Chalamet and Steve Carell, nationwide into roughly 840 theaters. Netflix is opening the Coen brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs in four cinemas in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London, but won’t report grosses. It is the first Netflix original movie to open first in cinemas a week ahead of its launch on the streamer.

This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.

Ugandan Pop Star-Politician Performs First Show Since JailingBY ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ugandan pop star and opposition politician Bobi Wine performed his first concert since he was charged with treason and jailed, a show of defiance Saturday (Nov. 10) punc-tuated by anti-government slogans and barbs aimed at the long-time president he is challenging.

Thousands of Ugandans attended the lakeside event held outside the capital, Kampala, many of them clad in red outfits symbolizing their allegiance to the “People Power” movement led by Wine, a rookie legislator whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu.

Ssentamu staged the show at his private beach after he was denied permission to hold the concert at the national stadium.

“Blocked three times by the state but on the (fourth) attempt there is a mammoth turnout,” his attorney Nicholas Opiyo said on Twitter.

The opening acts also played music protesting the government before Wine, putting on his trademark red beret, came onstage and electrified the crowd.

With a heavy deployment of security

forces near the show venue, Wine thanked the police officers and men wearing military fatigues for their “unusual” services. Then he started singing the songs that made him a celebrity in Uganda long before he became a politician, with a loyal following among young people disenchanted by joblessness and rampant corruption.

“Tell Bosco,” the revelers sang, “that this Uganda belongs to us.”

Bosco is President Yoweri Museveni’s latest nickname, based on a clumsy character in a popular TV ad.

Ssentamu was arrested and charged with treason in August over an incident in which the president’s convoy was pelted with stones in the aftermath of a political rally. After he was released from detention, Ssentamu sought specialist care in the United States for injuries he said he sustained during alleged torture by state agents.

The government vehemently denies Ssentamu was tortured. He has said the criminal charges against him are false and politically motivated. Court proceedings in the case have not started.

Ssentamu won a seat in the national assembly last year as an independent candidate without the backing of a major political party. He now says he is fighting for freedom from oppression and wants Museveni to retire at the end of his fifth term.

He has refused to say if he will run for president in 2021, even as his supporters urge him to do so.

Museveni has accused opposition figures like Ssentamu of trying to lure young people into rioting.

Ssentamu’s arrest sparked riots by demonstrators demanding his release and a violent response by security forces to stop the protests in Kampala. Dozens of musicians from around the world condemned his treatment and the European Union parliament and some U.S. senators have urged Ugandan authorities to respect basic human rights.

Museveni, a key U.S. ally on regional security, took power by force in 1986. Although he has campaigned on his record

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of establishing peace and stability, some worry those gains are being eroded the longer he remains in office.

Elvis Presley to Be Honored With Trump’s Presidential Medal of FreedomBY LEXY PEREZ

President Donald Trump has selected the late Elvis Presley as one of this year’s recipients for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the White House announced Saturday (Nov. 10).

“Elvis Presley defined American culture to billions of adoring fans around the world,” a statement from the White House read. “Elvis fused gospel, country and rhythm and blues to create a sound all his own, selling more than a billion records. Elvis also served nearly two years in the United States Army, humbly accepting the call to serve despite his fame. He later starred in 31 films, drew record-breaking audiences to his shows, sent television ratings soaring and earned 14 Grammy Award nominations. He ultimately won three Grammy Awards for his gospel music. Elvis Presley remains an enduring American icon four decades after his death.”

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is recognized as the nation’s highest civilian honor, awarded to those whom the President believes made a “meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

Apart from Presley, other recipients include: famed baseball player Babe Ruth, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, hall-of-fame quarterback Roger Staubach, Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan

C. Page, Senator Orrin G. Hatch and committed doctor and humanitarian Miriam Adelson.

Trump will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Friday (Nov. 16). This will mark Trump’s first time bestowing a Medal of Freedom as acting president.

During Obama’s presidency, the former president awarded Medals of Freedom to stars such as Ellen DeGeneres, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Stevie Wonder, Tom Hanks, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, Cicely Tyson, Gloria Estefan, Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand.

The news arrived on the same day the president received backlash for threatening to withhold federal funding to California, after placing blame on “poor” forest management to sparking the growing wildfires that have destroyed 70,000 acres and have caused evacuations throughout Northern and Southern California.

This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.

Bruno Mars to Help Provide Meals for 24K Hawaiians This ThanksgivingBY MITCHELL PETERS

Bruno Mars is ending his highly success-ful 24K Magic World Tour on a high note by announcing that he’ll provide 24,000 meals to Hawaiian residents in need this Thanksgiving.

On Sunday night (Nov. 11), Mars will wrap his 200-date global tour at Aloha Stadium in his native Honolulu. The concert marks the final performance of his record-breaking three-night homecoming stand at the stadium. The new record surpasses U2 and Michael Jackson’s previous two-night sellouts at the Honolulu stadium.

The 24,000 meals — a nod to the title of his Grammy-winning 2016 album, 24K Magic — will be provide aid to the Salvation Army - Hawaiian & Pacific Islands Division’s 48th annual Thanksgiving Dinner meal program.

Each year, the Salvation Army provides a free Thanksgiving dinner to families across the state. The program is made possible through the support of more than 900 volunteers. To participate, click here.

Elektra Music Group Co-President Mike Easterlin on Label Plans, Being Honored by T.J. MartellBY MELINDA NEWMAN

On Nov. 17, the T.J. Martell Foundation will honor Elektra Music Group co-president Mike Easterlin at its Nov. 17 Harvest Din-ner in Montclair, N.J.

On Oct. 1, Easterlin became co-president of EMG — with Gregg Nadel —after serving as Fueled By Ramen/Roadrunner president. The new 60-person EMG includes Elektra Records, FBR, Roadrunner, Low Country Sound and Black Cement Records and marks the first time in 15 years that Elektra has operated independently. Its roster includes twenty one pilots, Zac Brown Band, Brandi Carlile, Fitz and the Tantrums, Sturgill Simpson, Paramore, Slipknot, Panic! At The Disco, Coheed and Cambria, Kaleo and Gojira.

Easterlin talked to Billboard about his relief that the T.J. Martell event, which will raise funds to support cancer research, has already sold out — “Now I can just worry about my speech”— he says, as well as gave

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an update on EMG and what’s to come. What made you decide to say yes to

the T.J. Martell Foundation? Over the course of a few years I’ve

been involved with T.J. Martell [and] I just see so much good. It’s such an amazing foundation with its roots deep in the music industry. The industry can be very competitive, but it seems like whenever we’re at these events, it’s the one night where we all come together and we hug it out and have a great time. You realize you’re there for a much bigger thing than some of the silliness that we get into on a daily basis, competing for signing artists and all the other stuff. It just gives you a really, really good feeling at the end of the day.

Young the Giant, an act you’ve worked with for a long time, is playing an acoustic set at the event. Why did you pick them?

I started working with them at Roadrunner and then when I took over Fueled by Ramen, I felt like they were better suited for FBR. Then, when we made the transition into Elektra, I offered them the option of Elektra. So, I feel like my career journey has been marked by a lot of great moments with this particular band. They were ending their tour in Washington, D.C. the night before [the Harvest Dinner], and I called [their manager] and asked and he was back to me within about four minutes and said they would love to do it. I was honored that they answered so quickly and that they were willing to do it. I think it’s going to be really, really special for the event.

It’s been six weeks since you and Gregg Nadal reactivated Elektra Music Group. What have you learned so far?

I’ve learned how to have a partner that I have to, in some ways, answer to every day, but at the same time, I get to bounce amazing ideas off of. This journey actually started a year ago in October when [Atlantic Records chairman/COO] Julie Greenwald approached the two of us, and said, “I have this idea of relaunching Elektra Music Group and taking the labels that you guys are overseeing so we’ll launch it with an amazing roster of artists.”

We’ve been very fortunate that at Atlantic we haven’t had a lot of turnover. What that has meant is that a lot of people have been in their same roles for a very long time. So, the other benefit of doing it was the ability to give people the opportunity to step up and take leadership roles. And I can’t even tell you the amount of energy and excitement that there is, even though we’ve all been working together for a very long time. The fact that we’re rebuilding this legendary label, it’s just been really amazing.

As you say, it’s a legendary label with a name that stood for excellence. What inspiration do you draw from that?

[On Nov. 15] we’re doing a talk here in the office and [Elektra founder] Jac [Holzman] is going to come in and join us. We’ll have an amazing conversation with Jac and talk about the history, [as well as] the responsibility [we feel] and how much we have this desire to take this legacy and then build what the new Elektra will look like and, hopefully, build our own legacy moving forward. So it’s very much on our minds daily about the relationship, not only with Jac, but with the way that Jac built the company, which was artist development and artist first.

What is the division of duties between you and Gregg?

Gregg’s role is more in the signing the acts — the A&R side of it. But he also has an amazing marketing mind. While I do some A&R, it’s mostly that I’m overseeing the radio promotion and and a lot of the other day-to-day things and marketing. Marketing is kind of in the middle where both of us are overseeing that.

You report to [Atlantic Records chairman/CEO] Craig [Kallman] and Julie, but you aren’t part of the Atlantic Group. How does that work?

It was basically the idea of — for lack of a better way of putting it — not throwing us all the way into the deep end and continuing to have our stuff stream up toward Julie and Craig for the time being. Then in a couple of years [we’ll report] more directly into [Warner Music Group CEO of Recorded Music] Max [Lousada].

It was just a way of letting us get our feet under us and establish the brand. That’s why Julie and Craig are amazing at what [they] do because a lot of people would say, “Okay, you guys go do this now.” And they didn’t. They were very much about, “We want you to win and we want this to be successful, so we want to make sure that we’re getting everything set first before we throw you into the fire.” It’s setting us up to succeed.

Your first release was Trench by twenty one pilots. How does that set the tone for the label?

The timing was amazing. We also did 30,000 records on Coheed and Cambria that week on the Roadrunner side. So to launch with both of those and to put up 250,000 album equivalents, I think it was the statement that we wanted to make. Obviously, we’re not that much of a startup because we have Panic! At the Disco and twenty one pilots and Sturgill Simpson — there are so many great artists. And we have an amazing ‘19 carved out with a bunch of new music coming. We’re not starting from nowhere. [For] an artist that’s thinking about signing, we can say, “Yes, we’re new at what we’re doing here, and we have a new staff. Obviously, we’re building and we’re growing, but look at what we’re starting with. We already have a stable of amazing artists, and we’d love for you to join that stable of amazing artists.”

When you look at the combined roster, it’s primarily rock and alternative rock. Are you expanding into other genres?

We’re not in a rush to sign a million things because I think we want this to feel very much like a smaller major and we want to be able to do the kind of things that we both believe in, which is take it slow, do the proper artist development and really focus on how we’re going to grow them…We do want to expand more into the pop world. The urban world is something that we thought long and hard about early on, and I think it came down to why don’t we establish what we’re really good at and get our feet on the ground and get settled first? I think we felt like doing too much, too fast would just be overwhelming. We have a

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great release schedule for the next year or year and a half. So, there was no reason to try to do everything all at once. But [urban] is a world that we want to get into sooner than later.

‘In My Mind’: Inside the Complicated Remaking of A Dance ClassicBY ROB LEDONNE

With 322 million streams on Spotify alone under its belt and its current status as club playlist staple, “In My Mind” is one of the biggest songs in the world. It’s a dance floor jam that has gone gold in countries ranging from Italy to New Zealand and Australia, snagged the No. 1 spot on the charts in Finland, Sweden and Hungary, and made waves in the United States, peaking at No. 10 on the Dance Club Charts. With its glob-al success, the track is a true international affair thanks to Lithuanian and Italian DJs and an English singer who all converged — thanks to a classic track courtesy of a group of Aussie music makers to boot.

ORIGINS: A DANCE HIT IS BORNBy 2011 the Australian DJ duo

Feenixpawl, made up of Aden Forte and Josh Soon, were yearning for a breakthrough. “We had never had a big track and never had a song really connect in any sort of way,” explains Forte who first joined forces with Soon in 2003 and enjoyed respectable, yet middling, success in the underground dance music scene with nary a mainstream hit to their names. That all changed with their supercharged “In My Mind,” a collaboration with fellow Aussie DJ Ivan Gough with vocals courtesy the English crooner Georgi Kay. It was a track Soon calls “simply life-changing.”

The duo realized that their little song that could was the key that would open

the door to the next chapter of their career during a set by Swedish House Mafia’s Axwell, whom they had recently sent the track. “I remember streaming his [2011] set at Madison Square Garden in our living room in Melbourne right after we had sent it to him. We said to each other, ‘There is no way they’re going to play it,’ but the moment they did we felt our world turn upside down.” Gough also remembers that MSG gig clearly. “When we first saw a video of Axwell playing the original mix at a gig, the crowd was singing it almost straight away,” he explains. Thanks to Axwell’s reach, the track instantly connected with fans. “We then were looking at comments (about the set online) and everyone was asking what the song was. I said to the Feenixpawl guys that we might have a big track here!” According to Soon, its legend only grew from there. “The day after it became one of the most sought-after IDs on the internet and we knew we were onto something special.” Adds Forte of the track, which would later snag a Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical, “It was the culmination of so many years of hard work and it legitimately left us in shock.”

A SONG REBORNAround this time, a fledgling young

Lithuanian music producer going by Dynoro (real name: Edvinas Pechovskis) who was active on Soundcloud became enamored with the track. “(I remember) Dynoro had told us he heard the originals song from his friends and (they would always hear it) at festivals,” explains Wolfgang Boss, the Executive Vice President A&R, International at Sony Music of the DJ. “He always liked it and was inspired to make his own version.”

With only 9 posts on his personal Instagram and no presence on Twitter, Dynoro (who’s only 19) prides himself on keeping a low profile, declining to speak to Billboard for this piece. (His biography on Spotify even calls him a mystery.) Only revealing his face in a September Instagram post, the elusive music maker explained in the caption that the original version of “In My Mind” was a big part of his adolescence. “One night, I came back

from one of the best parties I had with my friends and felt so excited and inspired,” he wrote. “I decided to create my own version.” According to Dynoro in a second Instagram post, he wanted his take to stand out. “This song was already an anthem and I didn’t want it to be regarded as just another version of ‘In My Mind’... It needed to have a fresh and cool element that would elevate the track to another level. From the very beginning, I was thinking about the idea to use a sample from a big hit, preferably from an iconic dance DJ.” As such, for his spin on the classic, Dynoro decided to include a hook from the 2000 track “L’amour toujours” from the Italian artist Gigi D’Agostino. (Adding another multinational layer is that its title is actual French for “love always”). He calls D’Agostino’s track “the magic ingredient” had been searching for. “When I did the final version and heard it end-to-end for the first time, I knew that I had been right.” From there, he sent it off into the world.

CLEARING THE WAYFor Feenixpawl’s manager Dave Frank,

with many trying to secure a license and failing to impress the duo, the idea of reworking the duo’s smash wasn’t new. “There have been thousands of bootlegs of the original but we hadn’t heard anything that really blew us away justifying a re-release,” Frank explains. ”Suddenly, and out of the blue, we were contacted by Sony asking if we were okay with a release of Dynoro’s version. We heard it and all thought the song was a reimagination with massive potential.” Perhaps trickier than the actual multi-layered production was a complicated clearance process involving multiple artists exacerbated by the fact they all lived in different countries and were signed by different labels. “Of course with Ivan Gough and Feenixpawl we needed their approval and publishing clearance for Dynoro’s version, as well another copyright by Gigi D’Agostino,” Boss says. “They liked the version, but first were under the impression it is simply a cover of their song which is not the case. In the end Ivan Gough and Feenixpawl and their representative Smiley Cleary believed us that the song would become huge and

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cleared it for us, as did Gigi D’Agostino for his part.”

BACK ON THE CHARTSDespite a drawn-out process that saw

the song released in December 2017, then pulled because of further clearance issues, it wasn’t until Dynoro’s “In My Mind” was re-released earlier this year that it began to explode over the summer throughout Europe, quickly rocketing to No. 1 and attaining its perch as club staple. “There’s nothing I love more than a fresh and interesting take on one of my records,” says Gough of Dynoro’s unique take. “I love the success it’s having, obviously for financial reasons but also because it’s totally different than our mix. Plus, ours is almost five years old now so it opens the track up to a new bunch of listeners who will likely go and find the original mix.”

As the song continues to make a global impact, Soon is just as surprised with the success of the remake as he was with the original. “With the remake, we literally had no idea what to expect. For it all to happen again certainly evokes some sense of déjà vu. It definitely makes us proud that we have been able to contribute to pop culture in some way.”

Who’s the Biggest Pop Star Right Now Without a Hot 100 No. 1 Hit? (2018 Edition)BY ANDREW UNTERBERGER

A half-decade after first debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 with breakout single “The Way,” Ariana Grande finally has her first Hot 100 No. 1 hit. Billboard revealed today that Grande’s new song, her blithe ode to her real-life exes “Thank U, Next,” has debuted atop the marquee chart in its incomplete first week of tracking, following the song’s premiere

the night of Saturday, Nov. 3. That beats her previous best showing on the chart, with the Iggy Azalea-featuring and No. 2-peaking “Problem” in 2014 — and offi-cially erases her name from the list of the biggest pop stars without a No. 1 hit to their credit; a list she had arguably risen to the very top of.

Still, even with the removal of Ariana Grande from its ranks, the pool of major pop artists without a Hot 100-topper is a crowded one. Here is a brief rundown of ten artists currently in the debate for the distinction of being “next” on the ranking of the biggest names without a No. 1 on their resume.

Nicki MinajAriana’s frequent collaborator — with

whom she shares a pair of Hot 100 top five hits in “Side to Side” (No. 4, 2016) and “Bang Bang” (No. 3, 2014) — has come within one spot of the chart’s apex, with solo smash “Anaconda” in 2014. But despite hitting the top 10 a stunning 17 times (most recently with her guest appearance on 6ix9ine’s “FEFE,” which peaked at No. 3 this August), and despite having cracked triple digits with her total Hot 100 entries this November — more than any other female artist in history — she’s still yet to reach the chart penthouse.

Travis ScottA rising star for a half-decade now,

Travis Scott made his ascent to pop’s A-list official this year with the release of Astroworld, the rapper’s much-anticipated third album, which launched at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with one of the year’s biggest first-week numbers, and debuted all 17 tracks from the set on the Hot 100. The biggest of those, the No. 4-debuting (and Drake-assisted) “Sicko Mode,” reached a No. 2 peak on the chart this November — matching Scott’s No. 2 bow as a guest star on Kodak Black’s “”ZEZE” just a week earlier — but Scott’s rollercoaster year has yet to scale the listing’s absolute apex.

J. ColeCole is one of music’s most reliable LP-

sellers at this point, having now topped the Billboard 200 albums chart with all five of his studio albums to date, each with first-week numbers well into the multiple

hundreds of thousands. But his success on the Hot 100 has been more tempered: Aside from debuting three songs in the top 10 during the release week of most recent LP K.O.D. this May (“ATM,” No. 6; “Kevin’s Heart,” No. 8; “KOD,” No. 10), the No. 7-peaking “Deja Vu” remains the North Carolina MC’s only other visit to the chart’s top 10. Given Cole’s lack of a consistent pop radio presence over most of the last half-decade, however, his presence on this list may be less surprising than some others.

Selena GomezGomez is certainly no stranger to the Hot

100’s highest tier, having scored seven top 10 hits on the chart, including last year’s Kygo collab “It Ain’t Me” (No. 10, 2017). But Gomez has yet to get higher on the chart than No. 5 — Revival singles “Good for You” (feat. A$AP Rocky, 2015) and “Same Old Love” (2016) share the title for her highest-peaking entry to date — and she hasn’t necessarily been trending in the right direction; none of her critically acclaimed 2017 singles “Bad Liar,” “Fetish” or “Wolves” has managed to peak above No. 20 on the listing, while this year’s 13 Reasons Why soundtrack single topped out at No. 18.

Twenty One PilotsThe duo of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun

were absolutely unavoidable on the Hot 100 in 2016, with their “Stressed Out” and “Heathens” smashes taking them all the way to No. 2 on the chart, and in-between single “Ride” pulling up not far behind at No. 5. Though second album Trench, released in October, didn’t create the same kind of Hot 100 momentum — lead single “Jumpsuit” has scored the highest ranking on the chart from the set to date, with a modest No. 50 peak — all three of the previously mentioned smashes are currently still in Spotify’s top 70 most U.S.-played songs of all time, and the duo flying to such elevations again in the future would hardly be a shock.

FutureSimilar to Cole, the rapper born

Nayvadius Wilburn has been a Billboard 200 conqueror (five No. 1 albums, most recently/most historically with his self-

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titled effort and Hendrix in consecutive weeks in March 2017) and Hot 100 fixture (75 entries total, most recently with three tracks off his and Juice WRLD’s WRLD on Drugs collaborative LP) without ever really threatening the top spot on the latter. The 2017 No. 5-peaking solo smash “Mask Off ” has brought him closest, with only his featured appearance on Lil Wayne’s 2013 hit “Love Me” taking him to the top 10 previously.

ZeddAnother Ariana collaborator, Zedd has

come closest to the Hot 100’s apex with his 2014 collab with the powerhouse pop vocalist, “Break Free,” which hit No. 4 in that August. It’s one of four top 10 hits for the superstar DJ on the chart, and as of last week, he still had has two entries in the Hot 100’s top half : “The Middle,” with Grey and Maren Morris, which peaked at No. 5 on the chart in April, and “Lost in Japan,” his Shawn Mendes collab, which climbed to a new peak of No. 48.

Shawn MendesSpeaking of Shawn Mendes: one of the

most reliable young hitmakers in pop right now, the singer-songwriter Mendes has only seen his career momentum grow since first hitting the Hot 100’s top five with “Stitches” in 2015. But despite returning to the top 10 with “Treat You Better” (No. 6, 2016) and “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” (No. 6, 2017), he’s yet to better that song’s No. 4 peak. His self-titled album’s lead single “In My Blood” made it to No. 11 this June, however, and “Lost in Japan” is still ascending the chart since being remixed by Zedd in September.

Imagine DragonsIn an era where rock crossovers to

the Hot 100 are an increasingly rare phenomenon, Imagine Dragons keep scoring top 10 hits like it was still the height of ‘80s arena rock. “Thunder” (No. 4) and “Believer” (No. 4) both brought the Las Vegas quartet back to the chart’s top five last year — which they’d previously visited in 2013, with “Radioactive” (No. 3), their highest-charting smash to date — and they challenged the chart’s top tier twice in 2018 with third Evolve single “Whatever It Takes” (No. 12) and follow-up set Origins’

lead single “Natural” (No. 13). Officially released last Friday (Nov. 9), Origins may still launch another Hot 100 contender or two before the year’s end.

Florida Georgia LineYou probably wouldn’t have thought to

include the country duo on a list like this before 2018, since despite their continued consistent success on the country charts, they hadn’t visited the top 10 of the Hot 100 in a half-decade, since the Nelly-featuring “Cruise” (No. 4, 2013). But they made a triumphant return to the chart’s highest tier in 2018, even bettering their old peak by climbing to No. 2 with their Bebe Rexha collab “Meant to Be” — leaving open the possibility that FGL could be the first country act to top the Hot 100 since Taylor Swift still registered as a country artist. (“Simple,” the group’s most recent Hot 100 entry, notched a respectable peak of No. 32 on the chart.)