Eminem Achieves 11th No. 1 on Billboard 200 With 'The Death of

BY KEITH CAULFIELD

minem achieves his 11th No. 1 album on the

Billboard 200 chart (dated July 27) as his

latest studio album, The Death of Slim Shady

(Coup de Grâce), debuts atop the list. The set

launches with 281,000 equivalent album units earned

in the U.S. in the week ending July 18, according to

Luminate. It scores the largest week for any rap album

in 2024.

With an 11th No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart,

Eminem ties Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand and

Ye (formerly Kanye West) for the ﬁfth-most No. 1s on

the Billboard 200. Ahead of them are The Beatles (a

record 19 No. 1s), Jay-Z and Taylor Swift (each with

14) and Drake (13).

Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, three acts

all debut with their highest-charting albums ever, as

ENHYPEN, Clairo and Megan Moroney’s latest re-

leases enter at Nos. 2, 8 and 9, respectively. Plus, after 12

consecutive weeks at No. 1, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured

Poets Department spends its ﬁrst week outside the top

slot, falling to No. 4 in its 13th week on the list.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular

albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric

consumption as measured in equivalent album units,

compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales,

track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equiva-

lent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or

10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-

supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand o-

cial audio and video streams generated by songs from

an album. The new July 27, 2024-dated chart will be

posted in full on Billboard‘s website on July 23. For all

chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts

on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)’s

281,000 ﬁrst-week units, SEA units comprise 164,500

(equaling 220.08 million on-demand ocial streams

of the tracks on the streaming edition of the album;

Death also debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums),

album sales comprise 114,000 (all from digital down-

loads; it wasn’t available as a physical album) and TEA

units comprise 2,500.

Death’s ﬁrst-week sales mark the biggest sales week

in 2024 for a rap album. It also nets the second-largest

Eminem Achieves 11th No. 1

on Billboard 200 With

‘The Death of Slim Shady’

(continued)

YOUR DAILY ENTERTAINMENT NEWS UPDATE

Bulletin

JULY 22, 2024 Page 1 of 24

• Mick

Management

Doesn’t Just

Represent Artists

- It’s in the ‘World-

Building’ Business

• Billboard’s

Music Industry

Events Calendar

• Billboard’s 2024

R&B/Hip-Hop

Power Players’

Choice: Vote

for Music’s Most

Impactful

Executive (Finals)

• NBA Teams Used

Copyrighted Music

In Social Media

Videos, Lawsuit

Claims: ‘Willfully

Infringing’

• How Copa

América Moved the

Needle for Latin

Music in the U.S.

(Guest Column)

INSIDE

Page 3 of 24

sales week this year for a digital download

album, behind only the debut of Swift’s

Poets with 274,000 downloads sold in its

opening week.

Death was available to purchase only as a

digital download and was issued widely in

both clean and explicit editions, in addition

to three further variants sold exclusively

in Eminem’s ocial webstore. Of the latter

three, two were sold as a pre-order for a

limited time before the set’s release, and

each came with their own exclusive bonus

track — one with “Kyrie & Luka,” featuring

2 Chainz, and one with “Like My Shit,” fea-

turing FIFTEENAFTER. A third webstore

variant dropped on Wednesday (July 17),

carrying both bonus tracks and an exclusive

“Steve Berman” skit. The CD and vinyl edi-

tions of The Death of Slim Shady are due for

release on Sept. 13 and Oct. 25, respectively.

Eminem’s new album was preceded by

two top 40-charting hits on the Billboard

Hot 100, “Houdini,” which debuted and

peaked at No. 2 on the June 15 chart, and

“Tobey,” with Big Sean and BabyTron, which

climbed to No. 27 on the July 20 chart.

ENHYPEN captures its highest-charting

album ever, and fourth top 10, as Romance:

Untold debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200

with 124,000 equivalent album units earned

— the act’s largest week ever by units. Of

that sum, album sales comprise 117,000

(the group’s best sales week ever; the set

debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales), SEA

units comprise 7,000 (equaling 9.53 million

on-demand ocial streams of the album’s

tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible

sum. The album’s sales were bolstered by its

availability across 17 dierent CD variants,

all containing collectible paper ephemera

like photocards, stickers and a poster, as

well as two vinyl editions.

Zach Bryan’s The Great American Bar

Scene slips 2-3 in its third week on the list

(88,000 equivalent album units; down 36%)

while Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets De-

partment falls 1-4 (82,000; down 50%). The

latter spent its ﬁrst 12 weeks on the chart at

No. 1.

Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One

Thing at a Time dips 3-5 on the Billboard

200 with 66,000 equivalent album units

earned (down 5%), Billie Eilish’s Hit Me

Hard and Soft descends 4-6 with 57,000

units (down 2%) and Chappell Roan’s The

Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess falls 5-7

with 54,000 units (down less than 1%).

Clairo scores her highest-charting album

ever, and ﬁrst top 10, as Charm enters at

No. 8 on the Billboard 200 with 49,000

equivalent album units earned — her best

week ever by units. Of that sum, album sales

comprise 33,500 (her best sales week ever),

SEA units comprise 15,500 (equaling 19.78

million on-demand streams of the set’s

tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible

sum. The set’s ﬁrst-week sales was ampliﬁed

by the album’s availability across eight vinyl

variants and four deluxe boxed sets (con-

taining branded merchandise and a CD).

Vinyl sales comprise 15,000 of the album’s

ﬁrst week – Clairo’s best week ever on vinyl.

The album was preceded by the single

“Sexy to Someone,” which has reached

the top 20 of the Adult Alternative Airplay

chart, and the top 30 of the Alternative

Airplay and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs

rankings.

Megan Moroney lands her ﬁrst top

10-charting set on the Billboard 200 as her

second full-length studio album Am I Okay?

bows at No. 9 with 43,000 equivalent album

units earned — the singer-songwriter’s larg-

est week by units. Of that sum, SEA units

comprise 30,000 (equaling 38.05 million on-

demand ocial streams of the set’s tracks),

album sales comprise 13,000 and TEA units

comprise less than 500. The album was

preceded by a trio of entries on the Hot

Country Songs chart: “No Caller ID,” “28th

of June” and “Indierent.” The new album’s

success follows Moroney’s chart break-

through in 2023 with the single “Tennessee

Orange,” from her debut full-length, Lucky

(peaking at No. 38 on the Billboard 200 in

2023). “Tennessee” climbed to No. 10 on

Hot Country Songs and garnered song of the

year nominations at both the Country Music

Association Awards and the Academy of

Country Music Awards.

Closing out the top 10 of the new Bill-

board 200 is Noah Kahan’s Stick Season,

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DELIVERY

DIGITAL NEWSLETTERS

The Clive Davis Institute at New York University’s Tisch

School of the Arts is the first and only program of its kind

to provide professional business, artistic and academic

training toward a BFA in recorded music.

CDI recently relocated to Brooklyn, at 370 Jay St. — NYU’s

new home for media, technology and the arts.

For 20 years, CDI has provided students with the

necessary tools to become visionary creative

entrepreneurs in the evolving global music industry.

To honor CDI’s mission of higher education and support

of the next generation of music industry leaders, please

join Billboard in congratulating the institute and its

founder, Mr. Clive Davis, on its 20th anniversary.

2 0 2 4

I S SUE DA TE 8/24 AD CLOSE 8/13 MATERIALS DUE 8/15| |

CONTACTS

East Coast/Midwest: Joe Maimone | [email protected]

Touring and West Coast: Cynthia Mellow | [email protected]

International: Ryan O’Donnell | [email protected]

Latin: Marcia Olival | marciaolival29@gmail.com

Southeast: Lee Ann Photoglo | laphotoglo@gmail.com

slipping 7-10 with 40,000 equivalent album

units earned (though up 4%).

Luminate, the independent data provider

to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough

review of all data submissions used in com-

piling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate

reviews and authenticates data. In partner-

ship with Billboard, data deemed suspicious

or unveriﬁable is removed, using established

criteria, before ﬁnal chart calculations are

made and published.

Mick

Management

Doesn’t Just

Represent Artists

- It’s in the ‘World-

Building’ Business

BY FRANK DIGIACOMO

iven the multitude of distribu-

tion, streaming, promotion and

marketing options and expecta-

tions, the business of becom-

ing an established artist has turned into

a seriously heavy lift for music acts and

their managers. It’s one reason that Mick

Management partner Jonathan Eshak says,

“We don’t like to refer to ourselves as a man-

agement company anymore. We’re a music

company. What we do more than anything

else is brand development, artist develop-

ment — world-building ... We’re not just

trying to keep the train on the tracks.”

Eshak and his partner, Michael Mc-

Donald, the company’s founder, got into

management after immersing themselves

in other sectors of the business. McDonald

served as Dave Matthews Band’s tour

manager before co-founding ATO Records

in 2000 with Matthews; his manager, Red

Light founder Coran Capshaw; and Chris

Tetzeli, who went on to start 7S Manage-

ment. He opened Mick the following year

with John Mayer as one of his ﬁrst clients

and, in 2004, brought on data savant Eshak,

who worked at Universal Music Publishing

Group (and is the twin brother of Island

Records co-CEO Justin Eshak). Jonathan

became a partner in 2015.

With a sta of approximately 20 in New

York, Los Angeles and Nashville, the duo has

built a boutique ﬁrm — with its own record

label, Mick Music, distributed by Believe

— that represents Maggie Rogers, who

released the critically praised Don’t Forget

Me in April; Leon Bridges and Ray LaMon-

tagne, who will both release albums later

this year; The Walkmen and the solo career

of their frontman, Hamilton Leithauser;

Sharon Van Etten; Brett Dennen; Mandy

Moore; My Morning Jacket; and The

Marias.

In a fragmented culture where “it’s very

hard to ﬁnd water-cooler moments,” ac-

cording to Eshak, Mick’s team excels in

building committed fan bases for a roster

of individualistic artists who punch above

their weight. “Artists all deﬁne success dif-

ferently, and we understand that,” he adds.

“We understand that there’s no one way of

doing it anymore.” Their bespoke approach

has resulted in some notable recent suc-

cesses. In August, Rogers will embark on an

international arena tour — including two

shows at Madison Square Garden — though

she has yet to achieve platinum sales with

an album. In 2018, Leithauser began a ﬁve-

night residency at the swank, 100-capacity

Café Carlyle in New York, playing to “a few

die-hard Walkmen fans and some fairly

confused business travelers,” as Eshak puts

it. This year, Leithauser sold out 12 nights,

and the concept will be expanded with

potential notable guests in 2025. And in

June, The Marias celebrated the release of

their new album, Submarine, with a secret

pop-up show in downtown Los Angeles for

approximately 5,000 fans. Eshak says 38,000

RSVP’d.

“What each of those things speak to is us

ﬁnding interesting ways that the artists ap-

preciate and superserve fan bases,” McDon-

ald says.

What are the challenges of running

an artist management company today

versus 25 years ago?

Jonathan Eshak: When I ﬁrst started

with Michael, the sky had started to fall on

the recorded-music business. This was the

dawn of ﬁle-sharing companies like Napster

and Kazaa. It was attractive to join Michael

for that very reason. He was coming from

building a world that was unique, not just

to the ebbs and ﬂows of the success of re-

corded music but also, how do you do things

well in touring, merchandising, etc. He

understood the creation of cultures, having

worked with Dave Matthews and Coran.

Like the Grateful Dead, Matthews built

a culture around his music.

Eshak: The Dead were the godfathers

of that, and Mick’s ethos eectively starts

there. While the challenges of the industry

have evolved, the code of building an artist’s

career remains the same. Which is, how do

you focus on building a meaningful, long-

lasting relationship with your fan base? We

always say, “How do we make the artist the

hit and not just the songs?” Music is just

part of the cocktail. It’s also, how are we

creating a dynamic of connectivity between

the artist and the fan? How are we mer-

chandising with them? How are we creating

live shows that are meaningful, that evolve?

There’s been a lot of lip service about artist

development throughout the history of

recorded music.

Michael McDonald: There were fewer

breakthrough moments then, whereas today,

because of the way technology and culture

has evolved, it’s been democratized. The

upside is that more people can succeed. The

downside is there are fewer channels that

create that star-turn moment.

Maggie Rogers seems to be a prime

example of someone who has grown

through connectivity with her fans.

Eshak: Maggie has understood the

importance of connectivity from the start.

She had this moment of Pharrell-ity, for

lack of a better word, and instead of sitting

back and working that, she understood

the importance of going around the world

and connecting with her fans face-to-face.

To your point, she’s doing two nights in

Madison Square Garden without a platinum

record. Now, she obviously wants that and

we want that for her, but people who are in

are in. Even as she’s grown, the No. 1 thing

on the checklist is, what are we doing for

that audience?

Page 5 of 24

IN BRIEF

In our Aug. 24 issue, Billboard will celebrate the 25th

anniversary of the Americana Music Association. Since

its beginning in 1999, the association has given a voice

and a home to roots musicians all over the world.

Through its efforts, the Recording Academy now

recognizes the genre with multiple Grammy Awards,

including best Americana album, best American roots

performance, best American roots song and best

Americana performance. With the addition of

AMERICANAFEST, the Americana Music Association has

played a vital role in exposing the music and artists to a

global audience.

On its 25th anniversary, please join us in congratulating

the Americana Music Association on its remarkable

achievements on behalf of the many talented roots

musicians around the world.

2024

CONTACTS

East Coast/Midwest: Joe Maimone | joe.maimone@billboard.com

Touring & West Coast: Cynthia Mellow | cmellow615@gmail.com

Southeast: Lee Ann Photoglo | l[email protected]

Latin: Marcia Olival | marciaolival29@gmail.com

International: Ryan O’Donnell | rodonnell@pmc.com

I S SUE D AT E 8/24 AD CLOSE 8/13 M A TERIA LS DUE 8/15| |

2024

What’s an example of that?

Eshak: When we were announcing the

fall arena tour, we created pop-up shops

in all the markets where people could line

up to buy exclusive merchandise and, most

importantly, reduced-price tickets. She was

hearing from unsettled fans about ticket

prices, so we tried to create solves. Fans

could walk [into the pop-ups], point at a seat

map and get a ticket that was going to cost

less than if they paid for it online. Because of

that, her fans understand that she sees them.

What questions do you ask before sign-

ing an artist?

McDonald: Most importantly, “Do we

love the music? Do we feel like we can really

grow this career?” And then, “Do they, will

they, work hard?” We can’t want it more

than they do. Some of this is research you

can do before you meet the artist. Much of

it we do through conversations, but there’s

also data that’s crucial. We’ve had great

success following our passion and guts, but

to not use the tools at our disposal to help

make those decisions would be foolish. Data

is a great strength of Jonathan’s and why

we’ve evolved in using it to inform decisions

but never to unequivocally make decisions.

If we did, we never would have signed some

of the artists we have.

Why did you partner with Firebird?

McDonald: Firebird brings us resources

that a company our size doesn’t have.

There’s a data department and an analyt-

ics department of 10 to 15 people. There’s a

ﬁnance department. There are all sorts of

things that allow us to double down on the

data and free us up to stay focused on our

artists.

What’s your pitch to artists you want

to sign?

Eshak: It really comes down to having a

shared code, so it’s important that we take

the time to sit down with artists and say,

“What are your life goals in addition to

success in recorded music?” This is such a

deep relationship that we talk all the time.

We talk on weekends. We’re there with

them for very big life stages, and it’s really

important for us to have at least a com-

mon set of goals because it takes a lot out

of everybody. Where we do a good job is

acting almost as coaches now. It’s our job to

be highly informed about how people are

having success, distilling that and applying

it to the artists that we represent, who are

all quite dierent. In other words, how can

we do this with you so that you remain true

to yourself? We can’t do that for a thousand

artists. It’s not the business model that Mi-

chael and I have elected to build.

You have a label.

Eshak: We have a label, and we’re work-

ing with some of our artists whose reper-

toires are returning to them and they need

a mechanism to put music out. Some of it is

also identifying artists that we like and help-

ing them put music into the world.

Do you encourage your artists to own

their masters?

McDonald: One hundred percent, when-

ever possible. Today, we would be hard

pressed to pursue a deal that started with

perpetuity music being somewhere else.

There’s always a chance that it’s going to

happen, and ultimately, it’s an artist’s deci-

sion. If they feel like this is their shot and

they’re willing to give that up — absolutely.

But one of the reasons we created the label

was to say, “All right, let’s have an easy

mechanism where we can control the deal

terms. Let’s put music out and try to build

on that. Then, if a great licensing option

is not available today, let’s take a year and

try to build something.” Ray LaMontagne’s

album Trouble reverted to him in May after

20 years. So it’s not always a three-year or

ﬁve-year reversion. But 20 years ago, we

were able to take a long view and say, “Let’s

take whatever percentage less today so at

least there’s the option to sell those record-

ings X number of years later.”

Are your agreements with artists tradi-

tional percentage deals or partnerships?

McDonald: It varies. We have a lot of

traditional deals, but any time we’re in true

partnership, where we’re sharing [intel-

lectual property] with an artist, it’s fully

above board and clear with everyone’s legal

teams. There is an evolving way that artists

are going to get into business with dier-

ent companies. We welcome that as things

evolve.

Billboard’s Music

Industry Events

Calendar

BY CHRIS EGGERTSEN

s part of our continuing eorts

to serve the music industry and

its creators, Billboard Pro now

features a music industry events

calendar for readers.

The calendar will act as music’s most

complete summary major national and

international industry events, from confer-

ences to festivals to networking mixers and

more. Just as Billboard is music’s must-read

source for news, charts and analysis, now it

also is the go-to for business happenings.

July

July 23 - Spotify Q2 2024 earnings call

July 24 - jump.global NO EGO Philly

(Philadelphia)

July 24 - Universal Music Group Q2 & H1

2024 earnings call

July 26-28 - KCON LA (Los Angeles)

July 26-Aug. 11 - Summer Olympics

(Paris)

July 27-28 - Broccoli City Festival (Wash-

ington, D.C.)

July 27–28 - Project Pabst (Portland, OR)

July 28–31 - IAVM VenueConnect (Port-

land, OR)

August

Aug. 1 - Believe H1 2024 earnings call

Aug. 1 - SiriusXM Q2 2024 earnings call

Aug. 1-4 - Lollapalooza (Chicago)

Aug. 2-4 - Osheaga (Montreal)

Aug. 8 - Warner Music Group Q3 2024

earnings call

Aug. 9–11 - Elements Festival (Long

Pond, Penn.)

Aug. 9-11 - Outside Lands (San Francisco)

Aug. 21 - ACM Honors (Nashville)

Aug. 22 - CTS Eventim H1 earnings call

Aug. 27 - SOURCE Hall of Fame Awards

(Nashville)

Find more industry event listings for

2024 here.

Page 7 of 24

IN BRIEF

Editorial content subject to change

ON SALE 8/31 | AD CLOSE 8/20 | MATERIALS DUE 8/22

R&B/HIP-HOP POWER ISSUE

R&B/hip-hop dominates every other genre, claiming a quarter of all music consumption.

On Aug. 31, Billboard will publish its R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players list showcasing the producers,

creatives, executives and publishers who have made R&B/hip-hop the hottest genre on earth.

Advertise and congratulate the people who are driving this industry and reach

an inﬂuential audience of decision-makers in music and pop culture.

R&B

HIP-HOP POWER PLAYERS

HIP

HOP

YEARS OF

EXECUTIVEOF

THE YEAR

GAMMA’S

LARRY JACKSON

NAS’ANNIVERSARY

PARTY

LOVE LETTERS

TO THE CULTURE

INNOVATION

STILL RULES

LIL WAYNE’S

WORLD

10cover [P]_803167;46_View.indd 3 8/1/23 5:16 PM

R&B

HIP-HOP POWER PLAYERS

EXECUTIVEOF

THE YEAR

GAMMA’S

LARRY JACKSON

LIL WAYNE’S

WORLD

LOVE LETTERS

TO THE CULTURE

HOWNASHELPED

ORCHESTRATE A

GOLDEN CELEBRATION

HIP

HOP

YEARS OF

10cover [P]_803167;46_View.indd 6 8/1/23 5:16 PM

2024

CONTACT

Joe Maimone [email protected] Cynthia Mellow [email protected]

Ryan O’Donnell [email protected] Marcia Olival [email protected]

Lee Ann Photoglo [email protected]

Billboard’s 2024

R&B/Hip-Hop

Power Players’

Choice: Vote

for Music’s

Most Impactful

Executive (Finals)

BY TAYLOR MIMS

illboard’s peer-voted R&B/

Hip-Hop Power Players’ Choice

Award is back for 2024 — and

we’re asking music industry

members from all sectors to honor the

executive they believe had the most impact

across R&B and hip-hop in the past year.

Voting is now open to all Billboard Pro

members, both existing and new, with one

vote per member per round.

The ﬁnal round of voting is now live. This

round to select the winner will conclude on

July 23 at 11:59 pm E.T.

The R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players’ Choice

Award will run alongside Billboard’s annual

R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players ranking of the

music industry’s most inﬂuential executives

in the genre, which will be announced in

August.

VOTE HERE

Billboard launched its ﬁrst Players’

Choice Award with the Power 100 list in

January 2023. That was followed by the ﬁrst

Country Power Players’ Choice Award,

concluded in June 2023; the inaugural

R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players’ Choice

Award, concluded in August 2023; and the

ﬁrst Latin Power Players’ Choice Award,

concluded in September 2023. In 2024, the

peer-voted award expanded to cover Inter-

national Power Players and Top Music

Lawyers.

NBA Teams Used

Copyrighted

Music In Social

Media Videos,

Lawsuit Claims:

‘Willfully

Infringing’

BY BILL DONAHUE

ore than a dozen NBA teams

are facing copyright lawsuits

from Kobalt and other music

companies over allegations

that the basketball teams used songs in so-

cial media videos without permission.

In 14 separate actions ﬁled in federal court

Friday, Kobalt and others accused each club

of using copyrighted music in promotional

videos on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube,

TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) to “increase

viewership” and “engage its fanbase.”

In the case against the New York Knicks,

the music companies accused the team of

using songs by “New York legends” Jay-Z and

Cardi B. The case against the Philadelphia

76ers cited use of songs by Philly native Meek

Mill. In the action against Atlanta Hawks, the

complaint said the club had used music by

“Atlanta’s own” Migos and OutKast.

But in each case, the overarching allega-

tion was the same – that a sophisticated

corporate entity had stolen music that it

knew it was supposed to pay for.

“Defendants are acutely aware of the pro-

tections that the copyright laws of the United

States aord,” lawyers for the music compa-

nies wrote in language that appeared in each

lawsuit. “[The team] utilizes the full extent

of legal protections available for its own intel-

lectual property while simultaneously know-

ingly and willfully infringing on the intellec-

tual property rights of the plaintis.”

In addition to the Knicks, 76ers and

Hawks, the lawsuits targeted the Cleveland

Cavaliers, the Denver Nuggets, the Indiana

Pacers, the Miami Heat, the Minnesota

Timberwolves, the New Orleans Pelicans,

the Orlando Magic, the Phoenix Suns, the

Portland Trail Blazers, the Sacramento

Kings and the San Antonio Spurs.

A spokesman for the NBA did not imme-

diately return a request for comment.

The other music companies who signed

onto the lawsuits include Artist Publishing

Group, Notting Hill Music and Prescription

Songs.

Social media platforms like Instagram and

TikTok provide huge libraries of licensed

music for users to add to their videos. But

there’s a key exception: The songs can’t be

used for commercial or promotional videos

posted by brands. That kind of content

requires a separate synch license, just like a

conventional ad on television.

In recent years, music owners have

cracked down on brands that blur those lines

on social media. All three major labels sued

drink maker Bang Energy for using hundreds

of copyrighted songs in TikTok videos, with

Universal and Sony eventually winning judg-

ments. The owner of the “Space Jam” song

has ﬁled several lawsuits over the past year,

including suing a minor league baseball team

that used the famed 1990s track in a Face-

book video. And earlier this month, the Beas-

tie Boys sued the owner of Chili’s for using

the trio’s “Sabotage” in social media clips that

spoofed the song’s famous music video.

How Copa

América Moved

the Needle for

Latin Music in

the U.S. (Guest

Column)

BY RAY USCATA

eyond the drama and debate

surrounding this year’s Copa

América, we at Round saw a dif-

ferent kind of news story emerge:

Page 9 of 24

IN BRIEF

#BILLBOARDLATINWEEK | BILLBOARDLATINMUSICWEEK.COM

FOR SPONSORSHIPS: MARCIAOLIV[email protected]OM

How the oldest international football com-

petition in the world is driving niche Latin

American music genres to new audiences in

North America.

Soccer is increasingly ﬁnding its footing

in American culture, and its rise in popular-

ity is reﬂected in the number of viewers this

year’s tournament reeled in. According to

The Hollywood Reporter, both Fox and

Univision registered record viewership for

the Euro 2024 and Copa America ﬁnals. The

Spain-England game drew a combined 9.43

million viewers on Sunday afternoon, and in

primetime, Argentina’s victory over Colom-

bia averaged 11.63 million viewers across the

two networks. Fox scored more than 6 mil-

lion viewers for both matches, which, outside

of the World Cup, became the most-watched

soccer telecasts ever on the network.

Copa America’s record ratings were re-

ﬂected on TikTok, where the #CopaAmeri-

ca2024 hashtag garnered 71.5 million views.

The U.S. accounted for 13% of the content

creation on TikTok around the event,

second only to Mexico at 15%, according to

data compiled by Round Technology, which

can scrape social media platforms to provide

proprietary data. Whilst conversation on

social platforms was initially driven by what

was happening on the pitch, we later saw

audiences interact more than ever with

Latin music, demonstrating how central

music has become to the tournament.

This year, Shakira’s halftime perfor-

mance at the Copa America ﬁnal infused

Latin culture into the event despite initial

reservations from Colombia’s national team

coach, Néstor Lorenzo, about extending the

halftime break for the show (soccer tourna-

ments typically don’t have halftime shows,

and if they do, they don’t extend beyond 15

minutes). Meanwhile, Colombia’s music

elite rocked up to the tournament decider,

with Feid, Ryan Castro, Karol G, Maluma,

Blessd, Camilo, Fonseca and Juanes all in

attendance. Impressively, those artists col-

lectively represent more than a quarter of a

billion monthly listeners on Spotify.

On TikTok, three tracks stood out as ﬁrm

favorites for the platform’s users: Shakira’s

“Punteria” (the ocial song of TelevisaUni-

vision coverage of the tournament); Ryan

Castro’s reggaeton track “El Ritmo Que Nos

Une” (the Colombian team’s ocial song);

and MC Danone’s Brazilian funk tune “Vem

Quebrando.” Together, those tracks have

featured in nearly 550,000 TikTok creations

since the tournament began on June 21. In

comparison, across the pond in Europe,

the ocial song of the Euros, “FIRE” by

Meduza, OneRepublic and Leony, sparked

just 70,000 creations, while England’s unof-

ﬁcial anthem “Three Lions (It’s Coming

Home)” garnered 64,000 creations during

the tournament.

Copa America’s surprising success on

TikTok, coupled with its deepening con-

nection to music, has been game-changing

for artists by bringing attention to emerging

genres. Take, for example, “Vem Queb-

rando,” a Brazilian funk song popularized

by Colombian midﬁelder Richard Ríos, who

performs a TikTok dance associated with

the track whenever he scores.

Originally recorded by MC Danone, “Vem

Quebrando” has seen a signiﬁcant rise in

popularity, racking up more than 85 million

streams and highlighting the potential for

niche genres to ﬁnd a wider audience. With

1.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify, MC

Danone illustrates how local Latin Ameri-

can sounds are being funneled to American

audiences via soccer and, ultimately, how

TikTok has the potential to dictate the im-

pact of an event.

Copa America 2024 has shown that soc-

cer is more than just a game, bringing the

sport further into North American homes

and introducing a rich tapestry of Latin

American music to a new audience.

As the dust settles on Copa America

2024, attention turns to the 2026 World

Cup, which will be hosted across the United

States, Canada and Mexico. With soccer’s

popularity expected to continue growing in

the States, the tournament presents a huge

opportunity for local sounds from Latin

America to make their way to American

audiences. TikTok and other UGC platforms

will undoubtedly be key accelerators for

these hyper-local sounds, oering a pathway

for a new wave of genres to ﬁnd success in

the North American market.

Ray Uscata is managing director of Round,

North and South America. Round is a tech-

enabled digital agency using content, creators

and communities to place the world’s leading

brands and artists at the center of culture.

Universal &

Warner Music

Shares Show

Modest Gains

Amid Stock

Market Slide

BY GLENN PEOPLES

he two largest publicly traded

record label and music publishing

companies posted stock gains in

a week that otherwise saw major

indexes fall sharply.

Shares of both Universal Music Group

(UMG) and Warner Music Group (WMG)

managed modest gains this week as compa-

nies prepare to release their latest quarterly

earnings reports. UMG, which reports

earnings on Wednesday (July 24), rose 2.6%

to 28.11 euros ($30.61). Year-to-date, UMG

shares are up 8.9%.

WMG, which reports earnings on Aug. 8,

gained 3.5% to $32.00 after receiving a nod

from Jeeries analysts earlier in the week.

Noting that WMG shares are down this year

(-10.6% as of Friday) and trade at a discount

to UMG, Jeeries called WMG’s current

price “attractive” and believes the company

will beneﬁt from its slate of new releases

(Zach Bryan, Dua Lipa) and cost-saving

measures. Indeed, WMG did well in the ﬁrst

half of the year by owning the top three

tracks in the U.S., according to Luminate’s

midyear report. Jeeries has a $38 price

target on WMG, which represents an 18.8%

upside over Friday’s closing price.

The Billboard Global Music Index fell

2.9% to 1,779.41, dropping its year-to-date

gain to 16.0%. Overall, nine stocks were gain-

ers, ten were losers and one was unchanged.

But the rough week extended far beyond

music stocks. The Nasdaq composite fell

3.6% to 17,726.94 as investors dumped tech

Page 11 of 24

IN BRIEF

stocks such as chipmaker Nvidia (down

8.8% this week) and cybersecurity company

Crowdstrike (down 11.1% on Friday thanks to

a massive global internet outage), while the

S&P 500 fell 2.0% to 5,505.00. In the United

Kingdom, the FTSE 100 dropped 1.2% to

8,155.72. South Korea’s KOSPI composite

index fell 2.2% to 2,795.46. China’s Shanghai

Composite Index rose 0.4% to 2,982.31.

Spotify shares fell for the second consecu-

tive week, dropping 2.4% to $295.09. On

Thursday (July 18), Guggenheim reiter-

ated its “buy” rating and $400 price target.

Analysts expect to see some “modest cost

savings” from lower publishing royalties, a

move that has sparked controversy in the

music industry and attracted the attention

of some U.S. lawmakers. What’s more, Gug-

genheim analysts do not expect a “signiﬁ-

cant portion” of premium subscribers to

switch to the lower-cost “basic” tier follow-

ing price increases for the standard plans.

Investors weren’t as optimistic, though, and

Spotify fell 10.8% below its 2024 high of

$331.08 set on June 5.

SiriusXM fell 8.1% to $3.41, bringing

its year-to-date loss to 37.7%. This week,

Morgan Stanley slightly lowered its forecast

for net satellite radio subscriber additions

in both the second quarter and the full year.

SiriusXM, which reports quarterly earn-

ings on Aug. 1, lost 1.4% of its satellite radio

subscribers in the ﬁrst quarter of 2024.

LiveOne shares rose 5.7% to $1.49 fol-

lowing the release of a preliminary look at

quarterly earnings on Thursday. The music

streaming company, which owns Slacker

and a majority of podcaster PodcastOne, ex-

pects ﬁscal ﬁrst-quarter revenue to increase

20% to $33.1 million.

K-pop stocks added to their losing streaks

this week. HYBE fell 3.8% to 182,500 won

($131.31) and brought its year-to-date loss to

21.8%. SM Entertainment fell 5.8% to 73,300

won ($52.74) and has dropped 20.4% this

year despite launching a new joint venture

with Kakao Entertainment and overhauling

its corporate governance. YG Entertain-

ment lost 8% to 35,250 won ($25.36), bring-

ing its year-to-date decline to 30.7%. JYP

Entertainment was an outlier, gaining 2.6%

this week to 59,000 won ($42.45), although

the stock is still down 41.8% this year.

SoundExchange

Sues Free

Music Streamer

AccuRadio Over

Alleged Failure to

Pay Royalties

BY BILL DONAHUE

oundExchange is suing a free

streaming service called Accu-

Radio over allegations that the

company failed to pay royalties for

music, claiming the streamer has “directly

harmed creators.”

In a lawsuit ﬁled Friday in Washington

D.C. federal court, SoundExchange accused

AccuRadio of violating the federal law that

governs how radio-like services pay royal-

ties to record labels and artists for the right

to publicly perform copyrighted sound

recordings.

SoundExchange – the non-proﬁt that

collects and distributes such “statutory

royalties” – says AccuRadio had always paid

its full bill until 2016, when its payments

“slowed” and then ﬁnally stopped in 2018.

“AccuRadio has directly harmed creators

over the years by refusing to pay royalties

for the use of protected recordings,” said

Michael Huppe, SoundExchange’s president

and CEO said in a statement on Monday.

“Today, SoundExchange is standing up for

creators through this lawsuit to protect the

value of music and ensure creators are com-

pensated fairly for their work. We hope Ac-

cuRadio will immediately reverse course and

pay what they owe for the use of the music

that sits at the foundation of its service.”

Founded in 2000, AccuRadio boasts

that it is “the only online music streaming

service curated by human beings, not algo-

rithms.” The company oers hundreds of

ad-supported free music channels that users

can further customize, including skipping

songs they don’t like.

According to SoundExchange, after Accu-

Radio stopped paying its royalty bill, the two

sides have attempted to negotiate a solution

for years, including a so-called forbearance

agreement last year in which the streamer

agreed to make a set down payment and

then regular additional payments. But after

three months, SoundExchance claims Accu-

Radio defaulted on that agreement, too.

“The cumulative amount of defendant’s

underpayment – which harms SoundEx-

change, as well as the performing artists and

and distributes royalties – continues to grow

with each passing month,” SoundExchange’s

lawyers write in their complaint.

In addition to demanding payment, the

lawsuit is seeking a preliminary injunction

that would immediately force AccuRadio to

either pay up or stop oering copyrighted

music to its listenership.

“While defendant has defaulted on the

payments due pursuant to the forbearance

agreement, it continues to operate its multi-

channel internet radio service, providing ac-

cess to over a thousand pre-developed mu-

sic channels and access to millions of sound

recordings,” the lawsuit reads. “Injunctive

relief is reasonably necessary to stop defen-

dant from abusing the statutory license and

incurring further damages throughout the

pendency of this litigation.”

AccuRadio did not immediately return a

request for comment on Monday.

Country Albums

Make Up Half of

Billboard 200 Top

10, Led by Zach

Bryan

BY KEITH CAULFIELD

or the ﬁrst time in over a year, and

only the sixth time in the modern

era, half of the top 10 albums on

the all-genre Billboard 200 chart

(dated July 20) are country albums.

Zach Bryan’s The Great American Bar Scene

Page 12 of 24

IN BRIEF

leads the country party at No. 2 on the July

20-dated Billboard 200, followed by Morgan

Wallen’s One Thing at a Time (No. 3) and Dan-

gerous: The Double Album (No. 6), Shaboozey’s

Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going (No. 8)

and Bryan’s self-titled album (No. 10).

Country albums are deﬁned as those that

have appeared on Billboard’s Top Country

Albums chart. The list began in 1964.

In the modern era – since the Billboard

200 chart began using electronically

monitored tracking information from Lu-

minate (then-SoundScan) on the May 25,

1991-dated chart – there have been only six

instances where at least half of the top 10

were country titles.

Here’s a look at each of those weeks and

the country sets inside the top 10 on the

Billboard 200 —

July 20, 2024:

No. 2, Zach Bryan, The Great American Bar

Scene

No. 3, Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time

No. 6, Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The

Double Album

No. 8, Shaboozey, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t

Where I’m Going

No. 10, Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan

June 10, 2023:

No. 2, Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time

No. 5, Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The

Double Album

No. 7, Luke Combs, Gettin’ Old

No. 9, Zach Bryan, American Heartbreak

No. 10, Bailey Zimmerman, Religiously. The

Album.

Oct. 5, 2013:

No. 2, Justin Moore, O the Beaten Path

No. 3, Chris Young, A.M.

No. 6, Luke Bryan, Crash My Party

No. 8, Keith Urban, Fuse

No. 10, Billy Currington, We Are Tonight

Oct. 30, 2010:

No. 2, Darius Rucker, Charleston, SC 1966

No. 4, The Band Perry, The Band Perry

No. 6, Kenny Chesney, Hemmingway’s

Whiskey

No. 8, Zac Brown Band, You Get What You

Give

No. 9, Toby Keith, Bullets in the Gun

Nov. 17, 2007:

No. 1, Eagles, Long Road Out of Eden

No. 3, Carrie Underwood, Carnival Ride

No. 5, Josh Turner, Everything Is Fine

No. 6, Robert Plant / Alison Krauss, Raising

Sand

No. 10, Rascal Flatts, Still Feels Good

Jan. 23, 1993:

No. 2, Garth Brooks, The Chase

No. 3, Billy Ray Cyrus, Some Gave All

No. 8, Reba McEntire, It’s Your Call

No. 9, George Strait, Pure Country

(Soundtrack)

No. 10, Brooks & Dunn, Brand New Man

Currently, the Billboard 200 chart ranks

the most popular albums of the week in the

U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as

measured in equivalent album units, compiled

by Luminate. Units comprise album sales,

track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming

equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals

one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold

from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or

1,250 paid/subscription on-demand ocial

audio and video streams generated by songs

from an album. From May 25, 1991 – Dec. 6,

2014, traditional album sales, as electronically

monitored and tabulated by Luminate, were

the sole measurement to rank albums on the

chart. For all chart news, follow @billboard

and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly

known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Travis Scott

Grosses More

Than $23M from

First 7 Circus

Maximus Shows in

Europe

BY DAVE BROOKS

ravis Scott averaged $3.3 million

per show from the ﬁrst seven dates

of the European and U.K. leg of his

Circus Maximus Tour for a total

of more than $23 million so far, according to

ﬁgures reported by Live Nation.

Scott landed in the U.K. on June 28 for

two dates at GelreDome in Anthem, Neth-

erlands before heading to Krakow, Poland

(July 2); Zürich, Switzerland (July 5); Nice,

France (July 6); Antwerp, Belgium (July 9);

and London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

(July 11), where he grossed $6.6 million from

48,000 fans, marking his largest headline

show to date. He also broke the Tottenham

Hotspur Stadium merchandise sales record

for any event to date, including NFL games.

The European and U.K. run builds o

the momentum of the rapper’s successful

44-date North American run. Beginning

in Charlotte, N.C. at the Spectrum Center

on Oct. 11, the 44-date North American leg

grossed an impressive $95.7 million from

686,000 tickets, including a Nov. 5 show at

L.A.’s SoFi stadium that grossed $7.9 million

from 49,000 tickets. Scott is the ﬁrst rapper

to headline a sold-out show at SoFi.

The Circus Maximus European tour contin-

ues Saturday (July 20), in Cologne, Germany,

followed by stops in Prague, Milan, Frankfurt

and Madrid. It’s scheduled to conclude on

Aug. 4 at MEO Arena in Lisbon, Portugal.

One euro/pound from every ticket sold on

the tour will go to the Cactus Jack Founda-

tion, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to

uplifting Houston youth through toy drives,

scholarship programs for HBCU college

students, and supporting educational and

creative endeavors. So far, $250,000 has

been donated to the Cactus Jack Foundation

from the Europe/U.K. leg of the tour.

The Circus Maximus tour is booked by

agent Cara Lewis.

Ariana Grande

to Join HYBE’s

Superfan Platform

Weverse This

Weekend

BY JEFF BENJAMIN

n a move that highlights her selec-

tive engagement with social media,

Ariana Grande, who deactivated

her Twitter account years ago but

Page 13 of 24

IN BRIEF

remains the seventh-most-followed person

on Instagram, is set to join HYBE’s superfan

platform, Weverse.

Weverse Company tells Billboard that the

chart-topping star will join the platform

on Sunday (July 21), adding to a roster that

includes BTS, BLACKPINK, JVKE, NCT

127, (G)I-DLE, Lauv, YOASOBI, Conan Gray,

AKB48 and thuy. In joining the platform,

Grande will have the ability to post messag-

es and content to her own dedicated com-

munity, hold livestreams for members, read

personalized fan letters, upload exclusive

media content, share disappearing mes-

sages, and utilize the popular Weverse Shop,

which sold more than 18 million pieces of

merchandise last year to fans in more than

198 countries.

The announcement marks a signiﬁcant

moment for both Grande and Weverse,

opening up a new way for the singer to

deepen her connection with fans while

showing a commitment to her continued

business relationship with HYBE and

HYBE America CEO (and Grande’s former

manager) Scooter Braun.

Since opening in June 2019 with Bill-

board 200 chart-toppers TOMORROW X

TOGETHER as its ﬁrst artist, Weverse now

hosts 146 artists from countries including

South Korea, Japan and the U.S. Its biggest

artist community, for BTS, boasts 26 million

members, while the ENHYPEN community

has 9.8 million. Today, HYBE reports over

155 million lifetime downloads and an aver-

age of 10 million monthly active users across

245 countries and regions, with 90% of its

user base now coming from outside Korea.

Despite Warner Music Group (WMG) an-

nouncing plans for its own superfan app —

as well as WMG and Sony investing early in

rival superfan platform Fave — Weverse says

its start with K-pop artists delivered impor-

tant insights to entice top Western stars like

Grande to join.

“What’s lucky for us has been that K-pop

idols are the types of artists that have a very

strong core fanbase,” Joon Choi, president

of Weverse Company, tells Billboard of the

company’s half-decade of growth that now

includes investment from Universal Mu-

sic Group. “As a platform and a business, we

had already enjoyed the competitive edge

or advantage of being there ﬁrst and being

there early to observe what superfans actu-

ally want.”

While artists can use Weverse to access

ﬁrst-party data for content delivery, promo-

tion and to stay connected to international

fans, the platform has expanded oppor-

tunities in live music with not only event

streaming but its Weverse Con Festival and

a Weverse by Fans tool through which fans

can develop their own merch.

“We were there earlier and we have a

long experience of observing the demands

of our fans,” Choi adds. “That’s why we

were able to create this one-stop fan service

that includes merch development, merch

selling, communities, videos, live streaming

and even magazines…I do see the growth

of startups or services that are entering

this particular [superfan] market and that’s

good. The more competition in the market

is actually better for us because being the

only player in that particular market sector

makes us nervous.”

New competitors or not, Weverse con-

tinues to expand; currently, the company

boasts a total of 400 employees in South

Korea, 60 in Tokyo, and 20 in Santa Monica,

Calif. (with the target to grow to 30 this

year). And with a major star like Grande,

there’s a slew of Arianators that could soon

be joining the platform. Still, the execu-

tive admits he doesn’t know what to expect

from the Eternal Sunshine singer once she

ocially joins. As he puts it, “It is totally up

to the artists.”

Read on for more insights from Joon

about Grande’s big move and what lies in

store for Weverse’s future.

Weverse is adding new artists all the

time, but Ariana Grande is a huge name

with a worldwide fanbase. What have

the weeks been like leading up to this an-

nouncement?

I just traveled a lot; I’ve been a globetrot-

ter. We have oces in Santa Monica and To-

kyo, and in each oce location our leaders

are currently meeting and contacting many

artists and labels, so I believe our platform

and business are becoming truly interna-

tional and crossing borders. As we do that,

we have opportunities to engage with and

work with big artists, but also rising stars, so

these opportunities are being created.

In the past, Weverse or artists have

held special events or activities to begin

their time on the platform. Will Ariana

have a welcome party?

My simple answer to that question is that

it is totally up to the artists. So, although we

do have sessions where we oer guide-

lines or guidance in terms of how to better

utilize the platform to cultivate the superfan

culture or fandom, we do not necessarily

engage too much [in terms of ] planning

activities or what’s going on the Weverse

platform. I know that this might not be the

direct answer that you’re looking for, but we

have artists onboarded onto Weverse with

a very good understanding of the dierence

between Weverse and other social media

platforms.

What opportunities do you see for

Weverse in welcoming Ariana Grade,

and what opportunities are now open to

Ariana?

Weverse is deﬁnitely a distinct platform,

dierent from other social media platforms,

so I’m also very curious how it will be uti-

lized by artists like Ariana Grande. It really

depends on each artist or label whether they

discuss details about how they want to or

plan to utilize Weverse. But in this particu-

lar case, we don’t know yet — that’s some-

thing that I’m closely watching.

But I would like to add that when I look

at Weverse from my perspective as the

leader of this business, it’s important to have

enough resources and big enough clusters of

a particular genre, speciﬁc country or cul-

ture. So, that’s why we’ve been working hard

to onboard many artists. During the ﬁrst

half of this year alone, we have onboarded

Nightly, thuy, Lauv, Umi, Conan Gray and

JVKE. And then we have Ariana Grande.

But Gracie Abrams has been very active as

well; she’s good. So, when you see Weverse

as a platform and in terms of the growth

of our platform, it is very important that

we have thriving clusters of certain music

genres, countries or cultures to generate a

network eect as well.

Weverse does a lot of business sell-

ing music, albums and merchandise via

Weverse Shop, but Ariana isn’t only

involved in music: she has R.E.M Beauty

Page 14 of 24

IN BRIEF

and perfumes; she’s in movies and televi-

sion. Does she give you opportunities to

expand into new commerce markets?

I can’t comment on an artist’s existing

merchandise lines or albums since there

must be agreements or contracts in terms of

production and distribution in place. How

merchandise is developed and sold through

Weverse really varies by each artist. But a

feature that we have on Weverse, Weverse

by Fans, has been very eective and is gain-

ing a lot of attention from artists because it

is based on fan demand. Also, Weverse by

Fans doesn’t require a minimum quantity of

manufacturing goods for production. So, as

soon as there’s enough demand for a certain

type of merch, we can immediately produce

and sell those.

On one hand, Ariana Grande is one of

the most followed people on Instagram,

but she also deactivated her Twitter

years ago and takes social media breaks.

How were discussions with an artist who

might have complex feelings about social

media?

That’s a very good question. Actually,

when we meet a lot of artists, we tell the

artists to actively use other social media be-

cause Weverse is a little dierent. It’s a place

where people who love the artist gather.

This isn’t our claim — artists have been

saying this particular characteristic makes

Weverse a very friendly and safer platform

for artists to engage with their fans and the

public compared to [other] social media…

and that’s not just speciﬁc to big-name art-

ists. We have been having opportunities to

work with rising rookies as well. We don’t

really care whether it’s a big-brand artist or

not; what’s more important for us is to seek

and discover artists interested in cultivating

superfan culture, regardless of how famous

or how popular they are, to work with us

and use Weverse.

Ariana is the seventh-most-followed

person in the world on Instagram. Do you

worry that adding an artist with such a

wide audience could open Weverse up to

trolls or those with bad intentions?

Our product features are already

equipped and have the advantage of fea-

tures like ﬁltering, reporting and in-house

moderators to prevent and manage ill-

intended activities on Weverse’s platform. I

do understand the concern that you raised

regarding such potential, and I agree with

you. However, such circumstances or ill-in-

tended activities occurred for artists already

onboarded on Weverse. So, it would not just

be for Ariana Grande that such a thing could

happen. But I believe we have about four

years’ know-how in operating and managing

trolls or activities like that. So, we are not

too worried, although we are still being very,

very cautious about how to manage that.

I’d add that we always tell artists when

onboarded to Weverse that the best use

case has been using live broadcasts to com-

municate with fans directly. K-pop artists

have been doing so well in terms of using

Weverse as a platform for that, and also

through the membership, they can have

closer, more direct interactions with their

fans as well. So, we’ve been telling artists

from the inception, from the moment that

they are onboarded to Weverse, that these

are some of the ways that are historically

proven to be very eective to have a very

long-term and sustainable fandom relation-

ship.

What is the onboarding process like?

Are you personally meeting top artists?

We’re not a service that allows anyone to

other social media. We don’t know when

that’s going to happen, maybe in the far

future we will switch to such a model. But

so far, we have been doing internal research

to discover and identify artists who would

have a potential beneﬁt or whose fanbase

overlaps with the user base of Weverse.

These days we are getting a lot of inbound

inquiries from artists or other labels them-

selves. In the past, we used to do a lot of

outreach to discover or ﬁnd more artists, but

since last year, as words such as “superfan”

and “Weverse” have become more buzzy in

the industry and the market, we have been

gaining a lot of attention.

It’s not just me but other teams; we call

it a B2B team in Korea, but maybe in the

United States, it’s called a customer suc-

cess management team. We have internal

resources that frequently discuss and follow

up with labels and artists.

I’m personally curious as someone in

media, do you ever imagine a day you

might expand the type of people beyond

musicians?

Deﬁnitely. We already have some actors

and actresses onboarded, but this question

is really good. We’ve thought about it, but

the timeline is very important. The ultimate

goal of Weverse is to create a superfan not

only for human artists. While I believe We-

verse is currently working the best for su-

perfans of a person with a thriving fandom,

we’ve already seen an interesting case of the

virtual idol group in Korea called PLAVE

with a signiﬁcantly high engagement level

within their community on Weverse, which

is very, very noteworthy. That’s where we

saw the potential of expanding this platform

not just for human artists but also for virtual

artists. However, we also see the possibility

of extending this IP to include other types

of artists; this is a fun future that we can

imagine at the moment. We still have a lot of

room for further growth within the music

industry so that’s where we have greater

focus.

Since you said this was your personal cu-

riosity, I’m giving you my personal opinion

and projection on that potential. [Laughs]

My biggest question working at Weverse is,

“How many people out of the entire human

population would have the ‘superfan’ DNA?”

That’s kind of the ultimate thing we are

looking for. Someone might be a superfan

of a certain sport or sports team — there’s

always a superfan of something or someone.

There’s the Weverse Con Festival,

Weverse Magazine, there’s exclusive shows

to stream. Why is Weverse developing IP

beyond the platform? I imagine a HYBE

Festival would be well received.

Weverse is a platform, so neutrality is the

greatest value that we really emphasize and

prioritize, which has been the case since

Chairman Bang [Si-Hyuk] originated this

platform. From day one, we really valued

neutrality as an important value for us, but

also in using such a new business model, we

believe that we can lead innovation in the

music industry. When you look back on the

music industry’s history for the last two or

three decades, it started by simply selling

albums, then the touring business rose, and

since 2000, technology has been disrupt-

Page 15 of 24

IN BRIEF

ing the music industry. Now, it’s time for

us to seek the answer to what’s next, right?

I think Weverse is a platform and a busi-

ness that has been most actively conducting

experiments in order to answer what’s next

for the music industry. If our experiments

succeed, we can deﬁnitely oer beneﬁts to

artists all around the world, and that has

been the basic philosophical foundation for

our business and platform. We’re very, very,

very, very serious about it.

Some people here might not like what I’m

just about to say, but considering all the oth-

er [types of ] content — it can be TV shows,

movies, video games, everything — we think

music itself, just as a piece of content, is

the least compensated compared to all the

others. So, we really have to think about that

from a business perspective. ...There is way

more around music, right? There is no doubt

that music is the core — and that’s why the

mission statement of HYBE is, “We believe

in music” — and that’s where we started

from. [But] to make it a sustainable business,

that’s where we can evolve from.

It was fun to see JYP Entertainment

founder J.Y. Park perform with Chairman

Bang at Weverse Con Festival last month.

JYP is one of the last big K-pop agencies

not on Weverse. Was this a hint?

We’ve always wanted all the artists from

JYP, no doubt! [Laughs] But this time, it was

just about the music. But of course, we’ve

always wanted JYP — simple!

Removing yourself from work for a

second, who or what are you a superfan

of?

I’ve been a very big [music] fan since

the ‘80s: I listened to Casey Kasem with

America’s Top 10, I was a Billboard kid. I

think about all the famous songs and artists

from the ‘80s and ‘90s — I’m that old guy

[Laughs] — and then I had the recent memo-

rable experience with PLAVE. The DJ JoJo

[Wright] from KIIS FM actually visited We-

verse Con Festival, held a lot of interviews

with artists performing, and mentioned that

one of the most impressive interviews he

had was with PLAVE. From my perspective,

from the ‘80s and ‘90s to virtual artists on

the radio, that’s a very interesting journey to

see and experience.

Jack White

Secretly Released

an Album & Third

Man Records

Shops Are

Sneakily Giving It

to Customers

BY RANIA ANIFTOS

ack White has some tricks up his

sleeve. The rocker seemingly released

a brand new album on Friday (July 19),

and employees at Third Man Records’

retail shops have been secretly slipping it

into customers’ bags.

According to Stereogum, a fan on Red-

dit posted in White’s subreddit forum that

they received a mysterious vinyl in their bag

titled No Name at Third Man Records’ retail

location in London’s Soho neighborhood.

“Picked up a tee from third man soho today

and the guy on the tills put this in my bag

too…. I asked and thought maybe it was his

demo or something aha but he didn’t seem

to have a clue, saying he’d just been told by

‘management’ to give it out to customers),”

the post reads. “I’m not gonna have access

to a record player until after work sooo

curious to know if anyone else has seen this/

it means anything to anyone? Maybe I’m

overthinking the blue.”

The same thing happened to another user

in the same forum, who visited Third Man’s

Nashville location. “I can totally conﬁrm

that is a new Jack White album,” the Red-

ditor wrote. “I gave it a listen and it’s pretty

good.”

The album reportedly contains 13 songs.

White’s last album was 2022’s Entering

Heaven Alive, which included singles “If

I Die Tomorrow,” “Love Is Selﬁsh” and

“Queen of the Bees.” The project arrived

just three months after his Fear of the Dawn

album dropped.

ENHYPEN Scores

Second No. 1

on Top Album

Sales Chart With

‘Romance: Untold’

BY KEITH CAULFIELD

or the ﬁrst time in over three

years, the top nine positions on

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart

are all debuts, led by ENHYPEN’s

Romance: Untold atop the list. On the chart

dated July 27, Nos. 1-9 are new entries, the

ﬁrst time the top nine are debuts since the

May 29, 2021-dated ranking.

Joining ENHYPEN with debuts in the top

10 are Eminem, Clairo, Johnny Blue Skies

(aka Sturgill Simpson), Billy Strings, Ciga-

rettes After Sex, Megan Moroney, Phish and

HARDY. The lone non-debut in the top 10 is

Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft, which

falls from No. 5 to No. 10.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart

ranks the top-selling albums of the week

based only on traditional album sales. The

chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991,

the ﬁrst week Billboard began tabulating

charts with electronically monitored piece

count information from SoundScan, now

Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole

measurement utilized by the Billboard 200

albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6,

2014, after which that chart switched to a

methodology that blends album sales with

track equivalent album units and streaming

equivalent album units. The new July 27,

2024-dated chart will be posted in full on

Billboard’s website on July 23. For all chart

news, follow @billboard and @billboard-

charts on both X and Instagram.

Since Top Album Sales bowed with the

May 25, 1991-dated list, there have been 10

weeks where there were at least nine debuts

in the top 10. The entire top nine have been

debuts six times — on the latest chart, once

in 2021, twice in 2017 and twice in 2016.

(The entire top 10 were debuts three times

Page 16 of 24

IN BRIEF

Page 17 of 24

— twice in 2017 and once in 2016.)

ENHYPEN’s Romance: Untold arrives

with the act’s best sales week ever, as the set

launches at No. 1 with 117,000 copies sold –

the ﬁfth-largest debut sales week of 2024.

It’s the second No. 1 for the Korean pop

ensemble, and seventh top 10-charting eort

overall for the group. The album’s sales were

bolstered by its availability across 17 dier-

ent CD variants, all containing collectible

paper ephemera like photocards, stickers

and a poster, as well as two vinyl editions.

Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady (Coup

de Grâce) enters at No. 2 with 114,000 – the

largest sales week of 2024 for a rap album.

The set marks the hip-hop giant’s 13th top

10-charting eort. Death was available to

purchase only as a digital download and

was issued widely in both clean and explicit

editions, in addition to three further vari-

ants sold exclusively in Eminem’s ocial

webstore. Of the latter three, two were sold

as a pre-order for a limited time before the

set’s release, and each came with their own

exclusive bonus track – one with “Kyrie

& Luka” featuring 2 Chainz, and one with

“Like My Shit” featuring FIFTEENAFTER.

A third webstore variant dropped on July 17,

carrying both bonus tracks and an exclusive

“Steve Berman” skit. The CD and vinyl edi-

tions of The Death of Slim Shady are due for

release on Sept. 13 and Oct. 25, respectively.

Clairo captures her biggest sales week

yet, as Charm debuts at No. 3 on Top Album

Sales with 33,500 sold. The set’s ﬁrst-week

sales were ampliﬁed by the album’s avail-

ability across eight vinyl variants and four

deluxe boxed sets (containing branded mer-

chandise and a CD). Vinyl sales comprise

15,000 of the album’s ﬁrst week – Clairo’s

best week ever on vinyl. Charm also bows

atop the Vinyl Albums ranking – the singer-

songwriter’s ﬁrst leader there.

Johnny Blue Skies’ (aka Sturgill Simp-

son) Passage du Desir debuts at No. 4 on

Top Album Sales with 15,000 sold. The set

was released in two vinyl variants (which

sold a combined 9,500), a CD and a digital

download. Combining Simpson’s albums

credited to his name and his Johnny Blue

Skies pseudonym, he’s collected six top

10-charting eorts.

Billy Strings’ Live, Vol. 1 bows at No. 5 on

Top Album Sales with nearly 15,000 sold –

from three vinyl variants (which combined

to sell 12,000 copies – his best vinyl week

ever; debuting at No. 2 on Vinyl Albums), a

CD and a digital download. It’s the third top

10 on Top Album Sales for Strings.

Cigarettes After Sex lands its best sales

week ever, and ﬁrst top 10 on Top Album

Sales, as its third full-length studio album,

X’s, bows at No. 6 with 13,000 sold. The

set was issued across nine vinyl variants

(totaling 8,000 – the band’s best week ever

on vinyl), a CD, cassette tape and digital

download.

Megan Moroney achieves her ﬁrst top 10

on Top Album Sales, with her largest sales

week yet, as her second full-length studio

album Am I Okay? bows at No. 7 with 13,000

sold. The set was available in three vinyl

variants (including an autographed edition,

sold exclusive in her webstore), three deluxe

CD boxsets (containing collectible merch

and a CD), a signed CD (exclusive to her

store), a standard CD and a digital download

album.

Phish’s new studio album Evolve enters

at No. 8 on Top Album Sales with 13,000

sold – the band’s best sales week since Big

Boat debuted with 17,000 copies on the Oct.

29, 2016-dated chart. Evolve was available

across six vinyl variants (selling 10,000

copies), a CD and digital download. Evolve

marks the 10th top 10-charting set for Phish

on Top Album Sales.

Hardy rounds out the debut parade on

Top Album Sales as his new studio set Quit!!

debuts with 13,000 at No. 9 – marking his

third top album. The set was issued across

three vinyl variants, a signed CD (exclusive

to his webstore), a standard CD, a standard

digital album, and a deluxe digital album

with eight bonus live tracks (exclusive to his

webstore).

Closing out the top 10 on the new Top Al-

bum Sales chart is Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and

Soft, falling 5-10 with 10,000 (down 2%).

Anyma Adds Two

Additional Dates

to December

Sphere Run

(Updated)

BY KATIE BAIN

PDATE (7/22/24 @ 2:53 p.m.

ET): Again citing “overwhelm-

ing demand,” Sphere announced

that two more dates have been

added to Anyma’s run at the Las Vegas

venue on Dec. 27 and Dec. 28, bringing the

total to ﬁve nights.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Two days after the announcement that

Anyma will be the ﬁrst electronic music act

to play Sphere in Las Vegas, the artist and

venue have added two additional shows to

the run.

In addition to the previously announced

December 31 show, Anyma will now also

play Sphere on December 29-30. Ticket

prices for the new events will be the same

as the NYE show, with the general on sale

starting July 23 and a presale happening on

July 22.

The expansion of this Sphere run is being

credited to “overwhelming demand” by the

show’s promoter, Live Nation. Given that

the concert’s production elements are cus-

tom made for the tech forward venue, more

dates also likely increases ROI for involved

parties.

Anyma, whose sound is focused on me-

lodic techno, is made up of Italian producer

Matteo Milleri, who is also one half of

the electronic duo Tale of Us. The Sphere

performance will ﬁnd Anyma bringing his

Genesys show to Las Vegas, marking the

ﬁnal times this show will be performed.

The performance is ocially titled Afterlife

Presents Anyma: The End of Genesys and will

feature yet to be announced special guests.

Named for Anyma’s 2023 debut album,

Genesys and its 2024 followup Genesys II,

the Genesys show has been performed for

IN BRIEF

Page 18 of 24

tens of thousands of people at venues in

Asia, Europe, South America and beyond.

The albums, like the corresponding visual

performance, explore themes of technology,

nature, humanity and coexistence. Afterlife

is the label founded by Tale Of Us in 2016.

Both Tale Of Us and Anyma have gained

global renown for their visuals-focused pro-

duction, which explores topics like evolu-

tion and consciousness.

Featuring lineups lead by Tale Of US, both

Afterlife showcases at the Los Angeles State

Historic Park last October were sold out.

Last summer, Afterlife partnered with In-

terscope Records for a deal under which In-

terscope will distribute all Afterlife releases,

including all past and future recordings.

While Las Vegas is a longstanding U.S.

electronic music hub, since opening in

September of 2023, Sphere has not, until

now, featured the genre, instead focusing on

rock with venue openers U2, along with jam

bands via residencies from Phish and Dead

& Company. Classic rock will also move

into the venue this fall with a residency

from the Eagles.

In May, Sphere’s parent company, Sphere

Entertainment Co, reported that the

venue generated revenue of $170.4 million

in its ﬁscal third quarter ending March 31.

Opened to much fanfare last September, the

venue cost $2.3 billion to build.

Sean Kingston

and His Mother

Indicted on

Federal Charges

in $1M Fraud

Scheme

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

ean Kingston and his mother have

been indicted in South Florida on

federal charges of committing more

than $1 million worth of fraud.

Kingston, 34, and his mother, 61-year-old

Janice Turner, made their ﬁrst appearances

Friday (July 19) in federal court, accord-

ing to court records. A Miami grand jury

returned an indictment earlier this month

accusing Kingston and his mother of par-

ticipating in a scheme to defraud victims

of high-end specialty vehicles, jewelry and

other goods through the use of fraudulent

documents.

Kingston was booked into the Broward

County jail on similar state charges last

month following a May 23 arrest at Fort

Irwin, an Army training base in California’s

Mojave Desert where he was performing.

Turner was arrested the same day as her

son, when a SWAT team raided his rented

mansion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

According to the federal indictment,

Kingston and Turner falsely claimed that

they had executed bank wire or other mon-

etary payment transfers for high-end items

when no such transfers had taken place.

Investigators said Kingston and Turner then

kept over $1 million worth of fraudulently

purchased items despite not paying for

them.

The warrants for the state charges say

that from October to March, they stole

almost $500,000 in jewelry, more than

$200,000 from Bank of America, $160,000

from a Cadillac Escalade dealer, more than

$100,000 from First Republic Bank and

$86,000 from the maker of customized beds.

The Jamaican American performer had a

No. 1 hit with “Beautiful Girls” in 2007 and

collaborated with Justin Bieber on the song

“Eenie Meenie.”

Robert Rosenblatt, an attorney for Kings-

ton and his mother, didn’t immediately

respond to a message seeking comment

from The Associated Press. He previously

said they looked forward to addressing the

charges and were “conﬁdent of a successful

resolution.”

Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean

Anderson, was already serving a two-year

probation sentence for tracking stolen

property.

His mother pleaded guilty in 2006 to

bank fraud for stealing over $160,000 and

served nearly 1.5 years in prison, according

to federal court records.

Dates Announced

for SXSW London

Debut

BY KATIE BAIN

he inaugural SXSW London will

take place June 2-7, 2025, at more

than 20 venues throughout the

city’s Shoreditch neighborhood,

marking the ﬁrst time the longstanding

event will happen in Europe.

As the gears get turning, the event has

also announced new hires Clare Barry, the

former marketing director of Cannes Lions;

writer and ﬁlm programmer Anna Boguts-

kaya; and artistic curator Beth Greenacre.

Organizers forecast that SXSW London will

generate more than £75 million (roughly $97

million) for the U.K. economy.

According to its booker Adem Holness, a

London native, the event will also empha-

size the city’s many cultures while working

to connect artists and industry workers from

local scenes with international audiences

and potential partners.

“The thing we can do uniquely is pull to-

gether reﬂections of the cutting-edge, grass-

roots music communities and — if I’m just

thinking about the music program — how

people can get involved in what is happen-

ing at the cutting edge and how they might

be able to work with those dierent inter-

national music scenes to develop them and

develop ideas with them,” he says. “That’s

what I think SXSW London should be.”

This focus is thus not just on music, ﬁlm

and technology, but the cultures these things

emanate from. This, Holness envisions, will

create a gathering that “doesn’t just feel like a

series of performances, but like you’re expe-

riencing culture and moment around that.”

The event will also incorporate broader

European perspectives, with Holness and

his team focused on programming that high-

lights “the cutting edge of music and culture

in Europe and beyond.” As such, he adds,

the goal is to “make sure our neighbors and

friends feel like they’re a big part of what

we’re trying to do.”

IN BRIEF

Page 19 of 24

Still, the 20,000 anticipated attendees will

land at an event site that is distinctly Lon-

don, with Holness saying that Shoreditch

“feels in a way like a microcosm of what

London is. It’s a hub of technology, but

you’ve also got incredible nightlife. You’ve

got distinct diasporic communities in and

around that area and obviously the whole of

London. But I think [Shoreditch provides] a

great opportunity for people who might not

have been to London before to understand

who we are and what we’re about.”

SXSW London follows the 2023 debut of

SXSW Sydney. The original event in Austin

has been happening since 1987 and has grown

to become one of the biggest events in the

global music calendar, attracting hundreds of

thousands of musicians, creatives, ﬁlmmakers,

media companies and music industry execu-

tives to the state of Texas every March.

“I hope that the Austin and Sydney teams,

when we’ve done our take on it, feel proud

of it as well,” Holness says. “I hope they feel

like it lives up to the incredible work they’ve

done, but also has its own ﬂavor.”

In April 2021, it was announced that

SXSW had signed a “lifeline” deal with P-

MRC, a joint venture between Penske Media

Corporation and MRC, making P-MRC a

stakeholder and long-term partner with the

Austin festival. P-MRC is the parent com-

pany of Billboard.

Ingrid Andress

Has Her Biggest

Streaming Day

in Almost 2

Years After Viral

National Anthem

BY TREVOR ANDERSON

lthough Ingrid Andress’ rendi-

tion of “The Star-Spangled

Banner” on Monday night drew

heavy criticism online, the mo-

ment fueled the country singer-songwriter

to her best streaming day in nearly 20

months as discussion of the performance

spiked interest in her wider catalog.

For July 15-16, the day of and day follow-

ing the performance, Andress’ song catalog

registered a total of 1.2 million ocial on-

demand U.S. streams, according to initial

data reports submitted to Luminate. The

two-day ﬁgure marks a 229% surge from her

catalog’s 370,000 stream haul on July 13-14,

the two days preceding her performance.

(“The Star-Spangled Banner” did not con-

tribute to any counts as the song is not avail-

able as a recording on streaming services.)

Of those totals, 941,000 streams alone oc-

curred on June 16, the single-best streaming

day for Andress’ catalog since it registered

964,000 clicks on Nov. 23, 2022, when she

appeared on a pre-Thanksgiving episode of

Drinkin’ With on Country Music Television

(CMT) and its social channels.

Andress sang “The Star-Spangled Ban-

ner” at Major League Baseball’s Home Run

Derby in Arlington, Texas, on Monday night,

and her performance immediately went

viral across social media. Many users posted

clips referenced some of the competing

players appearing to hold back laughter

as the cameras cut to them, while others

debated technical miscues of pitchiness and

questionable runs and likened it to Fergie’s

poorly received version of the national

anthem from the 2018 NBA All-Star Game.

The next day, Andress posted on her X

(formerly Twitter) and Instagram ac-

counts that she was “drunk” during the

performance and would voluntarily seek

treatment. “I’m not gonna bulls–t y’all,” she

wrote, “I was drunk last night. I’m checking

myself into a facility today to get the help I

need. That was not me last night. I apologize

to MLB, all the fans, and this country I love

so much for that rendition.”

A day ahead of the Home Run Derby,

Andress announced a new single, “Colo-

rado 9,” would be released on July 24. In her

career, Andress has landed four tracks on

Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, with

her highest peak belonging to “More Hearts

Than Mine,” which reached No. 5 in 2020.

‘Don’t Stop

Believin’’: Journey

Marks 50 Years

With Summer

Stadium Tour

BY GARY GRAFF

he path to 50 has not always been

easy for Journey, whose mem-

bers have been celebrating the

milestone on the road, including a

summer stadium tour with Def Leppard.

Over the decades, there has been ran-

cor amid the music, lineup changes and

lawsuits, periods of uncertainty and open-

ended hiatus.

And yet the wheel — in the sky and

elsewhere — keeps on turning for the group

whose ﬁrst show, at San Francisco’s Winter-

land Ballroom, ushered in 1974.

Legacy has a lot to do with it, of course.

Journey’s catalog features a dozen plati-

num-or-better sellers, including two albums

— 1981’s Escape and 1988’s Greatest Hits —

that are certiﬁed diamond by the RIAA for

sales (including downloads and streams)

exceeding 10 million units.

The band has notched 18 top 40 singles

on the Billboard Hot 100, and one would

be hard pressed to attend a sporting event

where the 1981 hit “Don’t Stop Believin’ ”

(also famously played in the ﬁnale episode

of The Sopranos) isn’t piped over the PA.

Given those accomplishments, Journey’s

induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

in 2017 was long overdue.

Meanwhile, since the end of the pan-

demic, the act’s current lineup — including

co-founding guitarist Neal Schon, longtime

keyboardist-guitarist Jonathan Cain and,

since 2007, Filipino frontman Arnel Pineda

(whom Schon discovered on YouTube) —

has been headlining arenas. And its summer

stadium tour, which began July 6 at Busch

Stadium in St. Louis, reprises its 2018 bill

with Def Leppard.

“They’ve sold out every ticket everywhere

IN BRIEF

Page 20 of 24

we go — it’s kind of crazy, and well-de-

served,” says Je Frasco, Journey’s agent

at Creative Artists Agency. “The songs are

amazing; people want to hear them. Com-

bine that with putting on a great show, and

it’s great. They give people their money’s

worth.”

All of that has somewhat mitigated the

rancor of the past decade, which has includ-

ed legal skirmishes that led to management

changes and the departure of original bassist

Ross Valory and longtime drummer Steve

Smith, as well as trademark disputes with

Steve Perry, singer of the band’s biggest hits.

Schon and Cain have gone at each other,

too, in well-reported conﬂicts over business

issues that spilled into social media, most

recently in 2023.

The good news, according to drum-

mer Deen Castronovo — who played with

Schon and Cain in the late-1980s group Bad

English — is that “everybody has mended

fences,” he says. “They’ve made amends and

we’re all on one jet again, and it’s all for one

and one for all.”

Clearly, “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” seems to

be not just a song title, but an ethos for the

band.

Fifty years is a big milestone for any

act. What has kept Journey around and

active — and successful — for this long?

Neal Schon: Well, it all started with the

songs themselves, and I think we got some

things right a long time ago and continue to

bring it live. We made our statements and

continued to move forward in writing new

music.

Jonathan Cain: It’s something you

respect and you’re grateful for; that’s how I

feel about it. For me, it’s 44 years, and I’ve

always felt like it was the highest honor to

join such a prestigious band and then to

be able to contribute and take it to another

level.

Schon: Our fans are so loyal to us, and

we have young fans now whose parents

were fans of ours and now they have their

own kids who are coming to the concerts,

too, and they love the music. Bands usually

disband because they stop growing, but we

keep growing and getting new fans. That

keeps it alive.

Take us back to Journey day one.

Schon: I had just come out of Santana

and almost formed a band with Greg Errico

and Larry Graham from Sly & The Family

Stone. Then Herbie Herbert approached

me; he was my guitar tech [in Santana] and

he said, “Look, I’m starting a management

ﬁrm. I want to manage you and wrap a band

around you.” I was deﬁnitely looking for

something to do. Herbie and I had always

gotten along and he believed in me, and it

just went from there.

Journey has been through a lot of

changes — 18 members, give or take —

and some major shifts, like when Steve

Perry joined in 1977, or Cain in 1980, or

Arnel Pineda in 2007. How has the group

been able to navigate those changes and

remain a draw?

Schon: I think the creativity. Any new

person in a band brings out a dierent side

in the chemistry in a band. We deﬁnitely

had that chemistry between the three of

us — me, Jonathan and Perry — in the old

band, and we’ve shown signs as well in the

[current] band.

Cain: The music’s bigger than [the band

members]. Journey has always connected

with the audience. It really comes down to

the integrity of the songs and the message.

It was positive music — which [critics] loved

to hate. (Laughs.) A song like “Don’t Stop

Believin’ ” has a huge connection because

there are a lot of small-town girls and city

boys wanting to get on the midnight train to

anywhere. We worked hard to write songs

[for the fans] about their lives.

It’s no secret there has been a lot of

drama, especially over the past few years.

You two seemed to be at each other’s

throats and yet managed to pull it back

from the brink. How?

Cain: Just looking at the big picture:

The music is louder than the noise of the

grumbling and the arguments and the

disagreements and stu. The show must go

on, right? It’s just the drive of knowing that

there are fans out there that don’t care about

our dierences but care that we show up

and play for them. They care that we carry

on, so we’ve got to put aside our dierences

for them.

Schon: The one thing I can tell you is

Journey is everything to me. Journey comes

ﬁrst, and I’m going to do anything I need to

do to prevail and make sure that ship does

not go down. You have to forgive and you

have to move forward. We’ve chosen to do

that.

The band is managing itself these days,

right?

Schon: Yes. It’s like myself, my wife, Jona-

than and his wife. It comes down to how

much you understand what your situation

is about. I would tell a young player, “Get

involved in [the business]. Know what’s

going down with the contracts, understand

it, trademark yourself. If something shady

comes by, know what question to ask.” It

took a long time to learn all that, but I’m

happy we have.

If you could only have one album to

hand to someone as a representation of

Journey — and not Greatest Hits — what

would you choose?

Schon: Inﬁnity [released in 1978]. To this

day, that’s one of my favorite records. There

are many bigger records, although that was

no slouch of a record, and musically it’s

very, very creative. We did an amazing job

of turning that corner, of keeping some of

the past and moving forward into the future

with Steve on board and everything. It was

like a new era for us.

Cain: I’d have to say Escape. That’s our

biggest record, and there was no accident

it was. It still sounds fresh and it connects

with people. I think the chemistry between

all of us at the time, we were just a good,

good band. We were on ﬁre, young dudes

with a mission.

You put out Freedom in 2022, which was

your ﬁrst new studio album in 11 years.

Will there be another?

Cain: A single here, a single there. I’ve

just written a new song; hopefully we can

get it out there. Albums don’t really matter

much anymore. You have to accept reality

and adapt to it. Fortunately, I’ve got a lot of

albums under my belt. I’m just happy the

catalog is continuing to cook along.

Schon: I continue to be creative; we all

do. We recorded [Freedom and] we recorded

way more than what ended up on the album,

a lot of great stu that wasn’t used, so there

is some stu like that. But the business now

is really about live performances and about

IN BRIEF

Page 21 of 24

whatever you can do with merchandise.

Speaking of live, you’re out this sum-

mer again with Def Leppard, like the two

bands did in 2018. What are you antici-

pating?

Cain: It’ll be fun. It’s a rock’n’roll show,

and there’s nothing better than playing in a

big, open space and a place where you don’t

have to worry about the echo coming back at

you. It’ll be nice just letting it blow; a full-on

rock experience.

Schon: We love those guys. We’ve always

had an amazing time with them. We’ve had

great chemistry together going way back to

the ﬁrst tour we did with them, when [lead

singer] Steve Augeri was in the band.

Are there any archival projects in the

pipeline related to the 50th anniversary

or otherwise?

Schon: There’s lots of stu I don’t think

has ever been heard, live, from the early

band. But I don’t think there’s anything from

the older band, the ’80s band, that hasn’t

been put out.

Cain: There was an album that came out

in Japan, The Ballads, that I think would be

a huge seller back here. You could even have

[Volumes] 1 and 2; there are enough songs.

Has a stage musical or biopic about

Journey ever been considered?

Cain: We’ve been down that road. I

worked with Anthony Zuiker [creator of

TV’s CSI franchise]; he’s a huge Journey fan

and he had these songs in mind to create a

play. And Perry shot it down. He didn’t want

to know about it. Then [Zuiker] came back

to me again; he had this Journey-Cirque du

Soleil idea, and we were supposed to get

something else with Netﬂix, the same pro-

ducers who did the Arnold Schwarzenegger

documentary. Right now, I think that’s in the

hands of Steve Perry to say yea or nay. You

can’t use his songs without his permission,

obviously.

So that’s another gorilla in the room.

Arnel has been with the band 17 years

now. Steve wouldn’t even sing with you

at the Rock Hall induction. People are al-

ways asking about it, but is it time to stop

and realize he’s never coming back?

Schon: I love Steve’s voice. I just wish

he continued singing. If Steve wanted to be

heard, he’d be heard. He came with his last

solo record [2018’s Traces], and it showed

hope that he was going to get out there and

start doing things again. Without seeing him

do it, I can’t answer something like that.

Cain: I just wish the guy well. Arnel is the

longest tenured of any lead singer that we’ve

ever had and he has crushed it for all those

years, so you got to go, “How lucky are we

to have a gentleman like that?” And [Perry]

is always going to be judged on his contri-

butions [to Journey] and the legacy he left

behind. He wins more than he loses.

Eminem Soars to

No. 1 In U.K. With

‘The Death of Slim

Shady (Coup de

Grâce)’

BY LARS BRANDLE

hady’s back…at No. 1 in the U.K.

Eminem glides to the summit

of the Ocial U.K. Albums Chart

with The Death of Slim Shady

(Coup de Grâce) (via Interscope), published

Friday, July 19.

The Rap God’s latest LP chalks up 45,000

combined units in the chart week, accord-

ing to the Ocial Charts Company, drawing

him level with David Bowie and U2 on the

all-time leaderboard, with 11 each.

Em previously reigned in the U.K. with

The Marshall Mathers LP (from 2000), The

Eminem Show (2002), Encore (2004), Cur-

tain Call: The Hits (2005), Relapse (2009),

Recovery (2010), The Marshall Mathers LP

2 (2013), Revival (2017), Kamikaze (2018)

and Music To Be Murdered By (2020). The

Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) is also

the best-seller in the United States and

Australia.

BRITs rising star winner Gri bags a per-

sonal best with her debut full-length studio

album Vertigo (Warner Records), new at No.

3. Vertigo goes one better than the British

artist’s 2021 EP One Foot In Front of The

Other, which peaked at No. 4.

Brit Award-winning Scottish indie rock

act Travis claim their 10th U.K. top 10 with

L.A. Times (via BMG), new at No. 4, while

London-born singer-songwriter Cat Burns

collects a top-tier entry with her debut al-

bum Early Twenties (RCA), new at No. 7.

Finally, new releases from Cigarettes

After Sex (X’s at No. 12 via Partisan) and

Atlanta-born singer Clairo (Charm at No. 13

via Clairo) stick top 40 debuts.

Over on the Ocial U.K. Singles Chart,

Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” (Island)

pours out a seventh non-consecutive week

at No. 1.

Indeed, the U.S. singer and actor locks

up another 1-2 in the U.K. as “Please Please

Please” holds at No. 2.

Carpenter is now in joint-ﬁrst place as the

artist to spend the most consecutive weeks

occupying both the top 2 chart positions

concurrently, a record she holds with Ed

Sheeran at ﬁve weeks.

Ice Spice and Central Cee’s trans-Atlantic

hip-hop collaboration “Did It First”(10k

Projects /Capitol/Columbia) is the top new

single on the latest tally that doesn’t belong

to Eminem. “Did It First” starts at No. 15 for

Ice Spice’s third U.K. top 40 hit, and Central

Cee’s 26th.

Evelyn Thomas,

Disco Queen

Behind ‘High

Energy,’ Dies at 70

BY JESSSICA LYNCH

velyn Thomas, the powerhouse

vocalist who helped deﬁne the

hi-NRG dance music scene of the

1980s with her international hit

“High Energy,” has died at the age of 70.

The news was conﬁrmed by her longtime

producer and mentor Ian Levine on social

media. No cause of death was disclosed.

“It is hard for me to accept that my

lifelong protege really has left us,” Levine

wrote on X. “Her music will outlive us all.”

Born on Aug. 22, 1953, in Chicago, Thomas

IN BRIEF

Page 22 of 24

ﬁrst caught the attention of the music indus-

try when Levine discovered her in 1975.

Her debut single “Weak Spot” became

her ﬁrst chart success, peaking at No. 26 on

the U.K. Singles Chart in 1976. The early

triumph led to an appearance on the inﬂu-

ential British music show Top of the Pops,

marking the beginning of her ascent in the

music world.

Thomas’s career exploded with the

release of “High Energy” in 1984. The track

topped the Billboard Hot Billboard Hot

Dance Club Play chart for one week and

reached No. 85 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Co-written and co-produced by Levine and

Fiachra Trench, it became a deﬁning mo-

ment in the emerging hi-NRG genre, a high-

tempo oshoot of disco that dominated

clubs in the mid-1980s.

“Nobody else in the world could have ever

sung it,” Levine noted about vocal prow-

ess. The pulsating dance anthem achieved

remarkable commercial success, selling an

impressive seven million records world-

wide. As of 2024, “High Energy” continues

to resonate with listeners, boasting over 15

million streams on Spotify.

Thomas’s powerful four-octave range and

emotive delivery set her apart in the dance

music scene. DJ and music historian Bill

Brewster commented, “Evelyn’s voice had

this incredible ability to convey both vulner-

ability and strength. She was a cornerstone

of the hi-NRG movement.”

Following the success of “High Energy,”

Thomas continued to make her presence felt

on the charts.

Her soulful rendition of The Supremes’

“Reﬂections” climbed to No. 18 on the

Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in 1985,

while “How Many Hearts” ascended to No.

11 in 1986. Both tracks were featured on her

ﬁnal studio album, Standing at the Cross-

roads (1986) .

Thomas’s discography includes notable

albums such as I Wanna Make It on My Own

(1978) and High Energy (1984).

Levine revealed that Thomas had reached

out to him “in love” in recent months, aware

of her declining health. The reconciliation

led Levine and Trench to compose a ﬁnal

song for her titled “Inspirational,” though

Thomas was ultimately too ill to record it.

Her daughter, recording artist YaYa

Diamond (born Kimberly), intends to

record the track as a heartfelt tribute to her

mother’s legacy.

Druski Announces

First-Ever ‘Coulda

Fest’ Comedy &

Music Festival

Featuring Lil Baby,

Kai Cenat & More

BY CARL LAMARRE

his September, comedian and so-

cial media personality Druski will

kick o his ﬁrst-ever comedy/mu-

sic festival, Coulda Fest, in Atlanta.

On Sept. 7 at the State Farm Arena, Druski

will co-host Coulda Fest alongside Wild n

Out star and comedian DC Young Fly, with

performances by Lil Baby, Kai Cenat, Soulja

Boy, Waka Flocka Flame, Yung Joc, Young

Dro, Roscoe Dash, Navv Greene, Travis

Porter, DJ Unk, Baby Drill, Baby Kia, Shop

Boyz, Yung LA, F.L.Y., Rich Kidz, and Ugliest

Rapper Alive. Kai Cenat will also appear, as

Druski will provide live comedic sketches

alongside the music portion of the night,

which looks to pay homage to the Atlanta

hip-hop scene through nostalgia and humor.

“Coulda Fest won’t be a traditional music

and comedy festival,” Druski tells Billboard

exclusively. “It’s going to be a celebra-

tion of Atlanta’s culture and a night full of

hilarious sketches that bring us back to the

special times in our city’s music history.

This concept has never been done before, so

I’m looking forward to bringing this vision

to life.”

Produced by Outback Presents, tickets for

Coulda Fest will be available with a presale

starting on Wednesday (July 24) at 10 a.m.

EST (code: COULDA). An extra venue pre-

sale will kick o on Thursday (July 25) at 10

a.m. EST ahead of the general on-sale that

begins on Friday (July 26) at 10 a.m. EST via

4Lifers.com & ticketmaster.com.

Coulda Fest comes on the heels of

Complex naming Druski the No. 1 Funniest

Person on the Internet Right Now in June.

Tye Tribbett,

Jekalyn Carr Win

Big at 2024 Stellar

Gospel Music

Awards

BY PAUL GREIN

ess than six months after winning

his third Grammy Award (best

gospel album for All Things New:

Live in Orlando), Tye Tribbett

swept the 2024 Stellar Awards, winning six

awards, including artist of the year and song

of the year for “Only One Night Tho (Live).”

The Motown Gospel artist also received

the James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement

Icon Award.

The 39th annual Stellar Gospel Music

Awards show taped on Saturday (July 20) at

the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. TV person-

ality and comedian Loni Love and radio/

TV personality and comedian Rickey Smiley

co-hosted the show.

Jekalyn Carr was runner-up in the

awards count with four awards, including

the Albertina Walker female artist of the

year award. Melvin Crispell III, Ricky

Dillard and Lisa Knowles-Smith & The

Brown Singers each won two awards.

Despite his sweep, Tribbett did not win

male artist of the year. That award went to

Crispell, who also took traditional male art-

ist of the year.

Kim Burrell received the Aretha Franklin

Icon Award.

Performers included Chandler Moore,

Kierra Sheard, Anthony Brown and group

therAPy, Da’ T.R.U.T.H, Israel Houghton,

Karen Clark Sheard, Kelontae Gavin, Koryn

Hawthorne, Lisa Knowles-Smith, Mali

Music, Melvin Crispell III, Rich Tolbert

Jr., Tasha Page-Lockhart, Ricky Dillard and

IN BRIEF

Page 23 of 24

Tamela Mann.

Kirk Franklin, Erica Campbell, and Angel

Taylor also made special appearances.

The two-hour show will premiere on

the Stellar Network on Aug. 3 at 8 p.m.

and repeat at 11 p.m. ET. It will also air in

broadcast syndication from Aug. 10-Sept. 8.

In addition, BET will air the show on Aug. 4

at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

The 39th Stellar Gospel Music Awards

show was executive produced by Don

Jackson with Jennifer J. Jackson serving as

producer and executive in charge of produc-

tion; Michael A. Johnson as producer and

director, Erin Johnson as talent producer

and Daniel Moore as music director.

Here’s a partial list of nominations for the

39th annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards,

with winners marked:

Artist of the year

Donald Lawrence; Donald Lawrence Pres-

ents Power: A Tribute to Twinkie Clark; RCA

Inspiration

Erica Campbell; I Love You; My Block Inc.

Pastor Mike Jr.; Impossible; Blacksmoke

Music Worldwide

WINNER: Tye Tribbett; All Things New

(Live Album); Motown Gospel

Song of the year

“Able” ft. Marvin Winans; Jonathan

McReynolds, Major Johnson Finley, Marvin

Winans & Demetrius Terrell Wilson; MNRK

“Feel Alright (Blessed)”; Erica Campbell,

Warryn Campbell, Marvin L. Winans, Juan

Winans & William Weatherspoon; My Block

Inc.

“It’s Morning”; Latrice Pace; Latrice Pace

WINNER: “Only One Night Tho

(Live)”; Tye Tribbett; Motown Gospel

Male artist of the year

Jonathan McReynolds; My Truth; MNRK

WINNER: Melvin Crispell III; No Fail-

ure; RCA Inspiration

Pastor Mike Jr.; Impossible; Blacksmoke

Music Worldwide

Tye Tribbett; All Things New (Live Al-

bum); Motown Gospel

Albertina Walker female artist of the

year

Erica Campbell; I Love You; My Block Inc.

WINNER: Jekalyn Carr; JEKALYN;

Waynorth Music

Kierra Sheard; All Yours; RCA Inspira-

tion/Karew Entertainment

Maurette Brown Clark; He Loves Me; Net-

tie’s Child Music/MNRK

Duo/chorus group of the year

Anthony Brown & group therAPy; Ar-

mations; Key of A/Tyscot/FairTrade

JJ Hairston; Believe Again Vol II; Tribl

Records

Maverick City Music; The Maverick Way

Complete; Tribl Records

WINNER: The Walls Group; Four Walls;

My Block Inc.

New artist of the year

Adam Blackstone; A Legacy Christmas;

BASSic Black Entertainment Records/An-

derson Music Group/Empire

Jevon Dewand & The Trapstarz; The

Change Experience; Blacksmoke Music

Worldwide

WINNER: Jovonta Patton; Established;

Newton Street Entertainment/MNRK

Rudy Currence; Stained Glass Windows;

Mike Chek / MNRK

Album of the year

WINNER: All Things New (Live Al-

bum); Tye Tribbett; Motown Gospel

Choirmaster II; Ricky Dillard; Motown

Gospel

Impossible; Pastor Mike Jr.; Blacksmoke

Music Worldwide

My Truth; Jonathan McReynolds; MNRK

Choir of the year

B. Chase Williams & Shabach; CHASing

the Next Chapter; Mellie’s Boy Muzic Group

WINNER: Ricky Dillard; Choirmaster II;

Motown Gospel

Vincent Bohanan & SOV; Live in Dallas;

HezHouse Entertainment

Zak Williams & 1AKORD; Revisited; Enon

Music Group

Producer of the year

Donald Lawrence; Donald Lawrence Pres-

ents Power: A Tribute to Twinkie Clark; RCA

Inspiration

Pastor Mike Jr. (Michael McClure Jr.) &

Jevon Hill; Impossible; Blacksmoke Music

Worldwide

Tye Tribbett, Joseph Bethea, and assisted

by Shante Tribbett; All Things New (Live

Album); Motown Gospel

WINNER: Warryn Campbell; I Love

You; My Block Inc.

See a full list of winners here.

Brazilian

Singer Ayres

Sasaki Fatally

Electrocuted After

Hugging Wet Fan

at Concert

BY MITCHELL PETERS

razilian singer Ayres Sasaki has

died after being electrocuted dur-

ing a live performance in Brazil.

The 35-year-old musician died

almost instantly after hugging a soaking-wet

fan during a concert on July 13 at the Solar

Hotel in Salinopolis. The contact between

the two triggered a nearby cable to jolt,

causing the fatal electric shock, according to

The Mirror.

It was not immediately known why the

concert-goer was soaked, but Salinópolis

Police are investing the incident. The Pará

Civil Police say that witnesses have given

statements and they have requested expert

reports, Istoé Gente reports (per People).

On July 14, the Solar Hotel shared a state-

ment through social media, saying that the

facility is cooperating with the investigation.

“We are fully dedicated to providing sup-

port to his family and taking the necessary

measures. We rearm our commitment

to fully cooperating with the competent

authorities for the proper clariﬁcation of

the events,” the hotel wrote in a translated

message on Instagram. “Our thoughts and

condolences are with Ayres Sasaki’s family

and friends at this dicult time.”

In addition to being a singer, Sasaki was

also a newly married architect and urban

planner. He is survived by his wife of 11

months, Mariana.

On her Instagram Story, Sasaki’s spouse

shared her thanks for the support she’s been

receiving following her husband’s untimely

passing.

“I would like to thank you for every

message of aection and comfort, for every

IN BRIEF

Page 24 of 24

prayer during this dicult time that we are

going through,” Mariana wrote, per Istoé

Gente. “I haven’t been able to read all the

messages yet, but as I feel better, I will re-

spond to each one. Thank you.”

Bruce Springsteen

Is Ocially a

Billionaire

BY HANNAH DAILEY

ruce Springsteen has ocially

gone from blue-collar hero to bil-

lionaire, according to Forbes.

On Friday (July 19), the pub-

lication reported that the 74-year-old rock

star had reached an estimated net worth of

$1.1 billion by a “conservative” estimate. In

terms of other musicians who’ve crossed

into billionaire status, he ranks under Jay-Z

($2.5 billion), Rihanna ($1.4 billion) and

Taylor Swift ($1.3 billion).

Much of Springsteen’s wealth comes

from his decades-spanning catalog, which

he sold back to his longtime label — Sony’s

Columbia Records — for a whopping $500

million in 2021, the largest deal ever for an

individual body of work. At that point, his

recordings had racked up 65.5 million sales

in the U.S., including his iconic multiplati-

num albums Born In The U.S.A. and The

River.

“I am one artist who can truly say that

when I signed with Columbia Records in

1972, I came to the right place,” he said in

a statement at the time. “During the last 50

years, the men and women of Sony Music

have treated me with the greatest respect

as an artist and as a person. I’m thrilled that

my legacy will continue to be cared for by

the Company and people I know and trust.”

Springsteen has also remained a touring

force well into the later years of his career,

with the 20-time Grammy winner’s global

trek in 2023 selling more than 1.6 million

tickets and generating $380 million in

revenue, according to Pollstar. He and his

famed E Street Band are currently on tour

again, with dates planned all the way up

through July of next year.

Raised in a mill town in New Jersey,

Springsteen is widely regarded as one of

the bestselling artists of all time. He made

his name writing and singing songs about

working-class life in America, topping the

Billboard 200 a total of 11 times over the

course of his career. His most recent album,

Only the Strong Survive, debuted at No. 8 on

the chart in 2022.

And though he’s been at it for half a

century, the guitarist also recently nabbed

a chart ﬁrst; this week, he made his debut

on the Hot Country Songs ranking for his

appearance on Zach Bryan’s “Sandpaper,”

which also marked Springsteen’s ﬁrst entry

on the Billboard Hot 100 in over 15 years.

The track entered at Nos. 26 and 71 on the

respective charts.

All in all? Not a bad week for The Boss.

Francisca

Valenzuela, Bebel

Gilberto & More

to Perform Lincoln

Center at Ruidosa

Fest’s U.S. Debut

BY ISABELA RAYGOZA

uidosa Fest, self-proclaimed as

the ﬁrst Latin American festival

focusing on women in music, is

poised to make its U.S. debut at

New York City’s Lincoln Center on August

10. The festival, part of the venue’s “Summer

for the City” program running from June 12

to August 10, will transform Lincoln Center

into a hub of Latin music, featuring live per-

formances, a panel, and cultural exchanges.

Founded in 2016 by Chilean singer-song-

writer Francisca Valenzuela, Ruidosa Fest

has evolved into a prominent platform that

champions visibility and opportunities for

“women who make noise.”

The festival’s lineup will feature a diverse

array of talent, including Valenzuela herself,

along with iconic Brazilian singer Bebel

Gilberto, indie synth-pop duo Buscabulla,

Puerto Rican singer-songwriter iLe, Colom-

bian indie pop artist Salt Cathedral, Tijuana

punk rocker Bruses, Venezuelan newcomer

Nella, as well as Renée Goust + Khylie Rylo,

Mireya Ramos, DJ Riobamba, and more.

The day will kick o with an industry

panel titled Latinx to the Front: Nuestro

Ruido Is Worldwide. The event will

explore the media inﬂuence of Latin art-

ists, moderated by radio producer Jeanne

Montalvo and feature YouTube’s Stephanie

Carvajal, Sirius XM’s Ellen Flores, Roll-

ing Stone’s Julyssa Lopez, Amazon Music’s

Angie Romero, and Billboard Español’s Sigal

Ratner-Arias and Isabela Raygoza.

Motivated by a stark gender disparity at

Latin American music festivals, Ruidosa

Fest was conceived after discovering

that women constituted only 9.5% of acts

at surveyed festivals in 2016 and 2017, a

ﬁgure marginally improved to 22.5% when

considering mixed-gender groups. This

deep-seated imbalance spurred the creation

of Ruidosa Fest, dedicated to enhancing the

representation and contributions of female

performers inside the industry.

The performances will begin on August

10 at 4:30 p.m. ET. For further details about

the full schedule and more, visit the event’s

website.

IN BRIEF