IFPI Global Report 2025: Music Revenues Up 5% to $29.6 Billion Amid AI Copyright Concerns PDF Free Download
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LONDON — Global music sales grew for the tenth con-
secutive year in 2024 but the risk of generative AI sys-
tems using copyright-protected music to freely train
their systems poses “a very real and present threat” to
the future of the industry, warn record executives.
Total recorded music revenues climbed to $29.6
billion in 2024, a rise of 4.8% on the previous year,
according to the International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) Global Music Report
2025, published Wednesday (Mar. 19).
Driving the growth was a strong increase in paid
streaming subscription revenue, which rose 9.5% to
$15.2 billion, while total streaming revenues, compris-
ing of paid subscription and advertising-supported
tiers, rose 7.3% year-on-year to $20.4 billion, repre-
senting 69% of recorded music sales worldwide.
Although last year’s growth rate is roughly half that
of 2023 (when revenues rose by just over 10%) total
music sales still reached the highest level since 1999
— when IFPI first started compiling global music rev-
enues and sales totaled $22.2 billion — on an absolute
dollar basis, not accounting for inflation. Piracy and
declining physical sales saw the market bottom out at
$13 billion in 2014.
The subsequent recovery and decade-long growth
of the global record industry is now, however, being
placed in jeopardy by tech companies who want to
rollback copyright protections to enable them to use
music works without a license for training AI systems,
caution creators and executives. Earlier this week,
Paul McCartney and Paul Simon were among 400
musicians, filmmakers, writers and actors who signed
an open letter to the Trump administration opposing
submissions from tech companies OpenAI, Anthropic
and Google who want to use copyrighted works with-
out permission from rights holders.
In the United Kingdom, the government is con-
sulting on proposed changes to copyright law that, if
implemented, would allow AI developers to freely use
creators’ content for training purposes, unless rights
holders “opt out.”
“We are asking policymakers to protect music and
artistry,” said IFPI CEO Victoria Oakley in a statement
IFPI Global Report 2025: Music
Revenues Up 5% to $29.6 Billion
Amid AI Copyright Concerns
BY RICHARD SMIRKE
(continued)
YOUR DAILY ENTERTAINMENT NEWS UPDATE
Bulletin
MARCH 19, 2025 Page 1 of 28
• UMG Asks to Halt
Discovery In Drake
Lawsuit, Says He’s
Even Demanding
Kendrick’s Contract
• Could Playboi Carti
or Chappell Roan
Unseat Kendrick &
SZA on the Hot 100?
• Billboard Celebrates
Spanish Music
Leaders at Exclusive
Event in Madrid:
‘Total Commitment’
• How Doechii’s
Singular Vision
Powered Her
Stunning Rise
(And A Grammy Win)
• In Dallas With
Erykah Badu, a
True Original Who’s
Prepping Her First
Album in 15 Years
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“A compelling collection of songs...
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accompanying the Global Music Report.
“We must harness the potential of AI to
support and amplify human creativity, not to
replace it.”
“If those [tech companies] arguing for
these exceptions get their way, they can…
put the existing [digital music services]
out of business while paying artists and
songwriters nothing. That is an incredible
market distortion,” said Dennis Kooker,
president of global digital business at Sony
Music Entertainment, at the report launch
in London.
Breaking down 2024’s global music sales,
users of paid music subscriptions grew to
752 million worldwide, says the London-
based organization, a rise of over 10% on
the previous year. Subscription streaming
revenues now account for just over 50% of
global music sales.
On the physical side of the business, an
18th consecutive year of vinyl sales growth
(up 4.6%) was not enough to arrest a 3.1%
slide in overall physical revenues, which
fell to $4.8 billion. IFPI said the decrease
was partially due to a fall in physical sales in
Asia, which accounts for more than 45% of
all physical revenues worldwide.
In terms of market share, physical ac-
counted for just over 16% of the overall
market last year, down from 18% in 2023.
Performance rights revenue climbed 5.9%
to $2.9 billion, representing just under 10%
of global revenues and marking the sec-
tor’s fourth successive year of growth. Sync
income was flat with 2023 at $650 million,
representing a 2.2% share of the market.
Taylor Swift was 2024’s biggest-selling
global artist, ahead of Canadian rapper
Drake and K-pop sensation SEVENTEEN,
IFPI announced last month, marking the
fifth time she that she has taken the global
crown and third consecutive year. Benson
Boone’s Beautiful Things was last year’s
biggest-selling global single across all digital
formats with 2.1 billion equivalent streams.
Mexico Breaks Into Global Top 10 Mu-
sic Markets, Bumping Australia
In terms of world markets, IFPI said that
music revenues were up in every region and
all but three of the 58 markets it tracks, with
the U.S. retaining its long-held No. 1 position
with music sales growing 2.2% year-on-year.
By comparison, the U.S. recorded music
market grew by 7.2% in 2023 and 4.8% the
year prior.
The world’s second largest music market,
Japan, was flat year-on-year due to a decline
in physical sales, reports IFPI. The third and
fourth-biggest markets for recorded music
remain the United Kingdom (+4.9%) and
Germany (+4.1%), respectively. China, ranked
No. 5 globally, grew music sales by 9.6%.
(IFPI’s free-to-access report does not provide
market-by-market revenue breakdowns).
The rest of the top 10 is made up of France
(+7.5%), South Korea (-5.7%), Canada (+1.5%),
Brazil (+21.7%, the fastest growing top 10
market) and Mexico, which increased rev-
enues by 15.6% to overtake Australia as the
tenth largest global recorded music market.
Those cross-market gains are mirrored
on a regional basis with revenues from the
U.S. and Canada region up 2.1% and together
representing the greatest share of global
music sales at just over 40%.
Latin America — where streaming makes
up almost 88% of the recorded music
market — saw growth of 22.5%, once again
far outpacing the global growth rate and
marking the region’s 15th consecutive year
of revenue growth.
Europe remains the second-biggest region
for music sales, accounting for more than
a quarter (29.5%) of global revenues and
growing 8.3% year-on-year. In third place
is Asia, where overall revenues rose by just
1.3% compared to almost 15% in 2023 due to
a 4.9% fall in physical sales.
The two fastest growing regions globally
were Middle East and North Africa, where
streaming holds a 99.5% share of the market
and which saw music sales grow 22.8%, and
Sub-Saharan Africa, which recorded a 22.6%
rise in revenues to surpass $100 million for
the first time.
South Africa remains the largest market
in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, account-
ing for 75% of its revenues, following growth
of 14.4%. Revenues in Australasia climbed
6.4% to $629 million with Australia and
New Zealand increasing sales by 6.1% and
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7.8% respectively.
Sony and UMG Execs Warns Against AI
Copyright Loopholes Amid Global Sales
Growth
Speaking at the report launch in London,
Sony Music’s Dennis Kooker said the global
growth of music sales demonstrated that the
industry was moving in the right direction
but warned that it was only possible due to
strong copyright laws “that require digital
platforms to license our music before they
make products available to the public.”
“This point is so important because AI
technology companies are lobbying govern-
ments around the world to create excep-
tions and loopholes in this law through [text
and data mining] exceptions and broadening
definitions of fair use,” said Kooker.
“It’s a well-known fact that a lot of these
AI companies have trained [systems] via
ingesting huge amounts of copyright pro-
tected material without permission, without
a licence… and a lot of these companies are
building fortunes on the back of artists,”
added Cassandra Strauss, senior direc-
tor, strategic technology and global digital
strategy at Universal Music Group, who was
also present at the launch alongside senior
executives from all three major labels.
“Equally, on the bright side, we do see a
collaborative market developing,” Strauss
continued. “We do see actors who see the
tremendous value of music and other cre-
ative output, and they are willing to come to
the table and license.”
Closing the generative AI discussion,
IFPI’s Oakley said that ensuring policy mak-
ers around the world understand both the
opportunities presented by generative AI as
well as the risks it poses “if they don’t get
[regulating] it right” was a “huge challenge.”
“As a sector, we have a very clear mes-
sage,” surmised Oakley. “Our job is to make
sure that policy makers are hearing that and
building a generative AI system and set of
rules that can really work for both tech and
artists.”
(IFPI uses current exchange rates when
compiling its Global Music Report, restating
all historic local currency values on an annual
basis. Market values therefore vary retrospec-
tively as a result of foreign currency move-
ments, says IFPI, which represents more than
8,000 record company members worldwide,
including all three major labels, Universal
Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and
Warner Music Group.)
UMG Asks to Halt
Discovery In
Drake Lawsuit,
Says He’s Even
Demanding
Kendrick’s
Contract
BY BILL DONAHUE
Universal Music Group is asking a
federal judge to halt all discovery
in Drake’s defamation lawsuit
over Kendrick Lamar’s diss
track “Not Like Us,” arguing that the star is
unfairly demanding “highly commercially
sensitive documents” – including Lamar’s
record deal.
A day after moving to dismiss the
lawsuit, UMG followed up Tuesday by
asking the judge to pause discovery until he
rules on that motion. That ruling is likely to
end the entire case, UMG argued, and the
label should not face costly demands for
documents that will ultimately “be rendered
moot.”
Such a delay is particularly necessary,
UMG said, because Drake’s lawyers are al-
ready demanding “broad discovery” requests
that impose an “undue burden” on the com-
pany. Those asks have allegedly ranged from
Interscope boss John Janick’s pay structure
to Lamar’s record deal.
“Drake’s requests…seek production of
confidential, proprietary, and highly com-
mercially sensitive documents — including
all contracts between UMG and Kendrick
Lamar,” the label writes. “Proceeding with
discovery while the motion is pending would
waste the parties’ resources and would con-
stitute an undue burden on defendant.”
In a statement Wednesday, Drake’s attor-
ney Michael J. Gottlieb said it was “unsur-
prising” that UMG was “desperate” to avoid
handing over evidence: “This motion is a
ploy to delay producing documents and com-
munications that UMG hopes to keep hidden
and buried. If UMG has nothing to hide, it
should not have an issue with discovery.”
UMG did not immediately return a re-
quest for comment.
Lamar released “Not Like Us” last May
amid a high-profile beef with Drake that
saw the two stars drop a series of bruising
diss tracks. The song, a knockout punch
that blasted Drake as a “certified pedophile”
over an infectious beat, eventually became
a chart-topping hit in its own right and
was the centerpiece of Lamar’s Super Bowl
halftime show.
In January, Drake took the unusual step of
suing UMG over the song, claiming the la-
bel had defamed him by boosting the track’s
popularity. The lawsuit, which doesn’t name
Lamar himself as a defendant, alleges that
UMG “waged a campaign” against its own
artist to spread a “malicious narrative”
about pedophilia that it knew to be false.
UMG moved to dismiss the case on
Monday, arguing not only that Drake’s al-
legations against the company were clearly
“meritless,” but that the star filed his case
simply because he had been publicly embar-
rassed: “Instead of accepting the loss like
the unbothered rap artist he often claims
to be, he has sued his own record label in a
misguided attempt to salve his wounds.”
In Tuesday’s filing, UMG argued that it
was highly likely to succeed on those claims.
And it warned that the daunting cost of de-
fending against meritless defamation cases
can be abused by those that want to squelch
free speech.
“Critically, courts in this District have em-
phasized that defamation defendants must
be protected from unnecessary discovery to
safeguard First Amendment protections,”
the company’s lawyers write. “A stay is
therefore particularly warranted here given
the untenability of Drake’s defamation claim
and the First Amendment rights at issue.”
Attached to Tuesday’s motion was the
actual discovery request allegedly filed by
Drake, which begins by asking UMG to hand
Page 5 of 28
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over “all contracts and agreements between
you and Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, his
agents, or anyone working on his behalf.”
Among its many other requests, Drake’s
filing asked for documents relating to deci-
sions on “whether to omit or censor any
lyrics” from “Not Like Us” during the Super
Bowl halftime show; for anything related
to the promotion of the song on Spotify and
Apple Music; and any communications with
Recording Academy ahead of Lamar’s string
of award wins at the Grammy Awards in
February.
The two sides have already sparred over
discovery once before. In a court filing last
month, Drake’s lawyers said UMG was un-
fairly seeking to delay the case as their client
continued to be defamed — and they cited
Lamar’s halftime show as evidence of such
ongoing harm. A judge eventually sided with
Drake over that procedural issue, setting the
stage for UMG’s motion on Tuesday.
Could Playboi
Carti or Chappell
Roan Unseat
Kendrick & SZA
on the Hot 100?
BY ANDREW UNTERBERGER
The Contenders is a midweek col-
umn that looks at artists aiming for
the top of the Billboard charts, and
the strategies behind their eorts.
This week, for the upcoming Billboard Hot
100 dated March 29, we look at the chances
of generational rap phenom Playboi Carti and
breakout pop superstar Chappell Roan to take
over the chart’s top spot.
Playboi Carti, “Evil J0rdan” (AWGE/
Interscope/ICLG): After years of delays
that had longtime fans wondering if Playboi
Carti would ever release the follow-up to
2020’s cult favorite Whole Lotta Red, Carti
finally dropped the long-promised I Am
Music set last Friday (March 14) — with its
title surprisingly shorted to just “Music.”
Arriving in the not-so-early morning, the
sprawling new collection oered 30 tracks
for the Carti faithful, boasting a guest list
of such big names as The Weeknd, Travis
Scott, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, Young Thug and
even man-of-the-moment Kendrick Lamar.
Despite the A-listers featured on the set,
it’s a Carti solo track that’s in the early lead
on streaming services. The booming “Evil
J0rdan,” fourth of the 30 tracks, currently
sits atop both the real-time Apple Music
chart and Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA
listing, and ranks below just the new Bhad
Bhabie diss video (!!) on YouTube’s Trend-
ing for Music ranking. The song should be
in line for the chart’s top debut on the Hot
100, likely contending for an entrance in the
top five.
Will it be enough to contend for No. 1? It
will be tough for it to really challenge the
currently reigning “Luther” without much
radio support – which is tough enough to
amass quickly for any new rap song, and
doubly so for one by the often purpose-
fully abrasive Carti, who has unsurprisingly
never really found much of a foothold on the
airwaves. (Thus far, the amount of airplay
“J0rdan” has received has been negligible.)
Chappell Roan, “The Giver” (Amuse-
ment/Island): Few songs of 2025 will be
as hotly anticipated as “The Giver,” the
first brand-new drop from Chappell Roan
since her rapid rise to superstardom over
the course of 2024. In truth, “brand new”
should come with a bit of an asterisk, as the
country-flavored new song was first heard
by fans last November, when Roan debuted
the song as a musical guest on Saturday
Night Live. But “The Giver” did not receive
ocial release until late last Thursday, fol-
lowing a weeks-long rollout of interviews
and Instagram posts and Times Square
billboards in promotion of the new single.
Many chart-watchers wondered if all
the excitement around Roan in 2024 and
early 2025 would lead to a Hot 100 No.
1 debut with her first release back. That
doesn’t seem particularly likely at this point
for “The Giver,” which has ranked below
multiple songs from Carti’s Music album on
DSPs since its first full day of release on Fri-
day – and which did briefly top the iTunes
chart over the weekend, but has already
fallen to No. 9 on that listing since. In fact,
it isn’t even the highest-ranking Roan song
on that ranking: “Pink Pony Club,” which
hits a new peak of No. 7 on the Hot 100 this
week, lands at No. 2 on the downloads chart,
and also ranks above “The Giver” on Apple
Music’s real-time listing.
Combined with its strong performance at
radio – the song moves into the top five on
Pop Airplay this week — “Pink Pony Club”
should be ranking in similar territory to
“The Giver” on the Hot 100 next week. But
“The Giver” has already amassed 1.5 million
audience impressions (across all formats),
per Luminate — with just over 300,000 of
those impressions coming from country
stations – and should have a strong overall
debut on the airwaves in its first full week.
Kendrick Lamar & SZA, “Luther”
(pgLang/Interscope/ICLG): Since taking
over the Hot 100 in the weeks following
Kendrick Lamar’s triumphant Super Bowl
performance, “Luther” has proven fairly
stable atop the chart – topping Streaming
Songs for each of the last four weeks, while
also climbing to No. 2 on Radio Songs, as
it continues its cross-platform dominance.
That should all continue next week, as “Lu-
ther” will likely give up its streaming crown
but continue to gain on radio (and challenge
for the top spot on Radio Songs), with its
combination of stellar performance across
the two platforms making it tough to unseat
atop the Hot 100.
What’s more, Kendrick may add another
few entries to his current Hot 100 takeover,
as a featured guest on three strong-perform-
ing tracks on Playboi Carti’s Music: “Mojo
Jojo,” “Backd00r” and “Good Credit.” Just
another three on the pile for Lamar, who
already boasts seven entries on the chart
this week – including five in the top 20, and
three (“Luther,” “Not Like Us” and “TV O”
with Lefty Gunplay) in the top five.
Drake, “Nokia” (OVO/Santa Anna/
Republic): Though the chart unquestion-
ably belongs to Lamar currently, it’s worth
noting that his 2024-25 adversary also
may be on his way to his biggest hit on the
chart in years. Though “Nokia” was not the
highest-debuting song from Drake’s recent
full-length PartyNextDoor teamup LP $ome
$exy $ongs 4 U – it bowed at No. 10, while
Page 7 of 28
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TOP MUSIC LAWYERS
2025
Behind every artist, songwriter and music producer is a
trusted group of advisers who provide guidance,
advice and negotiate deals. Billboard’s 10th annual
Top Music Lawyers list will recognize the biggest
names and most prominent legal minds in the world of
music and entertainment law. They are the deal-
makers behind the major contracts and lawsuits in the
music industry.
This feature will also include a round-up of top law
schools attended by the notable alumni on the premier
Music Lawyers list.
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“Gimme a Hug” entered at No. 6 – it has
proven the longest-lasting, spending a third
week inside the top 10 and even climbing
to a new peak of No. 8 this frame, as it sits
in the top six of the regular charts on Apple
Music, Spotify and iTunes.
Radio has been relatively slow to pick up
on “Nokia” — “Hug” was the initial focus
track from the set for most radio formats –
but it is starting to grow there as well, rising
31-24 on Rhythmic Airplay and debuting
at No. 36 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop
Airplay this week.
Billboard
Celebrates
Spanish Music
Leaders at
Exclusive Event
in Madrid: ‘Total
Commitment’
BY FRANCHESCA GUIM
MADRID — After a successful
First Spanish Music Encounter
at the WiZink Center in 2024,
Billboard returned to Madrid
on Tuesday (March 18) with “Leaders of
Music in Spain,” an event that rearms its
commitment to the country’s music scene.
The cocktail event, held at the Hotel VP
Plaza España Design, gathered more than a
hundred executives, artists, and key indus-
try figures to strengthen ties and boost the
global projection of Spaniard music.
Among the attendees were Pino Sa-
gliocco, president of Live Nation Spain;
José Luis Sevillano, CEO of AIE; Sandra
García-Sanjuán, executive president of
Grupo Starlite; Claire Immoucha, head of
Amazon Music Spain; Mar García, market-
ing director of Warner Music Spain; Narcis
Rebollo, president/CEO of global talent
services at Universal; and José María Bar-
bat, president of Sony Music Iberia. Artists
like Rosana, Lela Soto, Natalia Lacunza and
Álvaro de Luna also joined the event, shar-
ing their thoughts on the present and future
of music in Spain.
On Billboard’s behalf were Leila Cobo,
chief content ocer for Latin/Español;
Pamela Bustios, senior chart and data ana-
lyst for Latin/Español; and Marcia Olival,
sales director for US Hispanic, LATAM,
and Iberia.
“I’ve always said that Billboard is a bridge
between Spanish-language music and the
Anglo market. We tell these stories to an
audience that doesn’t speak Spanish, but
also in Spanish, and with Spain, this idea of
a bridge is literal,” Cobo emphasized during
the event. “Spain has more streams than
ever, ticket sales are extraordinary, and it’s
the world’s top music tourism destination.
We want to amplify what you do, celebrate
you, and be part of your story.”
This expansion of Spaniard music beyond
its borders is a reality that resonates within
the industry. Alicia Arauzo, general man-
ager of Universal Music, highlighted the
importance of these networking spaces to
continue building international connections.
“Without a doubt, these are great initiatives
because, in the end, that’s what it’s all about:
Spanish artists are going further and further.
It’s something that didn’t happen years ago,
and it’s fantastic to be able to cross bridges
and have our music reach other territories,”
she said.
Held at the Ginkgo Sky Bar — with
panoramic views of the Royal Palace, the
Almudena, and Plaza de España — the
gathering served as a space for networking
and dialogue about the industry’s chal-
lenges and opportunities.
In conversation with Billboard, Mela-
nie Parejo, head of music for Spotify in
Southern and Eastern Europe, emphasized
Spain’s importance as a key point within the
global ecosystem. “Billboard anchors here,
in a country that is the gateway to Europe,”
she noted. “Spanish-language music is more
interconnected than ever. Gen Z doesn’t
care if an artist is from Tenerife or Venezu-
ela, and that’s incredibly powerful.”
For attendees, Billboard’s presence in
Spain represents a validation of the market’s
growth and international projection. Rosana,
one of the invited artists, expressed her grat-
itude. “Billboard opened its doors to me 15
days after releasing my first album in the U.S.
and Latin America. Now that it has decided
to come here, all they makes me want to do is
make them feel at home,” she said.
From the business side, Blanca Salcedo,
general manager of Sony Music Spain,
highlighted the importance of the visibility
provided by the platform. “I’d love for this
to happen more in Spain,” she said. “The
digital world has achieved unity and elimi-
nated barriers.”
For Álvaro de Luna, being part of this cel-
ebration was a personal milestone: “Seven
years ago, I wouldn’t have imagined being
mentioned in anything related to Billboard.
It’s a dream.”
The event was made possible thanks
to the support of Hotel VP Plaza España
Design, Mahou, AIE, Santander SMusic, and
Tequila Patrón, which prepared the eve-
ning’s special cocktail, the Paloma Patrón.
With “Leaders of Music in Spain,” Bill-
board continues to bet on strengthening
its presence in the country and amplifying
the impact of Spanish music globally. “We
have total commitment to Spanish-lan-
guage music, to Spain, and to its industry,”
concluded Cobo.
How Doechii’s
Singular Vision
Powered Her
Stunning Rise (And
A Grammy Win)
BY KYLE DENIS
Less than an hour into February’s
Grammy Awards telecast, one of
the evening’s undeniable peak
moments occurred. Doechii — the
charismatic, lyrically dexterous Florida rap-
per who was up for three awards that night
— won best rap album, making her just the
second solo female rapper (and third over-
all) to win the honor. “Don’t allow anybody
Page 9 of 28
IN BRIEF
GLOBAL
POWER PLAYERS
ISSUE DATE 5/17 | AD CLOSE 5/6 | MATERIALS DUE 5/8
2025
On May 17, Billboard will publish its annual Global
Power Players Issue. This issue will profile leaders in
the music industry outside the United States who are
executives at record labels, music publishers, talent
agencies and in live entertainment to recognize their
achievements.
Advertise and congratulate this year’s Global
Power Players to reach an influential audience of
decision-makers worldwide.
CONTACTS
East Coast/Midwest: Joe Maimone | joe.maimone@billboard.com
Southeast: Lee Ann Photoglo | laphotoglo@gmail.com
Los Angeles: Aki Kaneko | moishekaneko@gmail.com
Latin: Marcia Olival | marciaolival29@gmail.com
Touring & West Coast: Cynthia Mellow | cmellow625@gmail.com
International: Ryan O’Donnell | rodonnell@pmc.com
to project any stereotypes on you, to tell you
that you can’t be here, that you’re too dark,
or that you’re not smart enough, or that
you’re too dramatic, or you’re too loud,” she
declared in a tearful acceptance speech
that instantly went viral.
For Billboard’s Woman of the Year, it was
the culmination of a stunning rise, propelled
by her acclaimed mixtape Alligator Bites
Never Heal. But it was also just a beginning:
The 26-year-old Tampa MC hasn’t even
dropped her debut album yet.
Doechii uploaded her first song to Sound-
Cloud when she was just 16 and, in the
following years, put out a pair of mixtapes,
the latter of which included her first viral hit,
2020’s “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake.” In 2021, she
guested on Isaiah Rashad’s “What U Sed,”
and in 2022, she became the rapper’s label-
mate after signing a joint deal with Capitol
Records and Top Dawg Entertainment.
Join us at Billboard Women in Music 2025
— get your tickets here.
Her Kodak Black-featuring single, “What
It Is (Block Boy)” — released in early 2023,
around when she was named Billboard’s
Women in Music Rising Star — became her
highest-peaking entry on the Billboard
Hot 100 at that date, but a fraught period
followed; subsequent singles didn’t catch on,
and Doechii was, as she later wrote on social
media, “battling dierences with [her] label
and a creative numbness that broke [her].”
To ease that tension, she turned to dance
music. In March 2024, Doechii joined forces
with Miami MC JT and DJ Miss Milan — the
latter is now a fixture in her artist universe —
to release “Alter Ego,” a vivacious house-rap
track that served as a palate cleanser for the
fans who hadn’t enjoyed her pop-rap swings
from 2023, while also setting the stage for
her “Swamp Sessions,” weekly drops of new
music that led up to Alligator Bites Never
Heal’s late-August release.
The mixtape featured many “Swamp
Sessions” tracks, though it wasn’t an instant
smash, debuting at No. 117 on the Bill-
board 200. But for Doechii, that was just a
jumping-o point to let her singular vision
and meticulous world-building — magnetic
live and televised performances anchored
by smartly assembled medleys and ath-
letic, Bob Fosse-referencing choreography;
proudly Black glam; idiosyncratic music
videos nodding equally to ballroom culture,
Westerns and telenovelas — blossom.
In the process, Doechii spun gold from
one of the most painful periods of her life,
and by late 2024, she was inescapable. In
September, she featured on Katy Perry’s
dance-pop single “I’m His, He’s Mine,”
and the following month, she delivered a
scene-stealing verse on Tyler, The Creator’s
Chromakopia standout “Balloon.” In De-
cember, she mounted a pair of eye-catching
performances that kicked her rise into high
gear: first, a medley of “Boiled Peanuts”
and “Denial Is a River” on The Late Show
With Stephen Colbert that featured her own
choreography; and, just two days later, her
thrilling NPR Tiny Desk set, which quickly
dominated social media thanks to her fastidi-
ous storytelling and cohesive arrangements.
As her star has risen, Doechii’s com-
mitment to exalting all parts of her dark-
skinned, Black queer self has remained
paramount. It’s why her first unaccompa-
nied Hot 100 entry was “Denial Is a River,”
in which she confides to her therapist that
her boyfriend had been cheating on her with
another man — just one example of how re-
freshingly honest (and unafraid to get messy
on wax) an artist she is. The week following
the Grammys, Alligator Bites Never Heal
soared to No. 14 on the Billboard 200, and
in late February, “Denial Is a River” peaked
at No. 21 on the Hot 100, while the track
“Nissan Altima,” which had been nominated
for the best rap performance Grammy, hit
No. 73.
“To be so fresh in her career, Doechii
has incredible vision and focus,” Top Dawg
Entertainment president Terrence “Punch”
Henderson Jr. says. “She’s a true student of
hip-hop and it shows based on how she’s
being embraced in the culture. The future is
wide open for her.”
http://youtube.com/
watch?v=egemoVK0IKY
Now, even as Alligator Bites Never Heal
continues to find new fans, Doechii is
already scoring hits outside of it. Her col-
laboration with Blackpink superstar Jennie,
“ExtraL,” debuted on the Hot 100 in March,
and her latest release, “Anxiety,” is also
having a major impact. Originally a 2019
direct-to-YouTube track, “Anxiety” was
sampled by New York drill rapper Sleepy
Hallow last year, and after a February Fresh
Prince of Bel-Air-inspired TikTok trend,
audiences begged for a new solo version by
the Swamp Princess, who quickly obliged in
early March. (The track debuted at No. 13
on the Hot 100 — her highest-peaking hit on
the chart yet — and Doechii recently added
it to Alligator Bites Never Heal.)
She did so as she descended on Paris
Fashion Week, where her spectacularly the-
atrical looks made her the event’s undisput-
ed victor — just ask Anna Wintour or Thom
Browne — and armed she’s more central
to the pop culture conversation than ever.
Case in point: An oand quip she made on
Hot Ones about straight men being one of
her dating red flags set social media ablaze
for a week straight.
Around the same time, Doechii made a
surprise live appearance that proved why
she’ll always rise above that noise: At a Mi-
ami festival, Lauryn Hill invited her onstage
to duet on “Doo Wop (That Thing),” then
yielded the stage for Doechii to perform her
own “Catfish.” Rapping and singing along-
side her “hero,” the raw talent that makes
Doechii an especially bright light in an ever-
precarious industry was on full display — a
reminder that, as she said at the Grammys,
she’s a true “testimony” to the merits of fol-
lowing a vision and trusting that the world
will eventually catch up to you.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025,
issue of Billboard.
Page 11 of 28
IN BRIEF
40 UNDER 40
ISSUE DATE 5/17 | AD CLOSE 5/6 | MATERIALS DUE 5/8
2025
On May 17, Billboard will publish its annual 40 Under 40
Issue, celebrating the next generation of leaders in the
music industry. This issue will profile 40 power players
who are making their mark in the business.
These progressive young leaders’ innovation and
creativity will continue to create excitement in the
music industry.
Advertise in this issue to reach the music business’
most influential and auent, from the young disrupters
to the seasoned veterans who paved the way.
CONTACTS
East Coast/Midwest: Joe Maimone | joe.maimone@billboard.com
Southeast: Lee Ann Photoglo | laphotoglo@gmail.com
Los Angeles: Aki Kaneko | moishekaneko@gmail.com
Latin: Marcia Olival | marciaolival29@gmail.com
Touring & West Coast: Cynthia Mellow | cmellow625@gmail.com
International: Ryan O’Donnell | rodonnell@pmc.com
In Dallas With
Erykah Badu,
a True Original
Who’s Prepping
Her First Album
in 15 Years
BY DAMIEN SCOTT
Erykah Badu remembers her last
moments of normalcy. The gen-
erational talent who changed the
course of R&B and hip-hop with
her home-cooked neo-soul has never truly
been “normal,” of course. But before Badu
was the futuristic stylist we know her to be,
she was just a young woman from Dallas.
One who traveled to New York during the
paralyzing North American blizzard of 1996
to finish a debut album she hoped would be
good enough to allow her to make another
one. “That’s how I met New York. Like,
‘Oh, you cold!’ ” she says in the much more
agreeable climate of her hometown. “I was
like, ‘OK, if this is what I got to do — then
this is what I got to do.’ ”
Despite the frigid weather, the then-25-
year-old Badu found a warm and welcoming
community in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neigh-
borhood. In 1992, Entertainment Weekly
correctly noted the area was the “red-hot
center of a national black arts renaissance.”
Chris Rock called it home, as did Gil Scott-
Heron. Digable Planets copped a spot and
recorded its second album, Blowout Comb,
as a love letter to the hood. Badu moved into
a cozy apartment above Mo’s Bar & Lounge,
right around the way from one of her favor-
ite spots, Brooklyn Moon Café. Spike Lee’s
40 Acres and a Mule — the studio behind Do
the Right Thing, Malcolm X and Jungle Fever
— was close by. “[I was] right in the center of
Blackness,” she remembers. “Dreads, head-
wraps and people who looked like me who
I didn’t know existed. I felt like I belonged
there. I met people who felt the way I felt,
and that’s when I knew I wasn’t alone in my
journey or quest to find out, ‘Who am I?’ ”
Join us at Billboard Women in Music 2025
— get your tickets here.
To answer that question, Badu would
need to enlist her own spirit guides both
within and outside of the music industry.
One of the most memorable was a woman
named Queen Afua, who became a men-
tor of sorts for young Badu. In addition to
helping Badu with her holistic journey,
Afua “became my family away from Dallas.
She communicated with me like a mother.”
But to keep her profile as low as possible,
Badu didn’t tell Afua why she was in the
Big Apple: “I didn’t tell anyone in New
York anything. I just wanted to live.” And
so, she lived. When she wasn’t kicking it
in Fort Greene, Badu was taking classes at
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater taught
by dance legend Joan Peters. She took a
Kemetic language course, because why not?
“A lot of things were happening, and they all
became a part of who I am,” Badu says. “You
know, as Erica in America.”
Badu constantly told herself to be as
“regular as possible,” because she knew the
album she was trudging to Battery Studios
in Midtown Manhattan to work on with
a group of musicians who would go on to
become legends in their own right — people
like James Poyser and Questlove from Phila-
delphia’s The Roots — was going “to take
this motherf—ker by storm.”
The album, Baduizm, did just that. It
debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and
ruled the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
chart. Buoyed by the meditative smash hit
“On & On,” Baduizm helped usher in what
became known as neo-soul: a type of R&B
that built on the traditions and stylings of
the past while breathing new life and energy
into the genre. While most neo-soul tracks
sampled or interpolated older soul songs,
“On & On,” with its rolling bass and boom-
ing drums, was wholly original. It felt like a
completely fresh idea (and Badu was full of
them) but also something familiar and com-
fortable — the delicate balance most artists
work their entire lives trying to strike.
“[I’d] never seen someone just full of a
bunch of ideas,” Questlove recounted in a
2024 interview with Poyser. “She had a lot
of choruses ready. She was the first person
I met that instantly had a clever chorus
ready in the stash.” For the album’s third
single, “Other Side of the Game,” the Roots
drummer recalled that Badu came in with
the idea to rework the famous chorus to
Inner Circle’s “Bad Boys Reply.” Even more
impressive, he remembered, was that the
version of the song that made it onto the
album was essentially the first take that was
committed to tape: “I thought, ‘Oh, this girl
is going to make it.’ ”
Dressed in an oversize sweatshirt and
sweatpants with a warm-looking knitted
cap, today Badu comes across every bit as
enchanting as she’s made out to be. Sitting in
the back room of South Dallas’ Furndware
Studios, she speaks with a calm directness
that you would expect from a shaman or
elementary school teacher. Every question
elicits a thoughtful pause and an even more
thoughtful answer. When I ask Badu about
making versus performing music, for exam-
ple, she goes into a deep rumination about
the focus needed to create great music. “I
want to focus, I want to be in the moment of
the foreplay. Creating the music. The trag-
edy. The love. The experience of the whole
thing,” she says before exhaling. “Then I go
somewhere else after this is done. This is a
movie and the studio audience is cracking
up and crying and s—t… I hope that answers
that question.”
Badu makes you feel as if you’re the most
important person in the world when she’s
speaking to you. It’s a skill many successful
people have, but few can also make you feel
like the luckiest — as if she’s letting you, and
only you, in on a cosmic secret. That may
owe in part to the spiritual tangents she
sometimes goes on when answering ques-
tions. Or it may simply be the attentiveness
she oers in conversation. She says she has
learned that the way to become success-
ful — and to maintain that success — is to
be healthy, present and aware, and to never
stop learning.
Born Erica Abi White in Dallas, Badu
didn’t always aspire to “make it.” She simply
wanted to create art like most of her family
had done. She grew up with her grandmoth-
er, mother and uncles, in what she describes
as “a house of music lovers and collectors.”
There was music in every room — literally.
Page 13 of 28
IN BRIEF
“There were records from wall to wall, a
radio in the bathroom that was on the local
FM soul station,” she recalls. Everyone was
allowed to have their own corner to express
their musical tastes. “My uncles would be in
the back listening to funk. They were into
Bootsy [Collins] and George Duke and Stan-
ley Clarke. My mother was more into the si-
rens — the Chaka Khans, the Phoebe Snows,
the Deniece Williamses, The Emotions. My
uncle, who’s a rebel, was into Prince and
Pink Floyd and Three Dog Night,” she says.
“I had a variety to pull from.”
Badu immersed herself in everything
artistic Dallas had to oer a young person.
When she was in elementary school, she
began taking classes at the Dallas Theater
Center, as well as the Martin Luther King Jr.
Community Center, where she would sing
and dance and perform in plays. Badu and
her younger sister, Koko, also frequented
The Black Academy of Arts and Letters,
where her mother and godmother vol-
unteered. TBAAL’s founder, Curtis King,
recalls seeing the “it thing” in Badu from an
early age.
Badu went to Louisiana’s Grambling State
University to study theater but left in 1993
and returned to Dallas before she graduated.
She planned to pursue music full time — but
since dreams don’t come true overnight,
Badu found herself working a series of odd
jobs to support herself while she worked
with her cousin Robert “Free” Bradford
to record her demo, Country Cousins. The
two would perform around Dallas as a
duo — she would sing and he would rap.
But even with the 19-song project, Badu
couldn’t pay a label to take her on. She says
she auditioned for everyone — Sony, Prior-
ity, Bad Boy, So So Def — but didn’t catch a
break until D’Angelo’s then-manager, Kedar
Massenburg, saw her perform at South by
Southwest and received her demo. He im-
mediately signed her to his fledging imprint,
Kedar Entertainment.
“As soon as I heard ‘On & On,’ I knew
that I had to get involved,” Massenburg told
Billboard in 2017. “The thing that struck me
immediately was the beginning, because
Erykah had used a beat in the intro that
Daddy-O, a member of a group I managed
called Stetsasonic, had created: Audio Two’s
‘Top Billin.’ ”
Country Cousins was the foundation of
what became Baduizm, and Badu’s debut
cemented not only her career but also the
neo-soul scene that had been developing. “I
think Tony! Toni! Toné! kind of opened the
door, D’Angelo took it to the next level in
terms of edginess, and Erykah solidified it,”
Massenburg said. “That’s what Baduizm did.
You’re saying, ‘I don’t need to wear these
kinds of clothes or look this kind of way, this
is my “-izm.” ’ The only thing that dates it is
the term ‘neo-soul’ — maybe that’s the issue.
It places it at a time when that term meant
a certain thing. Take away the term, and it
stands with the best of the artists that are
out here today.”
You would think, with the impact she
has had on R&B and hip-hop, that Badu
would have dropped more than five albums
over her 28-year career. But nope — just
five studio sets, a live album and a mixtape.
Granted, they’re all classics and helped
either introduce a new sound or popular-
ize a new style of working. Take 2008’s
New Amerykah Part One (4th World War),
which was recorded mainly on laptops
with Apple’s GarageBand software, with
Badu emailing sessions and files back and
forth with producers. At the time, it was a
pretty novel idea to forego the studio for
your bedroom — only new, cash-strapped
artists were doing that. Badu helped bring
the practice to the mainstream — just one
of many examples of her being aware of the
winds of change before most of her peers.
That same awareness inspired her to
launch her label, Control Freq, in 2005. At
the time, Badu said it was her attempt at
making a “profitable home for artists, with
fair contracts that will return ownership
of the music to the artists after a period of
time.” The first artist signed to the label was
Jay Electronica, the father of Badu’s third
child. “I didn’t develop him at all. I just
wanted to be near his greatness,” Badu says.
“He needed to be heard and I had a plat-
form. I wasn’t interested in building an art-
ist from scratch. I was interested in artists
who were building their own platforms.”
When it comes to her own music, Badu
is less interested in what she puts on wax
than in what she puts forth onstage. “I tour
eight months out of the year for the past 25
years,” she says emphatically. “That’s what
I do. I am a performance artist. I am not a
recording artist. I come from the theater.
It’s the immediate reaction between you and
the audience and the immediate feeling. The
point where you become one living, breath-
ing organism with people. That’s what I live
for. It’s my therapy. And theirs, too. We’re
in it together. And I like the idea that it hap-
pens only once.”
Unlike most performance artists, however,
Badu doesn’t create her music with the live
aspect in mind. Once she decides to perform
a song, she begins to re-create it for the stage.
“It’s like, ‘OK, now this is one arena. Now,
what are you going to do with it in here?’ ”
(One of her most popular songs, “Tyrone,”
was only ever released as a live rendition,
on her 1997 Live album.) The results speak
for themselves. Badu — this year’s Women
in Music Icon — has emerged as one of the
premier performers of her generation.
In 2015, while on an apparent hiatus,
Badu released a remix of Drake’s gargantuan
smash “Hotline Bling.” Produced by the
Dallas-based Zach Witness — who first con-
nected with Badu after she heard a remix he
did of her 2000 song “Bag Lady” and reached
out to him — “Cel U Lar Device” was posted
to SoundCloud without much explanation.
The track became the lead single for her
mixtape — and most recent project — 2015’s
But You Caint Use My Phone (a nod to “Ty-
rone”), which she recorded in less than two
weeks with Witness in his home studio. The
tape centered on a theme of cellphone use
and addiction, with Badu putting her spin
on a few other popular phone-based songs
like Usher’s “U Don’t Have To Call” and
New Edition’s “Mr. Telephone Man.”
Since then, Badu has popped up here
and there. She says she only collaborates
with people whose music she really enjoys.
Dram featured her on his debut album in
2016. She jumped on a track for Teyana
Taylor’s self-titled album in 2020. She lent
her vocals to a Jamie xx song that came
out in January. And at the 2025 Grammy
Awards, she won the best melodic rap
performance statue for a collaboration with
Rapsody, “3:AM.” “It snuck up on me!”
she says. “I remember collaborating with
Page 14 of 28
IN BRIEF
[producer] S1 and Rapsody and we had
such a good time promoting the song and I
just felt like it was all for her basically. She
worked very hard to get to this place.”
She still loves rap, although she doesn’t
follow it as much as she used to and now
experiences a lot of it through her children:
Seven, 28; Puma, 21; and Mars, 16. (She says
they also have attempted to make music,
which is not surprising considering their
fathers are all rap legends: André 3000, The
D.O.C. and Electronica, respectively.)
“[The thing I like about rap right now] is
the same thing I liked about rap when I first
met it,” she says. “Rap is the people. Hip-
hop is the people. It’s the folks. It’s the tribe.
I have the luxury of experiencing having
children who I watch grow up and love and
encourage very much, and I cannot separate
them when I see artists who are that age
coming up. That’s how they feel. They are
continuing the tradition.”
Badu may say she’s not as tuned in as she
used to be, but she’s clearly keeping tabs
on what’s hot right now. She’s been hard at
work on her first studio album in 15 years,
which is being produced solely by The
Alchemist, the hip-hop journeyman who
has had a resurgence as of late thanks to his
work with the Bualo, N.Y.-based Griselda
crew and artists like Larry June. Badu post-
ed a teaser of the project on Instagram to an
exuberant response from fans who’ve been
damn near begging her to drop something
new and show the generations of artists
who’ve had her pinned to the center of their
mood boards how it’s supposed to be done.
The album has been taking up most of her
time; she says she can’t wait until she’s done.
And whatever time that isn’t occupied by
her family and nonmusical interests — such
as her cannabis strain collaboration with
brand Cookies called That Badu — goes
toward keeping herself in the best mental,
emotional and physical shape possible and
making sure she’s set for the future. “When
I was building my house, I was making
sure that I was building ramps for when I
was elderly and couldn’t walk by myself,”
the now-54-year-old says. “When I do my
workouts, I do workouts that are conducive
for picking up groceries and grandchildren
and things like that.”
That’s not to say she isn’t having fun. An-
other of her nonmusical hobbies is car col-
lecting. Badu, whose grandmother bought
her toy cars instead of dolls when she asked
for the latter as gifts, lights up when asked
to run down what’s currently in her collec-
tion: “I get happy when talking about it.”
There’s a baby blue ’67 Lincoln Continental
with suicide doors and a chandelier in the
back (“Original interior, original white wall
tires, original radio”); a 1989 Land Rover
Defender; a 1971 Sting Ray Corvette (“Matte
black, neon yellow stripe. It looks like the
Batmobile”). A collector since she was 21
years old, her first car was a 1965 convertible
Super Beetle. “Before I was Erykah Badu the
artist, that was my hobby that I loved.” Her
uncle Mike, the one who was into funk mu-
sic, is also into cars and keeps and maintains
some of hers; the rest are tucked away in a
Dallas garage.
It all sounds surprisingly normal for a
music superstar of Badu’s stature, and that’s
just what she likes about it. And it’s the
same reason why, after all her success, she
has remained in South Dallas. “It was very
hard for me to be away because this is where
I want to be,” she says. “I wanted to come
here and build. This is where everybody is.
I’m five generations in Dallas. This is my
place. It’s my home.”
This story appears in the March 22, 2025,
issue of Billboard.
Amanda Seyfried’s
Viral Late-Night
Cover Makes
Joni Mitchell
Classic a
Streaming Hit
BY KYLE DENIS,
ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Welcome to Billboard Pro’s
Trending Up newsletter,
where we take a closer look
at the songs, artists, curiosi-
ties and trends that have caught the music
industry’s attention. Some have come out of
nowhere, others have taken months to catch
on, and all of them could become ubiquitous
in the blink of a TikTok clip.
This week: Amanda Seyfried and her dulci-
mer help introduce a new generation to Joni
Mitchell, while TikTok revives an ‘00s south-
ern rap cult favorite and makes new breakout
hits for Ravyn Lenae and Sombr.
Amanda Seyfried’s Viral Joni Mitchell
Cover Has Listeners Going to ‘California’
Did you know that Amanda Seyfried
plays the dulcimer? You would if you
watched her appearance on The Tonight
Show Starring Jimmy Fallon earlier this
month, as the Emmy-winning actress
explained she picked up the lap-set fretted
string instrument over the pandemic. She
then performed a stunningly note-perfect
cover of Joni Mitchell’s “California” – a
homesick highlight from the singer-song-
writer’s canonical 1971 album Blue, much of
which was composed on the dulcimer – for
an enraptured Fallon and audience.
The clip unsurprisingly made headlines
and quickly went viral, while also giving the
original song a wave of TikTok momentum
and sending younger audiences to revisit (or
check out) the West Coast classic. For the
tracking week ending March 13, Mitchell’s
“California” amassed just over one million
ocial on-demand U.S. streams, according to
Page 15 of 28
IN BRIEF
Luminate – up a massive 794% from just over
100,000 streams two weeks earlier, before the
late-night clip aired. If film studios are look-
ing to cast a lead for the eventual Joni Mitch-
ell biopic – should be coming pretty soon
after the success of A Complete Unknown,
right? – Seyfried might have just nailed the
audition. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Ravyn Lenae Snags Sleeper Hit With
“Love Me Not”
As guitar-led, pop/rock-inflected R&B
songs like Janet Jackson’s “Someone to
Call My Lover” continue to experience a
resurgence across socials, some of that love
is spreading to more contemporary tracks.
Ravyn Lenae’s “Love Me Not,” a similarly
bouncy guitar-based pop&B song about the
ups and downs of romance, has emerged as
the Chicago singer-songwriter’s breakout hit.
According to Luminate, streams for “Love
Me Not” have exploded nearly 120% over
the past four weeks. On Feb. 7, Lenae shared
a TikTok soundtracked by “Love Me Not”
that played on feeling embarrassed over the
man she wrote the song about. Lenae’s post
came just as the song was naturally gain-
ing traction on TikTok, easily becoming the
most-viewed post on her profile with over
7.6 million views. During the week of Feb.
7-13, “Love” collected 1.86 million ocial
on-demand U.S. streams, jumping 16% to
over 2.15 million streams the following week
(Feb. 14-20).
On Feb. 16, Lenae shared a post featuring
a mysterious arm around her – commenters
think it’s Steve Lacy – that became her
third-most viewed TikTok ever, with 5.3
million views. Four days later (Feb. 20), she
shared another clip with the ocial “Love
Me Not” sound, earning over 6.4 million
views and becoming her second-most
viewed TikTok ever. During the week of
Feb. 21-27, streams for “Love” hit 2.7 million,
up 26% from the week prior.
By Feb. 27, Lenae shared yet another Tik-
Tok confirming that she’ll be opening up for
Sabrina Carpenter’s new tour dates. Though
she used “Espresso” in that clip, the post only
helped her own profile and music earn more
traction. During the week of Feb. 28-March
6, “Love Me Not” was up another 25%, col-
lecting 3.42 million ocial on-demand U.S.
streams. The following week (March 7-13),
the song leapt a further 19% to over 4.08
million streams. Over on Spotify, the track
currently ranks at No. 30 on the Viral 50 USA
chart and at No. 1 as the most popular song
on Lenae’s profile at the moment.
More recently, as Lenae has shared more
clips of her live performances of the song,
some TikTok users are discovering that
she is, in fact, a Black woman. It’s become
such a phenomenon that Lenae addressed
it herself!
Last year, Billboard’s editorial sta
named Bird’s Eye, which houses “Love Me
Not,” the No. 3 best R&B album of 2024.
The album didn’t chart upon debut – nor
did any of its songs – but that could very
well change should “Love” continue to
grow. - KYLE DENIS
17-Year-Old Yung L.A. Song Experienc-
es Money Spread-Led TikTok Revival
Another week, another ‘00s rap song goes
viral on TikTok. This week, it’s Yung L.A.’s
“Ain’t I,” a collaboration with Yung Bro and
T.I. that served as ATL MC’s debut single.
At the top of March, TikTok user @
lixanomerta shared a clip dancing to “Ain’t
I,” that quickly evoked feelings of nostal-
gia from older Atlantans. Soon after, users
started sharing clips from an old radio
freestyle featuring Yung L.A. spitting “Ain’t
I” a cappella and spreading a wad of crash.
Taken by the apparent deterioration of his
health, users made those clips go viral and
eventually adapted the money spread into
a mini-dance trend where users bop to the
song before flaunting an obscene amount
of cash (or weed baggies or fishing lures!).
During the week of Feb. 21-27, “Ain’t I”
earned just over 270,000 ocial on-demand
U.S. streams. By the following week (Feb.
28-March 6), that figure jumped 19% to over
325,000 ocial streams. By March 7-13 – the
same week the trend exploded on TikTok —
streams for “Ain’t I” leapt a whopping 190%
to over 946,000 ocial streams. Over the
past two weeks, “Ain’t I” has risen nearly
250% in streaming activity. - KD
Sombr Is Sparkling on Streaming With
‘Back to Friends’ Breakout
If you’re loving the wave of Sad Girl
Anthems taking over TikTok lately and
wondering where all their Sad Boy counter-
parts are at – well, you just found one of ‘em,
anyway. Sombr, otherwise known as 19-year-
old, Warner-signed singer-songwriter
Shane Boose, has been taking over the app
in the last month with his new single “Back
to Friends.” Extensively teased and then
extensively promoted by Boose on TikTok
– with multiple videos of him singing along
to the song garnering millions of plays – the
explosive post-breakup song (if it was ever
an ocial relationship in the first place) has
struck a nerve with its cathartic “How can
we go back to being friends/ When we just
shared a bed” chorus shoutalong.
Now, the song is taking o on streaming.
The song had been posting weekly ocial
on-demand U.S. streams in the high six
digits for most of 2025, but this month, that
number has crossed into the millions – near-
ly 2.7 million for the most recent tracking
week (ending March 13), a 160% gain from
just two weeks earlier, according to Lumi-
nate. And as the song is only now starting
to really break containment – it just made
its first appearance on Spotify’s Daily Top
Songs USA chart – Sombr is already onto the
next one: His “Undressed” is due on Friday,
and comes after an extensive TikTok rollout
of its own. – AU
Tom Corson Set
to Receive City of
Hope’s 2025 Spirit
of Life Award
BY PAUL GREIN
Tom Corson, co-chairman/COO of
Warner Records, is set to receive
the City of Hope’s 2025 Spirit of
Life Award. It will be presented
this fall at the annual Spirit of Life Gala in
Los Angeles. For more than 50 years, the
music industry has united around the Spirit
of Life campaign, raising nearly $170 million
to support City of Hope’s research and treat-
ment eorts — mainly focused on cancer
and diabetes.
“It is a profound honor to be recognized
as this year’s Spirit of Life honoree,” Corson
Page 16 of 28
IN BRIEF
said in a statement. “At Warner Records, we
often say it’s not just about the song — it’s
about the artist. In the same way, City of
Hope isn’t just about treatments — it’s about
the people, their dreams, and their futures.
When I sit down with an artist, we talk about
their goals and aspirations, and we work to
make those dreams a reality. That same spirit
of transformation is at the core of City of
Hope’s mission: turning hope into tangible
breakthroughs for patients fighting cancer.
The music industry has always been about
more than entertainment; it’s about connec-
tion, transformation, and impact. I am proud
to stand with my peers in championing this
cause and supporting the vital and lifesaving
work City of Hope does every day.”
Evan Lamberg, president of Universal
Music Publishing Group North America and
chairman of City of Hope’s Music, Film and
Entertainment Industry (MFEI) board, said
Corson’s honor was well-earned: “Tom has
been an unwavering supporter of City of
Hope for years, and his leadership and dedi-
cation to both our industry and this cause
make him a truly deserving honoree.”
Alissa Pollack, executive vp of global mu-
sic marketing at iHeartMedia and president
of City of Hope’s MFEI board, added: “Tom
Corson has been a driving force in shap-
ing modern music, and his philanthropic
passion reflects that same commitment.
The Spirit of Life campaign reminds us of
the power of music to heal and inspire, and
Tom’s leadership will help us elevate that
message even further this year.”
“We are thrilled to honor Tom Corson
as this year’s Spirit of Life recipient,” said
Kristin Bertell, chief philanthropy ocer
at City of Hope. “Tom’s leadership, both in
the music industry and as a long-time mem-
ber of the Music, Film and Entertainment
Industry Board, exemplifies the transforma-
tive spirit that defines our work.”
The honor is a cornerstone of the MFEI’s
annual philanthropic campaign. This year,
the campaign takes on even greater signifi-
cance as Los Angeles continues to recover
from January’s devastating wildfires —
events that not only displaced families but
also contributed to long-term health risks
due to toxic smoke exposure.
A group of key industry executives
founded City of Hope’s MFEI group in 1973.
The Spirit of Life Award is the organiza-
tion’s most prestigious honor. Past honorees
include Jay Marciano, Lyor Cohen, Shelli
and Irving Azo, Edgar Bronfman Jr.,
Coran Capshaw, Eddy Cue, Clive Davis,
Sir Lucian Grainge, Allen Grubman,
Quincy Jones, Rob Light, Monte and Av-
ery Lipman, Doug Morris, Mo Ostin, Bob
Pittman, Jon Platt and Sylvia Rhone.
Since Corson joined Warner Records in
January 2018, the storied label has had suc-
cess with such new and established artists
as Dua Lipa, Zach Bryan, Michael Bublé,
Benson Boone, Teddy Swims, Rufus Du Sol,
Linkin Park, Cher, Dasha, Red Hot Chili
Peppers, JISOO, Josh Groban, Gary Clark
Jr., Green Day, The Black Keys, Saweetie,
NLE Choppa and Omar Apollo.
Corson came to Warner Records from
RCA Music Group, where he spent nearly 18
years and most recently served as president/
COO. He began his career in the music
industry as a college intern at IRS Records.
Upon graduating from UCLA, he joined the
label as director of West Coast sales. Corson
moved to A&M Records in 1985, advancing
to vp of marketing. In 1990, he was named
senior vp of marketing at Capitol Records.
From 1996 to 2000, he served as senior vp of
marketing at Columbia Records.
Corson has appeared on the Billboard
Power 100 list for the last 14 years. On this
year’s list, published in January, he and
Warner Records co-chairman/CEO Aaron
Bay-Schuck were listed at No. 15. Billboard’s
capsule entry noted, in part: “Since taking
over Warner in 2018, they’ve signed stars
Zach Bryan, who was a 21-time finalist for
the 2024 Billboard Music Awards; Teddy
Swims and Benson Boone, who are both
nominated for best new artist Grammys;
Dasha, who ‘crossed over in pop and coun-
try,’ Corson says; and rapper NLE Choppa,
who hit 9 billion career total streams. The
label also relaunched Linkin Park, which
released its first studio album in seven years,
From Zero, and debuted at No. 2 on the
Billboard 200.”
In addition, Corson and Bay-Schuck
were named 2024 Variety Hitmakers Ex-
ecutive of the Year. Corson is a member of
the Recording Academy and the Music and
Entertainment Industry board for City of
Hope and also sits on the executive com-
mittee of the board of directors for the T.J
Martell Foundation. He is also the chair-
man of the UCLA School of Music Busi-
ness’ board of advisors.
T.J. Martell
Foundation
Looks Ahead to
the Next 50 Years
BY MELINDA NEWMAN
As the T.J. Martell Foundation
celebrates its 50th year, the
cancer research nonprofit sup-
ported by the music industry
is looking to the future, and how it can
continue to grow under new chairman of
the board Steve Gawley.
Gawley, who is executive vp of business
and legal aairs and business development at
REPUBLIC Collective, will work closely with
T.J. Martell CEO Lynn-Anne Huck and the
executive committee on the organization’s
mission, which is “to fund high-risk, high-
reward cancer research,” he says. “Our aim is
to punch above our weight and help accom-
plish true breakthroughs in cancer research.”
T.J. Martell Foundation was formed in
1974 by music executive Tony Martell after
his young son, T.J., was diagnosed with leu-
kemia and Martell promised him he would
raise $1 million for research. Since its incep-
tion, the organization has raised more than
$280 million in support of medical research
grants to leading cancer institutions in the
U.S., including City of Hope, Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center, Vanderbilt-Ingram
Cancer Center and The University of Texas
MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Like Martell, Gawley has a close connec-
tion to the cause. “I lost both of my parents
to leukemia, the same disease that took T.J.
Martell’s life and inspired Tony to establish
this incredible foundation,” he says. “Un-
like T.J., who lived at a time when eective
treatments were not yet developed, my
Page 17 of 28
IN BRIEF
Page 18 of 28
parents’ lives were extended for a significant
period, in no small part because of the can-
cer research supported by organizations like
the T.J. Martell Foundation. So, this is per-
sonal to me. In the face of this disease, we
need to do all we can to extend life, to save
life and to keep cherished family members
healthy and with us for as long as possible.”
The organization has an ambitious slate of
events for the coming year starting with the
15th Los Angeles Wine Dinner on Thursday
night (March 20). That will be followed
by April 22’s Nashville’s Best Cellars; May
22’s Napa’s Best Cellars in St. Helena, Calif.;
and then Sept. 16’s New York Honors Gala,
which will mark the golden anniversary by
celebrating music industry leaders and sci-
entists who have championed T.J. Martell’s
mission.
The annual events will be joined by new
activities, including a fundraiser in Atlanta
chaired by trustee members Archie Davis
and Disturbin’ The Peace’s Chaka Zulu
that will focus on raising awareness and
early detection for prostate cancer, which
one in eight men will be diagnosed with
in their lifetimes. “Even more concerning,
Black Americans face an even higher risk,
being more than twice as likely to die from
the disease,” Gawley says. “These kinds of
initiatives are essential, especially for the
communities that are most vulnerable.”
T.J. Martell is also adding fundraising
teams to endurance events through its new
Music’s Team for a Cure initiative, with
teams already signed up for the Hamptons
Marathon & Half on Sept. 27 in Southamp-
ton Village, N.Y., and the Run Nash Half
Marathon & 5K on Oct. 25 in Nashville.
Gawley has identified four pillars to
ensure the organization’s growth. The first
is to enhance financial sustainability and
fundraising beyond traditional events by
diversifying revenue streams and reduc-
ing cost structure through peer-to-peer
fundraising eorts like Music’s Team for a
Cure, as well as a planned giving program
and appropriate brand partnerships to raise
funds and T.J. Martell’s profile. Second is to
advance research funding by honing the or-
ganization’s “focus even further as a leader
in supporting early stage, high potential
cancer research that traditional institutions
might overlook,” Gawley says. “Our goal is
to focus on the boldest and most promising
ideas to support.”
Third is to “refresh” the brand’s iden-
tity within the music culture and enhance
social media engagement. And fourth is to
engage the next generation of leaders by
“expand[ing] our board to include bold,
strategic leaders from music, philanthropy
and business [and developing] programming
to engage young professionals and industry
leaders.”
The work of organizations like T.J. Mar-
tell is all the more critical given the Trump
administration’s recent cuts in funding at
organizations like the National Institutes
of Health. “This is an issue of the gravest
concern to our medical community,” Gawley
says. “I attended the T.J. Martell Pioneers in
Promise Cancer Summit at Atlanta [recent-
ly] with many of our leading cancer doctors
and researchers. They are concerned that
we could lose an entire generation of re-
searchers depending on the extent of these
cuts. Under these circumstances, the role of
non-profits like The T.J. Martell Foundation
in raising critical funds for cancer research
has never been more important.”
T.J. Martell was rocked by an embezzle-
ment scandal in 2022 when its former
executive vp/general manager, Melissa Ann
Goodwin, was found guilty of stealing more
than $3.7 million from the foundation over
a two-year period. She was sentenced to
four years in federal prison in August 2022.
After regrouping and Huck coming in,
the foundation was back on its feet with a
full slate of events in 2023, and Gawley says
three of its fundraisers in 2024 set all-time
records. The New York Honors Gala honor-
ing Big Loud co-founder Seth England and
featuring Morgan Wallen, Ernest and Hardy
raised the most money for the event in 20
years.
“But let’s not kid ourselves,” Gawley says.
“In 2021 and 2022, it took a tremendous
amount of work and care by our incredible
board, our newly appointed CEO [Huck]
and our long-time supporters to re-establish
confidence in the foundation and to ensure
something like this could never happen
again. Our music community was not going
to let one rogue employee derail the proud
legacy and vital impact of our esteemed
foundation. So, we are very much back. We
are squarely focused on our mission to help
find cures with the help of our vibrant music
community and our brilliant doctors and
researchers.”
T.J. Martell’s newly elected executive
committee, which began their terms in
January, includes Scott Borchetta (Big
Machine Label Group), Tom Corson
(Warner Records), John Esposito (execu-
tive chairman), Daniel Glass (Glassnote
Entertainment Group), Jerey Harleston
(Universal Music Group), Michael Huppe
(Sound Exchange), Rich Isaacson (R I
Entertainment), Michael Kushner (Warner
Music Group), Avery Lipman (REPUBLIC
Collective), Dennis Lord (attorney), Marc
Reiter (Metallica), Darren Stupak (Sony
Music Entertainment), Joe Schmidt (RE-
PUBLIC Collective) Julie Swidler (Sony
Music Entertainment), Andy Tavel (Raines
Feldman Littrell LLP) and Ron Wilcox (MD
Consulting, Treasurer).
JENNIE’s ‘Ruby’
Debuts at No. 2
on Billboard’s Top
Album Sales Chart
BY KEITH CAULFIELD
JENNIE’s debut studio album, Ruby,
debuts at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top
Album Sales chart (dated March
22). The set sold 26,500 copies in the
U.S. in the week ending March 13, accord-
ing to Luminate.
JENNIE is the second member of the
quartet BLACKPINK to capture a solo top
10-charting eort on Top Album Sales,
following LISA’s Alter Ego (No. 1, March
15 chart) and ROSÉ’s rosie (No. 2, Dec. 21,
2024). BLACKPINK itself has logged three
top 10s, including two No. 1s: The Album (in
2020) and BORN PINK (2022).
Also in the top 10 of the latest Top Album
Sales chart, Lady Gaga lands her eighth No.
1 with the chart-topping bow of MAYHEM,
IN BRIEF
Page 19 of 28
while the newest releases from Jason Isbell,
Spiritbox, Noah Kahan and tobyMac debut
in the region.
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 infor-
mation from SoundScan, now Luminate.
Pure album sales were the sole measure-
ment utilized by the Billboard 200 albums
chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014,
after which that chart switched to a meth-
odology that blends album sales with track
equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming
equivalent album (SEA) units.
Ruby was available in its first week as a
nine-track widely available digital download
album, and then an expanded 15-song physi-
cal set and a 15-track download edition.
While the standard and physical albums
have only one guest star (FKJ, on “JANE”),
the 15-track download edition adds further
special guests on a few tracks, including
Doechii, Dua Lipa, Dominic Fike, Childish
Gambino and Kali Uchis. Ruby’s first-week
sales were aided by its availability across
four CD variants (all containing collectible
paper ephemera, some randomized), five de-
luxe CD boxed set editions (each containing
a piece of branded clothing, a signed insert
and a copy of the album) and two download
editions (a widely available standard version
with nine tracks and an expanded 15-song
edition).
At No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Lady Gaga’s
MAYHEM arrives, selling 136,000. The
set’sfirst-week sales were bolstered by its
availability across a gaggle of editions: 14
vinyl variants (some signed, and some in-
clude the bonus track “Can’t Stop the High,”
while Target’s exclusive vinyl has the extra
track “Kill for Love”), four CD editions (one
signed, Target’s exclusive CD adds “Kill”
while Gaga’s webstore carried a CD with
the bonus track “Can’t Stop the High”), a
cassette tape, a deluxe CD box set with a
branded T-shirt and poster, and two widely
available download albums (the standard
14-song album, and then a deluxe version
exclusive to iTunes with the three music
videos for “Disease,” “Die With a Smile” and
“Abracadabra”).
Of MAYHEM’s opening-week sales, vinyl
purchases comprise 74,000 – Gaga’s biggest
week on vinyl ever.
Jason Isbell’s first entirely solo acoustic
album, Foxes In the Snow, bows at No. 3 on
Top Album Sales with nearly 18,000 copies
sold. Vinyl sales comprise almost 9,500
copies of that sum – owed to its availability
across five variants. It was also issued in a
pair of CD editions.
Heavy metal band Spiritbox debuts at No.
4 with Tsunami Sea, selling 16,500 copies in
its first week. The set was issued on CD, cas-
sette and at least nine vinyl variants.
Noah Kahan’s Live From Fenway Park,
which was previously only available to buy
as a download album, made its debut on
vinyl in the tracking week (across three vari-
ants), helping the set sell a total of 16,000
– and enabling its debut at No. 5 on Top
Album Sales.
Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping GNX
falls 2-6 on Top Album Sales (15,000; down
7%), Sabrina Carpenter’s former leader
Short n’ Sweet slips 5-7 (11,500; down 5%)
and Chappell Roan’s No. 1 The Rise and Fall
of a Midwest Princess descends 6-8 (nearly
9,000; up 6%). Doechii’s Alligator Bites
Never Heal vaults 24-9 on Top Album Sales
after the release of a new vinyl variant, sell-
ing a total of about 8,500 across all formats
(up 188%).
Closing out Top Album Sales’ top 10 is the
latest release from tobyMac, whose Heaven
On My Mind enters at No. 10 with 7,000 cop-
ies sold. It was issued on two CD variants
(including a signed edition) and three vinyl
variants.
ATEEZ’s KQ
Entertainment
Partners With
AEG To
Produce Tours
BY ELIZABETH DILTS MARSHALL
KQ Entertainment, the South
Korean music company behind
ATEEZ, signed a multi-year
agreement with AEG Presents to
oversee the production of all global tours for
the K-pop supergroup.
The partnership, the terms of which were
not disclosed, will enable “both companies
to leverage their core strengths to further
promote K-pop on a global scale,” according
to a statement.
One of the most successful K-pop groups
in international markets, including in the
United States, ATEEZ became the first
K-pop boy group to perform at Coachella
in 2024—a festival that AEG oversees. The
group of eight KQ Entertainment train-
ees turned superstars are known to their
fanbase—most of whom reside outside
of South Korea—for their tours featuring
intense choreography and dance routines.
The group’s 11th mini album GOLDEN
HOUR: Part.2 debuted at No. 1 on the Bill-
board 200 chart in November. It was the
group’s second No. 1 album, following their
chart-topping 2023 release THE WORLD
EP.FIN: WILL. In total, GOLDEN HOUR:
Part.2 is the sixth top 10-charting set for the
group, all consecutive.
KQ Entertainment is a quickly rising K-
pop agency and management label that, in
addition to ATEEZ, represents the boy band
xikers, and the producers and artists EDEN
and Maddox.
AEG oversees many major music festivals,
including Coachella Valley Music & Arts
Festival, the legendary New Orleans Jazz
& Heritage Festival and Stagecoach, and
promotes tours for Taylor Swift, Zach Bryan,
Sabrina Carpenter, Celine Dion, Elton John,
IN BRIEF
Page 20 of 28
Carin León, Paul McCartney, The Rolling
Stones, Ed Sheeran and Tyler, The Creator.
Miley Cyrus Can’t
Dismiss ‘Flowers’
Copyright Lawsuit
Over Bruno Mars
Song, Judge Rules
BY BILL DONAHUE
Miley Cyrus has lost her initial
bid to dismiss a copyright case
claiming her chart-topping
“Flowers” ripped o the
Bruno Mars song “When I Was Your Man,”
allowing the high-profile lawsuit to proceed
toward a trial.
Seeking to end the case at the outset,
attorneys for Cyrus had argued that the
plainti who filed the lawsuit lacked the legal
“standing” to pursue it. The case was filed
not by Mars himself, but a financial entity
called Tempo Music Investments that bought
the rights of his co-writer Philip Lawrence.
But in a ruling issued Tuesday, a Los An-
geles federal judge rejected that argument,
calling it “incorrect” and a “misunderstand-
ing” of existing legal precedents.
“Tempo now steps into Lawrence’s shoes
and is a co‐owner of the exclusive rights of
the copyright,” Judge Dean D. Pregerson
wrote. “Because Lawrence as a co‐owner
could sue for infringement, Tempo as
co‐owner, in lieu of Lawrence, can sue for
infringement without joining the other co‐
owners of the copyright.”
Attorneys for Cyrus called Tempo’s partial
ownership a “fatal and incurable defect in
plainti’s claim,” but Judge Pregerson ruled
that endorsing the star’s argument would
be a radical shift in the legal landscape and
have a profound economic and creative
impact.
“Such a limitation would diminish the
value of jointly owned copyrights, because
buyers would be less interested in purchas-
ing a copyright that they cannot enforce,
thereby disincentivizing co‐authorship and
collaboration in works,” the judge wrote.
“This would undermine Congress’s intent.”
In rejecting it, the judge took Miley’s
argument to its rational endpoint: “If, as
songwriter defendants’ arguments seem
to suggest, a co‐owner’s right to sue for
infringement is lost upon transfer, then if all
original co‐authors transferred their inter-
est, the copyright could never be enforced.”
Tuesday’s ruling is only an initial deci-
sion, and does not mean that Tempo will
win its case against Cyrus. As it moves
ahead, her attorneys will pivot to more sub-
stantive arguments – that her song simply
did not infringe the Mars hit because they
share only “unprotected ideas and musical
building blocks.”
In a statement to Billboard on Wednesday,
Tempo lead attorney Alex Weingarten said:
“We are thrilled but not the least surprised
by the ruling. Our client is looking forward
to having this case proceed to be resolved
on its merits and are extremely confident in
prevailing.” An attorney for Cyrus did not
return a request for comment.
“Flowers,” which spent eight weeks atop
the Hot 100, has been linked to “Your Man”
since it was released in January 2023. Many
fans immediately saw it as an “answer song,”
with lyrics that clearly referenced Mars’
song. The reason, according to internet
sleuths, was that “Your Man” was a favorite
of Cyrus’ ex-husband Liam Hemsworth
— and her allusions were a nod to their
divorce.
When “Flowers” was first released, legal
experts told Billboard that Cyrus was likely
not violating copyrights simply by using
similar lyrics to fire back at the earlier song
— a time-honored music industry tradition
utilized by songs ranging from Lynyrd Sky-
nyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” to countless
rap diss records.
But Tempo sued in September, claim-
ing “Flowers” had lifted numerous elements
beyond the clap-back lyrics, including “me-
lodic and harmonic material,” “pitch ending
pattern,” and “bass-line structure.” Tempo,
which had purchased a fractional share in
the song from co-writer Lawrence, argued it
was “undeniable” that Cyrus’ hit “would not
exist” if not for “Your Man.”
In her motion to dismiss the case, at-
torneys for Miley said that the total lack of
involvement from Mars and the song’s two
other co-writers was not some procedural
quirk in the case, but rather a fatal flaw:
“Without the consent of the other owners, a
grant of rights from just one co-owner does
not confer standing.”
In Limp Bizkit’s
$200M Lawsuit
Against UMG,
Judge Brings
Key Claims
Back Into Play
BY BILL DONAHUE
A
federal judge is shaking up Limp
Bizkit’s $200 million lawsuit
against Universal Music Group
(UMG), issuing a procedural rul-
ing that sends much of the contentious legal
battle to state court but allows copyright
claims to move ahead toward trial.
In a decision issued Tuesday (March
19), Judge Percy Anderson said he would
decline to exercise jurisdiction over the ma-
jority of the lawsuit’s accusations against
UMG, including its core claim that the band
is entitled to a ruling of “rescission” that
voids its deals with the label and allows it to
take back copyrights to its music.
Citing concerns about “economy, con-
venience [and] fairness,” the judge ruled
that those claims must instead be handled
by state courts in New York or California.
But he denied UMG’s motion to dismiss the
band’s claim of copyright infringement, al-
lowing those claims to proceed in his court.
Though hardly a slam dunk, the ruling is a
positive development for Limp Bizkit. In an
earlier ruling, Judge Anderson had outright
rejected the rescission claim — a holding
that also meant the band couldn’t sue the
label for copyright infringement. In the
new decision, the judge left the question of
IN BRIEF
Page 21 of 28
rescission open for a future ruling by a state
court, meaning that claim — and the lucra-
tive copyright claims — are back in play.
Though the copyright claims will now
move forward in his court, the judge has
repeatedly stressed that those allegations
can only succeed if the band’s contracts
with UMG are rescinded and it regains its
ownership of the copyrights. The judge
could potentially pause the case while the
rescission issue is litigated in state court, but
he gave no indication that he would do so in
Tuesday’s decision.
Frontman Fred Durst and Limp Bizkit
sued in October, claiming the band had
“never received any royalties from UMG”
despite its huge success over the years: “The
band had still not been paid a single cent by
UMG in any royalties until taking action.”
The band argued that the damages total
owed by UMG would “easily surpass $200
million” when the case was over.
But in January, Judge Anderson sided
with UMG on the core question of rescis-
sion. He ruled that the band had in fact been
“paid millions in advances” and that UMG
had fronted “substantial sums” to record
and distribute Limp Bizkit’s albums —
meaning the band didn’t deserve the drastic
remedy of terminating the decades-old deals
in their entirety.
“Plaintis seek rescission of contracts
that have governed the parties’ relationship
beginning in 1996 — nearly 30 years — be-
cause the agreements should be rescinded
as fraudulently induced,” the judge wrote.
“Plaintis have not plausibly alleged the type
of ‘substantial’ or ‘total failure’ in the perfor-
mance of the contracts that could support
rescission of the parties’ agreements.”
Following that ruling, Limp Bizkit re-
sponded by filing an updated version of the
lawsuit. In it, the band added new factual al-
legations to support their demand for rescis-
sion, including that its former manager had
fraudulently induced them to sign agree-
ments, engaging in “wrongful self-dealing”
while the band was “paid nothing.”
In Tuesday’s decision, Judge Anderson
said those new allegations would require the
kind of detailed analysis of novel state-law
issues that a state-level court was better
suited to address.
“The rescission claims, on which the copy-
right claims depend, ... require an analysis
of state law of both New York and California
law involving facts and law that are distinct
from those necessary to adjudicate the
copyright claim,” the judge wrote. “Plaintis’
eort to rescind the agreements as a result of
the alleged fraud committed by their former
business manager appears to also raise com-
plex and novel theories for which there is
limited controlling legal precedent.”
Joe McFadden,
Veteran Sales
Executive at
EMI & Capitol,
Dies at 77
BY CHRIS EGGERTSEN
Veteran record label executive
Joe McFadden, who worked for
decades at companies including
EMI Music and Capitol Records,
died March 11 following a long illness. He
was 77.
McFadden launched his career at EMI in
1975 and later worked at Capitol Records as
senior vp of sales and field marketing. While
at the latter label, he worked with acts
including Paul McCartney, Bonnie Raitt,
Bob Seger, Megadeth, Duran Duran, Beastie
Boys, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Coldplay and
Iron Maiden.
In 2007, McFadden departed Capitol
to open an independent consultancy, The
Hammer LLC, where he worked with
Punch Andrews and Mike Boila as a sales
and marketing consultant for Seger. From
2007 to 2008, McFadden was also in charge
of sales, marketing and promotions for Cold-
play’s Viva La Vida album and world tour.
McFadden joined Better Noise Music in
2008 as chief commercial ocer. In that
role, he oversaw operations, strategic plan-
ning and artist development for acts includ-
ing Five Finger Death Punch, Mötley Crüe,
Papa Roach, The Hu and Buckcherry.
Prior to entering the major label system,
McFadden received an education in the
music business through his father, Jack
McFadden, with whom he worked to man-
age artists including Buck Owens and Merle
Haggard from their home base in Bakers-
field, Calif. He went on to earn a business
administration and management degree
from Fresno State University.
“Joe McFadden was more than just a
colleague; he was a dear friend and an
invaluable partner in our journey together
since we first met in 1987,” said Better Noise
Music founder Allen Kovac, who worked
with McFadden in various capacities for
more than 30 years.
Kovac added, “Joe admired my clarity in
marketing, but what I valued most was his
unwavering honesty and practical think-
ing. Together, we navigated the challenging
waters of the music industry, working on
projects like Richard [Marx] and Duran
Duran. At times when many doubted, Joe
stood firmly by my side as a label executive,
always ready to open doors and create op-
portunities for us to succeed.” (Kovac’s full
tribute is below.)
McFadden is survived by his wife Ellen
McFadden; his sister Lana Waltman; his
sons Jonathan McFadden, Jerey McFadden
and David Torello; his daughter Sara Torello
Hart; and grandchildren Jerey McFadden
Jr., Maci McFadden Stanford, Vivian Hart
and Elijah Hart.
A service will be held Saturday (March
22) at 1:15 p.m. at Church of the Recession
at Forest Lawn in Glendale, Calif. The live
stream can be viewed here. In lieu of flow-
ers, donations can be made in McFadden’s
honor to St. Jude’s Hospital, which he sup-
ported throughout his life.
Allen Kovac tribute:
Joe McFadden was more than just a col-
league; he was a dear friend and an invalu-
able partner in our journey together since we
first met in 1987.
I still vividly recall that day in the bleach-
ers of a gym in Philadelphia. I was a relatively
unknown manager on the rise, working with
Richard Marx, while Joe was with CEMA
Distribution, quietly making his mark. As we
listened to Richard perform, something re-
markable happened. Joe, who initially struck
IN BRIEF
Page 22 of 28
me as understated, became animated and
vocal, pointing at Richard and proclaiming,
“That kid is going to be a star.” From that mo-
ment on, a bond was forged between us—two
believers in the power of music and vision.
Joe admired my clarity in marketing, but
what I valued most was his unwavering
honesty and practical thinking. Together, we
navigated the challenging waters of the music
industry, working on projects like Richard and
Duran Duran. At times when many doubted,
Joe stood firmly by my side as a label execu-
tive, always ready to open doors and create
opportunities for us to succeed.
When I took the leap to start my own
record company, one of my first hires was,
without question, Joe. He was not just an
employee; he was the foundation upon which
we built our dreams. At our retreats, where
new ideas were often met with skepticism,
Joe would be the voice of reason, encouraging
everyone to listen to my vision and remind-
ing them that I saw possibilities they might
have missed. His confidence in me gave me
strength, and I will forever be grateful for
that.
Every morning at our retreats, Joe would
be the first to rise and greet the day. He would
come down to breakfast with a smile, often
sharing his fondness for the wonderful pillows
in my master guest bedroom. He always got
that room because of the deep respect I had
for him, just as I cherished ending each night
with my best scotch, a tradition we shared
and enjoyed together.
Joe’s spirit, enthusiasm, and unwavering
support have left an indelible mark on all of
us. He was a true champion for those he be-
lieved in, and today, as we remember him, let
us carry forward his legacy of belief, honesty,
and camaraderie in our own lives and work.
Joe, thank you for being my partner, my
friend, and a guiding light in our industry.
You will be profoundly missed, but your influ-
ence will live on through each of us.
Rest in peace.
Shaboozey,
Waxahatchee
& More Lead 2025
Libera Awards
Nominations:
Full List
BY PAUL GREIN
Shaboozey, MJ Lenderman, Waxa-
hatchee, Jessica Pratt and Kim
Gordon are among the leading
artist nominees for the 2025 Libera
Awards, which honor the best in indepen-
dent music across 28 categories. This 14th
annual awards ceremony will take place on
Monday, June 9 at the historic Gotham Hall
in New York City.
The nominees for record of the year
include Pratt’s Here in the Pitch (Mexican
Summer), Gordon’s The Collective (Matador
Records), Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks
(ANTI-), Mk.gee’s “Rockman” (R&R Digital)
and Waxahatchee’s Tigers Blood (ANTI-).
Pratt, Lenderman and Mk.gee are also
nominated for the breakthrough artist
award, where they face Magdalena Bay
(Mom+Pop), Mannequin Pussy (Epitaph)
and Shaboozey (American Dogwood/
EMPIRE). Shaboozey, whose “A Bar Song
(Tipsy)” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for
19 weeks, was nominated for best new artist
at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 2 and new
artist of the year at the Country Music As-
sociation Awards on Nov. 20.
The nominations were announced on
Wednesday (March 19) by FIM (The Foun-
dation for Independent Music) and A2IM
(The American Association of Independent
Music, Inc.).
“Huge congratulations to all the incred-
ibly talented nominees for the 14th annual
Libera Awards,” Dr. Richard James Burgess,
president and CEO of A2IM, said in a state-
ment. “As the world’s largest awards show
dedicated to the diverse and vibrant world
of independent music, the Libera Awards
honor both the artists and the industry that
champion them. This year’s event prom-
ises to be our biggest and best yet, as A2IM
proudly celebrates its 20th anniversary.”
The Libera Awards Presented by Merlin
– the ocial name of the awards – will kick
o the Indie Week conference, which will
run from Tuesday, June 10 through Thurs-
day, June 12 at the InterContinental New
York Times Square.
A2IM is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit trade
organization headquartered in New York
City that exists to support and strengthen
the independent recorded music sector.
Membership currently includes a broad
coalition of over 600 independently-owned
American music labels.
Go here for a complete list of nominees
for the 2025 Libera Awards Presented by
Merlin.
How NewJeans’
Rebrand as
‘NJZ’ Ended Up
in the Courts
— and Why the
K-Pop Industry Is
Speaking Out
BY BILLBOARD KOREA
For over a year, the K-pop industry
has been embroiled in a heated de-
bate over the girl group NewJeans.
In fact, even the name “NewJeans”
has become a point of contention following
the group’s announcement in February that
they would be rebranded as NJZ. How-
ever, their management company, ADOR,
has disputed the legitimacy of this name
change. While the group has requested to
be referred to as NJZ, no legal ruling has
been made on the matter, leaving the exist-
ing contract intact. As a result, from a legal
standpoint, NewJeans remains the more
accurate designation for the time being.
IN BRIEF
Page 23 of 28
Amid ongoing legal uncertainties,
NewJeans is moving ahead independently.
This March, the group is scheduled to
perform at ComplexCon Hong Kong,
where they are reportedly debuting a new
song. This move appears to be an attempt
to further establish their rebranded identity
as NJZ. After all, performing NewJeans’ hit
songs while adopting a new name could be
seen as contradictory.
Music organizations and associations in
Korea are closely monitoring the NewJeans
situation. In February, five major organiza-
tions — the Korea Management Federation,
Korea Entertainment Producers’ Asso-
ciation, Record Label Industry of Korea,
Recording Industry Association of Korea
and the Korea Music Content Association
— issued a statement expressing concerns
over NewJeans and former ADOR CEO Min
Hee-jin’s independent activities. Their pri-
mary issue is “tampering,” with suspicions
that Min has been attempting to remove
NewJeans from ADOR.
The statement from the five organizations
reads, “For the past 10 months, we have
observed a growing trend, in which certain
parties attempt to resolve private disputes
through media campaigns and unilateral
public statements instead of proper negotia-
tions or legal procedures, including former
ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin’s press confer-
ences, NewJeans member Hanni’s appear-
ance at a National Assembly audit, and the
group’s independent activities.”
NewJeans fans argue that these five
organizations are merely echoing ADOR/
HYBE’s stance. However, the key issue at
hand is their emphasis on the importance of
“adhering to legal processes.”
At a press conference on Nov. 28, 2024,
NewJeans members announced that “their
contract with ADOR would ocially end at
midnight on November 29th.” They stated,
“We have had enough conversations and
sent certification of content, but there were
no responses during that time. As ADOR
and HYBE have breached the contract, we
are terminating it.”
Since then, NewJeans has continued its
individual actions and reiterated its stance
in interviews with foreign media. In a CNN
interview last month, the group empha-
sized, “We have completely lost trust in
ADOR. We believe we will win this battle
against HYBE and ADOR.” Through Japan’s
TV Asahi, a subsidiary of Asahi Shimbun,
they stated, “Right now, there are very few
media outlets in Korea that carry our voices.
Instead of letting that discourage us, we will
enjoy our activities.”
International fans who have closely fol-
lowed NewJeans’ statements may be more
inclined to side with the group. However,
with both the lawsuit verifying the validity
of their claims and the injunction applica-
tion still ongoing, their assertions remain
one-sided. In this context, foreign media
that present NewJeans’ perspective without
providing balanced coverage of the ongoing
legal dispute risk spreading misinformation.
NewJeans and ADOR remain deeply divid-
ed, locked in a tense stando. On March 7, the
Seoul Central District Court held the first
hearing on ADOR’s provisional injunction
request to “maintain the status of agency and
prohibit the signing of advertising contracts.”
Both parties presented conflicting arguments
and failed to reach a resolution.
As a result, it is challenging to take a defini-
tive stance between ADOR or NewJeans. The
most prudent thing to do right now is to wait
and see how the court reaches its decision,
based on the various claims and substantial
evidence presented by both parties.
This is precisely the position shared by
the five music industry organizations in Ko-
rea. On Feb. 27, they held a press conference
titled, “Let’s Keep a Promise: Without
Record Producers, There is No K-pop!,”
where they declared:
“No one can confirm the cancellation of a
contract before the court’s judgment, and we
must all accept the legal outcome, whatever
it may be. This is the only way to protect our
industry amid conflict and dispute.”
For now, the K-pop community watches
and waits for the court’s decision — a rul-
ing that could have lasting implications for
NewJeans, ADOR and the entire industry.
This article was written by Austin Jin and
originally appeared on Billboard Korea.
Latin Grammys
Add Visual
Media Field &
Best Roots Song
Category for 2025
BY ISABELA RAYGOZA
The Latin Recording Academy has
announced several major updates
to its eligibility guidelines on
Wednesday (March 19) for the
26th annual Latin Grammy Awards.
Among the updates is the addition of a
new field for visual media and the introduc-
tion of two new categories: best music for
visual media and best roots song — singles
or tracks only, with the latter falling under
the traditional field.
These changes aim to reflect the Latin
Academy’s “commitment to evolve with
the ever-changing musical landscape, and
to best serve its membership body of music
creators and professionals,” as noted in the
press release. These updates take eect
immediately for the awards scheduled for
November.
The category of music for visual media
will recognize “original music created to
accompany and enrich the storyline of
movies, television series, video games and
other visual media.” To qualify for this
category, a project must either incorpo-
rate Latin rhythms that are recognized as
eligible genres for the annual Latin Grammy
Awards, or be composed by an individual of
Ibero-American heritage.
Meanwhile, the best roots song award will
be given to the songwriters of “new, unpub-
lished recordings, both vocal and instru-
mental, that reflect the traditions and roots
of various communities, cultures, or social
groups, especially those of Hispanic Ameri-
can origin, whether in Spanish, Portuguese
or in indigenous languages or dialects,”
notes the release. It will highlight works in
genres like tango, folk, flamenco, and other
traditional subgenres.
IN BRIEF
Page 24 of 28
Other amendments include category
renaming. In the pop field, “best pop vocal
album” will now be called “best contem-
porary pop album”; in the children’s field,
“best Latin children’s album” is being
renamed to “best children’s album”; and in
the urban field, “best urban fusion/perfor-
mance” will be named “best urban/urban
fusion performance.” The later category
will now require 60% urban elements for
eligibility, rather than 51%. “Remixes are
eligible only if the original version of the
song was released within the same eligibil-
ity year,” states the ocial announcement
regarding the urban field.
Additionally, the songwriter of the
year category reduced its minimum song
threshold from six to four, while producer
of the year will now undergo screening “by
a specialized committee in addition to the
membership screening and voting process.”
For more information, visit LatinGRAM-
MY.com.
Ryan Castro Signs
Global Publishing
Deal With Warner
Chappell Music
BY GRISELDA FLORES
Colombian reggaetón star Ryan
Castro has signed a global pub-
lishing deal with Warner Chappell
Music, the company tells Bill-
board. Born in Medellín, Castro released his
debut album El Cantante del Ghetto, a nod to
his journey from street busking to bona fide
hitmaker, last year.
“Joining Warner Chappell is a big step
in my career as an artist and songwriter,”
Castro said about the admin agreement in a
statement. “I am excited to be part of a team
that will continue to push my creativity and
vision. I am looking forward to everything
we’ll accomplish together.”
“Ryan is an exceptionally multidimen-
sional songwriter and artist. He eortlessly
navigates between a range of genres —
from reggaeton and trap to merengue and
dancehall — showcasing just how dedicated
and disciplined he is with his craft,” added
Lázaro Hernández, senior vp of A&R, U.S.
Latin & Latin America at Warner Chappell
Music. “We are thrilled to welcome him and
ocially launch this partnership.”
Following years of hustle, including
singing at bus stops and on buses, Castro’s
career took o in 2021 with “Mujeriego”
and “Jordan,” both of which charted on
the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl.
U.S. The 31-year-old fueled the momentum
by doubling down on collaborations with
stars like Karol G (“Una Noche en Medel-
lín (Remix)”), Feid (“Ritmo de Medallo”)
and Peso Pluma (“Quema”). The Karol G
collab landed Castro his debut entry on the
Billboard Hot 100.
“Ryan is a force to be reckoned with,
full of energy and charisma,” said Gustavo
Menéndez, president of U.S. Latin & Latin
America at Warner Chappell Music. “He
is one of the most committed songwriters
I know, with an incredible work ethic. His
ability to write songs that deeply resonate
with listeners speaks for itself, and we’re
proud to support him during this pivotal
moment in his career.”
The deal with Warner Chappell Music —
in which Castro was represented by Brian
Alvarez on behalf of WK Records and his
manager Leandro Arango — follows the
hitmaker’s venture into sports earlier this
year when, through his company AWOO
Team, he acquired a significant equity
stake in Paisas Basketball club, a profes-
sional team in his hometown. The acquisi-
tion made Castro the first Colombian music
artist to own a stake in a basketball team.
Dance Moves:
Zeds Dead,
GT_Oce, David
Guetta & More
Climb Charts
BY XANDER ZELLNER
Billboard’s Dance Moves roundup
serves as a guide to the biggest
movers and shakers across Bill-
board’s many dance charts — new
No. 1s, new top 10s, first-timers and more.
This week (on charts dated March 22,
2025), Zeds Dead, Lady Gaga, GT_Ofice,
David Guetta and others achieve new mile-
stones. Check out key movers below.
Zeds Dead
The Canadian electronic duo hits Bill-
board’s Top Dance Albums chart for the first
time in nearly a decade thanks to its new
album, Return to the Spectrum of Interga-
lactic Happiness. Released March 7 via the
act’s Deadbeats label, the set debuts at No.
14 with 4,000 equivalent album units earned
in the U.S. its opening week, according to
Luminate. The pair last appeared on the
chart in November 2016 with its No. 6-peak-
ing Northern Lights. Zeds Dead has charted
four additional projects on the ranking,
including the top 10 Somewhere Else (No. 4
peak, 2014).
Plus, Zeds Dead’s “One of These Morn-
ings” reenters the Hot Dance/Electronic
Songs chart at No. 21, boosted by the new al-
bum’s release. The track debuted at its No. 15
high in February, becoming the pair’s highest
charting entry. – XANDER ZELLNER
Lady Gaga
As previously reported, the superstar
has a monster week on Billboard’s charts
thanks to her new album, MAYHEM. The
set soars in at No. 1 on both the Billboard
200 and Top Dance Albums charts with
219,000 units. It becomes her seventh No. 1
on the Billboard 200 and her record-break-
ing eighth leader on Top Dance Albums, as
she passes Louie DeVito for the most in the
IN BRIEF
Page 25 of 28
chart’s 24-year history. Notably, her 2008
debut, The Fame, has spent a record 193
weeks at No. 1.
Gaga also charts nine songs from MAY-
HEM on the Hot Dance/Pop Songs chart,
including seven in the top 10. “Abracadabra”
rules the ranking for a fourth week. –X.Z.
GT_Ofice
GT_Ofice earns his first leader on a
Billboard chart as “Someone Else” ascends
a spot to No. 1 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay.
The DJ-producer (real name Caine Shep-
pard; the first three letters of his moniker
stand for “good times only”) has charted
four songs — all self-released — dating
to 2023, reaching a previous No. 26 peak
with “Every Thought of You” (with ALWZ
SNNY). He also hit No. 30 with his other
sole-billed entry, “Never Together.”
“Someone Else” is receiving support
on stations including Pulse Radio in San
Francisco (more than 850 plays to date,
according to Mediabase), Pulse 87 (Hudson
Valley, N.Y.; 600 plays) and Revolution 93.5
(Miami; 550 plays). “Dance radio has helped
introduce me to listeners who might not be
in the club or festival scene,” GT_Ofice says.
“I generally mix poppy vocals with dance
pop beats. My sound is just a little dierent.”
–GARY TRUST
David Guetta & Sia
Both artists return to the top 10 of Hot
Dance/Electronic Songs with their new
collaboration, “Beautiful People.” Released
March 7, the song debuts at No. 8 with 1.2
million U.S. ocial streams earns in its
opening week. It earns Guetta his 26th
career top 10, the second-most in the chart’s
history, after Kygo’s 27, and Sia her sixth. It’s
also Guetta’s record-extending 94th overall
entry. The song concurrently starts at No. 30
on Dance/Mix Show Airplay.
“Beautiful People” marks the latest chart-
ed collaboration between Guetta and Sia.
The pair previously appeared together on
Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (which began
in 2013) with “She Wolf (Falling to Pieces)”
(No. 8 peak in 2013); “Bang My Head,” also
with Fetty Wap (No. 5, 2016); “Flames” (No.
9, 2018); “Let’s Love” (No. 9, 2020); and
“Floating Through Space” (No. 11, 2021).
They first linked up for the smash “Tita-
nium,” which hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot
100 in 2011. –X.Z.
Frank Walker & Alexander Stewart
The pair’s single “Crossfire” rises 13-10
on Dance/Mix Show Airplay, reaching the
top 10 thanks to a 9% gain in spins. Walker
adds his fourth top 10 and first since “I Go
Dancing” (with Ella Henderson), which
spent a week at No. 1 in 2023. Stewart scores
his second top 10, and overall entry, after his
team-up with Two Friends, “Wrong Way,”
which spent a week at No. 1 in November.
–X.Z.
Key Production
Group Launches
Recycling Scheme
for Old Vinyl
and CDs
BY TYLER JENKE
In 2024, Billie Eilish explained that her
Hit Me Hard and Soft album was set
to be her most eco-friendly release
to date.
While a number of vinyl variants were
still released out into the world, each were
produced by using recycled materials, in-
cluding a 100% recycled black vinyl edition,
and seven colored vinyl versions being made
from ECO-MIX or BioVinyl.
Though Eilish would also criticize the
“wasteful” practice of “some of the biggest
artists in the world making f–king 40 dif-
ferent vinyl packages” for fans to purchase,
the other side of the vinyl equation comes
about when the topic of disposing of music
is raised.
Sales of physical media remain strong in
the streaming age, and though consumption
as a whole has largely shifted to the digital
format, the question of how to ethically get
rid of music is one that is as pertinent as ever.
That’s why U.K. music manufacturer Key
Production Group has now launched the
full roll-out of its plans to ensure vinyl and
CDs are disposed of in an environmentally-
responsible way.
The U.K. company initially launched their
Key Production Recycling eorts in early
2020, only for progress to be stunted by
the then-burgeoning global pandemic. Fast
forward to 2025, and it’s been kick-started
once again, launched just in time for Global
Recycling Day on March 18.
Partially inspired by the ongoing vinyl
boom and the question of what to do with
unplayable media once it goes beyond its
usefulness, retail stores such as Rough
Trade have also joined in with the scheme
in an eort to find a sustainable option for
disposing of unsold or unplayable stock.
According to Key Production, those with
unwanted vinyl or CDs – regardless of size,
packaging, or condition – are able to send
their items directly to the organization who
will then recycle them depending on the
materials.
While vinyl records and CDs are made
of dierent plastic compounds – polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) for the former and optical
grade polycarbonate for the latter – their
materials are then reused as opposed to
spending hundreds of years in landfills. For
vinyl materials, this can see albums being
repurposed once again as PVC, to be used in
the composition of future vinyl records, or
to be utilized in building and road construc-
tion. For CDs, polycarbonate can be reused
for the likes of automotive parts or elec-
tronic devices.
“We believe vinyl and CDs should be
cherished and if looked after well will last
a lifetime,” Key Production notes on their
website. “However, should you find that
you have damaged items that you would
like to recycle then that can be facilitated,
distributors will usually have a responsible
recycling scheme of their own so if you work
with one do check with them. Alternatively
we can take records and CDs for recycling
where we can guarantee that every element
of a product is being recycled responsibly.”
“Sustainability is a vital part of our identity
here at Key Production Group and the idea
to develop Key Production Recycling was
born from our commitment to understanding
and managing the lifecycle of physical music
products, prompting us to ask: what happens
when they can no longer be used,” explained
Key Production’s Strategy and Sustainability
IN BRIEF
Page 26 of 28
Director, John Service.
“We are so excited to be working with
labels and record stores across the country
and allow the public to utilise something
that is so beneficial in extending a product’s
lifespan.”
“Being able to provide a solution that’s not
only sustainable but that will also have a posi-
tive impact on the life cycle of a product is
really important to us at Rough Trade,” added
Rough Trade Managing Director, Lawrence
Montgomery. “Key Production Recycling
is and will continue to be beneficial for us
at Rough Trade and our facilities and we’re
lucky to be able to use this great system!”
Full details of Key Production Group’s
Recycling scheme are available on their
website.
Elvis Crespo
Back on Tropical
Airplay With Jerry
Rivera Collab
‘Nuestra Canción’
BY PAMELA BUSTIOS
Tropical hitmaker Elvis Crespo
is back on the Billboard charts as
“Nuestra Canción,” with Jerry
Rivera, debuts at No. 10 on the
Tropical Airplay chart (dated March 22).
The new version of his 1998 track marks
his return to the ranking’s top 10 after more
than five years.
“I’m grateful to God for the opportunity
to experience this new life and feel the love
of radio” Crespo tells Billboard upon his first
top 10 since 2019. “Being back and sharing
a song with an artist like Jerry Rivera is an
honor that fills me with emotion, due to
the respect and admiration I have for him.
Without a doubt, this new chapter begins in
an incredible way.”
“Nuestra Canción” debuts at No. 10 on
Tropical Airplay with 2 million audience
impressions registered in the U.S. during the
March 7-13 tracking week, according to Lu-
minate. It gives Crepo his first top 10 since
2019 and 34th overall.
For Rivera, the collab brings rewarding
results. He achieves his third top 10 so far
in 2025. Previously, “Te Buscare” peaked
at No. 8 in February. Meanwhile, “Volver a
Enamorarnos” matches his previous best at
No. 8 high and meets “Nuestra Canción” in
this week’s top 10. Overall, the Puerto Rican
amasses 35 top 10s spanning four decades of
career entries, dating back to his first top 10,
“Me Estoy Enloqueciendo Por Ti” in 1994.
(No. 2 high).
Crespo first came to prominence with the
1999 hit “Suavemente,” which held strong
at the summit on Tropical Airplay for nine
consecutive weeks then. That same year,
he broke the barriers as one of merengue’s
most successful singer-songwriters, placing
two other radio top 10s, including the five-
week ruler “Tu Sonrisa.”
The New York-born, Puerto Rican-raised
vocalist followed suit in 1999, positioning
four other songs on the tally. While he spent
one week at No. 1 with “El Cuerpo Me Pide”
with Victor Manuelle, seven-week champ
“Píntame” earned him a first Grammy for
best merengue performance that same year.
Among those four ranked Tropical Air-
play songs, “Nuestra Canción,” composed by
Homero D’ Rodríguez, took him to a No. 17
high in April 1999. The song was the fourth
single from Crespo’s debut studio album
Suavemente, his first No. 1 on Top Latin Al-
bums, which also gave him his first appear-
ance on the all-genre Billboard 200 in 1999,
where it remained for 43 weeks.
The new version of “Nuestra Canción” is
composed by Crespo and Francisco “Pulpo”
Barbosa. It has already become a new favor-
ite across tropical stations. The song will
become available across digital platforms
on March 20 as announced by Crespo on
TikTok.
While Crespo’s resurgence on Tropical
Airplay earns him a 35th top 10 overall,
Rivera enters a tie with Prince Royce for the
fourth-most top 10s since the tally launched
in 1994, both with 35 top 10s. They trail only
Victor Manuelle (65 top 10s), Marc Anthony
(57) and Gilberto Santa Rosa (37).
Crespo’s new achievement sets as the
Puerto Rican prepares for his Poeta Herío
Tour, which begins at the Coliseo de Puerto
Rico on June 21.
King & Prince’s
‘HEART’ Hits No.
1, Remioromen’s
J-pop Classic
‘March 9th’
Returns on
Japan Hot 100
BY BILLBOARD JAPAN
Prince’s “HEART” blasts in at No.
1 on this week’s Billboard Japan
Hot 100, dated March 19.
The group’s 16th single is being
featured as the ending theme song for the
latest drama series starring member Ren
Nagase. The CD launched with 329,809 cop-
ies to debut at No. 1 for sales, tops downloads
(30,920 units), and comes in at No. 14 for
streaming (4,288,922 weekly streams), No. 23
for radio airplay, and No. 3 for video views.
“HEART” becomes King & Prince’s 14th
No. 1 on the Japan Hot 100. The group has
consistently sold over 300,000 copies of all
of its singles in the first week and all of them
have topped the physical sales list.
King & Prince First Week Single Sales
1. “Cinderella Girl” 622,701 copies
2. “Memorial” 372,139 copies
3. “Kimi wo Matteru” 400,315 copies
4. “koi-wazurai” 385,303 copies
5. “Mazy Night” 531,162 copies
6. “I promise” 578,092 copies
7. “Magic Touch/Beating Hearts” 470,605
copies
8. “Koi Furu Tsukiyo ni Kimi Omou”
449,115 copies
9. “Lovin’ you/Odoruyouni Jinsei wo.”
471,845 copies
10. “TraceTrace” 513,056 copies
11. “Tsukiyomi/Irodori” 614,173 copies
12. “Life goes on/We are young” 1,051,909
copies
IN BRIEF
Page 27 of 28
13. “Nanimono” 546,829 copies
14. “Aishi Ikiru koto/MAGIC WORD”
353,077 copies
15. “halfmoon / moooove!!” 315,400 copies
16. “HEART” 329,809 copies
Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Lilac” stays at No.
2. The track continues to rule streaming for
the 28th week with 9,761,022 streams, while
hitting No. 8 for downloads, No. 66 for radio,
No. 2 for video, and topping karaoke. The
Oblivion Battery opener has sailed past 500
million streams as of this week.
SKE48’s “Tick tack zack” debuts at No.
3. The girl group’s 34th single sold 288,724
copies in its first week, coming in at No. 2
for sales and No. 50 for radio.
At No. 4 on the Japan Hot 100 is Sakanac-
tion’s “Kaiju,” slipping a notch from last
week. The Orb: On the Movements of the
Earth opener came in at No. 7 for down-
loads, No. 2 for streaming, and No. 6 for
radio and video. The accompanying music
video dropped Mar. 16, so points for video
will also fuel the track from next week.
Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Darling” follows
at No. 5. The track is also down a notch from
last week, but radio and karaoke increased
by 133% and 109%, respectively, compared
to the week before.
Elsewhere on the chart, Remioromen’s
J-pop classic “Sangatsu Kokonoka” (March
9th) charts for the second consecutive
week (No. 33 this week). The graduation-
related favorite from 2005 climbs the chart
every year around this time, and this week,
streaming for the track is up 111%, down-
loads 168%, videos 142%, and karaoke 126%
week-over-week.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines
physical and digital sales, audio streams,
radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart,
tallying the week from Mar. 10 to 16, here.
For more on Japanese music and charts,
visit Billboard Japan’s English X account.
IN BRIEF
Page 28 of 28
IN BRIEF
CLICK FOR THE ENTIRE BILLBOARD 200 CHART.
charts DATA FOR WEEK OF 3.22.2025
SALES AND
STREAMING DATA
COMPILED BY
BILLBOARD 200: THE WEEK’S MOST POPULAR ALBUMS, BASED ON MULTIMETRIC CONSUMPTION, BLENDING TRA DITIONAL ALBUM SALES,
STREAMING-EQUIVALENT ALBUMS AND TR ACK-EQUIVALENT ALBUMS, AS COMPILED BY LUMINATE. SEE CHARTS LEGEND ON BILLBOARD.
COM FOR COMPLETE RULES A ND EX PLANATIONS . © 2025 BILLBOARD MEDI A LLC AND LU MINATE INC. ALL R IGHTS RESERV ED.
GO TO BILLBOARD.COM FOR COMPLETE CHART DATA MARCH 22, 202516 16
Billboard 200
2 WKS. AGO
LAST WEEK
THIS WEEK
Artist Title
IMPRINT/DISTRIBUTING LABEL
PEAK POS.
WKS. ON
CHART
HOT SHOT
DEBUT 1
#1 for 1 WEEK
Lady Gaga MAYHEM
STREAMLINE/INTERSCOPE/ICLG
1 1
3 1 2Kendrick Lamar GNX
PGLANG/INTERSCOPE/ICLG
116
2 2 3PARTYNEXTDOOR & Drake $ome $exy $ongs 4 U
OVO SOUND/REPUBLIC/SANTA ANNA
1 4
4 4 4SZA SOS
TOP DAWG/RCA
1118
135Tate McRae So Close To What
RCA
1 3
5 5 6Sabrina Carpenter Short n’ Sweet
ISLAND/REPUBLIC
129
NEW 7JENNIE Ruby
OA ENTERTAINMENT/COLUMBIA
7 1
6 6 8Bad Bunny Debi Tirar Mas Fotos
RIMAS
110
999Morgan Wallen One Thing At A Time
BIG LOUD/MERCURY/REPUBLIC
1106
8 8 10 Chappell Roan
The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess
KRA/AMUSEMENT/ISLAND/REPUBLIC
251
10 11 11 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft
DARKROOM/INTERSCOPE/ICLG
243
710 12 The Weeknd Hurry Up Tomorrow
XO/REPUBLIC
1 6
15 12 13 Morgan Wallen Dangerous: The Double Album
BIG LOUD/REPUBLIC
1218
11 13 14 Gracie Abrams The Secret Of Us
INTERSCOPE/ICLG
238
21 23 15 Doechii Alligator Bites Never Heal
TOP DAWG/CAPITOL/ICLG
14 15
12 14 16 Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department
REPUBLIC
147
13 15 17 Noah Kahan Stick Season
MERCURY/REPUBLIC
2120
16 16 18 Post Malone The Diamond Collection
MERCURY/REPUBLIC
11 68
19 20 19 Neton Vega Mi Vida Mi Muerte
JOSA
19 3
14 18 20 Tyler, The Creator CHROMAKOPIA
COLUMBIA
120
29 YoungBoy Never Broke Again
More Leaks
His latest entry marks his
34th charting release, all
accrued since his rst on the
list in August 2017. In that
span, only the Grateful Dead
has logged more debuts on the
chart, with 44.
37 Noah Kahan
Live From Fenway Park
Previously available only
as a digital download and
streaming set, a physical
release of the album in three
vinyl variants on March7
prompts its reentry and rst
week in the top40.
27 Jason Isbell
Foxes in the Snow
The singer-songwriter’s
rst entirely solo acoustic
album marks his seventh
top40-charting set on the
Billboard200 and his 10th
top10 on the Americana/Folk
Albums ranking (No.2 debut).
BILLBOARD 200
Jennie’s rst solo studio album, Ruby, enters
at No.7 on the Billboard200, marking the
Blackpink member’s debut entry on the list
as a soloist. The set launches with 56,000
equivalent album units earned in the United
States in the week ending March13, according
to Luminate. It also arrives at No.2 on Top
Album Sales with 26,500 of its rst-week units
coming from album purchases.
Jennie is the third member of Blackpink,
following Lisa and Rosé, to notch a solo top10
on the chart — and all of them did so in the
last three months. The last all-female group to
spin o at least three soloists with their own
top10s was Destiny’s Child (with Beyoncé,
LeToya Luckett and Kelly Rowland all scoring
individual top10s). Other groups that have
had at least three solo members accomplish the feat include BTS, The
Beatles, N.W.A, One Direction and Wu-Tang Clan. —KEITH CAULFIELD
7
Jennie
Ruby
5charts_bb200 [P]_2618422.indd 165charts_bb200 [P]_2618422.indd 16 3/18/25 5:13 PM3/18/25 5:13 PM
