PHILADELPHIA — Clive and Oneita Thompson half-stepped, half-danced from the stone steps of a Philadelphia church Monday morning, ending more than two years in sanctuary and walking — free from … Click to Continue »
Back in June, as the Black Lives Matter movement spread across the United States, Lady Antebellum announced that the’ve officially shortened their name to Lady A.
Band mates Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood explained the origins of their decision to use “Antebellum” — which references the pre-Civil War era in the American South — in their moniker at the time. “When we set out together almost 14 years ago, we named our band after the Southern ‘Antebellum’ style home where we took our first photos,” they wrote in a statement. “As musicians, it reminded us of all the music born in the South that influenced us…Southern rock, blues, R&B, gospel and of course country. But we are regretful and embarrassed to say that we did not take into account the associations that weigh down this word…which includes slavery.”
On Monday (Dec. 21), the trio joined Tamron Hall for their first TV conversation since the name change. “The heart of our decision still rings true today as much as it did back in June when we made this announcement,” Scott explained. “I mean we want our music, and our live shows and, you know, anything that we’re a part of, for everyone to feel welcome and invited. And we realized, you know, over the summer I think not touring and watching just this movement happen that is so needed in this country and around the world, we started to see what our part was, what part of our first steps and making a difference could be. And so our name changing was the first step…but you never know how things are going to happen and we never saw that coming.”
The band faced criticism following their decision, not only for choosing a name that a veteran blues singer was using for years, but also for waiting until 12 years after their debut album to make the switch. “I think the word to me that resonates most this year has been blind-spot. And I think I am so guilty of…I didn’t think about it,” Kelly explained. “You know, we came up with the name thinking about the Antebellum home…I don’t know it’s so naive now looking back, but I think, as we’ve grown up, we all have kids now. I mean why now? Well, we’re a lot older, we look at the world a lot different. You know we’re trying to leave the world a little bit better too for our kids and the next generation. And we want to be a part of change. We knew this was going to be difficult. We knew we were going to alienate a lot of fans, you know we didn’t see some of these other things coming, but it hasn’t changed how we’ve tried. We’re trying to resolve this issue with Anita and we’re really trying to be a light out there for everybody. And we know it’s going to be tough, it’s a very divisive issue, but it shouldn’t be a divisive issue, it’s just about love.”
Watch the interview below.
Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” made its annual return on Dec. 14 to the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, this year launching at No. 1. The accomplishment continues the 1994 hit’s reign as one of the most cherished modern festive hits.
Sure, those in holiday spirit know every lyric, jingle bell and harmonizing vocal, but did you know “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has become more than just a song? Over the past 26 years, Carey expanded the jolly melody into a range of Christmas content, from books to films.
We’ve rounded up all the things “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has turned into. See them below.
Children’s Book
The song’s lyrics brings the holiday spirit to readers of all ages in an adorable picture book about a young girl’s Christmas wish for a new puppy. The yuletide book features a special letter from Carey plus sweet illustrations by Colleen Madden of family, friends, presents and of course, Santa Claus.
All I Want For Christmas Is You is available in Kindle, hardcover and paperback versions here.
Animated Movie
The adorable film based on the book finds Carey narrating the sweet tale of little Mariah’s Christmas wish for a furry friend.
It’s available for rent and purchase here.
Coloring Book
The 8.5″ x 11″ coloring book features a series of festive, fun illustrations from the All I Want For Christmas Is You film that can be colored in with pencils, pens, crayons, markers or paints without bleed-through.
The coloring book is available here.
Providing relief via direct assistance and loans to struggling individuals and businesses hit hard by COVID-19 has been a priority for federal lawmakers this past month. But a gigantic spending bill has also become the opportunity to smuggle in some other line items, including those of special interest to the entertainment community.
Perhaps most surprising, according to the text of the bill being circulated, illegal streaming for commercial profit could become a felony.
It’s been less than two weeks since Sen. Thom Tillis released his proposal to increase the penalties for those who would dare stream unlicensed works. In doing so, the North Carolina Republican flirted with danger. About a decade ago, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) made a similar proposal before it ended up dying as people worried about sending Justin Bieber to jail. (No, seriously.) But Tillis’ attempt has been winning better reviews for more narrowly tailoring the provisions toward commercial operators rather than users. That said, it’s had very little time to circulate before evidently becoming part of the spending package. If passed, illegal streaming of works including movies and music tracks could carry a penalty of up to 10 years in jail.
That’s not the only change to copyright law, either.
The spending bill also appears to adopt a long-discussed plan to create a small-claims adjudication system within the U.S. Copyright Office.
Advocates have long sought to give copyright owners some recourse to infringement outside of the expensive federal court system, though the so-called CASE Act has engendered some pushback from those weary of throwing certain disputes to unaccountable bureaucrats working for an agency suspected of favoring industry. Some critics believe the alternative dispute system to be unconstitutional, though by making the system opt-in and non-compulsory, advocates hope that it will survive any legal challenge and ultimately lead to swifter resolution over takedown notices for copyright material posted online. The CASE Act previously passed the House by a 410-6 vote before being blocked in the Senate by Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
Among the other parts of the omnibus bill of interest to Hollywood is an extension of Section 181, a tax provision that allows for immediate deduction of television and film production costs up to $15 million. That incentive was scheduled to expire at the end of the year, but would now get an additional five years. (More analysis on that coming.)
Lawmakers will hold a vote later today on the package.
“I don’t think a lot of people expected us to get the Jackson deals done,” says Shot Tower Capital managing director David Dunn. He’s talking about his team’s 2007 maneuvers to extricate Michael Jackson from the onerous debt that threatened the superstar’s stake in Sony/ATV and his ownership of his own Mijac publishing company and the Neverland estate. “We were able to get his debt away from Fortress Investment Group, which wanted to wind up owning those assets, to lenders who just wanted to be paid. That was a huge win.”
Dunn is speaking from the barn outside his home in the suburbs of Baltimore — a combination open-loft office and garage where he has spent the pandemic shepherding deals, with the occasional break to tinker with classic cars (a 1972 Audi 100LS is on the lift now). A few years after the Jackson deal, in 2011, Dunn and his colleague Robert Law left Signal Hill Capital Group to start Shot Tower Capital, which has grown into a force in the market for music assets — mostly publishing, but sometimes masters, too. In addition to its role as the Jackson estate’s financial adviser, Shot Tower — which employs seven bankers and an assistant — has been involved in some of the decade’s biggest publishing deals, including the 2012 acquisition of EMI Music Publishing, its 2018 sale, the 2017 sale of Imagem to Concord and Big Deal’s sale to Hipgnosis earlier this year. The company also advises the estates of Prince and Aretha Franklin.
Dunn, who graduated from Bucknell University with a master’s in economics and has a law degree from American University, started his career as an economist with the U.S. government and then became a mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer before going into banking — and forging relationships with music business players like Jackson estate executor John Branca and former Sony/ATV chairman/CEO Martin Bandier, or Big Deal’s founder and president Kenny MacPherson and Pulse’s co-CEO Scott Cutler, whose firms he helped sell to Hipgnosis and (a stake in) to Concord, respectively.
Before he began his investment banking career, while still working as an economist while going to law school at night, he once made money on the side as a bartender, including at one of Bill Clinton’s 1993 inaugural balls. “I got to serve Johnny Cash a Coke,” he says, and then recounts his favorite musical experience. “After the party was over and we staff were cleaning up, bass player Rob Wasserman, Lou Reed and Paul Simon took the stage and started jamming and it went on for hours.”
After a decade and a half in music, “the things that stand out are the relationships,” says Dunn. “I enjoyed watching and working with John Branca, [Jackson estate co-executor] John McClain, [Jackson estate executive] Karen Langford and with Marty Bandier. You can learn a lot working with executives like them. It provided me with a phenomenal opportunity — that helps you take some shortcuts on the learning curve.”
After your first music industry deal with Crosstown Songs, you became involved with Michael Jackson. How did that happen?
It was through Raymone Bain, a Washington, D.C., publicist, who worked with Michael. I flew out to Las Vegas to meet with him and was hired in 2007 to restructure all the debt, which had been acquired by Fortress from Bank of America. We did a bond deal that was secured by his interest in Sony/ATV, with Sony offering a guarantee that Barclays bought. We also did two loans against Mijac, his publishing catalog. We closed the three by the end of the year and then the world started melting down. I spent a fair amount of time with Michael then. When he passed, I began working again with John Branca, John McClain and Karen Langford to once again restructure and refinance the debt.
What steps do you take when someone brings you a catalog they want you to sell?
First we do a preliminary valuation to make sure it’s aligned with the seller’s expectations, or it’s a nightmare. If everyone is aligned, then you do full due diligence, which means being prepared to tell potential suitors upfront about any issues, rather than waiting for a later stage to show all the warts. Then we identify potential buyers, make presentations and look for the buyer that has the ability to get a deal done. Rarely does the buyer you think will be the lead buyer end up there when the deal closes.
What do you assess to come up with a valuation?
We tend to look at what’s driving revenue, and then we look at the decay rates. So far we don’t have that many years of data from streaming in order to fully understand. Also, decay rates may still be offset from streaming adoption. If streaming adoption plateaus, then we can get a better handle on decay rates.
Five years ago, did you ever think multiples [of annual revenue, by which catalogs are valued] would ever get this high? And could they go higher still?
Multiples are directly related to what a buyer thinks about future growth. To the extent that there has been a music industry recovery driven by streaming, it’s no surprise multiples have gone up. There’s a correlation between multiples and where streaming goes, so if streaming matures we could see multiples slow. Still, if you look at Wall Street’s expectations for streaming, they expect growth over the next five years to be consistent with the past five years.
How do different genres of music affect multiples?
It makes a huge difference. If you’re looking at a catalog with iconic songs, I would say 18 times NPS [net publisher’s share] is an average fair value for a larger diversified catalog, with all rights owned, consisting of higher-quality rock and pop songs. Genres like country, Christian and electronic dance trade at lower multiples because there’s a perception that they have a narrower market and less duration to long-term cash flow. Country is dependent on radio, and when radio stops playing a country song, its royalty streams decay rapidly. Also, country doesn’t synch as well as rock and pop. It just doesn’t have the broad reach of rock and pop on a worldwide basis. Same for Christian and dance.
What types of multiples do you see for those genres?
A country catalog might carry a 10- to 12-times multiple. Christian, I would place the multiple in a range of single digit to low double digits, while electronic dance probably gets a single digit. Rap and hip-hop tend to trade in the same range as country. Hip-hop gets a lot of streams, but there isn’t much room for synch. I’m generalizing: Within each genre certain songs command higher multiples. Someone like Willie Nelson or Dolly Parton’s music would have multiples in the high teens or the low 20s.
What about the age of songs?
Sure, that has an impact. Newer songs trade at lower multiples because they’re still decaying from their initial release. You generally have to wait until they’re past the decay curve so you can see what a song will settle at.
What kinds of investors are looking at publishing assets now as opposed to, say, five years ago?
The folks buying music five or 10 years ago were largely strategic players or investors backing industry players like Spirit or Crosstown, which were building out platforms to exploit the copyrights they acquired. Today, investors like Tempo or Shamrock Capital are perfectly happy to acquire copyrights and outsource administration for publishing assets or distribution for master recordings.
And how would you compare the catalogs coming up for sale now?
There are more catalogs up for sale and more deals being done — but smaller ones. Maybe that’s driven by songwriters who can’t tour due to COVID-19, or maybe there’s a perception that the high multiples won’t last. Also, thanks to Hipgnosis and Round Hill going public with the London Stock Exchange, you might see others trying to do an income trust or become public. So while there are a lot more assets for sale, there are a lot more paths to liquidity.
Your firm is also involved in artist estate planning. What issues come into play there?
The issues depend on the estate. We have helped establish values to deal with taxes, we have negotiated rights agreements for record deals and publishing administration and helped analyze the economics of film licensing. We have helped, where necessary, to figure out liquidity when an estate is in debt. The issues that come up are interesting: Think about things like name and likeness, which an artist may never have exploited. But the IRS comes along and says it has huge value, which means big tax implications. At the end of the day, the math you have to do to figure out the worth of these assets isn’t that dissimilar to the math you have to do when thinking about selling an asset.
What aspects of the music industry have you come to appreciate?
I know I am supposed to be a boring finance guy, a cashflow guy, but its great working in such a creative industry where the product is just so awesome. The people you meet are incredibly passionate. You come to respect the A&R people and the producers and the immense amount of talent in the industry.
K.T. Oslin died on Monday (Dec. 21) at age 78. The singer-songwriter, who had been battling Parkinson’s disease, was reportedly also diagnosed with COVID-19.
Oslin was born Kay Toinette Oslin on May 15, 1942, in Crossett, Ark. Her breakthrough single, 1987’s “80’s Ladies,” hit No. 7 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart that July and became her signature song. It well suited Oslin, who was an advocate for women’s issues throughout her career.
“80’s Ladies” marked Oslin’s first of seven top 10s, a sum including four No. 1s, among her 17 appearances on Hot Country Songs through 2001. She also posted three top 10s on Top Country Albums, including her lone No. 1: Her first LP 80’s Ladies debuted in August 1987 and hit No. 1 for a week in February 1988.
Oslin released her most recent album, Simply, in 2015. It followed a decade-and-a-half break from recording after her LP Live Close By, Visit Often, which reached No. 35 on Top Country Albums in 2001. In 2018, Oslin was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Here is a recap of K.T. Oslin’s biggest hits on Hot Country Songs.
K.T. Oslin’s Biggest Billboard Hits
Rank, Title, Peak Position, Year
1, “Hold Me,” No. 1 (one week), 1989
2, “Do Ya’” No. 1 (one week), 1987
3, “I’ll Always Come Back,” No. 1 (one week), 1988
4, “Hey Bobby,” No. 2, 1989
5, “Come Next Monday,” No. 1 (two weeks), 1990
6, “This Woman,” No. 5, 1989
7, “80’s Ladies,” No. 7, 1987
8, “Money,” No. 13, 1988
9, “Didn’t Expect It to Go Down This Way,” No. 23, 1989
10, “Mary & Willie,” No. 28, 1991
K.T. Oslin’s Biggest Billboard Hits recap is based on actual performance on the weekly Hot Country Songs chart. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, certain eras are weighted to account for different chart turnover rates over various periods.
The temptation is to see this amazing, satisfying, hard-won, accomplishment in historical terms. The Miami Dolphins eliminated the New England Patriots from the playoffs on Sunday with a 22-12 victory … Click to Continue »
Lizzo is keeping the holiday magic alive for her family this year.
“Got my mommy a brand new Audi for Xmas,” Lizzo wrote ahead of Christmas on Instagram Sunday night (Dec. 20).
“I remember crying in my car when my daddy passed, no job no money nowhere to live, wishing I could one day provide for my family,” she added. “I couldnt do it for my dad so ima make sure I spoil Mama. Happy holidays y’all.”
In a clip of the special moment when her mom first saw the incredible gift — which Lizzo caught on camera and shared with her fans — she can be heard saying, “Merry Christmas, Mommy! Open your eyes.”
“You see these things on television and you never expect this to happen to yourself,” her mother, who seemed overcome with emotion, said in disbelief.
Watch the sweet holiday surprise on Instagram.
Federal funding to help independent venues hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic has been included in a $900 billion bipartisan aid package following days of negotiations between leaders of both the Democratic and Republican parties in Congress.
While the specifics of the bill have not yet been announced, the aid package does include “$15 billion in dedicated funding for live venues, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions,” according to an email from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), as well as a $300 per week unemployment insurance enhancement for the millions of Americans out of work during the pandemic, including nearly 100,000 live music professionals.
“We’re thrilled that Congress has heard the call of shuttered independent venues across the country and provided us a crucial lifeline by including the Save Our Stages Act in the COVID-19 Relief Bill,” says Dayna Frank, owner and chief executive of First Avenue Productions and board president of the National Independent Venue Association. “We’re also incredibly grateful that this bill provides Pandemic Unemployment Assistance which will help the millions of people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own during this economic crisis. We urge swift passage of this legislation, which will assist those in the greatest need and ensure the music lives on for generations to come.”
The legislative text for the bill is expected to he released late Sunday night or early Monday, followed by a vote in both the House and the Senate on Monday.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Taylor Swift is the queen of the U.K. charts, as Evermore (EMI) bows at No. 1 on the U.K. albums survey and three tracks from it crack the national Top 20.
Evermore gives Swift a second leader in the same year, following Folklore, which ruled the Official U.K. Albums Chart for three weeks in August.
It’s her sixth career leader in the territory, a feat bettered or equaled by only three other female artists: Madonna (with 12), Kylie Minogue (eight) and Barbra Streisand (six).
Evermore also gives Swift a spot in the record books. According to the Official Chart Company, the U.S. singer has achieved her six No. 1s in just eight years, a record time among female artists, eclipsing the 11 years it took Madonna to reach the same tally, between 1997 and 2008.
Also, it’s the fastest sprint to six No. 1s since Robbie Williams and Westlife managed that haul between 2000 – 2006.
She’s Swift by name, a swift chart-topper by nature.
It’s that time of year, and the top end of the albums tally is dominated by Christmas-themed records, including Michael Ball and Alfie Boe’s Together At Christmas (Decca), which dips 2-3; Michael Buble’s Christmas, up 7-4; and Andrea Bocelli’s Believe (Decca), up 10-5.
Further down the list are new LPs from Kid Cudi (Man On The Moon III – The Chosen new at No. 26 via Republic Records), British ’90s rockers James (Live In Extraordinary Times at No. 31 via Nothing But Love Music), Welsh soprano Katherine Jenkins (Christmas Spectacular at No. 36 via Decca) and Australian electronic act Avalanches (We Will Always Love You at No. 39 via EMI).
Meanwhile, Mariah Carey rules the Official U.K. Singles Chart for a second consecutive week with “All I Want For Christmas Is You” (Columbia), ahead of Wham’s ‘80s classic “Last Christmas” (RCA), which has logged 70 weeks on the list and never lifted higher than its current position of No. 2.
Just 3,600 chart sales separate the top two tracks. Carey’s 1994 release is both the most downloaded and streamed song of the week, with more than 10 million plays across audio and video streaming platforms, the OCC reports.
Next up is Swift’s Evermore release “Willow,” new at No. 3, while album tracks “Champagne Problems” (No. 15) and “No Body No Crime” featuring Haim (No. 19) give the pop artist a trio of fast starters.
