EMPIRE is not for sale, said company founder/CEO Ghazi at the Trapital Summit on Thursday (Oct. 3) in Hollywood.

While appearing on a panel titled “The Rise of Independent Music” at the inaugural edition of the conference, Trapital founder Dan Runcie played a short game of over/under with Ghazi, asking the EMPIRE head how many calls he’d recently received about selling the label/distributor.

“You run a music company that has done well from a business perspective and many companies that are your peers in this space are being acquired, they are selling, they are raising money,” Runcie said, adding that EMPIRE is an attractive company to acquire at the moment. He then asked Ghazi if he had received over or under four phone calls in the last 12 months poking around to see if he would sell or allow investment.

“I haven’t gotten any phone calls,” Ghazi said sternly to the audience. “Because everybody knows I’m not for sale. Period. I am dead serious. I am living my purpose. There’s no price on that.”

The declaration comes as independent music distributors like Stem, Downtown, ONErpm and Believe have begun fundraising and exploring acquisitions from major music companies and other investors. Earlier this year, Warner Music Group looked into acquiring Believe (talks between the two ultimately fizzled out) and later hired Goldman Sachs banker Michael Ryan-Southern to lead its search to buy a distributor.

While EMPIRE would be an ideal acquisition target for the majors or private equity, Ghazi said that’s not an option.

“I’m one of the very few people that I don’t give a s— about money. I care about money that I can share with other people within the livelihood that I get to create,” Ghazi said at the one-day conference. “I used to tell people when I started EMPIRE, ‘I want to be the Robin Hood of the music business.’ And I think that I’ve stuck to my principles. People will always poke around and it never gets to me.”

Ghazi explained that he has brushed off any inquiries that have come his way and has tried to keep his eye on the prize. “We’re helping thousands of people. We’ve created micro-economies all across this planet we call Earth and, for me, there’s nothing more special than that,” he added.

The EMPIRE CEO’s declaration comes as client Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” continues its No. 1 streak on the Billboard Hot 100 with 12 weeks at the summit to date.

“Did you ever think that one of the biggest songs you would have would be a country song?” Runcie asked during the conversation.

“I didn’t think it wouldn’t be,” Ghazi responded. The CEO went on to explain that about five years ago, EMPIRE set out to find stars and that in every genre they explored — including hip-hop, country and Afro music — they found someone special. “A lot of it just has to do with having the right taste, your thumb on the pulse and approaching the culture with understanding what they’re trying to do,” he said.

Independent music trade bodies have hit out at TikTok for boycotting collective license talks with Merlin by seeking to strike direct deals with its indie label members, accusing the platform of trying to divide the sector and “drive down the value” of music.

Licensing talks between TikTok and Merlin, which negotiates digital licenses for a coalition of more than 30,000 independent labels and music companies, representing 15% of the global recorded music market, abruptly ended late last month when “TikTok walked away before negotiations even began,” according to a letter Merlin sent to its members on Friday (Sept. 27).

The London-headquartered indie rights organization, which counts the labels 4AD, Domino, Matador, Subpop, Partisan, Warp, XL Recordings and Secretly Group among its members, said that TikTok told them that it would not be renewing its license deal, due to expire Oct. 31, and was instead looking to licence its members directly.

A spokesperson for TikTok confirmed Monday (Oct. 1) that it was “committed to entering into direct deals with Merlin members in order to keep their music on TikTok.”

One of the reasons TikTok has given for not renegotiating its deal with Merlin is its concerns over alleged streaming fraud, which a TikTok spokesperson told Billboard specifically relates to a handful of Merlin members delivering songs or remixes of songs that they don’t own the rights to.

Addressing those allegations, Merlin told members it has worked “productively and collaboratively with TikTok” on streaming manipulation and fraudulent content “and until now, no concerns have been raised.”

Executives and trade bodies from across the independent music sector have also called into question TikTok’s reasoning for not renewing its deal with Merlin, while also slamming its attempts to boycott collective licensing with the company.

Brussels-based independent labels trade body IMPALA, which represents over 6,000 indie music companies in Europe and has previously criticized TikTok for the low returns it pays to rightsholders, said it strongly opposed TikTok’s attempts to boycott Merlin.

“Given the timing, it seems clear that TikTok’s real intention is to fragment the sector and drive down the value of independent music, rather than deal with streaming manipulation,” said Mark Kitcatt, chair of IMPALA’s streaming group, in a statement on Thursday (Oct. 3).

“Record labels have entrusted their rights to Merlin to negotiate on their behalf and by TikTok going directly to rights holders they are disrespecting the licensing agreements that are in place,” added Dan Waite, chair of IMPALA’s digital committee. “Like a supermarket chain negotiating directly with individual farmers for the price of their milk, it’s difficult to see how this can work out in the farmers’ favour.”

Referencing TikTok’s cited concerns around streaming manipulation, IMPALA’s executive chair Helen Smith questioned how seeking direct deals with Merlin members would better address the issue than renewing a collective license. “This feels like a smoke screen for boycotting Merlin given the history and the timing and the fact the whole industry is working hard on this important issue,” said Smith in a statement.

“TikTok’s claim that leaving Merlin would alleviate fraud is technically and effectively incorrect,” Gee Davy, interim CEO of the U.K.-based Association of Independent Music (AIM), tells Billboard. She claims that TikTok can already choose which music catalogs it uploads through the Merlin deal, and stresses it is by the industry working together “and TikTok re-engaging with Merlin that the industry will fight online fraud.”

“The resource required to close deals and manage a large number of independent music relationships, take down unlicensed music, and handle fraud separately across a number of participants would surely outweigh any gains,” says Davy. “And that’s aside from any reputational issues that arise from TikTok claiming to respect independent music while in practice showing that they don’t respect the licensing choices of independent music businesses.

“Many smaller labels and artists will be locked out of any direct licensing, which will sour relations as well as set back many years of work by Merlin, AIM and others in improving equitable access to the market and diversity of music available to consumers. We urge TikTok to speak to us and consider the bigger picture and; most of all, to recognise the inadvertent damage their actions have caused and return to discussions with Merlin.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Dr. Richard Burgess, president of the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), who earlier this week told Billboard: “TikTok’s refusal to negotiate a deal with Merlin isn’t just a setback — it’s a threat to the whole music ecosystem.” Burgess said the dispute “isn’t just about Merlin; it’s about properly recognizing the value of artists and their music.”

The Brussels-based International Music Publishers Forum (IMPF) has also urged TikTok to reengage and strike a licensing agreement with Merlin, calling its attempts to “circumnavigate” collective licensing “a thinly veiled attempt to divide independent labels and drive down the price of music.”

“Merlin’s members have entrusted their rights to the organisation in order to uphold transparency, efficiency and fair remuneration. That must be respected,” said IMPF in a statement.

Merlin is the third music organization this year, after Universal Music Group (UMG) and the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), to express challenges in renewing music licenses with TikTok. In February, UMG’s failure to reach a deal with TikTok led to the removal of its entire catalog of hits from TikTok for about three months.

In April, after publicly supporting UMG’s position against TikTok, the NMPA allowed its TikTok license, which was used by a number of indie publishers, to lapse as well. It has not been renewed. A spokesperson for TikTok says that many of the indie publishers have now established their own direct licenses with the short-form app.

Unless a swift resolution can be found between TikTok and Merlin — or Merlin’s label members choose to negotiate individual license deals with the ByteDance-owned platform — hit songs from artists like Nirvana, Phoebe Bridgers, Diplo, The Lumineers, Mac Demarco, Madlib, Mitski, Thundercat, Wet Leg and Coolio could start to be removed from TikTok on Nov. 1.

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Austin City Limits Music Festival launches its three-night broadcast event tonight (Oct. 6) on Hulu. This year’s festival will take place over two weekends: Oct. 4-6 and Oct. 11-13 at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas.

Headliners include Tyler the Creator, Dua Lipa, Chris Stapleton and Blink-182. Hulu’s ACL Fest coverage starts at 5:05 ET, 4:05 p.m. CT and 2:05 ET on Oct. 4, 5 and 6. Headlining performances take place at night.

If you’re not a Hulu subscriber, click below to launch your free 30-day trial to stream ACL Fest for free. The festival streams at no additional charge to subscribers and you can watch from anywhere (TV, computer, smart phone, etc). Hulu offers live access to stream music festivals such as ACL Fest, Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza.

Opening night of ACL Fest will be headlined by Stapleton, the latter of which will stream on Hulu at 9:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. CT.

Also included on Friday’s streaming schedule: Asleep at the Wheel, Leon Bridges, Carin León, Stephen Sanchez, Foster the People, The Marías, Norah Jones, Dasha, Conner Price, Fletcher and Peter Robinson. Dua Lipa and Pretty Lights are scheduled to headline on Saturday (streaming at 10:30 p.m. ET/9:30 p.m. CT for Lipa and 10:40 p.m. ET/9:40 p.m. PT for Pretty Lights). Reneé Rapp, Teddy Swims, Benson Boone, Vince Staples, Khruangbin, Remi Wolf, Something Corporate, Hermanos Gutiérrez and Kenny Beats will perform Saturday while Sunday’s lineup includes Chappell Roan, That Mexican OT, Kehlani and Tyler, the Creator. (Click here to learn how to stream ACL Fest internationally.)

Other performers expected to take the stage at ACL Fest 2024 include Porter Robinson, Kevin Abstract, Barry Can’t Swim, Jeezy, Santigold, Eggy, Royel Otis, Remi Wolf, Jungle, That Mexican OT, Cannons, Mickey Guyton, Flipturn, San Holo, Orville Peck, Something Corporate, Pretty Lights, QVEEN Herby and Petey.

Catch all the fun live on Hulu here, or, if you want to be there in person, last-minute tickets are available on StubHub, Vivid Seats and other ticketing sites. Pricing ranges from around $350 and above, passes for tomorrow are selling out fast but you can find cheaper tickets for next weekend. Purchase tickets below.

Tommy Richman sent Rap Twitter into a frenzy last night (Oct. 2.)

The singer out of Virginia — whose single “Million Dollar Baby” went viral and was on its way to dominating the summer until the Kendrick and Drake battle thwarted those dreams — sent out a now-deleted tweet seemingly distancing himself from the genre that propelled him to sudden stardom. “I am not a hip hop artist,” he said before trying to clarify what he meant after the tweet started to take off.

He then got into a back and forth with popular West Coast radio personality DJ Hed with the DJ responding to Tommy’s original tweet by saying Hip-Hop stations should stop playing his music. “Fasho. So every Hip-Hop station playing [‘Million Dollar Baby’] or [‘Devil Is A Lie‘] should stop today. Thanks for the Heds Up?”

Hed then sent out a couple tweets saying he suddenly had “2 open slots” available on his SiriusXM radio show and that “NO ONE is bigger than the culture.” Richman responded to the former with a quote tweet, saying, “I’ll say again, Im thankful for everything. I’m saying I don’t wanna be boxed in. I grew up on hip hop. But I’m a singer.”

DJ Hed then tried explain to Tommy why his original tweet rubbed people the wrong way. “Understood, however there are nuances that can be perceived when statements are made,” he said. “I don’t believe you have malicious intent but I do believe there is much to be learned about the system that you have entered within this thing we do. I hope it works out for you (Not sarcasm.)”

Tommy then tried to clarify further, saying, “I meant to say I’m not SOLEY a hip hop artist.”

Many Hip-Hop fans are weary of most white artists because there have been instances where they use the genre as a springboard into other genres and to grab some sort of relevance within the culture. Post Malone with “White Iverson” and Miley Cyrus‘ brief soiree with the sound with her 2013 album Bangerz are the two examples some have cited. Post and Miley also had questionable quotes about the genre that drew ire from fans.

In other Tommy Richman news, he sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and revealed that he grew up listening to rock and didn’t really get into rap until a friend introduced him to Kanye’s music. His parents were big Motley Crue fans and named him after drummer Tommy Lee. They also talked about his new album Coyote and touring with Brent Faiyaz, among other things.

You can watch the full interview here.