Hipgnosis Songs Fund, one of the most influential players in the catalog acquisition market run-up of recent years, and Barry Manilow are embroiled in a pair of lawsuits over $1.5 million in unpaid bonuses Manilow’s team claims Hipgnosis agreed to when it acquired his catalog.

Hipgnosis Songs Fund sued first in the High Court in London on August 12, saying they do not owe Manilow these bonuses, and that Manilow, Manilow Productions and Stiletto Entertainment are in breach of contract for not turning over certain payments they received from Sony Music. The “Mandy” singer and his management company sued back in United States federal court in California on Aug. 28, claiming that Hipgnosis does owe Manilow $1.5 million in bonuses, and that the fund did not actively promote his work, thereby avoiding these performance-linked bonuses — logic Hipgnosis calls flawed.

In other circumstances, this may have been treated like a mundane contract dispute. But Manilow’s legal team allege in the suit that Hipgnosis, through its founder Merck Mercuriadis — the man behind the formerly London-listed fund’s famous appetite for acquisitions — falsely represented that it had the people and know-how to increase the money generated by Manilow’s master recordings. Mercuriadis is not party to either lawsuit, and through a spokesperson he declined to comment for this article.

According to a copy of the contract included in Hipgnosis’ lawsuit, the company acquired 100% of Manilow’s worldwide income (excluding SoundExchange royalties) from his master recordings for $7.5 million. Two bonus payments were to be paid out if, for the first payment, the income Hipgnosis received from its share of the assets increased by at least 10% year-on-year compounding for each of the first three years; and if, for the second payment, the income Hipgnosis received increased by at least 10% year-on-year compounding for years one through four.

Manilow’s legal team says in its suit that Hipgnosis described promotional strategies that included album reissues, special compilations and synch deals, as well as less traditional strategies like a YouTube Karaoke channel, Instagram giphy packs and Copacabana-themed dance trends.

“Hipgnosis did not carry out a single one of its touted promotional strategies; upon information and belief, it did nothing at all in order to keep the cash income below the levels required to meet the condition precedent for the additional purchase price payments,” Manilow and Stiletto Entertainment’s legal team alleges in the complaint. Manilow also missed out on expected complementary increases in the value of his publishing royalties and his Las Vegas residency, they claim in the suit.

In its suit, Hipgnosis alleges that Manilow, Manilow Productions and Stiletto Entertainment breached their contract that laid out when bonuses would be paid because Manilow & co. received two royalty payments from Sony — for the period from July 1 to December 31, 2022, and January 1 to June 30, 2023 — that they ought to have turned over to Hipgnosis but didn’t. In addition, Hipgnosis says in the lawsuit that Sony Music suspended payment of royalties for the period from July 1 to December 31, 2023. Sony Music through a spokesperson declined to comment.

Regardless, Hipgnosis says in the suit it does not owe the bonuses because the income received never met the performance targets, and it is seeking to recover 100,000 pounds from Manilow and his production and management teams.

“The matter of the bonus payment is a routine contractual matter regarding interpretation of certain contract clauses,” a Hipgnosis spokesman said in an emailed statement. “While we regret that this couldn’t be resolved directly between the parties, the court is now best placed to offer a final and definitive opinion on this matter. We have full confidence in our position and the legal process.”

Representatives for Hipgnosis also dispute Manilow’s team’s logic that Hipgnosis did not promote his works so as to keep the income levels below the thresholds that would trigger the bonus payouts, saying that logic is false because acquisition deals are structured to incentivize Hipgnosis to optimize the asset. Performance bonuses by definition are paid out when the asset does well, which benefits the artist and Hipgnosis, they say.

“Hipgnosis’ model is based on a strong alignment of interest between songwriters and artists and our business,” Hipgnosis’ spokesperson said in the emailed statement. “We continue to hold Barry and his music in the highest possible regard. To suggest that Hipgnosis would deliberately withhold promotional efforts for these recordings would not make commercial sense. These claims are baseless, and we will defend them vigorously should that be necessary.”

Manilow’s case is currently a one-off. However, the board of Hipgnosis Songs Fund said that, as of Sept. 30, 2023, it was liable to pay out as much as $68.1 million in catalog bonus provisions across 10 catalogs, of which the disputed Manilow bonuses are just one. Hipgnosis Songs Fund has since been taken private by Blackstone and no longer discloses this level of financial data.

Yes, JoJo Siwa is aware that there are a lot of people making fun of her — and she’s fine with that.

In a new cover story for Ladygunn, Siwa spoke at length about her relationship with fame, revealing that as long as people are talking about her, she feels as though she’s done her job. “I’m an attention whore,” she said. “My favorite thing to do on this earth is to entertain and to make people smile and laugh, whether or not they are laughing with me or laughing at me. Obviously, no one likes being hated, but I enjoy being entertaining, and that is how people are entertained.”

Expanding on her point, Siwa added that she felt “any attention is attention,” and shared an anecdote about correcting her management team on their stated goals for her career. “I just signed with new management, and they’re great, amazing people,” she said. “They were like, ‘All right, we got to get people to rally around you and really start to like you.’ And I was like, ‘Oh no, that’s not the point.’”

The “Guilty Pleasure” singer said that her relationship with attention came in part from her admiration of YouTubers Jake and Logan Paul. “I pulled so much of my social media marketing and inspiration from them back in the day,” she said. “Their views, their numbers, their marketing — they were geniuses. They still are geniuses … all I wanted to do was be them. And so I figured, ‘How can I do that but in my world?’”

Siwa managed to keep fans’ attention with her cover shot for the magazine, in which she wore a bedazzled corset in the shape of a man’s torso along with a rhinestoned codpiece. Rising hip-hop star GloRilla even shared her thoughts on the photo, simply writing on X, “Ok moose knuckle.”

The story comes after a year of headline-making antics for Siwa. Upon the release of her “bad girl” single “Karma” back in April, fans were shocked by the performer’s Kiss-inspired music video look, as well as her jerking dance moves. When she told Billboard in a video interview that she wanted to create a new genre called “gay pop,” she was roundly criticized by fellow queer artists and critics alike.

But, as Siwa sees it, her plan worked. “Karma is still an earworm. It’s crazy that it still has some relevance five months later,” she said in her interview. “And that’s the whole point.”

NMIXX is set to make history in 2024 as the first K-pop group to participate in Billboard Latin Music Week. The female sextet has been confirmed as the first K-pop act to take part in the event, where the group will be featured on an exclusive panel about K-pop and Latin music on Oct. 16, Billboard announced on Tuesday (September 24).

The panel, titled K-pop Goes Latin with NMIXX, will focus on how K-pop has exploded in the Latin market and its future in Spanish.

“K-pop has cultivated a large, passionate fan base in Latin America, and now we’re seeing popular K-pop artists like NMIXX embrace this by singing in Spanish,” says Leila Cobo, Billboard’s chief content officer for Latin/Español, in a press release. “We are thrilled to welcome NMIXX as the first-ever K-pop artist at Latin Music Week, where their dynamic energy will enrich the event and forge new connections between our musical cultures.”

Celebrating its 35th anniversary, Billboard Latin Music Week will take place Oct. 14-18 at The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater. Tickets are available for purchase here.

NMIXX made their explosive entrance to the K-pop scene in February 2022 and has been making waves on the global stage since. The group introduced a new genre called MIXX POP, which is a sound unique to NMIXX that blends two or more genres into one song. Their debut single album, AD MARE, sold over 220K copies in its first week, marking the highest debut album sales by a girl group in K-pop history.

They followed this with a second single album, ENTWURF, before releasing their anticipated first EP in March 2023, expérgo, which earned them their first entry on the Billboard 200 chart (No. 122). The group’s third single, A Midsummer NMIXX’s Dream, sold over one million copies, and their sophomore EP Fe3O4: BREAK, released in January 2024, further solidified their growing dominance in the industry by landing them at No. 1 on the Billboard Emerging Artists chart. The EP also debuted at No. 2 on World Albums and at No. 171 on the Billboard 200.

As previously announced, the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Week will featurea lineup of international stars including including: Alejandro Sanz, Álvaro Díaz, Bad Gyal, Belinda, Camila Fernández, Chiquis, DANNA, Danny Ocean, Dei V, Debi Nova, Domelipa, Eden Muñoz, Eslabon Armado, Fat Joe, Feid, Gloria Estefan, Grupo Frontera, Igor Lichnovsky, J Balvin, Jasiel Núñez, JOP, Junior H, Keityn, Kunno, La Joaqui, Lele Pons, Leo Campana, Luck Ra, Luis Alfonso, Lupita Infante, Majo Aguilar, Maria Becerra, Mario Bautista, Marko, Mau y Ricky, Mon Laferte, Nacho, N.O.R.E., Omar Courtz, Paola Jara, Peso Pluma, Pipe Bueno, Sophia Talamas, Thalia, Tito Double P, Yahritza y Su Esencia, Yandel, Yeison Jiménez, Yeri Mua, Yisin, Young Miko, and Zhamira Zambrano.

Billboard Latin Music Week will coincide with the Billboard Latin Music Awards, which will air on Telemundo. Latin Music Week tickets will not include access to the awards show this year. Instead, Billboard will host a special 35th-year anniversary celebration on the evening of Oct. 18, where INSIDER badge holders will receive exclusive invitations to this star-studded event.

For more information on Billboard Latin Music Week, updates on the schedule and more exciting announcements, visit BillboardLatinMusicWeek.com.