Singer Al B. Sure! has waded into the Sean “Diddy” Combs legal morass by calling for official action to be taken against the team that created what he referred to as a new “fake” memoir credited to his ex-wife — and Combs’ longtime girlfriend — Kim Porter. Kim’s Lost Words: A Journey for Justice From the Other Side… was released on Amazon on Sept. 6, a week before Combs was arrested and indicted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, and it allegedly contains information Porter saved on a flash drive and gave to friends before her sudden death in 2018 at age 47 from lobar pneumonia.

“For over a decade and a half, I’ve been posting about, and tagging random law enforcement agencies in hopes to protect loved ones, avoid deaths & tragedies that could have all been avoided,” wrote Sure, 56, born Albert Joseph Brown, in an Instagram post on Monday (Sept. 23) that featured hashtags for a raft of law enforcement agencies. The singer-songwriter added that he had been “ignored” and ridiculed.”

Sure claimed that an alleged effort to silence him was meant to prevent the singer from sharing “facts and insights” he said Porter told him during “frequent and intimate conversations.” Sure and Porter were married from 1989 to 1990 and had a son, Quincy Brown, 33, whom Combs later adopted when the child was 3-years-old.

Sure’s posts also included what he said were allegedly stolen notes that he claimed were intended to be included in Porter’s memoir, as well as claims that his late ex’s devices have gone missing as further proof of what he deemed an alleged cover-up about the facts surrounding her death, which he called a “tragic murder.”

“Ms. Porter’s missing devices, allegedly already in evidence, unquestionably contain the critical evidence that have been concealed,” he claimed. “I’m convinced that evidence corroborates closely with details outlined in the recently released public indictment document.”

Sure alleged that that “Kimberly was allegedly taken from us because she was set on course to accomplish what Mrs. Cassie Ventura did by igniting the Bon Fire [sic] which brings us here today,” appearing to make a connection between Porter’s death and a settlement last year between Combs and former girlfriend singer Cassie Ventura. A day after Ventura sued Combs for what she alleged were years of physical and emotional abuse and rape, the pair reached an undisclosed settlement.

The series of posts from Sure also included excerpts from the 59-page book published by Los Angeles producer Chris Todd under the pen name Jamal T. Millwood.

In a statement to Billboard on Tuesday (Sept. 24), Combs’ attorney Erica Wolf wrote, “The Kim Porter ‘memoir’ is fake. It is also offensive – a shameless attempt to profit from tragedy. Chris Todd has no respect for Ms. Porter or her family, who deserve better. … It is an established fact that Ms. Porter died of natural causes. May she rest in peace.”

Porter was found dead at her Toluca Lake, Calif., home in 2018 after suffering from what was described as days of “flu-like” symptoms. The coroner initially listing her cause of death as “deferred,” then later changing it to to lobar pneumonia, a type of pneumonia characterized by infection and/or inflammation of one or more lobes of a patient’s lungs.

Ventura is one of at least eight people who have sued Combs, alleging sexual abuse. The Bad Boy Records founder was arrested on Sept. 16 in New York on an indictment charging him with a racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation for purposes of prostitution, charges Combs has pleaded not guilty to. The disgraced music mogul, who has denied the allegations against him, has been denied bail twice and will remain behind bars awaiting his trial date.

Rolling Stone reported that author Todd (aka Millwood, born Todd Christopher Guzze), told the publication that he cannot guarantee that the claims in the No. 1 bestselling book are authentic, saying he received the flash drive allegedly containing the notes from two unnamed “music industry” sources. The magazine notes that the book contains “numerous typos, factual inaccuracies and incredulous claims involving high-profile names,” adding that two of Porter’s friends, Kimora Lee Simmons and Lawanda Lane, told the magazine that they “don’t know [the author] at all.”

“If somebody put my feet to the fire and they said, ‘Life or death, is that book real?’ I have to say I don’t know. But it’s real enough to me,” Todd told RS. “Maybe not 100% of the book is true, but maybe 80% is.” 

Sure ended his posts by noting that he was on good terms with Porter near the end of her life and that they had friendly conversations until just a few days before her death. “We must continue to advocate for justice and ensure that everyone of the individuals who conspired against her are held accountable and prosecuted to the highest extent of the law,” he wrote.

Combs and Porter dated on-and-off for 13 years until 2017, and they had three children together: son Christian Combs and twins Jessie and D’Lila Combs.

Latin music, the term assigned to music performed predominantly in Spanish, is the fastest growing “genre” of music both in the U.S. and worldwide, with Latin acts –- from Bad Bunny to Karol G to Annita and Shakira — dominating both charts and headlines. But it wasn’t always like that: From its initial heyday in the 1950s, when Latin dances like mambo and cha-cha-cha were all the craze, Latin music’s popularity has ebbed and flowed. But for the last 35 years, at least, there has been two constants: the Billboard Latin charts and Billboard Latin Music Week.

What is now the single most important, and biggest, gathering of Latin artists and industry executives in the world, has been the one, steady foundation of Latin music in this country and for the world. Every single artist of note has spoken or performed at Latin Music Week through the years: Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, Selena, Jenni Rivera, Marc Anthony, Chayanne, Bad Bunny, Karol G, Daddy Yankee, Shakira, Romeo Santos, Don Omar, Camilo, Bizarrap, Carin León, Grupo Firme, Peso Pluma, Luis Fonsi, Christina Aguilera, Wisin, J Quiles, Gloria Trevi… The list goes on and on.

This year’s Latin Music Week, taking place October 14-18 at the Fillmore Miami Beach, will feature superstar speakers J Balvin, Young Miko, Gloria Estefan, Alejandro Sanz, Peso Pluma, JOP (Fuerza Regida), Eden Muñoz, Bad Gyal, Mon Laferte,Thalia and Maria Becerra among many others. But Billboard’s history of stellar appearances is 35 years deep. Here are some outstanding moments in the Billboard’s Latin Music Week 35-year history.

Visit Billboard Latin Music Week to register to this year’s event.

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

TV producer Ryan Murphy is at it again, but this time he joins forces with screenwriter Jon Robin Baitz and producer Joe Baken for a new 10-episode horror TV series called Grotesquerie. It stars Niecy Nash, Micaela Diamond, Courtney B. Vance and Kansas City Chiefs tight end and Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce.

Starting on Wednesday, Sept. 25, the two-episode series premiere airs on FX, while it’s also available to stream the next day on Hulu.

Ahead, read on for ways to watch and stream Grotesquerie.

What Time Is Grotesquerie Premiere?

The first two episodes of Grotesquerie air on Wednesday, Sept. 25 starting at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX. However, the episodes will be available to stream the following day, Thursday, Sept. 26, on Hulu. New episodes drop every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX, while they’re streamable the next day at 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT on Hulu.

Where to Watch Grotesquerie for Free

If you’re a cord-cutter, then there are a number of ways to watch some of your favorite TV shows without cable — especially if you want to watch for free. For example: Hulu offers a 30-day free trial to try out the service, while many other streaming services, such as DirecTV Stream and Fubo, offer free trials so you can watch Grotesquerie on FX without spending money up front.

Keep reading for more details on how to watch Grotesquerie on Hulu, Disney+ (as part of the Disney Duo), DirecTV Stream and Fubo.

How to Watch Grotesquerie on Hulu

The best way to watch Grotesquerie is with a subscription to Hulu. All episodes of the limited series on the streaming service, while you get access to other fantastic originals, including The Bear, Only Murders in the Building, The Handmaid’s Tale, American Horror Stories and more. You also get access to FX originals including Fargo, Reservation Dogs, What We Do in the Shadows, Under the Banner of Heaven and others.

Hulu starts at $7.99 per month, or $79.99 per year for the ad-supported plan, while you can go without ads for $17.99 per month.

How to Watch Grotesquerie on Disney+

Looking to add Disney+ with your Hulu subscription? You can get Disney+ and Hulu in one streaming service with the Disney Duo. With sign up, you get a new hub called “Hulu” at the top of the Disney+ homepage, along with Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic.

Episodes are available to stream with the Disney Duo too. Not a subscriber? You can sign up for the ad-supported plan for $9.99 per month, or you can go ad-free for $19.99 per month instead.

How to Watch Grotesquerie on DirecTV Stream

A subscription to DirecTV Stream gets you access to live TV, local and cable channels, starting at $79.98 per month. The service even offers a five-day free trial to watch Grotesquerie for free, if you sign up now.

You can watch local networks — including NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox and PBS — as well as many cable networks, such as FX, AMC, A&E, Bravo, Cartoon Network, ESPN, FS1, VH1, Fuse, CNN, Food Network, Lifetime, CNBC, BET, MTV, Paramount Network and many others.

How to Watch Grotesquerie on Fubo

Fubo starts at $49.99 per month (with the streamer’s current deals) with nearly 200 channels, including local and cable, that are streamable on smart TVs, smartphones, tablets and on web browsers. And with a seven-day free trial, you can watch Grotesquerie for free, if you act fast and sign up now.

The service gets you live access to local broadcast networks, like NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox, while it also has dozens of cable networks, such as FX, Bravo, TLC, ESPN, E!, FS1, MTV, CMT, ID, Ion, OWN, Paramount Network, TV Land, VH1 and much more.

More Ways to Watch

If you’re overseas and you’d like to stream Grotesquerie internationally, you can sign up for a VPN, such as ExpressVPN, NordVPN and PureVPN, which lets you access a number of streaming platforms, like the ones mentioned above, legally.

The horror TV series follows Lois Tryon (Niecy Nash), a local detective, and Sister Megan (Micaela Diamond), a nun and journalist at a fictional newspaper called The Catholic Guardian, investigating a string of crimes that impact their small town and personal lives.

It also stars Courtney B. Vance, Lesley Manville, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Raven Goodwin and others.

Grotesquerie broadcasts on FX starting on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, while it’s available to stream on Hulu starting on Thursday, Sept. 26, at 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT. In the meantime, watch the trailer for Grotesquerie below.

Want more? For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best Xbox deals, studio headphones and Nintendo Switch accessories.

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Ugg season is here! With fall in full swing, it’s a great time to start shopping for a new pair of fuzzy footwear.

Celebrities love the coziness of Uggs just as much as everyone else. From the new Classic Dipper Boot ($170) featured in Cardi B’s Ugg season campaign last year, the pierced Uggs that Dua Lipa debuted on Instagram in 2022, the brand’s previous collaborations with Lil Nas X and Cher and Keke Palmer’s hilarious Uggcampaign, Ugg season is a time for celebration. And for those looking for a sustainable boot, the brand recently debuted Ugg x Collina Strada, its first vegan boot collaboration made from plant-based and recycled materials.

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Aside from being comfy, cozy and warm, Ugg boots are gender-neutral and they go with all kinds of outfits (sweaters, sweatpants, leggings, puffer coats and more). The long list of stars who have been spotted wearing the iconic boots includes Beyoncé, Selena Gomez, Harry Styles, Pharrell, Jennifer Lopez, Diana Ross, Justin Bieber, Offset, Rihanna, Lil Yachty and Lil Wayne.

With fall just getting started, and winter right around the corner, you should definitely start shopping for cold weather essentials like Ugg boots. If you’re excited that the weather is finally getting chilly enough to whip out the Uggs, we’ve rounded up a handful of boots, booties, slippers and platforms to shop (save up to 30% on select styles).

See more below.

Ugg Boots: 8 Styles to Buy for Fall and Winter

UGG Classic Mini Platform Booties

Step into a new height in these Ugg platforms — they come in a handful of colors such as black, smoke plume, burnt cedar and chestnut. If you’ve shopping for a discount, you can save 30% off the chestnut Classic Mini Platform at Ugg.com.


Ugg Boots: 8 Styles to Buy for Fall and Winter

UGG Women’s Bailey Bow Tall II Boot

Button up! The UGG Bailey Button Triple II Boot is one of the brand’s best-selling styles and one of the cutest. This plush, boot features a button closure and it’s available in black or chestnut.


Ugg Boots: 8 Styles to Buy for Fall and Winter

UGG Women’s Tazz Slipper

Comfy and chunky! The Tazz Slipper can be hard to find in stock around the holidays, so you might want to start your shopping early. The cozy shoe is available at retailers such as Nordstrom, Anthropologie, Amazon and Ugg.com in select sizes and colors (chestnut, pink, black, dark grey and burnt cedar).


Ugg Boots: 8 Styles to Buy for Fall and Winter

UGG Women’s Classic Twin Seam New Heights

If you’ve been eyeing newer styles, grab the Ugg Classic Twin Seam New Heights boots. The bestselling boot comes in hickory, black and chestnut.


Ugg Boots: 8 Styles to Buy for Fall and Winter

UGG Women’s Ultra Mini Boot

Short and sweet! The Ultra-Classic mini is an easy-to-wear boot that you can get in several different colors including burnt cedar, forrest night, grey , chestnut, black and rose grey.


Ugg Boots: 8 Styles to Buy for Fall and Winter

UGG x Collina Strada Classic Mini Dark Blue Floral Boot

The Ugg x Collina Strada collection features the Blue Floral Boots made from faux leather, sustainable fibers and recycled materials. The limited-collection sold out on the Ugg website, but we’ve found a few sizes still in stock at Collina Strada.


Ugg Boots: 8 Styles to Buy for Fall and Winter

UGG Goldenstar Glog

Need a comfy clog? The Goldenstar Clog is incredibly cute, viral on TikTok and a perfect fit for anything from running errands to traveling. The comfy shoe comes in black, hickory, chestnut and sand.


Ugg Boots: 8 Styles to Buy for Fall and Winter

UGG Classic Alpine Women’s Lace-Up Boots

Everyone needs a cute, lace-up boot. The Alpine is perfectly designed for a snowy winter with it’s high-top silhouette, lace-up design, suede upper and sheepskin collar (and lining at the tongue). The stylish boot comes in chestnut and hickory.


Need more styles to shop for fall? For a taller design, the Classic II tall boot is tall enough to keep your legs extra cozy during the winter months. The suede boot is available in chestnut, black, burnt cedar and grey.

For more fall fashions, see our roundup of strapless dresses that are perfect for layering with sweaters, long-sleeve shirts for chilly weather and a limited deal on Lululemon’s Oversized Half-Zip sweatshirts.

Selena Gomez and David Henrie are officially back at Waverly Place.

According to the Wizards Beyond Waverly Place description, the upcoming series follows “an adult Justin Russo, who has chosen to lead a normal, mortal life with his family, Giada, Roman and Milo. When Justin’s sister Alex brings Billie to his home seeking help, Justin realizes he must dust off his magical skills to mentor the wizard-in-training while also juggling his everyday responsibilities — and safeguarding the future of the Wizard World.”

In a new trailer released on Tuesday (Sept. 24), Gomez and Henrie reprise their roles as Alex and Justin, respectively, as they navigate teaching a rebellious Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown) the ropes on being a wizard. “You’re a powerful wizard, and some people see that as a threat, but I promise I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” Justin assures Billie on her magical journey.

The show will officially premiere two episodes on Tuesday (Oct. 29) at 8 p.m. ET on Disney Channel. The first eight episodes will be available on Disney+ and Disney Channel On Demand the next day. Following the premiere, two new episodes — including a Halloween-themed episode — will air Wednesday (Oct. 30) on Disney Channel. Beginning Nov. 8, episodes move to Fridays at 8 p.m. ET, with two episodes weekly.

Watch the official Wizards Beyond Waverly Place trailer below.

Metro Boomin has addressed the Kendrick Lamar and Drake feud while speaking at Forbes Under 30. Keep watching to see what he had to say about his role in the feud and more!

Metro Boomin:
Even if just keeping it on music and it’s like not serious how everybody tries to make it, you know what I’m saying?

Tetris Kelly:
Metro Boomin had some interesting thoughts on the Kendrick and Drake battle that he and Future helped kick off. While sitting down with Matt Craig during the Forbes Under 30 summit, the multiplatinum producer out of St. Louis blamed a certain sect of fans for taking the fun out of the beef.

Metro Boomin:
I feel like the competition is great for the game. Hip-hop has always been more of a competitive genre. But I just feel like more today it’s more like stan culture. It makes it kind of weird. 

Tetris Kelly:
He then used the legendary battle between Nas and Jay-Z as an example. 

Metro Boomin:
Because back in the day, Jay-Z and Nas went at it, but I was a fan of both of ‘em. The internet just makes it a little too wild now. 

Tetris Kelly:
As far as being considered the catalyst, he took a more diplomatic approach. 

Metro Boomin:
But I feel like it’s good for the game, and as far as me being diplomatic, it’s just entertainment at the end of the day. 

Tetris Kelly:
And like the Spider-Man movie he crafted the soundtrack for, he knows with great power comes great responsibility.

Metro Boomin:
This is our era, so it’s really our responsibility to keep pushing it forward for the next one and so forth.

Tyla’s mom had “premonitions” that her daughter was pregnant, and the “Water” singer duped her with a prank call. As part of Elle‘s Phoning It In segment on Monday (Sept. 23), Tyla made a few prank calls to her mother, Central Cee, her manager and more. She attempted to scare her mom, Sharleen Seethal, with a pregnancy prank, but things took a turn when her mom had a feeling the singer was pregnant.

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“Mom, I think I’m pregnant,” begins Tyla, who recently accepted Billboard‘s Global Force award at the R&B No. 1s party.

Her mom replied: “Yeah, I’m happy. I had a feeling for a long time. That’s what I’m seriously shocked about. Oh my God. I swear to God. I had premonitions. I swear to God.”

“I don’t know who the father is,” Tyla continued. She couldn’t lead her mother on any longer and fessed up to the prank.

“Tyla, but I had a premonition,” Seethal countered. “I spoke to Auntie Mila and I told her I need grandchildren. Oh my God, Tyla. Am I supposed to scream?”

While Tyla isn’t actually pregnant, her mother clearly wants her 22-year-old daughter to give her some grandchildren in the future.

As for Central Cee, Tyla went with the prank that she was flying to London, but her Airbnb wasn’t ready and her team needed a place to stay in the U.K. in the meantime.

“I’m supposed to go to London tomorrow and I just have a problem,” she told him. “Literally, like, my whole family is meeting me there and I booked an Airbnb and everything … They said the wait is going to be, like, a few hours before they can actually get in so I was just wondering if they could, like, maybe wait at your place.”

Cench said: “This is the maddest question I think anyone’s ever asked me.”

She eventually gave up on the prank, but Central Cee was happy that he showed he was willing to step up and house Tyla and her party of five.

Watch the full clip below.

There’s never a dull moment in Las Vegas, but this past weekend was a particularly packed one for Sin City, which played host to the first two nights of the Eagles’ five-month residency at the Sphere on Friday and Saturday and the two-day iHeartRadio Music Festival on those same nights.

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, we can give you a taste of the action-packed weekend in Vegas, as Katie recounts to Keith all the details of covering the Eagles’ opening night on Friday and then popping in for The Weeknd, Doja Cat, Halsey, Hozier, New Kids on the Block and more for iHeart’s second night on Saturday.

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how vinyl album sales push Travis Scott’s Days Before Rodeo to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for the first time, how The Weeknd and Playboi Carti both make high debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with the first singles from their forthcoming albums, and how Billie Eilish tops the Pop Airplay chart with “Birds of a Feather,” while Taylor Swift is on the verge of another top 10 with “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.”

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard’s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard’s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

McHale’s Bar & Grill, a pub in midtown Manhattan, bills itself as “the best Irish bar in NYC.” It opens bright and early, at 10 a.m. on weekdays; it also happens to be right around the corner from Warner Music Group’s New York office. And on Thursday (Sept. 19), it was crammed full of Atlantic Music Group employees gathering to honor colleagues who had been laid off earlier that day. Several staffers clambered onto chairs to deliver spontaneous speeches about their time at the storied label. 

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McHale’s “is the only thing open during the day in that area,” says one employee who survived the cuts. At the impromptu gathering, “Lots of people who have been at Atlantic for 10- or 20-plus years said they loved being able to work with everyone. People were feeling supported since a lot of staff had been let go” — around 150 layoffs in total, according to WMG’s SEC filing. 

Multiple sources stress that these departures, as well as the new regime being put in place by incoming Atlantic Music Group CEO Elliot Grainge, represent a seismic shift for Atlantic — a generational changing of the guard. A number of high-profile executives will be leaving the company, including Atlantic Music Group CEO Julie Greenwald, who co-led Atlantic for nearly 20 years; WMG’s CEO of recorded music Max Lousada, who had been at WMG for decades; 300 Elektra Entertainment chairman/CEO Kevin Liles; Atlantic general manager Paul Sinclair; and Atlantic co-president of Black music Michael Kyser, along with several department heads at both Atlantic and Elektra Records. 

In the wake of the cuts, sources say the Elektra side of 300 Elektra Entertainment is down to fewer than 20 people; Warner announced that 3EE president Gregg Nadel will move to become co-chair of Warner Music Nashville, but did not mention a replacement. (Lousada and Liles will also not be replaced.) Atlantic made further cuts to its radio team, which now has fewer than 10 employees, having already been hit in previous waves of layoffs. The label slashed the publicity department to just a handful of people. 

In addition, Atlantic and Elektra eliminated their touring teams, which help artists with promotion and production on the road. The creative departments of Atlantic and 300 — the staffers who help furnish artists with the content they need in a visual, social media-driven age — suffered losses as well. And the label cut some A&R executives. 

All these vanished jobs are the latest sign that the definition of a major label is transforming rapidly. “The old advantages that a big label had in the past, radio and press and TV, those just aren’t as powerful as they were,” says Jonathan Daniel, a veteran artist manager. The industry is trying to “remodel what a major label is, because the old way is unsustainable at this point.”

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That retooling process has led to a number of layoffs at both WMG and Universal Music Group over the last 18 months. (Cuts at Sony Music have been more moderate, sources have said, at least so far.) Executives in traditional departments, like radio and press, have been especially vulnerable. And companies have tried to reduce overlapping roles at frontline labels in favor of a shared central system of services.

Grainge, 30, has expressed disdain for the more sprawling, old-fashioned major label model in the past. In 2016, he founded the label 10K Projects, which has billed itself almost as an anti-major: Small and fleet-footed instead of large and lumbering, with a heavy focus on modern tools (digital marketing) at the expense of more old-fashioned ones (radio). He has had success with this approach, helping boost the early careers of artists like Ice Spice, XXXTentacion and Trippie Redd.

Several Atlantic staffers started to worry about the possibility of additional staff cuts in August, as soon as WMG unexpectedly announced that Grainge would replace Greenwald starting October 1. In the past, major leadership changes at labels have often been accompanied by layoffs. Roughly 20 years ago, for example, not long after Lyor Cohen took over as chairman/CEO of WMG, the company let go of around 1,000 employees.  

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That said, the record business was shrinking then, rather than growing. And WMG had already made three rounds of cuts in the past 19 months before last week’s layoffs. 

Some executives believe that Atlantic Music Group, which has struggled to produce new breakout artists in the last two years, was still too big and too inefficient, even after the previous reductions in staff. It’s nearly impossible to turn a massive ship quickly, and speed is crucial in what WMG CEO Robert Kyncl recently called a “fast-paced, fiercely competitive industry.”

The company’s realignment is intended to strengthen the core Atlantic Music Group structure while also making it more flexible, so it can throw its full weight behind artists at Atlantic, 300 or Elektra at any given time, sources say. “Elliot is confident in the team he’s put in place and they’re all focused on moving the needle,” a source inside WMG tells Billboard. The mission, this person continues, is focusing on “artists, artist development, great music. With all the anxiety about changes, there is excitement about the future, too.”

But others wonder if deep cuts will ultimately affect a label’s ability to deliver on behalf of its artists. “They’re smart people; obviously there’s some sort of plan” with the restructure and the layoffs, says Motti Shulman, who exited his role as senior vp of rhythm promotion at 300 Elektra Entertainment in 2023. “But if you keep cutting the fat, at some point you dig into the muscle. I think they’ve gone beyond the fat.”

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Earlier this month, WMG employees say Grainge spent time in the company’s Los Angeles and New York offices along with Zach Friedman and Tony Talamo, who are set to become chief operating officer and general manager of Atlantic Music Group, respectively. Several Atlantic staffers believed that the incoming leadership was evaluating their work and weighing who might be cut. 

When layoffs began in New York last Thursday, a number of employees were told they were being let go in individual meetings with Greenwald — who had, in many cases, played an instrumental role in hiring them, sometimes decades ago. Some staffers started to call the artists they had collaborated with to notify them that they had been laid off. Others updated their LinkedIn profiles: #OpenToWork. 

Historically, when labels cut a lot of employees — as Universal Music group did in 1999, and WMG did in 2004 — they often trim artist rosters as well. Specific employees often champion specific artists in the building; if those cheerleaders are gone, the label may in turn sever ties with the acts they cheered for. On top of that, remaining staff might be spread too thin to aid as many acts as it did previously. Many managers are still waiting to hear if their artists will be affected in the shakeup.

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Todd Rubenstein, a veteran music lawyer, has been watching the steady drumbeat of layoffs across the major labels since the start of 2023. “I find it all sad,” he says. “Not just from the human level of people losing their jobs, but everyone was already complaining before about what labels were not doing for their artists. What happens now that a hundred people got let go?”

On Monday (Sept. 23), Atlantic started trying to answer that question. The company announced a “new era” and a series of promotions. Kyncl promised that the label will be “deeply passionate about artists.” 

“We are committed to a single principle,” Grainge added. “Maximum impact.”

Alliance Entertainment recovered from a post-pandemic slowdown through higher demand for direct-to-consumer (D2C) fulfillment, cost savings and continued demand for vinyl LPs and CDs.

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For the fiscal year ended June 30, the Plantation, Fla.-based distributor had net revenue of $1.1 billion, it announced Sept. 19, down slightly from $1.16 billion in the prior fiscal year. But by emphasizing cost efficiencies and high-margin products, Alliance increased gross profit 24% to $128.9 million and gross profit margin by 270 basis points to 11.7%. As a result, net income jumped by $40 million to $4.6 million from a net loss of $35.4 million a year earlier. 

“Our strategic shift toward higher-value offerings is proving successful, and we expect to benefit from new hardware releases in the coming year,” Alliance CEO Jeff Walker said in a statement. “Similarly, in consumer products, we improved margins and pricing, demonstrating the effectiveness of our inventory rationalization efforts.”

Music accounted for 42% of Alliance’s consolidated revenues—30% for vinyl records accounted and 12% for CDs. AMPED, Alliance’s independent music distribution business, had net sales of $78 million in fiscal 2024, up from $75 million. AMPED is the exclusive distributor for over 90 record labels and has exclusive relationships with such artists as Usher and ATEEZ. 

Video games were the company’s biggest segment, accounting for 31% of consolidated revenue in the fiscal year. DVDs and Blu-Ray products were 19% of revenue. Collectibles and consumer products were 4% of consolidated revenues. 

Higher-margin D2C sales accounted for 36% of fiscal year sales, up from 31% in the prior year, and helped improve profitability. “This shift highlights the effectiveness of our approach in meeting evolving consumer preferences, and it is helping to diversify and strengthen our revenue base,” Alliance chairman Bruce Ogilvie said in a statement. 

A leading distributor of entertainment products with more than 325,000 SKUs in stock, Alliance counts Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Shopify as clients. The company also has a number of owned brands. The DirectToU divisions consists of ImportCDs, Deep Discount, Collectors Choice Music and Collectors Choice, among others. Mill Creek Entertainment is an independent studio for DVDs, Blu-Rays and digital distribution. NCircle is Alliance’s children’s and family entertainment brand. 

The latest earnings improved on a sharp drop in sales and a net loss after sales spiked during during the previous two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From fiscal 2022 to 2023, sales fell from $1.42 billion to $1.16 billion in fiscal 2023 and adjusted EBITDA plummeted from $60 million to a loss of $17.6 million. The company’s debt ballooned to $133.3 in fiscal 2023 from $45.6 million in fiscal 2020. Inventory rose, too, to a peak of $249.4 million in fiscal 2022 from $62.8 million in fiscal 2020. Both debt and inventory came down dramatically in fiscal 2024, to $79.6 million and $97.4 million, respectively.

Shares of Alliance, which trade on the Nasdaq, closed at $2.76 on Monday, up 35.3% since earnings results were released. The company’s shares briefly traded over the counter after a merger with the NYSE-listed Adara Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, fizzled and left the company with a float too small to trade on the NYSE. The company had a small offering on the Nasdaq in June of 2023 and has a float of 3.1 million shares out of 50.9 million shares outstanding.