Venerated indie dance/electronic label Ninja Tune has been acquired by Concord, a representative for the deal confirmed on Thursday (March 12).

Based in London and Los Angeles, the Ninja Tune team will now exist under the Concord umbrella, with the move expanding Concord Label Group’s UK and European footprint. Ninja Tune will be able to tap into Concord’s significant publishing and label services, which were recently bolstered with Concord’s acquisition of indie distribution platform Stem.

Ninja Tune will continue operating under its current leadership: Los Angeles-based North American managing director Marie Clausen, UK-based CFO Dawn Dobson, UK-based COO Martin Dobson, along with Adrian Kemp, Tess Kendall, Peter Quicke and Samantha Sissons, in its current UK and US offices. 

The deal also encompasses Ninja Tune’s publishing arm, Just Isn’t Music, and its roster of songwriters, composers, and producers. The Just Isn’t Music catalog encompasses most of the songs on Ninja Tune’s recorded releases and works by acts including The Prodigy, Soulwax, Nova Twins and more.

Founded in 1990 by Matt Black and Jonathan More, who also made music as electronic duo Coldcut, Ninja Tune has established itself as one of the world’s most respected and taste-making electronic labels.

“It is an artist’s prerogative and responsibility to be dissatisfied with what one already knows,” Black and More say in a joint statement. “To, with sadness, kiss it goodbye and joyfully begin fishing again. Partnering with Concord ensures the culture and ethos that make the label so unique remain, whilst bringing mad Ninja energy and innovation forward.”

Over the years, Ninja Tune has released music by a long list of respected artists including Amon Tobin, Barry Can’t Swim, Ben Böhmer, Bicep, Black Country, New Road, Bonobo, Carlita, Coldcut, Diplo, Fcukers, Floating Points, Flying Lotus (via a partnership with the Los Angeles-based label Brainfeeder), Glass Beams, Hiatus Kaiyote, Jayda G, Kamasi Washington (also via Brainfeeder), Kelis, Little Dragon, LP Giobbi, Maribou State, Odesza, Peggy Gou, Run The Jewels, salute, Thundercat (via Brainfeeder), TSHA, Tycho and more.

Concord supports more than 125,000 artists, and has a catalog of some 1.3 million songs, according to a July 2025 report.

“I am beyond excited to welcome Ninja Tune and their stellar roster of artists to Concord,” adds Concord Label Group CEO Tom Becci. “With their team on board, we are even better situated today to deliver on behalf of independent artists everywhere – increasing their reach and helping them find new audiences with whom their music resonates, no matter where in the world that audience exists. Thank you to Marie, Dawn, Martin, Adrian, Tess, Peter, and Samantha, and the entire team for trusting Concord to carry on the Ninja Tune legacy.”

Terrence Howard has claimed that once upon a time, he had the chance to date Beyoncé while she was a member of Destiny’s Child.

The Hustle & Flow star joined the PBD Podcast earlier in March, where Howard detailed how he avoided romance in the entertainment world. The actor alleged that he could have dated Beyoncé, but opted to pursue another member of Destiny’s Child.

“I had the chance to date Beyoncé early on,” he said just shy of the 17-minute mark. “We had a conversation and I ended up talking to the other girl inside of Destiny’s [Child] — the girl with the blue eyes.”

Howard recalled: “I remember Beyoncé looking over at me, and I think that’s why she picked me to do that dance, when she did the kind of striptease dance that we did at the BET [Awards] or whatever, to show me what I had lost.”

The 2005 BET Awards that Howard’s referring to saw Destiny’s Child perform “Cater 2 U” and each member was paired up with a celebrity man on stage. Michelle Williams brought up NBA legend Magic Johnson, while Kelly Rowland opted for her “Dilemma” running mate Nelly, and Bey had Terrence Howard.

“I was attracted [to her],” he admitted. “There was a moment when I had felt something there, but that was long before she was with Jay-Z.“

Beyoncé and Jay-Z began dating around 2001 and got married in 2008. The power couple has three children together (14-year-old Blue Ivy and eight-year-old twins Sir and Rumi).

As for Terrence Howard, he’s a father of five and has tied the knot four times to three different women.

Watch the interview below. Talk about Beyoncé begins around 17 minutes. Billboard has reached out to Beyoncé’s rep for comment.

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Vans just enlisted the help of some major music acts for their new spring 2026 campaign titled “Off the Wall.”

The footwear retailer brought on SZA, Hayley Williams, Travis Barker and Franz Lyons of Turnstile to model their latest Authentic styles alongside skateboarders Lizzie Armanto and T-Funk. Each person seemed to effortlessly embody the Vans branding, whether that be through their grungy aesthetics or skateboarding occupation, a pastime that is very near and dear to the brand’s ethos. “Off The Wall reflects how Vans moves through culture: how it creates, how it connects, and how it evolves,” the Vans press release reads. “Each individual featured embodies that mindset, completely unique, yet hardwired to create their own noise. Builders and breakers. Originals and outsiders.”

In any case, the campaign featured a slew of lace-up styles new to the brand that can be shopped on Vans’ website now. Ample sizing is available for both men and women. The iconic canvas silhouette now features a range of colorful options, including whimsical floral prints, alongside the standard yet always fun checkerboard pattern in shades of pink, green, or red. The checkerboard styles launched today, while the printed models will be launching April 2.

The classic lace-up is near and dear to many folks’ hearts. On the musician front alone, you’ve got stars like BLACKPINK’s Lisa, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Olivia Rodrigo and SZA that have worn low-top Vans on and off for years, and it’s easy to see why. The shoe has that certain swagger that’s synonymous with moshing, hitting an Ollie or playing through a punk-rock set with friends.

The shoe is carefree and easy to wear, popularized by skateboarders, surfers and punk and emo subgenres. These new canvas silhouettes are much more playful, imbued with tons of color that make them great for spring. The canvas is forgiving and easy to clean if you do happen to dirty them up — although, Vans look best all scuffed up in our opinion. Each shoe is equipped with non-slip rubber soles and lace-up closures for an adjustable fit. The loud prints and patterns are meant to stand-out, serving as a statement shoe especially when worn with your classic jeans and tee attire.

Below, you can shop our favorites seen on SZA, Hailey Williams, Franz Lyons and Travis Barker.

Shop Vans’ New Spring 2026 Authentic Styles Seen on SZA, Travis Barker & Hailey Williams

Premium Authentic Checkerboard Shoe

$100

Buy Now at vans

This lace-up style has a woven look in shades of green and deep blue. This is an interesting take on the brand’s checkerboard pattern shoe.

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Authentic Checkerboard Shoe

$60

Buy Now at vans

This lace-up style with that iconic checkerboard pattern, this time, in pink and blue. The lace-up style is just one of many checkerboard silhouettes launched.

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Authentic Checkerboard Shoe

Buy Now at vans $60 $60

This lace-up style with that iconic checkerboard pattern. The lace-up style is just one of many checkerboard silhouettes launched.

---

Premium Authentic Checkerboard Shoe

$100

Buy Now at vans

This lace-up style has a woven look in back and white. This is an interesting take on the brand’s checkerboard pattern shoe because the pattern is larger.

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Jack Johnson considered naming the upcoming documentary SURFILMUSIC something more along the lines of “Make Stuff.” Those words stuck out to him as he and longtime friend and collaborator Emmett Malloy (director of Big Easy Express and The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights) compiled footage of Johnson’s life from his first steps to losing his front teeth in the water at Pipeline to becoming a household name through his music.

“You know how many mornings Emmett had to wake up to a text being like, ‘Why would I want to put a film out about me?’” Johnson jokes days before the 75-minute film is set to debut at Austin’s SXSW on March 13. The documentary unfolded from Johnson and Malloy combing through old footage as they prepared for the re-release of their surf films Thicker Than Water and September Sessions.

“The more we started watching, the story kept unfolding that was just about a bunch of friends making things together and the story that collaborating sometimes is where the strength is and seeing things in each other before you see them in yourselves,” Johnson tells Billboard.

SURFILMUSIC, directed by Malloy, begins with a flip book drawing of a surfer catching a wave – a childhood drawing of Johnson’s. According to the musician, it’s the first piece of art he can remember making and sets up the film for an hour plus of Johnson, Malloy and their friends, including pro surfer Kelly Slater, as they grow up in Hawaii. Through interviews and unearthed footage, the film traces Johnson’s professional surfer days to his award-winning film career and finally as a globally renowned musician and activist.

The film is an ideal centerpiece for the 40th anniversary of SXSW that kicks off today (March 12) with an abbreviated timeline. For the first time in the music, film and tech festival’s history, all three verticals will be running at the same time due to the renovation of the Austin Convention Center. With the music and film verticals overlapping, musicians are able to screen their film during the day and perform later in the evening for both the film and music fans and critics.

Johnson will screen SURFILMUSIC and perform alongside Hermanos Gutiérrez that evening at Stubb’s. And Johnson is not the only artist taking advantage of the overlap.

Noah Kahan, Charley Crockett, Lainey Wilson, Los Lobos and early 2000s girl group X-Cetra will also screen films at the festival. For Kahan (Out of Body), Crockett (A Cowboy in London) and Wilson (Keepin’ Country Cool), their films showcase their recent rise to global success, while, Johnson, Los Lobos (Los Lobos Native Sons) and X-Cetra (Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story) serve as career retrospectives.

“Having these documentaries come out earlier in their careers,” SXSW vp of music Brian Hobbs says, gives these artists “an opportunity to get on a massive stage and pull the curtain back a little bit to show people who they really are.”

“This is the largest number of films that are coordinating with a performance that we’ve had in the 21 years I’ve been here,” says SXSW vp of film and TV Claudette Godfrey, who adds that the film and music segments of the festival always try to overlap as much as possible. But, Godfrey explains, the film portion is also about discovery and half the films screen feature first time directors.

While big names are attached to several of the films this year, the music and film crossovers were not selected just for the star power. “I want to feel that I got that behind the scenes, backstage pass of it all,” says Godfrey. “I don’t want it to feel super vanity or this is ‘this is me showcasing everything in the best possible light.’ I want it to feel more encompassing.”

For Hobbs, landing the Crockett and Wilson documentaries, along with their showcase performances, was especially important for this year’s festival.

“It was on our vision board for SXSW 2026, ‘We got to get more country music out here,’” Hobbs says. While country music is a dominant genre in Texas, Hobbs believes SXSW has not been at the forefront of country upstarts and credits music programmer Berkli Johnson with strengthening the genre’s presence.

This year’s focus on country music “is going to do what happened with hip-hop out here after Jay-Z and Kanye [West] stamped SXSW was a thing for hip-hop, then hip-hop really took over,” Hobbs says. “Peso Pluma and Grupo Frontera really stamped it for Latin music and now our Latin music has been going crazy. I’m really hoping that we’ll see the same thing happen with country music after this year.”