The fire that ravaged Miami-Dade’s trash incinerator plant in Doral started as an accident, investigators with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue concluded in a memo released Tuesday. The memo by county Mayor … Click to Continue »
Myriad handwashing issues, dead flies in places food should go and unsafe food caused the second South Florida Presidente in a week to fail state inspection. Two days after a … Click to Continue »
Two days after eight people were killed when an SUV slammed into a crowd waiting at a Brownsville bus stop, information on the victims remains scarce, leaving relatives of missing … Click to Continue »
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has selected three companies to carry out its expanded, multi-million dollar program to relocate migrants anywhere in the country, less than a year after the governor … Click to Continue »
Ed Sheeran’s sixth U.K. chart title is within reach, as – (Subtract) stockpiles a massive midweek lead.
Based on sales and streaming data at the halfway mark, Sheeran’s Asylum LP is already the U.K.’s fastest-selling album of 2023, the Official Charts Company reports.
With no major new titles threatening Sheeran’s pursuit of the crown, the English singer and songwriter should nab his sixth consecutive U.K. No. 1 – a streak that includes all four of his mathematics-themed sets, and 2019’s No. 6 Collaborations Project.
Subtract has already racked-up more than 56,000 combined units, more than any album has notched during a full-frame this year, according to the OCC.
The previous mark was owned by Lana Del Rey’s Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, which accumulated 41,000 chart units during its first week.
Sheeran appears to be everywhere, all at once. The singer and songwriter performed on American Idol last Sunday, he won a high-profile copyright lawsuit last week, he’s the subject of a special four-part Disney+ docuseries, The Sum Of It All, he’s set to perform at the 2023 ACM Awards, and, yes, he’s currently on tour.
Also eyeing a U.K. top 10 debut is Manchester rapper Tunde with First Lap (via Tunde), new at No. 3 on the chart blast; former Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan’s first solo album The Reckoning (Destruct), at No. 4; and Therapy? with Hard Cold Fire (Marshall) at No. 9, which could net the veteran Northern Irish rock outfit a third career top 10 album, and highest-charting effort since 1995’s Infernal Love.
Finally, Katy Perry’s performance at King Charles III’s Coronation Concert over the weekend has handed an immediate boost to the U.S. pop superstar catalog. Perry’s sophomore set Teenage Dream (Virgin), a leader following its release in 2011, is set to reenter the chart at No. 40. Teenage Dream features “Firework,” with which she closed her set and dedicated to the king, saying, “Thank you for bringing out the firework in so many young people.”
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published Friday (May 12).
Warner Music Group’s share price fell nearly 10% on Tuesday (May 9) following the release of the company’s second quarter earnings report, which showed that revenue from the recorded music division was effectively flat over last year ($1.143 billion vs. $1.147 billion in the year-ago quarter).
On Tuesday, Warner’s stock fell from $28.50 at the start of the day to $25.76 at the market’s close — a 9.58% drop.
This marks the second straight quarter of disappointing results in recorded music for Warner, the world’s third-largest label. Last quarter, revenue in the division fell 10.6%, or 5.6% in constant currency, on lower digital, physical and artist services and expanded rights revenue.
In the current quarter, streaming revenue was down 0.4% (or, in constant currency 2.2% higher) on fewer releases and a slowdown in ad-supported revenue due to macroeconomic uncertainty. By contrast, music publishing revenue grew 12% to $257 million, up from $230 million a year ago.
“While our publishing was best in class, we underperformed in recorded music,” said CEO Robert Kyncl on an earnings call Tuesday.
Related
In attempts to bolster confidence, WMG executives on the call stressed that the company is already seeing improvement with the late-April releases of Jack Harlow’s Jackman., Tïesto’s Drive and Ed Sheeran’s Subtract, which was released earlier this month. CFO Eric Levin noted that the label’s release slate “was a little lighter in the first two quarters of the year and will be weighted to (the third quarter) and (the fourth quarter),” with upcoming releases expected from Dua Lipa‘s Barbie soundtrack, among others.
“We absolutely expect this to improve our results in recorded music streaming in the second half of the year,” Levin added.
Nonetheless, investors appear to be growing skittish over the lackluster performance. Tuesday’s closing price marked a sharp drop of nearly 20% of Warner’s stock over the past month, with the share price falling from $32.12 on April 10.
Ahead of Thursday evening’s (May 11) Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony, two artists are already winners.
On Tuesday evening (May 9), the ACM revealed Hailey Whitters as the winner of the new female artist of the year honor, and Zach Bryan as the winner of the new male artist of the year trophy.
This marks the first ACM wins for both Whitters and Bryan.
Whitters earned a top 30 Billboard Hot Country Songs hit with “Everything She Ain’t,” featured on her 2022 album Raised, cementing her place as both a “rising” and go-to songwriter, having written songs recorded by Little Big Town (“Happy People”), Alan Jackson (“The Older I Get”) and Martina McBride (“Low All Afternoon,” “The Real Thing”). In 2015, Whitters released the project Black Sheep (via Carnival), and, later, inked a label deal with Nicolle Galyon’s Songs & Daughters imprint (Big Loud) in 2020. Whitters also released the projects The Dream and Raised, and will make her debut ACM Awards performance on Thursday evening.
Bryan earned a top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit earlier this year with “Something in the Orange,” which was also a six-week No. 1 Hot Country Songs hit and topped the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. His 2022 album American Heartbreak debuted at No. 1 on the top country albums chart, while his followup EP, Summertime Blues, debut at No. 7. He is launching his headlining Burn Burn Burn tour this month, and just earned a song of the year nomination at the upcoming Americana Honors & Awards for “Something in the Orange.”
The 58th annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be free to stream live on Prime Video on May 11 beginning at 7 p.m. ET from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
Sia married her boyfriend Dan Bernad over the weekend in Italy, Billboard can confirm.
According to People, just four guests attended the intimate ceremony, which took place at Villa Olivetta, a private estate owned by fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in Portofino, Italy. Pictures shared by People show a candlelit ceremony, with the bride in a high-neck lace gown and her hair pulled back to show her oft-hidden face and the groom in an off-white tuxedo.
While it’s unclear how long Sia and Bernad have been dating, they were photographed together at the red-carpet premiere of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake back in December 2021. Sia also shared a picture with Bernad to her Instagram account in October 2022, with the caption: “Pride forever! #lgbtqia+#LAFC #22 also just finished my next album! A great day all round!”
The Australian singer/songwriter was previously married to filmmaker Erik Anders Lang. The pair announced their engagement in June 2014 and were married two months later at her home in Palm Springs, Calif., before filing for divorce in December 2016.
Sia hasn’t released a studio album since 2016’s This Is Acting, but that hasn’t kept her off the Billboard charts. Last year, her song “Unstoppable” from the 2016 project found new life thanks in part to TikTok, topping the Adult Pop Airplay and Adult Contemporary charts six years after its initial release and peaking at No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. This Is Acting also spawned Sia’s lone Hot 100 No. 1, the four-week chart-topper “Cheap Thrills.”
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.
It might be time to upgrade your iPad.
On Tuesday (May 9), Apple revealed that Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro will be available on iPad Pro starting May 23. The upgrade means that movie and music creatives can finally combine the magic of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro with the portability of an iPad.
“We’re excited to introduce Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad, allowing creators to unleash their creativity in new ways and in even more places,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of worldwide product marketing. “With a powerful set of intuitive tools designed for the portability, performance, and touch-first interface of iPad, Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro deliver the ultimate mobile studio.”
Final Cut Pro for iPad features an all-new touch interface, intuitive tools and a jog wheel that, according to Apple, “makes the editing process easier than ever.” Logic Pro for iPad lets users unlock an “all-in-one-professional music creation app” that turns your iPad into a portable recording studio that lets you write record, edit music and more directly from the device.
Both will be available in the App Store for $4.99/month or $49 annually.
As if you need another reason to upgrade your iPad, Final Cut Pro is only compatible with the M1 chip iPad and later models, while Logic Pro will be available on A12 Bionic chip iPad models or later. Learn more about Final Cut Pro for iPad and Logic Pro for iPad here.
Ready to upgrade? The sixth generation iPad Pro is on sale at Amazon, but only at a slight discount (5% off is better than nothing).
Buy: Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th Generation): with M2 chip, Space Grey $1,049.00
Powered by Apple’s M2 chip and an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, iPad Pro delivers powerful performance, lightning-fast graphics and all-day battery life, with up to 10 hours of web surfing.
It also features a Liquid Retina XDR display, 128 GB of storage, Wi-Fi 6E, 12MP ultra-wide front cameras, 10MP back cameras, and Face ID.
Shopping for deals on iPads and other Apple products for Mother’s Day? You’ll find them at Amazon. Save $100 on the fifth-generation iPad Air pictured below and Apple iPad Mini (sixth generation).
The fifth generation iPad Air has an M1 chip, a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display with True Tone technology, up to 256GB of storage (the discounted option is 64GB); an upgraded 12MP wide camera, 4K video recording capabilities like iPad Pro, plus a faster USB port and 5G connectivity. The iPad Air is equipped with an 8-core CPU, and 8-core GPU that delivers faster performance and up to two times the graphics of its predecessor — and it comes in a bunch of different colors, including blue, pink, purple, space gray and white.
“Whether it’s a college student taking elaborate notes, a content creator working on their latest project, or a gamer playing graphics-intensive titles, users love iPad Air for its amazing performance and versatility in such a portable design,” Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said last year. “With the breakthrough M1 chip, Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage, and ultra-fast 5G, iPad Air is now more powerful, more capable, and simply more fun than ever.”
Anthony Martini, president of Exceed Capital and the lead singer of long-running hardcore band E-Town Concrete, has filed a lawsuit against the New Jersey promoter behind the recently canceled Bamboozle festival for allegedly failing to repay a $500,000 loan.
Problems with the Bamboozle Festival — slated to feature Limp Bizkit, Rick Ross and Steve Aoki, among others — bubbled up last month after fans revolted over what they saw as unfulfilled promises and Atlantic City officials declined to issue a final permit for the event. On April 28, Bamboozle organizers issued a statement via the festival’s official website that read, “After extensive discussions, we have made the heartbreaking decision to cancel Bamboozle 2023. An incredible amount of time, dedication, passion and hard work was invested into making this comeback a success. We appreciate everyone who supported this festival. Refunds should be requested at point of purchase.” The website has been scrubbed of all other information.
According to the lawsuit, filed Thursday (May 4) in New Jersey Superior Court in Monmouth County, Bamboozle organizer John D’Esposito failed to live up to the terms of the high-interest loan issued by Martini for the festival, likely in November 2022. Martini’s lawyer Jesse David Eisenberg appears to have mixed up the timeline in the suit, at times writing that the loan agreement was made in 2021 while elsewhere writing that the same events took place in 2022. Several other documents indicate the loan was first originated in November 2022, although no copy of the loan agreement itself was included in the complaint. Billboard has reached out to Eisenberg for clarification on the timeline.
As part of the loan, Martini allegedly agreed to advance more than $460,000 to four major booking agencies — Artist Group International, CAA, WME and Wasserman Music — to cover the artist payments for bands booked to play the Bamboozle festival, which had been scheduled for May 5-7 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In exchange, according to the lawsuit, D’Esposito would then pay back the loan, in addition to $100,000 in interest, on Jan. 21, 2023. Martini would also receive 20% equity ownership in Bamboozle, which E-town Concrete was booked to play.
In the complaint, Martini — also a music executive and former artist manager who helped develop artists including Lil Dicky and MadeinTYO — alleges D’Esposito never made the January payment and is now suing him for breach of contract.
Billboard reached out to D’Esposito, Martini and Eisenberg for comment but did not receive a response by press time.
D’Esposito founded Bamboozle in 2002 and kept the festival going for the next decade, with previous editions featuring top-tier acts such as 50 Cent, Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi, Snoop Dogg, Mac Miller, My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. At its peak, the event was drawing more than 100,000 fans over a single weekend. Following an alleged dispute between D’Esposito and his partners in the event, Live Nation and House of Blues, the festival went dormant in 2012. In an interview last month, D’Esposito told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he repurchased the festival’s trademark in 2020 in order to resurrect it.
