The downtown Nashville record store that was opened by Opry legend Ernest Tubb in 1947 and has been a landmark in country music for decades will close as the building is being put up for sale.

The owners of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop said in a statement on Friday (March 11) they were heartbroken that the store, which has been in its current location on Broadway since 1951, will close in the spring. The building and store is owned by the Honky Tonk Circus, LLC and the David McCormick Company, Inc.

“Our goal has always been to protect, promote and preserve the great history of the record shop and building. That desire remains as strong today as ever,” the owners said in a statement. “However, due to changes in circumstances out of our control, it’s now clear the best way forward is to sell the business and the real estate.”

The record store was the original home of the Midnite Jamboree, a late-night radio show that aired after the Grand Ole Opry radio broadcast and would feature artists who crossed the street from the Ryman Auditorium to the record shop to keep playing in front of a live audience. It often featured up-and-coming new artists showcasing their songs and the shop was well-known for stocking a wide variety of country records.

The store, which is next to several of Nashville’s famed honky-tonk clubs, was an institution often photographed, with its huge guitar hanging out front with the neck pointed upward and a revolving sign. In its heyday, the store had 100,000 mail-order customers and even expanded to multiple stores in other cities. But the city’s historic downtown area has drastically changed in recent years with many buildings being replaced with celebrity-themed bars, restaurants and other tourist-centered attractions.

Hailey Bieber is opening up about a recent health scare that landed her in the hospital.

The 25-year-old model, who is married to pop star Justin Bieber, took to social media on Saturday (March 12) to reveal that she was hospitalized earlier this week after experiencing stroke-like symptoms caused by a small blood clot.

“On Thursday morning, I was sitting at breakfast with my husband when I started having stroke like symptoms and was taken to the hospital,” Bieber wrote on her Instagram Story. “They found I had suffered a very small blood clot to my brain, which caused a small lack of oxygen, but my body had passed it on its own and I recovered completely within a few hours.”

She added, “Although this was definitely one of the scariest moments I’ve ever been through, I’m home now and doing well, and I’m so grateful and thankful to all the amazing doctors and nurses who took care of me!”

Bieber’s message follows her superstar husband’s recovery from COVID-19 in February, which caused him to postpone his concert at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on Feb. 20.

Earlier this month, the model wished her husband of three years a happy 28th birthday on Instagram.

“Happy birthday my baby… there are a lot of amazing and beautiful things about this life, but the most beautiful part is that I get to live it with you. I love you.. here’s to 28,” she captioned a series of photos of the couple, plus an adorable throwback picture of baby JB.

See Bieber’s health scare statement on her Instagram Story here.

From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.

Latin female hitmakers share best advice

Billboard Latin kicked off Women’s History Month with an industry mentorship dinner — courtesy of WhatsApp — as part of their new campaign, “Escúchanos. Míranos.” The intimate event brought together more than 50 emerging Latin female talents and established artists. During the dinner, Billboard asked industry leads to share their best career advice and discuss the women who opened doors for them. Click here to read inspirational quotes from singer-songwriter Erika Vidrio, renowned artist Claudia Brant, newcomer Giulia Be and many more.  

Bizarrap teams up with the NBA

Argentine producer Bizarrap has been making headlines with his latest music session featuring Residente. But in the midst of the madness, Biza is on his way to making history as the first Spanish-speaking artist to be part of the NBA 2K with his very own “My Player,” an avatar of the producer. The NBA 2K videogame will also feature music from three of Bizarrap’s sessions: Eladio Carrión, Snow Tha Product and Morad. “I imagined playing NBA 2K and which ones I would like to listen to be more amped up. I chose those three and there is one more that is not [included] yet because it hasn’t come out yet,” Bizarrap said about the process of choosing which three rap sessions would be featured.

Lupita D’Alessio’s special award

Mexican songstress Lupita D’Alessio is set to receive the Legend Award during the seventh edition of the Latin American Music Awards. The special honor is presented to artists who have endured the test of time and “who at the very mention of their name conjures a vivid and vibrant image,” according to a statement. D’Alessio (born Guadalupe Contreras Ramos) has serenaded fans for five decades with such anthemic ballads as “Mudanzas,” “Acariciamo” and “Que Ganas de No Verte Nunca Más.”

The 67-year-old artist will be awarded during the ceremony, set to take place on April 21 and broadcast live from the Michelob ULTRA Arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

Sebastián Yatra on Billboard‘s cover

Sebastián Yatra graces one of Billboard‘s SXSW special covers where he talks all things “Dos Oruguitas,” becoming a bonafide pop star, his upcoming Dharma Tour and singing in English. “I always had in my mind that at some point in my life, I was going to sing in English and have a more global career, so I was preparing myself,” he said in the interview. “It’s like building a big city: If you don’t plan it well, the roads are tiny and the access doesn’t work. I wanted to lay the foundation so that people could pronounce my name easily.”

The Colombian star will perform at Samsung + Billboard Present THE STAGE at SXSW on March 19. Get tickets here.

No. 1 hits by Latinas 

Billboard has compiled a list of all the women who earned a No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart in the past decade. The chart ranks the most popular Latin songs of the week, blending airplay, streaming and digital sales data. In 2012, icons Gloria Estefan and Paulina Rubio reached No. 1 on the coveted chart. The former debuted and peaked at No. 1 with “Hotel Nacional” and the latter with “Me Gustas Tanto.”

For over four years, women’s representation was scarce on the top of the Latin charts until Shakira’s “Chantaje” in collaboration with Maluma debuted and peaked at No. 1 on the chart dated Nov. 19, 2016, where it ruled for 11 weeks. See the other songs that have topped the list here.

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.

While BTS has returned to the stage this week for a three-show run in Seoul, those who can’t make it out to Seoul can still get in on the action.

The K-pop superstars performed the first of the BTS Permission to Dance on Stage – Seoul shows on Thursday (March 10) and will continue the rest on March 12 and 13 at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in front of a live audience. The March 10 and March 13 dates will be streamed live online for members of the ARMY unable to attend the shows in-person, while the March 12 performance will be broadcast in cinemas across the world for “Live Viewing” events.

Trafalgar Releasing will host two Saturday screenings of BTS Permission to Dance on Stage – Seoul at approximately 700 screens in the U.S. and Canada and an additional 3,000 screens worldwide. Despite the title, some of these “Live Viewing” experiences, including those in North America, will not be live and instead be tape-delayed due to the time difference. Tickets are priced at $35. (Check out if your local theaters are participating in the broadcasts here.)

The screenings will commence 15 minutes earlier than the actual concert show time for a more seamless experience. They will only be available in Korean, with no subtitles in other languages. Fans may be able to still bring their ARMY BOMB official light stick to feel like they’re right there in Seoul depending on the theaters’ guidelines.


Buy tickets here.

Last fall, BTS hosted a mini-residency at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, where tickets for all four nights sold out immediately and notched the biggest ever Billboard Boxscore in California. According to Billboard Boxscore, the 2021 SoFi Stadium run grossed a mammoth $33.3 million with 214,000 tickets sold. It’s the largest gross for a run of shows at a single venue since 2012, when Roger Waters earned $38 million over nine shows at Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Ledger is a weekly newsletter about the economics of the music business sent to Billboard Pro subscribers. An abbreviated version of the newsletter is published online.

 

Strong steps taken by Western music companies to cease operations in Russia will have a big impact on the country but will do little damage to the global market. Russia is the 16th largest recorded music market in the world with a trade value $199 million in 2020, according to the IFPI. That was on par with Sweden, which has about 7% of Russia’s population, as well as Mexico, India and Switzerland. For the largest record labels, music publishers and music streaming companies, each with multi-billion-dollar revenues, Russia is a tiny part of their worldwide businesses.

Spotify’s decision to suspend operations in Russia, where it launched in 2020, will be immaterial to its 2022 results. On Wednesday, Spotify CFO Paul Vogel said the company’s decision to shut down operations in Russia will result in about 1.5 million lapsed subscribers. By Billboard’s estimate, those 1.5 million subscriptions are worth a maximum of $40 million of revenue and $12 million of gross margin per year — negligible amounts for a company that could reach $13 billion of revenue in 2022. From a purely financial point of view, Spotify stood to lose more by not pulling out of Russia if it caused half as many customers in Western markets — with higher average revenue per user — to cancel their subscriptions in protest.

In dollar terms, Spotify’s decision was far less costly than $40 million in 2022 revenues, however. At the beginning of the year, Spotify could have expected about $40 million from its Russian subscriptions in 2022 based on an individual Spotify Premium account price of 169 rubles per month — or $2.26 at the Jan. 1 exchange rate. But Western countries’ sanctions caused the ruble to lose about 46% of its value to the dollar since the beginning of the year (as of Friday), meaning a Premium subscription would be worth the equivalent of $1.22 today. Had Spotify remained in Russia after the ruble crashed, the value of its 1.5 million subscriptions would have been worth about $1.8 million per month and $18 million for the remainder of 2022.

Global businesses such as Spotify make most of their money from developed markets in North America and Western Europe. At $2.26 per month, a 30% gross margin — meaning the remaining 70% is paid in royalties to rights holders — and a 3.75% monthly churn rate, a Premium subscription in Russia has a lifetime value of roughly $17.60, less than half the LTV for Spotify’s average global subscriber. That would put the 1.5 million lapsed Russian subscriptions at a collective lifetime value of only $26.4 million.

Other foreign companies with music subscription services in Russia have also taken actions that will impact revenues. Apple halted sales of its products in Russia on March 1. Deezer discontinued service in Russia on March 1. And on Thursday, YouTube suspended all payment-based services in the country.

If the conflict’s economic impact is contained to Russia, DSPs and labels won’t see losses of any significance, as Russia accounted for just 0.9% of the global recorded music business in 2020. The total global market share of a handful of IFPI members bordering the conflict — Poland, the Baltics, Slovakia and Hungary — was also about 0.9%.

Russia’s most established music services remain offered by homegrown tech giants: search engine and web portal Yandex and social media company VKontakte. Yandex has 12 million subscribers to its unlimited streaming service, Yandex.Plus. In Russia, Yandex.Plus is available for 169 rubles per month, although the price also covers ad-free movies, discounts on taxi and car-sharing services and free delivery on e-commerce purchases. (Yandex.Plus is also available in Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Israel.) VKontakte’s music service, VK Music, has more than 4 million subscribers, according to Russia’s Institute of Music Initiatives, and costs 149 rubles per month.

Despite the minimal financial impact on music companies in the short term, my colleague Rob Levine suggests the exodus could also have damaging long-term effects, as music companies pulling out of Russia hurts the potential of a young, growing market for legal music where piracy has the potential to once again run rampant.

 

STOCKS
Through March 11, the % change over the last five trading days and year to date.

Spotify: $124.29, -8.0%, -46.9% YTD
Universal Music Group: 20.40 euros, +12.1%, -17.7% YTD
Warner Music Group: $31.79, -3.7%, -26.4% YTD
Live Nation: $108.55, -5.1%, -9.3% YTD
Tencent Music Entertainment: $3.44, -24.7%, -49.8% YTD
Cloud Village: 157.20 HKD, -30.3%, -51.6% YTD
Anghami: $10.57, -21.7%, +3.5% YTD
NYSE Composite: 15,753.70, -2.3%, -8.2% YTD
Nasdaq: 12,843.81, -3.5%, -17.9% YTD

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.

Thiago Santos and Magomed Ankalaev are preparing to go head-to-head in Sin City. The UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Ankalaev bout will take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday (March 12) and will stream on ESPN+.

The light heavyweight battle pits a veteran against a onetime title challenger. Santos, a 38-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist, ranks at No. 5 on the UFC Light Heavyweight ranking. Ankalaev, a 29-year-old mixed martial artist from Russia, ranks just below Santos at No. 6.

The UFC Vegas 50 co-main event will feature Marlon Moraes, the No. 10-ranked Bantamweight contender, against No. 14-ranked Song Yadong. The main event kicks off at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, while  preliminary events will start at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. ET.

How to Watch UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Ankalaev Online

UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Ankalaev will stream exclusively on ESPN+. If you’re not a member yet, the service is $6.99 a month to stream UFC fights and other live events, popular daily programs (live, or replays), sports series and other exclusive programming.

ESPN+ is your go-to destination for UFC fight nights and exclusive PPV events, along with  other programming such as Dana White’s Contender Series, Detail With Daniel Cormier, UFC Destined and archives of the greatest UFC fights.

Baseball, tennis, golf, basketball, football, college sports, combat sports and more are all available on EPSN+,  along with every 30 for 30 episode, including Al Davis vs. The NFL, Vick, Be Like Water and Breakaway. You’ll also find daily sports talk and groundbreaking originals like Man in the Arena With Tom Brady, More Than an Athlete With Michael Strahan, and Our Time Baylor Basketball.

Want to stream more than just sports? Triple your streaming options with a bundle deal that adds Disney+ and Hulu to your ESPN+ subscription for $13.99 a month.

Parker McCollum wants to know what it’s like “To Be Loved by You” in his latest smash, which peaked at No. 2 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart and No. 46 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week (dated March 12).

He was announced as the new male artist of the year winner at the 57th annual ACM Awards ahead of the awards show broadcast earlier this week, where he performed “Pretty Heart.”

Check out the lyrics below.

Hell, maybe I’m right, maybe I’m wrong
Finding out why shouldn’t take this long
Easier said than done, I guess
I’m a little bit harder to love than the rest
Why does this have to be so hard?
Doin’ my best to hold your heart
And I, I’ll never let it go again

So why are you always angry?
Why are you always quiet?
Why do you sleep alone
When I know you don’t like it?
Maybe you might be different
Would it kill you to tell me the truth
What in the hell does a man
Have to do
To be loved by you?

Well, I’ve been running as fast as I can
And you’ll never get over what you can’t understand
Pissed off, hanging up the telephone
Forever ain’t far, I’m heading home
Maybe I’m right, maybe I’m wrong
Last time you ever gonna find me gone
And I, I’ll never let you go again

So why are you always angry?
Why are you always quiet?
Why do you sleep alone
When I know you don’t like it?
Maybe you might be different
Would it kill you to tell me the truth
What in the hell does a man
Have to do
To be loved by
You?

So why are you always angry?
Why are you always quiet?
Why do you sleep alone
When I know you don’t like it?
Maybe you might be different
Would it kill you to tell me the truth
What in the hell does a man
Have to do
To be loved by you?

To be loved by you
To be loved by you
To be loved by you

Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Written by: Parker Yancey McCollum, Rhett Akins

Attorneys for Astroworld victims are duking it out in Houston court with attorneys for Travis Scott, in a battle revolving around whether the star himself should be subject to a gag order that’s been imposed on lawyers working on the massive case.

Lawyers for the family of a young boy killed at the festival say Scott is using the media – specifically the launch of a charitable initiative called Project HEAL, which was announced on Tuesday (March 8) – to try to win favor with potential jurors. Scott’s lawyers say his philanthropy is genuine and that adding him to the gag order would violate his right to free speech.

In the latest filing on Friday (March 11), attorneys for the 9-year-old victim, Ezra Blount, said Scott must be prevented from carrying out a “highly sophisticated marketing campaign” and a “tone-deaf attempt to shift the narrative.”

“They only ask the defendant Scott, and his full team, consider participating in good faith in the legal process, stop the continued attempts at media marketing and reputation repair, and just let the truth be discovered through the course of the judicial process,” they wrote.

The filings came amid a massive ongoing lawsuit over the Astroworld Festival, where a Nov. 5 crowd crush incident during Scott’s performance left 10 dead and hundreds injured. More than 2,800 concertgoers are suing Scott, Live Nation and other festival organizers, claiming they’re legally negligent in how they planned and conducted the event. The plaintiffs are seeking billions in potential damages.

When the cases were combined before a single judge last month – Judge Kristen Brauchle Hawkins – one of her first moves was to issue a so-called publicity order, barring attorneys involved in the lawsuit from talking about the case in ways that could potentially sway jurors.

On Wednesday, the Blount family’s attorneys filed an emergency motion demanding that Scott be added to that publicity order. In the motion, they cited widespread media coverage the day before of Project HEAL, a $5 million charitable initiative launched by Scott to, among other things, “address the safety challenges faced by future large-scale events.”

Blount’s family, repped by attorney Benjamin Crump, said the promotion around Project HEAL was “designed to gain goodwill” and to hurt the victims’ “ability obtain a fair trial in this case.” They said the gag order must apply to everyone involved in the case to ensure “a level playing field.”

Tony Buzbee, another prominent local attorney who represents scores more victims in the case, later filed a motion joining Crump’s petition and throwing his weight behind the motion to impose the gag order on Scott.

Scott’s attorneys fired back on Thursday, arguing that his philanthropic efforts had begun long before Astroworld – and that banning him from talking about them would violate his free speech rights under the First Amendment.

“Rather than welcome Mr. Scott’s continued commitment to charitable causes in Houston, one of the lawyers representing Mr. Blount decided to publicly disparage him,” wrote Daniel Petrocelli, Scott’s lead counsel. “Plaintiffs’ motion … is a transparent and vexatious effort to restrain parties like Mr. Scott from exercising their constitutional rights.”

That filing led to the strongly-worded reply that arrived on Friday, in which Crump accused Scott’s side of “faux-outrage” over being called out for their “highly sophisticated marketing campaign.”

“Though defendant Scott’s motion both lauds his own self-serving check writing, as well as personally attacks those lawyers hired to protect the victims who were left unprotected and dying at his concert, the family of the dead and injured will not be bullied into silence,” Crump wrote.

There is no timetable for when Judge Hawkins will rule on the motions.

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