At 22 years old, Christian Nodal has rewritten the rules of regional Mexican music, navigating between traditional music and hip-hop and setting a record of No. 1s (13) for a solo act on the Billboard Regional Mexican Airplay chart.

On the heels of his chart success, Nodal brought his Botella Tras Botella Tour to Inglewood on Friday Night (Dec. 3), performing his biggest hits to a sold-out crowd at the YouTube Theater, and was joined by surprise guests, including Mexican hip-hop acts Gera MX and Akwid.

Nodal is a Gen-Z sensation who is refreshing regional Mexican music with his mariacheño (mariachi and norteño) sound. And despite using social media to air his grievances to break free from Universal Music, Nodal won a Latin Grammy in September and is nominated in the 2022 Grammys.

But on Friday, he kept record label drama off the stage, emerging like an urban cowboy in his black leather pants and commanding the audience with the tip of his hat. He put on a nearly two-hour show that had his fans on their feet, dancing and singing along. Here are five memorable moments from Nodal’s concert.

Nodal’s Greatest Hits

In his five years as an artist, Nodal has racked up numerous hits, including 13 No. 1s on the regional Mexican Airplay chart. He loaded up his set list with early hits like “Adiós Amor,” “No Te Contaron Mal” and “De Los Besos Que Te Di” and had the crowd moving to his recent smashes, like the country-influenced “Se Me Olvidó” and his reggaeton-infused Piso 21 collaboration “Pa’ Olvidarme De Ella.”

‘Botella Tras Botella’ with Gera MX

Nodal’s tour is named after his global hit “Botella Tras Botella” with Gera MX. In May, the duo made history by becoming the first regional Mexican entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. When Nodal started to sing their song, Gera MX came out to loud cheers from the crowd. The compa chemistry was so big, that in a surprise move, the two performed “Botella Tras Botella” for a second time to close out the concert.

Akwid’s Surprise Appearance

Immediately after Gera MX, brother duo Sergio and Francisco Gómez of Akwid joined Nodal onstage. The Californian/Mexican rappers, who pioneered regional hip-hop, performed their classics “Es Mi Gusto” and “No Hay Manera.” Nodal rapped alongside the guys, showing he has a hip-hop flow that can hold up against the veterans. As Mexican rap is making a global impact, it was cool to see Nodal share the spotlight with two pioneers of the genre.

Nodal Honored The Mexican Legends

Nodal’s concert was also filled with plenty of covers, paying homage to the icons of regional Mexican music that came before him. Nodal performed a heartfelt version of Joan Sebastian’s “Eso y Más” and had the crowd moving to Ramón Ayala’s “Tragos Amargos.” In front of the Mexican flag, he also belted out Vicente Fernández’s classic “Acá Entre Nos,” to delirious screams of “¡Arriba México!”

Nodal’s Fan Love

Throughout the concert, Nodal thanked his fans for their support and called them a blessing in his life.  When fans rushed to the front of the stage to try to get a selfie, Nodal obliged, flashing his smile and a peace sign. He clipped a flower from a fan to his hat and tossed a few of his bandanas, and eventually his hat, into the crowd. A sweet moment was his performance of “Mi Chula,” where Nodal serenaded his female fans and blew kisses to the audience. It was all about spreading the love.

In what prosecutors are describing as a brazen case of fraud, two men have been charged with illegally collecting over $20 million in Latin music royalties.

José Teran of Scottsdale, Arizona and Webster Batista of Doral, Florida were charged Wednesday (Dec. 1) in federal court in Phoenix after being accused of fraudulently monetizing over 50,000 songs through their company, MediaMuv. According to sources, and to a report published in Marketwatch, the men unlawfully collected royalties on songs from a wide range of Latin artists, including Piso 21, El Fantasma, Angeles Azules and Los Askis.

According to the indictment, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Arizona, Terán and Batista made false representations in order to claim more than $20 million in YouTube royalties in a scheme that began back in 2016. Operating under MediMuv, Teran and Batista allegedly sent an email to YouTube in 2017 stating they represented over 50,000 songs and requesting access to YouTube’s Content Management System (CMS). The men not only falsely claimed to own the legal rights to the songs but also assumed false identities to aid in their plot.

Court documents show Teran and Batista used their allegedly ill-gotten money to fund a lavish lifestyle, with Teran allegedly using over $500,000 to put a down payment on a mansion outside of Phoenix. Other alleged purchases included more than $90,000 paid to Beverly Hills BMW and another $129,000 paid to Tesla.

Today, Teran and Batista stand accused of conspiracy, wire fraud, transactional money laundering and aggravated identity theft. They could face up to 5 years in prison for conspiracy, 20 years for wire fraud, 10 years for transactional money laundering and a mandatory consecutive sentence of 2 years for aggravated identity theft.

LONDON – The British government said Friday that it recognizes there is a problem around the low rates of pay some artists and performers receive from music streaming — and refused to rule out legislating change if the industry can’t work together to find its own solutions.

“We want a fair streaming environment in which the U.K. music industry can thrive and artists are properly rewarded,” George Freeman, a Conservative government minister, said during a four-hour debate in the House of Commons over a bill that seeks to reform music streaming payouts.

The Copyright (Rights and Remuneration of Musicians) Bill failed Friday to progress to the next stage of the legislative process as proceedings overran. That means the bill remains on the agenda of Private Members’ bills to be debated by MPs before the current Parliamentary session ends in the spring, but it goes to the bottom of the queue and is unlikely to progress any further.

Nevertheless, Freeman — the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy — said the government “have not ruled out legislation” to introduce any of the measures in the bill, which was presented by Kevin Brennan, an MP from the opposition Labour Party.

But Freeman said the government was concerned that passing the bill into law before doing full and detailed research into its potential impact “would have “significant consequences” across the industry.

“We do not want to cause a crisis of confidence in the U.K. digital music sector, and cause a disinvestment, creating a bigger problem by moving too hastily without taking the chance to listen to all those who have a stake,” he said.

The proposed law considered by members of Parliament would require record companies to pay musicians and songwriters a bigger chunk of revenue from music streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, as well give British artists the chance to reclaim their exclusive recording rights after 20 years.

The government will continue to gather evidence and data on many of the issues raised by the bill through music industry working groups that it launched earlier this year, Freeman said. Ministers will also pay close attention to a market study of the British record business that’s being carried out by U.K. competition watchdog The Competition and Markets Authority.

The draft copyright bill contains four key clauses that could change how royalties are paid out for music streams and radically alter contractual terms between music creators and labels and publishers. They include new transparency and reporting obligations for rights holders and a revocation right that would enable artists to reclaim their recording copyright after a period of 20 years. (The latter clause is similar to the “Termination of Rights” clause that exists in the U.S. with a 35-year term.)

The proposed law – which follows a Parliamentary inquiry into the economics of the music streaming business – also put forward a “contract adjustment” right for performers and songwriters where they believe their royalty rates are disproportionally low.

One of the bill’s most divisive measures would bring streaming in line with TV and radio broadcasts in the U.K. by obligating record companies to pay performers “equitable remuneration” on music that is streamed, on top of the agreed contractual royalties.

Presenting the bill on Friday, Brennan, who is a member of the Musicians’ Union, said the long tradition of globally successful British musicians, artists and songwriters “is threatened if we do not adapt our legal structures to ensure that artists, composers and songwriters are properly paid when their music is played.”

Brennan countered concerns from label groups BPI and the Association of Independent Music (AIM) that the bill would damage the U.K. music business and result in record labels having less money to invest in new artists, marketing and A&R. “There is an element of hyperbole and panic” in the responses of companies and organizations with “vested interests to protect,” he said during the debate.

“This Bill is not about anarchy in the U.K.; it is about equity in the U.K. music industry,” Brennan said.

The bill provoked passionate debate among MPs during the hearing session. Conservative MP John Whittingdale said the proposed legislation raised serious issues, but he shared the U.K. labels’ concerns about some of the provisions it contained and worried that only the most popular artists on streaming platforms would see any financial benefit.

“My fear is that if we take the money away from the labels to give to established, successful artists, we are depriving the future stars of the investment on which they depend,” said Whittingdale, opposing the bill.

MP Pete Wishart, a former member of Scottish rock bands Runrig and Big Country, said the current music industry “is not working” for artists and performers. “The model is broken.”

He called equitable remuneration an effective way to address “some of the inequities [around] musicians getting a just share for the music they produce.”

Despite the bill failing to receive the government backing it needed to progress, Graham Davies, CEO of The Ivors Academy, called the debate a “landmark moment on the path to the inevitable modernization of the music industry.”

“It is not a matter of if this reform happens,” said Davies, “but how.”

Responding to the debate, Geoff Taylor, CEO of labels trade body BPI, which opposes the proposed law, said it will “engage positively and proactively” with the government to look for joint solutions to “ensure the streaming market continues to grow and sustain the careers of many more artists.”

In an unstable year for touring, an unlikely contender has risen to become the highest-grossing and most-attended venue of the year. 

According to data provided to Billboard Boxscore, Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado is not only the biggest moneymaking venue with a capacity between 5,001-10,000 of 2021 but the top-grossing venue of any size, in the world, for the year. With 134 shows reported to Boxscore, the beloved, 9,500-seat outdoor venue brought in more than $61.6 million.

To further contextualize Red Rocks’ extraordinary performance, the amphitheater out-earned the next highest-grossing venue overall — Las Vegas’ 20,000-capacity T-Mobile Arena, which took in $37.2 million last year according to Billboard Boxscore — by more than $24 million. The next highest-reported venue in the 5,001-10,000 category was the Park Theater in Las Vegas, which took in $35.7 million in 2021.

On the attendance metric, Red Rocks’ dominance is even more striking. Starting with a four-night run by Lotus at the end of April up until Nov. 19, when Playboi Carti closed out the season, Red Rocks sold 996,000 tickets in 2021, according to Billboard Boxscore. The next highest-attended venue, Madison Square Garden, sold 248,575 tickets in 2021 — or nearly 750,000 fewer than the Colorado amphitheater. Not only that, but Red Rocks sold a whopping 225,000 tickets more than it did during its record-setting 2019 season prior to the pandemic.

“The very first night when we opened those doors and people came in literally screaming and high-fiving us and other fans – that chokes you up,” says director of marketing and business development for Denver Arts & Venues/Red Rocks Amphitheatre Brian Kitts of returning to live shows after hosting fewer than two dozen in 2020. “We will never again take for granted the ability to get together.” 

According to internal figures provided by Kitts, Red Rocks hosted a record number of concerts in 2021: 177 shows for a total of 1.32 million tickets sold. (Billboard Boxscore is based on numbers reported to MRC Data. Not all shows are reported.) This year’s run of shows is a record number for the 80-year-old venue, and all the more impressive given ever-changing COVID-19 safety regulations. The venue operated at 25% capacity from April until May, followed by a two-thirds capacity until the end of June. Since the June 22 Subtronics show, the venue has operated at full capacity.  

While selling tickets to larger numbers of people never became an issue, Kitts says the venue did have difficulty ramping up staffing. “It was crushing,” he says. “The industry felt a real pinch when it came to concessionaires, security and guest services staff. That didn’t get easier the entire season.” 

As a result, fans were faced with longer lines for food and beverages and encountered slower ingress, though Kitts adds that Red Rocks patrons were “completely understanding.” The inconveniences never seemed to diminish ticket sales, with nearly every concert of the year selling out.  

Kitts credits the commitment from artists, promoters, staff and fans for making the year an unlikely success. “It’s a combination of things,” says Kitts. “It’s an iconic venue and it certainly helps that it was outdoors. Then it was the willingness of the fans to get out there and be together again.”