ASCAP hosted its annual meeting, as part of the day-long ASCAP Experience, on Thursday (Feb. 12) at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. There, Elizabeth Matthews, CEO of ASCAP, revealed record-breaking revenue and royalty distributions for 2025. “We have a lot of good news to share,” said Matthews in her opening remarks. “I know you all are bombarded with a lot of bad news in the press. I know you’re stressed, but this should make you feel hopeful.”

Matthews then provided a breakdown of key financial figures for ASCAP’s 2025 calendar year. Those figures are listed below:

Notably, 2025 marked the final year of ASCAP’s strategic growth plan, launched in 2015, to increase revenue and collections for its membership. Since then, ASCAP says it has generated a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7% for total revenue and a CAGR of 7.3% for total distributions.

Another bright spot in her presentation: Matthews noted that ASCAP achieved the “highest rate ever paid from radio” this year due to an August 2025 settlement between the PRO and the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC) — an organization representing thousands of radio stations — that affirmed higher royalty rates for writers.

Matthews’ speech also noted ASCAP’s work on Capitol Hill to advocate for songwriters, especially in the wake of artificial intelligence and new challenges to copyright law.

“We also know it’s critically important for us to protect songwriters — and what we mean by that is because we know you, as songwriters and composers, are generally in the studio. You’re working on your craft of music. We don’t want you to have to worry about what’s going on with copyright. That’s on us. We got your back,” said Matthews.

The U.S. PRO claims it operates without debt and boasts the lowest overhead rate of any performing rights organization in the U.S. at 10%, meaning 90 cents of every dollar earned is paid back to rights holders. Matthews also pointed out that ASCAP is the only U.S. PRO that is not owned by private equity or outside investors. Instead, it appoints songwriter peers, like ASCAP president and chairman Paul Williams, to lead the organization with songwriters’ interests in mind.

In the last year, ASCAP has added several new hit-making members. They include EJAE, Rosé, The 1975, Lola Young, Myles Smith, Johnny Marr, Boy George, Michael Pollack, Tyler Johnson, Robin Carolan and Daniel Blumberg.

Later in the presentation, ASCAP executives awarded Adam Sandler the ASCAP Founders Award for his “genius” approach to comedy and songwriting and also revealed that the PRO is creating a new healthcare offering for members. This service will include discounted health and well-being benefits, including virtual appointments with clinicians for mental health, dermatology and 24/7 urgent care concerns. It was created in collaboration with MD Live by Evernorth, a virtual healthcare provider.

Cardi B jokingly threatened to “jump” ICE agents if they popped out at her Little Miss Drama Tour shows, and the Department of Homeland Security responded to the Grammy-winning rapper on X on Thursday (Feb. 12).

“As long as she doesn’t drug and rob our agents, we’ll consider that an improvement over her past behavior,” the DHS wrote.

Cardi B kicked off her Little Miss Drama Tour at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif., on Wednesday (Feb. 11), which saw her condemn United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement after giving a Selena impression to fire up the Latinos in the crowd.

“B—h! If ICE comes in here, we gon’ jump they a—es,” she said, which drew applause. “I’ve got some bear mace in the back! They ain’t taking my fans, b—h.”

Cardi B fired back on Thursday afternoon, bringing up the files surrounding serial rapist and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in August 2019.

“If we talking about drugs let’s talk about Epstein and friends drugging underage girls to rape them,” she clapped back on X. “Why yall don’t wanna talk about the Epstein files?”

Homeland Security’s jab at Cardi calls back to her stripper past, which saw her admit to drugging and robbing clients when she worked as a dancer in the 2010s.

In March 2019, Cardi released a statement addressing the backlash. The Billboard Hot 100-topping artist opened up about her past practices as a stripper to make a living, which came from a resurfaced 2016 video that was going viral at the time, featuring the Bronx native’s admissions.

“I had to go strip, I had to go, ‘Oh yeah, you want to f—k me? Yeah, yeah, yeah, let’s go back to this hotel,’ and I drugged n—as up, and I robbed them. That’s what I used to do,” she admitted.

With fans expressing their dismay, Cardi attempted to clarify the viral clip on social media. “So I’m seeing on social media that a live I did 3 years ago has popped back up,” she wrote in 2019. “A live where I talked about things I had to do in my past right or wrong that I felt I needed to do make a living… I never claim to be perfect or come from a perfect world wit a perfect past I always speak my truth — I always own my s—t.”

The “WAP” rapper returns to the stage this weekend when she brings the Little Miss Drama Tour to Las Vegas on Friday night (Feb. 13) and Los Angeles on Sunday (Feb. 15).

Jasmine “Jazz” Young, a former Def Jam executive and now director of the Warner Music/Blavatnik Center for Music Business at Howard University, has launched VRTEXX, a new global record label.

According to a press release, VRTEXX will be dedicated to discovering, developing and exporting artists from West Africa and the diaspora to international markets. The label will be distributed by Warner Music Group’s global distributor ADA.

Named a Billboard Global Power Player last year, Young has worked with artists including Jay-Z, DMX, Foxy Brown and Run-DMC over the course of her career. Also in 2025, under her leadership, the Warner Music/Blavatnik Center for Music Business was named one of Billboard‘s top music business schools in the world for the fourth year running.

In 2024, Young launched the West Africa Music & Arts Festival (WAMA Fest) in Accra, Ghana, in partnership with the country’s government. The VRTEXX roster will make its debut with live performances at the festival’s next installment.

“VRTEXX represents the future, a label, media, and entertainment company built on innovation, culture, and connection,” said Young in a statement. “We’re not just signing artists; we’re building legacies that will span continents and generations. This is the manifestation of decades of purpose and passion.”

“This is a full-circle moment for the culture. Jazz has always been ahead of her time — and VRTEXX is proof,” added Julian Petty, executive vp and head of business/legal affairs at Warner Records, in a statement. “What she’s about to do with this label will redefine the global music industry.”

“Jazz Young is one of the most visionary leaders in our industry, her ability to identify, nurture, and elevate talent is truly unmatched,” said Karibu Bello, former head of A&R EMEA/vp of global A&R at Warner Recorded Music. “What excites me most about this partnership is her deep commitment to bridging culture and commerce in a way that not only amplifies African voices but also creates sustainable pathways for creatives to monetize their art in powerful, authentic ways. VRTEXX represents a new chapter for global music, one where the future is diverse, connected, and full of possibility. Welcome VRTEXX….. I have no doubt that under Jazz’s leadership, this imprint will redefine how the world hears and experiences music from Africa and beyond.”

Added Adriana Sein, global head of artist & market development at ADA, “Jazz brings strong creative instincts and a clear vision to everything she does. ADA looks forward to supporting her next chapter with VRTEXX while championing new talent on the global stage.”

VRTEXX is now accepting artist submissions at WWW.VRTEXX.COM and @THEVRTEXX.

“Back in 2005, I used to only [write], maybe, 15-16 songs in a year,” says Ryan Tedder — member of OneRepublic, songwriter, producer and founder of Runner Music. “My batting average was like three out of five, which was all you needed… Now, I do probably, honestly, 7-10 a week to achieve not even the same level of hits that I had 10 years ago.”

On the season 1 finale of Billboard’s music business podcast On the Record w/ Kristin Robinson, Tedder and NMPA president and CEO, David Israelite, join the show to talk about the challenges facing songwriters today — from the decline of radio, the fall of album sales and the rise of larger writing rooms — leading songwriting talents like Tedder to make up for these challenges by upping their output.

The two guests offer separate vantage points on what’s happening to the profession. Tedder has experienced the shift firsthand as a working songwriter and producer for the past two decades: During his career, he’s penned hits like “Halo” by Beyoncé, “greedy” by Tate McRae, “Welcome to New York” by Taylor Swift and “Turning Tables” by Adele, along with hit songs for his band OneRepublic. Meanwhile, Israelite, at the helm of the NMPA, offers his deep understanding of how songwriter income works and how the profession has been undercut over time. His organization plays a key role in advocating for better publishing royalty rates, specifically at the Copyright Royalty Board, and has helped usher in key legislation like the Music Modernization Act (MMA) to support the music industry through technological change.

You can watch the full episode below, or find it on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts.

To get started, I’d like to compare and contrast how songwriting used to be. Take me back to the mid-20th century in the heyday of Carole King and the Brill Building system. How does that compare to today’s songwriting business?

Israelite: It’s a completely different industry today than it used to be, which is why it’s so challenging to be a songwriter today. The rules are different…the way the economics work is different. One of the biggest changes is that it used to be that you could be a songwriter that got a song on an album. If the album were successful, you were going to be successful. It didn’t matter whether or not the one song you may have contributed was the hit song from the album, because the economics were all tied into the idea that people bought albums. So getting cuts was a very big goal of songwriters for artists that were going to sell big albums. Today, those economics are completely different. It’s now about singles and about hits, and so getting an album cut can mean nothing, because you’re really talking about a streaming economy where it’s about the individual hits that people listen to. So I think that’s one of the biggest changes for songwriters, is that they have to be hit writers.

Tedder: The difference between now and then is then, you used to be able to show up every day to write, knowing there was a high chance of what you were doing that week, that day would land on an album. And to David’s point, make a meaningful income. Now, you might have to write five to 10 times the volume of songs with zero hope or guarantee that it will earn anything.

One of the changes in the music business that is seen as a positive is that the barriers to entry, the gatekeepers, are now mostly gone. Anyone can make it. How did the opening of those floodgates in music impact songwriting as a profession?

Tedder: The barrier to entry now is decent Wi-Fi…Anytime you remove barriers to entry in any field, right, in any business, if you remove the barriers to entry, I think chaos reigns until you figure it out…[Back in the day], there was a relationship between mass media and the music industry. It was a beautiful marriage that lasted about 80, 90 years. It was very simple: you did four to five years of development, you got your record deal, you wrote a hit and now we put all our muscle as a record label behind you. We’re going to book you on The Today Show, Tonight Show, The Voice finale, and if you had a record and you did those three things, there was a [huge] chance that you had a hit….[Now, creating a hit song] is a lottery ticket, and winning the lottery isn’t a business plan. It’s not sustainable.

It’s clear that the number of songwriters on hit songs has increased a lot over the last few decades, but to me, it feels like that’s not the only problem. There are also folks that would typically be seen more as artists who also cut into the songwriter’s income. How big of a problem is this today?

Israelite: It’s a huge problem, and you have to understand the sources because there are two different issues at play. The first is that artists always want to be thought of as songwriters…So there is a pressure for artists to take credit for songwriting, even if they didn’t do that, in part because of their own ego or because they think it helps with their connection with fans.

But there’s a completely separate reason, which is that the economics of music and of the music industry has put a greater focus on trying to get some of that publishing money. Because…streaming pays less — there are more people now sharing in that money, including streaming services themselves, which didn’t used to be part of the equation when you sold albums — so artists often look at publishing as a way to supplement their revenue.

And if you’re a writer, it’s a really tough place to be, because you are given a choice of, you can have maybe a very famous artist record your song. That’s a pretty good guarantee that you’ll make some money from your song if a more famous artist records it. But do you want to give up ownership of that, especially if it wasn’t earned? And it’s very difficult to speak out about the practice, because you complain about it, you’ll never write with that artist again, and maybe other artists won’t want to write with you. Songwriters are put in a terrible position about this, and many of them make the choice to just let it go and let the artist take a piece of credit they don’t deserve.

Ryan, I imagine you’ve had a lot of experience with this yourself.

Tedder: I haven’t had a year where it hasn’t happened. I’ve shut it down. I’ve also had times where I’ve realized that even if I lose 10 or 15% of this song, it’s such a massive thing that I’d rather have 80% of something than 100% or nothing. And I’ll just go on record as saying this: It’s happened to me more times than I can count, but when artists do that, the whole writing community finds out. Nothing spreads quicker than that.

Israelite: You also have to understand that he’s experiencing this as Ryan Tedder. Imagine you are an unknown songwriter that’s just starting out, and you don’t have the name, ID and the credibility and the connections that someone like Ryan does. It’s a serious problem.

There have been many ideas thrown around as to how to get songwriters paid better. Per diems is one of them. The Ivors Academy in the U.K. has gotten some labels to agree to pay per diem rates to songwriters. There are also ideas like offering master points to writers, paying for gas and food, etc. Are these effective methods to help songwriters?

Israelite: When it becomes very hard to make a living as a songwriter, you look for solutions of what might help. One of the things being discussed is the idea that writers should participate more in the recording pool of money, whether that’s points on the record, a per diem fee, or some kind of flat upfront fee. Because remember, as a songwriter, you may give your song to an artist, but you don’t necessarily know they’re going to release it as the single, or put a lot of marketing behind it, and yet you’re tying up that song with that one artist that could go to someone else.

There are a lot of things that are being discussed, and we’re supportive of them, but it’s something that is going to have to be decided by the record label and artist community. And unfortunately, the expectation is that if record labels were to do it, they would probably just charge their artists, and it wouldn’t necessarily come out of the record label side.

There’s been this theory in the industry that the first record label that decides to really embrace this and start saying, “We’ll give points. We’ll give fees,” that would get the writers to want to bring their top songs to that label and those artists. And the idea is that, instead of asking the label to do this as some kind of charity or gift, is there a label that sees this as an economic opportunity for themselves to get ahead of their competitors by attracting the better songs by offering these types of benefits? I think that might be a route that you might see some record labels decide to embrace. I can tell you that I think that the hit writers would absolutely do that.