Irving Azoff recently slammed YouTube as “by far the worst offender” when it comes to paying creators fairly. As one of the largest and most successful managers of artists in history, his opinion carries a great deal of weight.

Songwriters specifically are paid through a complex, regulated environment, so digital services have myriad ways of manipulating the system. Those who care about creators often hear about how these platforms mistreat them — and if you ask 10 industry leaders who is the worst, you might get 10 different answers.

To make sense of who is friend or foe, here is a ranking based on what they’re doing for and against songwriters today. Beyond their public relations and industry parties, it is essential to understand how these services actually treat the creators they depend on*,* so here are the broad criticisms.

One must start with Spotify, the largest music-focused streaming service. While Mr. Azoff ranks YouTube as enemy number one, when it comes to songwriters, no one comes close to Spotify.

Last year, the streaming giant revealed — months after imposing the scheme — that it had unilaterally added audiobooks to premium subscriptions so that it could attempt to qualify for paying a lower royalty rate — since music was now part of a “bundle.”

This scheme is currently being challenged in court by the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), which pays streaming royalties to rights holders. The NMPA has also pushed for a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation into this as an unfair business practice, as once Spotify imposed this bundle on its users, it raised prices and made it virtually impossible to return to a music-only premium plan.

Spotify also has fought for extremely low royalty rates at the trial that determines streaming royalties, which takes place every five years in Washington, D.C. And when we, alongside NSAI, won a significant royalty increase in 2018, Spotify spent years appealing that decision. Eventually, they lost that appeal — but songwriters were denied much-needed income throughout the process. Justice delayed is justice denied.

The platform also has added insult to injury through tone-deaf PR stunts like its “Secret Genius” campaign — honoring the very songwriters whose genius is no secret — while it simultaneously fought them in court.

Another significant swipe at songwriters is its free service. Instead of being a free trial period or an on-ramp to encouraging users to pay for music, millions of users can listen to unlimited songs for free without ever signing up. This service delivers the most minuscule royalties to songwriters — it’s almost incalculable.

Mr. Azoff’s opinion about YouTube is shared by many in the industry. The service is notorious for using hardball tactics in negotiations. Since the YouTube platform largely involves synchronization (video) royalties — which are in a free market for songwriters — there is even more opportunity cost. The general perception for years has been that YouTube benefits much more from the music on its service than it pays.

Amazon is complex in that music is only part of its much larger ecosystem. Unfortunately, it has also recently taken advantage of lower rates by bundling music with other services. However, it has not been as brazen as Spotify and has generally been more concerned with its relationship with songwriters. There are opportunities for the platform to improve, and we are hopeful that it continues to keep conversations open with the end goal of seeing music creators as business partners instead of pawns.

TikTok leads the world in social media music consumption — it is essential to the platform’s success. While deals have been struck in the past, the service has used its size to pressure songwriters and artists to return to the platform when there were attempts to negotiate fairer rates. Songwriters suffer disproportionately from this dynamic. While artists receive exposure on the service that can be monetized through touring and merchandise, songwriters need direct compensation, so holding out for more is essential, and thus far has been largely unsuccessful.

Apple Music continues to stand alone in several areas. When other services appealed the aforementioned royalty rate increase in 2018, Apple did not. Additionally, as Apple Music head Oliver Schusser announced at our Annual Meeting in Manhattan earlier this year, the platform will never give music away. “I think it’s crazy that 20 years in, we still offer music for free,” Schusser said. “We’re the only service that doesn’t have a free service. As a company, we look at music as art, and we would never want to give away art for free.” While we will still push for higher rates from Apple, this sentiment must be appreciated and amplified.

Satellite radio shouldn’t be counted out. SiriusXM — which now owns Pandora — has a troubling history of paying extremely low rates to songwriters. In fact, today digital radio pays significantly more to artists annually than AM/FM radio pays songwriters. Think about that. The radio relationship has completely flipped. Songwriters used to make a large percentage of their income from terrestrial radio, and now they make less than artists make from satellite radio — which is dwarfed by interactive streaming — alone.

So who is the worst offender? The answer depends on who is in a current contract negotiation or a rate-setting proceeding. However, when entering into any of these marketplace or regulatory environments, it is crucial to understand where the players stand and how they have historically positioned themselves.

The Super Bowl of all of this starts in a few months before the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, D.C. At that time, the major streaming services will put forth their proposals for how they want to pay songwriters for 2028–2032. This will be illuminating, and all creators and advocates must seriously consider what they put forth. We will make sure songwriters know what they propose.

There is an opportunity for digital platforms to make serious headway in terms of their relationships with songwriters at this proceeding. So pay close attention, and we will adjust rankings after they reveal their positions. Stay tuned.

David Israelite is the president and CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA). Founded in 1917, NMPA is the trade association representing all American music publishers and their songwriting partners.

Earlier this month, Chappell Roan wrapped a brief run of concerts in the United States, paired with a few European dates in August. The Visions of Damsels & Dangerous Other Things Tour complemented Roan’s ongoing sweep of dominant festival performances over the last year and a half, cementing her as one of her generation’s fastest-growing live acts. She finished her recent tour, her only headline shows for 2025, playing to crowds of 30,000 and more, marking an eye-openingly fast rise to the biggest venues in the world.

According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, Roan’s 11 headline shows in 2025 grossed $28.3 million and sold 276,000 tickets. They split between three overseas and eight in the United States. Some of the shows were in arenas and amphitheaters: Zurich’s Hallenstadion (12,539 tickets) and New York’s Forest Hills Stadium, which despite its name, is significantly smaller than a typical football or baseball stadium (53,458 tickets, spread across four shows). The others escalated her reach in Edinburgh, Kansas City, and Los Angeles.

Two nights at Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland drew 60,000 fans, averaging 30,000 per show. Two dates at Kansas City’s Liberty Memorial Park sold 69,600 tickets, averaging 34,800. The final two concerts, at Brookside Park at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., moved 80,000 tickets, eclipsing 40,000 each night.

These venues are flat parks that recreate the sprawling crowd shots of Roan’s famed festival performances, more so than a typical football stadium with its enclosed stadium-style seating. But the number of tickets sold is comparable to any baseball stadium in the United States and far exceeds – roughly doubles – the capacity of an arena show.

These stadium-sized Boxscore figures elevate Roan even beyond the startling heights of her 2024. Her North American headline shows from last year broke into three legs. She averaged 2,083 tickets per show while performing one-offs during her opening stint on Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS World Tour (Feb. – April). In May and June, following the release of breakout hit “Good Luck, Babe!,” she paced 3,581 tickets. By October, she was up to 10,179. One year later, Roan sold 25,389 tickets per show, ranging from 13,365 in New York to 40,010 in Los Angeles.

All of that growth, and all of these fans, with just one album under her belt. Selling out stadiums is a career-capping accomplishment for any artist, but almost an unfathomable one just two years removed from the release of one’s debut LP. The umbrella of stadium acts has grown wider in the years since returning from the COVID-19 blackout, but Roan’s supercharged ascent is still quite notable.

Zach Bryan first elevated to stadiums in 2024, almost exactly two years after he cracked the Billboard 200 with American Heartbreak. But his discography expanded by the time he played Oakland’s RingCentral Coliseum, with two more top 10 albums and four other charting titles. Fellow country chart-topper Morgan Wallen played one such show in 2021, three years and two albums deep.

Global stadium schedules have also welcomed younger artists who don’t primarily perform in English, specifically Latin and Korean acts. Still, all of them had meatier discographies than Roan’s to fill out their stadium setlists: Bad Bunny released three albums in three years before his stadium debut. Karol G and SEVENTEEN each had four albums in seven years. TWICE had six entries on the Billboard 200, all between 2020-23, before reporting a stadium show. By the time Fred again.. announced similarly eye-popping stadium shows, he had a few albums to his name.

Closer to Roan stylistically, Lady Gaga hit Mexico City’s Foro Sol (now called Estadio GNP Seguros) in May 2011, ending The Monster Ball in stadiums a year and a half after beginning it in theaters. Still, she had two top 10 albums and was weeks away from releasing her third. The year before, Taylor Swift also capped her debut headline tour at a stadium, but she was supporting her sophomore set Fearless, which won the Grammy for album of the year months prior.

Perhaps Peso Pluma comes closest to mirroring Roan’s timeline to stadiums. He played Monterrey, Mexico’s Estadio Mobil Super in November 2023, about 15 months after his first Billboard chart appearance. Even so, Genesis, his breakthrough album from 2023, was his third. J-Hope, JIN, and SUGA each hit at least one stadium on their first tours, but their history as part of BTS surely added depth to their respective ticket-buying bases.

Clearly, Roan has built a large, dedicated fan base from just one album. After first debuting on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100 in April 2024, she jumped from clubs to theaters to festivals, and then to solo headline stadium-sized engagements, all in the span of less than 18 months. Her recent tour was brief but mighty, leaving little to the imagination as to her potential box office success whenever her next shows are announced, whichever venues she decides to play.

Billboard‘s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, click here. 

Rayna Bass and Selim Bouab have been appointed executives-in-residence at the Warner Music/Blavatnik Center for Music Business at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The pair are the co-presidents of 300 Entertainment and Atlantic Records Hip-Hop, R&B and Global Music.

Bass and Bouab’s appointment is in keeping with the center’s goal to connect Howard University’s students with top executives in the global music industry. The program provides one-on-one mentorship, master classes and practical insights about executive leadership, creativity and the future of the business.

In the press release announcing the duo’s new roles, Jasmine Young, MBA, director of the Warner Music/Blavatnik Center for Music Business at Howard University, commented, “Rayna Bass and Selim Bouab are two of the most visionary leaders in the industry, and we are honored to welcome them as executives-in-residence. Our students will benefit directly from their knowledge, creativity and commitment to breaking barriers. This appointment reflects our mission to provide Howard students with direct access to the highest levels of leadership in the global music industry.”

“Howard University, together with the Warner Music/Blavatnik Center for Music Business, has a strong legacy of cultivating bold, creative leaders,” said Bass and Bouab in a joint statement. “That mission aligns with what we do at our label, and we’re excited to share our experiences and help raise up the next generation of music business innovators.”

Bass took on an expanded role within the Atlantic Music Group earlier this year when she was appointed co-president of Atlantic Records Hip-Hop, R&B and Global Music. She initially joined 300 Entertainment as its first marketing hire in 2014. Promoted to senior vp of marketing in 2019, Bass was elevated to co-president of 300 Entertainment in 2022. A Billboard Women in Music and R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players honoree, Bass has helmed campaigns for Megan Thee Stallion, Young Thug, Gunna, Mary J. Blige and PinkPantheress, among other artists.

Since joining 300 Entertainment as well in 2014, Bouab later served as the label’s senior vp and head of A&R before being named co-president with Bass in 2022. Then again alongside Bass, Bouab added the co-president post at Atlantic Records Hip-Hop, R&B and Global Music this year. Along the way, he has signed, developed and collaborated with artists including Megan Thee Stallion, Fetty Wap and Tee Grizzley as well as Young Thug, Gunna and Jordan Adetunji. Bouab, who’s also established his own Unauthorized Entertainment label, is a multiple-year Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players honoree.

“Rayna and Selim embody what it means to lead with both innovation and integrity,” stated Julian Petty, executive vp and head of business/legal affairs for Warner Records and the Warner Music/Blavatnik Center’s Visionary. “Their careers represent the possibilities for our students, and their willingness to pour into the next generation is what makes this partnership so special. The center continues to set the standard for excellence in music business education, and I am thrilled to see Rayna and Selim take on this role.”

During the third day of activities at 2025 Billboard Latin Music Week, the new stars of regional Mexican music discussed the changes the genre is experiencing as it captures global attention. During the panel “The Future of Regional Mexican Music,” presented by Walmart and moderated by Isabela Raygoza of Billboard Español, five of the talents revolutionizing the genre came together: Xavi, Netón Vega, Estevie, Oscar Maydón and Codiciado.

Fusions have been one of the main factors driving the shift in sounds for the new generation. Netón Vega — who gained recognition as a composer of corridos tumbados — has experimented with trap and reggaetón, releasing his album Mi Vida Mi Muerte this year, which is nominated for eight Billboard Latin Music Awards. “The lyrics can be about romantic themes, like in my case, but the sounds of a song with charcheta are very different from those of an urban sound. That’s where creativity comes in, knowing how to use the voice and experiment with the rhythms,” explained the artist, who was born in La Paz, Baja California Sur.

Maydon, who rose to fame through his collaborations with Peso Pluma, Natanael Cano, Junior H, and Fuerza Regida, is also part of the corridos tumbados wave. Like his peers, he has had to adapt his music due to restrictions placed on the genre in some Mexican states. “We, as the new generation, grew up listening to things like trap. Before, with singers like Vicente Fernández, everything was different,” he said. “But now we can collaborate with anyone. In corridos, you have to be a bit more careful about how you say things, whereas in reggaetón and urban music, for example, you can be more open.”

The new faces of Mexican music have also grown up in the U.S., though they carry in their veins the heritage of the country in which their parents were born, inheriting those traditions and musical tastes. That is the case for Estevie, who is making waves with her unique style of performing danceable music. “In 2021, I listened to ‘Ay Papasito’ by Alicia Villreal and realized there wasn’t music like that, but with more modern beats, and that’s when I created my first cumbia called ‘Canela,’” she explained about the path she chose for her career.

For his part, Xavi, born in Phoenix and known for revolutionizing social media with his hit “La Diabla,” shared his formula for writing successful songs: “The most important thing is to reflect what comes from the heart; the message you convey through your music is what makes you connect with people,” said the artist, who has caught the attention of major stars like Grupo Frontera and, more recently, Manuel Turizo, for collaborations.

The most experienced participant on the panel, Codiciado — part of the generation that emerged in Tijuana during the pandemic that predates the corridos tumbados movement — shared valuable advice with his peers. “You must always believe in yourself. If you fall, you get back up,” said the artist, who is about to release his first album in three years. “A career is built by being genuine and working hard every day. The most important thing is to find what you can contribute to music and the industry. We can ride the waves and do well, but there’s nothing like stirring the waters.”

With over 30 years of history, Latin Music Week is the most important and largest gathering of Latin artists and industry executives worldwide. The event also coincides with the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards, set to air on Thursday (Oct. 23) on Telemundo and Peacock, where Bad Bunny will be honored as Top Latin Artist of the 21st Century.

KiTbetter, the South Korean company behind the KiTalbum hybrid physical-digital format, is opening a manufacturing facility in Los Angeles to better reach consumers in the U.S. The first KiTalbums produced in the U.S. are expected to reach retail and fans in early 2026.  

“As we expand globally, and with growing interest from artists, labels, and retailers across North America and Europe in particular, we’re increasing capacity to support more titles and meet rising international demand,” says Jennifer Sullivan, president, North America and chief marketing officer.   

The KiTalbum is a proprietary format that includes a physical album stored in a jewel case and a small “KiT” device that uses a U-NFC (ultrasonic near-field communication) signal to unlock music, videos, lyrics and album credits on the KiTalbum app for iOS and Android devices. The square-shaped jewel box typically contains printed materials such as stickers and cards.  

A relative unknown in the U.S., the KiTalbum format is best known in the company’s home country. Not only are KiTalbum’s original manufacturing facility and offices in Korea, but the company also launched a flagship retail store in the country. Sullivan says that since 2017, KiTbetter has produced 10 million KiTalbums, with K-pop titles being the best-selling. 

But now, the company is targeting a wider range of genres and artists in North America and Europe. “We’re seeing strong international demand that continues to drive the need for additional production capacity,” adds Sullivan. Having a facility in Los Angeles will cut down on the turnaround time compared to shipping products from South Korea.  

In recent years, KiTbetter has released titles on metal label Earache Records (Napalm Death and Carcass, for example) and Rhino Records (Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill and B-52s’ Cosmic Thing, among others). Rap icons Public Enemy released a KiTalbum version of its latest album, Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartments 2025. Metal greats Megadeth will offer a KiTalbum version of its final album that’s due out in January.  

KiTalbums typically come with exclusive or bonus content. The upcoming reissue of Devo’s 1980 album Freedom of Choice, for example, includes cover versions of the band’s hit song “Whip It” by the bands Teen Mortgage! and Scowl. Stone Temple Pilots’ Purple comes with seven music videos and acoustic sessions for “Big Empty” and “Pretty Penny.”  

Independent artists can also create KiTalbums for their releases through the KiTbetter self-service website. Sullivan says prices start around $9 apiece and drop to about $7 per unit for orders of 300 units. Artists can sell their KiTalbums in the KiTbetter shop or through their own online stores. “A lot of artists like to have product on hand at shows,” says Sullivan.   

KiTbetter isn’t the first company to attempt to enhance digital content. Yoto sells Yoto Cards, credit card-sized pieces of plastic, that are inserted into a screen-free audio player for children. Weverse, the social media platform owned by K-pop giant HYBE, offers Weverse Albums that include digital photo cards and animated album covers. Going further back in time, record labels embraced enhanced CDs in the 2000s to help combat falling album sales. Enhanced CDs added data to an audio CD and frequently included videos, wallpapers and links to web pages.   

While the KiTalbum remains a niche product in the U.S., KiTbetter’s expansion corresponds with the music industry’s increased interest in collectibles and selling physical items to superfans. With streaming dominating music consumption, perhaps the KiTalbum will become an intriguing option for fans who prefer digital music but want a tangible item.