Luminate has announced a new global data partnership with Tencent Music Entertainment (TME), marking the company’s first data collaboration with a chart that measures music engagement in China, the companies announced Wednesday (Nov. 5).

Under the agreement, Luminate, Billboard‘s longtime data partner, will integrate streaming and sales metrics from TME’s platforms — including QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music and JOOX — into its music data platform CONNECT. The data will be reflected on CONNECT in the coming weeks and integrated into Billboard‘s global charts on a date yet to be announced. This marks the first time Chinese music market activity will be measured and reflected on the Billboard global charts.

Wednesday’s news represents the latest international expansion for Luminate, which now tracks data for more than 60 countries, with other recent additions in the Middle East and North and Sub-Saharan Africa. With the addition of TME to its data set, the company will be able to identify the appeal of genres and artists originating in China across markets.

Notably, in 2023, the TME UNI Chart became the first music chart from the Chinese Mainland to be featured on Billboard‘s U.S. website.

“This partnership marks a pivotal moment for the global music industry, underscoring Luminate’s unwavering commitment to providing the most accurate and comprehensive measurement of music activity worldwide,” said Luminate CEO Rob Jonas in a statement. “As the industry’s most trusted source of streaming and sales data, our customers and partners expect as much information as possible to make the best business decisions, and we know how valuable it is for a market as large and influential as China to be represented in those insights.”

Added TC Pan, group vp of TME and president of the Content Cooperation Department, “This collaboration with Luminate represents a data-driven effort to establish a unified global content ecosystem. China is one of the most dynamic music markets in the world, and through this partnership, all content on TME’s platforms — whether domestic or international — will participate in, and even help shape, global music trends. Moving forward, TME will continue to strengthen its content ecosystem, enabling more quality content to be discovered worldwide, realizing long-term value through a journey from ‘data connectivity’ to ‘ecosystem synergy.’”

Also weighing in was Ryan Liang, vp of corporate development and content system at TME, who said, “Our partnership with Luminate marks TME Chart as Billboard’s first in-depth data partner in China，which demonstrates that its objectivity and professionalism have gained recognition from international authorities. We see this partnership as an opportunity to further strengthen the TME Chart’s role as a bridge connecting Chinese music with the global market. By integrating China’s music data into the global chart ecosystem, we are dedicated to delivering Chinese music to a broader audience and enhancing its international recognition.”

10K Projects, the Warner-owned label founded by Elliot Grainge, has been sued for allegedly hoarding millions of dollars owed to Taz Taylor’s Internet Money Records under a joint venture.

Internet Money’s lawsuit stems from its 2019 partnership deal with 10K, which was at that point a fast-growing indie hip-hop label started by Grainge three years earlier. The 31-year-old son of Universal Music Group chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge, Elliot is now a powerful music executive in his own right as CEO of Atlantic Records.

The 2019 joint venture made Grainge’s 10K the exclusive label home for talent developed by Taylor (Danny Snodgrass Jr.) through his Internet Money producer collective, including Nick Mira, JRHITMAKER and KC Supreme. The two companies were supposed to split net profits 50/50, according to the lawsuit.

“Unfortunately, the defendants, in violation of their obligations to plaintiffs, have acted in such a manner that they are the only entities who have benefited from this relationship,” reads the complaint, filed Tuesday (Nov. 4) in Los Angeles federal court.

Internet Money claims 10K has “engaged in a pattern of misconduct, indeed breaching every promise and obligation that was owed to the plaintiffs.” The crux of this alleged misconduct is a series of maneuvers by 10K that allegedly deflated Internet Money’s share of the net profits by at least $4 million.

The lawsuit says 10K has hoarded these profits by improperly cross-collateralizing accounts and overcharging Internet Money for jacked-up expenses, which are categorized as deductions under the joint venture agreement.

Additionally, 10K is accused in the complaint of diluting Internet Money’s cut from the collective’s hit Gunna collaboration “Lemonade,” which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2020. Internet Money also claims 10K has failed to share money made from the singer iann dior and withheld publishing royalties linked to various artists.

“As a direct and proximate result of the breaches, Internet Money Records has been denied millions of dollars in net profits to which it is entitled and continues to suffer ongoing damages due to 10K’s intentional misreporting and bad-faith conduct,” writes Internet Money’s lawyer, Sarah Matz.

The lawsuit brings a slew of civil claims, including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and fraudulent inducement. Internet Money is seeking monetary damages and a court order requiring Warner Music Group (WMG), which acquired a controlling stake in Grainge’s label in 2023, to provide it with 10K’s financial statements for an audit.

Reps for 10K did not immediately return a request for comment on Wednesday (Nov. 5). The label has been run under the Atlantic Records umbrella since 2024, when Grainge was named CEO of the storied WMG operation.

Rauw Alejandro turned his acclaimed Cosa Nuestra Tour into a heartfelt tribute to Mexico and its most famous festivity, Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), on Tuesday night when the Puerto Rican star, his dancers and musicians all appeared with their faces painted as Mexican skulls for the first of five shows at the Palacio de los Deportes in the capital city.

In a stunning surprise for the 18,000 attendees who packed the venue, according to Ocesa figures, Rauw, elegantly dressed in a 1960s-inspired outfit, resembled the character El Catrín — the eternal lover of La Catrina, the legendary skull created by Mexican cartoonist José Guadalupe Posada, who in Mexican tradition is her eternal companion in celebration on life and death.

“I’m singing here in one of my favorite cities,” Rauw said with emotion to the crowd, who erupted in a warm ovation. “Today’s story is a little different, when two cultures become one, when Cosa Nuestra meets Mexico with lots of love and affection, with great respect for everyone.”

The fact that the dancers and musicians accompanying the artist also appeared with their faces painted as Mexican skulls made the experience even more emotional and intimate for his local fans, who, adhering to the singer’s dress code, wore short sequined dresses, feathers, berets, and classic-cut suits.

Día de Muertos is traditionally celebrated on Nov. 1-2. Over the weekend, the performer had shared a series of snapshots on his Instagram account, where he and his team appeared with their faces painted as a skulls enjoying traditional tacos and tequila in Mexico, where he has 10 fully sold-out shows scheduled.

The Mexican leg of his Cosa Nuestra World Tour began on Nov. 2 in the northern city of Monterrey and continues in Mexico City with five shows, from Nov. 4 to 9. He will also stop in the city of Guadalajara on Nov. 15 and 16.

Rauw Alejandro participated on Monday (Nov. 3) in the Billboard Live Music Summit 2025 in Los Angeles, where he spoke with Billboard’s Leila Cobo and Hans Schafer, senior vp of global touring at Live Nation, about how his partnership with the entertainment giant helped him create a Broadway-inspired show that could “travel the world.”

The Cosa Nuestra tour is a high-concept, 1970s New York-inspired spectacle supporting Rauw’s 2024 album of the same name, which hit No. 6 on the Billboard 200. The tour grossed $91.7 million across spring and summer legs in North America and Europe before heading to South America and Mexico. The trek will conclude at the end of this month with a five-date residency at San Juan’s Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot.

Here’s a story that captures everything wrong with Washington: Billion-dollar corporation asks Congress to force car manufacturers to install AM radio in every vehicle — a government tech mandate worth billions of dollars to its bottom line — while refusing to pay the artists and rights owners whose music is the very foundation of their business.

Last Congress, lawmakers such as House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries saw through this scheme and stood firm. Radio lobbyists went home empty-handed. Now they’re back, asking for the same corporate handout, and still refusing to pay artists a dime.  

Before you say, “But who listens to AM/FM radio in 2025?”, ask yourself this question: Why are corporate radio lobbyists fighting so hard for this government mandate? Because keeping radio in cars is worth almost $14 billion in advertising every year. And why is it worth that much? Because hundreds of millions of Americans still listen to AM/FM radio every week. 

Big Radio spent over $13 million lobbying Congress last year, which doesn’t even include the millions they contributed to political campaigns, to protect their golden goose at the expense of artists.  

Corporate radio lobbyists engage in a cynical game of claiming something we all know isn’t true. They claim artists should be satisfied that “promotion” on radio is good enough compensation. But the days of Americans discovering music on AM/FM radio are long gone. Social platforms like YouTube and TikTok are where music breaks now. Last year, 84% of Billboard Global 200 songs went viral on TikTok first. Radio adapted by abandoning discovery and repeatedly playing popular songs radio listeners already know — in a single day recently, one iHeart station played songs by six major artists 112 times. One station. In a single day. Without paying a penny to the performers.

That isn’t promotion. It’s exploitation.

That’s why the last Congress rejected radio lobbyists’ efforts to pass the AM in Every Vehicle Act. And why they must again reject it unless radio corporations agree to tie it to the American Music Fairness Act that ensures artists are paid fairly for radio plays.

Under the American Music Fairness Act, small and community stations would only have to pay between $10 and $500 a year to play all the music they want. The bill also gives radio corporations the opportunity to tell the independent Copyright Royalty Board what they think the performance royalty rate should be. If radio conglomerates believe their airplay has promotional value, they can make their case.

For some reason, AM/FM radio companies think they are special and that the principles of copyright shouldn’t apply to them. Every other platform pays artists for the work they do. Spotify. Pandora. SiriusXM. Only AM/FM radio — the most established music platform — claims it should be exempt from this concept.

For years, corporate radio lobbyists engaged in cynical practices to block music legislation. But now they are the ones who want Congress to act. And that gives music creators power — and they are speaking out with one voice. 

Over 300 artists – from Aerosmith to Barbra Streisand to Jelly Roll to Mariah Carey – wrote Congress earlier this year calling for passage of the American Music Fairness Act. This was an unprecedented display of artist unity for fair pay. 

And just this week, Boyz II Men, Gloria Gaynor, Mike Love, Sammy Hagar, Smokey Robinson and others called on congressional leaders to pair the AM bill with the American Music Fairness Act. Their message was simple: “When you save the radio industry by mandating its technology remain in cars, we ask that you save the musician too and allow us to be paid fairly when our music is played.”

Artists have never been this fired up. Perhaps that’s because, like the rest of America, they are fed up with our workers being taken advantage of. This is about priorities. Big Radio corporations want Congress to mandate that their product be installed in every new car sold in America — government intervention to protect corporate profits. Meanwhile, musicians are simply asking to be paid for their work.

The solution is simple: If radio corporations want billions in government-mandated protection, they need to start paying the workers whose labor generates their wealth. 

No corporate handouts without worker fairness. No radio without royalties.

Michael Huppe is the president and CEO of SoundExchange, where he champions creators and spearheads the use of technology, data and advocacy to power the future of music. To date, SoundExchange has distributed more than $12 billion in digital performance royalties to a growing community of more than 800,000 music creators. Michael is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School, a published author, lecturer and active community member. He is a member of YPO, Forbes Business Council, and Fortune Brainstorm Trust, with opinions published in Variety, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, Music Business Worldwide, Billboard and The Hill.