HarbourView Equity Partners buys select music assets of Grammy-winning 🏆 songwriter Noel Zancanella

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HarbourView Founder/CEO, Sherrese Clarke Soares

HarbourView Equity Partners, an alternative asset management firm, has acquired ‘select producer royalties and music publishing assets’ from Grammy Award-winning record producer and songwriter Noel Zancanella.

Best known as a longstanding creative partner of OneRepublic’s frontman Ryan Tedder, Zancanella has built a career as a songwriter and producer across various genres, including rock, pop, and hip-hop. He has collaborated with other artists including Maroon 5, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Adele and the Smashing Pumpkins, among others.

His songwriting and production credits include OneRepublic’s I Lived, Good Life, and West Coast; Ella Henderson’s Ghost; and Maroon 5’s hit Maps.

In 2015, Zancanella was honored with the Songwriter of the Year Award at the BMI Pop Awards. The following year, he earned a Grammy Award for Album of the Year for his work on Taylor Swift’s fifth album, 1989, alongside Swift and Ryan Tedder, contributing to tracks like Welcome to New York and I Know Places.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The acquisition of select assets from Zancanella further expands HarbourView’s music catalog, which now spans over 29,000 songs across master recordings and musical compositions. The company, led by its founder, former Tempo Music CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares, has been actively acquiring music catalogs, among other IP, since its inception in 2021. It has to date acquired over 50 music catalogs.

Recent acquisitions made by HarbourView Equity Partners include ‘select songwriting and publishing assets’ from the hip-hop and R&B music group and production team Full Force, select publishing assets from country star Kane Brown, recorded music royalties from Christine McVie’s estate and a share of select recorded music and publishing assets from Grammy Award-winning artists Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.

Back in March, HarbourView secured approximately $500 million in debt financing through a private securitization backed by its catalog of music royalties (i.e., the repackaging of royalty income into bonds). The debt financing was led by investment giant KKR.

In December 2023, HarbourView expanded its credit facility by $100 million to $300 million, allowing it to buy more music rights.

Article by: BY Mandy Dalugdug, Aug. 2024 for Music Business Worldwide (MBW)

MEGAN THEE STALLION Credits Beyoncé For Advising Her To Launch A Tequila Brand 🥃

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The Making Of a MOGUL? Megan Thee Stallion Wants to Quench Your Thirst…

Having The Carters as mentors is a flex, especially when they’re giving out advice about how to become a mogul.

Megan Thee Stallion revealed on Club Shay Shay that it was under the guidance of Beyonce that she decided to venture into spirits and launch her own tequila brand.

“Beyoncé is actually the person that inspired me to get my own tequila,” explained the “BOA” rapper. “Because I used to be the cognac queen. I still am the cognac  queen. But as much as I used to enjoy cognac, and I’ve promoted a lot of people’s liquor brands, she was like, ‘The next time I see you, you better have your own. You need to have your own alcohol.’”

Of the decision, Megan revealed, “When I was in the situation with [1501] and I wanted to get out of it, [Bey and JAY-Z] told me you need to do this on your own. Like, ‘You already know what it is. You already have all the tools. All the legal sh**t you are going through, I know you are learning something. So you should figure out how to get out here and be your own boss.’”

“I create the things that I want to see, I don’t create things for other people to like them,” she said during the announcement per Essence. “I create the music I want to hear, I go and do my own thing and stay true to me. As long as you keep doing things that are true to you and feel good to you, you’ll get the audience you want to attract. You don’t want to be a walking commercial. You should do things that make you feel good […] you’ll create more moments that way.”

The following month, she allowed fans to preview the liquor during the Hot Girl Summer Tour before its formal launch.

A release date has yet to be confirmed.

Article BY MYA ABRAHAM for Vibe; JULY, 2024; More here: bit.ly/3W5BAIJ

Chloe Bailey Says Her Music Is Categorized As R&B Because She’s Black: ‘That’s Just the Way It’s Always Been’

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Chloe Bailey, Making Music For All The People

From Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter to Shaboozey‘s “A Bar Song,” 2024 has been a watershed year for Black artists excelling critically and commercially in genres that have traditionally tried to box Black artists out despite having a storied history of Black innovators. Conversations about the blurring of genre lines have dominated the music industry for years, and it’s a sentiment that Grammy-nominated singer-producer Chloe Bailey is incredibly intimate with.

“Any music I do will easily and quickly be categorized as R&B because I’m a Black woman,” she told Nylon in her cover story. “If someone who didn’t have my skin tone made the same music, it would be in the pop categories. That’s just the way it’s always been in life.”

As a part of the Chloe x Halle duo — which includes her Little Mermaid-starring younger sister Halle Bailey — Chlöe regularly traversed genres. On the duo’s two Billboard 200 -charting Grammy-nominated studio LPs, 2018’s The Kids Are Alright (No. 139) and 2020’s Ungodly Hour (No. 16), the sisters dabbled in soul, electronica, house, hip-hop, alternative rock, contemporary pop, R&B and more. Chloe’s debut solo LP, In Pieces, featured a similar amalgamation of sounds, which helped her reach No. 119 on the all-genre albums chart. Despite releasing several pop-facing tunes, including April’s “Boy Bye”. Chlöe’s awards and chart success have primarily come in the R&B field. Of her five career Grammy nods, just one came from outside of the R&B categories — her 2018 best new artist nod as one-half of Chloe x Halle.

Article By Kyle Denis for Billboard, June 2024. For more: bit.ly/3VF9zX5

Why some major artists are suddenly canceling shows, and in some cases entire tours

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No, J-Lo Live Tour in 2024!

A series of tour cancellations and changes by big-name artists has sparked questions about whether the post-pandemic live music boom could be cooling, as consumer spending fatigue meets elevated ticket prices.

On Friday, Jennifer Lopez announced she was canceling her 2024 tour, citing a desire to spend more time with her family. Meanwhile, the Black Keys announced they were abandoning a stadium tour in favor of a series of shows at smaller venues.

Both tours had recently become the subject of social media fodder, namely screenshots showing empty venues at select tour dates. (NBC News could could not directly verify their authenticity.)

Indeed, some of the evidence of a slowdown is anecdotal. SeatGeek said in an email that the average resale ticket price to attend a summer concert is down to $213 from $257 around this time last year. The company suggested some of the decline could be attributed to the absence of megatours on par with Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” and Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” outings last year.

For artists whose popularity has crescendoed, there appears to be plenty of demand — and high prices. The average resale price for Olivia Rodrigo’s “Guts” tour is $571, and the next-highest is $409 to see Morgan Wallen, according to SeatGeek data first reported by Axios.

Many of those tours are being sold through Ticketmaster and its parent Live Nation. And prior to facing landmark accusations that it is a monopoly, a claim it denies, Live Nation reported its biggest first quarter ever, with $3.8 billion in revenues. Its concerts business alone was up 26% to $2.9 billion, while “estimated fans” globally were up more than 20%, and up 42% in North America.

Article By Rob Wilie and Dania Lalaii  for NBC News; for more: bit.ly/3z6g2mc

John Lennon’s guitar, lost for 50 years, sells for record $2.85 Million!!!

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JOHN LENNON, THE CA$H JUST KEEPS ROLLIN’ IN… FAMOUS GUITAR SELLS POSTHUMOUSLY FOR MILLION$

A piece of music history has sold for a record-setting price.

John Lennon’s Framus Hootenanny 12-string acoustic guitar was used by Lennon and Beatles bandmate George Harrison during recording sessions for the bands’ 1965 albums “Help!” and “Rubber Soul,” according to Julien’s Auctions, which sells celebrity pieces. The guitar was also seen in outtakes for the Beatles’ comedy movie “Help!”

Lennon acquired the guitar in late 1964, the auction house said, and it was photographed during recording sessions. Handwritten notes from producer George Martin indicated that Lennon and Harrison each used the instrument on “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” according to Julien’s. The guitar was also played on songs including “It’s Only Love,” “I’ve Just Seen a Face” and “Girl” — and of course, “Help!”

At the end of 1965, the guitar was gifted by Lennon to Gordon Waller of the pop duo Peter & Gordon. Harrison and Lennon had been writing songs for the pair, according to the auction house. Later, Waller would give the guitar to a manager, who stashed it in his attic for decades, leaving a piece of music history to gather dust.

The auction house did not specify how they found the guitar more than 50 years after it was last seen, but said that the instrument’s authenticity has been confirmed by musician and “Beatles Gear” author Andy Babiuk. The guitar was identified thanks to its distinctive markings, including what the auction house described as a “telltale wood grain” and “swirl of tortoise shell pickguard material.”

“With the Hootenanny, the real proof is in the sound. When strummed, it immediately identifies itself as “that” guitar. If you know the chords, Beatles tunes fall out of the sound hole effortlessly,” the auction house said. “Like an audio time capsule from 1965, the Framus is a direct link to those records.”

The guitar sold at an auction held at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City’s Times Square. The final bid was $2,857,500, making the instrument the fifth most-expensive guitar ever sold.

Article By KERRY BREEN

May 2024 / CBS News

Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ 💐🌹🌻 Wins IFPI Global Single Award For 2023

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Miley’s Sweet Smell of Success

The trade body today counts down the top 10 global singles, with Cyrus marking her first appearance on the list.

It’s official: Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” towered over all others in 2023, completing the year as the biggest-selling single on the planet, the IFPI reports.

Cyrus is presented with the IFPI Global Single Award, which each year recognizes the artist with the top-selling single across all digital formats – including paid subscription streaming, ad-supported platforms, and single-track downloads.

The trade body today (Feb. 26) counts down the top 10 singles for 2023, with Cyrus marking her first appearance on the list.

The success of “Flowers” was a truly global one, as the single simultaneously locked up No. 1 spots in 29 markets around the world, and finished at No. 1 on the year-end charts for the U.K., France and Australia.

In the U.S., “Flowers” showed serious staying power with an eight-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Those commercial muscles were rewarded at the 2024 Grammy Awards, where Miley performed the song and “Flowers” won for best pop solo performance and record of the year – her very first Grammys.

Cyrus can make it a week to remember at the 2024 BRIT Awards, set for Sunday, March 3 at The O2 in London, where she’s shortlisted for international artist of the year and “Flowers” is up for international song.

Presenting the latest award on behalf of the trade body, Lewis Morrison, director of global charts and certifications at IFPI, remarks, “Topping the charts in so many countries simultaneously, the song – along with its message of empowerment -resonated across the world and is the definition of a truly global hit. Congratulations to Miley and her team for this incredible achievement.”

Meanwhile, the reigning, four-time IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Taylor Swift is the only artist to double up in the IFPI top 10, doing so with “Cruel Summer” at No. 7 and “Anti-Hero” at No. 9.

There are first-time appearances for artists from Nigeria (Rema’s “Calm Down” with Selena Gomez at No. 2) and Mexico (Yng Lvcas and Peso Pluma’s “La Bebe” at No. 6), reflecting the border-crossing phenomenon of Afrobeats and Regional Mexican music.

All told, artists representing 10 nationalities (Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, South Korea, U.K., and U.S.) impact the top 20, up from six nationalities in 2022.

“It is also fantastic to see so many nationalities and genres represented in the IFPI Global Single Chart,” remarks Morrison. “It is a wonderful reflection of the wide range of extraordinary artists that – working in partnership with their record labels – are finding international success.”

The IFPI’s charts capture streaming, downloads and physical formats in every country directly from the participating record labels, which is then converted using the trade body’s “unique” methodology to a single, global chart figure.

Article by Lars Brandle, 02/2024 for Billboard

31 Best Ways To Make Money 💲 As A Musician In 2024

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Image preview

Your Music Makin’ You Money!

Want to make a living in the music industry and step up your music career? Here are the best ways to make money as a musician.

A lot of people think that to make a living as a musician, you’ve got to get lucky and score a major record deal. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Despite the naysayers, the truth is that you don’t have to be the next Kanye West to get your bread. There are plenty of ways to make a full-time income as an amateur musician without getting signed by a label—you’ve just got to think outside of the box.

That’s why in this post, we’re going to be looking at the most creative ways to make money from music. 

We’ll be covering a mix of different methods, including ‘easy earners’ that lots of musicians have already had success with, plus a few creative ideas you might not have considered.

We’ll get the most obvious methods out of the way first, then we’ll jump into the more creative ideas.

For the list of all the 31 creative ways you as a musician can make money on your musci, continue here: https://bit.ly/4bxWNR7

Written ByNicola Bleu for Tone Island

Madonna fans sue Material Girl and promoters after show begins 2 hours after ticketed start 😩

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Madonna, Express Yo’self On Time!

She didn’t get on stage until after 10:45 p.m. on Dec. 13, 2023, leaving concertgoers with”limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing” options, the civil complaint says.

Two Madonna fans filed a federal lawsuit against the iconic performer on Wednesday, accusing her of showing up hours late at a show last month and needlessly inconveniencing concertgoers.

Fans Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden expressed themselves about the Material Girl’s Dec. 13 show at Barclays Center when she didn’t take the Brooklyn stage until after 10:45 p.m., according to the civil action filed in the Eastern District of New York.

The show was ticketed to get into the groove at 8:30 p.m., but the show’s late start meant fans were ready for a bedtime story by the time they got out at almost 1 a.m.

That late finish left fans on the borderline of being stuck in Brooklyn with “limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing” options or “increased public and private transportation costs at that late hour,” said the civil complaint written by attorneys Richard Klass and Marcus Corwin.

Dec. 13 last year was a Wednesday night, so fans who cherish weekday sleep were allegedly out of luck.

“In addition, many ticket holders who attended concerts on a weeknight had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day,” the plaintiffs said.

The lawsuit lists Madonna Louise Ciccone and various iterations of promoters at Live Nation and the Barclays Center as defendants. Representatives for those defendants could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday.

These late starts appear to be in vogue for Madonna.

She played five shows in Boston, Toronto and Detroit this month with her taking the stage between 9:50 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., according to the Setlist.fm, a crowd-sourced site that keeps track of songs played and show times of major concerts.

SetList recorded Madonna’s start time on Dec 13 at 10:50 p.m. and she took the stage at 10:20 p.m. in her next two shows at Barclays.

The civil action did not name a dollar amount sought by plaintiffs.

Fellows, Hadden and other potential plaintiffs “suffered actual harm” because of Madonna’s tardiness that include, but are “not limited” to, “annoyance, harassment, time, frustration and anger,” according to the lawsuit.

Plaintiffs wouldn’t have purchased tickets “had they known that the Concerts would start after 10:30 p.m. and end” after 1 a.m., forcing them to live and to tell about an early morning in Brooklyn, the lawsuit claimed.

Article by David K. Li, NBC News, Jan. 2024

Do You Have The Courage To Be Successful? Nicki Minaj does 💪🏽

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Nicki Minaj Achieves Chart Milestone as Pink Friday 2 Debuts at No. 1

Minaj has become the female rapper with the most chart-topping albums in history!

Nicki Minaj’s new album, PinkFriday 2, has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Her third chart-topping album—after Pink Friday and Roman Reloaded—launched with 228,000 equivalent album units. It makes her the female rapper with the most No. 1 albums in history, breaking her previous tie with Foxy Brown. It’s also the biggest sales week for any album released by a female rapper so far in the 2020s.

The new album features contributions from Drake, Lil Wayne, J. Cole, Future, Finneas, Murda Beatz, and more. It also includes the lead singles “Super Freaky Girl,” “Red Ruby da Sleeze” and “Last Time I Saw You”. She recently released a deluxe album and announced a 2024 tour.

Article By Evan Minsker for Pitchfork;

Do You Have The Courage To Be Successful? ADELE Does

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Adele praises influential women after being honored at THR’s Women in Entertainment gala

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Adele paid homage to the many women — including her mother, grandmother and aunts — who helped shape her world and personality since she was a child.

The superstar singer then praised actor Kerry Washington and found herself in awe while in the presence of singer Dua Lipa after she received the prestigious Sherry Lansing Leadership Award at The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment breakfast gala Thursday. She was handed the award by Helen Mirren for excelling as a trailblazer and her philanthropy work in Hollywood.

“You are the absolute epitome of what it is to open doors and more importantly leave them open,” said Adele of Lansing, the first female to head a Hollywood studio. The singer has been a supporter of the LGBTQ and women rights, and associated with an organization that helps provide clean water to countries in need.

Mirren, an Oscar winner, applauded Adele for her musical prowess. The actor said she felt a “shiver” down her back when she listened to the singer’s debut single “Hometown Glory.”

“That chill comes just a few times in your life when you realize you are listening to a brilliant and game-changing new artist,” Mirren said of Adele, a 16-time Grammy winner who also has collected an Oscar and Emmy during her lauded career. “I thought, ‘Wow, a goddess walks amongst us.’”

Adele’s shoot-from-the-hip speech, which involved several F-bombs, drew laughter and applause from the audience. She said the women in her family molded her into the person she is today through their boisterous and strong personas.

“They are a force to be reckoned with and quite frankly terrifying. But that was because they had to be,” the singer said. “They had to learn the hard way what it is to be a woman. In turn, they hardened. Their character was their armor. But thanks to them, my character is my skin.”

Previous honorees include Oprah Winfrey, Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Reese Witherspoon, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston and Barbra Streisand.

In her speech, Adele expressed her gratitude toward Kerry Washington, who was earlier honored with the Equity in Entertainment Award, which recognized her for amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities in the entertainment industry.

Actor Ariana DeBose, who presented Washington with the award, admired how the “Scandal” actor “squashed the traditional stereotype” of being a Black woman in Hollywood.

“Every component of the career that (Washington) built, the empire that she has created speaks to equity,” said DeBose, who starred in the “West Side Story.” “How has she done that? By being herself and taking up space.”

Earlier, Will Ferrell lobbied for Washington to run for president.

“Please? We’ll pay you,” Ferrell said in jokingly pleas as the audience laughed. “We’ll do a GoFundMe right in this room, and we’ll launch you.”

After accepting her award, Washington spoke about the importance of creating equity — a term, she says, her 9-year-old daughter recently learned about.

“We don’t cultivate equity without making space for each other’s truths,” she said. “When stories from all different people and backgrounds are told, and people see their story reflected in our media and culture, that starts to weave a thread where everyone is included. That’s a path to equity.”

Dua Lipa, Camila Cabello, Billie Lourd and Lily Gladstone presented four full-ride scholarships to Chapman University and Loyola Marymount as part of THR’s Women in Entertainment mentorship program.

More than $1 million in university scholarships were presented to female high school seniors from under-served communities in Los Angeles. The high schoolers will also be paired with top-level female entertainment executives, lawyers and agents.

Article by Associated Pres; Dec, 2023