September 18, 2019 Page 1 of 23

BY BILLBOARD STAFF, ASSOCIATED PRESS

California’s governor on Wednesday signed sweep-ing labor legislation that aims to give wage and bene-fit protections to rideshare drivers at companies like Uber and Lyft and to workers across other industries.

The closely watched proposal could have national implications as lawmakers, businesses and unions confront the changing nature of work and the rise of the so-called gig economy.

“California is now setting the global standard for worker protections for other states and countries to follow,” Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, the bill’s author, said in a statement.

The legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom makes it harder for companies to classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees, who are entitled to minimum wage and benefits like workers compensation.

While effect on ridesharing and meal delivery companies has seized the spotlight, according to Gonzalez, it affects up to a million workers.

That includes those working in the state’s music industry and executives have warned the law would specifically crush the independent sector. Under the new law, producers, engineers, publicists, managers, dancers, background vocalists and others hired by artists could be defined as employees and subject to stringent employment regulations.

“Unless there is an exemption for the music industry, it will make every studio engineer, employees for whoever is hiring them,” American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) president and CEO Richard Burgess told Billboardearlier this month. “On a practical level, I don’t see how it can work.”

Gonzalez told Billboard she had been meeting and discussing all year with artist unions and the recording industry on how this bill would impact the work of musicians, but that in the end the music industry could not come to a consensus on language. Instead, the groups preferred no amendment in AB5 at all.

Burgess echoed this difficulty, saying industry

INSIDE California Governor Signs Law on Gig Economy That Could ‘Gut the Music Industry’

U2 to Make India Concert Debut, Marking Turning Point for Country as Global Touring Destination

P!nk to Receive the Legend of Live Award at the 2019 Billboard Live Music Summit

Green Day, Fall Out Boy & Weezer All Chart New Singles After Hella Mega Tour Announcement

Ric Ocasek and The Cars Injected a ‘Healthy Dose of Weirdness’ to the Mainstream: An Appreciation

(continued)

billboard.com / iPad

A D I G I TA L V E RS I O N O F E V E RY I SS U E , F E AT U R I N G :COVER STORIES . SPECIAL REPORTS . CHARTS . REVIEWS

INTERVIEWS . EVENT COVERAGE & MORE

AVAILABLE F R E E TO CURRENT BILLBOARD SUBSCRIBERS

ACCESS THE BEST IN MUSIC.

September 29, 2018 | billboard.com

P O W E R

P L A Y E RS

2 0 1 8

A candid J. Cole on

reconciling real life with rap

fame, staying off Twitter

and the trouble with idols

PLUS

100 of the genres’

most influential people

An oral history of Vibe

Quincy Jones:

Seven decades of hits

22cover_cole [P]_23795659.indd 3

9/26/18 11:58 AM

Hip-hop dominates every other genre claiming a quarter of all music consumption.

On September 15th, Billboard will publish it’s 3rd annual hip-hop power players list showcasing the artists, producers, songwriters, executives and publishers that wield the most power in this genre.

Advertise and congratulate the people who are creating excitement and making some noise in hip hop. Reach an influential audience of decision-makers in the music industry and pop culture.

O N SA LE : 10/17 | COV E R DATE : 10/19 | A D CLO S E 10/10 | M ATE R I A LS D U E 10/11

CO NTAC TJ oe M a i m o n e212.493.4427 | joe.maimone@billboard.comD e b ra Fi n k323.525.2249 | debra.fink@thr.com

B O N U S D I STR I B UTI O N :Billboard Hip Hop Summit 10/17 (NY)

Editorial content subject to change

HIP HOP POWER ISSUE

Special IssueO N SALE

OCT. 17, 2 0 1 9

2 0 1 9

Untitled-1 1 9/3/19 2:49 PM

DECISIVE INTELLIGENCE. DELIVERED DIGITALLY.

DIGITAL NEWSLETTERS

CLICK HERE FOR FREE DELIVERY

[In Brief]groups had been “running into a brick wall” trying to get this exemption included. He added, the now-previous system had been working fine and the law passing would “gut the music industry.”

Meanwhile, Uber, Lyft and DoorDash are pushing Newsom to come up with a third option for gig companies and have threatened to spend $90 million on a 2020 ballot measure if they are not successful.

Newsom, for his part, said he wants to keep negotiating with labor and business leaders to ensure that gig workers can collectively bargain.

There’s been dispute over whether giving them employee status in California would allow them to form a union, because the National Labor Relations Board still considers gig workers to be independent contractors.

“I will convene leaders from the Legislature, the labor movement and the business community to support innovation and a more inclusive economy by stepping in where the federal government has fallen short,” Newsom wrote in his signing statement.

Uber general counsel Tony West has suggested Uber will not automatically start treating its drivers as employees come Jan. 1 and defend its current model if it faces legal challenges.

Uber and Lyft have offered to give

employees a base hourly wage, access to benefits and a right to bargain across the industry.

“We’ve engaged in good faith with the Legislature, the Newsom administration and labor leaders for nearly a year on this issue, and we believe California is missing a real opportunity to lead the nation by improving the quality, security and dignity of independent work,” Uber spokesman Davis White said in a statement.

U2 to Make India Concert Debut, Marking Turning Point for Country as Global Touring DestinationBY AMIT GURBAXANI

MUMBAI — U2 will perform its first-ev-er concert in India on Dec. 15, closing the 2019 leg of its The Joshua Tree tour in Mumbai. In so doing, the event will also be a significant marker of the coun-

try’s growth as a destination for tours by big-ticket international acts.

India, which struggled for years to persuade the band to make the trek to the country of 1.3 billion people, is turning a corner towards becoming a legitimate touring market. There are now multiple promoters booking acts across a variety of genres to play either stand-alone concerts or headlining slots at festivals.

“It was not by chance, it was by design” that U2 is ending its global tour in India, says Ashish Hemrajani, founder and CEO of BookMyShow, which is bringing the show to India along with Live Nation. “This is an extremely positive message that gets carried for us as a country.”

When U2 announced they would make their historic appearance in India, the legendary Irish group ended at least a decade of frustrations and near-misses due to logistical and infrastructure challenges, and the high cost of the stage production, promoters said. “We’ve had several conversations with them over the years,” says a representative of a leading promoter in India who did not wish to be identified. “I don’t think we could ever afford how much they wanted.”

For its part, U2 said it had long coveted an Indian show. “India has been on our bucket list for a long time,” The Edge tells Billboard.

Page 3 of 23

September 29, 2018

P O W E R

P L A Y E RS

2 0 1 8

J. Cole on

PLUS

Vibe

Quincy Jones:

22cover_cole [P]_23795659.indd 3

9/26/18 11:58 AM

Advertise and congratulate the people who are creating excitement and making some noise in Latin music. Reach an influential audience of decision-makers in the music industry and pop culture.

O N SA LE : 10/12

CO NTAC T

B O N U S D I STR I B UTI O N :

Editorial content subject to change

LATIN POWER PLAYERS

A D CLO S E 10/03 10/04

October 13, 2018 | billboard.com

From left: Mai, Lipa and Post Malone

23cover_dua_gatefold [P]_23982474;16_View.indd 3

2 0 1 9

On October 12th, Billboard will profile the most influential people in Latin music, from record label executives, music publishers and management companies to radio and television stations and live entertainment.

This feature will include a report on mid-year charts, top Latin songwriters, publishers and publishing corporations.

G e n e S m i t h 973-452-3528 | eugenebillboard@gmail.comM a r c i a O l i v a l 786-586-4901 | marciaolival29@gmail.comJ o e M a i m o n e 212.493.4427 | joe.maimone@billboard.com

Latin Power Event 10/16AES Pro Audio Convention 10/16–10/19Billboard Latin AMAs 10/15

2 01 9

G R A M M YP R E V I E W

P L U S

October 13, 2018 | billboard.com

ELLA MAI, DUA LIPA and

POST MALONE hope to join

an expanded class of nominees

— and to help define

a moment of unprecedented

change for the awards

The Big Four forecast:

Will hip-hop

(finally) dominate?

From left: Mai, Lipa

and Post Malone

23cover_dua_gatefold [P]_23982474;16_View.indd 3

10/10/18 4:45 PM

Special IssueO N SALE

OCT. 12, 2 0 1 9

PROMOTION

BB_Latin Issue_21_091419.indd 1 9/16/19 1:00 PM

U2 will be the fourth in a series of global superstars to tour India this season. Katy Perry and Dua Lipa will perform at the inaugural edition of the OnePlus Music Festival in Mumbai in November. Wiz Khalifa played two cities here this past weekend.

India is one of the world’s youngest countries and is home to millions of consumers with access to some of the cheapest mobile data connections on the planet. The last three years have seen a substantial increase in the number of Indians seeking “social experiences,” says Hemrajani, a sentiment echoed by other promoters. As a result, there’s an established audience for concerts by chart-topping western acts, and artist managers and booking agents around the globe are realizing there’s a considerable market in India.

A turning point was the Indian edition of the Global Citizen Festival in 2016, which was headlined by Coldplay and included sets by Jay-Z and Demi Lovato, according to Sabbas Joseph, founder-director of Wizcraft International Entertainment. A record 80,000 people attended.

Then, in 2017, Justin Bieber was able to draw more than 30,000 people on a weekday during the muggy month of May in Mumbai, another sign that India’s audience for foreign music acts had reached a critical mass.

However, India is an extremely price-sensitive market, where the cheapest tickets are typically sold for 1,500 Indian rupee (about $20). Tickets for the U2 show start at 3,000 Indian rupee (about $40). Most promoters depend heavily on sponsors and rely on brands to cover anywhere between 50% to 70% of the costs.

“Our experience with really big acts has always been that until audience members are able to pay [an average ticket price of ] upwards of $200 and in a sizable number, it won’t [make] economical sense to do it without brands. And you know how few people can pay that,” says Gunjan Arya, managing partner at Only Much Louder, producer of India’s most popular multi-genre festival, the NH7 Weekender, which

is bankrolled by Bacardi.Top international talent is usually

booked for India only if they’re already touring near the region. A stand-alone gig, promoters say, would be financially unfeasible. “For the live acts that have large touring parties and large production riders, it’s probably going to happen when they’re touring Asia,” says Karan Singh, chief operating officer of Percept Live, which brought Ed Sheeran to India for his maiden show in the country in 2015. Sheeran returned in 2017 with BookMyShow.

Arthur Fogel, head of global touring at Live Nation, tells Billboard that one of the reasons U2 is finally coming to India is that “we’re going to Southeast Asia, and there was the ability to add on a week at the end to accommodate Mumbai.”

For the majority of the world’s major music acts, India is unfamiliar territory and many aren’t aware they have a massive fan base in the country. “We’re used to walking out into a roar like a 747 taking off,” says Bono. “All across the United States, Europe, everywhere. In India, we don’t have a right to expect that same roar. We haven’t put in the time.”

Until about a decade ago, India was primarily a rock and metal market. Venkat Vardhan, founder and chairman of DNA Networks, which organized the majority of international concerts staged in India during the 1990s and 2000s, said his three most successful tours were by Iron Maiden, Metallica and The Rolling Stones, each of which drew audiences of more than 35,000 people.

In contrast, Beyoncé and Shakira, both of whom visited in 2007, played to about a fifth of those numbers. Vardhan says at the time 70% of the concert-going crowd in India was male and pop was not as strong as it is today. The exception was Bryan Adams, who has toured India several times since his first gig in the mid-1990s.

The big difference between then and now is the appetite for international music of all kinds has grown exponentially in both size and scope in the streaming era. “When I started doing these tours it was maybe 15-20 countries on an itinerary, and

now it’s 50-60,” says Fogel.Despite the general sense of optimism,

promoters in India say the country still has a long way to go. “If you were [to compare us] to a really tiny city in the U.S., we don’t get our fair share of acts and quality performances,” says Hemrajani. “The floodgates haven’t opened.”

There remain several challenges to staging large-scale events here, the chief among them being a lack of adequate infrastructure, especially venues that can host large audiences. There are issues related to timing — noise pollution rules prevent the use of loudspeakers beyond 10 p.m. Taxation is also a concern, with promoters having to pay 28% on every ticket sold.

With vast parts of India subject to high temperatures or heavy rainfall during large portions of the year, weather also restricts the time frame within which concerts can be performed. Even when venues are available, they’re not always conducive to staging big shows, says Sameet Sharma, vp and business head of Live Viacom 18, the company behind the multi-genre VH1 Supersonic festival. “Taking a big act to an indoor stadium in Delhi doesn’t make sense because there are restrictions,” he says. “You can’t sell alcohol at venues managed by the Sports Authority of India.”

The D.Y. Patil Stadium in Mumbai, where U2 will take the stage, can hold more than 50,000 people but it’s located on the outskirts on the city, sometimes taking upwards of two hours one way to get there. Hemrajani says venues in other parts of Mumbai either didn’t have the crowd capacity or the parking facilities required.

Joseph believes that India is “at least three to five years” from becoming a mature market. “If we stay on course,” he says. “Whatever you do right, India benefits as a territory. Whatever you do wrong bites everybody.”

Fortunately, there have been fewer and fewer instances of concerts being canceled at the last minute. There are also rumors of AEG partnering with an Indian promoter to build an arena in Mumbai.

Now, after Coldplay, U2 will soon be checked off the list of India’s most-

[In Brief]

Page 5 of 23

anticipated acts. The next name on that list is Taylor Swift. Devraj Sanyal, managing director and CEO of Universal Music Group in India, is optimistic that she will soon make India a part of her tour plans. “A bunch of promoters are talking to me about our absolute A-list acts,” he says. “They believe the time has come when individual artists will sell stadiums.”

Additional reporting by Joe Lynch

P!nk to Receive the Legend of Live Award at the 2019 Billboard Live Music SummitBY BILLBOARD STAFF

Just weeks after wrapping her re-cord-breaking Beautiful Trauma World Tour, Billboard is honored to announce that Grammy-winning singer and songwriter P!nkwill accept the Legend of Live award at this year’s Billboard Live Music Summit & Awards, Nov 5-6, in Beverly Hills.

P!nk is the first female solo artist to win the Legend of Live award, Billboard’s top honor for touring and live performance. P!nk’s Beautiful Trauma tour grossed a staggering $397.3 million with more than 3 million tickets in 2018 and 2019, making it the 10th highest grossing tour in Billboard Boxscore’s history –- and the biggest for a woman in over a decade.

“Between her mesmerizing live performances, her high-flying visual acrobatics and her incredible catalog of music that includes 32 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and three Billboard No. 1 albums, there is no artist more deserving of this award than P!nk,” said Dave Brooks, Billboard’s senior director of live and touring. “Her Beautiful Trauma tour is a historic feat of endurance and artistic excellence and we are honored that she will be joining us in Beverly Hills to celebrate

this record-breaking achievement.”The artist-driven Legend of Live was

first handed out in 2006 to Elton John and has been accepted by an assortment of A-list artists that include The Allman Brothers, Ozzy Osbourne, Rush, Journey, Neil Diamond, Lionel Richie and Bon Jovi. In 2017 the award was accepted by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill and last year the Legend of Live was given to John Mayer, who has played more than 1,000 shows in his 20-year career.

P!nk’s achievements on the road are only matched by her success as a recording artist, selling more than 60 million albums and 75 million singles worldwide. Whether it was her debut 2000 album “Can’t Take Me Home,” which sold 4 million copies, or 2017’s Beautiful Trauma which had the biggest first-week sales from a female artist at the time, P!nk continues to release relevant and powerful tracks that are immediately embraced by her massive global fan base.

She’s also still flying high with a stunning aerial concert experience that’s sold out hundreds of arenas in North America, Australia, Europe and Asia. Shows on her Beautiful Trauma tour had her swinging from a giant chandelier for her song “Get the Party Started,” or “floating over the stage on a four-poster bed with two male dancers spun around on suspended floor lamps” for her song “Just Give Me a Reason” according to a glowing review for her show in Indianapolis from Billboardlast year.

P!nk will join artists like Hootie and Blowfish, deadmau5 and concert industry luminaries like Coachella co-founder Paul Tollett and Paradigm’s global head of music Marty Diamond at this year’s summit. Set at the Montage in Beverly Hills, the conference features two days of high-level panels, artist interviews and executive Q&As with some of the biggest names in music, comedy and live entertainment. Additional speakers and panelists will be announced in the coming days. Learn more and register here.

Green Day, Fall Out Boy & Weezer All Chart New Singles After Hella Mega Tour AnnouncementBY KEVIN RUTHERFORD

Please welcome the headliners of the Hella Mega Tour back to the Billboard charts.

Following the announcement of the triple-headliner trek, which kicks off in March 2020, Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy make multiple charts dated Sept. 21 with each of their new singles, which were released Sept. 10 in conjunction with the tour reveal.

Green Day comes out on top among the three acts, with “Father of All…” debuting at No. 9 on the Hot Rock Songs chart, which is based on streaming, airplay and sales data. It’s the band’s first top 10 debut on the survey since “Oh Love,” which roared in at No. 1 on Aug. 4, 2012.

After its Sept. 10 arrival, “Father of All...” starts with 9.2 million airplay audience impressions, 882,000 U.S. streams and 2,000 downloads sold in its first tracking week (ending Sept. 12), according to Nielsen Music.

The song also makes a strong debut on Rock Airplay, where it bows at No. 3 with 7.6 million audience impressions unique to rock radio formats. Not only is its start the best for Green Day since “Oh Love” (No. 1), it’s also the top entrance for any song in five years, dating to the No. 2 premiere of the Black Keys’ “Fever” in April 2014.

On the Alternative Songs and Mainstream Rock Songs airplay charts, “Father of All...” starts at Nos. 13 and 14, respectively. The latter launch is the best for any song in three years, since Metallica’s “Hardwired” also soared in at No. 14 on Sept. 3, 2016.

Next up, Fall Out Boy’s “Dear Future Self

[In Brief]

Page 6 of 23

(Hands Up),” featuring Wyclef Jean, starts at No. 17 on Hot Rock Songs. Its first-week numbers show 3.3 million audience in radio reach, 562,000 streams and 3,000 sold.

“Dear Future Self ” also debuts at No. 22 on Rock Airplay with 3.2 million rock-specific audience impressions. The debut is the band’s best on the tally, which began in 2009, topping the No. 23 start of “Centuries” in September 2014. The new song’s No. 23 bow on Alternative Songs is also a best for Fall Out Boy, surpassing “Centuries” (No. 24 debut).

Meanwhile, Wyclef Jean snags his first appearance on all three tallies.

Then there’s Weezer’s “The End of the Game,” which begins at No. 20 on Hot Rock Songs with 5.6 million in airplay audience, 531,000 streams and 2,000 sold. Its rock radio presence is via both Alternative Songs and Mainstream Rock Songs, where it bows at Nos. 19 and 33, respectively (the latter marking the band’s first appearance since “Back to the Shack” in 2014). The new song’s No. 14 start on Rock Airplay (4.5 million impressions) is the group’s best since “Back to the Shack” started at No. 9.

All three singles precede new album releases from each act. Fall Out Boy’s new best-of package, Greatest Hits: Believers Never Die – Volume Two, is due Nov. 15. Then comes Green Day’s Father of All Motherfuckers, the band’s 13th studio album and first since 2016’s Revolution Radio, on Feb. 7, 2020, while Weezer’s Van Weezer, the follow-up to this year’s Weezer (Black Album), and its 14th LP in all, is due next May 15.

The Hella Mega Tour, which features the Interrupters in a supporting role, launches March 8, 2020, in Singapore, with its first North American date July 17 in Seattle. The tour is set to conclude Aug. 29 in Philadelphia.

Ric Ocasek and The Cars Injected a ‘Healthy Dose of Weirdness’ to the Mainstream: An AppreciationBY ALAN LIGHT

The music that Ric Ocasek made as the singer, guitarist and primary songwriter with The Cars is generally filed under New Wave, but it was really a category unto itself. The band’s catalog, which has sold 15 million copies in the U.S., according to Billboard estimates, was futuristic yet traditional, visionary yet widely appealing, forged from elements of punk, pop, glam, art and straight-up FM radio rock — even rockabilly. When Ocasek died on Sept. 15 at the age of 75, the outpouring of grief from artists across the musical spectrum — Tim McGraw to Ice-T, Alice Cooperto Beck — was a reminder of the band’s rare and universal appeal.

When Killers frontman Brandon Flowers inducted the Cars into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, he noted that they “existed in the highly-coveted sweet spot where credibility and acclaim meets huge commercial success.” The Cars would release 13 Top 40 hits in nine years and land five top 10 albums on the Billboard 200, while injecting a healthy dose of weirdness into the mainstream, bringing synthesizers, ironic detachment and surreal imagery (at the Hall of Fame, Ocasek thanked beat poets Richard Brautigan and Lawrence Ferlinghetti) deep into the heart of classic rock.

Born Richard Otcasek in Baltimore, Ocasek’s family moved to Cleveland when he was 16. There he met future Cars bassist Benjamin Orr in 1965; the two played in various bands together before relocating to Boston in the early 1970s. After struggling as a folk-rock group called Milkwood, they

gradually added keyboard player Greg Hawkes and guitarist Elliot Easton, then finally brought in former Modern Lovers drummer David Robinson to finalize the Cars’ lineup in 1976.

Their demo tape reached the national charts before they were even signed, purely on the basis of local airplay on WBCN and WCOZ. The Cars’ self-titled 1978 debut is widely considered one of the finest first albums of all time, a pure distillation of their vision that sold over 6 million copies. (“We used to joke that the first album should be called The Cars Greatest Hits,” Easton later said.)

The initial success of the debut and 1979’s Candy-O would be equaled a few years later, when the band’s arty sensibility and postmodern visual style proved a perfect match for the early days of MTV. The video for “You Might Think,” from the four-times platinum album Heartbeat City, won Video of the Year at the first Video Music Awards in 1984 — beating out Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” In 2004, Fountains of Wayne lovingly spoofed the Cars’ videos — including the sequence in Fast Times at Ridgemont High set to “Moving in Stereo” — for their hit “Stacy’s Mom.”

The Cars broke up in 1988 (they would reunite for one album, Move Like This, in 2011, though Orr died of pancreatic cancer in 2000) and Ocasek released seven underrated solo albums; the single “Emotion in Motion” was a No. 1 Mainstream Rock hit in 1986.

Along the way, Ocasek, impossibly tall and thin, found outlets for his more left-field musical interests. Even at the height of the Cars’ popularity, he produced albums and sessions for numerous alternative acts, including Bad Brains, Guided by Voices, Hole, Suicide, No Doubt and D Generation. In 2003, he took an A&R job with Elektra Records, but he only stayed less than a year.

As a producer, his longest-lasting creative relationship was with Weezer, for whom he produced three albums (the Blue and Green albums and 2014’s Everything Will Be Alright in the End). “Ric was so kind to us and never faltered or changed a

[In Brief]

Page 7 of 23

thing, either personally or professionally, in the three different decades we worked with him,” said the band in a statement.

Ocasek was married three times and had six sons. In 2018, Paulina Porizkova — his wife since 1989 — announced that the couple had amicably separated a year earlier, and it was Porizkova who found his unresponsive body in their Gramercy Park townhouse.

Ocasek exuded icy rock star cool, yet was a visible presence in his neighborhood and, by all accounts, an unexpectedly approachable figure at the showings of his visual art that occupied much of his final years. “Success to me,” he once said, “is actually being able to write songs and like them when I finish them.”

This article originally appeared in the Sept. 21 issue of Billboard.

Rare David Bowie, Ed Sheeran Vinyl Record Test Pressings Up for Sale in Charity AuctionBY RICHARD SMIRKE

Rare test pressing records by David Bowie, Ed Sheeran and Sex Pistols are to go under the hammer at a ‘white label’ vinyl auction to raise funds for U.K. music charity The BRIT Trust.

The auction, which is being billed as the first-of-its-kind, takes place Oct. 5 at Omega Auctions, located in Newton-Le-Willows, Northern England. Around 300 white-label records will be on sale, including releases from Liam Gallagher, Oasis, The Jam, Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, Kylie, Sex Pistols, Dusty Springfield, Genesis, The Specials, Lenny Kravitz, Manic Street Preachers, Lianne La Havas, Mark Ronson and The Who.

Music fans and collectors around the world can make bids online at Omega Auctions. All three major labels contributed white-label LPs to auction, as did independent record labels and companies BMG, Domino Records, Blue Raincoat Music, Cherry Red, Kobalt Music, Sour Mash and Ignition. All of the test pressings are of records that were released or reissued between 2014 and 2019, including around 20 that are signed by the artist.

White label test pressings are produced by vinyl manufacturers to ensure sound quality meets the required standards with only a handful of copies ever made for each release. That makes them highly sought after by fans and collectors. The auction is the idea of Universal Music U.K. catalogue A&R director Johnny Chandler and is being staged as part of a week-long build up to the second annual National Album Day, an industry-wide marketing initiative to celebrate the LP format, taking place October 12.

Funds from the auction will go towards The BRIT Trust, which supports young people in music and education and is funded through the BRIT Awards, sister event, The Classic BRITs, and the annual Music Industry Trusts Awards.

Since its formation in 1989, the Trust has distributed more than £25 million ($31 million) to a slew of organizations, most notably performing-arts and technology school The BRIT School and U.K. music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins, which helps 10,000 people a year with life-limiting illnesses, physical disabilities or emotional challenges.

“It’ll be wonderful if, by auctioning these rarities, we can raise funds to support the amazing work of The BRIT Trust, whilst celebrating the ‘art of the album’ through National Album Day,” said Chandler, who hopes the auction will become a regular event.

“It’s unprecedented to have a collection of white label titles of this size up for auction,” said Omega Auctions’ Paul Fairweather, “and we’re certain that collectors will be as excited as we are when the full catalogue is published.”

Eddie Money’s ‘Take Me Home Tonight’ Streamed Over 3 Million Times in U.S. Since His DeathBY KEITH CAULFIELD

Fans mourning the death of Eddie Money (who died on Sept. 13) turned to his classic hit “Take Me Home Tonight” to remember the artist. On-demand streams of the song in the U.S. increased by 349% to 3.1 million in the three days after his passing (Sept. 13-16) as compared to the three previous days — according to initial reports to Nielsen Music.

On Sept. 13 alone, “Take Me Home Tonight” garnered 1.73 million on-demand streams (both audio and video combined), up from just 236,000 on Sept. 12.

“Take Me Home Tonight” was Money’s highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 4 on the Nov. 15, 1986-dated chart. The track additionally spent more time on the list than any other Money hit, racking up 23 weeks on the tally. The single also spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart.

“Take Me Home Tonight” interpolates The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 in 1963. On “Take,” Money is joined by The Ronettes’ lead singer Ronnie Spector to provide backing vocals and reprise the line “be my little baby” and her signature “oh-oh-oh-oh” lyric from the original tune. The success of the track revived the careers of both singers: Money was in a career slump while Spector wasn’t “really in the business anymore.”

Music fans didn’t only stream “Take Me Home Tonight” following Money’s death, as his entire catalog of songs saw a 931% gain in on-demand streams on Sept. 13-16 versus Sept. 10-12 (growing

[In Brief]

Page 8 of 23

from 1.2 million to 12.2 million). In terms of sales, his catalog of albums and songs sold 43,000 copies on Sept. 13-16 — up 7,261% compared to less than 1,000 sold on Sept. 10-12.

It’s likely Money’s catalog will impact Billboard’s various rock charts dated Sept. 28, after the first week of chart impact has been felt since his death (in the streaming and sales tracking week of Sept. 13-20).

Elton John Adds Seven Shows in New York, New JerseyBY DAVE BROOKS

Elton John, who was the top-grossing artist on the Billboard Boxscore 2019 mid-year report, has added seven new concert dates to his sold out Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour in New York and New Jersey. This comes after completing 11 sold out shows in the market in 2018 and March of 2019.

The new tour dates hit all four major arenas in the New York area with shows April 6-7 at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, April 10-11 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, April 15 at Prudential Center in Newark and April 17-18 at NYCB LIVE’s Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.

The Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour kicked off to a sold-out crowd on Sept. 8, 2018, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and includes hits like “Bennie and the Jets,” “Rocket Man,” “Tiny Dancer,” and “Philadelphia Freedom.”

“Elton’s music has taken him to many places, opened many doors and inspired many passions in his life,” a release announcing the show explains. “The audience will experiences a rare glimpse into Elton’s life and the deeply personal meaning behind some of his greatest hits, with mesmerizing, never- before-seen photos and videos shown throughout the show from his incredible 50-year career.”

Tickets for the new dates go on sale to the general public beginning Sept. 27 at 10 a.m. local time. American Express card members can purchase tickets beginning Thursday at 10 a.m. local time and a limited number of exclusive VIP packages are available. Tickets and VIP packages can be purchased at EltonJohn.com

Tyler, the Creator Lyrics Lead to Terroristic Threat Charges for College StudentBY ASSOCIATED PRESS

Prosecutors say a University of South Alabama student is accused of making a terroristic threat after he wrote song lyrics by a popular rapper on a large flip chart in the school library — the second such case within a week on the campus.

Jack Aaron Christensen, 21, wrote song lyrics that referred to killing people and burning things, according to a criminal complaint. The lyrics are from the song “Radicals” by rapper Tyler, The Creator.

Court records don’t say why the flip chart was in the library or whether it was part of a university program. The complaint says it happened on or around Sept. 11, the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Court records don’t list a lawyer for Christensen who could be reached for comment on his behalf.

In a separate case, another student was arrested on the same charge within a week of Christensen’s arrest, authorities said.

That case involved a written threat on social media and is unrelated to Christensen’s case, Michael Mitchell, vice president for student affairs, wrote in an email to students and employees.

“The students involved in each incident have been barred from university property

pending the outcome of student conduct processes,” Mitchell wrote.

“No matter the circumstances, our police must treat any possible threat with the utmost seriousness and act immediately to ensure the safety of our campus community.”

Details of the social media threat haven’t been released by the university or its police department. The Mobile County District Attorney’s Office didn’t immediately respond to messages on Tuesday seeking information.

Food For Thought: Vampire Weekend, Spoon & More Are Making Tacos For CharityBY COLIN STUTZ

When restaurateur Briana Valdez was slinging Tex-Mex tacos at pop-up shops around Los Angeles in the early 2010s, music was already a big part of the process. Her sister, Andy Valdez, was co-managing Little Dragon at the time, and the band would DJ backyard events, bringing to-gether friends, music fans and foodies. By 2013, Briana had opened a Tex-Mex joint of her own, HomeState, in L.A.’s hip Los Feliz neighborhood, its creative community reminding her of Austin, where the sisters went to college.

“The neighborhood people that come in every day were artists, managers, musicians and creatives,” she says. “We were like, ‘What can we do with this that’s not exploitative, that can allow us to have a charitable component?’”

Two years later, Andy floated the idea of collaborating with artists and illustrators on custom-designed tacos with “album art” covers for each, based largely on

[In Brief]

Page 9 of 23

relationships they had built with artist customers. Spoon frontman Britt Daniel, who would visit the restaurant for a taste of home, went first. The day his Austin-style migas taco, “The Ranchero,” came on the menu, he created a playlist of ranchera music and hung out, taking pictures and signing autographs for customers. Within six months, Questlove of The Roots, Fitz & The Tantrums, Cold War Kids, Silversun Pickups and Cherry Glazerr also had their own tacos.

“We’re building community with that element of charity that expands outside the walls of HomeState,” says Andy.

The custom eats sell for $5 ($1.50 more than the standard tacos), and all profits go to local charities chosen by HomeState. Since it started forging these partnerships in 2015, the restaurant has raised roughly $25,000 for People Assisting The Homeless (PATH), the American Civil Liberties Union and the Silverlake Conservatory of Music. Currently, diners can try Vampire Weekend’s “Vegetarian Weekend” –– a veggie fajita taco with cotija cheese that’s available through October.

Custom album covers for Vampire Weekend’s “Vegetarian Weekend” taco and the “Red Hot,” for Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

In May, Local Natives transformed HomeState’s second location in Highland Park into “Café Amarillo,” the title of the first single off their fourth album, Violet Street, and performed a stripped-back concert on the outside patio. Between the event and sales of the band’s eponymous taco (filled with potato, cheddar, eggs, bacon, pico de gallo and jalapeños), they raised $6,000 for PATH.

“Working with the women who run HomeState was incredible,” says the band’s Taylor Rice. “They make my favorite breakfast tacos in L.A., are huge music lovers and turn out to be extremely generous humans.”

Questlove (“The Paesano,” a Philadelphia cheesesteak-style taco) and Fred Armisen (“The Emo’s,” a vegan breakfast taco) even DJ’d there to promote their seasonal fare.

“People are always asking, ‘How do you

convince these artists to work with you? Do you pay them?’” says Andy. “It’s a fun, effortless partnership. We’re like, ‘OK, what’s your dream taco?’”

U2 to Play India for the First Time Ever: ‘It’s Tantalizing’BY JOE LYNCH

Considering it’s been 40 years since their debut release and 14 years since their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, you wouldn’t think there are many ‘firsts’ left for U2. Well, after Dec. 15, that tiny list will be even shorter when Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. hit Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium for U2’s first-ever performance in India.

But this first will also be a last – the Dec. 15 Mumbai date will mark the final show of the U2: The Joshua Tree Tour celebrating their game-changing 1987 LP The Joshua Tree. The Mumbai concert is produced by Live Nation Global Touring and brought to India by BookMyShow.

While logistical and geographical issues have traditionally provided a stumbling block for international touring acts looking to play the subcontinent, over the last 10-15 years, the number of Western acts playing the region has gradually increased – and U2 is thrilled to finally make it there.

This will be, in fact, Bono and the Edge’s first time in India, ever – although Bono notes he’s previously visited it via the magical realism of Salman Rushdie’s classic novel Midnight’s Children.

“For me [the most exciting thing is] actually getting to meet our Indian audience and see who they are — and visiting this incredible subcontinent for the first time,” the Edge tells Billboard. “It’s going to be a frustration not being able to do so many things on a time constraint, but the chance to put your toe in the water is tantalizing and exciting.”

“We have been spoiled over the years by

the reaction of U2 fans,” Bono admits to Billboard. “We’re used to walking out into a roar like a 747 taking off. And we earned that in this city [New York] or Boston — all across the United States, we played clubs, we played to a hundred people, two hundred people. We haven’t done that in India and we don’t have a right to expect that same roar. We haven’t put in the time. But we’re going, and we will try to be worthy of people’s interest in us.”

Registration for the Mumbai Joshua Tree show are open from Sept. 18-23 at www.in.bookmyshow.com. Presale for U2.com subscribers opens Sept. 24-25. General tickets go on sale Oct. 1 via www.bookmyshow.com and www.livenation.com.

Spotify Announces Winners of 2nd Annual ‘Sound Up’ Podcast Accelerator for Women of ColorBY CHRIS EGGERTSEN

Spotify has announced the winners of its second annual Sound Up program, a five-day podcast accelerator designed to help women of color transform their creative ideas into fully-developed podcasts.

Out of 10 women selected to participate in this year’s program from a pool of thousands of applicants, four — Christina Orlando, Janae Burris, Shayla Martinand SK — have been awarded $10,000 each to fund their proposed podcasts, the streaming service announced Tuesday (Sept. 17).

Orlando — a non-binary, Latinx New Yorker — developed a time travel podcast concept that explores queer history; stand-

[In Brief]

Page 10 of 23

up comedian Burris will explore how the loss of fathers affects people’s lives; Martin’s podcast will center on issues of addiction, recovery and maintaining sobriety through the perspective of people of color; and SK — a South Asian immigrant, former attorney and sexual abuse/domestic violence survivor — will chronicle her story in a new podcast coming to Spotify.

As the streaming service previously announced, each of the selected women will retain the intellectual property rights to their podcasts and will not be required to distribute them on Spotify.

Among last year’s winners, Titi Shodiya — a scientific auditor at the National Institute of Standards and Technology — just had her science and pop culture podcast Dope Labs (co-hosted with Zakiya Whatley) renewed by Spotify for a second season.

Sound Up is one of Spotify’s hallmark programs designed to uplift women of color and amplify their voices. More information can be found here.

Virgin Acquires KAABOO Festival: ExclusiveBY DAVE BROOKS

The five-year-old KAABOO festival brand has been acquired by Virgin Fest, the music festival arm of Richard Branson’s multina-tional venture capital conglomerate Virgin Group Ltd, Billboard has learned.

The Del Mar, California festival’s partner and chief brand officer Jason Felts will lead Virgin Fest as its chief executive and oversee the launch of Virgin Fest next year, possibly in Los Angeles. He’ll also continue to oversee KAABOO, which is moving to Petco Park in San Diego five years after first launching at the nearby Del Mar fairgrounds.

KAABOO was launched in 2015 by Bryan Gordon and Seth Wolkov of investment

firm Madison Companies and quickly became a powerhouse event in California known for its contemporary bookings and high-end offerings to festival goers at all levels. The sale to Virgin Fest, which came just days before the beginning of this year’s festival, is a 100% asset sale and positions the KAABOO brand to continue to serve a late millennial and Gen X audience while the planned Virgin Fest will target an early 20s demographic. The acquisition was brokered on behalf of Virgin Fest by Ken Deutsch at Latham & Watkins.

Since launching in Del Mar, KAABOO has expanded to the Cayman Islands and to Texas under a partnership with the Dallas Cowboys. Earlier this month, Billboard reported that KAABOO organizers were unable to reach an agreement with their Cayman partners, landowner and development company Dart, preventing the event from returning in 2020.

It’s unclear if the Texas event will return next year, but KAABOO’s flagship fest in Southern California has been a hit with music fans and the sale to Virgin solidifies its long term viability. This year’s concert, which featured Dave Matthews Band and Mumford and Sons, sold out for the third year in a row. Passes for next year’s Sept. 18-20 KAABOO San Diego at Petco Park are on sale now.

Steve Martin’s Bluegrass Award Faces Uncertain FutureBY ASSOCIATED PRESS

One morning last week in Boston, Victor Furtado woke up to a mailman’s knock. He was handed a little unmarked package.

“I opened it up here in my apartment and kind of looked at it for a second, hoping somebody would wake me up. I was shocked, completely blown away.”

Inside was word that the 19-year-old

Virginia-bred musician had won the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, which comes with a $50,000 prize and a sculpture.

“I feel so honored to be considered,” he said.

But the award was somewhat bittersweet since Furtado — the youngest recipient of the prize given out every year since 2010 — may also be the last. The prize is in danger of disappearing.

Martin said that he and the prize board members are overwhelmed by the sheer number of qualified musicians as bluegrass goes through a flowering.

“It became very difficult to keep pace, even with all our great board members, of so many great players. In the ’60s, when I was first learning, great players were rare,” said Martin.

“Now, if you listen to a bluegrass channel, you listen to the banjo player and go, ‘Who’s that?’ And you’ve never even heard of him and they’re playing incredibly sophisticated stuff I couldn’t even pretend to do.”

Martin hopes some entity might take over administrating the prize. Furtado, a student at the Berklee College of Music, hopes it somehow continues but is still grateful if he’s the last recipient.

“That was just another added layer of amazement, being that it might be the last one. That they ended up choosing me for it is just such an honor,” he said.

Martin and his wife, Anne Stringfield, dreamed up the prize after Martin noticed that some master musicians were still paying off their banjos. “I thought, ‘That’s got to change.’” The first draft of the prize’s statement of purpose was written on the back of a cocktail napkin. It’s the only prize of its kind and has an impressive monetary value.

“The one way in America — or anywhere — to bring notoriety is with money,” said Martin. “It had to be ‘Wow!’ It had to really mean something to someone.”

Winners — including Sammy Shelor, Danny Barnes and Jens Kruger — have been determined by a board consisting of Martin and Stringfield, J.D Crowe, Pete Wernick, Tony Trischka, Noam Pikelny,

[In Brief]

Page 11 of 23

Alison Brown, Neil V. Rosenberg and Béla Fleck.

Martin, whose comedy has enriched “Saturday Night Live” and who has written books like “Shopgirl” and music for Broadway, frequently returns to his banjo. “I’ve always found it moving. I’ve always found it emotional,” he said.

Both Martin and Furtado have noticed the genre has exploded with top-notch musicians, more experimentation and complex playing. “The advances in technique have really taken off,” said Martin.

Furtado agreed: “All these amazing players are coming up, bringing jazz influences and different rhythms and different musical qualities to the old-time bluegrass and combining the two.”

As for how he’ll celebrate, the young banjo player hopes to have a good time with his friends and celebrate. But some of the prize winnings will go to pay off college debt.

‘It’ Composer Benjamin Wallfisch Signs With Gorfaine/Schwartz AgencyBY MELINDA NEWMAN

Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated composer Benjamin Wallfisch has signed with the Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency for worldwide representation.

The move is in partnership with London-based Cool Music Ltd., which was already working with Wallfisch.

Wallfisch has provided music for more than 75 films, including It Chapter Two, in theaters now, as well as Shazam, Blade Runner 2049 (with Hans Zimmer) and Hidden Figures.

Wallfisch added, “I’m truly honored to be joining the exceptional GSA family,

in this exciting new collaboration with Cool Music Ltd. Mike [Gorfaine] and Sam [Schwartz] are living legends and represent many of my childhood heroes. I’m very much looking forward to working with them and the whole GSA team.”

Among GSA’s other clients are Ennio Morricone, Thomas Newman, Ramin Djawadi and Harry Gregson-Williams.

Apple Says European Union’s $14 Billion Tax Order ‘Defies Reality’BY SCOTT ROXBOROUGH

Apple, in the midst of a tax dispute with Eu-ropean regulators, has said the European Union’s order it pay $14 billion (€13 billion) in back taxes to Ireland “defies reality and common sense.”

Apple is facing off against the EU in a battle over tax havens within Europe. In 2016, the European Commission ordered the tech giant to pay the record sum to Ireland as compensation for a sweetheart deal in the country that allegedly allowed Apple to avoid paying its fair share of corporate tax.

Apple is appealing the ruling to the General Court, Europe’s second-highest. The legal dispute is a key battleground in Europe’s attempt to crack down on corporate tax avoidance.

Ireland, whose low tax regime has attracted several multinationals to set up their European headquarters there, is also challenging the Commission’s decision.

Apple’s Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri led a six-strong delegation to the court where a panel of five judges will hear arguments over two days.

In its arguments at the General Court, Apple accused the Commission of using its powers to combat state aid “to retrofit

changes to national law.” Apple claims the Commission is creating legal uncertainty for businesses by trying to change the international tax system.

The EU dismissed those arguments, saying it is not trying to police international tax laws but that Ireland simply did not properly assess Apple’s tax bill and undercharged them. In 2014, Apple’s Irish unit paid a 0.005 percent rate of tax.

In 2016, the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, ruled that, for more than two decades, Apple has paid too little tax in Europe. The Commission found that Apple benefited from what amounts to illegal state aid as a result of a pair of Irish rulings which artificially reduced its tax burden.

The Apple case is key to a broader attack against multinational tax avoidance being led by European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, which has targeted fellow tech giant Amazon, but also companies such as Starbucks and carmaker Fiat.

Daniel Beard, Apple’s lawyer in the case, said the EU’s figures don’t add up.

“The Commission contends that essentially all of Apple’s profits from all of its sales outside the Americas must be attributed to two branches in Ireland,” Beard told the court, arguing that because key Apple products and services —including the iPhone, the iPad, the App Store and key intellectual property rights —were developed in the United States, and not in Ireland, the Commission’s case was flawed. The company said it will pay $22 billion (€20 billion) in U.S. taxes on the same profits that the Commission said should have been taxed in Ireland.

“Based on the facts of this case, the primary line defies reality and common sense,” Beard said.

Apple has said, on average, it pays a global tax rate of 26 percent and is the world’s largest taxpayer. In its current financial quarter, Apple expects revenue of $61-64 billion and a gross margin of 37.5 percent to 38.5 percent.

Commission lawyer Richard Lyal said Apple’s argument that all its intellectual property-related activities take place in

[In Brief]

Page 12 of 23

the United States was “perfectly correct and perfectly irrelevant,” arguing instead that Ireland, which taxed Apple’s Irish subsidiaries, not Apple Inc. as a whole, had not properly assessed the functions performed by the company’s Irish units, the assets used or the risks assumed by the subsidiaries.

“They simply accepted an arbitrary method proposed by the Apple Ireland subsidiaries. That in itself gives rise to a presumption of a special deal, exceptionally advantageous treatment,” said Lyal.

Ireland’s lawyer, Paul Gallagher, said the Commission’s decision was based on a mismatch between the Irish and U.S. tax systems and was “fundamentally flawed.”

The General Court is expected to rule in the coming months but, whatever the outcome, an appeal to the EU Court of Justice is likely. A final judgment could take several years.

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

Country Label Cold River Records Shutting DownBY ANNIE REUTER

Cold River Records is shutting its doors after nearly 15 years in business. The country label is currently the home to Drew Baldridge and formerly Dylan Schneider.

Founder and president Pete O’Heeron announced news the company was shutting down on Tuesday (Sept. 17). He said he has decided to leave music to focus on his other career in medicine and developing cures for degenerative disc disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which has recently been linked to football head injurieis. O’Heeron has a biologics company and says he is “seeing almost

daily breakthroughs in cell therapy.”“We began this journey almost 15 years

ago and have enjoyed every moment of music creation by our artists,” O’Heeron said of Cold River Records in a statement. “To the amazing employees who have called our label home, I thank you for being such dedicated champions for our artists and making personal sacrifices to support their careers. As some of my dearest friends, I will miss you the most and cherish all of our memories on the road and the phone calls with your travel stories.

“To the programmers at radio, producers, songwriters and the music industry leaders who became our friends, I thank you for your counsel, guidance and friendship,” he added. “To our artists who have performed on the Grand Ole Opry, opened for some of the biggest names in country music, toured the world and even recorded at famed Abbey Road studios in London, thank you for creating amazing music that I will never forget.”

Cold River Records’ Billboard chart success recently with Baldridge, including his previous three singles — “Dance With Ya,” “Rebound” featuring Emily Weisband and “Guns & Roses” — which peaked at No. 48, 50 and 51 respectively on the Country Airplay chart. Baldridge’s 2016 album Dirt on Us also reached No. 11 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.

The label is also the former home of country singer Katie Armiger, who had a public legal battle with the company following her sexual harassment claims by unidentified radio broadcasters when she was on the roster. Cold River Records saw the most success with Armiger, whose 2013 album Fall Into Me landed at No. 7 on Top Country Albums. The label’s highest charting song was Armiger’s “Best Song Ever,” which peaked at No. 42 in February 2011 on Country Airplay.

Fender Announces New Music Education Foundation With Avril Lavigne, Brendon Urie, Chris Stapleton & MoreBY CHRIS EGGERTSEN

Legendary guitar maker Fender is making a move into the non-profit space.

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) announced on Wednesday (Sept. 18) the launch of the Fender Play Foundation, a new charity designed to provide resources and music education opportunities to young people. As part of those efforts, the foundation has named Avril Lavigne, Chris Stapleton, Brendon Urie, Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, Ashley McBryde and Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt as its inaugural artist ambassadors for 2019-2020, with more to be announced at a later date.

Over the next three years, the Fender Play Foundation plans to raise $3 million to educational institutions and organizations via equipment donations, personalized instruction and artist experiences, with FMIC’s initial $1 million donation to be used to expand further fundraising efforts. Initial support will be provided to music education programs in Los Angeles, Nashville and Scottsdale, Arizona, where Fender has offices, with plans to expand to more cities next year. Educational institutions and organizations will also have the opportunity to apply for grants.

“Leo Fender believed that all artists are angels and his job was to give them wings to fly,” said Fender CEO Andy Mooney in a statement. “We view the Fender Play Foundation as an important vehicle

[In Brief]

Page 13 of 23

[In Brief]

Page 14 of 23

to equip, educate and inspire the next generation of artists. Every child deserves access to music education opportunities and tools that give them ‘wings to fly.’ As an avid player, I can attest to the many benefits that come with playing an instrument and how the power of music can enrich your life.”

Artist ambassadors will help inspire young people via foundation initiatives including surprise instrument drops and meet and greets, donating signed gear and memorabilia for auction, appearing at galas and helping guide the foundation’s overall direction. In exchange, Fender will support artist ambassador charities that align with the foundation’s mission as well as charities “near and dear” to artists, including the Boys & Girls Club-affiliated non-profit Notes for Notes.

“Fender has been so supportive of The Avril Lavigne Foundation since its inception, so I was honored when they asked me to be part of the launch of their own charitable efforts,” said Lavigne. “Providing instruments to schools, camps and others who don’t have access to music on a daily basis is both necessary and inspiring, and I’m looking forward to working alongside my fellow Artist Advisors to deliver what is sure to be a lifetime of exciting memories!”

“I’m excited to team up with the Fender Play Foundation to support the next generation of shredders,” added Urie. “Growing up in Vegas my music mentors and education were such a huge influence on my life, I hope through partnering with Fender, that I can help do the same for young musicians!”

“Music has always been necessary outlet of self-expression for me especially when I was growing up,” said Wentz.

The foundation has already been busy, kicking off its first month by donating guitars, ukuleles and basses to Adopt the Arts, Notes for Notes, Musack, Young Musicians Foundation and other organizations. Donated instruments will be accompanied by a subscription to Fender Play, a learning app for guitar, bass and ukulele.

Additionally, this month Fender Play

Foundation is partnering with the Boys & Girls Club’s Watts Willowbrook Clubhouse in Los Angeles to build and launch an interactive space equipped with Squier guitars and basses, Rumble and Champion amplifiers, accessories and Fender Play e-learning stations for the club’s 200-plus youth members to learn guitar, ukulele and bass. The partnership will include 44 weeks of instruction subsidized by the foundation, with two other Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club locations also to be served in 2019-2020.

Also in September, Fender Play Foundation will help facilitate the donation of 2,000 California Coast Series ukuleles and 750 Classic Design and FA Series acoustic guitars, soft cases, and Fender Play subscriptions to public and charter schools in Hawaii in support of its long-time investor partner Servco’s Centennial Service Campaign. The instruments will be distributed to 55 schools throughout the Hawaiian Islands representing over 8,550 students.

Even prior to launch, the Fender Play Foundation was quietly working to support causes with other Fender artists, including Tom Morello and A-list musical collective 1500 or Nothin’s 1500 Sound Academy, a production training program designed to serve as a bridge between school and a career in the music industry.

Organizations and other parties focused on music education can apply for Fender Play Foundation support in 2020 here. Donations can be made here.

Martina McBride to Launch New Podcast ‘Vocal Point with Martina McBride’: ExclusiveBY ANNIE REUTER

Martina McBride is partnering with Lumi-nary and Believe Entertainment to launch a new podcast on Sept. 27. Titled Vocal Point with Martina McBride, the country singer will provide a variety of conversations between her many A-list guests each week, as well as share insight into each person’s life and career.

The podcast’s first season will include 26 episodes as McBride sits down with members of the country genre, entertainment world, and culinary community. The inaugural season will kick off on Sept. 27 with a conversation with Garth Brooks. Already booked guests include Pam Tillis, Dustin Lynch, Rosanne Cash, Sara Evans, Don Was, Runaway June, Howie Mandel and Loretta Lynn.

“I wanted to do a podcast that’s not really an interview as much as it is a conversation,” McBride tells Billboard over the phone. “It’s going to be a mixture of country music artists and artists from other genres. We’re going to do some celebrity chefs, some actors; a mixture of people. I hope it’s entertaining for the listeners and also that it gives a little bit of insight into the person that I’m interviewing. We talked about their life philosophy, their struggles and how they’ve overcome them. A lot of it has been so inspiring as well as entertaining.”

McBride says her conversations have been “fun and enlightening” and she hopes listeners will feel the same way. She further explains that she wanted to get a wide variety of people to take part in Vocal Point with Martina McBride who were at various

[In Brief]

Page 15 of 23

stages of their careers.“I’m interviewing Brenda Lee next week

and then I’m interviewing Lauren Alaina, two artists at completely different stages in their lives and careers,” she says. “It’ll be interesting to hear the differences in everyone’s story and the ups and downs in their career and how they’ve overcome any kind of adversity.”

The country icon has been vocal about the lack of female representation within the genre, and says she is also hoping her new podcast will serve as a platform to promote female artists in both the country genre and other forms of music and art. “I’m excited about being able to have people hear me and my guests in a different capacity,” McBride concedes. “I look forward to each time I get to sit down with someone and hear their story.”

McBride credits her brother-in-law for the podcast’s name, admitting, “I am terrible at naming things… He actually came up with Vocal Point, and I thought it was so cool because it’s catchy and memorable, but it also evokes the fact that we’re going to be talking about a point of view,” she says. “Everybody has a story and a point of view, so I’m going to be vocalizing that.”

Vocal Point with Martina McBride launches on Sept. 27 and listeners can tune in via luminarypodcasts.com. The podcast is produced by Believe Entertainment.

The Cars’ Music Sales Increase 2,662% After Ric Ocasek’s DeathBY KEITH CAULFIELD

Sales of The Cars’ catalog of albums and songs surged by 2,662% in the wake of the Sept. 15 death of the band’s leader, Ric Ocasek. According to initial sales reports to Nielsen Music, The Cars’ combined albums and songs sold 27,000 copies on

Sept. 16 and in the late hours of Sept. 15 (following news of Ocasek’s passing that evening). In the two previous days, The Cars’ music and sold just 1,000.

In terms of only album sales, The Cars sold 5,000 copies on Sept. 15 and 16 (versus a negligible figure in the two previous days) while the band’s songs sold 22,000 downloads (up from a little under 1,000).

The bulk of The Cars’ album sales on Sept. 15-16 came via the Complete Greatest Hits album (a little over 3,000 sold). The 20-song collection features 16 of the band’s 18 Billboard Hot 100 hits, including the top 10 singles “Shake It Up,” “You Might Think” and “Drive.”

In terms of individual song sales, “Drive” was by far the act’s biggest seller, with nearly 4,000 downloads sold. Rounding out their top five sellers: “Just What I Needed” (2,000), “Magic” (a little under 2,000), “My Best Friend’s Girl” (a little under 2,000) and “You Might Think” (1,000).

Ocasek’s solo catalog of material also posted gains – rising to 1,000 albums and songs sold on Sept. 15-16, up from a negligible sum in the two days previous.

News on The Cars’ streaming gains will likely follow in the coming days.

It’s likely The Cars will impact the Sept. 28-dated Billboard charts, following the sales and streaming tracking week of Sept. 13-20 concludes.

Longtime Turner Exec David Levy Is New CEO of Barclays Center and Brooklyn NetsBY TAYLOR MIMS

Media and sports executive David Levy has been announced as the new CEO for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center in New York. The announcement

was made by Joe Tsai who, through entities controlled by him, completed the acquisi-tion of full ownership of both the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center today.

Levy will also serve as the president of J Tsai Sports, the sports investment and holding vehicle controlled by Tsai. Levy will join Tsai’s family office as a venture partner, with coverage of sports, media and entertainment investments globally.

“I have a passion for sports and I have a passion for building out entertainment and it is kind of the best of both worlds here,” Levy tells Billboard. Nets GM and head coach, respectively, “Sean [Marks] and Kenny [Atkinson] who have built a winning culture here have helped the building itself. If the building’s vibrant during our sports opportunities, this building is going to be vibrant in anything we put it because it’s just a great place to come and have a great experience.”

In his role as CEO of the Nets and Barclays Center, Levy, who has more than a 30-year career working with the NBA, will oversee all business, revenue, strategy and operations for the franchise and arena. Levy spent 32 years at Turner Broadcasting, the last six years as President of the company. In his role as President, Levy had oversight of Turner’s leading portfolio of brands and businesses, including TNT, TBS, Turner Sports, Bleacher Report, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and truTV, as well as Ad Sales and Distribution.

Levy also has experience running events such as March Madness and Final Four activations.

“I do have an understanding of what it’s like to sell tickets and how to get people in arenas and how we get our food and things of that nature, but nothing to the size of Barclays Center,” Levy says. “I am going to rely on a lot of people that have been doing it here for a long time and get to understand what has worked and hasn’t worked. I will try to enhance that experience as best I can with the staff that we have here.”

Over the last few months, Levy has been in talks with Tsai about the position and looks forward to working with the new ownership.

[In Brief]

Page 16 of 23

“It is nice that [Tsai] is the voice,” says Levy. “He is somebody that lets people do their jobs. You’re accountable and you need to do your job. Hopefully with the relationship I have with him, I’ll do my job and we’ll have a long and successful career together.”

Going forward, Levy says he plans to expand the content options for the Barclays Center with more non-sports entertainment. He hopes to host esports events and music including the possibility for courtside concerts.

“This community love music, It’s a vibrant area,” adds Levy. “It is a busy time for the Barclays Center. There are opportunities that I am going to learn. I am going to listen. We have 365 days a year that we have to fill here.”

Canopy Wants to Redesign How Recommendations Work Online Without Sharing Your DataBY MICAH SINGLETON

Canopy, the privacy-focused startup founded by Brian Whitman, co-founder of The Echo Nest, has launched its first app, a locally personalized reading app that won’t share your data with publishers or adver-tisers called Tonic. The app, which Canopy describes as an example of its private recommendation architecture that it will license to third-parties, is the first consum-er product from the company and delivers five articles to users’ smartphone every day without requesting any personal informa-tion from users or taking any tracking data off the device.

When you download Tonic, the app doesn’t ask for your email or login of any kind. It will show you a selection

of articles that you can decide whether you like or not, and then Tonic will build recommendations based on your selections, directly on your device, that will be tweaked every day as you receive new articles to read. The Tonic team — led by Matthew Ogle, Canopy’s head of consumer product, who helped create Discover Weekly and Daily Mix while he was at Spotify — reviews every article that the system trains on, and users can alter their personalization settings, tweaking the degree to which they enjoyed a story using a slider, or even resetting their personalization settings altogether.

The company says Tonic will recommend articles that will “inform, challenge and enlighten your world” and won’t surface breaking news or “hate reads.” I’ve been testing the app for the past week and the recommendations have been better than articles I’m recommended through Google’s app and on par with recommendations from Pocket, the popular reading app, but without giving up my personal data or reading habits.

While Tonic is an interesting development in itself, Canopy will license its personalization technology to third-parties, a move that could help redefine how deep personalization works online. “Tonic is the first expression of Canopy’s private recommendation architecture,” Annika Goldman, Canopy’s senior vp strategy and operations, said. “The plan is to continue to build out our own products and to license our technology to other platforms to power their private personalization experiences that put people first.” Canopy tells Billboard it’s already in talks with third-party media companies to license its tech.

One of the biggest problems online is how companies like YouTube and Facebook personalize the content users see on a daily basis. Both use complex algorithms to recommend content for users to watch and read, and they are designed to keep you coming back, which can lead to echo chambers, misinformation being surfaced, and your personal information constantly being collected. More than 70% of time spent on YouTube are on videos

recommended by its algorithm, a glimpse of just how influential these algorithms can become. On the opposite side, creators and publishers often tailor their content to take advantage of these algorithms, creating an endless cycle driven by recommendation engines that both the consumer and creator have little control over.

Canopy is offering something different to companies that need these types of algorithms, but want something that offers its users more privacy and gives back some semblance of control to the users. Instead of a site guessing what users want to see next based on what similar users have enjoyed and the users’ perceived happiness with the content they’ve been served, users will be able to tell services exactly how much they liked a song, article or video (Tonic lets you rate stories on a sliding scale from “ignore” to “love” with a few options in between) and tailor what comes up next, without giving up their personal information.

As consumers become more conscious about controlling the data they give up to corporations, Canopy will have an opportunity to become a viable option for music and video streaming services and media platforms who want to offer a similar level of functionality that traditional recommendation engines serve up, without taking control over user data, and Tonic is the first glimpse of how that future may look.

Tonic is available now in the iOS App Store and Canopy says the app will be available on Android in the coming months.

[In Brief]

Page 17 of 23

Canadian Music Hall of Fame to Induct Cowboy Junkies, Andy Kim, Chilliwack and Bobby CurtolaBY KAREN BLISS

TORONTO — In an effort to get through the backlog of artists deserving of a Canadian Music Hall of Fame induction, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) is putting on its first standalone event, and will induct four artists: Andy Kim, bands Chilliwack and Cowboy Junkies, and the late Bobby Curtola.

The ceremony will take place at an industry event Oct. 27 at Studio Bell, part of the National Music Centre in Calgary, Alberta.

“We are very proud to welcome these four highly deserving artists into The Canadian Music Hall of Fame,” said CARAS president and CEO Allan Reid. “Canada has such incredible talent that are represented on the international stage and The Canadian Music Hall of Fame Ceremony Presented by Music Canada will help us recognize and honour these individuals for all of their artistic contributions to the cultural fabric of our country.”

Established in 1978, The Canadian Music Hall of Fame recognizes Canadian artists who have made outstanding contributions to spotlighting Canadian music here at home and/or on the international stage. These four join such inductees as Joni Mitchell, k.d. lang, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Oscar Peterson, Rush, Anne Murray, The Guess Who, The Tragically Hip and Shania Twain.

With a few exceptions, the Academy typically inducts one artist to the Hall each year. Recent inductees have included Corey Hart, Barenaked Ladies, Sarah

McLachlan, Burton Cummings and Alanis Morissette.

Kim got his start working at the iconic Brill Building in New York and wrote such classics as “Baby I Love You,” “Sugar, Sugar” and “Rock Me Gently.” Curtola, who died in 2016 at age 73, had the hit “Fortune Teller,” and received the first Canadian registered gold album. Chilliwack formed in 1970, and wrote such hits as “Lonesome Mary,” “Fly at Night” and “My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone).” Cowboy Junkies rose to international fame In 1988 with The Trinity Session and are still going strong after 30 years.

An hour-long special of the event will be available to stream on Nov. 2, exclusively on CBC Gem.

Juno Week 2020 will be hosted in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan from March 9-15, 2020, culminating in the televised awards on March 15th. The gala dinner, at which the majority of awards are handed out, is on the 14th.

Sirius XM’s Eddie Trunk to Host 5th Annual Ronnie James Dio Memorial Bowling TournamentBY TAYLOR MIMS

Sirius XM host Eddie Trunk will host the fifth annual Bowl for Ronnie celebrity bowling party in honor legendary rocker Ronnie James Dio.

This year’s Bowl for Ronnie will be held at Pinz Bowling Center in Studio City, California, on Nov. 7 and will benefit the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund.

The event will feature a celebrity bowling tournament and a raffle drawing for prizes and memorabilia. Last year’s event sold out

in advance and raised a record $74,000 for the cancer charity, which is now in its 10th year of raising awareness and much-needed funding for cancer research.

The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund was formed in memory of the legendary rock singer who lost his life to gastric cancer in 2010. A privately funded charity organization dedicated to cancer prevention, research and education, the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund has already raised over $2 million in its short history.

Previous Bowl For Ronnie events have brought together entertainers and artists such as Tom Morello, Jack Black, Geezer Butler, Sebastian Bach, Richie Sambora, John 5, Ahmet Zappa, Phil Demmel, members of Tool, Mastodon, Black Star Riders, Stone Sour, Rough Cutt, Dio Disciples and many more. This year’s celebrity bowlers are expected to be announced shortly.

Monies raised have been committed to the cancer research work of the T. J. Martell Foundation for Cancer, AIDS and Leukemia Research and other cancer research projects. It also contributes funds to the gastric cancer research unit of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where Dio was treated for gastric cancer during the last six months of his life.

Red Bull Announces Atlanta and Chicago Music Festivals, With Teyana Taylor, Denzel Curry & More PerformersBY TATIANA CIRISANO

Red Bull is bringing back its Chicago music festival and launching a new version in

[In Brief]

Page 18 of 23

Atlanta, the music-minded energy drink brand announced today (Sept. 18), with events taking over all of November.

The debut Red Bull Music Festival Atlanta will stretch from Nov. 1 to 15 with performances from Teyana Taylor, Ari Lennox, and Denzel Curry with Joey Bada$$, plus a new portrait exhibition from hip-hop photographer Gunner Stahl and lecture from Quality Control’s Coach K.

The fest then touches down in Chicago from Nov. 17 to 30, where Windy City native Lupe Fiasco will perform his debut 2006 album Food & Liquor in full, Tierra Whackwill headline her first Chicago show, Saba and his Pivot Gang collective will hold another edition of their John Walt Day charity benefit and more.

“Focused on supporting and shining a light on each city’s unique musical and cultural offerings, Red Bull Music Festival will deliver nights of celebration and education through the voices of Atlanta and Chicago’s native arts & music communities,” reads the press release.

It’s hopeful news for Red Bull, which announced back in April that it was ending its long-running partnership with consultancy company Yadastar, which oversaw the Red Bull Music Academy and its radio station, event and festival series and online publication.

Red Bull has also held festivals in Tokyo, New York City, Moscow, Paris and Los Angeles. Check out the flyer for the newly-announced editions, below.

Shane McAnally Ties a CMA Record Held by Alan Jackson & Bob McDill With His Song of the Year DominationBY PAUL GREIN

We won’t know until Nov. 13 if Shane McAnally picks up his second CMA Award for song of the year. The hit songwriter is nominated for “Rainbow,” which he co-wrote with Kacey Musgraves and Natalie Hemby.

But in a sense, McAnally, 44, has already won. He is just the third songwriter in CMA history to receive song of the year nominations for seven different songs. He follows Bob McDill, 75, whose song of the year noms spanned from 1976 to 1997, and Alan Jackson, 60, whose song of the year noms spanned from 1990 to 2008.

McAnally has achieved this feat in just seven years — much faster than these other songwriters. He nabbed his first nom in 2013.

McAnally collaborated with Musgraves on four of his nominated songs: “Mama’s Broken Heart” and “Follow Your Arrow” (which they co-wrote with Brandy Clark), “Merry Go ‘Round” (which they co-wrote with Josh Osborne) and “Rainbow” (which they co-wrote with Hemby). Miranda Lambert popularized “Mama’s Broken Heart,” while Musgraves was the artist on the other songs.

McAnally collaborated with Sam Hunt on two of his nominated songs: “Take Your Time” (which they co-wrote with Osborne) and “Body Like a Back Road” (which they co-wrote with Zach Crowell and Osborne). Hunt popularized both songs.

McAnally’s final song of the year nominee is “American Kids” (which he

co-wrote with Rodney Clawson and Luke Laird). Kenny Chesney popularized the song.

McDill wrote five of his nominated songs by himself. He was the sole writer of Waylon Jennings’ “Amanda,” Don Williams’ “Good Ole Boys Like Me,” Mel McDaniel’s “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On,” Keith Whitley’s “Don’t Close Your Eyes” and Jackson’s “Gone Country.”

McDill teamed with Dickie Lee to write Dave & Sugar’s “The Door Is Always Open” and with Dean Dillon to write Pam Tillis’ “All the Good Ones Are Gone.”

Jackson wrote four of his nominated songs by himself. He was the sole writer of “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” “Drive (For Daddy Gene),” “Remember When” and “Good Time.” Jackson teamed with Mark Irwin to write “Here in the Real World,” Keith Stegall and Roger Murrah to write “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” and Jim McBride to write “Chattahoochee.” Jackson was the artist on all of these songs.

Two of Jackson’s nominated songs, “Chattahoochee” and “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” won the award. One of McAnally’s songs, “Follow Your Arrow,” has won. None of McDill’s songs won.

Jackson was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. McAnally and McDill have yet to receive that honor.

Grayscale, Bat for Lashes & Barns Courtney Debut on Emerging Artists ChartBY XANDER ZELLNER

Philadelphia-based pop-punk group Gray-scale debuts at No. 13 on Billboard’s Emerg-ing Artists chart (dated Sept. 21), thanks to

[In Brief]

Page 19 of 23

the band’s third LP Nella Vita, which opens at No. 1 on Heatseekers Albums with 4,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen Music.

The Heatseekers coronation marks the group’s first on any chart, with its second entry; sophomore set Adornment reached No. 21 on the survey in 2017.

The Emerging Artists chart ranks the most popular developing artists of the week, using the same formula as the all-encompassing Billboard Artist 100, which measures artist activity across multiple Billboard charts, including the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard 200 and the Social 50. (The Artist 100 lists the most popular acts, overall, each week.) However, the Emerging Artists chart excludes acts that have notched a top 25 entry on either the Hot 100 or Billboard 200, as well as artists that have achieved two or more top 10s on Billboard’s “Hot” song genre charts and/or consumption-based “Top” album genre rankings.

Atop Emerging Artists, SHAED logs its second week at No. 1, as the act’s breakout single “Trampoline” ranks at No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100, after reaching a No. 37 high last week.

Rounding out the Emerging Artists top five, NLE Choppa, Lil Tjay, Matt Stell and Pinkfong hold at Nos. 2 through 5, respectively.

Bat for Lashes, aka pop singer-songwriter Natasha Khan, debuts at No. 29 on Emerging Artists, as her fifth LP, Lost Girls, arrives at No. 48 on Top Album Sales with 2,000 copies sold. She previously landed two titles on the Billboard 200: Two Suns (No. 141, 2009) and The Haunted Man (No. 64, 2012).

Plus, English singer-songwriter Barns Courtney enters Emerging Artists at No. 39, as his second LP, 404, arrives at No. 3 on Heatseekers Albums (2,000 sold). His single “You and I” places at No. 33 on Alternative Songs (after reaching at No. 27 in August). The set’s previous single, “99,” hit No. 7 in March.

Check out this week’s full Emerging Artists chart here.

Spotify Hires Lee Brown to Head Global Ad Sales, Replacing Brian BenedikBY TATIANA CIRISANO

The staff shake-ups at Spotify continue, as the streaming giant has poached BuzzFeed chief revenue officer Lee Brown to lead global ad sales.

Brown will join Spotify next month as vp of global sales strategy, replacing Brian Benedik and reporting to chief financial officer Barry McCarthy, a spokesperson for Spotify confirmed. Brown’s hiring was first reported by Ad Age.

News of Benedik’s impending departure spread back in June. He exits Spotify after six years at the streaming service, where he was appointed to the first-of-its-kind sales position in 2015.

Meanwhile, Brown has served as BuzzFeed CRO since February 2015, following stints at Tumblr, Groupon and Yahoo. At BuzzFeed, he diversified ad strategy, helping transform the startup into an influential digital media company.

Brown’s hiring is the latest in a string of executive shifts at Spotify. Global head of publishing Adam Parness resigned in June, followed by global head of curation Mike Biggane, who announced his exit in July to join Universal. Earlier this month, Nick Holmstén, the streaming service’s global head of music since October 2018, stepped down, and Luca Baratta resigned as chief accounting officer, to be replaced by Paul Sawyer.

Barcelona Jazz Festival: Herbie Hancock, Ludovico Einaudi, Wynton Marsalis & More PerformingBY JUDY CANTOR-NAVAS

BARCELONA — The 51st edition of the Voll Damm Barcelona Jazz Festival will play out over five months and include concerts by Herbie Hancock, Ludovico Einaudi, Wynton Marsalis, Ron Carter, An-drea Motis, Angélique Kidjo, Afro-Cuban All Stars, Kyle Eastwood, Joe Lovano, Mark Guiliana, Cimafunk and Djavan.

The festival kicks off Sept. 28 with the annual Jazz and Food street festival, and wraps up on Feb. 28, 2020 with a concert by Marsalis’ Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The annual fall season highlight encompassing concerts at Barcelona’s major venues, clubs, master classes and family events, attracted a record-breaking audience of 144,000 people last year. The festival, supported by name patron Barcelona’s Voll Damm beer and other sponsors, as well as the local government and Ministry of Culture, has a budget of €1.3 million (over $1.4 million), according to Tito Ramoneda, president of festival promoter The Project, who added that a portion of this year’s ticket sales will benefit Save the Children.

Joan Anton Cararach, the festival’s artistic director, describes this year’s program as one that maps interconnected genres with the inclusion of artists from New Orleans, Cuba, Brazil and Africa, as well as showcasing international emerging artists and referencing the history of jazz. Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter both first played at the festival in 1967 as members of the Miles Davis Quintet. The program also includes a 50th-anniversary performance of Duke Ellington’s Concert

[In Brief]

Page 20 of 23

of Sacred Music by Barcelona big band La Locomotora Negra with the Sant Jordi choir. Gospel group The Campbell Brothers will perform A Sacred Steel Love Supreme.

Einaudi, whose Nov. 7 concert at the L’Auditori theater is already sold out, will play music from his exquisite album series Seven Days Walking. Kidjo will perform tracks from her latest album, an African homage to Celia Cruz. Kyle Eastwood and his band can be expected to perform tracks from his upcoming album of film scores, and current Cuban sensation Cimafunk will make his Barcelona debut.

Jazz is a point of pride in Barcelona, and the local scene will be represented by, among others, Andrea Motis, the young trumpet and saxophone player and vocalist — signed to Impulse — who is set to perform no less than five times at the festival.

The Barcelona Jazz Festival also includes De Cajon, a program of diverse flamenco concerts, which this year includes shows by famed guitarist Tomatito with singer José Mercé, the celebrated singer Estrella Morente — who will perform copla songs — Spanish classical guitarists Dúo del Mar and the all-female band Las Migas.

Los Temerarios to Kick Off 40th Anniversary Celebration By Releasing a New Version Of ‘Como Tú’BY SUZETTE FERNANDEZ

Los Temerarios are more than ready to kick off their 40-year musical career celebra-tion by releasing a new version of their hit “Como Tú,” Billboard can exclusively announce.

The song, produced by Adolfo Ángel Alba and performed by Gustavo Ángel Alba, members of Los Temerarios, was originally released in 1995 and is a classic ballad that Temerarios have decided to relaunch with a new music video, directed by Carlos Perez of Elastic People. The song and music video will premiere on September 27.

Next year, Los Temerarios will celebrate 40 years of musical career by releasing a new album called Sinfónico. The set will include their most significant hits in a symphonic format. This week, Adolfo Ángel and Gustavo Ángel will begin their U.S. tour — see dates and venues below.

Lil Jon, Trevor Noah Among Honorees at 2019 Pencils of Promise GalaBY BILLBOARD STAFF

Lil Jon, Trevor Noah, social charity com-munity Karmagawa are the honorees at this year’s Pencils of Promise (PoP) gala Nov. 4 in NYC, Billboard can exclusively reveal.

The “Pencils of Promise Gala: An Evolution Within” will celebrate a handful of heroes for their efforts in supporting PoP’s cause.

Grammy-winning hip-hop star Lil Jon is recognized for his work in opening a second school in Mafi Atitekpo, Ghana, last year, which now boasts 300 children enrolled. “I’ve been involved with PoP – both building schools in Ghana with them and attending their annual gala – for years now. They do incredible work, and for them to honor me this year is amazing,” Lil Jon says.

Trevor Noah, the South African-born host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, will be celebrated for his good work through The Trevor Noah Foundation, which has assisted disadvantaged youths in his homeland, and for his “dedication

to global education” and distinguishing himself as “an advocate in this field.”

According to PoP, Karmagawa co-founders Timothy Sykes and Mattheau Abad have donated over $2 million through their innovative social charity network and have contributed to the construction of 30 schools with PoP.

Also taking a bow is acclaimed street artist Kelsey Montague and photographer, skater and surfer, Evan Mock, who are named creative directors of the event, which will be held at Cipriani Wall Street.

“Our honorees have been among PoP’s most loyal and passionate supporters and strong advocates for advancing global education. We are beyond appreciative for their contributions to our efforts in evolving beyond the build and can’t wait to publicly honor their gracious devotion and celebrate with them at the Gala,” said Pencils of Promise CEO Tanya Ramos in a statement. “With the talents of Kelsey and Evan at the creative helm, the evening is sure to be epic,” she added.

The nonprofit Pencils of Promise is committed to providing quality education to people from all over, and has built over 500 schools since its inception in 2008. Today, its schools support upwards of 100,000 students across Laos, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Ghana.

PoP was founded by Adam Braun, brother of talent manager Scooter Braun. Previous honorees and performers have included Wiz Khalifa, Justin Bieber, John Legend, Usher, Gary Vaynerchuk, Malala Yousafzai and Scooter Braun. The 2019 event will, naturally, contribute to the organization’s efforts of improving access to quality education in impoverished spots.

For more, visit www.pencilsofpromise.org.

[In Brief]

Page 21 of 23

Bandsintown Rebrands Artist Portal, Updates With Geo-Targeted Messaging & MoreBY CHRIS EGGERTSEN

Concert discovery platform Bandsintown has updated its artist portal with new features and key improvements in order to better help touring artists evolve their careers, the company announced Wednes-day (Sept. 18). Now called Bandsintown for Artists, the platform is now available for Bandsintown’s 510,000 registered artists.

“Bandsintown is aggressively expanding its free offering to artists,” said Bandsintown managing partner Fabrice Sergent in a statement. “We continue to contribute value to artists and help them better engage with their super fans, grow their careers and stand out in an ever-crowded world.”

Among the updates is an expanded direct-to-fan messaging tool that features new posting capabilities, including geo-targeted messaging, which allows artists to target their fans by specific city or region. In addition, artists are now able to schedule posts ahead of time on Bandsintown and sync those posts with Facebook and Twitter — with all data collected to be shared for free with artists on the Bandsintown for Artists analytics platform.

Additional new features include a new “daily flow” of helpful tips, best practices and music industry news from Hypebot — the editorial outlet recently acquired by the company — as well as an expanded Bandsintown for Artists blog. The platform also offers a curated artists services section offering discounts and special officers

from Bandzoogle, Tunecore, DiscMakers, Feature.fm and more.

For more information, visit artists.bandsintown.com.

Camilo Sesto Returns to Latin Pop Albums Top 10 For the First Time Since 2012BY PAMELA BUSTIOS

Spanish legend Camilo Sesto earns his highest debut on the Latin Pop Album-schart (dated Sept. 21) as Los 15 Grandes Éxitos bows at No. 5 following his death on Sept. 8.

The set opens with 2,000 in equivalent album units earned in the week ending Sept. 12, mostly attributed to streaming activity. It’s the sixth top 10 effort for the late artist in total, and his highest charting since the No. 2-peaking A La Voluntad Del Cielo closed out a top 5 run in Jan. 1992. The set yielded Sesto’s only No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart: “Amor Mio, Qué Me Has Hecho?” which reigned for nine consecutive weeks starting Nov. 23, 2991.

The Spanish vocalist last visited the top region of the Latin Pop Albums chart over seven years ago when 20 Grandes Éxitos, another greatest hits album, peaked at No. 7 (Sept. 15, 2012). Sesto secured his first and only Latin Pop Albums No. 1, however, in 1988 when Amor Libre ruled for three weeks starting Sept. 10.

The Latin Pop Albums chart ranks the most popular pop Latin albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Over on the Top Latin Albums chart, 15 Grandes opens at No. 30. Sesto’s second

entry bests his 20 Grandes which arrived at No. 45 in 2012.

Mandy Moore & My Morning Jacket’s Jim James to Play D’Addario Foundation’s Back 2 School BenefitBY MELINDA NEWMAN

My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Man-dy Moore, actor John C. Reilly, LP and Langhorne Slim are among the acts who will perform at the D’Addario Foundation’s Back 2 School Benefit on Nov. 2 at Los Angeles’ Palace Theater.

The artists, who also include Garfunkel & Oates, Blake Mills and Inara George, will be accompanied The Watkins Family Hour, featuring Sara and Sean Watkins and Mike Viola.

“Exposure to music classes or lessons isn’t just a nice thing to have done as a kid. It affects our ability to focus, to problem solve and is one of the few arts that basically involves teamwork and collaboration,” Sara Watkins tells Billboard. “Music taught me the the importance and value in perseverance and practice. Having the tools to make music still, even just at home with a friend or alone, gives me joy.”

As the philanthropic arm of music instrument accessories manufacturer D’Addario, the D’Addario Foundation utilizes up to 10% of D’Addario’s net earnings each year to fund more than 200 non-profit programs. The Nov. 2 benefit will provide kids access to music programs, provide college assistance scholarships, and encourage more females to pick up guitars through D’Addario’s Girls In Music Initiative.

“Bringing music instruction back into

[In Brief]

Page 22 of 23

schools and communities is a simple but deeply powerful way to improve our education system and boost creativity and academic achievement in students,” says Suzanne D’Addario Brouder, D’Addario Foundation executive director. “The D’Addario Foundation is a leader in finding and partnering with the highest quality music programs in the neediest areas.”

Tickets, priced from $50 to $250, will go on sale Sept. 20 with a pre-sale starting Sept. 18. VIP ticket options include premium seating (center orchestra or first two rows of mezzanine), a VIP laminate, and a priority entry lane.

Page 23 of 23

BILL

BOA

RD 2

00

Posty’s Big WeekPost Malone scores his second No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart as Hollywood’s Bleeding (Republic) bows with 489,000 equivalent al-bum units earned in the week ending Sept. 12 in the United States, according to Niel-sen Music. That’s the second-biggest week of 2019, trailing only the debut of Taylor Swift’s Lover, also on Republic, with 867,000.

Of Hollywood’s starting unit sum, 200,000 were in album sales (boosted by a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer and merchandise/album bundles).

Further, the album racked up 365.4 mil-lion on-demand audio streams for its tracks in its first week — 2019’s biggest streaming week for an album.

Republic now holds the four biggest weeks of 2019 for an album in terms of total units earned: the debuts of Lover (867,000), Hollywood’s Bleeding (489,000), Jonas Broth-ers’ Happiness Begins (414,000; chart dated June 22) and Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next (360,000; Feb. 23). —KEITH CAULFIELD

SALE

S D

ATA

CO

MP

ILED

BY

SEPT.2 120 19

1 #1 1 WK

POST MALONE Hollywood’s Bleeding REPUBLIC 1 1

2 2 TAYLOR SWIFT Lover REPUBLIC 1 3

3 MELANIE MARTINEZ K-12 (Soundtrack) ATLANTIC/AG 3 1

5 4 YOUNG THUG So Much Fun YOUNG STONER LIFE/300/ATLANTIC/AG 1 4

4 5 LIL TECCA We Love You Tecca GALACTIC/REPUBLIC 4 2

6 6 LIZZO Cuz I Love You NICE LIFE/ATLANTIC/AG 4 21

1 7 TOOL Fear Inoculum TOOL DISSECTIONAL/VOLCANO/RCA 1 2

7 8 BILLIE EILISH When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? DARKROOM/INTERSCOPE/IGA 1 24

3 9 LANA DEL REY Norman Fucking Rockwell! POLYDOR/INTERSCOPE/IGA 3 2

10 THE HIGHWOMEN The Highwomen LOW COUNTRY SOUND/ELEKTRA/EMG 10 1

8 11 CHRIS BROWN Indigo CBE/RCA 1 11

9 12 ED SHEERAN No.6 Collaborations Project ATLANTIC/AG 1 9

11 13 VARIOUS ARTISTS Quality Control: Control The Streets, Volume 2 QUALITY CONTROL/MOTOWN/CAPITOL 3 4

10 14 TRAVIS SCOTT 2 ASTROWORLD CACTUS JACK/GRAND HUSTLE/EPIC 1 58

14 15 POST MALONE 3 beerbongs & bentleys REPUBLIC 1 72

13 16 SHAWN MENDES Shawn Mendes ISLAND 1 68

15 17 LIL NAS X 7 (EP) COLUMBIA 2 12

12 18 KHALID Free Spirit RIGHT HAND/RCA 1 23

45 19 GG XXXTENTACION ? BAD VIBES FOREVER 1 78

16 20 VARIOUS ARTISTS Dreamville & J. Cole: Revenge Of The Dreamers III DREAMVILLE/INTERSCOPE/IGA 1 10

17 21 QUEEN 8 Greatest Hits HOLLYWOOD 11 351

22 LINDSEY STIRLING Artemis LINDSEYSTOMP/BMG 22 1

20 23 JONAS BROTHERS Happiness Begins REPUBLIC 1 14

22 24 DRAKE Scorpion YOUNG MONEY/CASH MONEY/REPUBLIC 1 63

21 25 DABABY Baby On Baby SOUTHCOAST/INTERSCOPE/IGA 7 28

19 26 LUKE COMBS 2 This One’s For You RIVER HOUSE/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE/SMN 4 119

18 27 NF The Search NF REAL MUSIC/CAROLINE 1 7

27 28 POST MALONE 3 Stoney REPUBLIC 4 144

23 29 ELTON JOHN Diamonds ROCKET/ISLAND/UME 7 96

25 30 MUSTARD Perfect Ten 10 SUMMERS/INTERSCOPE/IGA 8 11

24 31 ARIANA GRANDE Thank U, Next REPUBLIC 1 31

28 32 POLO G Die A Legend COLUMBIA 6 14

32 33 LEWIS CAPALDI Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent VERTIGO/CAPITOL 32 17

29 34 BILLIE EILISH Dont Smile At Me DARKROOM/INTERSCOPE/IGA 14 90

36 35 A BOOGIE WIT DA HOODIE Hoodie SZN HIGHBRIDGE THE LABEL/ATLANTIC/AG 1 38

33 36 DAN + SHAY Dan + Shay WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE/WMN 6 64

39 37 JUICE WRLD Goodbye & Good Riddance GRADE A/INTERSCOPE/IGA 4 69

40 38 MEEK MILL Championships MAYBACH/ATLANTIC/AG 1 41

43 39 CARDI B 3 Invasion Of Privacy THE KSR GROUP/ATLANTIC/AG 1 75

40 EARTHGANG Mirrorland DREAMVILLE/INTERSCOPE/IGA 40 1

31 41 RICK ROSS Port of Miami 2 MAYBACH/EPIC 2 5

44 42 JUICE WRLD Death Race For Love GRADE A/INTERSCOPE/IGA 1 27

47 43 LIL TJAY F.N COLUMBIA 38 5

44 HOME FREE Dive Bar Saints HOME FREE 44 1

49 45 LAUREN DAIGLE Look Up Child CENTRICITY/12TONE 3 53

50 46 ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST 6 Hamilton: An American Musical HAMILTON UPTOWN/ATLANTIC/AG 3 207

51 47 ED SHEERAN 4 ÷ (Divide) ATLANTIC/AG 1 132

48 48 KHALID 2 American Teen RIGHT HAND/RCA 4 132

42 49 CHANCE THE RAPPER The Big Day CHANCE THE RAPPER 2 7

53 50 MORGAN WALLEN If I Know Me BIG LOUD 35 50

HOT SHOT

DEBUTNEW 1

HOT SHOT

DEBUTNEW 3

4

1

3HOT

SHOT DEBUTNEW 10

10

14

17

12

19

HOT SHOT

DEBUTNEW 22

20 23

27 28

23

25

32 33

35

39

HOT SHOT

DEBUTNEW 40

HOT SHOT

DEBUTNEW 44

41 51 DRAKE Care Package OVO SOUND/REPUBLIC 1 6

37 52 SOUNDTRACK Descendants 3 WALT DISNEY 7 6

52 53 LIL DURK Love Songs 4 The Streets 2 ALAMO/INTERSCOPE/IGA 4 6

54 54 LADY GAGA & BRADLEY COOPER 2 A Star Is Born (Soundtrack) INTERSCOPE/IGA 1 49

56 55 MEGAN THEE STALLION Fever 1501 CERTIFIED/300/AG 10 17

62 56 SOUNDTRACK 3 The Greatest Showman FOX/20TH CENTURY FOX/ATLANTIC/AG 1 92

80 57 SOUNDTRACK Steven Universe The Movie CARTOON NETWORK/WATERTOWER 57 2

59 58 LUKE COMBS The Prequel (EP) RIVER HOUSE/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE/SMN 4 14

65 59 LIL BABY & GUNNA Drip Harder YOUNG STONER LIFE/300/QUALITY CONTROL/MOTOWN/AG/CAPITOL 4 49

60 60 CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL 10 Chronicle The 20 Greatest Hits FANTASY/CONCORD 22 436

61 SHORELINE MAFIA Party Pack, Vol. 2 ATLANTIC/AG 61 1

55 62 LIZZO Coconut Oil (EP) NICE LIFE/ATLANTIC/AG 55 8

58 63 CHRIS STAPLETON 4 Traveller MERCURY NASHVILLE/UMGN 1 209

71 64 BAD BUNNY X 100PRE RIMAS 11 38

72 65 EMINEM 7 Curtain Call: The Hits SHADY/AFTERMATH/INTERSCOPE/IGA 1 462

69 66 JASON ALDEAN Rearview Town MACON/BROKEN BOW/BMG/BBMG 1 74

75 67 LIL UZI VERT Luv Is Rage 2 GENERATION NOW/ATLANTIC/AG 1 107

30 68 SHERYL CROW Threads VALORY/BMLG 30 2

79 69 GUNNA Drip Or Drown 2 YOUNG STONER LIFE/300/AG 3 29

129 70 PS MAC MILLER Swimming WARNER 3 58

63 71 BAZZI Soul Searching IAMCOSMIC/ATLANTIC/AG 20 5

68 72 J BALVIN & BAD BUNNY Oasis UNIVERSAL MUSIC LATINO/UMLE 9 11

77 73 KENDRICK LAMAR 3 DAMN. TOP DAWG/AFTERMATH/INTERSCOPE/IGA 1 126

70 74 DJ KHALED Father Of Asahd WE THE BEST/EPIC 2 17

66 75 TRIPPIE REDD ! TENTHOUSAND PROJECTS 3 5

76 76 KANE BROWN Experiment ZONE 4/RCA NASHVILLE/SMN 1 44

82 77 NIPSEY HUSSLE Victory Lap ALL MONEY IN NO MONEY OUT/ATLANTIC/AG 2 34

67 78 BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS 15 Legend: The Best Of... TUFF GONG/ISLAND/UME 5 591

78 79 PANIC! AT THE DISCO Pray For The Wicked DCD2/FUELED BY RAMEN/EMG 1 64

46 80 SLIPKNOT We Are Not Your Kind ROADRUNNER/AG 1 5

90 81 ELLA MAI Ella Mai 10 SUMMERS/INTERSCOPE/IGA 5 48

81 82 TYLER, THE CREATOR IGOR COLUMBIA 1 17

35 83 JEEZY TM104: The Legend Of The Snowman YJ/DEF JAM 5 3

89 84 DRAKE 4 Take Care YOUNG MONEY/CASH MONEY/REPUBLIC 1 341

92 85 21 SAVAGE I Am > I Was SLAUGHTER GANG/EPIC 1 38

83 86 2PAC 10 Greatest Hits AMARU/DEATH ROW/INTERSCOPE/UME 3 289

95 87 DRAKE 4 Views YOUNG MONEY/CASH MONEY/REPUBLIC 1 176

85 88 IMAGINE DRAGONS 2 Evolve KIDINAKORNER/INTERSCOPE/IGA 2 116

88 89 THE BEATLES 11 1 APPLE/CAPITOL/UME 1 385

87 90 BILLY JOEL 3 The Essential Billy Joel COLUMBIA/LEGACY 15 160

73 91 TRAVIS SCOTT Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight GRAND HUSTLE/EPIC 1 158

92 SLEEPING WITH SIRENS How It Feels To Be Lost SUMERIAN 92 1

91 93 THOMAS RHETT Center Point Road VALORY/BMLG 1 15

99 94 MAREN MORRIS GIRL COLUMBIA NASHVILLE/SMN 4 27

100 95 THE BEATLES 12 Abbey Road APPLE/CAPITOL/UME 1 326

94 96 TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS 12 Greatest Hits MCA/GEFFEN/UME 2 322

93 97 KEY GLOCK & YOUNG DOLPH Dum And Dummer PAPER ROUTE EMPIRE/EMPIRE 8 7

96 98 FLEETWOOD MAC 20 Rumours WARNER BROS./RHINO 1 337

97 99 SOUNDTRACK 2 Moana WALT DISNEY 2 147

102 100 LIL WAYNE Tha Carter V YOUNG MONEY/REPUBLIC 1 50

56

80 57

59

59

HOT SHOT

DEBUTNEW 61

58

67

30

69

70

77

76

81

85

83

87

73HOT

SHOT DEBUTNEW 92

94

95

100

LASTWEEK

THISWEEK

ARTIST CERTIFICATION Title IMPRINT/DISTRIBUTING LABEL IMPRINT/PROMOTION LABEL

PEAKPOS.

WKS. ON CHART

LASTWEEK

THISWEEK

ARTIST CERTIFICATION Title IMPRINT/DISTRIBUTING LABEL IMPRINT/PROMOTION LABEL

PEAKPOS.

WKS. ON CHART

TH

E B

ILLB

OA

RD

20

0 C

HA

RT

RA

NK

S T

HE

MO

ST

PO

PU

LA

R A

LBU

MS

OF

TH

E W

EEK

, AS

CO

MP

ILED

BY

NIE

LS

EN M

US

IC, B

AS

ED O

N M

ULT

I-M

ET

RIC

CO

NS

UM

PT

ION

(BLE

ND

ING

TR

AD

ITIO

NA

L A

LBU

M S

ALE

S, T

RA

CK

EQ

UIV

ALE

NT

ALB

UM

S, A

ND

ST

RE

AM

ING

EQ

UIV

ALE

NT

ALB

UM

S).

1 8 6 G O T O B I L L B O A R D . C O M F O R C O M P L E T E C H A R T D A T A D A T A F O R W E E K O F 0 9 . 2 1 . 2 0 1 9

22chart_BB200 [P]_26488935;14_View.indd 186 9/18/19 10:18 AM