The South Korean media company that manages K-pop group BTS will pay more than $1 billion to acquire the American firm behind artists such as Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato, the companies said Friday.
By uniting South Korea's HYBE with Ithaca Holdings, the music-management empire led by producer Scooter Braun, the acquisition would tie together two star-making media groups whose promotional prowess had already crossed international borders. The deal will see HYBE taking full ownership of Ithaca, including a significant minority stake that had been controlled by the U.S. private-equity firm Carlyle Group .
Mr. Braun will join HYBE's board as part of the deal. His role in boosting the career of Mr. Bieber, whom Mr. Braun initially scouted on YouTube, has been one of the producer's most prominent successes. Ithaca Holdings, known for its acumen generating buzz around its artists through cross-promotion, has also grown to include Big Machine Label Group, a division focused on country music.
HYBE, which was formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment, has built BTS, a group of seven young male singers, into a global fan favorite . The group's K-pop songs have helped that genre—which combines Western pop music with Korean cultural influences—reach a larger global audience. BTS, which has recorded songs in Korean and English, has performed at the Grammy Awards, and its song "Dynamite" reached the No. 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
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'So much pressure to look a certain way': why eating disorders are rife in pop music | Music |
US singer-songwriter Greyson Chance, who is in recovery from anorexia, says his eating issues stem back to feeling a lack of control over some of his relationships and his career. "I could control where that scale went," he says, describing the machine around him: "Ten to 20 people at the label saying, 'This is where we think you should go'; and you have management, an agent, business managers. Musicians feel as if they are in a world where they don't have a lot of control and they're searching for things that they can control. That's what it was for me."
Body positivity and intuitive eating have gained traction in recent years, but the music industry, and culture at large, can still feel unwelcoming to anyone in the public eye who doesn't fit a tightly defined "ideal" image – and praise is still heaped on those who do. This is an issue Nashville artist Kalie Shorr has reckoned with. After struggling with anorexia in her teens, an executive at her former publishing company praised her for the way she looked while putting down a fellow female artist for having a different body shape. "He was not just comparing me to another girl, but comparing me to a junior in high school, a child, and calling out her body."
An experienced music publicist who has worked in record labels adds: "There aren't many fat people in record labels, so you've got a lot of unconscious bias from the staff. If they have an artist who was what would be considered a non-standard size, and might be a little bit bigger, they'd be like, 'Oh God, we can't get any clothes for them.'"
Shorr remembers being influenced by Swift's thin frame as a teenager. "It was so hard to not compare myself to this person who I just adored and read all her interviews, bought all her magazines, and knew every word to all of her songs."
There are signs of change. The publicist says the success of artists such as Adele and Rag'n'Bone Man made labels realise they could market artists who didn't have to look as if they were models. (Despite Adele's recent weight loss, they express hope that her "legacy means that everything has shifted for good".) JoJo agrees: "There are so many examples of women and men doing incredibly well in mainstream pop music that have all different types of body shape. Within the past 10 years, there has been a shift for the better. If you feel great about yourself, that's what people are going to be drawn to and resonate with."
Watch Ariana DeBose in 'Shall We Dance' R&H Goes Pop! Music Video | Playbill
The music video, shot in 2019 and directed by Notice Pictures, features choreography by Julius Anthony Rubio, accompanied by assistant choreographer Krizia Lanza with additional choreography by Carlos Sanchez Falú and John Michael Fiumara. Rubio, Falú, and Fiumara also appear as dancers in the music video, along with Emma Pfaeffle and Eliza Ohman.
Pop Artist Drea Jeann Makes An Impact With "I Have To Let Go"
NEW YORK, April 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Music is an outburst of the soul. Music is what "Feelings" sound like. Music has the ability to convey that which cannot be expressed. Rising Pop artist Drea Jeann creates musical murals with her songs. She has a mature soul with a contemporary attitude. The San Jose, California native approaches every note with fearless class. Her voice is pure and authentic. Drea's influences include Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Ariana Grande, Michael Buble, and Sara Bareilles.
The multi-talented Drea Jeann is a musical Tour De Force. Her energetic drive and outgoing personality enabled her to showcase her amazing stage presence at a few exclusive venues. Drea's music consists of lush melodies and well-sung, powerful Pop anthems. Her powerful sound and flawless delivery are reasons why the talented beauty is being touted as one of the music industry's brightest new stars.
Her style is a unique blend of modern Pop and Dance music that ranks her alongside contemporary stars like Adele, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry and more. With business savvy, good people skills and a keen ear for hot new sounds, Drea Jeann continues to make her mark on the musical landscape.
Drea Jeann crafts songs which capture the essence of the human spirit. She spins stories of love, lessons learned, conflict and resolution. Drea demonstrates her unforgettable melodies and explosive vocals on her new single "I Have To Let Go." The song is rhythmic and alluring. "I Have To Let Go" is sure to appeal to fans of Pop music around the globe. Follow her on Instagram @dreajeann .
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f287caa7-7c1b-4e82-90a7-aac5576661c6
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Gabrielle reflects on being called one of the 'fattest girls in pop' - Music News |
TikTok and the Pop Music Rough Draft - The New York Times
Most of the biggest pop music success stories of the last year — loosely the quarantine era in the United States — owe at least some of their success to TikTok, the social video app that's become the most seamless and effective promotional mechanism in the music business.
It is also necessitating changes in how songs get made. In some cases, performers are trying out ideas on the platform to see if they catch on. In other cases, major labels are signing new artists with suddenly viral hits and adding superstars to remixes in hopes of boosting their profile.
On this week's episode, a conversation about how TikTok has reshaped pop during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, how record labels are grappling with unpredictable virality and how songwriters are using it as a clearinghouse for rough drafts.
Charli XCX and Tove Lo collaborating on new music | Entertainment | insidenova.com
Charli XCX has revealed that she and Tove Lo are currently in Palm Springs, writing new music together.
She tweeted: "i feel like outside of my fans I don't really provide people with the opportunity to feel much ownership over me or my decisions, which is maybe why i have a sort of outsider status within pop music and also experience rejection from the "industry" side of music sometimes (sic)".
And she added: "i always give my collaborators credit. my producers/mixers/artists I collaborate with etc. i have never once pretended I am solely responsible for the songs I release - but I also recognize that none of my art would be the same or even possible without my own vision & talent (sic)."
Female artists struggle to make gains in pop music: Study | Hindustan Times
The report was timed to coincide with International Women's Day and comes just days before the Grammy Awards, the industry's biggest night of the year. The Grammys have been criticized in the past for failing to nominate or showcase a diverse field. Though the awards have made progress in the past decade, 28% of nominees in five key categories are women this year, the USC report noted.
"It is International Women's Day everywhere, except for women in music, where women's voices remain muted," Smith, who oversees USC's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, said in a statement.
Smith, which used Billboard's year-end chart of the 100 most popular songs as a gauge, found the music industry is more diverse than the population when it comes to race and ethnicity. Artists of color received 59% of the credits on top songs released in 2020, and 47% between 2012 and 2020. Most of that is due to the prominence of Black musicians in R&B and hip-hop, which is the most popular musical genre.
But while people of color have boosted their share of top hits by about 20% over the last nine years, women have made smaller gains -- and in some cases, lost ground. They received production credits on about 2% of the top 100 songs for the past nine years, a number that has remained unchanged. For every woman who got a producing credit, there were 38 men.
Women account for around 13% of songwriting credits, a number that has increased over the years. But 57% of songs measured by the study had no female writers, and less than 1% had only female writers.
"Each song on the popular charts represents an opportunity to include women," Smith wrote in the report, co-authored by Dr. Katherine Pieper, Marc Choueiti, Karla Hernandez and Kevin Yao. "For artists starting work on new music, consider working with women in songwriting and producing roles. While it may seem easier to work with prior collaborators, the process of discovering new partners and opening up the potential for innovation is the path toward greater inclusion."
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