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Billboard’s 2020 Women In Music Hall of Fame Honorees Speak Out

This was the year Roc Nation client Megan Thee Stallion claimed superstardom, at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Savage” (featuring Beyoncé) and as the featured artist on Cardi B’s “WAP,” which topped the Hot 100 for four weeks. Rostermates Lil Uzi Vert, Alicia Keys and Mariah Carey all reached new peaks. And Roc Nation, after partnering with the NFL to use its platform for entertainment and social justice, in February co-produced the Super Bowl halftime show with Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. Reprise: A Roc Nation Album raised funds for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Foundation for Criminal Justice, and JAY-Z successfully lobbied for passage of probation reform legislation in California. Through it all, says Perez, she has managed the stress of the year by “focusing on things within my control and making sure we are better positioned for whatever the new normal is.”

Song That

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Roddy Ricch On Resisting The Pressure To Release New Music

Roddy Ricch has had a magnificent introduction into the music industry. After the success of his breakout single “Die Young” and subsequent acclaim for his debut album Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial, he’s clear about one thing: he doesn’t want his career to be like anyone else’s.

In a new interview with Variety, the rapper detailed why he’s intent on creating his own journey in the rap game.

RELATED: BET Awards 2020: Roddy Ricch Brought Chill Vibes With ‘Ballin’ And ‘The Box’

“Someone can inspire you musically because music is a sound, but trying to mimic somebody’s career, that’s almost impossible,” he said. “I could never say that I want my career to be like, let’s just say, Jay-Z. Because Jay-Z at 22…did we even know Jay-Z at 22? I think Jay-Z put his first album out at, what, 27? Even Drake was, what, 24, 23? I

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Billboard’s 2020 Women In Music Hall of Fame Honorees Speak Out



a person posing for the camera: Desiree Perez

Desiree Perez

Chosen by Billboard as first among their peers in prior years, these former Executive of the Year honorees reflect on the achievements, activism and unprecedented challenges of 2020.


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Desiree Perez (Executive of the Year 2019)

CEO, Roc Nation

This was the year Roc Nation client Megan Thee Stallion claimed superstardom, at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Savage” (featuring Beyoncé) and as the featured artist on Cardi B’s “WAP,” which topped the Hot 100 for four weeks. Rostermates Lil Uzi Vert, Alicia Keys and Mariah Carey all reached new peaks. And Roc Nation, after partnering with the NFL to use its platform for entertainment and social justice, in February co-produced the Super Bowl halftime show with Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. Reprise: A Roc Nation Album raised funds for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Foundation for Criminal Justice, and JAY-Z successfully lobbied for passage of

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Holocaust survivor wants to jam with Tuba Skinny; due to coronavirus, they improvise | Music

Trombonist Barnabus Jones, 41, could have stepped into this 9th Ward backyard during another century, with his mutton-chop sideburns, fedora and style of horn playing. His bandmates in Tuba Skinny are similarly timeless, as is their music, a broad repertoire of old-time jazz and blues that they play ensemble-style.

“Because of improvisation, people play off each other,” Jones said. “How we play is based on who we’re playing with.”

The self-released albums feature unreleased tunes from Tuba Skinny and jazz and swing from Jazz Vipers.

But for Tuesday’s performance, in a backyard on New Orleans’ Urquhart Street, the seven musicians were vibing partly to one another and partly to the imagined rhythms of someone unseen, an 89-year-old Belgian pianist named Simon Gronowski.

“Hey, Mr. Gronowski,” intoned washboard player Robin Rapuzzi, 32, as they began to record. “We’d like to play music with you, too.” Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, an

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Ellie Goulding Questions the ‘Worthiness of an Award’ in Powerful Essay on the State of the Music Industry



a young girl lying in the legs of a woman: Ellie Goulding

Ellie Goulding

Though Ellie Goulding has had millions of streams on songs like “Hate Me,” “Close to Me” and “Burn,” among many others, the star has only ever been nominated for one Grammy Award (a pop solo performance nod in 2016 for “Love Me Like You Do”).


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The singer pondered the state of the music industry, and how award shows undermine the hard work of artists in a lengthy new essay published on Wednesday (Dec. 2). “When peers and friends get nominated for a major award, I am so, so happy to see them rewarded for their hard work and especially for their brilliant writing,” she explained. “From my perspective, there is nothing greater than listening to a song or an album that has saved you, inspired you, evoked deep emotion in some new sort of way… and then see it get the attention and award it deserves. At the

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Sony Music Latin Signs Latin Hitmaker Jon Leone: Exclusive



a man standing in a living room: Alex Gallardo and Jon Leone

Alex Gallardo and Jon Leone

Sony Music Latin signs Latin hitmaker Jon Leone and enters a joint venture with Cristobal Brito and Armando Lozano’s management company Good Family Group, Billboard can confirm.

The Good Family Group, launched by Brito and Lozano this year, focuses on the development of Latin music producers and songwriters. Leone will release his own music as Jon the Producer under this new joint venture with Good Family Group and Sony Music Latin.

“I’m so excited to partner up and continue doing music with the people who believed in me from the beginning, this next chapter is another testament to the passion we share for our love of music,” Leone said about the signing.

The news of Leone’s signing and alliance between Sony Latin and the Good Family Group comes on the heels of the producer’s six 21st annual Latin Grammy nominations where he earned an

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Social Media, Not Streaming, Is the Music Industry’s Future

What’s the fastest-growing profit center in the record business?

For years, there’s been one easy answer: streaming. Yet that’s not the case anymore, according to someone in the know — Steve Cooper, the CEO of Warner Music Group.

Warner generated over $3.8 billion in recorded music revenues in the last year, with some 63% of that coming from the likes of Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. But Cooper made an oddly-under-the-radar revelation to analysts when Warner released its latest financials on November 23rd: “With an expanding number of partnerships including Facebook, TikTok, and Snap, among others, social media is already a meaningful nine-figure revenue stream for us and is growing at a faster rate than subscription streaming,” he said.

I’ve double checked with a Warner rep, and Cooper was referencing a nine-figure annual revenue stream for Warner, which is bouncing up by a double-digit percentage every year.

On the surface,

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Rita Ora’s music banned by radio DJ after coronavirus lockdown breach



Rita Ora et al. posing for the camera

© Bang Showbiz
Rita Ora

Rita Ora’s music has been banned by a local UK radio station after she broke COVID-19 lockdown rules.

Radio Exe breakfast show host Ben Clark has blacklisted the ‘Anywhere’ hitmaker after she and a group of friends gathered at a London restaurant to celebrate her 30th birthday last weekend in a breach of the government’s ban on parties and social occasions.

After playing her song ‘I Will Never Let You Down’, Clark told listeners that he won’t be playing any of Rita’s music in the future on his slot on the station, which broadcasts in Exeter, Devon.

Speaking on air, he vowed: “I can’t speak for any other Radio Exe presenter, but as of now, for the foreseeable future, I’m not playing any of her songs.

“You can’t get your head round it can you, the mind boggles. My 11 year old daughter said to

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Spotify looks back at music choices of 2020 with ‘Wrapped’

Music streaming service Spotify has released its annual “Wrapped” round-up, a look back at the most popular music of 2020 both for individual users and for the platform as a whole.

In a tweet posted late on Tuesday, Spotify announced that “#2020Wrapped is here.”

For individual users, most of whom can currently see the feature on their app, the list included their top songs of the year, their top artists of the year, top genres, minutes listened and more.

Spotify also included a tab that showed “one song helped you get through it all.”

That top song feature, including information about when users first started listening to the song that helped them survive 2020 to the date the user listened to that song for the 100th time, are all new to 2020’s “Wrapped.”

But on social media, many people posted that Spotify had nailed the song that had helped them

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Global Reform Jewish Movement Hosts Virtual Chanukah Celebration With Stars From Theater, Music, and Television

Many Candles, One World is the first virtual Chanukah celebration of the global Reform and Progressive Movement. Striving to connect its 1.2 million members spread across the globe in more than 1,200 communities and congregations, this year’s online Chanukah gala brings together stars from the worlds of theater, television, and music to perform alongside cantors and choirs, kids and families. Together, the event showcases how we all connect to the Jewish holiday – by bringing the light of meaning, tradition, and togetherness. The broadcast will be premiered in partnership with Central Synagogue of New York, on their YouTube Channel, on Sunday December 13th, at 8pm EST.

With Tony and Grammy award winning producers, Yael Silver (Carmine Entertainment) and Mary Ekler, its helm, Many Candles, One World will feature musical performances and special appearances by: Emmy and SAG nominated actress, producer, and author, Mayim Bialik (“The Big Bang Theory” “Blossom”); musician

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