Lizzo‘s “About Damn Time” dominates the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart for a second week.

Concurrently, Beyonce‘s “Break My Soul” rises to a new No. 6 Hot 100 high and Post Malone‘s “I Like You (A Happier Song),” featuring Doja Cat, returns to the top 10, rebounding to its No. 9 best, boosted by the July 25 premiere of its official video.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (of-ficial audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Aug. 6, 2022) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Aug. 2). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboard-charts on both Twitter and Instagram.

“About Damn Time,” released on Nice Life/Atlan-tic Records, drew 91.1 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 1%) and 12.5 million streams (down 13%) and sold 8,000 downloads (down 44%) in the July 22-28 tracking week, according to Luminate.

The track – which a week earlier became Liz-zo’s second Hot 100 No. 1, following “Truth Hurts,” which reigned for seven weeks in 2019 – tallies a fourth week at No. 1 on the Radio Songs chart; drops

to No. 3 after two weeks atop Digital Song Sales; and dips to No. 10 from its No. 8 best on Streaming Songs.

“Time” concurrently crowns the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs charts, which use the same multi-metric methodology as the Hot 100, for a fourth and 11th week, respectively.

Harry Styles’ former 10-week Hot 100 No. 1 “As It Was” holds at No. 2. The single rules the Songs of the Summer chart for a ninth week, as it has led the seasonal survey, which tracks the top titles between Memorial Day and Labor Day, each week this year.

Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” keeps at its No. 3 Hot 100 high. Its revival sparked by its sync in the fourth season of Netf-lix’s Stranger Things, the song, originally released in 1985 (when it reached No. 30), claims the Hot 100’s top Airplay Gainer award for a second week (48.4 million, up 17%). It simultaneously paces the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, Hot Rock Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts for an eighth week each.

Lizzo’s ‘About Damn Time’ Clocks Second Week Atop Hot 100,

Beyonce, Post Malone Rise in Top 10B Y   G A R Y T R U S T 

(continued)

YOUR DAILY ENTERTAINMENT NEWS UPDATE

BulletinJ U LY X , 2 0 2 2 Page 1 of 40

• Bad Bunny’s ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ Hits

Seventh Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200

Chart

• Grammys 2023 Big Four Predictions: See Who Could Score A

Nomination

• These Major Artists May Not Be Eligible For Songwriter Of The Year — Here’s

Why

• Atlanta’s Music Midtown Festival

Canceled After Court Ruling Made It Illegal to Keep Guns Out of

Event

• Industry Veteran Wants to Make

Licensing Songs for Startups a No-

Brainer With ‘Tempo’

• The Ledger: Spotify’s Paul

Vogel Is Cautiously Optimistic on

Growth

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Jack Harlow’s “First Class” maintains its No. 4 cruising altitude on the Hot 100, after three weeks at No. 1 starting in its debut week in April, as it adds a 14th week atop the multi-metric Hot Rap Songs chart, and Future’s “Wait for U,” featuring Drake and Tems, is likewise stationary at No. 5 on the Hot 100, after a week at No. 1 beginning in its debut week in May.

Beyonce’s “Break My Soul” rises 7-6 for a new Hot 100 high. The lead single from her album Renaissance, released July 29 and due on next week’s, Aug. 13-dated charts, sports across-the-board gains, as it holds at No. 4 on Radio Songs (56.5 million, up 10%) and climbs 7-4 on Digital Song Sales (6,000, up 18%) and 28-25 on Streaming Songs (8.8 million, up 6%). It tops the multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a fifth week.

Harry Styles’ “Late Night Talking,” whose official video premiered July 13, advances 9-7 on the Hot 100, after it reached No. 4 upon its debut in June. It also hits the top five on Radio Songs (6-5; 52.1 million, up 8%).

Bad Bunny and Chencho Corleone’s “Me Porto Bonito” retreats to No. 8 from its No. 6 Hot 100 best, as it leads Streaming Songs for a second week (19.7 million, down 6%). A week earlier, the track became the first all-Spanish-language No. 1 on Streaming Songs since the chart debuted in January 2013. The collaboration tops the multi-met-

ric Hot Latin Songs chart for an 11th week and parent album Un Verano Sin Ti com-mands the Billboard 200 for a seventh frame.

Post Malone’s “I Like You (A Happier Song),” featuring Doja Cat, returns to the Hot 100’s top 10, rebounding from No. 12 to its No. 9 highpoint first reached in June. With its official video having premiered July 25, it pushes 15-11 on Streaming Songs (12.6 million streams in the week ending July 28, up 14%), 17-15 on Radio Songs (34.9 million, up 10%) and 33-17 on Digital Song Sales (3,000, up 11%).

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” descends 8-10, fol-lowing five weeks at No. 1 starting in March. Notably, it logs its 80th week on the chart, becoming just the third title in the chart’s 64-year history to reach the milestone (and is the only one of those hits to have ranked in the top 10 as late as its 80th frame).

Most Weeks Totaled on the Billboard Hot 100: 90, “Blinding Lights,” The Weeknd, No. 1 peak (for four weeks), beginning April 4, 2020 87, “Radioactive,” Imagine Dragons, No. 3, July 6, 2013 80, “Heat Waves,” Glass Animals, No. 1 (five weeks), beginning March 12, 2022 79, “Sail,” AWOLNATION, No. 17, Oct. 12, 2013 77, “Levitating,” Dua Lipa, No. 2, May 22,

2021 76, “I’m Yours,” Jason Mraz, No. 6, Sept. 20, 2008 69, “Save Your Tears,” The Weeknd & Ariana Grande, No. 1 (two weeks), beginning May 8, 2021 69, “How Do I Live,” LeAnn Rimes, No. 2, Dec. 13, 1997 68, “Counting Stars,” OneRepublic, No. 2, Jan. 18, 2014 68, “Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO feat. Lau-ren Bennett & GoonRock, No. 1 (six weeks), beginning July 16, 2011

Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Aug. 6), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Aug. 2).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes an exhaustive and thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data, removing any suspicious or unverifiable activity using established criteria before final chart calculations are made and published. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious and unverifiable is disqualified prior to final calculations.

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Bad Bunny’s ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ Hits Seventh Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 ChartBY KEITH CAULFIELD 

Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti col-lects a seventh nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Aug. 6). The

title earned 98,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending July 28 (down 5%), according to Luminate. Un Verano Sin Ti is the album with the most weeks at No. 1 in over a year, since Morgan Wallen’s Dan-gerous: The Double Album spent its 10th and final week at No. 1 on the list dated March 27, 2021. (Since Dangerous, Adele’s 30 had clocked six weeks at No. 1.)

Also in the new top 10, SEVEN-TEEN and Jack White both score their second top 10-charting albums of 2022 with their latest releases.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by

Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Aug. 6, 2022-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Aug. 2). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboard-charts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of Un Verano Sin Ti’s 98,000 equivalent album units earned, SEA units comprise 97,000 (down 5%; equaling 135.9 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and album sales and TEA units comprise the remainder of the week’s total.

Un Verano Sin Ti has exhibited strong staying power, as it earned in excess of 100,000 units in its first 11 weeks on the chart. The latest tracking frame is its first to dip below 100,000. Further, the album has declined less than 10% in weekly units in every week from its fourth through 12th frames. (The album eroded by 34% in its second week, then fell by 15% in its third, and then from its fourth week onwards has only dropped by 2-9% weekly.)

Un Verano Sin Ti has spent its first 12 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart lodged in the top two. The last album to start off as strong was Drake’s Views, which spent its first 17 weeks in the top two (May 21-Sept.

10, 2016-dated charts).Un Verano Sin Ti bowed at No. 1 on the

May 21-dated chart, then stepped away from the top slot for three weeks. It returned to No. 1 on June 18, and then moved aside for two more weeks, until coming back to No. 1 for the last five consecutive weeks.

Un Verano Sin Ti may vacate the No. 1 slot on the Aug. 13-dated chart, as Be-yonce’s seventh solo studio album, Renais-sance, is due to debut on the tally, following its release on Friday (July 29). All six of Beyonce’s previous solo studio sets opened at No. 1.

Wallen’s Dangerous rises 4-2 on the latest Billboard 200 with 49,000 equivalent album units earned (up 1%) while Harry Styles’ fellow former No. 1 Harry’s House is a non-mover at No. 3 with 48,000 units (down 8%).

SEVENTEEN logs its highest-charting album yet and second top 10, as 4th Album Repackage: Sector 17 debuts at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 34,000 equivalent album units earned. On the June 18 chart, the South Korean group debuted and peaked at No. 7 with SEVENTEEN 4th Album: Face the Sun. The new Sector 17 release contains Face the Sun’s same tracklist, but adds additional songs and retitles the album.

Of Sector 17’s first-week units of 34,000, album sales comprise 31,000; SEA units comprise 2,000 (equaling 3.31 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks); and TEA units comprise the remainder of

Page 6 of 40

IN BRIEF

Sam Hunt’s second studio full-length, and first in over five years, Southside (MCA Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville), debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart dated April 18. In its first week (ending April 9), it earned 46,000 equivalent album units, including 16,000 in album sales, ac-cording to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.

Southside marks Hunt’s second No. 1 on the chart and fourth top 10. It follows freshman LP Montevallo, which arrived at the summit in No-vember 2014 and reigned for nine weeks. To date, Montevallo has earned 3.9 million units, with 1.4 million in album sales.

Montevallo has spent 267 weeks on the list, tying Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party as the sixth-longest-running titles in the chart’s 56-year history.

On the all-genre Billboard 200, Southside ar-rives at No. 5, awarding Hunt his second top 10 after the No. 3-peaking Montevallo.

Hunt first released the EP X2C, which debuted and peaked at No. 5 on Top Country Albums in August 2014. Following Montevallo, Between the Pines: Acoustic Mixtape started at its No. 7 high in November 2015.

Montevallo produced five singles, four of which hit the pinnacle of Country Airplay: “Leave the Night On,” “Take Your Time,” “House Party” and “Make You Miss Me.” “Break Up in a Small Town” peaked at No. 2.

Hunt co-penned all 12 songs on Southside, including “Body Like a Back Road,” which was released in 2017. The smash hit ruled Country Airplay for three weeks and the airplay-, streaming- and sales-based Hot Country Songs chart for a then-record 34 frames. It now ranks second only to Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s “Meant to Be” (50 weeks atop the latter list in 2017-18).

“Downtown’s Dead,” which is also on the new set, reached Nos. 14 and 15 on Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay, respectively, in June 2018. “Kin-folks” led Country Airplay on Feb. 29, becoming Hunt’s seventh No. 1. It hit No. 3 on Hot Country Songs.

Latest single “Hard to Forget” jumps 17-9 on Hot Country Songs. It’s his eighth top 10, having corralled 8.2 million U.S. streams (up 96%) and 5,000 in

sales (up 21%) in the tracking week. On Country Airplay, it hops 18-15 (11.9 mil-lion audience impressions, up 16%).

TRY TO ‘CATCH’ UP WITH YOUNG Brett Young achieves his fifth consecutive and total Country Airplay No. 1 as “Catch” (Big Machine Label Group) ascends

2-1, increasing 13% to 36.6 million impressions.Young’s first of six chart entries, “Sleep With-

out You,” reached No. 2 in December 2016. He followed with the multiweek No. 1s “In Case You Didn’t Know” (two weeks, June 2017), “Like I Loved You” (three, January 2018), “Mercy” (two, August 2018) and “Here Tonight” (two, April 2019).

“Catch” completes his longest journey to No. 1, having taken 46 weeks to reach the apex. It out-paces the 30-week climb of “Here Tonight.”

On Hot Country Songs, “Catch” pushes 7-5 for a new high.

COMBS ‘DOES’ IT AGAIN Luke Combs’ “Does to Me” (River House/Columbia Nashville), featuring Eric Church, ascends 11-8 on Country Airplay, up 10% to 24.7 million in audience. The song is Combs’ eighth straight career-opening top 10, following a record run of seven consecutive out-of-the-gate, properly promoted No. 1 singles.

Church adds his 15th Country Airplay top 10.

THAT TOOK QUITE ‘A FEW’ MONTHS Travis Denning shatters the record for the most weeks it has taken to penetrate the Country Airplay top 10 as “After a Few” (Mercury Nashville) climbs 12-10 in its 57th week, up 4% to 21.4 mil-lion in radio reach.

The song surpasses two tracks that took 50 weeks each to enter the top 10: Easton Corbin’s “A Girl Like You,” which reached No. 10 in January 2018 be-fore peaking at No. 6 that February, and Aaron Watson’s “Outta Style,” which achieved its No. 10 high in December 2017.

“After” is Denning’s second Country Airplay entry. “David Ashley Parker From Powder Springs” traveled to No. 32 in September 2018.

SamHunt’s Southside Rules Top Country Albums; Brett Young ‘Catch’-es Fifth Airplay

Leader; Travis Denning Makes History

ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER jim.asker@billboard.com

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE APRIL 13, 2020 | PAGE 4 OF 19

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the units.Like many K-pop releases, the CD

configuration of Sector 17 was issued in col-lectible deluxe packages (six total, including an exclusive version for Target), each with a standard set of items and randomized ele-ments (such as photocards and photobooks); 99.8% of the album’s first-week sales were on CD. The other fraction of a percent were digital album purchases. (The set was not released in any other format, such as vinyl or cassette.)

Future’s former No. 1 I Never Liked You rises 6-5 on the Billboard 200 with 33,000 equivalent album units earned (down 5%) and Drake’s chart-topping Honestly, Nevermind dips 5-6 with 32,000 units (down 14%). Lizzo’s Special falls 2-7 in its second week with 29,000 units (down 58%) and Lil Durk’s former leader 7220 rises 10-8 with 28,000 (down 11%).

Jack White collects his sixth solo top 10 album on the Billboard 200 — and second of 2022 — as Entering Heaven Alive debuts at No. 9. The set starts with 27,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 25,000, SEA units comprise 2,000 (equaling 2.05 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. White previously hit the top 10 this year with Fear of the Dawn, which debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the April 23-dated list. He’s also claimed top 10s as a member of the bands The Raconteurs, The Dead Weath-er and The White Stripes (three each).

Rounding out the new top 10 is Olivia Ro-drigo’s former No. 1 Sour, which rises 13-10 with 26,000 equivalent album units earned (down 5%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes an exhaustive and thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rank-ings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data, removing any suspicious or unverifiable activity using established criteria before final chart calculations are made and published. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious and unverifiable is disqualified prior to the final calculation.

Grammys 2023 Big Four Predictions: See Who Could Score A NominationBY PAUL GREIN

When the nominations for the 65th annual Grammy Awards are announced Nov. 15, Adele, Beyonce,

Silk Sonic and Harry Styles could each wind up competing for album, record and song of the year. Adele, Beyonce and Silk Sonic’s Bruno Mars have each swept those three nominations twice before, but this would be Styles’ first nod in any of those marquee categories.

For now, there is only one thing that’s for sure: There will be 10 nominees in each of the Big Four categories for the second year in a row. Below are Billboard’s best bets for who will be in the running.

Album of the YearThree British pop superstars — Adele, Ed

Sheeran and Styles — are apt to be nominat-ed. They will likely face off against Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar, who are still looking for their first wins in this category. The big question mark is Taylor Swift, whose Red (Taylor’s Version) could become the first rerecording of an artist’s album to be nomi-nated for album of the year.

Adele 30

This would be Adele’s third consecu-tive album to be nominated in this cat-egory. She won with her last two studio albums, 21 and 25. 30 has spawned two top five hits on the Billboard Hot 100 — “Easy on Me” and “Oh My God.” Bill-board 200 peak: No. 1 (its first six weeks)

Bad Bunny Un Verano Sin Ti

This project is vying to become the first Spanish-language album to receive an album of the year nod. Bad Bunny

won Grammys in each of the last two years with YHLQMDLG (best Latin pop or urban album) and El Último Tour del Mundo (best música urbana album). Four songs from Un Verano Sin Ti made the top 10 on the Hot 100. Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (seven weeks so far)

Beyonce Renaissance

Released July 29, Renaissance would be Beyonce’s fourth album to be nominated in this category, following I Am… Sasha Fierce (2009), Beyoncé (2014) and Lem-onade (2016). She would become the first woman of color to receive four album of the year nods as a lead artist.

Brandi Carlile In These Silent Days

This would be Carlile’s second album in a row to be nominated in this category. Its lead single, “Right On Time,” was nominated last year for record and song of the year. Billboard 200 peak: No. 11

Kendrick Lamar Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

This would be Lamar’s fourth studio album to be nominated in this category, which would tie Ye (aka Kanye West) for the most by a rapper. Four songs from Mr. Mo-rale & the Big Steppers made the top 10 on the Hot 100. Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (one week)

Ed Sheeran =

This would be Sheeran’s second nod in this category. Two songs from =, “Bad Hab-its” and “Shivers,” made the top five on the Hot 100. “Bad Habits” was nominated last year for song of the year. Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (one week)

Silk Sonic An Evening With Silk Sonic

“Leave the Door Open,” the debut hit by the retro-soul duo of Mars and Anderson .Paak, won four awards at the 64th annual Grammys in April. An Evening With Silk Sonic won album of the year at the BET Awards in June. The project spawned two top five hits on the Hot 100, “Leave the Door Open” and “Smokin’ Out the Window.” Bill-board 200 peak: No. 2

Harry Styles Harry’s House

Page 8 of 40

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Two years ago, Styles’ smash “Water-melon Sugar” won best pop solo vocal performance, but he is overdue for a nod in a Big Four category. Four songs from Harry’s House made the top 10 on the Hot 100. Bill-board 200 peak: No. 1 (two weeks)

Taylor Swift Red (Taylor’s Version)

This would be Swift’s sixth nomination in this category, which would tie Barbra Streisand for the most nods by a female artist. Moreover, it would be the third year in a row Swift has been nominated — the most consecutive years with a nod in this category since Lady Gaga three-peated from 2009 to 2011. Swift’s original Red was nomi-nated nine years ago. Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (one week)

Various Artists Encanto film soundtrack

This is vying to become the first soundtrack to an animated movie to be nom-inated in this category since Beauty and the Beast 30 years ago. The album produced two top five hits on the Hot 100 — “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” and “Surface Pressure.” Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (nine weeks)

Within Reach: Drake, Honestly, Nev-ermind; Future, I Never Liked You; Elton John, The Lockdown Sessions; Miranda Lambert, Palomino; Lizzo, Special; Post Malone, Twelve Carat Toothache; Bonnie Raitt, Just Like That…; Rosalía, Motomami; Summer Walker, Still Over It; The Week-nd, Dawn FM

Song of the YearTaylor Swift’s “All Too Well (10 Minute

Version) (Taylor’s Version),” an expanded take of a song from her 2012 album, Red, may not be eligible, though the Academy hasn’t made a final ruling. The rules state: “A song … must have been released on a record-ing for the first time, or achieved promi-nence for the first time, during the current eligibility year.” Last year, seven of the 10 works that were nominated for record of the year were also nominated for song of the year. This year, it looks like six could be up for both awards.

“About Damn Time” Songwriters: Blake Slatkin, Eric Frederic, Larry Price, Malcolm McLaren, Melissa Jefferson, Ronald Larkins, Stephen Hague,

Theron Makiel ThomasThis would be the second nod in this cat-

egory for Jefferson (aka Lizzo) and Frederic, who were both also co-writers of “Truth Hurts.”

“As It Was” Songwriters: Harry Styles, Thomas Hull, Tyler Johnson

This would be Styles’ first nomination in a songwriting category. His three nomina-tions two years ago were for best pop solo performance (which he won), best pop vocal album and best music video.

“Boyfriend” Songwriters: Delacey, Dove Cameron, Evan Blair, Skyler Stonestreet

This sultry single with a provocative lyric has helped Cameron leave her Disney Chan-nel image behind. This would be the second year in a row that a song with an LGBTQ+ overtone was nominated in this category. Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” was nominated last year.

“Break My Soul” Songwriters: Beyonce Knowles, Shawn Carter, Freddie Ross, Terius Nash, Chris-topher Stewart, Allen George, Fred McFar-lane, Adam Pigott

Beyonce, Nash and Stewart were among the writers of “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” which won this category 13 years ago. This would be Beyonce’s fifth nod in this category.

“Easy On Me” Songwriters: Adele Adkins, Greg Kurstin

Adele and Kurstin won in this category six years ago for co-writing “Hello.” Adele previously won for co-writing “Rolling in the Deep,” and Kurstin was previously nominated for co-writing Kelly Clarkson’s smash “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You).”

“First Class” Songwriters: Jackman Harlow, Jasper Har-ris, Douglas Ford, Roget Chahayed, Jose Velazquez, Micaiah Raheem, Nickie Jon Pabón, Ryan Vojtesak, Stacy Ferguson, Jamal Jones, Will Adams, Elvis Williams, Christo-pher Bridges

This would be Chahayed’s second nomi-nation in this category. He received his first nod last year for writing Doja Cat and SZA’s “Kiss Me More.”

“Glimpse Of Us”

Songwriters: George Miller, Joel Castillo, Alexis Kesselman, Connor McDonough, Riley McDonough

The recording by Miller (aka Joji) entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 10 on the strength of heavy TikTok activity. If enough voters hear it, this poignant ballad could have a shot at a nod.

“Numb Little Bug” Songwriters: Em Beihold, Nick Lopez, Dru DeCaro

This song’s whimsical nature belies the serious points it makes about mental health. Grammy voters often respond to songs with such lyrics, with nominations in this cat-egory in recent years for Logic’s “1-800-273-8255” (featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid) and Shawn Mendes’ “In My Blood.”

“Smokin’ Out the Window” Songwriters: Bruno Mars, Brandon Ander-son, Dernst Emile II

If this is nominated, Mars will tie Paul McCartney and Lionel Richie for the most nods in this category (six). Mars, Ander-son (aka Anderson .Paak) and Emile (aka D’Mile) are the reigning champs in this category for “Leave the Door Open.” In ad-dition, D’Mile won the previous year for co-writing H.E.R.’s Black Lives Matter anthem, “I Can’t Breathe.”

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” Songwriter: Lin-Manuel Miranda

This would be Miranda’s first nomina-tion in this category, as well as the first song penned by only one songwriter to be nominated since Taylor Swift’s “Lover” three years ago.

Within Reach: “Enemy,” Imagine Dragons and JID; “Fingers Crossed,” Lauren Spencer-Smith; “Hrs & Hrs,” Muni Long; “I Hate U,” SZA; “Love Me More,” Sam Smith; “MAMIII,” Becky G featuring Karol G; “N95,” Kendrick Lamar; “Sweetest Pie,” Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa; “Wait 4 U,” Future featuring Drake & Tems; “Woman,” Doja Cat

Record of the YearSix hits that would have been strong

contenders in this category were released prior to Oct. 1, 2021, the start of the eligibil-ity year. As such, they aren’t eligible, though live or alternate recordings of the songs may be. Those hits are Latto’s “Big Energy,” Lil

Page 10 of 40

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One of the largest and longest lasting independent record labels in existence, Cleopatra Records, are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. What began in 1992 as a small operation out of the garage of founder Brian Perera has since grown into a family of labels representing one of the most diverse catalogs that encompasses a variety of genres with an emphasis on unique and experimental artists. In a time when most small record labels either die out or get bought by a major, Cleopatra Records has managed to survive and thrive as a privately owned entity deftly navigating the seismic shifts in the industry that have caused so many labels to founder. Please join us in celebrating this monumental milestone.

30TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

C O N T A C T SJoe Maimonejoe.maimone@billboard.com

Lee Ann Photoglolaphotoglo@gmail.com

Cynthia Mellowcmellow615@gmail.com

Marcia Olival marciaolival29@gmail.com

Ryan O’Donnell rodonnell@pmc.com

Nas X’s “Thats What I Want,” Ed Sheeran’s “Shivers,” Justin Bieber’s “Ghost,” Doja Cat’s “Need To Know” and GAYLE’s “abcdefu.”

Adele, “Easy On Me”This tender piano ballad will almost

certainly lead to Adele’s fourth nomination in this category, following nods for “Chas-ing Pavements,” “Rolling in the Deep” and “Hello.” “Easy on Me” topped the Hot 100 for 10 weeks, one of only two singles to stay on top that long in this eligibility period.

Becky G Featuring Karol G, “MAMIII”This would be the first all-Latin collabo-

ration to be nominated. It would also be the third all-female pairing to get the nod in as many years, following Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” (featuring Beyonce) and Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” (featuring SZA). Hot 100 peak: No. 15

Beyonce, “Break My Soul”This dance smash would be Beyonce’s

eighth single to be nominated in this catego-ry, which would set a new record. She’s tied for the lead with Frank Sinatra with seven nods each. Hot 100 peak: No. 6 (so far)

Doja Cat, “Woman”This song could put Doja in record of the

year contention for a third consecutive year following nods for “Say So” and “Kiss Me More.” Doja would be only the third woman in Grammy history to land three straight nominations in this category, following Roberta Flack (1972-74) and Billie Eilish (2019-21). Hot 100 peak: No. 7

Jack Harlow, “First Class”This smash, which interpolates Fergie’s

“Glamorous,” could lead to Harlow’s first record of the year nod. His previous hits “Whats Poppin” and “Industry Baby” (a col-laboration with Lil Nas X) were nominated in rap performance categories. Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (three weeks)

Imagine Dragons & JID, “Enemy”This rock-rap fusion, from the animated

streaming series Arcane, would be the first song from a TV show to be nominated. This also would be Imagine Dragons’ second nod in this category; the band was in contention nine years ago for “Radioactive.” Hot 100 peak: No. 5

Lizzo, “About Damn Time”This smash, which could have slid right

into a 1979 disco playlist, has the flirty,

playful sound and positive energy that have become Lizzo’s trademarks. It could bring her a second nod in this category, after she was nominated three years ago for her breakthrough hit, “Truth Hurts.” Hot 100 peak: No. 1

Silk Sonic, “Smokin’ Out the Window”Silk Sonic was victorious for both record

and song of the year with “Leave the Door Open.” The duo could return to the finals in both categories with this hit. This would be Bruno Mars’ seventh record of the year nomination and Anderson .Paak’s second. Hot 100 peak: No. 5.

Harry Styles, “As It Was”On this sleek global smash, Styles projects

the confidence and ease of an artist hitting his commercial and creative peak. Styles is vying to join such other boy band alums as Michael Jackson, Ricky Martin and Justin Timberlake with a solo nod in this category. Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (10 weeks)

Taylor Swift, “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)”

This would be Swift’s fifth nod in this category and her first since “Blank Space” seven years ago. “All Too Well” broke the record held by Don McLean’s “American Pie” for nearly five decades as the longest song to top the Hot 100, where it ruled for one week.

Within Reach: Em Beihold, “Numb Little Bug”; Dove Cameron, “Boyfriend”; Future featuring Drake & Tems, “Wait 4 U”; Joji, “Glimpse of Us”; Kendrick Lamar, “N95”; Muni Long, “Hrs & Hrs”; Megan Thee Stal-lion and Dua Lipa, “Sweetest Pie”; Lauren Spencer-Smith, “Fingers Crossed”; SZA, “I Hate U”; Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz and cast of Encanto, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”

Best New ArtistThis contest seems more wide open than

in the last three years, when Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion and Olivia Rodrigo, respectively, were clear favorites. As past Grammy nominees, Tems, Walker Hayes, Big Thief and Chlöe are ineligible. Though the hits by GAYLE and Latto were released prior to this eligibility year, the academy has shown a bit more flexibility in this category in an effort to be inclusive.

Em BeiholdBeihold, 23, cracked the top 20 on the

Hot 100 with “Numb Little Bug.” She received attention on TikTok for her songs “City of Angels” and “Groundhog Day,” which led to her signing with Republic Records in January.

Zach BryanBryan’s third studio album, American

Heartbreak, reached No. 1 on Top Country Albums and No. 5 on the Billboard 200. The album’s fifth single, “Something in the Orange,” climbed to No. 3 on Hot Country Songs. Bryan would be the third male coun-try artist to be nominated in this category in the past five years, following Luke Combs and Jimmie Allen.

Dove CameronThe Grammy screening committee may

have a lively debate regarding whether Cameron should be considered a new artist, due to her extensive previous work on Dis-ney Channel projects. It may adhere to the usual Grammy philosophy in this category — to err on the side of inclusiveness. Such re-cent nominees as Alessia Cara, Megan Thee Stallion and Jimmie Allen weren’t entirely new when they were recognized.

GAYLEGAYLE reached No. 3 on the Hot 100

with the witty “abcdefu,” a takedown of everything she wouldn’t miss about her no-good former boyfriend. (She spared his dog.) GAYLE is just 18, the same age as three major artists who were nominated in the past few years: Billie Eilish, The Kid LAROI and Olivia Rodrigo.

LattoLatto won best new artist at the BET

Awards in June. She’s vying to become the fifth artist to win in this category at both shows, following Alicia Keys, John Legend, Sam Smith and Chance the Rapper. Latto’s “Big Energy” reached No. 3 on the Hot 100. Her second album, 777, hit No. 15 on the Billboard 200.

The Linda LindasThis all-female punk-rock band won best

punk record at the Libera Awards in June for “Racist, Sexist Boy.” Its members are all between 11 and 17, which is similar to Hanson, whose members were between 12 and 17 when they were nominated in this

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category 25 years ago.Muni LongLong’s breakthrough this year with

the sensuous ballad “Hrs & Hrs” (which reached No. 16 on the Hot 100) was a long time coming: She has been releasing records since 2009. Until this year, she was best-known as a writer for other artists. Her co-writes include Pitbull’s “Timber” (featuring Kesha), Fifth Harmony’s “Worth It” and Miranda Lambert & Carrie Underwood’s “Somethin’ Bad.”

Lauren Spencer-SmithThis British-born Canadian artist had

a top 20 hit on the Hot 100 with “Fingers Crossed.” Spencer-Smith is just 18, the same age as GAYLE. If both receive nods, this will be the first time two female solo teens were nominated in the same year since Avril Lavi-gne and Michelle Branch 20 years ago.

Wet LegThe British indie-rock band was founded

in 2019 by Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers. Their eponymous debut album, featuring the viral hit “Chaise Longue,” reached No. 14 on the Billboard 200. Wet Leg won two trophies at the Libera Awards — breakthrough artist/release and video of the year, both for “Chaise Longue.” Wet Leg and The Linda Lindas may be the only groups to receive nominations. That’s par for the course. The last time there were more than two bands in the running was 2012.

Lainey WilsonWilson’s single “Things a Man Oughta

Know” reached No. 1 on Country Airplay, No. 3 on Hot Country Songs and No. 32 on the Hot 100. She won two awards at the Academy of Country Music Awards in March: new female artist of the year and song of the year for “Things a Man Oughta Know.”

Within Reach: Omar Apollo, Eslabon Armado, Blxst, CKay, Jnr Choi, Mitski, PinkPantheress, Morgan Wade, Mimi Webb, Bailey Zimmerman

This story originally appeared in the July 30, 2022, issue of Billboard.

These Major Artists May Not Be Eligible For Songwriter Of The Year — Here’s WhyBY ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Veteran pop singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe recalls how she “smiled the entire day” when the Recording Academy announced

the addition of a songwriter of the year, non-classical award in June. While pro-ducers have been honored with their own producer of the year category dating back to 1975, recognition for songwriters for their full year’s body of work had yet to be seen in the Grammys’ 65-year history — and it’s happening at a crucial time in the music industry.

“Songwriters are at a critical point where we are working harder than ever and being valued the least when it comes to moneti-zation,” says Rowe, an album of the year honoree at the 2022 Grammys thanks to her contributions as a featured artist, producer and songwriter to Jon Batiste’s winning We Are. “Although this award would’ve been ap-preciated sooner, it’s also somewhat perfect timing — we need everyone to rally behind and beside us advocating for the value we bring.”

The urgency of the category’s introduc-tion is one understood by both Evan Bogart — chair of the Academy’s new Songwrit-ers & Composers Wing who helped lead the charge in drafting the proposal for the new award and ensuring it passed — and by Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr., who also was a successful songwriter earlier in his career. “It’s something that has been talked about for as long as I can remember at the Academy — ‘acknowledging the craft of songwriting’ — [which is] obviously part of the bedrock of our whole music ecosystem,”

says Mason.The Academy has long acknowledged

songwriters through the trophies for song-awarded categories, with best rock song, best rap song and, of course, the all-genre song of the year going to the composers. In 2018, songwriters for albums nominated for album of the year were also added as honorees if they contributed to at least 33% of the project’s playing time, with that being expanded at the 2022 ceremony to include every credited songwriter of new material on an album.

So far, Mason and Bogart (who is also a Grammy-winning songwriter and CEO of independent publisher Seeker Music) say the songwriting community has greeted the award with overwhelming excitement and positivity. But it’s possible some songwrit-ers whose roles are not focused entirely (or even primarily) on their writing might have mixed emotions when they read the award’s fine print.

To qualify, writers “must have written a minimum of five songs in which they are credited ‘solely’ as a songwriter or co-writer” — further explaining that “songs in which the songwriter was also credited as a primary or featured artist, producer or any other supporting role do not qualify to achieve a minimum song threshold for consideration.” (If writers do have enough compositions to meet the threshold, they can submit an additional four songs for con-sideration in which they were credited as a producer or performer.)

In other words, songwriters who perform the majority of their compositions — like Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Drake — would not be eligible for the award, unless they also had a minimum of five outside con-tributions for other performers. Similarly, writers who often produce or co-produce most of their compositions — like Jack An-tonoff, Dan Nigro or Lin-Manuel Miranda — may also be ineligible, unless they had five songs they wrote or co-wrote but did not produce on.

Bogart explains that the award was designed in this way to ensure that the honor remained focused on songwriting and prevented big hybrid names from otherwise dominating the category. “We were able to

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strike the right balance and tone between people who are professional songwriters, who wake up every day and think about crafting songs for artists, and not just make this another award for a producer or an artist to win,” he says. “We wanted to really honor the people that the songwriting com-munity would largely look at as songwriters first.”

However, some writers aren’t convinced this is a realistic view of their role in the current industry. “That feels like a very old-fashioned way of thinking,” says country songwriter-producer Shane McAnally, a three-time Grammy winner and one of Nashville’s preeminent hitmakers for the past decade-plus. “That in order to be recognized as a true songwriter, you should be sitting with a pen and paper and a single instrument somewhere ‘writing’ a song without technology or without influence with the artist. But the thing is, songs don’t get recorded that way anymore.”

The award might also present a challenge for Grammy viewers, who might not be immediately familiar with the award’s quali-fications and end up incredulous over their favorite artist — or that artist’s most regular collaborators — being excluded. “The nominees will come out and some glaring omission will be there and people will go, ‘Why isn’t Brandi Carlile nominated?’ ” says McAnally. Mason says the Academy is aware of these concerns: “That’s something we’ll be working on with our comms team and awards team,” he says of ensuring the award has the right “messaging” for the average viewer.

Moving forward, the Academy will be flexible about the qualifications. “We want to service people the way they feel is right, not just the way we feel is right — and we’re a membership organization,” Mason says. “If people feel like, ‘This needs to be tweaked,’ we’ll keep looking at it.”

Adds Rowe: “I have no idea who will be nominated for this first year of the award, but I can say I will be watching and rooting because this is a win for us all.”

This story originally appeared in the July 30, 2022, issue of Billboard.

Atlanta’s Music Midtown Festival Canceled After Court Ruling Made It Illegal to Keep Guns Out of EventBY DAVE BROOKS

The long-running Music Mid-town festival at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, scheduled for Sept. 17-18 with headliners My Chemical

Romance, Future, Jack White and Fallout Boy, has been called off, according to a statement issued by festival organizers. The likely cause, industry sources tell Billboard, are recent changes to Georgia gun laws that prevent the festival from banning guns on to the publicly owned festival grounds.

“Hey Midtown fans — due to circum-stances beyond our control, Music Midtown will no longer be taking place this year,” a statement posted on Music Midtown’s website reads. “We were looking forward to reuniting in September and hope we can all get back to enjoying the festival together again soon.”

While owner Live Nation didn’t provide any additional details for the cancellation, pro-gun rights groups had been emailing and posting comments of the festival’s social media page for several months, hinting at potential legal challenges from gun groups following a 2019 ruling that expanded a 2014 Georgia law that critics had dubbed the “Guns Everywhere” law. 

That law – officially known as the “Safe Carry Protection Act” expanded Geor-gia’s already permissive gun statues to grant residents the right to pack heat in bars, churches, schools and other private businesses with the owners permission. It also expanded gun carry rights on publicly owned land, like the city-owned Piedmont

Park, although there was no legal consensus on whether or not the law applied to pri-vate events on city property, like Midtown Music.

That changed in 2019 when the Georgia Supreme Court set new rules on what types of businesses could and couldn’t bar guns on publicly owned land. Five years earlier, a Georgia gun rights group filed a lawsuit against the Atlanta Botanical Garden after one of its members was briefly detained for attempting to openly carry a holstered pistol into the garden, which is located on publicly owned land. 

As part of the 2019 ruling, Georgia’s high court set a test for how the Safe Carry Protection Act was to be enforced by private businesses using public land. Businesses and groups that held certain types of long-term leases for state-owned land could legally bar guns, while businesses with shorter term leases could not. While the ruling favored the Botanical Garden, it created legal issues for festivals like Music Midtown that held short term leases for city parks sites. 

The festival, launched in 1996 by Atlanta-based music promoters Alex Cooley, Peter Conlon and Alex Hoffman, had long barred attendees from bringing guns into the event. In general, most major companies will not host a festival in a location that permits gun owners to carry their weapons into an event, with an exception sometimes made for law enforcement. Some artist riders actually have specific language saying that artist will not perform in cities or states where gun laws grant attendees the right to bring weapons inside of a concert venue.

While the 2019 ruling by the Georgia Su-preme Court made it more difficult for pri-vate companies to deny licensed and armed citizens access to events on publicly owned land, it did not give the city of Atlanta the authority to enforce this decision or force the festival to allow guns into the event. In-stead the law created a pathway for gun car-rying individuals, who had also purchased tickets to the festival, to successfully sue event organizers if they were denied entry to an event taking place on public property.

Additionally local authorities are typi-cally involved in security for large scale events and likely would not have been able

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On September 17th Billboard will provide readers with an exclusive backstage pass into the newest and most recentlyrenovated venues around the world. This special feature will assess the architecture,production capabilities, sound, capacitylevel, fan amenities, and more that enticetalent to these highly anticipated venues.

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NEW & RENOVATED VENUES

to enforce an illegal gun ban, so the festival would have had little to no backup to keep firearms out. 

Cancelling the 2022 festival gives Live Nation an additional year to weigh its op-tions and potentially move the event to privately held land or to lobby the state legislature to update the law when it is back in session.

Gun rights groups are also refining their own strategies for expanding gun carry rights into concerts and festivals and have begun identifying other Georgia events and venues on public land to test the boundaries of Georgia’s gun laws.

Industry Veteran Wants to Make Licensing Songs for Startups a No-Brainer With ‘Tempo’BY KRISTIN ROBINSON

Though he had been on the front lines of creating a fairer sys-tem for digital music licensing since the CD era, in 2000 Keith

Bernstein took a job at Napster. “I was not a fan of what they were doing,” he says. “I thought they should get sued until they were out of business.” But the file-trading service wanted to rework itself as a prop-erly licensed music provider and heard of a program Bernstein had developed to track digital sales. It was software he had created because he understood early on, while working for A&M and then Universal Music Group, the potential of digital to cannibal-ize the music business. So Bernstein spent two years flying from Los Angeles to Silicon Valley every day, determined to build a new Napster infrastructure that would ensure everyone got paid fairly.

Two decades later, he’s still at it. He has run the Royalty Review Council — which

he founded in 1999 and which provides auditing — since 2002, and in 2008, he spun off Crunch Digital, a consulting group that helps an ever-growing list of companies from new apps to gaming, fitness and travel businesses configure the licenses they need to use music legally. The explosion of the at-home fitness industry during the COVID-19 pandemic — as well as recent lawsuits filed by the National Music Publishers’ Associa-tion (NMPA) against Roblox, Peloton and the video app Vinkle for improperly using music on their platforms — show how Crunch Digital’s services are needed more than ever in today’s fast-evolving music industry.

Now Bernstein — whose clients include major airlines, app games like SongPop by Fresh Planet and at-home fitness startups like Liteboxer and Hydrow — wants to take Crunch Digital a step further with an online platform called Tempo that will allow companies to input a playlist of songs they want to use and discover instantly the labels and publishers that are not already licensed. The idea is to make the process quick and easy, including the ability to cross-reference the rights a company currently holds against what’s missing, as well as functionality that will be particularly helpful to the fitness industry: the ability to search by genre or BPM.

Bernstein says he’s driven to keep fighting for solutions by his conviction that “music has value, and music is undervalued,” he says. “I know that music is core to the suc-cess of these digital platforms, and if anyone argues that they’re not, then I challenge them to just take out the music and see how well [the company] does.”

You had a peek inside one of the most disruptive technology companies in mu-sic history. What was company culture like at Napster?

I was 34 years old and felt like I was a grandpa.

What was the tipping point when you realized you needed to leave Napster?

While building the operating system, I was hunting for publisher information for databases of information that we could uti-lize and acquire for identification purposes and understanding who uses what and who

to pay. But I couldn’t find it. There were companies logging CD booklet information, but nobody had publishing information. When I began to see what was going to happen, I was like, “Forget Napster. When this thing implodes and streaming comes in — which was already being talked about — I don’t know how anybody is going to be able to know who owns what.” There was noth-ing out there able to help pay publishers at that time.

I wanted to start quietly aggregating pub-lisher data and my own database. I wanted to create the future audit procedures for digital download companies and streaming services, because a CPA generalist wasn’t going to cut it anymore. I relaunched the company in 2002, and by 2005 we were doing audits for all the major labels, all the major publishers, SoundExchange — nearly everybody. We conducted audits of every digital service where there were audit rights, and because we were finding tons of money that wasn’t being paid, our clients just wanted to audit more.

Why did you create Crunch Digital when you were already thriving with the Royalty Review Council?

It became apparent there were multi-channel networks, gaming companies, apps, fitness companies, even the travel indus-try — all of whom needed the same type of reporting, licensing and clearance help as the traditional labels and publishers did. Probably even more so because they didn’t have a lot of music people. They just had a good idea that was well-funded and used music. When we first started to talk to these companies about assisting them, I was talk-ing to a lot of people with hoodies on — we found the name “Royalty Review Council” wasn’t very hip or cool. So we spun out Crunch Digital.

Was the difficulty of licensing music shocking to these new companies?

I especially have seen that in the last couple of years. In the early days, more companies seemed to be more like, “Help me. I want to make sure everything is totally available before I use it.” But it shifted when people started racing toward the market and felt the need to be faster than their competi-tors and to host the most content. You saw

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people cutting corners and relying on things like the [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] or a compulsory license or saying, “I don’t even need the licensing.”

How does the influx of catalog acquisi-tions and ownership changes play into the difficulties of licensing music?

If the song a company used a lot is now owned by somebody else that they don’t have a license with, that could be trouble. It’s silly for these companies to think that they’re going to take the data in from the major labels and major publishers and build their own internal database to track this. Our work honestly doesn’t end, because our clients are constantly wanting to know whether they can or cannot use something as rights holders change.

Are there companies that actively try to get around having to pay for music?

There are definitely some lawyers out there that spend a lot of time trying to find the workaround so that their client doesn’t have to go to the labels or publishers or get a license outside of a performance license. Lawyers will tell them it is too costly and takes too long.

The NMPA has made it a mission to go after these infringing digital companies and apps — like Roblox and Twitch — in big lawsuits and settlements. Do you work with the NMPA on these initiatives at all?

We have always had a nice relationship with the NMPA. What they do is critical to the marketplace. We do talk every now and then when we believe there might be some-thing rogue going on and they might look into it, but there are just so many companies out there that are doing the wrong thing. A lot of brands feel like they can fly under the radar. But when you have a new $100 million investment that you’re advertising around, the labels and publishers are going to take notice.

Are we living in the Wild West for mu-sic licensing?

Technology moves so fast that there’s always something being developed, or a new use, or another form of distribution that you can’t get your head around fast enough. You have to look at labels and publishers and cut them some slack. They’re getting inundated

with license requests, and there’s just so many things they could look at. The tools have not been in place for companies licens-ing music to be able to assess and monitor what they can and cannot do under their licenses. That’s why we focused on building the part that’s missing in the marketplace. We want to get to a place where there’s no excuse: “Oh, I didn’t know that I couldn’t use that. I didn’t know who to talk to.”

Is that what Tempo is trying to solve?Yes. We were already doing research

requests for clients that would send us lists of 10,000, 50,000, even a million tracks and say, “Can you help me to identify who I need to get licenses from?” Maybe they already had deals in place with a few companies and wanted to make sure that’s all they needed. We would go through these lists and give the clients what we call “the road map.” But when COVID-19 hit it got to be an even big-ger issue, especially with the fitness brands. How is it possible for a large company to control all of their fitness instructors? You can’t. You can’t tell a fitness instructor to only use Universal Music Group or Sony Music. That doesn’t mean anything to them, and how are they going to look it up? We thought we needed to build an online plat-form that would empower these businesses to learn about this more.

How did you aggregate all that data for Tempo?

Painfully. We already had been aggregat-ing it for the purposes of our services for years.

What are some opportunities music-rights owners should be taking advantage of to grow revenue?

They should audit more. I don’t think enough audits take place. And I’m not saying that because I want to do their audits! I’m just saying that the more you keep people on their toes, the more likely they are to get it right.

This story appears in the July 30, 2022, is-sue of Billboard.

The Ledger: Spotify’s Paul Vogel Is Cautiously Optimistic on GrowthBY GLENN PEOPLES

The Ledger is a weekly newsletter about the economics of the music business sent to Billboard Pro sub-scribers. An abbreviated version of

the newsletter is published online.Music executives are balancing optimism

about streaming growth with caution about the state of the economy and future growth.

As we reported Wednesday, Spotify had a solid second quarter, finishing with 188 million subscribers — 1 million ahead of its guidance., It also reached 433 million total monthly listeners — 5 million above its guidance. Beating guidance helped Spotify shares climb 12.2% to $116.61 on Wednesday, its highest mark since June 24.

In the second quarter, Spotify’s subscrip-tion growth was led by Europe and Latin America, while emerging markets such as India, Indonesia and the Philippines were standouts in monthly active users, according to the company’s Q2 2022 earnings report presentation. This is par for the course, according to Spotify CFO Paul Vogel who spoke with Billboard after the earnings re-port published. Emerging markets, he says, will provide user growth more than revenue gains — at least initially.

“We have this dynamic where we still have growth in our developed markets,” says Vogel “And we think the opportunity to increase monetization is really there. We see even faster [user] growth in our developing markets. And monetization will come — a little bit now but more in the years to come.”

Vogel says those emerging markets — large populations with sizable middle classes — are improving over time. Initially,

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Spotify wanted to launch in markets where it had complete understanding of the marketing and product/market fit. But after launching in roughly 80 additional markets in February 2021, Spotify is learning through experience. “We’re just getting better at lo-cal marketing, local advertising [and] tailor-ing the message to individual markets.”

Universal Music Group also sounded a cautious-yet-positive note about subscrip-tion growth in its earnings call on Wednes-day. Micheal Nash, executive vp of digital strategy, noted UMG is “certainly monitor-ing developments” and aware of macroeco-nomic trends but doesn’t see “any indication right now that we’re going to see a problem in terms of sustained growth.” According to Nash, “consumer insights indicate that nearly 60% of subscription growth potential over the next few years is still in our top 10 developed markets.” Nash also cited “a huge opportunity for growth in emerging markets.”

Despite posting better-than-expected gains in monthly active users and subscrib-ers, Spotify does not appear to be taking growth for granted. “I do believe only the paranoid survive,” said CEO Daniel Ek dur-ing Wednesday’s earnings call, “and we are preparing as if things could get worse.” That means watching spending and maintain-ing margins. He reminded analysts Spotify decided to “proactively” reduce its hiring growth rate by 25% in the third quarter, which Billboard reported on June 15.

Importantly, Spotify does not see a “real impact” on subscriber outlook from the increasingly tenuous macroeconomic conditions. Ek said during the earnings call that Spotify expects “similar” net additions — acquisitions net of churn — in the third quarter and “several” markets are trending ahead of forecasts.

He’s similarly restrained about growth potential in subscription fees that have led to small improvements in average revenue per user in recent quarters (ARPU was flat in the second quarter when excluding foreign exchange). “We believe we have the ability to increase pricing over time to monetize higher levels.” However, he added, Spotify is mindful of the headwinds it faces. “While we’ve talked about how well we’ve

done from the user and subs perspective, it still doesn’t change the fact that the macro [economic environment] is not great.”

STOCKSThrough July 29, the % change over the

last week, and the year-to-date change.Universal Music Group (AS: UMG):

22.06 euros, +3.0%, -11.0% YTD Spotify (NYSE: SPOT): $113.02, +1.2%, -51.7% YTD SiriusXM (Nasdaq: SIRI): $6.68, +3.4%, +5.2% YTD Warner Music Group (Nasdaq: WMG): $30.00, +9.1%, -30.5% YTD Live Nation (NYSE: LYV): $93.99, +2.6%, -21.5% YTD HYBE (KS 352820): KRW 175,500, +5.1%, -49.7% YTD iHeartMedia (Nasdaq: IHRT): $7.48, -3.5%, -64.4% YTD Deezer (PA: DEEZR): 3.70 euros, -14.9%, -38.3% YTD

NYSE Composite: 15,327.71, +3.6%, -10.7% YTD Nasdaq: 12,390.69, +4.7%, -20.8% YTD S&P 500: 4,130.29, +4.3%, -13.3% YTD

Should ‘TikTok Music’ Trademark Filing Make Spotify & Apple Music Nervous?BY ELIAS LEIGHT

What does a new trademark filing tell us about TikTok’s music strategy?

In May — but spotted by Business Insider on Thursday — Byte-Dance, TikTok’s parent company, filed a trademark application for a smartphone app named “TikTok Music.” The filing covers a range of possible uses for TikTok Music, including allowing listeners “to pur-chase, play, share, download music, songs, albums, lyrics, [and] quotes,” to “create, recommend, [and] share his/her playlists,”

to “take, edit and upload photographs as the cover of playlists,” and to “comment on music, songs, and albums.”

In addition, the filing indicates that TikTok Music could incorporate “live stream[ing] audio and video interactive me-dia programming in the field of entertain-ment, fashion, sports, and current events” as well as karaoke.

The suggestion, of course, is that Byte-Dance is planning a TikTok spinoff that could more directly rival Spotify beyond just competing for consumers’ attention, but for their streaming subscriptions as well. And while trademark applications are not guarantees a product will launch, they are still good indicators of what a company is planning — since the filings are legal, verified statements that there is at least an intent to use a trademark for the products and services listed in the application.

The social features are of particular interest in the “TikTok Music” filing, which include more commonplace features like creating and sharing playlists and others like commenting on music that are not widely available on Spotify, Apple Music or other leading services. Seeing as TikTok’s popu-larity has grown as a result of Generation Z’s preference for more active, social experi-ences with content, according to MIDiA research — or perhaps the app has helped shaped that preference itself — it’s hard to imagine a new TikTok Music app not lean-ing into that same kind of engagement. This could mean serious competition tomorrow for today’s leading streamers, which have built their success on a more top-down approach to listening with editorially curated playlists. (On Spotify, for example, 16–24-year-olds make up only 25% of its weekly active users, according to MIDiA.)

ByteDance, of course, already has a streaming app — Resso — which has been much-hyped, since launching in India, In-donesia, and Brazil. In 2019, Barry McCar-thy, who was then Spotify’s CFO, praised Resso for its “really clever social features” and Techcrunch reports that the app has been downloaded more than 180 million times to date.

Naturally, this still lags behind TikTok — which is available pretty much every-

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where in the world and earned nearly as many downloads in the first few months of 2022 after reportedly crossing the 1 billion monthly-active-user threshold last year. Those users have shown a voracious appetite for music and helped hundreds of songs gain commercial momentum. But when tracks — or snippets of tracks — pick up steam on TikTok, appearing in hundreds of thousands of videos, users often leave the app to stream the music on their preferred streaming service.

If ByteDance continues to expand its streaming offerings, it’s easy to imagine how users could toggle between different Byte-dance-owned apps — enjoying short-form videos on one and full songs on the other — rather than jumping over to competitors like Spotify or Apple Music. That could make things easier for consumers, and a lot harder for those other streamers.

It’s Game Time: Why the Grammys Finally Recognized Music in Video GamesBY BRIAN HAUNTLY 

Over the past decade, only one video-game soundtrack, for the 2012 title Journey, has received a Grammy nod, for best score

soundtrack for visual media. That number could increase fivefold this year thanks to the addition of a new category: best score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media.

While video-game scores may not be as mainstream as those of TV and film, renowned composers like Hans Zimmer and Michael Giacchino have validated the relevance and importance of video-game music, contributing scores for popular fran-chises like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor. “People have come to realize that game music is serious music,” says Brian Schmidt,

president of the Game Audio Network Guild. “Modern video games have scores that, in addition to serving as the emotional foundation of many games, reflect the in-credible artistry of the composers, produc-ers, performers and other artists involved in its creation. It’s thrilling to see the Record-ing Academy recognize video-game music as the unique art form that it has become.”

This year could see a handful of newer names making a mark in video-game music. Some of 2022’s most likely candidates to receive nominations in the new category will be the soundtracks to Horizon For-bidden West, Call of Duty: Modern War-fare II and God of War Ragnarök.

Schmidt has been advocating for this inclusion for decades, first approaching the academy in 1999 to discuss a Grammy category — and credits the field’s growing popularity as the reason for why this is the year the academy has finally recognized video-game music. “Today,” he says, “artists record covers of game music, symphony orchestras play concerts of game music, and fans flock to conventions dedicated to game music.”

This story originally appeared in the July 30, 2022, issue of Billboard.

New Songwriter of the Year Grammy: Who Would Have Won in Past Years?BY CHRIS HINE 

For the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, which will be presented on Feb. 5, the Recording Acade-my announced five new awards it

will hand out, including songwriter of the year, non-classical. 

With this award, the Academy is seeking mainly to recognize people who work pri-marily as songwriters, not as artists or pro-ducers. Due to the Academy’s established

rules for the award, artists that primarily write their own music, like Taylor Swift or Adele, would be ineligible for the award in most cases, as would writer-producers like Max Martin. Some exceptions may occur, as you’ll see below. 

To be nominated for the award, song-writers need to submit at least five songs in which they are not a lead or featured re-cording artist, or listed as a producer, during the Grammys eligibility period. If they meet that threshold, they can then submit up to four more songs on which they write along with performing or producing. (Got all that? There will be a quiz at the end.) 

While we’ll never know who would have been nominated for songwriter of the year if the category existed at the launch of the live Grammy telecast in 1971, it’s fun to specu-late. Here are our best guesses as to 12 peo-ple or teams who would have won in prior ceremonies. In all cases, we tried to adhere to the Grammys’ desired qualifications for the award — and to the specific eligibility periods for each Grammys year — as best we could with available information.

(One other note: The Academy now disallows submissions of cover versions of songs that were first released prior to the eligibility year in question. But the Grammys didn’t always make that distinction. Some, like “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (1972), “Wind Beneath My Wings” (1989) and “Unforgettable” (1991) even won song of the year. Since the Grammys didn’t used to exclude cover versions, we’re not going to exclude them either in this exercise for some previous winners.)  1

1971: Burt Bacharach and Hal DavidMost relevant works: Carpenters “(They

Long to Be) Close to You,” the Fifth Dimen-sion’s “One Less Bell to Answer”

The legendary songwriting team of com-poser Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David had one of their most fruitful periods in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. They won an Oscar for 1969’s “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” B.J. Thomas’ Hot 100 chart-topper from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The following year, they saw two of their classics climb the charts. Carpenters’ wistful cover of their 1963 song “Close to

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You” became the duo’s first No. 1 hit on the Hot 100, while Marilyn McCoo cried her heart out on “One Less Bell to Answer,” which reached No. 2. 

21972: Carole KingMost relevant works: Her own Tap-

estry album, James Taylor’s “You’ve Got a Friend,” Donny Osmond’s “Go Away Little Girl,” Quincy Jones’ “Smackwater Jack,” Barbra Streisand’s “Where You Lead” 

The Grammys designed this award so singers who write their own music largely wouldn’t win it. But King, who spent the first part of her epic career cranking out classics as a songwriter with ex-husband Gerry Goffin in the 60’s, could have gotten around those obstacles for the 1972 awards. Aside from creating a classic work and com-mercial juggernaut in Tapestry and releasing its unfairly, but perhaps inevitably, over-shadowed follow-up Music, here’s what else King did in 1971: Gave Taylor her blessing to release “You’ve Got a Friend,” his lone Hot 100 No. 1 hit, as a single (which made King the first woman to win song of the year), watched as one of her ’60’s chestnuts, “Go Away Little Girl” topped the Hot 100 and became the third song written by King to hit No. 1 that year, and wrote three songs on famed background vocalist Merry Clayton’s self-titled album.

Several other artists also recorded notable versions of King songs that charted in that eligibility window. It seems King would have had enough song submissions that she didn’t sing to satisfy the rules. Then she would’ve been able to include some of her other recorded Tapestry songs like “So Far Away” or “It’s Too Late” in her theoretical Grammy submission. There would have been no stopping King that year — not even the fine print of Grammy rules. 

31974: Jim WeatherlyMost relevant works: Gladys Knight

and the Pips’ “Midnight Train to Georgia,” “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye),” “Best Thing That Ever Hap-pened to Me” 

The late Weatherly’s pen and the raw emotion in Gladys Knight’s voice teamed up for a stretch of singles in 1973 and early ‘74

that became some of the most recognizable of Knight’s career. First, Gladys and the Pips released “Neither One of Us,” which climbed to No. 2 on the Hot 100 in early ‘73. After that success, they went back to Weatherly’s catalog for their ‘73 album Imagination, which contained five Weatherly composi-tions, including “Midnight Train to Geor-gia,” a No. 1 smash that became one of the most enduring songs about broken dreams. Then came “Best Thing That Ever Hap-pened to Me,” another Weatherly tune that reached No. 3 in early ‘74.

Knight and the Pips had a great year at the Grammys in ‘74, when they won twice: best pop performance by a duo or group for “Neither One of Us,” and best R&B perfor-mance by a duo or group for “Midnight,” while Weatherly was nominated for best R&B song for “Midnight.”

41984: Rod TempertonMost relevant works: Michael Jackson’s

“Thriller,” James Ingram and Michael Mc-Donald’s “Yah Mo B There”

Temperton had already been a part of the winning formula with Jackson and producer Quincy Jones prior to the Thriller sessions. He had written three songs for Jackson’s Off the Wall, including the title track and the Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Rock With You.” When Jones and Jackson were making Thriller, they turned to Temperton again for three songs. Again, he helped come up with the song that was the album’s namesake – and which lives on each Halloween. Temperton also wrote “Baby Be Mine” and “The Lady in My Life,” allowing him to collect what must have been some nice royalty checks from the best-selling studio album of all time. 

“Yah Mo B There” became an R&B song of the year nominee in 1985, but it appeared on Ingram’s album, which was released in July 1983. Per the rules for songwriter of the year, it would have to have been included in Temperton’s submission list for the 1984 Grammys, even though it wasn’t released as a single until that year. 

51991: Ben MarguliesMost relevant works: Mariah Carey’s

“Vision of Love,” “Love Takes Time” and “Someday”

Margulies was Carey’s first primary song-writing collaborator — and the pair wrote seven songs for Carey’s self-titled debut album, which was nominated for album of the year. Those seven songs included “Vi-sion of Love,” a song of the year nominee. Three of their collaborations hit No. 1 on the Hot 100: “Vision of Love,” “Love Takes Time” and “Someday.” Despite being Mar-gulies’ co-writer on all seven of the Mariah Carey tracks, Carey herself would likely not have been eligible for the award, due to also being the credited performer on each of the cuts (as well as a producer on one of them, “Vanishing”). 

61997: Diane WarrenMost relevant works: Celine Dion’s

“Because You Loved Me,” Toni Braxton’s “Un-Break My Heart”

Award shows seem to love to tease War-ren, who is 0-for-13 at the Oscars and has won just one Grammy despite 15 nomina-tions as one of the most commercially successful songwriters of all time. For all the snubs, there was no denying her in 1997: Warren won her lone Grammy that year for “Because You Loved Me,” a song of the year nominee that won best song written for visual media. She then wrote a 11-week Hot 100 No. 1 for Braxton in “Un-Break My Heart.” Some find Warren’s songs overly sappy, but she deserved the award this year for two of her best and biggest hits.

71999: Kandi BurrussMost relevant works: TLC’s “No

Scrubs,” Destiny’s Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills”Before she was a reality TV star and just

after her group Xscape went on hiatus, Bur-russ had a nice chart run as a songwriter in the late 90’s and early 2000s. In 1999, she and producer/writer Kevin “She’kspere” Briggs (who would likely not be eligible for this award, due to him also being a credited producer on his co-written tracks) penned two best R&B song nominees and Hot 100 No. 1 hits in “Bills, Bills, Bills” and “No Scrubs,” with the latter taking home the award. Her songwriting success helped pave the way for a solo career and opportunities to work with several big-name artists.

8

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2007: Johnta AustinMost relevant works: Mary J. Blige’s “Be

Without You,” Mariah Carey’s “Don’t Forget About Us”

Austin was on fire in the mid-2000s like few other songwriters have been at the Grammys. At the 2006 awards, he picked up best R&B song for co-writing Carey’s 14-week Hot 100 No. 1 “We Belong Together,” which was also nominated for song of the year. In 2007, he one-upped himself, pulling off another song of the year nomination for Blige’s smash “Be Without You” and adding two R&B song nominations for “Be With-out You” and Carey’s 17th Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Don’t Forget About Us.” When he won that year for “Be Without You,” Austin joined Stevie Wonder as the only two songwriters in Grammy history to win best R&B song in consecutive years. 

92011: Bonnie McKeeMost relevant works: Katy Perry’s “Cali-

fornia Gurls” (featuring Snoop Dogg) and “Teenage Dream,” Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite” 

The Max Martin-Dr. Luke hit parade was in high gear in the early 2010s, and McKee was a big reason why. She co-wrote some of the biggest hits from Perry’s Teenage Dream, an album of the year nominee, including three No. 1 songs — the title track, “Califor-nia Gurls,” and “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).” She paired that success with instant party anthem “Dynamite,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100. Martin and Dr. Luke are not dual monoliths. They have used several songwriters over the years to help them craft their pop confections, with McKee be-ing among the best. 

102012: Ester DeanMost relevant works: Rihanna’s “What’s

My Name” (featuring Drake) and “S&M,” Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass”

It seems like the Grammys created songwriter of the year to allow someone like Ester Dean to get her due. Dean has co-written some of the biggest hits of the last 15 years, but has zero Grammys to her name. She could have walked away with the award in 2012 for writing a trio of memo-rable hits from the early 2010s in Rihanna’s “What’s My Name” and “S&M,” both No.

1s on the Hot 100, along with “Super Bass,” one of Minaj’s most recognizable songs. She also had a hand in writing Beyonce’s “Countdown” and Kelly Clarkson’s top 10 Hot 100 hit, “Mr. Know It All.” Quite the prolific year. Dean’s contributions helped Rihanna’s Loud garner an album of the year nomination in 2012 – the superstar’s only nod in that category as a lead artist.

112018: Justin TranterMost relevant works: Julia Michaels’

“Issues,” Imagine Dragons’ “Believer,” and Selena Gomez’s “Bad Liar” 

Tranter and frequent collaborator Julia Michaels got a well-earned song of the year nomination for Michaels’ “Issues,” but that wasn’t all Tranter was up to for the 2018 Grammys. They showcased their range in turning from pop to rock in helping write “Believer,” a No. 4 Hot 100 hit that had strong enough legs to be certified Diamond by the RIAA last year. Tranter and Michaels also helped Gomez come up with the catchy top 20 hit “Bad Liar,” which garnered critical praise (including the No. 1 spot on the Billboard staff’s best songs of 2017 list). 

122020: Lori McKennaMost relevant works: Lady Gaga’s “Al-

ways Remember Us This Way,” “I’ll Never Love Again”

McKenna and Natalie Hemby (along with Gaga) each received a song of the year nomi-nation for “Always Remember Us This Way,” and won best song written for visual media for “I’ll Never Love Again” that year. Both were from the A Star is Born soundtrack, which was released at the beginning of the 2020 Grammys eligibility year in October 2018. This award could also probably go to Hemby that year, but McKenna pulls a whisker ahead thanks to her involvement on three sublime tracks from Sara Ba-reilles’ Amidst the Chaos. Among those was “Saint Honesty,” the song that won Bareilles her lone Grammy to date in the category of best American roots performance.

Peloton Sued for ‘Outrageous’ Use Of Cypress Hill SongsBY BILL DONAHUE

Two years after settling a massive lawsuit over music, Peloton is facing a new copyright case that claims it’s again using unlicensed

tunes during workout classes, this time from one of the original members of Cypress Hill.

In a complaint filed last week in Los Angeles federal court, a company called Soul Assassins Inc. — owned by ex-Cypress Hill DJ Lawrence Muggerud aka DJ Muggs — claimed that Peloton had used “Insane in the Brain,” “(Rap) Superstar” and other hits without paying for Muggerud’s portions of the rights.

And his lawyers made a point to say that Peloton ought to know better by now.

“Peloton’s use of [the songs] in its work-out videos without a license from Soul Assassins is an outrageous, willful infringe-ment because Peloton was sued by a group of music publishers in March of 20019 for doing the exact same thing,” Muggerud’s lawyers wrote in their July 25 complaint. “Clearly … Peloton knew unequivocally that it had no right to use any musical compo-sition in its exercise videos without first obtaining a license for one hundred percent of the song.”

Muggerud also said Peloton had used House of Pain’s iconic hit “Jump Around,” a song he produced and co-owns with a 40% songwriting stake.

Amid its meteoric rise, Peloton was sued in March 2019 by a coalition of music pub-lishers that claimed the startup was using more than 1000 popular songs during work-out classes without securing sync licenses. The case cited unlicensed uses of Rihanna, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, and Drake, among many oth-ers.

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“Peloton is a textbook willful infringer,” the publishers wrote. “Peloton fully under-stood what the copyright law required, hav-ing entered into sync licenses with certain other copyright holders, while trampling the rights of Plaintiffs by using their musical works for free and without permission.”

The lawsuit settled in February 2020, with the companies saying they had entered into “a joint collaboration agreement” that would “further optimize Peloton’s music licensing systems and processes.” Peloton said the deal would “ensure that songwriters are, and continue to be, fairly compensated.”

But in the new lawsuit filed last week, Muggerud said those promises had not been kept when it came to his music: “Plaintiff has not granted Peloton any right or license to use the musical compositions.”

Muggerud and Soul Assassins Inc. own portions of the compositions to the songs at issue, like a 50 percent stake in both “Insane in the Brain” and “(Rap) Superstar.” It’s unclear who owns the rest of the publishing rights and if Peloton secured licenses with those owners.

When reached by Billboard, a rep for Peloton declined to comment on pending litigation.

Netflix Sues ‘Unofficial Bridgerton Musical’ Creators Days After Sold-Out Live ShowBY BILL DONAHUE

Days after musicians Abigail Bar-low and Emily Bear performed their Grammy-winning Unoffi-cial Bridgerton Musical to a sold-

out audience at the Kennedy Center, Netflix is suing them for “blatant infringement” of the company’s rights to the popular period drama.

In a complaint filed Friday (July 29) in D.C. federal court, Netflix accused the duo of piggybacking on “the creative work and hard-earned success” of hundreds of art-ists and staffers behind Bridgerton – using the company’s copyrights and trademarks without permission to build a “brand for themselves.”

“Netflix owns the exclusive right to cre-ate Bridgerton songs, musicals, or any other derivative works based on Bridgerton,” the company wrote. “Barlow & Bear cannot take that right—made valuable by others’ hard work—for themselves, without permission. Yet that is exactly what they have done.”

Barlow & Bear launched the Unofficial Bridgerton Musical on TikTok in 2020, garnering millions of likes. The viral songs were eventually released as an album, which won best musical theater album at the 2022 Grammy Awards in April.

But according to Netflix’s lawsuit, none of that was sanctioned by the studio that actu-ally created the soapy historical romance se-ries, which debuted in 2020 and has become one of the streamer’s biggest successes of the last few years.

“When asked directly, Netflix told Barlow & Bear, time and time again, that such works were not authorized,” the company wrote. “Despite their assurances to the contrary, Barlow & Bear are now claiming carte blanche authorization to profit from Netflix’s protected intellectual property in whatever way they see fit.”

The breaking point appears to have been this week’s sold-out performance at the Kennedy Center, which took place despite “Netflix’s repeated objections” and featured tickets ranging up to $149. Netflix says the two are also planning a show at Royal Albert Hall in London and other performances around the world.

“The live show featured over a dozen songs that copied verbatim dialogue, charac-ter traits and expression, and other elements from Bridgerton,” Netflix wrote. “Through-out the performance, Barlow & Bear misrepresented to the audience that they were using Netflix’s Bridgerton trademark ‘with permission,’ while Netflix vigorously objected.”

Fan fiction is a legal gray area, and courts

have split on whether such projects are kosher under intellectual property laws. Non-commercial projects and parodies are often ruled a legal “fair use” of the underly-ing material, but lucrative adaptations can be ruled a “derivative work” that needed a license.

In this week’s lawsuit, Netflix says the Unofficial Bridgerton Musical was clearly the latter: “Barlow & Bear’s conduct began on social media, but stretches ‘fan fiction’ well past its breaking point. It is blatant infringement of intellectual property rights. The copyright and trademark laws do not allow Barlow & Bear to appropriate oth-ers’ creative work and goodwill to benefit themselves.”

Barlow & Bear did not immediately re-spond to a request for comment.

Travis Scott Bringing ‘Road to Utopia’ Residency to Zouk Nightclub in Las VegasBY MELINDA SHECKELLS

Travis Scott will return to the stage Sept. 17 with the first of seven appearances at Zouk Nightclub inside Resorts World Las Vegas.

Described by representatives as a multi-year partnership, an additional date of Oct. 15 is also on sale.

A statement from Resorts World describes “Road to Utopia” as a “mind-bending, first-of-its-kind nightclub residency experience,” taking advantage of the venue’s technologi-cal prowess. The lighting system, known as Mothership, produces a kaleidoscope of visuals as it moves to the music, floating above the dance floor. Advanced sound from an L-Acoustics-driven system powers the audio. The experience changes nightly to meet the headlining artist’s specifications.

“Travis plans to utilize all of this to his ad-vantage,” says Ronn Nicolli, chief marketing

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officer of Resorts World Las Vegas. “He is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of artist with such a creative mind, we’re excited for what he will be able to create in the space.”

Scott is known to bring fervent energy and dynamic visuals to both his nightclub and large venue sets — those behind the deal think it is an ideal match between performer and stage.

It is expected that Cactus Jack will run through his top hits as well as feature pre-views of upcoming tracks.

Nicolli shares that the deal happened organically with Scott first visiting the club as a guest, then as a performer in May.

“From there, our teams had built such a great rapport with one another and there was so much great synergy between Travis’s creative vision and Zouk — it just made sense to continue the relationship and build a great partnership,” he says.

Scott performed at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards in May at the MGM Grand Garden arena in Las Vegas and also showed up for that unbilled performance at Zouk. It was announced shortly after that he would headline Day N Vegas 2022, but that event was later canceled by promoters, citing logistics and timing unrelated to Scott.

“Travis had a surprise performance at the club and the energy in the room was amaz-ing,” Nicolli says. “The crowd was shocked to see Travis suddenly appear on stage. We had such a great experience working with him and the team, and we knew he would be a perfect fit within the Zouk family.”

Since the Astroworld tragedy on Nov. 5, 2021—just a few days before he was sched-uled to headline Day N Vegas 2021—Scott has only performed a handful of gigs. His first festival appearance occurred at last week’s Rolling Loud in Miami when he joined Future onstage.

In 2019, Scott hosted an Astroworld resi-dency at Marquee Nightclub in The Cosmo-politan, owned by Tao Group. Earlier that year, he opened the now shuttered KAOS Nightclub at Palms alongside Skrillex.

Scott joins fellow resident performers Zedd, Tiesto, G-Eazy, Becky G, Disclosure and Deadmau5, among many others.

“Our goal for Zouk from the beginning was to curate a diverse lineup” says Nicolli.

“Having top talent is key and there’s no doubt that Travis is one of the best, but be-yond that we always want to ensure that we bring in artists that provide different music styles, have diverse backgrounds and will deliver a good show.”

Nicolli adds that “we are looking for other opportunities to work with Travis and his brand portfolio across the property to create a complete resort partnership.”

As Zouk approaches its one year anniver-sary, Nicolli calls out that the brand—widely known in Asia—made strides to establish itself stateside thanks to signing artists like Scott.

“For any new venue or property, the big-gest challenge is working out all the kinks and building brand recognition. It’s a lot of work and it takes both time and patience,” he says. “We opened in the middle of a pandemic, which of course impacted visita-tion across the city in 2021. As restrictions have loosened over time, we’ve seen that the demand for nightlife experiences and the desire to just let loose and have fun has increased.”

Lollapalooza Sets Dates For 2023 Edition in ChicagoBY GIL KAUFMAN 

The sweat is just drying from this weekend’s blow-out 2022 edition of Lollapalooza on the lakefront in Chicago, which means that it’s

already time to start gearing up for next summer. As fans were straggling home following this year’s blowout featuring Metallica, Lil Baby, Dua Lipa, Machine Gun Kelly, J. Cole, Big Sean, Kygo, Green Day, Dua Lipa, Charlie XCX and the first solo show by BTS‘ J-Hope, organizers revealed on Monday morning (Aug. 1) that they will return for more around the same time next year, and for many years to come.

Lollapalooza will be back in Chicago’s Grant Park from Aug. 3-6 in 2023 with ho-tel packages already available for early

planners out there; the Chicago Tribune also reported that on Sunday that Mayor Lori Lightfoot confirmed that organizers had agreed to terms with the city that will keep the fest in Chicago for another decade.

This year’s Lolla had something for every-one, including Metallica tricking out their Thursday night headlining set with a tribute to Stranger Things‘ “Master of Puppets”-loving Eddie Munson during a performance of their beloved 1986 thrash metal classic.

After running through fan favorites including “Enter Sandman,” “Nothing Else Matters” and a cover of AC/DC’s “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wan-na Rock ‘N’ Roll),” Metallica closed out the show with the song that’s currently in the midst of a streaming renaissance thanks to its inclusion in the finale episode of Stranger Things‘ fourth season. Staged in front of a big screen playing the show’s stand-out scene — which features Joseph Quinn’s metalhead character epically shredding “Master of Puppets” on his electric guitar as a means of distracting killer bats in the Up-side Down — the band synchronized their performance of the song with Eddie’s.

In addition, drill rapper Lil Durk is on the mend after having an onstage mishap in which he was hit in the face with some pyro during his Saturday evening set. “Due to the incident that happened at Lollapalooza in Chicago on stage, I’ma take a break & focus on my health,” Lil Durk captioned a post on Instagram, which showed a photo of the hip-hop artist in a hospital room wearing a mask and a large patch covering his right eye.

And, if BTS’ J-Hope was nervous about his first-ever solo set outside the comfort of the K-pop supergroup’s orbit he didn’t seem to show it when he became the first South Korean artist to headline a major U.S. festival. As the group is in the midst of a break while its 7 members explore solo work, J-Hope wowed the 100,000 crowd with high-energy performances of songs from his new Jack in the Box album.

The 18-song, hour-long set included tracks from Jack, as well the MC’s Hope World debut solo mixtape, such as “More,” “Arson,” “HANGSANG” and “P.O.P. (Peace of Piece),” as well as retooled versions of the

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BTS smash “Dynamite” and “BTS Cypher Pt. 1” and a run through his Becky G collab “Chicken Noodle Soup,” with a cameo from the “Mamiii” singer.

Swaggering across the stage in a loose black shirt and matching pants, Hope play-fully introduced himself to the audience by noting that he’s a member of BTS, “but you can call me J,” the rapper smiled as the crowd exploded in cheers during a set that melded hip-hop with pop, rock and some smoothed-out R&B. “You guys are f—ing crazy,” he said, thanking ARMY for showing up. “A lot of you may be seeing me for the first time today…. it’s great to be here.”

Bizarrap & Quevedo’s ‘Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52’ Tops Billboard Global Charts for Second WeekBY GARY TRUST 

Bizarrap, from Argentina, and Quevedo, from Spain, con-tinue to boast the biggest song in the world, as “Bzrp Music Ses-

sions, Vol. 52” spends a second week at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Bill-board Global Excl. U.S. charts. A week earlier, the track became the first leader on the lists for each act.

Meanwhile, OneRepublic‘s “I Ain’t Worried,” from the Top Gun: Maver-ick soundtrack, flies to both tallies’ top 10, climbing 12-9 on the Global 200 and 14-10 on Global Excl. U.S.

The two charts, which began in Septem-ber 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Billboard Global 200 is in-clusive of worldwide data and the Billboard

Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the U.S.

Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

’52’ No. 1 for Second Week on Global 200

“Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52,” by Argen-tine producer/recording artist Bizarrap and Spanish freestyler Quevedo, spends a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200, as it drew 92 million streams (up 4%) and sold 1,000 downloads (up 34%) worldwide in the July 22-28 tracking week.

“For me, he was the perfect bridge between the Argentine urban movement and the world,” Federico “Fede” Lauria, president of Bizarrap’s label, Dale Play Records, told Billboard last week of his 2019 signing of the artist whose “Sessions” series began in 2018. “You could already see his impact in Argentina. His sessions were already having an effect.”

(Bizarrap will speak at Billboard Latin Music Week, Sept. 26-30, at the Iconic Songwriter Q&A, presented by Sony Music Publishing. You can register here.)

“My music is now heard around the world, and it’s something that’s honestly just incredible,” marveled Quevedo, who noted that Bizarrap reached out to him via Instagram for their collaboration. “He told me he liked what I was doing and was hop-ing we could do music together. The timing was perfect because I was in Argentina recording. So, we decided to do the session then. We recorded the song [and] then just spent the day laughing and watching videos on YouTube.

“Whatever Bizarrap touches turns gold,” Quevedo further mused. “Also, the song is perfect for summer and festivals, and people can sing along and dance to it. Plus, I’m a new artist, so I think people are intrigued about what I’m doing.”

Harry Styles’ “As It Was” holds at No. 2 on the Global 200, after a record 12 weeks

at No. 1 beginning in April; Bad Bunny and Chencho Corleone’s “Me Porto Bonito” re-bounds 4-3, after reaching No. 2; Kate Bush’s 1985 anthem “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” falls 3-4, following three weeks at the summit sparked by its sync in the fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things; and Bad Bunny’s own “Tití Me Preguntó” is steady at No. 5, after hitting No. 4.

Elsewhere in the Global 200’s top 10, OneRepublic’s “I Ain’t Worried” jumps 12-9, with 31.3 million streams (up 3%) and 7,000 sold (essentially even week-over-week) worldwide. The song marks the Ryan Tedder-fronted group’s first top 10 since the survey began; on the U.S.-based Billboard Hot 100, the single has so far reached No. 24 (as of the Aug. 6 list), marking the band’s highest-charting hit since 2014.

The song is the first Global 200 top 10 from the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack; the set’s “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga rose to No. 37 in June.

Bizarrap & Quevedo Also Keep Atop Global Excl. U.S.

“Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52” by Bizar-rap and Quevedo concurrently crowns the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart for a second week, with 86.7 million streams (up 2%) and 800 downloads sold (up 28%) in territories outside the U.S. in the July 22-28 tracking week. (Of the song’s global totals in that span, 94% of its streams and 79% of its sales were from beyond the U.S., slightly gaining domestically from respective splits of 96% and 82% a week earlier, as the track holds at No. 5 on the U.S.-based Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart and surges 20-13 on Hot Latin Songs.)

The rest of the Global Excl. U.S. chart’s top five lines up as on the Global 200: Harry Styles’ “As It Was” keeps at No. 2, following a record 13 weeks at No. 1; Bad Bunny and Chencho Corleone’s “Me Porto Bonito” rises 4-3, after reaching No. 2; Kate Bush’s “Run-ning Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” slips 3-4, after it topped Global Excl. U.S. three weeks earlier; and Bad Bunny’s “Tití Me Preguntó” is stationary at No. 5, following its No. 4 peak.

Also as on the Global 200, OneRepublic’s “I Ain’t Worried” becomes the band’s first Global Excl. U.S. top 10, charging 14-10 with

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22.2 million streams and 3,000 sold outside the U.S.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated Aug. 6, 2022) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Aug. 2). For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard‘s sub-scription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboard-charts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes an exhaustive and thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data, removing any suspicious or unverifiable activity using established criteria before final chart calculations are made and published. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious and unverifiable is disqualified prior to final calculations.

Gary Allan Leaving Longtime Label Home UMG NashvilleBY JESSICA NICHOLSON

Gary Allan is exiting his longtime label home, UMG Nashville.

The “Watching Airplanes” hit-maker revealed the news on so-

cial media Friday (July 29), saying, “For the last 25 years plus, UMG Nashville has been my record label home. I’m very thankful to the staff members at [UMGN imprints] Decca, MCA and EMI for the belief and sup-port they have had in me, but it is now time for a new adventure. I am excited for what the future holds and look forward to sharing more news soon.”

Over the past 25 years, Allan has earned 11 top 10 Billboard Country Airplay hits, including four chart leaders. Allan earned his first No. 1 Country Airplay hit with “Man to Man” in March 2003, followed that same

year by the two-week chart leader “Tough Little Boys.” He also notched No. 1s includ-ing “Nothing on But The Radio” in 2004, as well as “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)” in 2013.

California native Allan has released 10 studio albums, beginning with his debut ma-jor label album, 1996’s Used Heart for Sale, which released via Decca Records Nashville.

His latest album came last year with the 13-track album Ruthless, working with producers Mark Wright, Tony Brown, Greg Droman and Jay Joyce. Last year, Allan also embarked on a U.S. tour, The Ruthless Tour: 25 Years The Hard Way, which included shows in Dallas, Detroit and more.

In April, fellow UMG Nashville art-ist Lauren Alaina announced that she had parted ways with UMG Nashville and Mercury Nashville, and earlier this week an-nounced her signing to Big Loud Records.

UMGN declined to comment.

Kate Bush Extends Australian Chart Run, as Central Cee Cracks Top 10BY LARS BRANDLE 

Kate Bush is still running on Aus-tralia’s singles chart, and no one can catch her.

The veteran English singer’s mid-80s classic “Running Up That Hill” (via Warner) reigns supreme over the ARIA Singles Chart for a seventh week, thanks to its appearance in season four of Stranger Things.

Further down the chart, Steve Lacy im-pacts the Top 5 with “Bad Habit” (RCA/Sony), up 9-5 for a new peak in its third week.

Meanwhile, Central Cee makes his first appearance in the top tier as “Doja” (ADA/Warner) bows at No. 8, for the highest new entry on the current frame.

Also new to the chart this week is Billie Eilish’s “Guitar Songs” release “TV,” part of

a two-pack which dropped July 21 and also includes “The 30th.” “TV” is new at No. 23.

Over on the ARIA Albums Chart for the week Aug. 1, 2022, Harry Styles’ Harry’s House (Columbia/Sony) locks-up another week at No. 1.

Australian country start Amber Law-rence starts at No. 5 on the albums survey with Living For The Highlights (ABC/Or-chard), her seventh studio album. It’s the followup to 2019’s Spark, which peaked at No. 13.

A smattering of new releases drop further down the list, including titles by Odesza (The Last Goodbye at No. 22 via Ninja Tune/Inertia), Joey Bada$$ (2000 at No. 41 via Columbia/Sony), Jack White (Entering Heaven Alive at No. 43 via Third Man Records/Orchard), and Alex the Astronaut (How To Grow A Sunflower Underwater at No. 47 via Warner).

Finally, a muddy edition of Splendour in the Grass was just ticket for Tyler, the Creator, who enjoys sales spikes after his headline performance at the three-day fest.

Igor (Columbia/Sony) rises 50-26 and Call Me If You Get Lost (Columbia/Sony) lifts 86-31.

Toby Leighton-Pope Appointed Managing Director of TEG Europe Ahead of ‘Rapid Expansion’BY LARS BRANDLE

TEG has its sights set on expansion across the U.K. and Europe, led by seasoned concerts professional Toby Leighton-Pope.

The former AEG Presents and Live Na-tion executive is named managing director of TEG Europe, the recently-announced U.K.-based structure which is active across live entertainment, ticketing, venue, digital

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and data.In this new role, Leighton-Pope will have

duties for the operation, strategic direction and “rapid expansion” of TEG Europe, gath-ering Ticketek, TEG Live Europe (including the former TEG MJR touring business); TEG Venues (including interests in 10 ven-ues); the Propaganda indie club brand; and Ovation, TEG’s data science and analytics business.

Prior to joining TEG, Leighton-Pope served as co-CEO of AEG Presents U.K. from 2016 to December 2021, and in several positions during a 15-year run with Live Na-tion, latterly as senior VP music.

Leighton-Pope has promoted tours of some of the world’s biggest acts, including Bruce Springsteen, Michael Buble, Jack Johnson and Arcade Fire. Last year, he was named in Billboard’s 2021 International Power Players list, and in 2016 was nomi-nated as international promoter of the year at the Pollstar Awards.

The incoming exec’s “outstanding record in the live entertainment industry speaks for itself,” says TEG CEO Geoff Jones in a statement. “His ideas, connections, and infectious enthusiasm make him the perfect choice to lead the further expansion of TEG’s successful integrated model into the vibrant U.K. and European markets.”

Adds Leighton-Pope: “We have a huge opportunity to grow our business and build on TEG’s enduring track record of touring success in concerts, sport, festivals, theatre, musicals, exhibitions, family entertainment, comedy, and e-sports, and Ticketek’s 40+ years’ experience ticketing major inter-national events and partnering with the world’s premier venues.”

Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, TEG operates worldwide out of seven coun-try offices and includes TEG Live, TEG Sport, TEG Experiences, TEG Dainty, TEG Europe, SXSW Sydney, TEG Van Egmond, Laneway Festival, TEG Rockefeller, Hand-some Tours, Qudos Bank Arena, Ticketek and Ovation.

U.S. investment company Silver Lake acquired TEG in 2019 in a deal said to be worth upwards of $1 billion.

Mark Vaughan to Lead Live Nation’s Promoter Team For Australia and NZBY LARS BRANDLE

Mark Vaughan lands at Live Na-tion, where he leads the pro-moter team for Australia and New Zealand as vice president

– talent and artist development.With effect from Monday (Aug. 1),

Vaughan works alongside LN’s existing promoter team to continue to “best serve artists as they hit the road,” reads a state-ment welcoming the new recruit.

The Australian concerts veteran has spent much of his career in Europe, where he served as partner/promoter at Norway’s All Things Live, said to be the largest indepen-dent concert promoter in the Nordics.

At the Oslo-based live music specialist, he worked with such artists as Rammstein, Justin Bieber, Twenty-One Pilots, Kendrick Lamar, Green Day, Shawn Mendes, Lorde and others.

“For a long time I have been closely fol-lowing the live market in Australia and New Zealand and admiring the work of Live Nation,” Vaughan comments. “The team are delivering a stellar roster and growing number of tours from entry-level club acts to stadium artists, and it’s super exciting to come back home and lead a talented, suc-cessful and dynamic promoter team.”

Live Nation Concerts’ Talent & Tour-ing team produces hundreds of tours each year across Australia and New Zealand, and beyond, working the likes of Beyonce, BTS, Crowded House, Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga, Drake, U2, Jay-Z, Post Malone, Billie Eilish, Pink, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and more.

Bringing in a “world-class promoter” like Vaughan is a “great add to our Live Nation team as he brings in-depth knowledge of Australia, New Zealand and the global tour-

ing market,” notes Roger Field, president of Live Nation Asia Pacific, “especially as art-ists continue expanding their tours around the world. Mark has a proven track record of delivering hit tours for huge artists, and we look forward to him continuing that success at Live Nation and welcoming him home.”

Vaughan is the latest piece in the con-stantly-growing concerts machine that is LN’s Australasian affiliate.

In recent weeks, LN added Anita’s The-atre, in Thirroul, a northern seaside suburb of Wollongong, about 40 miles south of Syd-ney, to its venues portfolio, which already includes The Palais Theatre in Melbourne, the Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane, and the soon-to-open Hindley Street Music Hall in Adelaide. The historic theater be-comes LN’s first regional venue in Australia.

Separately, LN announced the mid-July strategic acquisition of Bec Sutherland’s Jubilee Street, one of the region’s promi-nent comedy artist management companies. With that arrangement, Sutherlands steps down from her role as VP of comedy at Live Nation APAC, to focus as managing director of Jubilee Street, overseeing her 11-strong roster which includes Julia Morris, Urzila Carlson, Nazeem Hussain, Kate Langbroek and Melanie Bracewell.

Also, LN is partnering with Melbourne Royal on the 11-night live music program for 2022 Melbourne Royal Show – The Show After Dark. Running from Sept. 22 to Oct. 2, the program’s headliners include The Ve-ronicas, Baker Boy, Bag Raiders and Sneaky Sound System.

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BTS May Still Be Able to Perform While Serving in MilitaryBY BILLBOARD STAFF 

BTS might still be able to perform overseas while serving in South Korea’s military, according to the country’s defense minister Lee

Jong-sup.The news is crucial now more than ever,

as all South Korean men between the ages of 18-28 are required to serve in the nation’s military for at least 18 months. In 2018, the nation passed a revision of the Military Service Act (which some referred to as the “BTS Law”) that allowed K-pop stars to postpone their military service until they turn 30.

BTS member Jin, however, turns 30 in December, causing fans to worry about the future of the group. Lee Jong-sup recently said during a parliamentary session that by allowing BTS to continue performing even while serving, the military could serve na-tional interests without affecting the shrink-ing pool of personnel due to low birth rates.

“Even if they join the military, there would be a way to give them a chance to practice and perform together if there are scheduled concerts abroad,” he said, accord-ing to a report by Reuters. “As many people highly value [artists serving] in the military, that may help boost their popularity even more.”

While South Korea allows for some elite athletes and classical musicians to avoid the mandatory military service, there is currently no similar exemption for pop artists. The 2018 Military Service Act revi-sion allowed K-pop entertainers to apply for a deferment if they’ve received govern-ment medals for elevating South Korea’s cultural influence around the world. All seven members of BTS qualified after being awarded the country’s Hwagwan orders of cultural merit from the government in

2018 during the Korean Popular Culture & Arts Awards.

The South Korean parliament is also now debating a bill that would shorten military service for K-pop stars to three weeks from about two years.

These Six Artists Could Make History at the Latin GrammysBY LEILA COBO 

Over the course of the Latin Grammys’ 22-year history, the awards ceremony has become one of the hardest to predict.

Case in point: Last year, two veteran acts with outlier projects — Ruben Blades with Roberto Delgado & Orquesta and Caetano Veloso — won album and record of the year, respectively, over global chart-toppers. With its bilingual scope (recordings must be at least 51% in Spanish or Portuguese) and vast, pan-regional reach that includes music released throughout Latin America, Spain, Portugal and the United States, nominees tend to be diverse, multigenerational and multigenre. With Bad Bunny’s continued dominance, he and these five other artists could break records in the Big Four catego-ries this year.

Bad BunnyBad Bunny has earned an album of the

year nod two years in a row: in 2021 for El Último Tour del Mundo and in 2020 for both YHLQMDLG and Oasis (his joint release with J Balvin). It’s a feat matched only by Spanish star Alejandro Sanz, who won in 2001 and 2002 with El Alma Al Aire and MTV Unplugged, respectively. Unlike Sanz, Bad Bunny is yet to win in a Big Four category, but if he does score a nomination for Un Verano Sin Ti, he’ll be-come the first artist to get three album of the year nods in a row. The artist has also taken home four Latin Grammys across other categories.

BizarrapArgentine producer Bizarrap was a qua-

druple threat in 2021, scoring nods for pro-ducer of the year and best new artist, as well as nominations for his BZRP Music Sessions with Nathy Peluso in best urban/fusion performance and with Snow Tha Product in best rap/hip-hop song. While he left empty-handed last year, Bizarrap now seems poised for song and record of the year nominations, thanks to an impressive array of sessions with guests that included Villano Antillano, Nicky Jam, Anuel AA and Tiago PZK. If Bizarrap scores a song of the year nod, he’ll become the first producer nominated as an artist in the category.

Karol GKarol G didn’t release an album during

the current Latin Grammy eligibility period, and her widely acclaimed KG0516 was surprisingly shut out of the Big Four last year (though album single “Tusa,” featur-ing Nicki Minaj, was up for song and record of the year in 2020). But in the 18 months since KG0516’s release, Karol G has emerged as Billboard’s top-charting Latin female art-ist in the world. Already recognized by the Latin Recording Academy as best new artist in 2018, she could become the first female act to have two different singles — “Proven-za” and “Mamiii,” the latter alongside Becky G and both produced by Ovy on the Drums — compete simultaneously for song and record of the year.

RosalíaThe Spanish artist won album of the year

in 2019 for her breakout project, El Mal Querer, becoming only the third woman to win the award (the other two artists are Shakira in 2006 with Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 and Natalia Lafourcade in 2020 with Un Canto por México, Vol. 1). Rosalía’s 2022 follow-up, Motomami, leans far more urban and Latin-centered in its rhythms than its predecessor, which was heavy on flamenco. If she were to win again, Rosalía would become the first woman to nab two album of the year trophies.

Alejandro SanzOf Sanz’s 14 albums, eight have been

released since the 2000 launch of the Latin Grammys — and all were nominated for album of the year. He’s the most nominated

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artist in the category and ties Juanes and Juan Luis Guerra with three career wins. Given that neither Juanes nor Guerra have eligible albums this year, Sanz could become the all-time leader in the category with his latest album, Sanz. It wouldn’t be his first re-cord: The Spanish singer-songwriter is also the biggest winner for song of the year (four wins out of 10 nominations) and record of the year (seven wins out of 11 nominations). Sanz is also the only artist who has swept song, record and album of the year in a single year on three separate occasions.

ResidenteThe Puerto Rican rapper and former Cal-

le 13 member has the most Latin Grammy wins with 27, including his solo nods. He is followed by Eduardo Cabra (also formerly of Calle 13) and Juanes, tied with 24 each. Residente is the only artist to win song of the year as part of a group (with Calle 13 in 2011 for “Latinoamerica”) and as a soloist (in 2020 for “Rene”). Now, with his urgent “This Is Not America,” a rallying cry against U.S. imperialism, Residente may claim song and record of the year for the first time on his own.

This story originally appeared in the July 30, 2022, issue of Billboard.

Eslabon Armado, Yahritza y Su Esencia & More: Early Predictions for Latin Grammys Best New ArtistBY LEILA COBO 

The Latin Grammy Awards con-sider up-and-coming acts from over 20 countries for its best new artist category. A vast majority of

honorees are singer-songwriters who per-form their own material; the country with the most winners to date is Colombia, with six, including Juliana Velásquez last year.

And though the regional Mexican genre has largely been out of the running in the past, that may change this year, with an incom-ing class of artists appearing on charts in multiple countries.

Eslabon ArmadoSiblings Pedro and Brian Tovar began

making their sad sierreño tunes out of their garage in their early teens before their 2020 debut album entered the top 10 on Bill-board’s Top Latin Albums chart. Since then, Eslabon Armado has placed three albums at No. 1 on the Regional Mexican Albums chart and made history in May when its latest release, Nostalgia, became the first regional Mexican album to debut in the top 10 of the Billboard 200.

Carin LeónAfter gaining traction with his live You-

Tube performances during the pandemic, León scored a No. 1 on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart last September with “El Tóxico” alongside Grupo Firme. Five top 10 hits later, including another No. 1, he has gained fans across multiple countries thanks to collaborations with Spain’s C. Tan-gana and Colombia’s Jessie Uribe.

BlessdMentored by fellow Medellín, Colombia,

native Maluma — an early believer who jumped on a remix of the rapper’s single “Impossible” in 2021 — Blessd notched his first Latin Airplay No. 1 with “Medallo” alongside Justin Quiles and Lenny Tavarez.

Luis FigueroaFigueroa approaches salsa in the tradition

of powerhouse vocalists like Victor Manu-elle or mentor Marc Anthony, the latter of whom signed the rising artist to his Magnus label. Figueroa has scored three top 10 hits on Billboard’s Tropical Airplay chart since last year, including “Todavia te Espero,” produced by Motiff.

PehuencheThe singer-songwriter from Veracruz,

Mexico, performs pop that veers from traditional romance to experimental. Pe-huenche’s debut album, Vida Ventura, was released on Nacional Records in May, and he was recently named one of the 2022 Latin Alternative Music Conference’s Discovery Award winners.

Derby Motoreta’s Burrito Kachimba

The band from Sevilla, Spain, which Bill-board previously dubbed “Spain’s own brand of Southern rock,” tours relentlessly while injecting new life into the genre. Fresh off a nomination for Spain’s Goya Film Awards this year for best original song, the act has played festivals like South by Southwest in the United States and Lollapalooza Argen-tina.

Silvana EstradaThe daughter of luthiers, Estrada is the

first Latin artist signed to Glassnote Re-cords. Perhaps more notable for Recording Academy voters, at age 25 she has already performed with Latin Grammy multiwin-ners Jorge Drexler and Natalia Lafourcade.

JulietteThe attorney-turned-singer became a

social media star when she won Big Brother Brazil in 2021. She released her debut EP last year, featuring all original material — a mix of pop and traditional forró that has helped Juliette appeal to multiple audi-ences.

Yahritza Y Su EsenciaThe sibling trio from Washington state,

fronted by 15-year-old Yahritza, grew beyond early TikTok fame thanks to soulful lyrics backed by a guitar ensemble reminis-cent of Mexico’s romantic trios. The group’s debut EP, Obsessed, landed at No. 1 on Bill-board’s Regional Mexican Albums chart.

Tiago PZKArgentina’s rap and hip-hop scene is

growing stronger thanks to artists like Tiago PZK, known for his intensely personal lyrics and dynamic onstage persona. Last year, the Argentine newcomer placed three songs on the Billboard Global 200.

This story originally appeared in the July 30, 2022, issue of Billboard.

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Beyonce to Change Offensive Lyric on ‘Renaissance’ Song ‘Heated’ After BacklashBY GIL KAUFMAN 

Beyonce will replace an offensive lyric on her just-released Renais-sance album after a line in the track “Heated” drew backlash

from users on social media. A spokesperson for the singer told Billboard in a statement on Monday morning (Aug. 1) that “the word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced.”

At press time, it appeared the recorded version — which includes the offending lyric — was still available on Apple Music and Spotify. In the uptempo dance song, Be-yonce drops into a frenzied, explicit sex rap near the end in which she growls, “Yadda yadda yah, yadda yaddah yah,yah/ Yadda yadda yadda, bom bom, kah kah/ Spazzin’ on that a–/ Spaz on that a–/ Fan me quick, girl, I need my glass.”

The medical condition the slang term derives from is “spastic,” which refers to a “condition in which muscles stiffen or tighten, preventing normal fluid movement.” In addition to blowback on social media, disability advocate and writer Hannah Diviney wrote an op-ed in The Guardian on Monday (Aug. 1) in which she said that her “heart sank” when she heard the Renais-sance lyric. “It’s not very often that I don’t know what to say, rendered speechless by ignorance, sadness and a simmering anger born of bone-deep exhaustion. But that’s how I feel right now,” Diviney said, noting that it’s been just six weeks since she called out Lizzo for using the same word on her Special song “Grrrls.”

“That tweet of mine – which explained how the slur was connected to my disability,

cerebral palsy – took me less than five min-utes to write and it went viral, landing on the front page of global news outlets includ-ing the BBC, New York Times and the Wash-ington Post,” Diviney said of the comment that resulted in Lizzo apologizing for using the offensive term and then changing the lyric.

At the time, Lizzo said she was “proud” of her “listening and taking action” after hearing Diviney’s callout. At press time, it did not appear the Beyonce had personally responded to the outrage, which Diviney wrote she thought was a thing of the past. “I thought we’d changed the music industry and started a global conversation about why ableist language – intentional or not – has no place in music,” Diviney wrote. “But I guess I was wrong, because now Beyonce has gone and done exactly the same thing,” she added about “Heated,” which counts Drake as a co-writer.

“I found out by way of a snarky mention on Twitter asking if I planned to tell Queen Bey to ‘do better’ like I had with Lizzo. My heart sank. Here we were again, but this time the stakes feel higher. Calling this one out is a whole other level. Whenever Beyonce so much as breathes it becomes a cultural moment,” Diviney continued.

“Beyonce’s commitment to storytelling musically and visually is unparalleled, as is her power to have the world paying atten-tion to the narratives, struggles and nuanced lived experience of being a black woman – a world I can only ever understand as an ally, and have no desire to overshadow,” she added. “But that doesn’t excuse her use of ableist language – language that gets used and ignored all too often. Language you can be sure I will never ignore, no matter who it comes from or what the circumstances are.”

While the Beyhive exploded with excite-ment over the weekend about the dance-heavy collection, it has already garnered some additional backlash from singer Kelis, who vented her frustration last week about not being informed that her fre-quently sampled 2003 single “Milkshake” was interpolated on the Renaissance song “Energy.”

While Kelis appeared to be stung by what she considered a lack of professional

courtesy from Queen Bey in allegedly not reaching out to inform her about the “Milk-shake” mash-in, legal experts noted that because Kelis was the performer, but not the composer producer, on the song, there was no legal requirement to give a heads up.

Luke Bryan, Peyton Manning to Co-Host 2022 CMA AwardsBY JESSICA NICHOLSON 

Two-time CMA Awards entertain-er of the year winner Luke Bry-an and NFL star Peyton Manning will host the 56th annual CMA

Awards on Nov. 9 on ABC from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. This will mark Bryan’s second year hosting the show, after first hosting the CMA Awards in 2021; it will be former Colts/Broncos superstar Manning’s first time serving as CMA Awards host.

Manning, who has made four Super Bowl appearances and won two Super Bowls during his 18-season career, is no stranger to the CMA Awards. In 2016, Manning was part of a comedic skit with then-hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, and also presented the CMA’s pinnacle award to Kenny Chesney.

“Being a part of such a historical night that honors my peers and country music is such a privilege,” Bryan said via a state-ment. “When I was asked if Peyton Manning was someone I would consider co-hosting with I didn’t hesitate. We have become great friends through the years and what he brings to the table is gonna make it even more of a blast. I know he’s been to the CMA Awards before, but he’s never been with me. Hey Peyton, I hope you’re ready for the night of your life!”

“I cannot wait to head to Nashville and take the CMA Awards stage alongside my friend Luke Bryan,” Manning added. “I am such a huge fan of country music, so to have the chance to stand among so many incred-

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ibly talented artists is an absolute honor.”In addition to being a two-time CMA

Awards host, Bryan is also a two-time CMA Awards winner, earning the coveted entertainer of the year honor in 2014 and 2015 (he has been nominated in the CMA Awards’ top category six consecutive times, from 2013-2018).

Bryan previously co-hosted the Academy of Country Music Awards for five consecu-tive years, from 2013-2017. The first three years, his co-host was Blake Shelton, with Dierks Bentley co-hosting in 2016-2017.

Bryan and Manning follow in a long tradi-tion of CMA Awards hosting duos, starting with the first CMA Awards in 1967, which featured hosts Bobbie Gentry and Sonny James. Dale Evans and Roy Rogers hosted the 1968 and 1969 CMA Awards. Among the hosting duos have guided a CMA Awards ceremony are Glen Campbell and Charley Pride (1975), Johnny Cash and Roy Clark (1976), Mac Davis and Barbara Mandrell (1980-1982), Anne Murray and Willie Nel-son (1983), Reba McEntire and Randy Travis (1990), McEntire and Vince Gill (1992), and Brooks & Dunn (2004-2006). The longest-running hosting duo was Paisley and Under-wood, who co-hosted the CMA Awards for 11 years, from 2008-2019.

With Manning co-hosting, this marks the first time a sports star has co-hosted the CMA Awards, though other country awards shows have turned to football stars or former football stars as co-hosts.“Dandy” Don Meredith, former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, co-hosted the 1981 ACM Awards with Larry Gatlin and Tammy Wyn-ette. J.J. Watt, defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals, co-hosted the 2016 CMT Music Awards with Erin Andrews. Terry Brad-shaw, former quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, co-hosted the 2001 CMT Music Awards with Lee Ann Womack.

“Country music’s Biggest Night will without a doubt live up to its expectation this year,” Sarah Trahern, CMA CEO, said via a statement. “During an evening when we celebrate the best of the best in country music, we are thrilled to have two award-winning hosts at the helm! I cannot wait to see what Luke and Peyton have up their sleeves, which I’m sure will be hilariously

unpredictable and playfully energetic, just like the two of them.”

“Just when we thought we couldn’t top Luke’s explosive energy and signature charm as host of last year’s CMA Awards, we’re bringing him back alongside sports legend Peyton Manning for Country Music’s Biggest Night,” added Rob Mills, Walt Dis-ney Television executive vp, unscripted and alternative entertainment. “Their dynamic chemistry and magnetic friendship is the perfect anchor for this year’s star-studded show.”

Robert Deaton will serve as executive producer for this year’s CMA Awards, while Alan Carter will serve as director and Jon Macks as head writer. The final crop of nominees for the 56th annual CMA Awards will be revealed in coming weeks.

Barbara Mandrell Returns to the Grand Ole Opry for 50th AnniversaryBY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Country Music Hall of Famer and Grammy winner Barbara Mandrell retired from music more than two decades ago, but

the Grand Ole Opry still feels like home to her.

Mandrell, 73, made a rare public appear-ance on Saturday night (July 30) at the Opry to celebrate her 50th anniversary of being an Opry member.

“Here we are at home again,” Mandrell told The Associated Press in an interview backstage at the Opry House before the long-running radio and TV program. “50 years. Not everybody gets that blessing.”

Born in Texas and raised in California, Mandrell was just 23 when she became a member in July of 1972. But she was already a seasoned entertainer by the time she came to Nashville, after her teenage years were

spent playing steel guitar and appearing regularly on the California-based country TV show Town Hall Party.

Over her decades-long career, the actor, multi-instrumentalist and singer turned millions of fans onto country music in the ’70s and ’80s, not only through her popular TV show Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters, but also through hits like “Sleeping Single in a Double Bed,” “If Loving You is Wrong (I Don’t Want to be Right)” and “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.”

She became the first country artist to earn back-to-back entertainer of the year awards from the Country Music Association, crossing over with R&B covers and bringing glamour and showmanship to the genre. Her performances were a showcase of her musi-cality, whether she was singing to the top of the rafters, playing pedal steel, the banjo or the saxophone.

“It’s called show business. You need to show them something,” Mandrell said. “Oth-erwise, they could sit at home and listen to your recordings or listen to you on the radio. You’ve got to give them something that entertains them.”

With her sisters Louise and Irlene, Man-drell used the power of television to bring new ears to country music, as well as gospel music. Her musical guests were a mixture of R&B, pop and country artists.

“So many would say things like, ‘I never listened to country music, but now, boy, I’m watching every Saturday night and I love it,’” Mandrell said.

This Saturday night, Mandrell was still a champion of country music. Before the show began, Mandrell watched Carrie Un-derwood from side stage as Underwood did her soundcheck of “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool,” stopping to give her a hug and greeting Underwood’s band members.

Underwood said growing up, Mandrell’s voice was always around.

“She has been such an inspiration to me and so many others that stand on the shoulders of great female artists like her,” Underwood told the Opry crowd.

During the Opry show, Mandrell enthu-siastically applauded the all-female artist lineup, including CeCe Winans, Linda Davis

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and Suzy Bogguss, as they performed her hits.

“I already feel on top of the world. I feel the deepest of gratitude and excitement be-cause I am such a huge fan of these ladies,” said Mandrell.

From her seat in the middle of the crowd, Mandrell waved and blew kisses at her fans, who snapped photos of the country star.

Mandrell hasn’t played music or sung — other than in church — since she retired in 1997. Her last concert ever was held at the Opry House and made into TV special called, Barbara Mandrell and the Do-Rites: The Last Dance.

Dressed smartly in a hot pink pantsuit and surrounded on stage by 50 dozen lavender-colored roses bought by her fans, Mandrell gave another goodbye from the same Opry stage 25 years later.

“I chose my home to do my final perfor-mance on and it was this one,” Mandrell said. “God bless you!” she told fans before she walked off stage into the shadows.

Blue Note Jazz Festival Debuts in Napa Valley With Robert Glasper, Snoop Dogg, Dave Chappelle & MoreBY NEENA ROUHANI 

The Blue Note Jazz Festival in Napa Valley, Calif., kicks off Friday (July 29) with host Dave Chappelle and Grammy-winning

instrumentalist Robert Glasper as artist in residence.

“This festival came from the thread of my residency at the Blue Note that I do every October,” Glasper says of his stay at the famed NYC jazz club. “You can expect the music to be real and honest, created by

people who are pushing the envelope.”The intimate three-day experience will

include iconic acts like Snoop Dogg, Yasiin Bey & Talib Kweli, Maxwell, Corinne Bailey Rae, Erykah Badu, Chaka Khan and newer names on the scene like D Smoke and Alex Isley. “I’m most excited about Snoop. It’s going to be super dope,” Glasper says, adding, “I hope I can breathe with all of the weed smoke that will defi-nitely be in the air.”

Taking place at the Charles Krug Winery, the festival will feature three stages with 12 bands per day, marking the first outdoor, multi-day and multi-stage event for the Blue Note Entertainment Group. “The festival capacity is exactly where I want it to be — not too big, not too small,” says Blue Note Entertainment president Steven Bensusan. “It’s kind of mimicking our small jazz clubs in terms of the intimacy that we hope to achieve on all our stages.”

The festival kicks off with musical collective Dinner Party (Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper & Kamasi Washington) and Snoop, plus a live recording of the Midnight Miracle podcast, in partnership with sub-scription podcast network Luminary. After the festival sold out in six hours, an addi-tional day was added and a limited amount of three-day general admission tickets were made available, priced at $610. “We’re hop-ing there’s going to be a lot more than what you see reading the lineup,” Bensusan says. “We anticipate a lot of impromptu [perform-ers] just getting up onstage with other other bands, like what we do at our clubs.”

The Blue Note Entertainment Group cur-rently has 10 jazz clubs around the world, spanning from New York City to Milan, with plans to expand further into Europe, Bensusan tells Billboard. “We’re looking at opportunities in London and we hope to get a Los Angeles location open in the next year,” he adds. Blue Note also plans to create an East Coast version of the Napa Valley-based festival in future years.

Glasper, who released his single “All Masks” alongside Jamaican-born art-ist Masego on Friday, says the festival is his “playground” and a “dream come true,” adding, “This festival represents out-of-the-box things, influencers, trailblazers —

people that don’t feel the need to succumb to normality of popular music. More and more of those kinds of people are popping up and finding the courage to be the artist that represents that.”

Dave Grohl, Nine Inch Nails, The Black Keys to Play 2022 VetsAid ConcertBY GIL KAUFMAN 

Eagles guitarist and singer Joe Walsh revealed the lineup for his 2022 VetsAid concert on Monday (Aug. 1), which is slated to feature

special guest Dave Grohl, as well as sets from Nine Inch Nails, the Black Keys, The Breeders and Walsh’s band James Gang.

The reunion of the latter — featuring Walsh on vocals and guitar, drummer Jim Fox and bassist Dale Peters — will mark the first time the “Funk #49” band has played together in more than 15 years, with Grohl tapped to join them for a set tagged as “One Last Ride.” The show will take place on Nov. 13 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, with all proceeds going directly to veterans’ services charities; tickets will go on sale on Friday (Aug. 5) at 10 a.m. here.

This year’s event will be a celebration of Ohio-birthed rockers, from the Cleveland-bred James Gang and NIN, to Akron’s Black Keys, Dayton’s Breeders and the Foo Fight-ers’ Grohl, who was born in Warren, Ohio. Fellow Cleveland native comedian Drew Carey will host the gig for a third time.

“It all started in Ohio,” Walsh said in a statement announcing this year’s lineup. “Picking up my first guitar as a kid in Columbus set me on a musical journey to Kent State, Cleveland, and then the world. Now it is a great privilege and humbling opportunity for me to share the stage once again with my original James Gang buddies and with this absolutely incredible group

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of Ohio rock legends like Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails, the Black Keys, the Breeders, and Dave Grohl. I believe in Ohio and look forward to celebrating our musical legacy while honoring our veterans with VetsAid 2022.”

The event will mark one of the first public performances from Grohl since the shock death of Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins at age 50 in a hotel room in Bogota, Co-lombia while on tour with the band in South America earlier this year. A pair of all-star Hawkins tribute shows are slated to take place in London (Sept. 3) and Los Angeles (Sept. 27) with performances from former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush, Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor, Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, the Pretenders’ Chris-sie Hynde, Supergrass, Wolfgang Van Halen, former Police drummer Stewart Copeland, Miley Cyrus, Joan Jett, Mark Ronson, Hawkins’ one-time boss Alanis Morissette, KISS’ Gene Simmons, Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and many more.

Walsh founded the non-profit VetsAid in 2017 to raise badly needed funds to veteran’s groups across the country. Over the years the organization has raised much-needed funds thanks to appearances from Keith Ur-ban, Zac Brown and Gary Clark Jr. in 2017, Don Henley, James Taylor, Chris Stapleton and Haim in 2018 and Sheryl Crow, the Doobie Brothers, ZZ Top, Brad Paisley and Jason Isbell in 2019.

In 2020 the event was forced to go online due to the pandemic, which resulted in a livestream featuring archived sets from Clark, Crow, the Doobies, Henley, Brad Pais-ley, Ringo Starr, Taylor, Urban and ZZ Top and appearances by Jon Bon Jovi, Jimmy Buffett, Drew Carey, Kenny Chesney, Alice Cooper, Vince Gill, Ben harper and many more. A 2021 “Basement Show” during the ongoing pandemic again spotlighted classic performances from the vault as well as a new set from Walsh and his band.

To date, according to the VetsAid site, the events have raised more than $1.5 mil-lion for a variety of veteran’s causes.

Rapper Mystikal Arrested on Rape, Domestic Abuse ChargesBY BILL DONAHUE, STARR BOWENBANK

Rapper Mystikal was arrested Sunday (July 31) in Louisiana on charges that included rape and strangulation, according to public

jail records reviewed by Billboard.The 51-year-old artist was booked into

Ascension Parish Prison on charges of first-degree rape, felony domestic abuse by strangulation, false imprisonment, simple robbery and criminal damage to property, records show.

Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre told NBC News that law enforcement re-sponded to a local hospital late on Saturday in reference to a sexual assault. The rapper was named a suspect after police spoke with the victim.

“He was arrested and booked into the Ascension Parish Jail,” Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Donovan Jack-son told NBC News of Mystikal, noting that this is an “ongoing investigation.”

Billboard has reached out to Mystikal for comment.

The rapper previously served six years after being convicted of sexual battery and extortion. He was released in January 2010, and had to register as a sex offender in Louisiana. He also faced a rape charge in 2017, and turned himself in to Louisiana’s Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Department after a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was later charged with rape and kidnapping — to which he pleaded not guilty — and was held at the Caddo Correctional Center be-fore posting a $3 million bond in 2019. The charges were dropped in 2020.

“[That] was like a reoccurring bad dream,” Mystical told the Associated Press in 2021 of that specific case. “I didn’t know how it was going to work out.”

Mystikal has also faced two misdemean-or counts of failing to file tax returns for 1998 and 1999, and a misdemeanor charge of domestic abuse battery in 2012, the latter of which resulted in a three-month jail sentence.

The rapper, whose real name is Michael Tyler, is best known for his 2000 hit “Shake Ya Ass” and his featured credits on songs such as the chart-topping 2001 hit Stutter and Ludacris’s 2002 “Move Bitch.” Mystikal also has featured in several movies, includ-ing 13 Dead Men, Makin’ Baby, My Side Piece, Mississippi Turntup, Mac & Devin Go to High School, and more.

Lil Durk Says He’s Taking a Break to ‘Focus on My Health’ After Stage Explosion at LollapaloozaBY MITCHELL PETERS 

Lil Durk is taking some time off to recover following an onstage mis-hap at this year’s Lollapalooza in Chicago.

The 29-year-old drill rapper took to social media on Sunday (July 31) to share an up-date on his health after being hit in the face by a pyrotechnic during his early evening set on Saturday at the music festival.

“Due to the incident that happened at Lollapalooza in Chicago on stage, I’ma take a break & focus on my health,” Lil Durk cap-tioned the post on Instagram, which shows a photo of the hip-hop artist in a hospital room wearing a mask and a large patch cov-ering his right eye.

“I finished my performance yesterday for my fans. Appreciate y’all.”

In a fan-captured video of the incident, Lil Durk is seen walking across the stage be-fore being struck directly in the face by pow-erful bursts of smoke. The music then cuts

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off as the rapper takes a few steps backward and covers his face with his white T-shirt.

“Woah, woah, you alright, bro? That one came a little close. It shot straight up,” a person from the stage is heard saying in reference tp the blast.

Lil Durk took a few moments to collect himself before continuing his performance. “F— it, no more smoke, let’s do it,” he told the packed crowd, according to Page Six.

The “Broadway Girls” rapper had more than 20 U.S. tour dates scheduled through mid-October at press time.

Lil Durk scored his second No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in March with his latest album, 7220. The release then spent three weeks in the runner-up position, before returning to the top in April. The rapper previously topped the list with The Voice of the Heroes, a collaborative set with Lil Baby, for one week in 2021.

See Lil Durk’s post on Instagram here.

Drake Tests Positive for COVID-19, Postpones Young Money Reunion Show: ‘I Am Truly Devastated’BY KYLE DENIS 

Drake’s October World Weekend has come to a devastating halt. The “Sticky” rapper took to Ins-tagram Stories Monday (Aug. 1)

to announce he had “tested positive for CO-VID,” and that “the Young Money Reunion show is being rescheduled to the SOONEST date possible.”

“I am truly devastated,” the artist told fans in his text message on Stories.

The news comes mere hours before Drake was set to storm the stage alongside Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj for the final night

of October World Weekend. “I love you all and I am so sorry for letting you down on our weekend together and the moment I test negative I will give you everything I got on stage (except the Covid),” the “Jimmy Cooks” rapper continued.

The first two nights of October World Weekend delighted Toronto fans with sets from Canadian music icons, performances from Chris Brown and Lil Baby, and a surprise appearance from Nelly Furtado. Drake even joined the “Promiscuous” singer onstage to perform her smash hit “I’m Like a Bird.”

Nonetheless, all hope is not lost for a Young Money Reunion show. “I will keep the city posted and share the new date whenever we have it locked in,” Drake wrote, confirming plans to reschedule the concert. Drake, Lil Wayne, and Nicki Minaj were originally slated to grace the Bud-weiser Stage tonight.

October World Weekend is a three-day Toronto-based festival that aims to com-memorate the 10th anniversary of Drake’s OVO Fest and preview a global run for the festival in 2023. This year’s splashy weekend of performances follows another banner year for the rapper. Last month (July 2), Drake notched his 11th No. 1 title on the Billboard 200 with the debut of Honestly, Nevermind. The corresponding No. 1 debut of the 21 Savage-assisted “Jimmy Cooks” on the Billboard Hot 100 helped Drake become the soloist with the most Hot 100 top 5 hits in history (29, tied with The Beatles).

Anuel AA Postpones U.S. Tour to ‘Recharge My Batteries’BY GRISELDA FLORES 

Anuel AA has postponed his upcoming Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren U.S. tour, which was scheduled to begin in late August

in Texas.

In a statement issued by the Puerto Rican artist on Friday (July 29), he explained that the decision was made with the intention of focusing on his personal life. “As all of my fans are aware, I have recently been on tour in Europe. I would like to take this opportu-nity to thank all of the Real Hasta La Muerte fans who attended each and every concert. I love you!”

He continued, “I’ve been thinking that I need to take some time to recharge my batteries and focus on reorganizing my per-sonal, family, and professional lives, with the intention of finishing my next album, which I was unable to do due to my European tour. My team and I have decided to postpone the U.S. tour until later in 2023. While doing so, I’ll keep doing what most excites me, which is to keep releasing good music.”

Anuel’s world tour kicked off June 13 in Spain and had since been touring across Europe. The North American leg of LLNM, presented by CMN, was an-nounced earlier this year in support of his third studio album, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Latin Albums chart in December. The trek was expected to run from August to October. “I promise that this tour will be awesome, it’s another level,” he said then. “It’s not only music. It’s more than that. You won’t understand until you’re there.”

Most recently, Anuel made headlines after marrying his girlfriend Yailin (also a recording artist). Both took to social media on June 10 to announce they were officially husband and wife. “Everything is in God’s hands,” the “Ley Seca” singer wrote on social media. In March, the couple dropped their first-ever collaboration, titled “Si Tu Me Busca,” which peaked at No. 12 on Bill-board‘s Latin Digital Song Sales chart (dated April 16).

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Must-Hear Indie Artist of the Month: Lava La RueBY KRISTIN ROBINSON 

The Project

Lava La Rue’s new EP, Hi-Fidel-ity, is out now via Marathon.

The OriginGrowing up, Lava La Rue was always

playing in bands. “When I was 13, I wanted to be in an all-girl version of The Clash. Very West London, ska-punk inspired. The in-tersection of Caribbean culture and British punk.” But as they grew older, the costliness of rehearsal space drew the young creative to freestyling “because you just need a microphone.”

At college in London, La Rue met the group of artists who would soon change their life. “I think people assume we met at some really established music school but it wasn’t like that at all, it was a bit rundown. The music equipment was falling apart,” La Rue explains, but the lack of proper equip-ment didn’t stop the group of friends, who would soon call themselves NiNE8 Collec-tive (including Biig Piig, Nayana Iz, Bone Slim, Mac Wetha, Nige and LorenzoRSV), from creating some of the most exciting music to come out of London.

But first, La Rue says, it was not that serious. The then-nameless NiNE8 was just a gang of newfound friends, hanging out in the smoking area in between classes, freestyling over borrowed beats blasted on a mini speaker. “We’d only have little pockets of time to do it at school so I’d be like, ‘F— it, after school we should go to mine and continue.’” From there, the at-home sessions attracted more friends, swelling until the troupe decided to rent proper venues.

Ever since, La Rue has been busy grow-ing a grassroots career in music that allows them to flex their creative muscle as a rap-per, singer, songwriter and even music video director. Recently, they were even tapped to

direct Wet Leg’s vibrant, irreverent music video for “Ur Mom.” As evidenced by their wide-ranging projects, La Rue’s no-holds-barred career is a testament to what is pos-sible for an indie artist who dares to dream big’s career today.

The SoundWhen titling La Rue’s new EP, Hi-Fideli-

ty, the idea was simple: describe the sound in words. With the title, La Rue makes their declaration that although they have been called “lo-fi rap” by critics and fans in the past, their new project is a polished, cleaner take on La Rue’s earliest roots, gigging with friends around West London. “I think I’m now circling back to the more live band feel for my music, like when I used to play guitar and stuff when I was younger,” they explain.

Today, with more resources for their cre-ative projects than ever, La Rue says, “Now, if I make something sound lo-fi, it’s inten-tional.” They say their sound has evolved so thoroughly, in part because of access to instruments and recording equipment. “I always make do with whatever is there,” La Rue explains. “In the beginning that was just a really ghetto microphone and a sock to put on top of it.” Working around the limitations, though, is what pushed La Rue to freestyling and learning their own voice as a producer, a crucial part of developing the sonics now exemplified on Hi-Fidel-ity. “Now, when I’m working with other producers, I know what plug-in to ask for. What way to record something.”

On Hi-Fidelity, La Rue was inspired by early Beck songs, the Neptunes, Gorillaz, Turkish arabesque music and trying to emu-late the strangest, most satisfying sounds through their own lens. “I was experiment-ing. There are some really minute little details that I put in that maybe people might not notice, but it’s really satisfying to me.”

Upon close listen, however, La Rue is cor-rect: Hi-Fidelity’s brilliance is in its details.

The BreakthroughFor La Rue, deciding that they did not

have to choose one specific path as a cre-ative was key to building the varied career they wanted. “I feel like I’m never just one thing. I don’t know if it’s the Gemini in me or the non-binary in me, but I like the idea that I can do everything I want,” they

explain. “Not to get too philosophical, but really all we are promised is this life. We should live as many experiences as we can. I don’t like the idea of saying, ‘I’m a musi-cian, but maybe in an alternate universe, I would’ve tried directing.’ No, that’s bulls—. I can do both in this life. There is enough time.”

The FutureWith a London headline show coming up

in November, La Rue says, “Like my music, my live show is very different now.” They hope to build a world orbiting around Hi-Fi-delity as “a center point to paint the picture of a more cohesive world, including live shows and merchandise. It all tells a story together that I want to make bigger and more polished and more fun than ever, but still very me.”

The Piece of Advice Every New Indie Artist Needs to Hear

“If you want to find the right collabora-tors and your musical soulmates, then you need to work on being very comfortable with being on your own s— first. Like know-ing what you like specifically and knowing what your bag is. That’s when I feel like those people are drawn towards you. While it’s good for new artists to want to build a network, I think when you’re on your own wave and your sonics are clear, then the right people to work with will gravitate towards you. If you’re meant to work with someone, it will happen when you have the self-confidence of your own vibe first.”

The Most Surprising Thing You’ve Learned about the Music Industry So Far

“It’s pretty crazy how much musical genres and the concept of categorizing music can gatekeep a lot of artists from thriving. For example, in the U.K., we have the MOBO Awards which is the Black Brit-ish music awards. There is no alternative or dance category for music, which sucks because it’s basically saying that they don’t recognize Black people who make music in that category. I think sometimes putting an artist into a category doesn’t allow them to thrive.”

The Artist You Believe Deserves More Attention

“There’s a band called English Teacher, a post-punk band from the U.K., that’s re-

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ally f—ing cool. I’ve also been obsessed with this super young artist called Psykhi. He embodies this combination of alternative and punk worlds joining with the hip-hop and rap world. He almost flows like Playboi Carti, but he produces really grungy s—. He’s pretty underground, but he’s sick. I think he’s going to blow [up]. The U.K. right now has some incredible alternative artists and bands. Both of those artists are P.O.C. fronted and it’s nice to see more people of color taking up space in alternative music.”

The Thing That Needs to Change in the Music Industry

“Whenever it’s International Women’s Day or Pride Month or whatever, compa-nies will show their support to artists for that time period, but they never look at the infrastructure of their company. Though they may highlight these minority groups vi-sually, are they actually hiring those people? I don’t think there will be any change or progress if we just put people’s faces on social media instead of fixing this from the inside.”

These 2022 VMA Contenders Were Also Nominated at the First VMAs in 1984BY PAUL GREIN 

Two of the artists nominated for the 2022 MTV Video Mu-sic Awards go way back with the VMAs, to the very first show

in 1984.Madonna, who is nominated for best

long-form music video for “MADAME X,” was nominated for best new artist in a video at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards for “Borderline.” She didn’t win — the award went to Eurythmics for “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This”) — but she left with something even better than an award: She stole the show with her fully commit-

ted performance of “Like a Virgin,” in which she writhed around the floor of Radio City Music Hall in a wedding dress.

The other 2022 VMA contender who was nominated at the first VMAs is Elton John. The pop legend is nominated this year for both song of the year and best collaboration for “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix),” his hit col-lab with Dua Lipa. Elton was also a double nominee at the first show, for the exuberant “I’m Still Standing,” which was up for best choreography in a video and best editing in a video.

The VMA nominations were announced on Tuesday. The awards will be presented Aug. 28 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Elton has never won in a competitive VMA category, though he and his longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin re-ceived a special recognition award in 1987. (It would be nice if Elton finally won one of the few awards that has eluded him. Now he just needs to buckle down and win an Emmy so he can become an EGOT.)

Madonna has won 19 competitive VMAs and one non-competitive award, the Video Vanguard Award. Interestingly, she received that award in 1986, one year before she finally won her first competitive VMA for “Papa Don’t Preach.”

Madonna’s biggest night at the VMAs came in 1998 when she won six awards – five for “Ray of Light” and one for “Frozen.” “Ray of Light” brought Madonna her only VMA for video of the year, following back-to-back nods in that category for “Like a Prayer” in 1989 and “Vogue” in 1990.

Madonna’s most recent VMA win came in 1999 when “Beautiful Stranger” from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me won best video from a film.

But the 1984 show is where she seized the moment, took a huge risk (it could have been remembered as a disaster) and became the most talked-about star in the music business overnight. At the time of the VMAs (Sept. 14, 1984), she had not yet reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200 and had cracked the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 just once, with “Borderline,” which peaked at No. 10 in June. Within five months, she had topped both charts for multiple weeks.

In his 2017 list of the 100 greatest awards

show performances of all time, Billboard’s deputy editor Andrew Unterberger ranked Madonna’s 1984 VMAs performance No. 2 ( just behind Beyonce’s 15-minute-plus Lemonade medley on the same show in 2016). Here’s how Unterberger described it: “The singing is occasionally pitchy, the stag-ing feels a bit haphazard, and the presenta-tion is downright low-budget by modern-day standards. But if you had to pick one four-minute clip to demonstrate what an award-show performance could and should be at its best, there’d be absolutely no de-bate: Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin,’ in which she stepped down from a wedding cake at the very first Video Music Awards and writhed her way into the heart of the 1980s. Before Madonna, the best award-show perfor-mances could hope for was to get people to buy the record, after her, they became the historical record; the way we remember stars at their most iconic, and the way they demonstrate their immortality, no matter whose names are in the night’s envelopes. It’s the veritable big bang for the format as pop art.”

Several of the top nominees and perform-ers from the 1984 awards have since died, which is sobering, but perhaps not surpris-ing. Thirty-eight years is a long time. They include David Bowie, who was one of the inaugural recipients of the Video Vanguard Award, the first winner of best male video for “China Girl,” and a performer on the show (albeit pre-taped and from London, where he sang his then-current hit “Blue Jean”).

Other 1984 nominees who have since died include Michael Jackson, a video of the year nominee for “Thriller” and a three-time winner on the night (albeit a no-show: his awards were all accepted by his pal Di-ana Ross); Donna Summer, a best female video nominee for “She Works Hard for the Money”; plus numerous group members – Ric Ocasek of The Cars (the upset video of the year winners for “You Might Think”), Dusty Hill of ZZ Top, Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen, Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones, Freddie Mercury of Queen, Eric Carr of KISS, and Eric Woolfson of the Alan Parsons Project.

Dan Aykroyd, one of the stars of the top-

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grossing film of 1984, Ghostbusters, and Bet-te Midler, who was between hits at the time, but is always a hoot, co-hosted the first VMAs. Performers on the show, in ad-dition to Madonna and Bowie, were Tina Turner (“What’s Love Got to Do With It,” which went on to win Grammys for record and song of the year in February 1985), Rod Stewart (“Infatuation”), Huey Lewis & the News (“I Want a New Drug”), ZZ Top (“Sharp Dressed Man”) and Ray Parker Jr. (“Ghostbusters”).

A Closer Look at the (Already History-Making) 2022 VMA Video of the Year NomineesBY PAUL GREIN 

This year’s video of the year nominations for the MTV Video of the Year Awards, which were announced on Tuesday July 26,

have already made history. In addition to the obvious — it’s the first time there have been seven nominees in the category – this is the first time that a majority of the nominated videos were the work of female directors. Tanu Muino directed Harry Styles’ “As It Was,” Petra Collins did the honors on Olivia Rodrigo’s “brutal,” the ambiguously named “child.” directed Doja Cat’s “Woman” and Taylor Swift directed her own “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Ver-sion).”

We could see more history made when the awards are presented on Aug. 28 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Lil Nas X, who is nominated for “Industry Baby,” a col-lab with Jack Harlow, is vying to become the first artist to win back-to-back video of the year awards. He won last year for “Mon-tero (Call Me by Your Name).”

Swift, who won in 2015 for “Bad Blood,” a

collab with Kendrick Lamar, and in 2019 for “You Need to Calm Down,” would become the first three-time winner in the category’s history. Swift would also be the first artist to win for a video which they directed without a collaborator. Missy Elliott, Lamar, Swift and Lil Nas X have all won in the category for videos that they co-directed.

“Way 2 Sexy” by Drake featuring Fu-ture & Young Thug would be just the second collaboration featuring more than two artists to win video of the year. The first was “Lady Marmalade” by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa and P!nk (featuring Elliott), which won 21 years ago.

Either Styles or Ed Sheeran, who is nominated for “Shivers,” would be the first English artist to win in the category since Jamiroquai took the honor 25 years ago for “Virtual Insanity.” Either Styles or Sheeran would be only the second English solo art-ist to win, following Peter Gabriel, the 1987 winner for “Sledgehammer.”

This year’s nominated videos are ex-ceptionally wide-ranging in both tone and length. Styles’ breezy “As It Was” runs just 2:45. The kitchen argument scene in Swift’s epic “All Too Well: The Short Film,” runs that long. Swift’s entire video runs a whop-ping 14:55.

Dave Meyers directed two of this year’s video of the year nominees, more than anyone else. He did the honors on both “Shivers” and “Way 2 Sexy” – and has an on-screen credit at the top of both videos, a sign of his stature. Meyers has directed or co-directed four video of the year winners, twice as many as anyone else. He directed Katy Perry’s “Firework” (the 2011 winner) and Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug’s “Havana” (2018) and co-directed Elliott’s “Work It” (2003) and Lamar’s “Humble.” (2017). He’s such an experienced hand that he has directed past videos by two of the artists with whom he’s competing in this category this year – Swift and Styles.

Here are the seven clips nominated for video of the year at the 2022 VMAs. They are ranked by the total number of VMA nominations these videos received this year. We’re not counting other nominations the artists received this year toward these tallies, though we list them as “additional

nominations.”Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow – “Industry

Baby”Director: Christian BreslauerLabel: Columbia RecordsOther 2022 VMA nods (five): best col-

laboration, best direction, best art direction, best visual effects, best choreography, plus additional nods for artist of the year for both artists

Notes: This is Lil Nas X’s third nod in the past four years this category. He was nominated in 2019 for “Old Town Road,” his genre-melding, record-busting collab with Billy Ray Cyrus, and won last year for “Montero (Call Me by Your Name).” This is Harlow’s first video of the year nod. LNX, Harlow and Lamar tied for the most total nominations this year (seven). The “Indus-try Baby” video, like LNX himself, is funny, bold and outrageous. The nude prison shower scene is so joyously choreographed that even LNX’s pearl-clutching detractors will probably find themselves smiling at it. According to the end credits, the video employed 20 dancers, nine “prison guards” and 29 “prisoners.”

The video starts with Lil Nas X being sentenced to Montero State Prison. He is seen polishing his two Grammys, straight-ening his gold record plaques and doing regular prison activities, surrounded by inmates wearing bright, pink uniforms. Five days after the release of the video, Lil Nas X trolled fans by releasing the “uncensored” version. Everyone expected to see a more explicit shower scene. Instead, when the shower head is shown just before the dance starts, the video appears to buffer, showing a spinning circle. The image is frozen like that for the duration. Wouldn’t you know it? He got us again!

Watch the video here.Taylor Swift – “All Too Well (10 Minute

Version) (Taylor’s Version)”Director: Taylor SwiftLabel: Republic RecordsOther 2022 VMA nods (four): best

longform video, best cinematography, best direction, best editing

Notes: This video, officially titled “All Too Well: The Short Film,” is Swift’s fifth video of the year nod. She was previously

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nominated for “I Knew You Were Trouble.” (2013), “Bad Blood” (featuring Kendrick La-mar, 2015), “You Need to Calm Down (2019) and “The Man” (2020). Melina Matsoukas is the only female director who has directed two video of the year winners (Rihanna fea-turing Calvin Harris’ “We Found Love” and Beyonce’s “Formation”). If “All Too Well” wins, Swift will become the second female director to direct or co-direct two video of the year winners. (She co-directed “You Need to Calm Down.”)

Swift both wrote and directed the “All Too Well” video. The aforementioned argu-ment scene between actors Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien (portraying, it is presumed, Swift and actor Jake Gyllenhaal in their intense, but short-lived, romance), perfectly captures how arguments unfold and seem to take on a life of their own. The writing in this scene is so vivid that it’s easy to see Swift winning an Oscar for screenwriting one day (you know, if this songwriting thing doesn’t pan out). Swift doesn’t appear in the video until the 11:25 mark, and not in a fully recognizable way until about the 12-minute mark, when she does she does a reading at a bookstore.

Watch the video here.Harry Styles – “As It Was”Director: Tanu MuinoLabel: Columbia RecordsOther 2022 VMA nods (four): best pop,

best cinematography, best direction, best choreography, plus an additional nod for Styles as artist of the year

Notes: This is Styles’ first video of the year nod, either solo or with One Direction. (Better late than never.) Muino has said that directing for Styles was “a bucket list dream come true,” but reality soon intruded. On the second day of shooting, Muino’s home country, Ukraine, was invaded by Russia, rendering the videomaking process a “bit-tersweet” experience, in her words. Muino co-directed last year’s video of the year win-ner, Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me by Your Name).” Only Dave Meyers has directed or co-directed back-to-back video of the year winners. (“Humble” and “Havana” were back-to-back champs in 2017-18.) Should “As It Was” win, Muino would equal his feat.

In the video’s coolest visual trick, Styles

and dancer Mathilde Lin spin on a turning platform. The opening bit where Styles’ nieces say “C’mon Harry, we want to say goodnight to you” could have seemed corny or overly sweet, but Styles is so cool, it comes off as charming. The video helped the single remain in the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks, the longest run of any single in 2022. Just one thing about the song doesn’t quite ring true: In its opening lines, Styles sings “gravity’s holding me back.” At this point, absolutely nothing is holding Styles back.

Watch the video here.Doja Cat – “Woman”Director: child.Label: Kemosabe Records / RCA RecordsOther 2022 VMA nods (three): song of

the year, best pop, best choreography, plus two additional nods for “Get Into It (Yuh)” (best art direction and best editing)

Notes: This is Doja’s second video of the year nod in a row. She was nominated last year for “Kiss Me More” (featuring SZA). The “Woman” video was inspired by Mi-chael Jackson’s 1992 video for “Remember the Time,” which was set in ancient Egypt and featured supermodel Iman as Nefertiti. John Singleton directed the nine-minute “Remember the Time” video, which, like Swift’s “All Too Well,” was promoted as a “short film.” The “Woman” video stars Teyana Taylor alongside actress and model Guetcha. “Woman” was the first codable music video, in which fans are able to make their own edits in JavaScript, Python or CSS using DojaCode.

Watch the video here.Drake featuring Future & Young Thug –

“Way 2 Sexy”Director: Dave MeyersLabel: OVO/RepublicOther 2022 VMA nods (two): best

collaboration, best art direction, plus two additional nods for Drake (best hip-hop for “Wait for U” and artist of the year) and one additional nod for Future (best hip-hop for “Wait for U”)

Notes: This is Drake’s sixth video of the year nomination, following “Take Care” (featuring Rihanna, 2011), “Hotline Bling” (2016), “God’s Plan” (2018), “Life Is Good” (a collab with Future, 2020) and “Popstar”

(a collab with DJ Khaled and Justin Bieber, 2021). Despite all these nods, Drake has yet to win in the category. This is Future’s second nod in the category, following the aforementioned “Life Is Good.” It’s also the second nod in the category for Young Thug. He was nominated (and won) in 2018 as a featured artist on Camila Cabello’s “Ha-vana.” Meyers previously directed Drake’s “Laugh Now Cry Later” video, a collab with Lil Durk.

Drake, Future and Young Thug are joined by basketball player Kawhi Leonard to recreate video moments from Boyz II Men’s “Water Runs Dry” and Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” the latter a 1999 nominee in this category. The light-hearted visual for “Way 2 Sexy” includes a scene where a pot-bellied, middle-aged Drake walks the beach and another where Drake does a parody of a celebrity commercial in which he touts a new fragrance called “Wet by Drake.” It also includes a couple of animated sequences. (Remember in “God’s Plan” where Drake gave away the produc-tion budget to ordinary people who he figured could use the money more? Here, he and his team spent every dime on the video.) “Way 2 Sexy,” of course, has a chorus based on the refrain from Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy,” which was a smash when Drake was five.

Watch the video here.Ed Sheeran – “Shivers”Director: Dave MeyersLabel: Atlantic RecordsOther 2022 VMA nods (two): best pop

and best direction, plus artist of the year and best cinematography for “Bam Bam” and artist of the year

Notes: This is Sheeran’s third nomina-tion in this category, following “Thinking Out Loud” (2015) and “Bad Habits” last year. Meyers also directed “Bad Habits” and Sheeran’s 2019 “Antisocial” video (with Travis Scott). In some scenes in “Shivers,” Sheeran wears sequins and feathers, in a nod to 1970s-era Elton John at his most flamboyant. John, whose “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” is nominated for two VMAs – song of the year and best collaboration — has been a collaborator, mentor and obvious inspiration to Sheeran.

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Watch the video here.Olivia Rodrigo – “brutal”Director: Petra CollinsLabel: Geffen RecordsOther 2022 VMA nods (one): best edit-

ing, plus additional nods for best pop for “traitor” and best longform video for driving home 2 u.

Notes: This is Rodrigo’s first nomination in the category. Collins, a Canadian artist, director of photography, fashion model and actress, also directed Rodrigo’s “good 4 u” video. The “brutal” video depicts, and lightly spoofs, Rodrigo’s teenage angst. At one point, she bemoans, “I can’t even parallel park.” Rodrigo reveals how steeped she is in pop culture in the clip. The pop-punk tone of the record echoes Avril Lavigne’s hits of the 2000s. One of the best lyrics is a biting twist on a Katy Perry smash from 2010: “Where’s my fu—in’ Teenage Dream?”

Watch the video here.