Indholdsfortegnelse for December 7, 2024 i Billboard Magazine

SHAKING THINGS UP In this year’s producer of the year, non-classical category, there is one notable absence — Jack Antonoff, who would have been nominated for his sixth consecutive year — and one welcome addition: R&B producer-musician Alissia, who becomes just the ninth woman (or team of women) in the history of the category to receive a nomination. Had Antonoff been nominated and won, he would have set a record as the only consecutive four-peat in the 50-year history of the award. Meanwhile, a woman has yet to take home the trophy. The 2025 nominees also include superproducer Daniel Nigro, “Not Like Us” hit-maker Mustard and veteran producers Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II and Ian Fitchuk. Of the five, Alissia, Mustard and Fitchuk are first-time nominees in this category. DERNST…

BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE “BODYGUARD” Beyoncé Many tracks from Beyoncé’s critically acclaimed album Cowboy Carter could’ve contended in this category, but “Bodyguard” is the established icon at her best: taking utter command of a lead vocal line while deftly interacting with her own background countermelodies and dispensing decadent riffs with ease. On this song, Queen Bey takes her finely tuned musicality further by seamlessly blending her sound with Western and country rock elements, including — but not limited to — her cheeky delivery of “Turn around and John Wayne that ass.” “ESPRESSO” Sabrina Carpenter Carpenter is up for best pop solo performance, ’cause she’s a singer! Her culture-caffeinating single is full of clever quips, Instagram caption-worthy slogans and memorably unorthodox word combinations (“That’s that me espresso,” for one) that…

IT ALL STARTED BECAUSE Terry McBride couldn’t simultaneously play field hockey, study civil engineering and DJ at clubs and weddings. “So I decided to do music,” says the co-founder of Nettwerk Music Group, the 40-year-old Vancouver label famous for breaking Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, Passenger and many others. It was the first company to release Coldplay in the United States. In 1984, McBride and his business partner, Mark Jowett, a member of electronic-music band Moev, dropped out of the University of British Columbia and started Nettwerk with a simple mission statement: “Release music we love.” And while his field hockey background isn’t especially useful, his civil engineering tools have been crucial in Nettwerk’s development. “The music business was obtuse and as gray and muddy as humanly possible,” says McBride,…

IN MARCH, TENNESSEE became the first state to modernize its laws for the age of artificial intelligence. The ELVIS (Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security) Act — which updates the state’s right of publicity and likeness rights to prevent AI companies from creating unauthorized deepfake vocal imitations — represented the culmination of efforts from across the industry, including those of record labels and music publishers. But it was Todd Dupler, Recording Academy vp of advocacy and public policy, who gave the law its distinctly rock’n’roll name. Coming up with catchy titles for laws is something of an extreme sport in legislative circles — think of the DREAM Act (for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors), or, in music, the CLASSICS (Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, and…

BEST RAP SONG “ASTEROIDS” Rapsody Featuring Hit-Boy Songwriter: Marlanna Evans Producer Hit-Boy lays the spacey soundscape for Rapsody to lyrically glide through the galaxy’s “Asteroids” on her cosmic mission. In her verses, the North Carolina native — currently one of hip-hop’s premier lyricists — sneers at somehow still being “underrated,” boasting that she knows she’s the “most respected” among her peers. And that respect extends to the Recording Academy, too, which recognized Rapsody this year with this nomination and a nod in best melodic rap performance for “3:AM.” (Both songs appear on her 2024 album, Please Don’t Cry.) With “Asteroids,” the prolific wordsmith returns to the best rap song category for a second time, following her 2018 entry for the Maya Angelou-inspired “Sassy.” “CARNIVAL” ¥$ (Kanye West & Ty…

Hello, Cleveland! On Nov. 1, 1894, Billboard Advertising published its first monthly issue out of an Ohio office. Its goal: to demonstrate for advertisers “the efficacy of the bill board” (two words, even though the magazine’s name was one) and “maintain a high and exacting standard of excellence,” despite starting as a “journalistic youngster.” The nascent magazine was renamed The Billboard in 1897, nicknamed “Billyboy” by the 1910s and officially became Billboard in 1961. By then, the trade publication had become weekly, with a music business focus, and it was more about chart position than advertising placement. Even at 130, the only wrinkles are in our stories. NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS By 1900, The Billboard covered more than best (and worst) practices for bill posters, who early issues…

In 2025, the Grateful Dead will celebrate 60 years since its inception. But even after six decades, the long, strange trip continues — and business is still booming. Bobby Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart are all resolute: They’re not retiring anytime soon, and the Dead’s world is very much alive and kicking. SPHERE: ROUND TWO? Dead & Company’s 30-show Dead Forever residency at Sphere in 2024 grossed $131.8 million, according to Billboard Boxscore. “We’re hoping to do that again,” Weir says of a possible return to the state-of-the-art Las Vegas venue. Hart’s hint is even stronger: “I’ve got this feeling that we might be back at the Sphere sooner rather than later.” A BITTERSWEET REUNION? Weir, Lesh, Hart and Kreutzmann honored the Dead’s golden anniversary in 2015 with…

THE BEATLES Not only does “Now and Then” mark The Beatles’ first Big Four nod in over a half century, but the single makes Grammy history as the first time a song created with the assistance of artificial intelligence has scored a nomination. Released in November 2023, “Now and Then” was originally recorded by John Lennon and left unfinished prior to his death in 1980; decades later, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr utilized the AI tool of stem separation to polish the low-fidelity demo, isolate Lennon’s vocal take and complete the track. Upon its release, “Now and Then” was billed as “the last Beatles song” and peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. The legendary quartet won the 1965 Grammy for best new artist and the 1968…

BEST ROCK SONG “BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE (STAY HIGH)” The Black Keys Songwriters: Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney, Beck Hansen, Daniel Nakamura The Black Keys’ latest album, Ohio Players, has co-writes from Beck on half of its tracks, including “Beautiful People (Stay High).” And sure enough, the mischievous musician’s fingerprints are all over this hand clap-happy, naa naa-heavy pop-rocker. The five-time Grammy winners have won this category before (in 2013), the Recording Academy loves Beck (his Morning Phase won album of the year in 2015), and this song benefits from familiarity, having spent two weeks atop Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart. If it does emerge victorious, it’ll be the second tune with “Stay High” in the title to win this award, after Brittany Howard in 2021. “BROKEN MAN” St. Vincent Songwriter: Annie Clark…

BEST COUNTRY SONG “THE ARCHITECT” Kacey Musgraves Songwriters: Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves, Josh Osborne Musgraves turns philosophical in this delicate, acoustic, midtempo ballad that questions how life works — if it’s random or fate and could we speak to whoever’s in charge. The song is a standout track from Musgraves’ sixth studio project, Deeper Well, which is nominated for best country album. For this year’s Grammys, Musgraves also received nods for best Americana performance (“Don’t Do Me Good”) and best country solo performance (“The Architect”), bringing her career nominations total to 17. She has previously won seven Grammys, including album of the year for Golden Hour in 2019. “A BAR SONG (TIPSY)” Shaboozey Songwriters: Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry, Mark Williams Shaboozey, who…