Billboard Magazine

Written for music industry professionals and fans. Contents provide news, reviews and statistics for all genres of music, including radio play, music video, related internet activity and retail updates.

Billboard

Adele’s ‘Easy On Me,’ 30 Continue No. 1 Runs

The Winners Take It All • Forget about the long tail — in the business of music streaming, hits matter more than ever

Hits Matter More Than Ever • A small number of titles fuels the industry — even more than 25 years ago

THE LAST RANCHERO KING VICENTE FERNÁNDEZ 1940-2021

Let It Stream • Holiday music generates over $170 million a year, a numbers of big that teams work year-round to keep the plays flowing for catalog chestnuts like Bing Crosby’s version of “White Christmas”

HOME(TOWN) FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Christmas’ Real Ever-Greens

CAN THE U.K. REDIRECT STREAMING? • Amid rising concerns about how streaming pays creators, the United Kingdom is exploring legislation to regulate the music business

From The Desk Of… Dahlia Ambach Caplin • SENIOR VP A&R, VERVE, VERVE FORECAST AND IMPULSE!

THE YEAR IN MUSIC 2021 • This year brimmed with uncertainty as the world cautiously emerged from last year’s pandemic shutdown. The music industry was full of new questions that revolved around vinyl variants and NFTs as new-gen collectibles, country music’s efforts to widen its reach, pop-punk’s return to the mainstream, what live music looks like today and fan efforts to mobilize and create change

WHEN DID COLLECTIBLES BECOME COOL AGAIN? • THE RISE OF A PHYSICAL FORMAT LIKE VINYL IN TANDEM WITH DIGITAL-FIRST NFTs HAS MADE THE CASE FOR RARITY UNAVOIDABLE — AND EVERYONE WANTS IN

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCKCHAIN • REVISITING SOME OF MUSIC’S BIGGEST NFT MOMENTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

‘IT JUST KEPT GROWING’ • HOW RYAN SMITH ENDED UP CUTTING MASTER VINYL FOR THE BIGGEST NAMES IN MUSIC

HOW DID COUNTRY MUSIC'S PLEDGE TO CHANGE PLAY OUT? • EXECUTIVES AND ARTISTS ON THE STRIDES THAT HAVE BEEN MADE — AND THE WORK THAT STILL NEEDS TO BE DONE

‘AN ENTERTAINER COVERS ALL ASPECTS’ • JIMMIE ALLEN RAKED IN AWARDS AND COUNTRY HITS THIS YEAR, BUT SAYS 2021 WAS JUST THE START

WHO WROTE THE NO.1 HITS?

WHY DID POP-PUNK RETURN TO PROMINENCE? • THE GENRE’S NEXT WAVE IS HERE AND TAKING OFF WITH THE HELP OF AN IMPORTANT VETERAN

COMING BACK FOR MORE • TIKTOK HELPED YEARS-OLD INDIE-ROCK HITS FEEL NEW AGAIN — WITH THESE FOUR SEEING A SIGNIFICANT SPIKE IN STREAMS

‘IT’S BECOMING THE COOL KIDS’ THING’ • POP-PUNK ARTIST JXDN ON WHY THE GENRE IS SEEING SUCH MAINSTREAM GROWTH AND THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAVIS BARKER’S CO-SIGN

WHAT DID THE RETURN OF TOURING LOOK LIKE? • BREAKING DOWN THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF LIVE MUSIC’S RESTART — AND WHERE IT GOES FROM HERE

WERE DID FAN ARMIES WIN THEIR BIGGEST BATTLES? • HOW THE DEVOTED RANKS OF FANS BEHIND BTS, TAYLOR SWIFT AND BRITNEY SPEARS STRATEGIZED TO HELP EACH ACT MEET THEIR SPECIFIC GOALS

STRONGER THAN YESTERDAY

IT TAKES TWO • MONTE AND AVERY LIPMAN STARTED REPUBLIC RECORDS IN A TINY BASEMENT APARTMENT. DECADES LATER, IT’S BILLBOARD’S TOP LABEL OF 2021 — AND THE BROTHERS’ BOND IS AS STRONG (AND LUCRATIVE) AS EVER

MIND OVER MATTER • GROWING UP, KALI UCHIS KNEW SHE WAS UNIQUE — BUT FELT LIKE SHE FIT IN NOWHERE. WITH HER BREAKOUT BILINGUAL HIT, “TELEPATÍA,” THE INDUSTRY HAS FINALLY CAUGHT UP TO HER VISION

‘BABY’ BOOMER • JACK HARLOW SCORED HIS FIRST BILLBOARD HOT 100 NO. 1 WITH THE LIL NAS X TEAM-UP “INDUSTRY BABY.” NOW HE WANTS TO GIVE HIP-HOP THE “BOOST OF ENERGY” HE THINKS IT’S MISSING

INSIDE UBS ARENA, METRO NEW YORK’S IMMERSIVE NEW VENUE • At Harry Styles’ opening concert, venue executives discuss how the $1.5 billion space and redevelopment of...