Pink’s Summer Carnival tour of Australia and New Zealand is yet to wrap, but it’s already logged in the history books.

With just three dates left on the itinerary, Live Nation, producer of her latest epic trek Down Under, reveals nearly one million tickets have changed hands – a volume that’s by far the biggest for any female headliner to have toured ANZ.

That’s “almost the highest ever tour sales in this market,” reads a statement from LN, issued Tuesday (Feb. 19) on the eve of her final date at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

Only two other tours are in the same ballpark: Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms visit of 1986 and Ed Sheeran’s Divide jaunt in 2018.

When Pink finishes her last lap this Saturday (March 23) at Townsville’s Country Bank Stadium, her 20 stadium shows will represent the most ever performed by any artist in Australia and NZ on a single tour.

And along the way, Pink has broken the attendance records at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium and at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium.

“Pink is one of the most amazing live performers to ever walk onto the stage,” comments Michael Coppel, chairman of Live Nation Australasia and Pink’s long-standing promoter in Australia. “I’ve been very privileged to share in her epic 20-year journey in Australia and New Zealand, where she has played more than 200 shows.”

In Australia, Pink’s punches in the heavyweight class in every statistical category.

When Summer Carnival wraps, her total ticket sales in this territory will lift to more than 3.1 million across six tours, the largest career ticket sales ever accumulated by an international performer in ANZ, according to LN.

That career tally includes more than 658,000 tickets sold on her 2009 Funhouse tour, which spanned 58 arena shows; and her 2013 The Truth About Love trek, which played 46 arena shows and shifted more than 600,000 tickets.

According to Billboard Boxscore, Pink is the highest-grossing act of the 2010s in Oceania with about $135 million. She even has her own ladies’ toilet block at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, where she has eliminated old attendance marks.

On the recording side, her ninth and most recent studio album, Trustfall, opened at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart in February 2023, for her seventh leader.

Earlier this week, Coppel, Pink’s manager Roger Davies and staff from Sony Music Australia and Live Nation presented the Philadelphia pop superstar with a special award, a memento of her latest recording-busting efforts.

“There is a palpable mutual love affair between the Australasian audience that love seeing her perform live,” adds Coppel, “and an artist who clearly loves being here. Congratulations, Alecia, on yet another stunning record-breaking tour and on an incredible career, with even greater success surely to come.”

Ariana Grande is on track for another week atop the U.K. chart with Eternal Sunshine (via Republic Records). Though she has competition.

Based on midweek sales and streaming data captured by the Official Charts Company, Eternal Sunshine has a slim edge and should clinch a second week at No. 1. Eternal Sunshine became Grande’s fifth U.K. leader when it debuted at the zenith of the national chart last Friday, March 15.

As it stands, less than 1,000 chart units separate Grande’s seventh studio album with U.S. country artist Kacey Musgraves’ sixth LP, Deeper Well (Interscope).

Deeper Well is predicted to bow at No. 2, giving Musgraves a third U.K. top 10 after 2018’s Golden Hour (No. 6 peak) and 2021’s Star-Crossed (No. 10).

There’s another challenger in this race: Caity Baser and her 13-track mixtape Still Learning (EMI). The collection is just 1,500 behind the leader in third place on the OCC’s chart blast. Baser was shortlisted for the BRITs Rising Star 2024 award, won by The Last Dinner Party.

Meanwhile, Justin Timberlake’s solo comeback album Everything I Thought I Was (RCA) should yield the U.S. pop star a sixth U.K. top 10. It’s new at No. 4 on the Official Chart Update.

U.S. rock veterans the Black Crowes could nab a third U.K. top 10 album, and first in 30 years, with Happiness Bastards (Silver Arrow), set to open at No. 7.

As AC/DC celebrates 50 years rocking, the legendary Australian band releases its full set of albums on vinyl. The first nine reissues in the “AC/DC 50” collection dropped March 15, powering several classics up the midweek chart. Among them, the rockers’ 1980 blockbuster Back in Black (Epic), their first U.K. No. 1, which rebounds to No. 10 on the midweek chart, while 1979’s Highway to Hell drives to No. 22, against an historic peak of No. 8.

Finally, new releases from electronic music producer Four Tet (Three at No. 25 via Text), teenage Manchester rapper Nemzzz (Do Not Disturb at No. 31 via Nemzzz), and Hastings, England punk outfit Kid Kapichi (There Goes The Neighbourhood at No. 36 via Spinefarm) are on track for top 40 debuts.

All will be revealed when the Official Albums Chart is published Friday, March 22.

MGM Resorts International has denied reports that Bruno Mars is in debt with the entertainment company.

A previous report by NewsNation indicated that the “24K Magic” singer racked up a debt of more than $50 million at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas since signing a long-term residency contract with the company in 2016.

In a statement sent to Billboard, MGM said: “We’re proud of our relationship with Bruno Mars, one of the world’s most thrilling and dynamic performers. From his shows at Dolby Live at Park MGM to the new Pinky Ring lounge at Bellagio, Bruno’s brand of entertainment attracts visitors from around the globe. MGM and Bruno’s partnership is longstanding and rooted in mutual respect.”

The message continued, “Any speculation otherwise is completely false; he has no debt with MGM. Together, we are excited to continue creating unforgettable experiences for our guests.”

Mars’ last solo project was 2016’s 24K Magic, which included hits like the title track, “That’s What I Like” and “Versace on the Floor.” “That’s What I Like” topped the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, while the album as a whole peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in December 2016.

Since them, Mars teamed up with Anderson .Paak for their successful group endeavor, Silk Sonic, and the duo released their album An Evening With Silk Sonic in 2021. The album’s standout track, “Leave the Door Open,” won four Grammy awards: song of the year, record of the year, best R&B song and best R&B performance.

Ariana Grande is back with another big week on Billboard’s charts (dated March 23), thanks to her new album, Eternal Sunshine.

The set soars in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, marking her sixth career leader, with 227,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in its opening week (March 8-14), according to Luminate – the biggest one-week sum of 2024.

All 12 chart-eligible songs from the album also land on the Billboard Hot 100, led by “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love),” which launches at No. 1.

Here’s a recap of Grande’s Hot 100 entries on the latest chart. All songs are debuts except for lead single “Yes, And?,” released before Eternal Sunshine.

Rank, Title:
No. 1, “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”
No. 10, “Yes, And?” (up from No. 31; debuted at No. 1 on the chart dated Jan. 27)
No. 16, “The Boy Is Mine”
No. 17, “Supernatural”
No. 23, “Eternal Sunshine”
No. 25, “Bye”
No. 28, “Don’t Wanna Break Up Again”
No. 30, “True Story”
No. 37, “Imperfect for You”
No. 38, “Intro (End of the World)”
No. 39, “I Wish I Hated You”
No. 55, “Ordinary Things,” feat. Nonna

“We Can’t Be Friends” earns Grande her ninth Hot 100 No. 1, and second from Eternal Sunshine, following “Yes, And?”

With 11 debuts, Grande ups her total to 85 career Hot 100 entries. She ties Beyoncé for the third-most among solo women in the chart’s history, after only Taylor Swift (232) and Nicki Minaj (148). Grande first hit the Hot 100 with her debut hit, and first of 22 top 10s, “The Way,” featuring Mac Miller, in April 2013.

Notably, Grande’s grandmother, Marjorie Grande, scores her first career Hot 100 entry thanks to her featured billing – as Nonna – on “Ordinary Things.” At 98, she makes history as the oldest living person to have appeared on the chart.

One other member of the Grande family has also reached Billboard’s charts: Frankie Grande, Ariana’s brother (and, thus, Nonna’s grandson), spent a week at No. 35 on the since-shuttered Billboard Twitter Top Tracks survey in July 2017 with “Queen.”

Musician Matthew Urango, best known as his artist name Cola Boyy, has died. He was 34 years old.

The Oxnard, Calif., native’s manager, Jack Sills, announced the news on Instagram on Monday (March 18). “Rest in peace to my brother @colaboyy . Anyone who knew Matthew knows he had a larger than life personality,” he wrote alongside a photo of Urango holding up peace signs. “He was always the life of the party and could chop it up with anyone. He was also one of the most talented and down to earth people I’ve ever met. His humor and natural charisma endeared him to whoever he met. Matthew cared enormously for his family, friends and community which he often expressed through his music. He had just finished his next album and was excited to start releasing new music this summer. I will continue to work with his family and @recordmakers to make sure this happens. Love you homie. Cola Boyy Forever!”

See the post here.

His label, Record Makers, added in a statement: “He was quite a soul, a man with no age, a childlike spirit with the musicality of an old legend. His lyrics, his melodies, the sound of his voice: every side of his music was unique and timeless… We loved him at Record Makers. We are sending all possible love to Matthew’s family and to his numerous friends. His music and power will remain.”

Urango, a disability rights activist, was born with spina bifida, scoliosis and kyphosis. He played bass for the Sea Lions before he began releasing his own music in 2018. His debut EP, Black Boogie Neon, featured the singles “Penny Girl” and “Buggy Tip.” Cola Boyy’s debut album Prosthetic Boombox came out in 2021, including features from the Avalanches, MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden, Godin, John Carroll Kirby, and more.

Nicki Minaj reportedly won’t be taking the stage in New Orleans for her Pink Friday 2 World Tour stop in the Big Easy on Monday night (March 18).

Hours before showtime, the Smoothie King Center released a statement claiming that due to an illness, Minaj had been forced to postpone the show to a later date on doctor’s orders.

“Due to doctor’s orders, Nicki Minaj must reschedule her NOLA show tonight. As Nicki is still sick, our team does not want to run the risk of getting others sick, and Nicki would not be able to give NOLA the show they deserve,” the venue wrote to Instagram.

A new date has yet to be announced but the Smoothie King Center’s staff is “working diligently to find a new date” with Minaj’s team. “Please hold onto your tickets, and we will inform you all soon,” they added.

Billboard has reached out to Live Nation for comment.

Nicki will have an additional off day on Tuesday (March 19) to recuperate before she’s slated for three consecutive shows later this week. The “Anaconda” rapper is scheduled to perform a pair of Atlanta concerts back-to-back before heading to Orlando on Friday night (March 22).

Doors to the Smoothie King Center were supposed to open at 7 p.m. ET before Minaj took the stage after Monica around 9 p.m. ET.

The Queens rap legend headlined Friday night (March 15) at Rolling Loud California but informed fans in the hours after the show that she was not feeling well. Minaj revealed on X that she “woke up feeling like” she had COVID-19, but fortunately tested negative.

“Barbz pls send me healing energy. woke up feeling like I had Covid. Thank God I don’t,” Nicki wrote early March 16. “You guys are just everything. I appreciate you. I love you so much.”

Nicki Minaj is currently on the North American leg of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour in support of her Pink Friday 2 album, which arrived in December. The sequel topped the Billboard 200 with 228,000 album-equivalent units sold in the first week to close out 2023.

Find the post from the Smoothie King Center regarding the postponement below.

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On Mar. 6, the Digital Media Association’s (DiMA) new president/CEO, Graham Davies, published a blog post calling the five-year anniversary of the Music Modernization Act (MMA) a “key moment to course-correct.” In the process, he suggested the Mechanical Licensing Collective has “gone beyond its remit” in collecting and administering the blanket mechanical license in the United States.

On Monday (Mar. 18), the National Music Publishing Association (NMPA) responded to the letter in an email sent to members, in which it said DiMA’s “calls for change” were not “a good faith effort to make the MLC more effective and transparent.”

So why are the two organizations sparring now?

According to the MMA, the MLC — which serves as the collector and administrator of the blanket mechanical license in the United States — is reviewed every five years by the Copyright Office in a process called “re-designation.” This process will be a routine occurrence moving forward to ensure efficiency, effectiveness and neutrality for the organization.

Now, with the MLC’s first-ever re-designation currently underway, both its critics and supporters have become more vocal in hopes of swaying the results and/or public opinion about the organization’s operations to date.

DiMA’s blog post begins by saying it “remains committed to the success of the MMA and the mechanical licensing collective it established.” Later, the letter focuses on the fact that its membership, which includes the world’s biggest streaming services, is required by the MMA to foot the bill for the MLC. While in the letter it does not ask for this arrangement to be changed, the organization does point out that it feels this system has led to a lack of incentive for the MLC to be cost-conscious, neutral and efficient.

“Reasonable costs of the collective cannot include everything from traveling to distant countries to conduct outreach to songwriters far beyond the U.S. licensing system,” writes Davies. The DiMA CEO/president, who assumed the role in January of this year, also points out that the MLC is “suing one of the licensees [Pandora] that pays its costs — using licensee money to pursue its allegations against a licensee on a novel legal theory.”

The NMPA’s reply, titled “DiMA using copyright office MMA review as opportunity to re-write history and undermine MLC’s progress,” focuses first on re-explaining to its members the history of the MMA and the MLC and the nature of the MLC’s duties before getting into its reply to DiMA. It has a far more favorable take on the MLC overall, claiming the organization “is currently the most efficient, transparent, and cost-effective licensing collective in the world.”

The NMPA goes on to say that streamers “do not want what is in the best interests of music publishers or songwriters,” calling DiMA’s “new…strategy” “an effort by the world’s largest digital companies to leverage their power to pay less, make it easier for non-compliance, and make it more difficult for the MLC to execute its statutory responsibilities as envisioned by Congress.”

“Make no mistake, when big tech says ‘course correct’ they mean a change to the carefully negotiated law to fund only MLC activities that benefit digital companies,” the letter continues.

DiMA’s blog post can be read here. The NMPA’s reply can be read in full below.

MMA Five Years On

It’s astounding how much progress can happen in five years. In 2018, the Music Modernization Act (MMA) became law, creating the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) and fundamentally changing how songwriters and music publishers are licensed and paid by digital streaming services.

Since 2018, the MLC has done a great job building a rights organization that today represents thousands of rightsholders, administers over fifty blanket licenses and has distributed over $1.5 billion in royalties.

The MLC Review

Under the MMA, the Copyright Office reviews every five years its initial designation of the MLC, with the first review starting this past January.

DiMA, the trade association representing the five largest digital music companies—Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google and Pandora (DSPs)—recently released a blog about the review process.

In it, DiMA called for radical changes that would upend the purpose of the MMA and the MLC under the guise of a “course correction” and a focus on MLC “neutrality.” Reflection at this pivotal point is necessary. But what’s clear is the digital services’ calls for change are not a good faith effort to make the MLC more effective and transparent, as they argue, but the opposite. It is time to set the record straight.

MMA History Refresher

It is important to remember that DiMA and the DSPs were significantly involved in the drafting of the MMA, which reflected the culmination of years of negotiation and consensus building among songwriters, music publishers, and digital music services.

The central compromise of the MMA was the creation of a new mechanical licensing collective to administer Section 115 streaming blanket licenses, governed by rightsholders, and funded by DSPs. The agreement to fund the MLC’s operations was made in exchange for the MLC taking on what had been the DSPs’ royalty administration responsibilities and the DSPs’ securing limited liability for hundreds of millions in statutory damages exposure due to their prior failures to properly license and distribute royalties.

The MLC’s Fundamental Role & Responsibilities

The MMA placed upon the MLC expansive responsibilities under Section 115. In addition to administering licenses and distributing royalties, the MMA provides explicitly that the MLC must handle non-compliance of DSPs through legal enforcement efforts, default of licenses and collection of late fees. It requires the MLC to audit DSPs to ensure proper royalty payments and accounting. These critical rights were traditionally held by copyright owners. However, the MMA took these legal rights from rightsholders and gave this authority to the MLC alone to act on their behalf.

Further, the law empowers the MLC to initiate proceedings before the CRB to set its funding and before the Copyright Office in rulemaking and regulatory processes on behalf of copyright owners. The MLC can also negotiate against DSPs and on behalf of rightsholders non-precedential interim royalty rates for new service offerings under the blanket license.

The MLC’s Success

By any metric, the MLC has been successful in meeting the MMA’s broad directive. After only five years, it is administering over 50 interactive streaming licenses and distributing billions in royalties to thousands of rightsholders. It has heeded the calls of the MMA and the U.S. Copyright Office to focus on outreach to all copyright owners, from the smallest self-published songwriters to the largest music publishers, and domestic and foreign organizations that exploit musical works in the U.S. It maintains a fully public database. And yes, it just announced the start of DMP audits and has used its legal enforcement authority where necessary to ensure compliance, such as the recent Pandora litigation.

It has succeeded in doing all of this with the lowest operating budget of any license administration collective. The MLC is still developing its capabilities, and the next five years will see it continue to grow and improve, but it is currently the most efficient, transparent, and cost-effective licensing collective in the world.

The DSPs’ Vision

Back in 2019, as industry participants sat down to develop the new MLC, it was clear that while the DSPs wanted the benefit of a blanket license and limited liability, they did not want to fund an effective MLC that could accomplish everything statutorily required of it. One DMP executive suggested that the MLC could be just several employees at a WeWork.

Thankfully, the music publishers and songwriters that supported and created the MLC understood—and convinced the DSPs at that time—that to develop a collective that fulfilled the mandate of the MMA and addressed the significant issues of the past, the MLC needed reasonable funding equal to its broad statutory responsibilities.

In their latest calls for a “course correction” and MLC “neutrality,” however, the DSPs and DiMA are once again trying to undermine the MLC and the central compromise to which they agreed.

Make no mistake, when big tech says “course correct” they mean a change to the carefully negotiated law to fund only MLC activities that benefit digital companies.

When they speak of “neutrality,” what they want is to “neuter” the ability of the MLC to accomplish the clear responsibilities set out for it in the MMA. Those responsibilities include being an effective administrator of the compulsory license, being a diligent enforcer of DSP reporting and royalty obligations, and being a strong defender of the rights that the MLC is charged with licensing on behalf of music publishers and songwriters. It should come as no surprise that MLC neutrality vis-à-vis DSPs, either explicitly or in spirit, is not found anywhere in the MMA.

In Short

DSPs do not want what is in the best interests of music publishers or songwriters. Instead, this new DSP/DiMA strategy is an effort by the world’s largest digital companies to leverage their power to pay less, make it easier for non-compliance, and make it more difficult for the MLC to execute its statutory responsibilities as envisioned by Congress.

Their strategy will disempower rightsholders by disempowering the only entity created and authorized to act on their behalf with respect to mechanical licenses – the MLC.

As we look to the next five years, know that the NMPA will continue to be laser focused on fulfilling the clear goals of the MMA and ensuring the MLC is empowered to effectively work for us all.

Mere hours after a damning Instagram statement from Barbra Streisand amid piling criticism from a number of figures, including the Ginsburg family, the ceremony that would have honored Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch in the late justice’s name has been canceled.

“The last thing we intended was to offend the family and friends of RBG,” said Julie Opperman, chair of the Opperman Foundation, in a statement on Monday (March 18).

Announced via a press release last week (March 13), this year’s honorees for the foundation’s 2024 Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Leadership Award included Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch, Martha Stewart, Sylvester Stallone and Michael Milken.

Swift backlash ensued, with members of the Ginsburg family — including the late justice’s Grammy-winning son James Ginsburg — and former RBG clerk Trevor Morrison calling on the Opperman Foundation to remove her name from the award. “When you think of trying to create a more just society, which of course was Mom’s ultimate goal, those are probably about the last names that would come to mind,” Ginsburg told CNN.

Late Monday afternoon, EGOT winner Barbra Streisand took to her official Instagram page to share a message condemning the choice of this year’s honorees. In a statement reflecting on receiving the honor from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor last year, the Grammy winner wrote, “Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor stand as two of the most respected women role models, and their commitment to democratic values, especially women’s rights, is unequaled.”

She continued, “That’s why I join the Ginsburg family in condemning the choice of honorees this year. I had the privilege of meeting Justice Ginsburg on several occasions, and I strongly doubt she would approve of these awardees.”

Formerly called the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award, the honor — which has previously been bestowed upon Queen Elizabeth II and Diane von Furstenberg — expanded to include men as recipients this year. Musk and Murdoch’s names courted the most controversy due to their values starkly contrasting with RBG’s legacy. As the first Jewish woman to serve on the Supreme Court and an ardent protector of women’s rights, Justice Ginsburg symbolizes values that don’t often align with Murdoch’s conservative media empire or Musk’s frequent brushes with anti-Semitism. Ginsburg passed in 2020 at age 87.

In their statement, the foundation said, “Our purpose was only to remember her and to honor her leadership. And, while we believe each of the honorees is worthy of our respect for their leadership and their notable contributions, the Foundation has decided that the planned ceremony in April 2024 will be canceled.”

The ceremony was originally slated to take place at the Library of Congress — which stressed that they were simply a “venue” and otherwise unaffiliated with the award — on April 13.

The RBG Award rollercoaster is just the latest stop on a busy awards season for Streisand. Last month (Feb. 24), she received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award from the organization’s 30th annual awards ceremony. Streisand, of course, is also one of the most successful musicians of all time, earning 11 No. 1 albums across six decades on the Billboard 200.

James Ginsburg won the 2021 Grammy Award for best chamber music/small ensemble performance for Contemporary Voices. He boasts three career nominations.

Read Barbra Streisand’s statement below:

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