1. I.M.P Selected To Run Washington, D.C.'s Historic Lincoln Theatre

    June 27, 2013 6:26 PM EDT The owner of a well-known D.C. rock club will soon begin operating the city's historic Lincoln Theatre where Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald once performed. Mayor Vincent Gray announced Thursday that the entertainment group I.M.P was sel ...

  2. SFX IPO: Robert Sillerman's Growing 'EMC' Empire

    June 27, 2013 4:16 PM EDT SFX Entertainment, the company that’s been snapping up global electronic music businesses since June of last year, filed for an IPO on Monday that revealed its executive team, potential challenges, and several of its next moves. In addition to ...

  3. SFX IPO: Betting on EDM’s Growth Potential

    June 27, 2013 2:21 PM EDT With SFX filing for an IPO , the promoter is effectively asking investors to bet on the growth potential behind the $4.5 billion EDM market and the company's ability to build a successful business around the culture surrounding EDM. SFX ev ...

  4. Live Nation's Banner Year Brings Azoff-Emanuel Feud To Light

    June 27, 2013 1:00 PM EDT A report in last week's  Financial Times recounting Live Nation’s banner year has inadvertently brought to light a simmering feud between the company’s former CEO Irving Azoff and current board member Ari Emanuel.   The FT story detailed Li ...

  5. SFX Files for $175 Million IPO

    June 27, 2013 3:21 AM EDT SFX is pursuing an IPO. Robert Sillerman’s entertainment empire SFX Entertainment has reportedly filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking to raise up to $175 million in an initial public offering. The capital raised by an IPO ...

  6. U.K. Ad Watchdog Cautions AEG Live Over Ad for 'One-off' Kanye West London Show

    June 26, 2013 5:00 PM EDT Britain's advertising watchdog on Wednesday issued a caution to concert and live event powerhouse AEG Live for promoting a "one-off" Kanye West show in London, to which it later added two more gigs. AEG had in an email promoted th ...

  7. Isle of Man Music Festival Cancelled Amid Weak Ticket Sales

    June 26, 2013 1:26 PM EDT Despite the lure of crowd-pleasers Primal Scream, Paloma Faith and Johnny Marr, organizers of the inaugural Isle of Man festival have canceled the event amid disappointing ticket sales. The festival on the small island located just off the west ...

  8. The Late, Great Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland Talks His First Hit, His Legacy, Chauffeuring B.B. King In One of His Last Interviews

    June 24, 2013 1:31 PM EDT The sad news of Bobby “Blue” Bland’s passing on Jun. 23 deprives us of a true sovereign, whose distinctive voice mixed honey and gravel, and who could spin a web of romantic passion and pain inside three minutes. In September 2010, I made a wo ...

  9. EDM Biz 2013: CAA'S Rob Light, SFX's Shelly Finkel, Beatport Matthew Adell Discuss the EDM Explosion

    June 21, 2013 6:35 PM EDT "I think this is comparable to the generation shift of the '60s," CAA's managing partner and music head Rob Light told the audience during his keynote at the EDM Biz conference in Las Vegas yesterday. The annual conference ...

  10. Backbeat: Sony, iTunes Execs Hit the Scene, the Stranglers Rock the Spoke Club, DJs Spin Atop a Crane at Toronto's NXNE, MuchMusic Events

    June 21, 2013 10:15 AM EDT Toronto has been crazy busy the past two weeks with North By Northeast, Luminato (still going), the MuchMusic Video Awards and piggybacking parties and events. Billboard.biz squeezed in a few, starting with the NXNE kick-off at Toronto’s Drake ...

  11. Backyard Festival on Randall's Island Pulled Following Governors Ball Damage

    June 21, 2013 9:31 AM EDT LivingSocial's July 13 Backyard Festival, which was to feature Aerosmith, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Yeasayer, has been cancelled after the New York City Parks Department said the extensive damage caused by the rain-and-mud-filled Go ...

  12. P!nk Tops Hot Tours Chart For Second Straight Week, Grosses $30.7 Million

    June 20, 2013 2:18 PM EDT P!nk earns the No. 1 Hot Tours ranking for the second week in a row with $30.7 million in grosses reported from the European leg of her world tour.  Last week, ticket totals from the tour's North American leg dominated the Hot Tours tally w ...

  13. Live Nation Teams With Insomniac Events in ‘Creative Partnership'

    June 20, 2013 2:21 AM EDT During a panel at his own EDM Biz conference, Insomniac Events’ CEO Pasquale Rotella casually confirmed what his long been rumored: His company will formally partner with Live Nation. Described as a “creative partnership,” the venture will al ...

  14. Live Nation Acquires Majority Stake in Baltics Region Promoter BDG Music

    June 19, 2013 1:52 PM EDT Live Nation Entertainment has acquired a majority stake in BDG Music Group, the Baltic region's largest concert promotion company, according to Live Nation. The group will retain its current management team, although upon completion of the ...

  15. MGM & AEG Building a 20,000-Seat Arena on the Las Vegas Strip

    June 19, 2013 6:11 AM EDT Years of talk about building an arena capable of hosting professional sports and big-name concerts yielded an announcement Tuesday that casino giant MGM Resorts International and entertainment company AEG will build a privately financed 20,000-s ...

  16. Nonprofit Pvblic Helps Justin Bieber-supported Charity Raise $400K, Working with Alicia Keys, Ne-Yo

    June 17, 2013 6:22 PM EDT Earlier this year, when Pencils of Promise was looking for a marketing partner to help spread the word about its annual Justin Bieber-supported Schools 4 All fund-raising campaign, the international education organization turned to the nonprofit ...

  17. Myspace, 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' Team Up for Music Livestream

    June 17, 2013 5:07 PM EDT The recently r elaunched Myspace and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! are teaming up for a yearlong initiative that will bring the show’s extended musical performances to a wider audience. Beginning June 18, select artists booked for JKL’s concert serie ...

  18. Backbeat: Robert Glasper, Gregory Porter, India.Arie Rock Playboy Jazz Fest

    June 17, 2013 1:56 PM EDT The Playboy Jazz Festival celebrated its 35th anniversary with a new host -- comedian/actor George Lopez -- and arguably one of the best lineups in recent years. Performers ranging from the Grammy-winning Robert Glasper Experiment and George Du ...

  19. MuchMusic Video Awards: Drake Surprises and Wins Big, PSY Retires 'Gentleman'

    June 17, 2013 11:22 AM EDT Drake made a surprise appearance, Avril Lavigne thanked her dad, and PSY said farewell thee "Gentleman" at the 2013 MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto last night, a massive outdoor celebration that shut down the streets around the Bell ...

  20. Jack Johnson Fills Bonnaroo Headlining Set For Mumford & Sons

    June 16, 2013 10:28 AM EDT Nicely done, Jack Johnson. Johnson and his band overcame tough odds and thorny logistics to headline the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on Saturday night, replacing late cancellation Mumford & Sons. The group overcame short notice and th ...

  21. Bonnaroo Backbeat: Jack Johnson Talks Filling In For Mumford, Passion Pit's Michael Angelakos on Maintaining His Falsetto

    June 14, 2013 8:32 PM EDT Jack Johnson was still a few hours away from Manchester, Tenn., to play a surprise set at Bonnaroo with his Brushfire Records act ALO on Thursday night (June 13) when he got the call. Mumford & Sons had just canceled their headlining Saturda ...

  22. P!nk Takes No. 1 Spot on Hot Tours Chart, Grosses $23.6 Million

    June 14, 2013 2:53 PM EDT P!nk takes the No. 1 ranking on the weekly Hot Tours tally with gross and attendance counts reported from the first leg of her Truth About Love Tour that launched earlier this year. The totals represented in this week’s recap come from the tour’ ...

  23. Bonnaroo, Facebook, Instagram Team Up for Crowd-Sourced Documentary, More

    June 13, 2013 11:38 AM EDT Bonnaroo's roughly 85,000 attendees this week will contribute to a crowdsourced documentary, and can automatically brag on Facebook about watching their favorite artists – all part of Facebook and subsidiary Instagram's exclusive soci ...

  24. Live Nation Wins Arbitration With CTS Eventim

    June 12, 2013 6:09 PM EDT Live Nation Entertainment Inc. says it has won an arbitration ruling over CTS Eventim AG, a German ticket-selling technology provider that was seeking nearly $900 million in damages because Live Nation terminated its contract after merging with ...

  25. Pete Tong, Afrojack, Matthew Adell, Stephanie LaFera Announced for EDMbiz 2013

    June 12, 2013 4:04 PM EDT EDMbiz, the Vegas-based dance music conference organized by Pasquale Rotella's Insomniac (parent company to the Electric Daisy Carnival, which will be taking place concurrently), has announced more speakers, events, and has released a panel ...

  26. Pepsi Recruits Blake Shelton for 'Iconic Summer' Campaign, Preps Exclusive Giveaways for Beyonce Tour, MLB All-Star Game

    June 11, 2013 11:40 AM EDT Between a top 5 album, his first major headlining tour and coaching his fourth season of NBC’s “The Voice,” Blake Shelton is already having a pretty iconic summer. But when Pepsi approached him to be the lead spokesman for its Iconic Summer prog ...

  27. Prime Social Launches Breakaway Fests With Bassnectar, Wu-Tang, Kendrick Lamar, Others (Exclusive)

    June 11, 2013 11:00 AM EDT Bassnectar, Empire of the Sun, Kendrick Lamar, Wu-Tang Clan, Matt & Kim among those playing stadiums in Columbus, Dallas The inaugural Breakaway Music Festival concept, produced by rising young promoters Prime Social, will launch with two ne ...

  28. New Music Seminar 2013: Frank Cooper, John Sykes, Rio Caraeff Talk Brand Partnerships, Mobile at ‘State of The Industry’

    June 10, 2013 5:21 PM EDT You can’t accuse the 2013 New Music Seminar of thinking small. The conference kicked off Monday morning with a wide-ranging “State of the Industry” panel featuring Frank Cooper , the chief marketing officer of PepsiCo; John Sykes , the president ...

  29. Backbeat: Governors Ball Founder Jordan Wolowitz on Fest's Exponential Growth, Kanye and the Rain

    June 10, 2013 2:02 PM EDT Jordan Wolowitz , co-founder of Founders Entertainment, had been following the meteorology reports on an hourly basis Friday afternoon before making the call to end Governors Ball on an early, muddy note. "Our main stage was built to withho ...

  30. Florida Georgia Line's Journey – From the Backstreets of CMA Week to Headlining LP Field

    June 10, 2013 11:43 AM EDT When Florida Georgia Line prepared to play the BMI Tailgate Stage outside Nashville's LP Field at the CMA Music Festival in June 2012, the duo could hear Hunter Hayes doing soundcheck for his performance on the main stage inside the stadium ...

  31. 'Kinky Boots,' Scored by Cindi Lauper, Kicks Up 6 Tony Award Wins

    June 09, 2013 11:57 PM EDT The feel-good musical "Kinky Boots," with songs by pop star and Broadway newcomer Cyndi Lauper, won a leading six 2013 Tony Awards on Sunday, including best musical, best score and best leading man. Christopher Durang's comical &q ...

  32. Governors Ball Continues Saturday; Kings of Leon, Rained Out Friday, to Play Make-Up Set

    June 08, 2013 11:36 AM EDT After a day of filled with high winds and driving rain thanks to Hurricane Andrea, Governors Ball called off Friday’s closing sets from Kings of Leon and Pretty Lights. But the festival and KOL regrouped on Saturday morning under cloudy but dry ...

  33. Backbeat: Blake Shelton at CMA Music Fest On His Massive Success: 'It's Kind of a Blur’

    June 07, 2013 9:38 PM EDT What’s better than celebrating a No. 1 single? Celebrating two No. 1 singles, and that’s just what Blake Shelton did this afternoon (June 7) at Nashville’s LP Field. Keith Urban , hit songwriter Craig Wiseman , Warner Music Nashville’s John Esp ...

  34. Toots Hibbert of Toots & The Maytals Files Multi-Million Dollar Suit Against Alleged Bottle-Thrower

    June 07, 2013 3:44 PM EDT By Patricia Meschino Reggae legend Frederick “Toots” Hibber returned to Richmond, VA earlier this week for the first time since an injurious bottle throwing incident there at the Dominion Riverrock Outdoor Sports and Music Festival, on Saturday, ...

  35. Legends Gamble & Huff, Thom Bell Reteam For Book, Other Projects

    June 06, 2013 6:22 PM EDT Legendary production duo and Philadelphia International Records founders Gamble & Huff have begun writing their autobiography, Billboard has learned exclusively. The definitive look back at the pair's pioneering legacy is the latest pro ...

  36. Backbeat: Marty Stuart Welcomes New Talent and Veteran Performers to His 12th-Annual Late Night Jam

    June 06, 2013 3:48 PM EDT “I believe in the youngsters,” Marty Stuart , the singer, songwriter and organizer of Wednesday night's 12th-annual "Late Night Jam," told Billboard.biz. “I was thinking back over the guest list today, and it’s kind of staggeri ...

  37. Backbeat: Paloma San Basilio Performs Farewell at Miami’s Reinvigorated James L. Knight Center

    June 06, 2013 11:58 AM EDT Spanish diva Paloma San Basilio performed in Miami ‘s James L. Knight Center June 1 as part of her “Hasta Siempre”  (‘Til Forever) farewell world tour. The show was presented by NYK Concerts which recently presented Alejandro Sanz at the Miami A ...

  38. Brian Wilson Announces He's at Work on 11th Solo Record, Jeff Beck to Feature

    June 06, 2013 10:05 AM EDT Brian Wilson is back in the studio. Capitol Music Group announced in a release today that the legendary songwriter is at work on his 11th solo record at Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles and will go out on a short tour with his former bandmates ...

  39. Backbeat: Carrie Underwood's Country Museum Hall Exhibit Opening With Gary Overton, Jeff Gregg, Fierce Gowns

    June 05, 2013 4:51 PM EDT As the crush of CMA Music Fest activities gets in full swing, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum hosted a reception last night (6/4) to launch “Carrie Underwood: The Blown Away Tour” exhibition which opens to the public today and runs th ...

  40. Backbeat: Kellie Pickler Celebrates 'Dancing With The Stars' Win at the Grand Ole Opry

    June 05, 2013 2:29 PM EDT Gathered backstage at the Grand Ole Opry during Kellie Pickler 's celebration for her and dancing partner  Derek Hough 's recent win on "Dancing with the Stars" were, from left: Steve Buchanan , EVP of the Opry Entertainment ...

  41. Michael Jackson Lawsuit Is Extortion Attempt, AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips says

    June 04, 2013 9:44 PM EDT The head of AEG Live told a jury on Monday that he believes a lawsuit filed by Michael Jackson's mother against the concert promotion company was a baseless extortion attempt. CEO Randy Phillips also said the company bears no responsibility ...

  42. VP Records Launched Dub Rockers Imprint For U.S. Reggae Acts, Partners With Vans

    June 04, 2013 3:04 PM EDT California based skate-shoe company Vans who have developed numerous footwear/merchandise lines inspired by bands ranging from Bad Brains to Metallica have entered into a partnership with Queens, New York based Reggae independent VP Records to ...

  43. Backbeat: Matador’s Patrick Amory on Chaos in Tejas: ‘Much More Fun Than SXSW'

    June 04, 2013 2:20 PM EDT On Sunday, Enabler PR closed out its Chaos in Tejas , the annual Austin, TX music festival, with a showcase at the Holy Mountain bar . Currently in it’s ninth year, Chaos was founded by Ground Control Booking agent Timmy Hefner who in that time ...

  44. Todd Abramson Talks Maxwell’s Closing: ‘It Just Felt Like It Was Time’

    June 04, 2013 12:11 PM EDT The news that Maxwell's -- the beloved Hoboken, NJ club that's nurtured multiple generations of indie and alternative acts since the early 1980s -- will close its doors at the end of July has been met with regrets and fond reminisce ...

  45. Aussie Supermarket Giant Coles Bags One Direction Campaign

    June 04, 2013 8:12 AM EDT One Direction have gone shopping for a new campaign to hit the Australian market.  The British boyband has teamed with the Coles supermarket giant, who will host an exclusive concert and are vowing to give-away more than 10,000 tickets as part o ...

  46. Michael Jackson Doc's Interactions with AEG Detailed

    June 03, 2013 8:33 PM EDT An executive who negotiated with Michael Jackson's doctor says he never considered doing a background check on him. Paul Gongaware told a jury he didn't think that financial issues would affect a doctor's medical judgment. The pro ...

  47. Maxwell's -- Legendary, Long-Running Hoboken Venue -- to Close in July

    June 03, 2013 5:23 PM EDT Maxwell's, the venerated music venue and bar in Hoboken, New Jersey long known for its eclectic and independent-minded bookings, will be closing its doors after 35 years at the end of July, the Star-Ledger has reported . Speaking to Star- ...

  48. The Battle for Long Island: Four Major Players Vie for Nassau Coliseum

    June 03, 2013 2:30 PM EDT This story on the battle for Long Island's Nassau Coliseum is an excerpt rom the latest issue of Billboard (June 8, 2013), which also features a cover story on J. Cole and the follow-up to his album that “changed the business model;” the pu ...

  49. StubHub Becomes Official Ticket Re-Seller for London’s O2 Arena

    June 03, 2013 11:33 AM EDT Secondary ticketing service StubHub has partnered with London’s O2 arena to become the venue’s official ticket re-sale vendor.   Effective immediately, the deal sees The O2’s primary ticketing platform AXS.com become fully integrated with StubHu ...

  50. Yes to Headline Yestival in Philly

    June 03, 2013 10:14 AM EDT The first annual Yestival will take place Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J., Billboard.biz has learned. The festival is produced by prog rock pioneers Yes, the band’s agency Artist Group International, and Live Nat ...

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