As part of our continuing efforts to serve the music industry and its creators, Billboard Pro now features a music industry events calendar for readers.

The calendar will act as music’s most complete summary major national and international industry events, from conferences to festivals to networking mixers and more. Just as Billboard is music’s must-read source for news, charts and analysis, now it also is the go-to for business happenings.

January 2025

February 2025

March 2025

April 2025

May 2025

June 2025

July 2025

August 2025

September 2025

October 2025

Want your event listed? For more information contact joe.maimone@billboard.com.

Pershing Square Holdings chief Bill Ackman won’t get his wish of a Universal Music Group (UMG) de-listing from the Euronext Amsterdam exchange, but the hedge fund king’s push for a UMG listing on a U.S. exchange will nevertheless come to fruition in 2025.

UMG announced Wednesday (Jan. 15) that Pershing Square and some of its affiliates have requested an offering and listing on a U.S. stock exchange and waived the 120-day filing requirement. UMG, “in line with its contractual obligations,” will use “commercially reasonable efforts to launch an underwritten offering for the sale of certain shares owned by Pershing by September 15, 2025,” according to the company’s statement. Pershing Square holds a 7.6% stake in UMG currently valued at $3.48 billion.

“Any actions or decisions of UMG beyond those necessary to comply with its contractual obligations under the Registration Rights Agreement will be determined by the Board of Directors of UMG based on an analysis taking into account what is value maximizing and in the best interests of all the shareholders of UMG,” the statement continues.

Following violent attacks against Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam in November 2024, Ackman, who is also a UMG board member, called on UMG to de-list from the Euronext Amsterdam exchange, where it has traded since it broke from Vivendi in 2021, and move its legal headquarters from the Netherlands to the United States. Pershing Square quickly sought approval to delist its own stock from the Euronext Amsterdam exchange, with its request granted on Jan. 2; it will officially de-list on Jan. 31. Pershing Square stock will continue to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.

“Leaving a jurisdiction that fails to protect its tourists and minority populations combine both good business and moral principles,” Ackman wrote on X at the time. Pershing Square, he continued, would exercise its “contractual right to cause UMG to be listed in the US… and achieve a US listing for UMG no later than some time next year.”

In response, UMG explained that Pershing Square could use its UMG holdings for a U.S. listing but couldn’t dictate additional terms. “As disclosed in UMG’s listing prospectus, Pershing has the right to request a listing in the U.S. subject to a Pershing entity selling at least $500 million in UMG shares as part of the listing. Pershing does not have any right to require UMG to become a U.S. domiciled company or delist from Euronext Amsterdam.”

A dual listing is not unusual for a publicly traded company. Listing in multiple countries provides a company with access to more investors and hedges against unfavorable rule changes in any one country. Among music companies, Tencent Music Entertainment trades in both the U.S. and Hong Kong.

UPDATE: An earlier version of this article mistaken put Pershing Square’s stake in UMG at 10.25%. After a distribution of UMG shares to Pershing Square’s limited partners, announced on January 2, its UMG stake stands at 7.6%.

Universal Music Group (UMG) is firing back at Drake’s lawsuit accusing the music giant of defaming him by promoting Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us,” calling the case “illogical” and accusing Drake of trying to “weaponize the legal process.”

In a strongly-worded statement issued Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 15), UMG flatly denied the allegations in Drake’s lawsuit — filed earlier in the day in New York federal court — and sharply criticized its superstar artist for bringing it.

“Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist—let alone Drake—is illogical,” the company wrote. “We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success.”

The lawsuit claims that UMG knew that “inflammatory and shocking allegations” in Lamar’s scathing diss track were false, but chose to place “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.”

But in UMG’s response, the music giant said that Drake himself had often engaged in rap beefs featuring bombastic claims about his opponents — the very thing that he now claims is illegal.

“Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists,” UMG wrote. “He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.”

Drake’s case repeatedly makes clear that he is not suing Lamar himself, and that he holds UMG responsible for releasing a song that it allegedly knew was defamatory.

In its statement, UMG denied that claim — and said it would defend Lamar or any other artist if they were hit with such a lawsuit.

 “We have not and do not engage in defamation—against any individual,” UMG said in the statement. “At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more than write a song.”

Drake and Lamar exchanged stinging diss tracks last year, culminating in Lamar’s knockout “Not Like Us” — a track that savagely slammed Drake as a “certified pedophile” and reached the top of the charts. In November, the star filed stunning legal petitions suggesting that he planned to sue UMG, claiming that the company had artificially boosted a song that contained defamatory statements about him.

Earlier on Wednesday, Drake made good on those threats — filing a federal lawsuit that claimed UMG had boosted a “false and malicious narrative” that the star rapper was a pedophile, severely harming his reputation and even putting his life in danger.

“UMG intentionally sought to turn Drake into a pariah, a target for harassment, or worse,” the star’s lawyers wrote in their complaint. “UMG did so not because it believes any of these false claims to be true, but instead because it would profit from damaging Drake’s reputation.”

The accusations — and Wednesday’s response statement — represent a remarkable rift between the world’s largest music company and one of its biggest stars. Drake has spent his entire career at UMG, first through signing a deal with Lil Wayne’s Young Money imprint that was distributed by Republic Records, then by signing directly to Republic.

Boiler Room, a longstanding event and streaming series, has been acquired by European festival organizer Superstruct Entertainment. A representative for the company declined to disclose the terms of the deal.

Boiler Room was previously owned by ticketing platform Dice, which acquired it in 2021. Dice will remain Boiler Room’s official ticketing partner.

A statement on the deal notes that Boiler Room’s team will remain responsible for leadership of the business under Superstruct, “and it will retain its identity with active support for their
development through Superstruct’s global resources and expertise.”

A representative for Superstruct confirms that Boiler Room will continue generating revenue through brand partnerships (Boiler Room has had long-term deals with Pernod Ricard and Ballantine’s), along with ticketed events and its apparel brand. While Boiler Room videos regularly rack up millions of streams on YouTube, Boiler Room makes almost nothing from this YouTube content, as it doesn’t own any rights to the music.

“As we turn 15 and enter our next stage of growth, we’re excited to be partnering with Superstruct for this chapter,” Boiler Room founder Blaise Bellville said in a statement. “We feel in good company with their roster of brands, they offer us new opportunities to grow, whilst understanding the importance of staying true to the authenticity that, at its core, is what makes Boiler Room special.”

“We are proud to welcome the talented team at Boiler Room, who have managed to consistently grow the platform over the last fifteen years whilst maintaining a distinct cultural approach,” added Superstruct Entertainment CEO Roderik Schlösser. “This partnership perfectly aligns with Superstruct’s mission to celebrate and amplify cultures through creativity, collaboration, and live entertainment. Boiler Room is in the best position it has ever been and we are excited to support them in their promising future ahead.”

In June, Billboard reported that global investment firms KKR and CVC had agreed to acquire Superstruct Entertainment from Providence Equity Partners. Superstruct — which has a portfolio of more than 80 events including the electronic festivals DGTL, Mysteryland, Parookaville, Brunch Electronik, along with Sziget, one of the largest music festivals in Europe, and the world’s largest heavy metal festival, Germany’s Wacken Open Air — was founded in 2017 by Providence and James Barton, a former Live Nation executive who also founded the Liverpool-based night club Cream. The terms of that deal were not disclosed, though the Financial Times reported that Superstruct sold for around €1.3 billion ($1.39 billion). 

At the end of 2023, REPUBLIC’ industry-leading current market share of 13.47% represented the best full-year mark for a label since at least 2015, encompassing the streaming era for the music industry.

But in 2024, the label surpassed that: powered by mega albums by Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen and Sabrina Carpenter (the latter whose label Island Records is included in REPUBLIC’s market share along with Cash Money, Wallen’s labels Mercury and Big Loud and indie distributor Imperial), REPUBLIC posted a 14.90% current share, the second year in a row it led all labels by more than 4%.

Much of that can be attributed to the all-conquering success of Swift, whose Tortured Poets Department album was more than twice as big in the U.S. in 2024 than the second-biggest, Wallen’s 2023 album One Thing At a Time. But it also had to do with the remarkable rise of Island’s one-two punch of Carpenter and Chappell Roan, who each broke out this year with an album that ended the year among the 10 biggest of 2024: Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet and Roan The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. Year over year, Island quadrupled its current market share, from 0.62% in 2023 to 2.49% in 2024, helping REPUBLIC reach new heights.

But REPUBLIC wasn’t the only label to have a big year: in second place was Interscope Geffen A&M, which saw its current share grow nearly two full points year over year, to reach 10.72% in 2024 — a share which grew steadily each quarter as the year went along. (Interscope’s market share also includes Verve Label Group.) Billie Eilish’s banner album Hit Me Hard & Soft led the way for IGA, but Kendrick Lamar’s cultural juggernaut “Not Like Us” was among the biggest songs of the year, while his Billboard 200-topping November album GNX helped capitalize on that momentum. Interscope, too, posted a share more than 4% higher than its next-closest competitor, Warner Records.

(One note: market share rankings do not reflect the Universal Music Group’s reorganization carried out this past February, which brought Def Jam under REPUBLIC’s purview and Capitol under Interscope’s; if it did, REPUBLIC would stand at a 15.46% current share, with Interscope Capitol at 14.70%.)

Which is not to say Warner Records had a down year: after posting a huge 5.96% current share in 2023, Warner had an even bigger 2024 and bested its sister label Atlantic Records for the first time in years. Warner (whose share includes Warner Nashville, Warner Latina and Rhino) reached a 6.55% share, led by breakout hits by Grammys best new artist nominees Benson Boone (“Beautiful Things”) and Teddy Swims (“Lose Control”), as well as the continued momentum of Zach Bryan, whose latest album The Great American Bar Scene delivered another major release for the label.

That meant Atlantic Records (which encompasses 300 Entertainment and Elektra) finished in fourth, dropping 1.21% from 2023 to land at 5.64% current share, in a year that was marked by a major transition in leadership. In fifth was Columbia Records, whose share includes some indie labels from distributor RED, which delivered a major album in Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter (and, later in the year, Tyler, the Creator’s Chromakopia) and a song in Hozier’s “Too Sweet,” but slipped slightly year over year to 4.59%. In sixth, RCA Records also dipped year over year, coming in at 4.11%, down from 4.67% in 2023.

Another label that saw an executive overhaul, Capitol Music Group — which includes Motown/Quality Control, Blue Note, Astralwerks and some of Virgin Music’s share — also decreased significantly, falling from a 5.91% current share in 2023 to 3.98% in 2024, dropping them to seventh overall. But the eighth and ninth labels — Epic Records and Alamo Records, respectively — saw significant gains, with Epic jumping to 2.59% from 2.31% last year and Alamo nearly doubling its share, from 1.13% in 2023 to 2.11% in 2024, with much of that coming from the success of its Santa Anna distribution company, which debuted in January 2023. Rounding out the top 10 is another Sony label, Sony Music Latin, which also grew, up to 2.04% in 2024 from 1.94% in 2023.

Among the label groups, two sectors saw significant growth, offsetting the others. The Universal Music Group, fueled by the huge successes of REPUBLIC and Interscope, grew 1.09% year over year, posting a 36.90% current share. Sony Music, on the other hand, fell 1.13% in current share year over year, to 25.96%. Warner Music Group also fell, dropping from 16.96% in 2023 to 16.33% in 2024 in current share, while the indie sector grew 0.67% year over year by current distribution, from 20.14% to 20.81%. By label ownership, the indie sector accounted for 38.91% of current share.

At the label group level, overall share — which includes catalog in addition to frontline releases — told a different story. Sony Music actually grew the most year over year, up 0.22% to 27.39% in overall share in 2024, while UMG grew 0.17% to 38.61%. Warner Music Group dipped from 18.63% to 18.39%, while by distribution ownership the Indies also fell slightly, from 15.77% to 15.62%. By label ownership, the indie sector accounted for 36.19% overall share.

Among the individual labels in overall share, REPUBLIC and Interscope still held the top two spots — at 10.39% and 10.17%, respectively — though Interscope’s deeper catalog made it closer than with current share. Similarly, Atlantic Records’ deeper catalog meant it took third place in overall share, leapfrogging Warner Records in fourth, at 7.63% and 6.88%, respectively. Columbia (5.97%) maintained the fifth spot, just edging Capitol Music Group (5.95%) in sixth, while RCA, Epic, Sony Nashville and Universal Music Nashville rounded out the top 10.

In catalog share — those releases that are older than 18 months — it was Interscope’s deeper bench that led it to an industry-leading 9.98% share, ahead of REPUBLIC’s 8.84% and Atlantic’s 8.31%. Warner Records (7.00%) came in fourth, while Capitol Music Group (6.62%) jumped to fifth, ahead of Columbia (6.44%) and RCA (5.31%) in sixth and seventh, respectively. Epic (2.70) landed in eighth, while Def Jam’s illustrious history, celebrating 40 years in 2024, carried it up to ninth, at a 2.19% share.

Among the label groups, UMG’s catalog share was an industry-leading 39.19%, while Sony posted a 27.87% share and the Warner Music Group ended at 19.09%, with the indies at 13.85%. Sony’s share was up from the 27.21% it claimed in 2023, while each of the other three declined slightly year over year.

As U.S. TikTok users brace for a potential ban of the platform, some of them are actively testing other options: Two apps with TikTok-like characteristics, RedNote and Lemon8, are now the most popular free downloads in Apple’s App Store. 

Lemon8 launched in the U.S. in February 2023 and cracked the top 20 on the Apple App Store four months later, according to Sensor Tower. Like TikTok, Lemon8 features a “For You” feed that recommends clips and a “following” feed that serves up videos from creators that users follow. Sensor Tower reported in October that 94% of Lemon8 users are women and that the app had been downloaded 52 million times globally.

RedNote, which was founded in 2013, is much bigger: Bloomberg recently reported that it has more than 300 million monthly active users and that it made $1 billion in profit in 2024. The platform has a trending feed that resembles TikTok’s, allowing users to vertically scroll through short-form videos. It also incorporates regular photos, text posts, and e-commerce; one tester described it as “Instagram meets TikTok meets Reddit.”

Both Lemon8 and RedNote are owned by Chinese entities — in fact, Lemon8 is owned by ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company. That could mean these apps also have a precarious future in the U.S., as TikTok is facing a ban because the American government is worried about its Chinese ownership. 

“I’ve been concerned, literally for years, that because TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese firm, and every company — based upon Chinese law — has to be first and foremost loyal to the Communist Party of China, not to their shareholders or customers, that TikTok has posed a national security concern,” Sen. Mark Warner said earlier this month. His concerns would presumably extend to other ByteDance-owned companies, like CapCut and Lemon8.

In December, the Supreme Court agreed to hear TikTok’s challenge to the law that would either force ByteDance to sell the app or bar it from the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump also asked the court to pause the ban, promising to “resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.”

But after the Supreme Court hearing last week, most legal experts believe the justices will uphold the law. In that case, ByteDance would have to offload TikTok or face a ban on Jan. 19.

At the Supreme Court hearing, Justice Brett Kavanaugh claimed that China could use data harvested from TikTok to “develop spies, to turn people, to blackmail people.” And Chief Justice John Roberts asked how the court was “supposed to ignore the fact that the ultimate parent [company] is, in fact, subject to doing intelligence work for the Chinese government?”

With TikTok’s possible prohibition just days away, some labels have already started gaming out alternative marketing strategies.

“It’s hard to imagine a reality where TikTok actually goes down,” one executive told Billboard in December. “But we need to be prepared.”

Britpop icons Pulp signed with Rough Trade Records. “Rough Trade have managed Pulp for over 30 years so it feels great to be finally on the label. We did it!” the band said in a statement. Pulp’s last release was the 2001 album We Love Life, released by Island Records, though the band has toured together in the intervening years. Pulp has released a total of seven studio albums, including 1995’s Different Class, which was certified four-times platinum by the BPI.

Maggie Rose, a 2025 Grammy nominee for best Americana album, signed with One Riot/Virgin. Her first release under the deal is a “stripped version” of “Under the Sun” with Charlotte Sands. Rose is managed by Austin Marshall and Narvel Blackstock at Starstruck and booked by Jonathan Levine and Matt Runner at Wasserman.

Folk-country artist Evan Honer signed with Wasserman Music for booking representation ahead of his recently announced spring 2025 tour. Honer will play 36 dates across the U.S., starting on Feb. 23 in Little Rock, Ark.

Singer-songwriter Sam Ryder signed with mtheory for management. He will be represented by Lewis Allen and Derek Gridley. Ryder is gearing up to release his second album and will embark on a tour this year.

Grammy-nominated gospel artist William Murphy signed a distribution deal with Motown Gospel, which released his new single, “Double,” on Friday (Jan. 10).

Centricity Music signed singer-songwriter Rachel Purcell to an exclusive global recording and publishing deal. Under her maiden name, Wammack, Rachel previously pursued a country music career, with songs including “Damage”; her new deals with Centricity mark her foray into Contemporary Christian music. – Jessica Nicholson

Sony Music Nashville signed singer-songwriter and Georgia native Zach John King. King just released a new song, “Slow Down,” which he wrote with Thomas Archer, Kyle Fishman and Michael Tyler. Sony Music Nashville’s roster also features artists including Brooks & Dunn, Kane Brown, Luke Combs and Megan Moroney. – Jessica Nicholson

Guitarist/producer RJ Pasin launched his own record label, Isekai Records, and signed Baltimore-based artist Lindsay Chia to the imprint. The label, which was founded by Pasin alongside his managers Ewan McGregor and Jack Mangan, released Chia’s track “Ghost” on Jan. 1. On launch, Isekai released the track “Embrace It (Remix)” by Ndotz, Sexyy Red and Flo Milli, featuring Pasin on guitar.

Luke Dean, an emerging artist in the U.K. underground dance scene, signed with Enzo Siragusa‘s LOCUS imprint, which released his new EP Ready Set Go on Dec. 13.

Jeff Roberts Agency partnered with contemporary Christian singer-songwriter Claire Leslie for booking. Leslie is managed by Hyphen Media Group and signed with Capitol CMG. She released her debut single “Original” this summer and followed with songs including “Ceiling Fan” and “Passenger Seat.” – Jessica Nicholson

Nashville-based label Quartz Hill Records, led by Brown Sellers Brown partner Benny Brown, signed country-pop duo 2 Lane Summer to its roster. The duo, composed of Illinois native Joe Hanson and Mississippi-born Chris Ray, recently joined country trio Chapel Hart on their Hartfelt Family Christmas Tour. They’ve also released a new version of their song “Eyes That Ain’t Yours.” – Jessica Nicholson

Big Machine Rock signed grunge rock artist Ryan Perdz to its roster. Perdz, who is signed with 7S Management, will release his debut single, “January,” with Big Machine on Jan. 17. The New York native has earned over 1 million followers on TikTok and counts artists including Chris Cornell, Kurt Cobain and John Frusciante as influences. – Jessica Nicholson

Pollinate Music, a newly-launched label under Bell Partners Worldwide, signed rapper, singer-songwriter and producer Rakeem Miles, who is also known for the clothing brand Action Figure Miles.

Singer-songwriter McCoy Moore signed an exclusive booking and artist development deal with The Neal Agency, home to fellow artists including HARDY, Nate Smith, Morgan Wallen, Anne Wilson and Bailey Zimmerman. Moore is also signed with SMACK and Worktape Music for publishing and with the newly-launched TRACK mgmt’s Tracker Johnson for management. – Jessica Nicholson

Universal Music Group Nashville (UMGN) has relaunched Lost Highway Records in partnership with Oscar- and Grammy-winning songwriter/producer T Bone Burnett.

The first release from the new iteration is Ringo Starr’s Burnett-produced country set Look Up, which was released last Friday (Jan. 10).

The revered label, which takes its name from the song made famous by Hank Williams, had been dormant since 2012 after being launched by then-UMGN head Luke Lewis in 2000.

From the start, Lewis and his team curated a tasty roster focused on American-leaning music from artists including Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, Hayes Carll, Mary Gauthier and Lyle Lovett. It was also home to soundtracks, including the Burnett-produced, Grammy-winning O Brother Where Art Thou, Deadwood and Open Season.

Cindy Mabe had been interested in reactivating the imprint for quite some time, even before she ascended to the role of UMGN chairman/CEO in April 2023.

“It was always a mission that we were going to reopen Lost Highway,” Mabe says. “It just felt like something was missing from the marketplace. Lost Highway was 15 years before its time. Looking at what’s happening to music in general and people living for algorithms, you’re losing art, you’re losing stories.”

Other entities had approached her about using the name over the years, but she had kept it close, knowing the right time would come.

“None of those people felt like the right people to go into this because you either hold it at the regard of which Luke built it or you don’t redo it,” Mabe says. Then, when Burnett played her the Starr album, “It just hit me. I was like, ‘Hold on, full circle moment.’ O Brother was kind of where Lost Highway started. And he’s presenting this beautiful record and he was pouring all this joy that he had gotten from The Beatles back into Ringo. This is the mentality and this is where Lost Highway needs to be.”

Burnett, who is also known for his work with Bob Dylan, Elton John, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, immediately loved the idea of joining forces. “I think it’s something that’s really needed at the moment,” he says. “There’s a need for an American music-focused record label that takes care of the good stuff.”

Though they aren’t ready to announce names, Burnett and Mabe say they have four or five artists they’re ready to work with, and they don’t discount that some of them may have a history with the label. Mabe says there are no plans to move any acts currently signed to other UMGN imprints to Lost Highway, which will remain a boutique label. Lost Highway will share some services with UMGN labels but will hire its own A&R, marketing and publicity staff.

“T Bone and I keep talking about the reason that we’re going to win is we’re going to put quality art back into the marketplace,” Mabe says. “It’s just missing. I’m not saying that there’s not some quality art out there, but it’s not always the goal. You don’t get artist development just by spinning the wheel and seeing how many ‘likes’ are out there. You actually have to make people feel something.”

Touring will be a big part of promoting the artists, as well as pairing them with producers who bring the same sensibility to the table. Additionally, Mabe says the film and TV component will remain a big part of the label and a way to bring attention to the roster.  “Can these artists have radio? They could,” Mabe says. “It’s not the intent. The intent is to put great back out there and find its way out. It’s not one specific way to market.”

Burnett, who will helm the label’s creative direction with Mabe, doesn’t have an official title yet, but adds, “I’m looking forward to the challenge. I feel like we’re in a really beautiful moment where traditional American music, American vernacular music, is ascendant in the culture.” He wants to curate a bespoke roster in the same legendary way that Mo Ostin and Lenny Waronker did at Warner Bros. in the ‘70s or Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ertegun did at Atlantic Records in the ‘60s and ‘70s. “I want every artist to touch every other artist in some way so that it’s integrated as an esthetic,” Burnett says. “It’s not just commercial grabs from here and there, but it’s about people who play great and sing great and write great.”

By launching with Starr’s country album, Burnett says it sends the signal that Lost Highway is “not going to be constricted by somebody else’s definition of what American music is. When The Beatles came out, they were playing Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins. They were playing the canon of American music that everything since has grown out of,” he says. “We’re saying that this is going to be an inclusive label. It’s going to be what I call American music, which includes blues and rhythm & blues and country music and folk music and rock and roll music.

One of Mabe’s next steps is surveying the assets from Lost Highway’s first go-round. “We’re going to put out some of the catalog that’s existed before,” she says. “It’s taking shape. We’re looking at all the pieces that are going to put the lights back on.”

Drake has filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) over allegations that the music giant defamed him by promoting Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us,” claiming the label boosted a “false and malicious narrative” that the star rapper was a pedophile and put his life in danger.

Hours after his attorneys withdrew an earlier petition, Drake filed a full-fledged defamation lawsuit Wednesday (Jan. 15) against his longtime label — claiming UMG knew Lamar’s “inflammatory and shocking allegations” were false but chose to place “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.”

“UMG intentionally sought to turn Drake into a pariah, a target for harassment, or worse,” the star’s lawyers write in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. “UMG did so not because it believes any of these false claims to be true, but instead because it would profit from damaging Drake’s reputation.”

In one of the lawsuit’s most vivid accusations, Drake claims that the release of “Not Like Us” has subjected him to the risk of physical violence, including a drive-by shooting on his Toronto area home just days after the song was released. His attorneys likened the situation to “Pizzagate,” an infamous online conspiracy theory centered on false allegations of pedophilia that later inspired a real-life shooting.

“UMG’s greed yielded real world consequences,” his lawyers write. “With the palpable physical threat to Drake’s safety and the bombardment of online harassment, Drake fears for the safety and security of himself, his family, and his friends.”

Notably, the case does not target Lamar himself — a point that Drake’s attorneys repeatedly stress in their filings: “UMG may spin this complaint as a rap beef gone legal, but this lawsuit is not about a war of words between artists.”

In a strongly-worded response statement issued later on Wednesday, UMG flatly denied Drake’s allegations, saying it would be “illogical” for the company to conspire against one of its own artists in whom it had made a “massive” investment.

“We have not and do not engage in defamation—against any individual,” UMG said in the statement. “At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more that write a song.”

Wednesday’s lawsuit is yet another dramatic escalation in a high-profile beef that saw Drake and Lamar exchange stinging diss tracks last year, culminating in Lamar’s knockout “Not Like Us” — a track that savagely slammed Drake as a “certified pedophile” and became a chart-topping hit in its own right.

Drake shocked the music industry in November when he filed petitions suggesting he might sue over the feud — first accusing UMG and Spotify of an illegal “scheme” involving bots, payola and other methods to pump up Lamar’s song, then later claiming that the song had been defamatory. But those cases were not quite full-fledged lawsuits, and Drake withdrew one of them late on Tuesday (Jan. 14).

Now it’s clear why: In Wednesday’s lawsuit, he formally sued UMG over the same alleged scheme, claiming the label “unleashed every weapon in its arsenal” to drive the popularity of Lamar’s track even though it knew the lyrics were “not only false, but dangerous.”

“With his own record label having waged a campaign against him, and refusing to address this as a business matter, Drake has been left with no choice but to seek legal redress against UMG,” his lawyers write.

The filing of the case represents a doubling-down for Drake, who has been ridiculed in some corners of the hip-hop world for filing legal actions over a rap beef. It also will deepen further his rift with UMG, where the star has spent his entire career — first through signing a deal with Lil Wayne’s Young Money imprint, which was distributed by Republic Records, then by signing directly to Republic.

In his complaint, Drake’s lawyers say the label opted to boost “Not Like Us” despite its “defamatory” lyrics because they saw it as a “gold mine” — partly because UMG owns Lamar’s master recordings outright, but also because it could use the song to hurt Drake’s standing in future contract talks.

“UMG’s contract with Drake was nearing fulfillment … UMG anticipated that extending Drake’s contract would be costly,” his lawyers write. “By devaluing Drake’s music and brand, UMG would gain leverage to force Drake to sign a new deal on terms more favorable to UMG.”

The filing reveals new behind-the-scene details about the lead-up to the litigation. Drake’s attorneys say they sent several legal letters last summer and fall, warning UMG that the lyrics were false and defamatory. They say Drake also privately “confronted” his label about its role in promoting Lamar’s lyrics and warned of risks to his safety, but that the label “refused to do anything to help.”

Instead, the lawsuit suggests that UMG merely advised Drake of the reputational risks of filing a lawsuit during a rap beef.

“After weeks of delay, UMG declined to do anything to assist Drake, including even going so far as refusing to agree to mediate with Drake,” his attorneys write. “UMG instead insisted that it bore no responsibility for the harm Drake had suffered, and represented that if Drake sued UMG, UMG would respond by bringing claims against Kendrick Lamar, and intimated that Drake would face public ridicule for the perception that he had sued another rapper.”

In their complaint, Drake’s lawyers go out of their way to argue that he has not, in fact, sued another rapper. Though they repeatedly allege that Lamar’s lyrics and music video were defamatory, they say the case is legally about the steps that UMG took after Drake had informed his label that Lamar’s accusations were false and dangerous.

“This lawsuit involves no claims against Kendrick Lamar or any other artist,” his lawyers write. “Instead, it is about UMG … and its malicious decision to publish and promote, through covert means, false allegations about Drake that UMG knew were false, explosive, inflammatory, and certain to result in both vitriol and substantial harm to Drake’s reputation.”

The complaint re-ups many accusations from Drake’s earlier case, like the claim that UMG conspired with others to artificially boost “Not Like Us.” That scheme allegedly included using bots to create fake streams and making undisclosed payments, as well as charging Spotify a lower licensing rate in return for pushing the song to its users. Drake also says UMG took the “unprecedented” step of “whitelisting” the song on YouTube — meaning users could share it without triggering automatic copyright filters.

But the lawsuit also includes new allegations about UMG’s efforts to “put a thumb on the scale” in favor of Lamar, including his upcoming performance at February’s Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show: “UMG conferred financial benefits and leveraged existing business relationships to secure the headliner-spot,” his lawyers write.

All those efforts, Drake’s attorneys say, have had the desired effect: “billions of plays” and “ubiquitous” popularity for “Not Like Us,” which spent two weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in May and remains at the 23rd spot on the chart this week.

With that massive popularity, Drake says he has faced a massive hit to his reputation, resulting in “unrelenting vitriol” and acts of violence against one of UMG’s own longtime artists.

“Even though UMG enriched itself and its shareholders by exploiting Drake’s music for years, and knew that the salacious allegations against Drake were false, UMG chose corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists,” his lawyers say.

UPDATE: This story was updated at 4:41 pm EST with a response statement from UMG.

Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department finished 2024 as the most popular album of the year in the U.S., according to music data tracking company Luminate. Meanwhile, the most-streamed song by on-demand audio streams was Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” and the most-heard song on the radio was Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control.”

Total music consumption in the U.S. – as measured in audio equivalent album units – increased by 5.6% in 2024. (View Luminate’s 2024 Year-End Music Report.)

See Luminate’s year-end top 10 albums, along with other year-end rankings and industry volume numbers, below.

But first, the fine print:

Equivalent album units – for album titles and chart rankings cited below (but not industry volume numbers) – comprise traditional 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 on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album, or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. Album titles and album chart rankings by equivalent album units do not include user-generated content (UGC) streams, but UGC streams are included in Luminate’s industry volume numbers. (UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s weekly charts.)

For the sake of clarity, equivalent album units do not include listening to music on broadcast radio or digital radio broadcasts – including programmed streams – operating under Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) regulations. All numbers cited in this story are rounded, and reflect U.S. consumption only.

Luminate’s equivalent album unit totals include SEA and TEA for an album’s songs registered before an album’s release, but during the tracking period of Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025.

Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991 when the company was known as SoundScan. Luminate’s sales, streaming and airplay data is used to compile Billboard’s weekly charts. Luminate’s 2024 tracking year ran from Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025.

Luminate’s 2024 tracking year contained 53 weeks, instead of the usual 52 weeks. So, for 2024 volume comparisons to 2023, a corresponding 53-week period was used by Luminate for 2023: Dec. 30, 2022, through Jan. 4, 2024.

Highlights from Luminate’s 2024 U.S. year-end data:

Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated May 4, 2024, and has spent 17 nonconsecutive weeks atop the tally (through its most recent week at No. 1 on the chart dated Dec. 21). The last album by a woman to spend as many weeks at No. 1 was Adele’s 21, which earned 24 nonconsecutive weeks on top in 2011-12.

Poets is the third Swift album to be named Luminate’s year-end No. 1 album, following 1989 (2014) and Fearless (2009). In both 2014 and 2009, the year-end list was based solely on traditional album sales. In 2015, the year-end ranking started being based on equivalent album units.

Since Luminate began electronically tracking music consumption in 1991, Swift is the first artist to have three different albums be Luminate’s year-end No. 1. Adele is the only other act to have the year-end top album in three different years, but Adele did it with two albums: 21 (2011-12) and 25 (2015).

Poets is the first album not by a solo male to be Luminate’s year-end No. 1 since 2015, when Adele’s 25 was tops.

Poets earned 6.955 million equivalent album units in 2024 in the U.S., according to Luminate. That’s the biggest yearly total for an album since 2015, when Adele’s third album, 25, earned 8.008 million units. (Previous to Poets, the last album to clear 6 million units in a single year was 25.)

Half of Poets’ 2024 units was generated by traditional album sales (3.491 million of 6.955 million) – via purchases of physical (CD, cassette and vinyl) and digital download albums. Streaming equivalent album (SEA) units comprise 3.434 million and track equivalent album (TEA) units comprise 30,000. Poets was also the most-streamed album of 2024, by total on-demand official streams generated by its songs, with 4.490 billion streams.

Poets was initially released on April 19 as a standard 16-song digital download album, as well as in an array of 17-song physical configurations. Two hours after the album dropped, Swift issued an expanded 31-song edition of the album, dubbed The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, which added 15 additional songs. However, the Anthology edition was only available as a digital download and streaming set until Nov. 29, when its CD and vinyl editions became available for purchase exclusively through Target. The Target CD and vinyl additionally boast four bonus acoustic tracks (which were previously released in other alternate versions of the album). All told, more than 40 variants of Poets were released to U.S. customers in 2024, across CD, vinyl, cassette and digital download album versions.

Poets yielded 10 top-10 charting songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including the No. 1 “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone.

Rounding out Luminate’s year-end top 10 albums are titles by Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter, SZA, Billie Eilish, Noah Kahan, Chappell Roan, Zach Bryan, and Future and Metro Boomin.

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2024 IN U.S., BY TOTAL EQUIVALENT ALBUM UNITS
1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department (6.955 million)
2. Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time (3.183 million)
3. Sabrina Carpenter, Short n’ Sweet (2.491 million)
4. SZA, SOS (2.473 million)
5. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft (2.259 million)
6. Noah Kahan, Stick Season (2.213 million)
7. Chappell Roan, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (1.946 million)
8. Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album (1.895 million)
9. Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan (1.723 million)
10. Future & Metro Boomin, We Don’t Trust You (1.606 million)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025. UGC streams are not included in this chart, but are included in Luminate’s on-demand streaming charts (below).

TOTAL U.S. AUDIO ALBUM CONSUMPTION INCREASES 5.6%: Audio equivalent album units increased by 5.6% in 2024, to 1.1 billion. For this figure, audio equivalent album units comprise traditional album sales (excluding independent retail sales*), track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA, excluding video streams). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported on-demand official audio streams generated by songs from an album, or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio streams generated by songs from an album.

*Note: There was a change in methodology behind Luminate’s independent retail store reporting beginning in January 2024, and, in turn, independent retail physical sales under the new methodology for 2024 are isolated and no trending analysis is provided versus 2023. So, any year-over-year album sales volume excludes independent retail physical sales, including the “total U.S. audio album consumption” figure above. Independent retail sales are included in all figures for individual album titles throughout this story.

TAYLOR SWIFT’S ‘TORTURED POETS’ IS 2024’S TOP-SELLING ALBUM: Poets is also by far the top-selling album of 2024, with 3.491 million copies sold across all configurations (physical and digital purchases combined: CD, vinyl LP, cassette, digital download album). That makes it the highest-selling album of any calendar year in the U.S. since 2015, when Adele’s 25 sold 7.441 million copies. See the top 10-selling albums, below.

Poets’ sales were so big that it outsold the year’s Nos. 2-8 top sellers combined.

TOP 10-SELLING ALBUMS OF 2024 IN U.S. (PHYSICAL & DIGITAL SALES COMBINED)
1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department (3.491 million)
2. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft (570,000)
3. Travis Scott, Days Before Rodeo (493,000)
4. Sabrina Carpenter, Short n’ Sweet (484,000)
5. Chappell Roan, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (472,000)
6. Stray Kids, ATE (449,000)
7. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (414,000)
8. ENHYPEN, Romance: Untold (378,000)
9. Taylor Swift, Lover (343,000)
10. Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter (329,000)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025.

An album by Swift has been the year’s top-seller in seven of the last 11 years: Poets in 2024, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in 2023, Midnights in 2022, Folklore in 2020, Lover in 2019, Reputation in 2017 and 1989 in 2014. She also had the year’s top seller in 2009 with Fearless. Swift is the only act to have the top-selling album of the year at least eight times since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991.

Poets was also the year’s top-selling album on CD (1.512 million), vinyl (1.489 million), digital download (465,000) and cassette (24,000).

As mentioned earlier in this story, Poets was available across more than 40 different variants in the U.S. in 2024 – helping its sales figures. In total, there have been 15 CD editions, seven vinyl variants, four cassettes, and 19 digital download versions. Most versions contain at least one bonus track (ranging from bonus studio songs to acoustic or live renditions of songs from the album).

Taylor Swift sold the most albums of any act in 2024 in the U.S., as her collected catalog of albums sold 6.003 million copies (across all configurations, physical and digital combined). The second-biggest act, by album sales in 2024, was Stray Kids, with 1.009 million sold. Swift and Stray Kids were also the Nos. 1 and 2-selling acts, by album sales, in 2023.

PHYSICAL & DIGITAL ALBUM SALES DECLINE: Luminate reports that physical album sales – excluding independent retail store sales – declined 1% in 2024 to 55.6 million. (Indie store sales are excluded from this year-over-year album sales volume comparisons due to a methodology change, as noted earlier in this story, behind Luminate’s independent retail store reporting in 2024 versus 2023.) Digital album sales fell 9.5% in 2024 to 16.8 million.

VINYL ALBUM SALES INCREASE 4.3%: Luminate’s year-end report reveals that U.S. vinyl album sales increased 4.3% in 2024 as compared to 2023, when excluding independent retail store sales (due to the methodology change noted above in this story). In 2023, industry-wide, vinyl sales increased for an 18th consecutive year.

TOP 10-SELLING VINYL ALBUMS OF 2024 IN U.S.
1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department (1.489 million)
2. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft (340,000)
3. Chappell Roan, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (336,000)
4. Sabrina Carpenter, Short n’ Sweet (291,000)
5. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (200,000)
6. Taylor Swift, Folklore (267,000)
7. Taylor Swift, Midnights (188,000)
8. Taylor Swift, Lover (185,000)
9. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (178,000)
10. Olivia Rodrigo, Guts (175,000)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025.

The Tortured Poets Department was the top-selling vinyl LP of 2024, with 1.489 million sold – more than four times the number of copies that the second-biggest vinyl set of the year, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft, sold: 340,000. Poets is only the second album to sell a million copies on vinyl in a calendar year since Luminate started tracking sales in 1991. Swift’s own 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was the first, in 2023, with 1.014 million copies sold on wax that year.

Poets scored the single-largest sales week for a vinyl album in the modern era (since Luminate began tracking data in 1991) with its opening sales week of 859,000.

Swift finished 2024 with five of the top 10-selling vinyl albums. Further, her catalog of albums sold 2.935 million copies on vinyl in 2024 – the most of any artist. (Billie Eilish was the second-biggest selling act on vinyl in 2024, with 520,000 sold.)

K-POP CONTINUES TO DOMINATE CD TOP SELLERS: Seven of the year’s top 10-selling CD albums are by K-pop acts, while efforts from Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish are the lone non-K-pop projects among the top 10 best sellers. Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department is the top-selling CD album, with 1.512 million copies sold. A year ago, seven of the top 10 sellers were also K-pop titles. All of the titles in the 2024 year-end top 10 ranking below profit from their availability across multiple collectible editions aimed at superfans.

TOP 10-SELLING CD ALBUMS OF 2024 IN U.S.
1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department (1,512,000)
2. Stray Kids, ATE (442,000)
3. ENHYPEN, Romance: Untold (363,000)
4. ATEEZ, GOLDEN HOUR: Part.1 (250,000)
5. Stray Kids, HOP (248,000)
6. TOMORROW X TOGETHER, minisode 3: TOMORROW (240,000)
7. ATEEZ, GOLDEN HOUR: Part. 2 (225,000)
8. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (175,000)
9. TWICE, With YOU-th (174,000)
10. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft (165,000)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025.

ON-DEMAND AUDIO STREAMS UP 6.4%: Total U.S. on-demand audio streams (inclusive of UGC streams) grew 6.4% in 2024 to 1.4 trillion. (Note: UGC streams are included in Luminate’s industry streaming on-demand volume numbers and its year-end streaming song charts. UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s weekly charts.)

TOP 10 MOST STREAMED SONGS OF 2024 IN U.S., ON-DEMAND AUDIO
1. Shaboozey, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (912.7 million)
2. Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us” (823.5 million)
3. Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help” (822.9 million)
4. Benson Boone, “Beautiful Things” (800.5 million)
5. Teddy Swims, “Lose Control” (785.8 million)
6. Sabrina Carpenter, “Espresso” (758.9 million)
7. Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything” (739.5 million)
8. Tommy Richman, “Million Dollar Baby” (731.3 million)
9. Billie Eilish, “Birds of a Feather” (660.7 million)
10. Hozier, “Too Sweet” (630.9 million)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025. Includes UGC streams.

DIGITAL TRACK SALES DROP FOR 12TH YEAR IN A ROW: Digital track sales declined for a 12th year in a row, falling 12.8% to 118.77 million in 2024 (down from 136.20 million in the comparable 53-week period of 2023). The top-selling digital song of 2024 was Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” with 480,000 sold. It was the third year in a row that no song sold at least a half-million downloads. Prior to 2022, it last happened in the early days of downloading, in 2004 (the first full year of the iTunes Store, which launched in mid-2003).

2024 also marks the third year in a row that no song sold at least 1 million downloads. Before 2022, the industry last had a year without a million-selling download in 2005.

TOP 10-SELLING DIGITAL SONGS OF 2024 IN U.S.
1. Shaboozey, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (480,000)
2. Teddy Swims, “Lose Control” (311,000)
3. Benson Boone, “Beautiful Things” (293,000)
4. Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help” (252,000)
5. Beyoncé, “Texas Hold ‘Em” (192,000)
6. Hozier, “Too Sweet” (162,000)
7. Jelly Roll, “I Am Not Okay” (152,000)
8. Jimin, “Who” (131,000)
9. Sabrina Carpenter, “Espresso” (125,000)
10. Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us” (121,000)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025.

TEDDY SWIMS’ ‘LOSE CONTROL’ DOMINATED AIRWAVES: Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” was the most popular song on radio in 2024, with 3.260 billion audience impressions earned across all monitored radio stations in the U.S. Audience impressions are measured by cross-referencing plays with Mediabase, Nielsen Audio and/or Luminate Metro Radio Streaming audience data – i.e., a play of a song on a top-rated New York station at 8 a.m. on a Monday has more listeners (audience) than an overnight weekend play in a smaller city.

TOP 10 RADIO SONGS OF 2024 IN U.S. (BASED ON AUDIENCE IMPRESSIONS)
1. Teddy Swims, “Lose Control” (3.250 billion)
2. Shaboozey, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (2.767 billion)
3. Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help” (2.591 billion)
4. Benson Boone, “Beautiful Things” (2.565 billion)
5. Hozier, “Too Sweet” (2.436 billion)
6. Jack Harlow, “Lovin’ On Me” (2.325 billion)
7. Sabrina Carpenter, “Espresso” (2.253 billion)
8. Doja Cat, “Agora Hills” (2.098 billion)
9. Taylor Swift, “Cruel Summer” (2.054 billion)
10. Luke Combs, “Fast Car” (1.993 billion)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2025.