Near Truths

WHIPLASH: What awaits us, economically and otherwise, could not be more uncertain, especially with the economic backlash from tariffs. Yet for the top live acts, things are just getting hotter—testifying, as ever, to how replenishing, reassuring and rejuvenating music is, especially in trying times. Zach Bryan, Kendrick Lamar/SZA, The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, Shakira and Oasis are all doing extraordinary business on the road, and Tate McRae has sold virtually every available ticket.

Now, the world turns its eyes to the Cali desert as Coachella’s Ferris wheel starts powering up. Jay Marciano, Paul Tollett and company are stressing the Indio marvel’s headliners (Gaga, Green Day, Posty, Travis) as well as its livestream, which has latterly become a global phenomenon; last year, the video feed helped break the likes of Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan.

Before the music even starts, the big Thursday-night dinner party is a must-attend (and an annual rite of passage for younger bizniks). It’s now almost impossible to overstate the importance of the Goldenvoice/AEG festival and its country sister, Stagecoach, which together represent some 300k three-day tickets (a regular pass is about $700, while VIP—north of 25% of tickets sold, we hear—is roughly $1,400). Add the food, booze, water, merch and branding monies and you’re talking about some serious shekels. We’re told that the two fests are responsible for some $1b in economic activity for the neighboring communities.

Besides, in a time of pharaohs, where else could we be but the desert?

BILLIE WORLD AND OTHER SANDBOXES: The near-total reset of Billie Eilish’s inner circle—culminating in her decision (along with her brilliant brother/collaborator FINNEAS) to join Jason Owen’s Sandbox Entertainment for management—has been a fascinating sidebar to her meteoric success in the marketplace.

Rumors that Eilish was leaving managers Danny Rukasin and Brandon Goodman and shopping for new representation had been circulating wildly for more than six months and only intensified when she changed agencies, landing at WME, and pivoted from longtime attorney Doug Mark to O.G. Don Passman.

Paul Wachter’s name has also come up repeatedly in accounts of the Eilish camp; the financial player and founder/CEO of Main Street Advisors, we’re informed, has been a behind-the-scenes sage for some time. Wachter’s tentacles extend far and wide; he has advised the likes of LeBron James, Bono, Jimmy Iovine, Drake, Red Sox/Liverpool F.C. Chairman Tom Werner and Arnold Schwarzenegger, to name but a few, and has negotiated such gigundo pacts as the Beats sale to Apple, the acquisition of the Boston Red Sox and LeBron’s Nike deal (said to be worth about $1 billion). He was an indispensable strategist in Schwarzenegger’s successful gubernatorial campaign, too, and a key voice on policy. Wachter also serves as chairman of the UTA board, is a partner in Fenway Sports Group and has exec-produced various TV projects.

Naturally, FINNEAS and the pair's stalwart parents (especially haimisch, hands-on mom, Maggie Baird) have been crucial to Billie's development as an artist. From a career perspective, though, there’s been no more vital presence in Billie World than John Janick and his team. With Janick’s intense focus, she has gone from strength to strength. He signed Eilish when she was 16 and has empowered her artistry from the start and helped remove any obstacles from her path to becoming a creative force of nature, a path now strewn with Grammys, Oscars and myriad other laurels. Billie's is truly one of the signal artist-development stories of the modern era.

We note that Owen-managed Kacey Musgraves is signed to Interscope, while his more recently inked client Brandi Carlile, who has an album with Elton John coming out on Interscope, is now a free agent, having exited her Atlantic deal. CAA Co-Chairman/CEO Bryan Lourd is said to have been directly involved in resolving her departure from the label to everyone’s satisfaction. The participation of a heavyweight like Lourd—one of the most influential players in the entertainment world—in the process imparts some inkling of the stakes. Vegas oddsmakers say Carlile, too, is headed to Interscope.

Notably, the week also saw the shuttering of Monument Records, Owen and Shane McAnally’s joint venture with Sony, fueling further speculation as to whether the former is about to make another label move. Plans are apparently still in the works for Owen to pursue film and TV production (possibly in tandem with SME) after some success with the Tony-nominated Broadway show Shucked. He previously partnered with Scooter Braun, which yielded success with country biggies Dan + Shay. Back in 2016—three years before the Big Machine sale—Owen’s Sandbox was part of Scooter’s ambitious management-roll-up project, which also involved Troy Carter’s Atom Factory, Morris Higham Management, Brandon Creed’s The Creed Co. and Future the Prince’s OVO. That era, needless to say, is truly over.

Owen is exceptionally savvy and well liked and has a wicked sense of humor. And he’s repeatedly proven himself a fierce, protective advocate for female artists. He was already a major player, and he just raised his profile considerably.

NEW PEAKS: The march of new acts up the DSP charts continues. You’re already acquainted with the insane success story that is Atlantic’s Alex Warren (now occupying Spotify’s global and U.S. Top 10). Well, there’s a lot more where he came from. Warner’s sombr (on Aaron Bay-Schuck’s Warner) and Malcolm Todd (via Ron Perry’s Columbia) have both proven to be potent purveyors of indie emo pop (variously flavored with rock and R&B), and both have been seriously boosted by TikTok. The two young artists have made 40-point or so vertical moves on Spotify’s domestic chart. Todd, in particular, is already a very strong live act, having sold out three Wilterns, three Regency Ballrooms, two Terminal 5s and more, moving some 65k+ tix on this, his fourth tour.

WIND IN THEIR SAILS: Atlantic’s A&R department harbored some genuine finds that have been rediscovered and energized by the new regime as the antiquated ways of doing business—mostly via exhaustive meetings that accomplished little—get “the 10K treatment.” ROSÉ, Alex Warren, The Marías, Sam Barber and Ravyn Lenae are among the roster acts to be elevated by the label’s youthful leadership, not to mention Charli xcx, who's gotten perhaps the biggest boost of any artist so far from the new crew, and the resurrected Bruno Mars, who’s hotter than ever. The A&R team members who remain from the prior administration, it's been said, are feeling radically renewed and can’t stop talking about the difference they’re seeing. Next up: Ed Sheeran.