Billboard Magazine

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

A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Billboard US

‘Yes,’ Ariana Grande Is No. 1, ‘And’ It’s Historic

75 “Soak City (Do It)” 310babii

BILLBOARD 200

1 “Never Lose Me” Flo Milli

2 KALI UCHIS WEEKS ON CHART 42

Kahan’s Second No. 1

‘Lovin’ Leads At Radio

WINNERS OF WINTER • Trans-Siberian Orchestra rules the box office in December for the fourth time since 2019

Deep Cuts • Media business layoffs are hitting the music industry, with more to come from Universal Music and perhaps other labels

Fake Cocktails, Real Profits • Sober spaces and mocktails provide new business opportunities for live music

NO WAY (TO OPT) OUT? • Google trained its AI on copyrighted music — now it’s trying to make deals

From The Desk Of... Lonny Olinick • CEO, AWAL

The X Factor • Fast-rising Mexican American teen Xavi is outpacing music’s biggest names with a subgenre all his own

All Grown Up

ILYA • SONGWRITER-PRODUCER

THE COLLABORATORS

Jack Harlow’s “Lovin On Me”

Noah’s Arc • Ascendant alt-folkie Noah Kahan has revitalized the genre and captivated listeners with his introspective, reflective songwriting — and Stick Season has no end in sight

Mixing Work And Family • For studio engineers Serban and Alex Ghenea, mixing for music’s biggest stars takes a keen ear, an eye for detail — and maybe some shared DNA

A Jones For R&B • The focus and work ethic that made Coco Jones a teen Disney star are now fueling her rise as a clear-eyed, adult singer-songwriter climbing the charts — and racking up Grammy nods

Fellow Travelers • When Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” debuted in January 2023, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 — and remained there for eight weeks. The album it introduced, Endless Summer Vacation (her eighth full-length and first on Columbia Records), went on to hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200. And a year later, the single and album both remain forces: At the upcoming Grammys, Cyrus (who has yet to win one) has six nominations, including song and record of the year nods for “Flowers” and an album of the year nod for Endless Summer Vacation. Many of her closest album collaborators spoke to Billboard about how they came to take this creative trip with her — and why her Grammy recognition is long overdue.

01 TAYLOR SWIFT • THE TOP 40 LEADERS WHOSE COMPANIES THRIVED AND EVOLVED IN AN INDUSTRY THAT IS CHANGING AT BREAKNECK SPEED

02 LUCIAN GRAINGE

03 Rob Stringer

04 MICHAEL RAPINO

05 DANIEL EK

06 Irving Azoff

7 Robert Kyncl

8 LYOR COHEN

9 OLIVER SCHUSSER

10 Jay Marciano

11 Louis Messina

12 Max Lousada

13 JON PLATT

14 JODY GERSON

15 Monte Lipman

16 John Janick

17 JULIE GREENWALD

18 BANG SI-HYUK

19 GUY MOOT

20 Coran Capshaw

21 Desiree Perez

22 Seth England

23 JAMES DOLAN

24 TIM LEIWEKE

25 Thomas Coesfeld

26 AARON BAY-SCHUCK

27 Michelle Jubelirer

28 NOAH ASSAD

29 LARRY MESTEL

30 Ghazi

31 Wassim “Sal” Slaiby

32 Peter Edge

33 RON PERRY

34 AFO VERDE

35 Rob Light

36 HENRY CÁRDENAS

37 Casey Wasserman

38 Bob Valentine

39 ANTHONY “TOP DAWG” TIFFITH

40 Elliot Grainge

POWER 100 Sector Rankings

Actual Intelligence On The Artificial Kind • POWER 100 EXECUTIVES WEIGH IN ON THE PROS AND CONS OF MACHINE LEARNING

Billboard ’s Power...