Steve Knopper

3 days ago | billboard.com | Steve Knopper

How Taylor Swift’s Masters Battle Changed the Narrative Around Ownership for Artists "Taylor shined a big bright light on it and showed it could be done successfully," says one music lawyer. What's different now?

2 weeks ago | billboard.com | Steve Knopper

If not for TikTok, Connie Francis‘ 1962 tinkly organ bop “Pretty Little Baby” may have been forever obscure. It was never a hit, and Francis, reached by phone at her Parkland, Fla., home, barely remembers recording it. “I had to listen to it to identify it,” admits the 87-year-old pop legend, who became the first woman to top the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo act in July 1960 with “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” one of her three Hot 100 No. 1s.

2 weeks ago | billboard.com | Steve Knopper |Marc Schneider

Susto frontman Justin Osborne did not record bluegrass versions of his previously released indie-rock songs as a play to book more festival dates. But it didn’t hurt. After moving to Asheville, N.C., and becoming inspired by the genre’s rich roots there, the rechristened Susto Stringband’s 2025 album with the local Holler Choir, Volume 1, opened up a lot of opportunities, Osborne says.

3 weeks ago | billboard.com | Steve Knopper

For years, to make the Canvas Power 15, Walrus Audio has spent $95.32 per unit on parts. So the rainbow-stamped power supply device for multiple guitar pedals has rarely cost customers more than $270, a price consistency that has helped the 14-year-old Oklahoma City company earn $10 million in annual sales and employ 31 guitar players. “We were cruising, and stuff was selling, and we’re like, ‘Man, we’re having a fun year,'” owner Colt Westbrook says.

1 month ago | billboard.com | Steve Knopper

After Sleepy Hallow‘s “2055” went triple platinum four years ago, Sony Music’s gaming-and-music team noticed something about the Jamaican-American rapper’s fans: They were gamers. And not just gamers, but Fortnite players. According to the label’s internal research, Sleepy Hallow fans are 2.5 times more likely to play Fortnite than the national average and twice as likely to play games overall. “It stuck out,” says Alex Ciccimarro, vp of marketing for Sony-owned RCA Records.