Author: Rap Hooks

As MCA continues to fine-tune its Nashville operation under new president/CEO Mike Harris, the company has laid off nearly 20 employees in a round of staff cuts across multiple departments.

Among those let go are several high level executives including Leigh Malleus (vp of media marketing), Karen Naff (vp of creative services) and Gary Keffer (vp of strategic marketing), as well as Michelle Hall (senior director of marketing), Troy Scott (senior director of e-commerce) and Leah Ducey (senior director of digital marketing).

Also impacted are Megan Youngblood (director of regional promotion), Kathryn Huffman (director of strategic marketing), Alyssa Logan (director of marketing & project management), Lindsey Terry (director of marketing & artist development) and Chance Maxwell (director of streaming marketing), Sarah Marie Burke (A&R manager), Chandler Stebbins (strategic marketing manager), Chris Jones (e-commerce & retail manager), Kaitlin Mays (digital marketing manager), Alex Mazza (marketing project coordinator) and Taylor Steele (media marketing coordinator).

Representatives for MCA and parent company Universal Music Group (UMG) either didn’t respond to a request for comment or declined to comment, but sources say the new MCA will operate as a smaller unit than the former iteration of the label previously known at UMG Nashville did under former chairman/CEO Cindy Mabe, who was let go in January.

During her two-year tenure, Mabe greatly expanded UMG Nashville, including launching a comedy imprint, Capitol Comedy Network, as well a distribution and independent artist services arm, Silver Wings Records, and a TV and film production company called Sing Me Back Home Productions. She also moved the company into live production by partnering with Cirque du Soleil to present Songblazers: A Journey into Country Music.

Harris, who was named president/CEO in February, will work alongside chief creative officer Dave Cobb and Rob Femia, who added COO to his duties as executive vp of business and legal affairs earlier this month, as well as executive vp/GM Katie McCartney.

Since Harris returned to UMG Nashville (which rebranded as MCA in April), UMG’s coastal labels have continued to add to their footprints in the country music capital. In April, Los Angeles-based Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA) Records announced the relaunch of the iconic Lost Highway imprint, which had previously been part of UMG Nashville until 2012, when it went dormant. Former Thirty Tigers executive Robert Knotts and Universal Music Group Nashville (UMGN) executive Jake Gear will serve as co-heads and executive vps of the resurrected label.  

In May, former Big Loud executive Candice Watkins was named president of Capitol Records Nashville and executive vp of Capitol Christian Music Group.

Watkins’ new role comes as Los Angeles-based Capitol Music Group, under the direction of CEO Tom March, brings Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG) and its country division, Capitol Records Nashville, under the Capitol Music Group Nashville umbrella. 

MCA’s imprints include EMI Records Nashville, Lucille Records, Mercury Nashville and MCA Nashville, representing artists including Eric Church, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Dierks Bentley, Alan Jackson and Little Big Town.

Sierra Ferrell, who won artist of the year at last year’s Americana Honors & Awards, is nominated in that category again this year, along with Billy Strings, who won in 2022-23; Charley Crockett, Joy Oladokun and Waxahatchee.

Ferrell is vying to become the second woman to win artist of the year twice and the first to do so in back-to-back years. Brandi Carlile won in 2019 and 2021. For his part, Strings would become just the second artist to win three or more times. The late John Prine won four times.

MJ Lenderman, Charley Crockett, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats and Gillian Welch & David Rawlings were each nominated in multiple categories. Lenderman is up for album of the year for Manning Fireworks, song of the year for “Wristwatch” and emerging act of the year. Crockett is up for album of the year for Lonesome Drifter and artist of the year. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats are up for album of the year for South of Here and song of the year for “Heartless.” Welch & Rawlings are nominated for album of the year for Woodland and duo/group of the year.

Larkin Poe, which won duo/group of the year last year, is nominated again in that category, as is the 2015 winner, The Mavericks. Jason Isbell, a three-time winner for album of the year, is nominated again this year for Foxes in the Snow.

The 24th annual Americana Honors & Awards will be held on Sept. 10 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

Here’s the full list of nominees:

Artist of the Year

Charley Crockett

Sierra Ferrell

Joy Oladokun

Billy Strings

Waxahatchee

Album of the Year

Lonesome Drifter, Charley Crockett; Produced by Charley Crockett & Shooter Jennings

Foxes in the Snow, Jason Isbell; Produced by Jason Isbell & Gena Johnson

Manning Fireworks, MJ Lenderman; Produced by Alex Farrar & MJ Lenderman

South of Here, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats; Produced by Brad Cook

Woodland, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings; Produced by David Rawlings

Song of the Year

“Johnny Moonshine,” Maggie Antone; Written by Maggie Antone, Natalie Hemby & Aaron Raitiere

“Ancient Light,” I’m With Her; Written by Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan & Sara Watkins

“Wristwatch,” MJ Lenderman; Written by MJ Lenderman

“Sunshine Getaway,” JD McPherson; Written by Page Burkum, JD McPherson & Jack Torrey

“Heartless,” Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats; Written by Nathaniel Rateliff

Duo/Group of the Year

Julien Baker & TORRES

Dawes

Larkin Poe

The Mavericks

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Emerging Act of the Year

Noeline Hofmann

MJ Lenderman

Medium Build

Maggie Rose

Jesse Welles

Instrumentalist of the Year

Fred Eltringham

Alex Hargreaves

Megan Jane

Kaitlyn Raitz

Seth Taylor

Round Hill Music, the name of the Josh Gruss-led, private-equity backed company with more than $1.1 billion in music assets under management, now adorns a physical music store in Greenwich, Conn.

The 1,100-square-foot outlet, which opened last month, hawks high-end guitars and amps as well as a healthy offering of vinyl and other merchandise in a store designed to appeal to the entire family, says Gruss, who is the store’s sole owner. In his day job, Gruss is the CEO of Round Hill Music, the music asset company that’s also a full-service music company which owns or represents rights in music written or performed by the likes of Bobby Darin, Brittany Howard, Gil Scott-Heron, Rob Thomas, Ashley Gorley, Bruce Cockburn, Massive Attack, Collective Soul, Skid Row, Craig Wiseman and Randy Bachman, according to the company’s website.

While the impetus may have been to open a guitar store, Gruss says he wanted it to have broad appeal for the whole family: “If parents come in with a son for a guitar, maybe mom will pick up a shirt or a candle. Another family had a 4-year-old daughter, and we had a kid guitar for her. While the main focus is the high-end guitars and amps, we have something for everybody.” Beyond the above items, the store’s inventory includes sunglasses, rock ’n’ roll t-shirts, hand-made jean jackets, art for sale and even an ashtray. 

But in the first few weeks of operation, the big eye-opener has been the strength of the record store component, says Gruss. The shop carries some 1,500 vinyl albums, all new — and that has turned out to be the surprise selling category. “Everyone loves music, and we all know vinyl has resurged in popularity,” says Gruss. While he says he was hoping that vinyl would be the secondary reason customers visited the store, “it turns out it’s the primary reason,” he reports. “So far, about 20% of our vinyl inventory is getting sold per week. So far, our No. 1 seller is a local jam band called Goose. Everyone comes in asking for them.”

In assembling the retail outlet, Gruss, who plays guitar in an original rock band called Rubikon and a cover band called Kaintuck, says he was inspired by memories from when he was younger. “My favorite thing to do as a kid was look at guitars in guitar stores, especially those on 48th Street,” he recalls, referencing the Manhattan block between 6^th and 7^th Avenues that, in the 1960s through the 1990s, was known as Music Row for the many musical instrument stores lining the street (the most famous being Manny’s Music).

“Even today, when I travel to places like Stockholm and Paris, I check out guitar stores,” says Gruss. Over the years, he adds, “I built up an idea of what I like in a guitar store.”

It wasn’t until the COVID pandemic that Gruss decided to act on his vision. “It was during the height of COVID when I was going through town [and] I see the ‘for sale’ sign on this building,” he remembers. “With my contrarian hat on, I thought, maybe I can get a good price.” After buying the building, he set about planning for the guitar store, a category that Greenwich — although rich in various types of retail — lacked.

In conceptualizing the Round Hill Music store, Gruss explains he didn’t want it to focus on things you can find at Guitar Center, which he acknowledges as the dominant merchant of musical instruments and equipment in the U.S. As a result, he gave the store a high-end boutique slant, which, considering its location, makes sense: Greenwich is consistently ranked as one of the wealthiest communities in the U.S., with a median household income of $180,000 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

While there are many affordable and recognized guitar brands in the store, it also has more unique items. Case in point: a $20,000 replica of “Greeny,” a 1959 Les Paul Standard guitar named after its owner, Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green, who sold it to Thin Lizzy’s Gary Moore and which eventually wound up with Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett. Gruss says the store ordered the replica from the Gibson Custom shop, noting the company only made 50 as part of a limited-edition run.

With guitars by Gibson, Fender, Paul Reed Smith, Taylor LsL Instruments, Ernie Ball, Rock N Roll Relics and Suhr, Gruss says he wants the store to be a haven for musicians and collectors as well as younger consumers, which is why it also carries guitars attractive to beginners. Beyond guitars, the store carries premium speakers from Devialet and Transparent and apparel by Madeworn, Daydreamer and Rowdy Sprout.

Beyond inventory, Gruss says he wanted Round Hill Music to have a different feel than Guitar Center. “We want our store to be as welcoming as possible and we want people to sit and play as much as possible,” he says. In contrast, he says Guitar Center can be intimidating for customers, with a sales staff that he believes measures whether people have money to buy a guitar and may require some kind of collateral if a customer wants to play one of the nicer models on the floor.

Consequently, he says he wants the Round Hill Music store to be welcoming to all ages and hopes it will give young customers the opportunity to enjoy the same experience he had as a teenager at similar shops. He also expresses the hope that the store can be a place where music fans interact with one another.

To make sure the Round Hill store is correctly merchandised and boasts a welcoming atmosphere, Gruss says having the right staff is key, citing the “super knowledgeable” John Mahoney, who works as the store’s operations manager. He adds that his vision was carried out “by a great group of people” who previously worked in retail at other music instrument stores, including Sam Ash. In total, the store is currently staffed with six employees.

At the store’s opening event, what Gruss sees as intrinsic to the store’s future success — an in-store stage — was put to good use by the Mike Stern Band, which played a high-energy set that left the crowd wanting more. “We will program the store with plenty of in-store artist events, including up-and-coming songwriters and local singer-songwriters,” Gruss says. 

Gruss points out that he’s also using the store to promote the Round Hill Music catalog business, noting that artists and songwriters in the music-asset company’s catalog have their own section in the shop; the inventory there includes albums by Soul Coughing, System Of A Down and Neon Trees. “The store is a great way to spread the Round Hill network,” he says. “It will really help out the rest of the business.”

Usher was sitting at home watching the 2025 BET Awards Monday night (June 9) when he recognized host Kevin Hart‘s fuzzy red coat.

Ahead of Teyana Taylor‘s television debut performance of her new single “Long Time,” Hart strutted down the aisle of Peacock Theater at L.A. Live wearing Usher’s signature jacket from his most recent Past Present Future Tour, as evidenced by the label on the inside that had Usher’s name crossed out and Hart’s name written in red marker. He even tried pulling one of Usher’s notorious tour stunts by feeding cherries to different women in the audience, from Tisha Campbell and Tichina Arnold to Kerry Washington — but to no avail.

“You’ll get it, you’ll get it bad, if you don’t get your Black ass away from us!” Campbell and Arnold clapped back at him to the tune of Usher’s 2001 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “U Got It Bad.”

Usher posted a TikTok video Tuesday morning (June 10) of him watching Hart impersonate him. “How the hell he get my jacket?” he asked in disbelief. According to Vogue and British GQ, Usher’s coat is a custom red Ferrari faux fur coat designed by Rocco Iannone, creative director of Ferrari. “It’s a showstopper,” Usher told the former publication. “You know red is a hot, fiery color, right? It’s fun, I just let it speak to what it makes them feel.”

Unlike Hart, Usher has successfully fed many famous women cherries at his tour stops and other performances, including Rubi Rose, Summer Walker, Tiny and Sabrina Carpenter, the lattermost of whom the iconic R&B singer apologized to her father after Carpenter received a disapproving text from him.

See Usher’s hilarious reaction to Hart’s BET Awards stint below.

Macklemore’s Seattle home was the target of a robbery early Saturday (June 7). According to The Seattle Times, the pair of burglars stole thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, shoes and designer watches after bear-spraying a nanny inside the Capitol Hill residence.

Macklemore’s three children were sleeping inside the property while it was being ransacked, but they were left unharmed. The nanny reportedly bit one of the burglars and escaped before going door-to-door in the neighborhood looking to be let in to call 911.

The pair of men entered the home through a patio door and maced the nanny, who was caring for the children, inside. One of the burglars allegedly helped clean her eyes of the mace while the other demanded they be brought to the location of the “jewels.”

A police report acquired by The Seattle Times stated that the nanny was then thrown to the ground and had her phone stolen. She claimed not to see any weapons on the burglars, who had their identities hidden behind face masks, gloves and tactical vests. Authorities arrived at the scene after the burglars fled and safely brought Macklemore’s kids to the care of another family member.

The rapper was performing in Ireland at the time of the burglary over the weekend. Billboard has reached out to representatives for Macklemore and the Seattle Police Department for comment.

On the music front, Macklemore released his politically-charged single “F—d Up” in February, which saw him stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine. All proceeds from the single were donated to the non-profit UNRWA USA.