Table Of Content

JUNE 4, 2022 • BILLBOARD.COM contents JUNE 4, 2022 VOLUME 134 NO. 7 Features 56 GOOD FOR BUSINESS Brandi Carlile built a thriving career by melding activism with her art — and she’s determined to leave the industry, and the world she lives in, better than she found it. 64 MUSIC’S NEXT QUEER GAME CHANGERS Meet the fearless creators forging exciting new paths for LGBTQ musicians now — and busting through genre lines as they do. ON THE COVER Brandi Carlile photographed by Lia Clay Miller on May 5 at Pink Motel in Los Angeles. TO OUR READERS Billboard will publish its next issue on June 25. For 24/7 music coverage, go to billboard.com. 4 BILLBOARD.COM JUNE 4, 2022 Since 2015, Voices of Children has provided psychological and psychosocial assistance to children affected by war. contents JUNE 4, 2022 / VOLUME 134 / NO. 7 BILLBOARD CHARTS 13 Harry Styles leads the Billboard 200 and Hot 100, and Bad Bunny and BTS dominate the midyear Boxscore charts. THE MARKET 37 With labels increasingly trying out unreleased songs on TikTok, producers, songwriters and even artists are saying it’s bad for business. 42 Merch tables are booming with added revenue — and tension. THE SOUND 51 In an age of ephemeral pop success, Isaac Dunbar wanted to avoid the rush — and made a major label wait for him. 54 How writer-director Ally Pankiw landed gigs directing a Netflix original series and music videos for MUNA. THE PLAYERS 71 2022 INDIE POWER PLAYERS Across every genre, these are the executives at labels and distributors driving the success of the independent music industry, commanding nearly one-quarter of the U.S. recorded- music market. 92 After two years of virtual shows, A2IM’s Libera Awards return in person, with Japanese Breakfast leading the field of nominees. CHARTBREAKER 96 How singer-songwriter Em Beihold’s temporary low led to the high of her breakout hit, “Numb Little Bug.” Isaac Dunbar photographed by Nolwen Cifuentes on May 20 in Los Angeles. 6 BILLBOARD.COM JUNE 4, 2022 FEWOCiOUS hosted a secret painting party in Brooklyn during NFT.NYC in 2021. A L E T T E R F R O M T H E E D I T O R A S A YOUNG TRANSGENDER artist growing up in artists. That report, “The Power of LGBTQ+ Music,” Las Vegas, FEWOCiOUS — one of the digital art also found that LGBTQ+ Gen Z fans spent an average of world’s fastest-rising stars — says music offered $136 per month more on music than other listeners, as him an introduction to “what art is — and how compared with $110 more per month for Gen Z, and were to tell a story with your feelings.” Today, the 19-year-old’s 78% more likely than their peers to listen to music on vinyl. digital creations have generated over $50 million — his “The queer community is not some monolith that you Pride collection, auctioned by Christie’s last June, brought can pander to occasionally,” our staff writer Stephen Daw in more than $2 million — and music remains core to his said during a panel discussion about the report in May at art. For his FewoWorld “paint drop” on Nifty Gateway, the MusicBiz 2022 conference in Nashville. “We are out a 24-hour public non-fungible token sale that generated here spending more money than other groups.” $20 million, each collectible featured a unique audio This issue also spotlights some of the queer artists composition. And he continues to draw inspiration from shaping culture — and inspiring the next generation of musicians ranging from Bob Dylan and David Bowie to creators, executives and fans to express their authentic Missy Elliott and Kanye West, whose works he sees as selves. It’s a daunting challenge, given the discrimination expressions of “authentic identity.” still faced by so many, but one that, as FEWO has shown, For Pride Month this year, we invited FEWO to can pay enormous dividends. We hope that telling the reimagine the Billboard logo to help us celebrate the stories of these exciting successes will help illuminate diversity of music’s creators and consumers when it comes some ways forward for many others to come. And to gender and sexual orientation. In fact, a new report that we hope you enjoy seeing the Billboard logo the way we produced in partnership with Luminate and Queer FEWO says he does: “When you look at the ‘B’ and the Capita found that people who identify as queer spend $72 ‘D,’ it almost looks like two different people looking at more per year on music on average than other consumers, each other. As you get to the center of the logo, it looks are 20% more likely to buy merchandise and are 15% more like they’re almost getting closer to each other, until interested in ﬁnding and listening to new and emerging eventually they’re holding hands. It’s a love story!” NE DI N Hannah Karp OXE HAEL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR MIC 8 BILLBOARD.COM JUNE 4, 2022