Entertainment
Downtown Music CEO Blasts ‘Misinformation’ Around Virgin Acquisition: ‘It’s Disappointing’
As opposition to the $775 million acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings by Virgin Music Group heats up, Downtown CEO Pieter van Rijn says the controversial deal has attracted more attention because of the buyer’s owner, Universal Music Group (UMG), than it has for the benefits musicians would enjoy from the combination.
In an open letter obtained by Billboard, which arrived as the European Commission investigates the acquisition’s potential effect on competition, van Rijn took aim at what he called “misinformation” aimed at “undermin[ing] our longstanding and trusted client relationships….It’s disappointing to see how quickly some parts of our industry closed the door to rooms we — and others — helped build.” He added that the debate about the acquisition, announced on Dec. 16, and its impact on the independent music community “must be honest. It must be about facts, not agendas.”
While van Rijn referred to the acquisition as a “merger” of Downtown and Virgin, a label services provider owned by UMG, European regulators are more concerned about the transaction’s potential to hurt competition for artist and label services. In July, European regulators began a four-month investigation into the acquisition after a standard preliminary review, owing to the fact that UMG is the largest record label/publisher by both annual revenue and market capitalization, and that Downtown owns a variety of companies that allow independent recording artists and songwriters to generate revenue in today’s digital-focused market, including distributors FUGA and CD Baby, publishing administrator Songtrust and rights management company AdRev.
Opposition quickly mounted after Virgin and Downtown announced the acquisition. The day after the revelation, the deal was opposed by independent music groups IMPALA, Association of Independent Music (AIM) and IMPF, a global trade body for independent music publishers. IMPALA executive chair Helen Smith called the transaction “another land grab” and urged European competition authorities “to set the standard internationally” by blocking the deal.
But van Rijn has painted the company’s acquisition by Virgin as an opportunity to better serve independent artists who need a range of services to compete in the modern global music business. He called Virgin “a business that aligned with our own, not only in its philosophy but also in the complementary services that we offered.” Downtown had been approached by other interested suitors, van Rijn said, but Virgin’s interest marked the first time Downtown encountered a potential partner “who wanted to invest in Downtown, our team, and our clients.”
Without naming names, van Rijn referenced independent music groups that “chose to overlook the clear benefits for their members” that the acquisition offers. Independent artists, he continued, need partners “to open doors and unlock the potential of their music.” He added that these artists would be better off under a combined Downtown-Virgin that could offer “more resources, greater support, more innovative technology, all while not only maintaining, but actually building on, the great service levels, platforms, and the flexibility of our current offering.”
Van Rijn’s open letter followed a similar statement by Virgin co-CEOs JT Meyers and Nat Pastor in July that explained the motivation behind the acquisition (to combine the two companies’ “unique capabilities” to create “an even more robust and flexible suite of services”) and addressed concerns about independent artists and labels’ sensitive data ending up in the hands of a UMG-owned company. “Virgin already handles — with the care and confidentiality they deserve — the sensitive client data of hundreds of partners,” they wrote. “Betraying the trust our clients have bestowed on us would be self-destructive: they would quickly, and quite rightly, end the relationship.”
In his letter, Van Rijn also acknowledged artists’ concerns about data protection and security as “natural” but insisted that “Virgin, like Downtown, operates in a culture built on trust. And, therefore, our clients can expect the same, if not expanded, industry-leading data protection and security they are used to now.”
NFL player Keion White was shot early Monday (Feb. 9) following an alleged argument with Lil Baby at a San Francisco nightclub.
According to ABC7, White was shot in the ankle at Dahlia’s, where the 49ers defensive lineman was hosting a Super Bowl party.
SFPD responded to calls for gunshots around 4 a.m. PT on Monday, according to ABC7. The San Francisco Standard viewed the police report, which, according to the publication, said a witness told law enforcement that White got into an argument with Baby as the rapper and his entourage tried to enter the private event, and was then shot, hours after the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.
Billboard has reached out to reps for Lil Baby and the SFPD for comment.
“Any violent incident in our city is unacceptable, and I’m hoping Keion recovers quickly. I’ve spoken with SFPD and 49ers leadership — we are all grateful to our SFPD officers for their quick response,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said on X. “As always, I will continue working with San Francisco law enforcement to ensure our neighborhoods and our residents are safe.”
According to the San Francisco 49ers, White underwent successful surgery on his ankle and the injuries are not expected to be “career-threatening.”
“A preliminary investigation revealed a verbal altercation occurred between two groups inside a business,” San Francisco police said in a statement, per ESPN. “The victim was injured when shots were fired by an unknown suspect.”
No arrests have been made yet, and no suspects have been named by the San Francisco Police Department.
Lil Baby was spotted attending Super Bowl LX with his son, Jason. On the music side, Baby has already notched collabs with Tkandz as well as Veeze and Rylo Rodriguez in 2026. The Atlanta rapper’s “Mrs. Trendsetter” held at No. 89 on last week’s Billboard Hot 100.
Don Toliver’s busy week across Billboard’s charts includes the rapper-singer’s first No. 1 hit on the Hot Rap Songs list, as “Body” debuts atop the ranking dated Feb. 7. The new champ, on Donnway & Co./Cactus Jack/Atlantic Records, captains his collection of 17 tracks this week’s chart. They’re all from his new album, Octane, which storms in at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart with 162,000 equivalent album units.
The 17-track parade marks the most cuts that Don Toliver has posted on the Hot Rap Songs chart in a single week, and makes him only the sixth artist to claim 17 or more simultaneous appearances. He joins Drake, who has done it twice, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Baby, Playboi Carti and Travis Scott in the chart’s 34-year history.
“Body” owes its coronation on the multimetric Hot Rap Songs chart, a weighted combination of streaming, radio airplay and sales data in the United States, almost entirely to 14.3 million official on-demand streams for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5, according to Luminate. Thanks to that sum, it sparks a No. 1 debut on the Rap Streaming Songs chart. In the remaining categories, “Body” had 106,000 radio audience impressions and a negligible amount of song downloads.
With “Body,” Don Toliver achieves his first Hot Rap Songs No. 1 after 30 prior appearances. The performer previously peaked twice at No. 3 through featured roles: He and NAV guested on Internet Money and Gunna’s “Lemonade,” which reached the bronze in November 2020, while his and Future’s supporting turns on Metro Boomin’s “Too Many Nights” led to the same prize in December 2022. As a lead artist, his own “Tiramisu” set his previous career high of No. 6 in September 2025.
Similarly, “Body” leads Don Toliver’s ledger on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (No. 3) and the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 (No. 14).
With “Body” on top, here’s a recap of all 17 Don Toliver tracks on Hot Rap Songs. Among them, 15 are debuts, while “ATM” and “Tiramisu” nab their second and third weeks, respectively.
- No. 1, “Body”
- No. 2, “E85”
- No. 4, “ATM”
- No. 5, “Secondhand,” feat. Rema
- No. 6, “Rendezvous,” feat. Yeat
- No. 8, “Tiramisu”
- No. 9, “Rosary,” feat. Travis Scott
- No. 10, “Call Back”
- No. 11, “Gemstone”
- No. 12, “Excavator”
- No. 13, “Opposite”
- No. 17, “All the Signs,” feat. Teezo Touchdown
- No. 18, “Tuition”
- No. 19, “K9,” feat. SahBabii
- No. 22, “TMU”
- No. 24, “Sweet Home”
- No. 25, “Pleasure’s Mine”
Entertainment
Baby Keem Announces ‘Ca$ino’ Album Release Date & Previews Kendrick Lamar Collaboration
Baby Keem is back. Keem announced plans for his upcoming album, Ca$ino, on Tuesday (Feb. 10), and the sophomore LP is slated to arrive on Feb. 20.
“Ca$ino Feb 20, 2026 Limited Edition Vinyl Available Now,” Keem wrote on Instagram. The 25-year-old revealed the LP’s cover art, which features a photo of a young Baby Keem with the parental advisory sticker.
Ca$ino boasts 12 tracks, including collaborations with his cousin Kendrick Lamar, Too Short, Momo Boys and Che Ecru.
With the four-plus-year layoff, fans are anticipating Keem’s return. “Took your time bro this better be a classic,” one person commented. Another added: “USED TO PRAY FOR TIMES LIKE THIS!”
Keem also released a Ca$ino documentary on YouTube to accompany the announcement. The Booman I doc features appearances from plenty of Keem’s family members describing his upbringing, including an appearance from Kendrick. “I understand the hardships before he was born. Knowing his mom, that’s my first cousin,” he said. “I already knew what she was going through, just the history of our family in general. We don’t call ourselves the hillbillies for nothing.”
Lamar continued: “Section 8, welfare … This is a story of a warfare environment and a warfare psychologically trying to change our generational curses.”
There’s also footage of Keem in the studio working on his collab with Lamar, “Good Flirts.” “Walking in the party, I don’t feel nobody/ What the f—k,” K. Dot raps on the hard-hitting track. “Is it fake, is it love, probably/ I smell something.”
Baby Keem’s debut album, The Melodic Blue, arrived in September 2021 and debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. He released a deluxe for the LP in October 2022 featuring Lil Uzi Vert and PinkPantheress.
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