Vol 28 - I found my newsletter today, In an inbox that I had hidden away

Happy Friday,

Q1 lookback, random NMF collabs, Apple’s legal battle, Chappell finds new mgmt, & a desert drinking deep dive 🍻

Have thoughts on this week’s news? Just hit reply.

New Music Friday

What you need to know about today’s new releases

🎶 New albums and EPs from Key Glock, Fuerza Regida, Lucius, Eric Church, Blondshell, Model/Actriz, Briston Maroney, HARDY, DOPE LEMON, Sara Kays, NewDad, Gabriella Rose, Aly & AJ…

♪ Notable singles from Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5 & LISA, Quavo & Takeoff, Summer Walker, Turnstile, Dove Cameron, Jorja Smith, Suki Waterhouse, KATSEYE, Green Day, Ivan Cornejo, Burna Boy…

Each week, we go through Spotify’s New Music Friday playlists to highlight releases you should know about…

#2 - Maroon 5 team up with LISA for ‘Priceless.’

#17 - Green Day launch riotous new track ‘Ballyhoo’ ahead of their Saviors Deluxe Edition album coming May 23.

#26 - Flume teams up with JPEGMAFIA for their joint EP We Live In A Society with ‘Is It Real (feat. Ravyn Lenae)’ landing on NMF this morning.

#34 - Briston Maroney drops his new album JIMMY with featured track ‘Better Than You’ landing, co-written by Daniel Nigro.

#44 - Kelly Clarkson releases ‘Where Have You Been,’ inspired by Martin Short and Meryl Streep in Only Murders In The Building.

#46 - Folk pop artist Adam Melchor shares ‘The Hopefuls’ off of his new project The Diary of Living, released via R&R/Good Boy Records.

#52 - Rico Nasty releases ‘BUTTERFLY KISSES’ produced by Imad Royal & John DeBold.

#62 - Kacey Musgraves covers Hank Williams’ ‘Lost Highway’ in celebration of the label’s relaunch and her signing.

#64 - Nilüfer Yanya releases her first single of 2025, ‘Cold Heart.’

#74 - Calling all millennials! Aly & AJ are back with another hit ‘Lasso.’

#85 - Barbra Streisand and Hozier collab on ‘The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face,’ off of her upcoming duets album The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two.

#94 - New ANTI- records signee The Beths, dropped their new single ‘Metal’ and just announced a world tour for later this year.

⭐ #99 - NYC-based electronic producer Swoosh released his first track of the year with ‘Stars Above’ on Fatboy Slim’s label Southern Fried Records.

⭐ = our pick of the week. Usually an under the radar artist to keep an eye on.

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

Kali Uchis, Young Thug, billy woods, PinkPantheress, Arcade Fire, Sleep Token, Counting Crows, The Kooks, KALEO, Maren Morris, Cuco, Forrest Frank, DOPE LEMON, SAILORR, Provoker & Amelia Moore all have new projects expected to come out next week.

Ed Sheeran, Lorde, Benny The Butcher, i-dle, Barbra Streisand, Cody Jinks, Indigo De Souza, Maxo, Debby Friday & Kae Tempest all announced new albums this week.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

Q1 Updates:

• Spotify hit 678M MAU and 268M premium subs (12% increase in premium from previous quarter)

• Deezer saw a 1% increase in revenue to $141M

• UMG generated over $3.3B in revenue (up 12% from previous quarter)

• HYBE’s revenue is up 38% 

• Live Nation’s revenue dropped 11%

• SiriusXM lost over 300K subscribers

In a ruling that could have far reaching consequences for app stores and other platforms, a US judge ruled that Apple had to make a range of changes to how they run the App Store. The TICKET Act passed in the U.S. House of Representatives this week and is on to the Senate next; some are worried the bill may not be enough to stop ticket scalping. The copyright lawsuit against Sam Smith and Normani’s track ‘Dancing with a Stranger’ was revived this week. Oasis fans have been scammed out of more than £2M via fraudsters in online forums and social media groups. Spotify plans to raise prices for subscriptions in Europe and Latin America as early as June.

Björn of ABBA’s thoughts on AI…

50 Cent sued GenTV’s Ryan Kavanaugh for failing to pay him and illegally using his name to promote a horror movie he was in. Suge Knight reached a $1.5M settlement with the daughters of a man Knight ran over with a truck in 2015. Laufey launched The Laufey Foundation, aiming to support young musicians and youth orchestras with resources. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the 2025 inductees including Cyndi Lauper, The White Stripes, Outkast, Soundgarden and more. DJ Khaled partnered with Influence Media for his music catalog, to develop original film and tv content, and to secure “legacy-defining” commercial ventures. Lainey Wilson will make her feature film debut in Colleen Hoover’s ‘Reminders of Him.’

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• Music creation platform Splice acquired UK virtual instrument library developer Spitfire Audio

• Epidemic Sound acquired AI startup Song Sleuth

• BeatStars partnered with AI protection startup Sureel to prevent unauthorized AI training on creators’ work

• HYBE’s LATAM subsidiary launched a Colombian artist incubator in Medellín

• WMG partnered with Hip-Hop and R&B exec Tim Hinshaw

• UMG adopted new A&R admin platform Connex for music credit management

• Decentralized streamer Audius expanded its catalog via a deal with Downtown Music

• Tencent is in talks to purchase podcast co Ximalaya

• Digital licensing org for independent publishers IMPEL welcomed Musou Music Publishing as the first Greek member

Group Chat

The section that’ll probably get us in trouble one of these days

Hold my beer…

1. Let’s start by identifying some variables:

2. Here’s our simple ASI (Alcohol Sales Index):

3. The results are in:

What does this all mean?

Using our Alcohol Sales Index—which multiplies attendance, average drinks per person, a headliner‐composition factor (Φ), a thermal amplification term (1+0.01 𝑇), and a substance‐use adjustment (Ψ) accounting for uppers (M), hallucinogens (L), and ketamine (K)—Stagecoach scores approximately 48 000, while Coachella comes in at 28 000, yielding a 1.7× higher indexed drink volume at Stagecoach. This gap is driven primarily by Stagecoach’s heavier country‐artist weighting (boosting per‐person consumption), its hotter daytime temperatures (increasing cold‐drink demand), and lower drug‐use down‐weighting compared to Coachella’s EDM‐heavy crowd.

Which artist are you most excited to see at Stagecoach?

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Lana Del Rey (17%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Paris Hilton (0%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Diplo (42%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Backstreet Boys (8%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Creed (33%)

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

After months of rumors, Best New Artist winner Chappell Roan officially signed with Drew Simmons of Foundations for management. The NYC-headquarted company also represents artists such as Noah Kahan & Laufey.

Kacey Musgraves becomes the first artist to sign with the newly relaunched Lost Highway Records based in Nashville. The announcement comes almost 15 years after the same label helped kickstart the artist's career with her first album release.

X Ambassadors joined Chris Nary at Laffitte Management Group's roster this week. This year marks the 10-year anniversary of their debut album VHS, which included hits like 'Renegade' & 'Unsteady.'

Berlin-based producer Ely Oaks signed with Wilcox Weaver & David Gordoni of UTA for touring & Robin Shaw of JINX Music for management.

Electronic trio Łaszewo landed deals with WME for touring, Boom.Records & Payday Music Publishing. The band have been going viral for their remix record of Lola Young's 'messy' & opened up at the iconic Red Rocks venue in Colorado this week.

Shelter Music Group announced a series of new management signings this week including Cheap Trick, BOYS LIKE GIRLS, The Naked And Famous, American Hi-Fi, Chiodos & more.

In other deal news, Big Loud sold a stake in Morgan Wallen's recording catalog to Chord Music Partners. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the purchase price came in north of $200M.

+155 signings on ROSTR this week

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Maren Morris, HAIM, Shaboozey, Wet Leg, Ken Carson, Sean Paul, Wiz Khalifa

Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s Grand National Tour brought in a record-breaking $9M from its first show in Minneapolis.

Additionally, Shakira’s Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour earned >$70M across 11 shows last month, making her tour the highest earning ever for the month of March.

BeachLife Festival founder Allen Sanford & biz partner Rob Lissner opened restaurant and social club California Surf Club. This marks the first time a festival has established a permanent, public restaurant. The club will also serve as the centerpiece for the festival, headlined by Sublime, Alanis Morissette & Lenny Kravitz.

In more festival news, Pitchfork Festival co-founder Mike Reed and his nonprofit Constellation Performing Arts have launched Chicago festival Sound & Gravity, which will be spread across 7 venues throughout the city this September. Bill Callahan, Mdou Moctar, Helado Negro & more are slated to play.

Modest Mouse announced their inaugural Psychic Salamander Festival (and for those keeping track, yes, this is the second new festival they’ve announced this year), which will take place this September. Along with the band, Built to Spill, Sleater-Kinney & The Flaming Lips are set to perform.

SXSW Sydney announced its first roundup of artists for the 2025 conference including jasmine.4.t, Freak Slug, Serebii, RICEWINE & others.

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• Ohana Music Festival will be headlined by Green Day, Hozier & Eddie Vedder

• Mallorca Live announced its lineup featuring Chloé Caillet, Massive Attack, Iggy Pop & more

• Chris Young & Dustin Lynch will headline the inaugural Boots in the Park in Tucson this October

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

After announcing his exit as Global Head of Music BD at ByteDance, Ole Obermann joins Apple Music alongside Rachel Newman as the company’s new co-heads. Kobalt has named industry veteran Jason Feinberg as SVP and Head of KOSIGN, its newly launched publishing platform. Avex Music Group has appointed Justin Hunter to the position of VP.

Music data firm Luminate has named Adrian Sarosi as VP and GM of International, overseeing the company’s global expansion efforts. Payday Music Publishing has appointed Desiree Autobee as the Sync Director for TV & Film, and Jamey Sussman as the Sync Director for Trailers & Ads. Warner Music Nordics announced the addition of Henri Lanz to its leadership team in the role of Sr. International A&R and Creative Advisor. Television exec Alex Mahon is set to become CEO of live entertainment powerhouse Superstruct. With Epidemic Sound’s acquisition of Song Sleuth, Amanda Schupf is moving into a permanent role with Aentidote. Former SXSW Prez Hugh Forrest says he was forced out last week noting, “Leaving SXSW was definitely not my decision.” 👀

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• Content & Community Manager at Assistants vs. Agents in Los Angeles

• Sr. Manager, Digital Advertising at BMG in Nashville

• Project Manager at Black Box in Los Angeles

• Lead Product Engineer at Vydia in Holmdel, New Jersey

• Promoter at Untitled Group in Melbourne

↗ Find these and 260+ open roles at Jobs by ROSTR